Chapter 48: Charging into the Fray

  The thieves who escaped from the forest seemed to have not discovered the movement on this side of the hill, even though some horsemen walking in the front could vaguely see some outlines under the moonlight, but they couldn't see clearly for a while. As they got farther and farther away from the forest and closer and closer to the hill, someone finally sensed that something was off.

  But by then it was already too late.

  Only from the direction of the hill came a loud shout: "Release the arrow!"

  Right on its heels was a wave of bowstring vibrations. The arrows, like a violent rainstorm, wove a blurry yet deadly network under the night sky. The bandits didn't even have time to react before they were hit by this round of sudden attack. The originally chaotic troops became even more chaotic in an instant, with mournful cries rising and falling, terror and angry roars intertwining.

  "Some people, some people."

  "What place? Where is the government soldier?"

  "Run away quickly to the west, the government soldiers are coming to kill."

  In addition to the cacophony of Chinese voices, there were also some other languages mixed in.

  Among the mounted bandits, some began to flee in the opposite direction of the hills, but those riding tall horses suspected to be Hu people seemed more stable. These Hu cavalry gathered together and followed a leader, moving northeast for a distance, as if trying to get out of range.

  On the hill, Zu Chao and others had made sufficient preparations. They did not continue to shoot arrows, after all, the sky was dark, and the thieves began to scatter. The previous round of arrow attacks was nothing more than wounding the morale of the bandits, which also served as a warning. At this moment, Zu Chao raised his spear high in his hand and shouted loudly: "Kill the thieves and avenge, what are you waiting for? The men of the Zu family listen to orders, charge!"

  The troops arrayed on the mountain slope for a long time, after firing the first round of arrows, one by one put away their bows and re-picked up their spears from the ground. At this moment, hearing Zu Zhao's order, each and every one of them burst out with rage and killing intent, unleashing all the pent-up desire for battle.

  As Zu Chao rushed out first, the crowd let out a tearing roar from their throats and raised their spears to follow closely behind.

  Although the Zou and Zhang families had only over 80 people, while the bandits they faced were over a hundred, no one felt worried or frightened. On the one hand, Zu Zhao predicted the bandits' movements with precision, showing that they had the upper hand; on the other hand, it was clear at a glance that the bandits were not united, and although there were some good horses among them, they were outnumbered by undisciplined and dispirited people, so what was there to fear from such a mob?

  More than 80 people rushed east along the undulating hills, although they had not practiced formation charging at Xihua Bridge for a long time before, but more or less they had some foundation, and now they could keep their formation in a somewhat decent manner.

  The bandits were thoroughly stunned by the deafening shouts of killing, and in the darkness, they didn't know the identity of the newcomers, nor did they know how many people there were. Before that, in the forest, they were startled by a burst of flames and human voices from the south, and the concept of being surrounded by government troops had already been buried in their subconscious. At this moment, it was natural to mistakenly think that it was a large-scale attack by the government army. No one dared to have any idea of resisting, and they all scrambled to escape in panic.

  Taking advantage of the terrain's momentum, Zu Chao and others quickly caught up with those bandits on foot.

  For Zu Chao, revenge was not to be pitied by anyone, even if it was a group of poor and miserable people who were forced to rise up in desperation. When he caught up with a fleeing thief, he didn't hesitate at all, raised his spear and slashed him fiercely. A loud cry was heard, the thief fell to the ground with a thud, and although he didn't die immediately, he was soon trampled by other knights who followed closely behind.

  "What's the use of running away? In any case, it's a dead end. Might as well fight them to the death."

  "I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

  "We can't escape now, let's fight together."

  Facing the cavalry, the bandits on foot knew they had no way to escape. Under the desperate persuasion of some people, many raised their farm tools and turned back to charge at the knights. Like fugitives, these peasants who usually endured hardships, in this moment released all the resentment accumulated over several generations without any reserve.

  Gradually, it instead caused no small hindrance to the knights.

  Zuozhao was striking left and right on horseback, but once the horse's mobility was restricted, his original advantage quickly became a burden. The shadows of bandits were everywhere, and swinging long weapons back and forth was not convenient. In just an instant, his legs and mount had been attacked in many places, fortunately those farmers' weapons were simple, plus the chaotic scene, both he and his horse's injuries were only scratches.

  He swung his spear and knocked down two bandits in a row, then let out a loud roar, immediately intimidating the other bandits around him, and no one dared to easily surround him. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he looked up and gazed forward, only to see that most of the mounted bandits had already escaped, while the barbarian bandits were gathered together, rushing from north to west, as if they were making a circle.

  "Great prince, those mounted bandits are about to escape far away."

  At this time, Zu Qi killed the general from behind, he was riding a white horse, now there are many red stains on the horse's body.

  Zu Zhao looked around at the peasants who were either fleeing or resisting, and knew that these people were at most just accomplices. Even if they were caught, they wouldn't be able to reveal more information. Whether this horse robbery case had an inside story, and whether the appearance of these bandits had a deeper plot, would have to be clarified from the mouths of the main culprits.

  "We can't let a thief get away. Don't worry about these small thieves for now, follow me and chase after him." With that thought in mind, he immediately made up his decision.

  With a kick of his stirrup, Zu Chao urged his horse on, and they shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.

  Zu Ji loudly called out to his fellow disciples on both sides and led a dozen or so people to follow behind Zu Zhao.

  In the distance, those horse-riding thieves soon realized that Zu Chao and others were chasing after them. Among them, half of them were not good at riding horses at all. Due to emotional tension, they were like headless flies at this moment, let alone galloping on horseback, even grasping the direction of movement was very difficult. That's why this group of thieves had a huge disparity in their escape, with some running far ahead and others still lagging behind in a daze.

  Zu Zhaung focused on the last bandit, speeding up his horse to charge forward. Just as he was about to thrust his spear, a gust of cool wind suddenly swept across his forehead. Although it was dark and he couldn't see clearly what had happened, he instinctively dodged to the side. He heard a "whoosh" sound pass by his ear, and a feathered arrow flew coldly past.

  "Hum, you rat, dare to shoot a hidden arrow at people?"

  Zu Chao's face was fearless, he no longer fixed his gaze on those backward riders, since these people didn't even know how to ride a horse, let alone turn around and shoot arrows while on horseback. However, among the seven or eight bandits who were escaping in front, two of them kept turning around on their horses, borrowing the light of the stars and moon to vaguely see that there were shadows of bowstrings shaking in their hands.

  He kicked the stirrup hard and also slapped the horse's buttocks with the whip in his hand, forcing the horse to gallop wildly.

  Before long, he had caught up with several lagging bandits. However, at this moment, he didn't have the mind to bother with these small fries, and simply brushed past them without a glance. Even so, one of the bandits was already startled, and his originally unstable posture suddenly twisted, causing him to cry out in surprise as he fell off his horse. The other bandits saw this and didn't dare think about anything else, hastily dodging to the left and right, fearing they wouldn't be able to avoid it in time.

  The thief running ahead turned around and saw Zu Chao's figure flashing like lightning, and immediately someone shouted loudly.

  "Quickly, shoot him dead."

  "Release the arrow! You few, don't run, you can't outrun it, quickly release the arrow."

  Zu Chao's mount was a fine horse from the River Bend, its legs naturally far surpassing those of the bandits' mounts. In just an instant, they had already pressed close.

  At this moment, several bandits in front turned back again, drew their bows and shot an arrow without careful aiming.

  However, Zu Zhao was well-prepared and as soon as he heard the sound of bowstrings from the front, he immediately dodged to one side and stuck close to the horse's belly.

  Under the cover of darkness, the bandits didn't see clearly where Zu Zhao hid for a while, and mistakenly thought that the previous shooting had shot him off his horse. These people couldn't help but feel complacent, and finally breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

  However, they did not find out that the river bend big horse was still accelerating forward.

  As soon as Zu Zhao sat up straight, he had already placed the horse spear horizontally in a stable groove behind the saddle and picked up his own bow. At this time, he was only 40 or 50 steps away from those thieves, and with his horse speed, he was constantly closing in on them. Almost without any hesitation, he smoothly pulled out three arrows from the quiver, first holding two of them in his mouth, then drawing the string and shooting an arrow. As soon as he took the bow and arrow, he had already locked onto the target like a hawk, the bowstring was full, and the arrow flew out quickly. Immediately, a mournful cry came from the horseback in front, the thief who was hit by the arrow shook his body for a moment, then fell down headfirst.

  The sudden change shocked all the other thieves.

  "He's still alive."

  "Zhao Manzi was shot dead, Zhao Manzi has been shot dead."

  "Run for your life..."

  A sudden burst of commotion and shouting was followed by two successive twangs, and the crowd quickly fell silent.

  Zu Zhao held the bow in one hand and the reins in the other, effortlessly guiding his horse to jump over the two corpses blocking his path. Three arrows hit their mark, and a surge of excitement rose up in his chest. Just as he was about to reach for another arrow, he didn't expect that among the fleeing riders ahead, one person suddenly pulled on the reins and unexpectedly turned their horse's head around.

  "Escort the superior first, let someone come and take this thief's head!" The man let out a fierce roar, full of energy.

  Zu Zhao slowed down his horse slightly, subconsciously turning his head to take a look, only to discover that in the pursuit of this group of bandits, he had unknowingly strayed far from the main force, and now he was left with only one person. Not far behind, the crowd of disciples were still entangled in battle with other bandits, while Zu Ji, Gong Sun Long and others were still desperately rushing towards him, but unfortunately, their footsteps were difficult, and they still needed to shake off the surrounding attacks.