Chapter 52: Encounter with Black Arrow

  The Huns' harassment ceased, and Zu Ke, Zu Li, and others quickly arrived from the rear to join forces with Zu Zhao.

  Zu Zhaung, although having a strong murderous intent, did not completely lose his rationality. He saw that the cavalry on the east side was about to intercept the Hu riders, which was an opportunity that could not be missed. Although this time it was to suppress the bandits, after all, the bandits had many secrets, and it was necessary to figure out what kind of conspiracy they were planning. For him, even if the bandits did not have a conspiracy, he would find an excuse on his own, and fabricate a reason for the Yellow Turban Rebellion to recruit soldiers before it happened.

  He looked around and saw that Zu Ke, Zu Li, Zhang Yuan and others were not far from him, so he shouted at them: "Pass the word on, catch a few live mouths to ask questions."

  Zu Ke and Zu Li understood what Zu Zhao meant, but it was not easy to capture the enemy alive in the midst of a fierce battle.

  After Zu Chao finished speaking, he turned around and placed the horse spear on the back of the saddle, then took out his bow. He drew the bow, nocked an arrow, aimed at a bandit over thirty paces away, carefully took aim, and released the string. A loud twang was heard as the arrow shot out, hitting the bandit in the waist. The bandit let out a cry of surprise, stumbled, staggered for a moment, and finally fell off his horse.

  Zu Ke and others saw it, and they were all amazed at Zu Zhao's arrow technique being so precise that he could grasp such a subtle difference even in the dark of night.

  "Hurry up and catch those bandits who have fallen off their horses."

  "You guys go first."

  Zu Ke hastily called out a few times, and immediately several disciples held the reins, slowing down the horse's speed to approach the fallen bandit.

  Zu Chao continued to ride his horse in pursuit, considering the limited number of feathered arrows in his quiver and that he couldn't guarantee every arrow would be so accurate, so he had to take down valuable targets first. Although he wasn't clear what Deng Mao and the Hu people's leader looked like, he could still make judgments through observing the reactions of the surrounding bandits.

  Not only that, including Han Dang and other sons who were confident in their archery skills, they also approached the enemy in the same way as Zu Chao, aiming at non-vital positions to shoot them off their horses. However, they didn't have a saddle or stirrups like Zu Chao did, so naturally, their accuracy was greatly discounted, either missing the target or failing to hit the intended spot. On the other hand, Han Dang was truly a skilled archer, even without a saddle or stirrups, relying solely on his leg strength to hold the horse's belly tight, drawing his bow and shooting swiftly, with every arrow hitting its mark.

  Before long, the cavalry on the east side clashed with the Hu riders.

  After all, there was Zu Zhao's party who launched a surprise attack first. At this moment, the Hu riders had some reaction. Before the cavalry on the east side approached, the Hu riders holding bows either abandoned their bows and switched to blades or raised their bows and shot hastily. As a result, at the moment when both sides clashed, these twenty-odd riders were still met with fierce resistance, and immediately three or four people were knocked off their horses.

  However, even so, the Hu cavalry was still demoralized and, considering the large number of enemies in front of and behind them, they did not dare to continue fighting for a while.

  As someone in the crowd of nomads shouted loudly in their native language, the nomads quickly turned their horses around and galloped northwards towards the Gobi Desert, apparently trying to escape as soon as possible.

  Taking advantage of the situation, Zu Zhao couldn't stop now. Moreover, it was still unknown whether Deng Mao or the mastermind behind this bandit group had been shot down. It was necessary to capture as many bandits as possible. Immediately, he summoned everyone to divide into two teams, leading one team to pursue the Hu cavalry from behind, while the other team attempted to encircle and intercept them.

  Zu Ke led a team of people to split from the crowd and went around.

  Zu Zhaoren was in hot pursuit when he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly on one side: "Young Master, be careful."

  As soon as the words fell, Zu Zhao suddenly felt a cold wind coming from in front of him. He wanted to dodge to the side, but he was afraid that it would be too late to react, and he instinctively raised the horse spear in his hand to protect his head. His hand had just been lifted halfway when a strong gust of wind struck, followed by a sudden pain in his arm. He lowered his head to look, and an arrow was already stuck in his forearm.

  Fortunately, his armor was equipped with a wrist guard, and although the arrow had penetrated the guard, it had weakened its force considerably. The arrowhead only just entered the skin. He freed up his other hand, grasped the arrow shaft, and broke it off with force. Once the triangular arrowhead of a feathered arrow enters flesh, forcibly pulling it out will inevitably cause further damage to the skin, which would be counterproductive.

  He suddenly changed color as he held the twisted arrow in his hand, and saw that this feathered arrow was all black, including the feathers which had already been dyed black.

  "Black Arrow Bandit!!"

  Han Dang and Zu Ji, who had been following closely, heard Zu Zhao's cry and were shocked.

  Zu Zhao angrily threw the black arrow in his hand to the ground, and looked intently in the direction where the strong wind had just come from. He saw that behind three or four horse shadows, there was a Hu rider with a different dress. The Hu rider was not tall and majestic like others, but rather a thin and weak figure. His upper body was not wearing a felt hat and short clothes, but instead wore a cloak with a hood. The cloak seemed to be made of leather, wrapped tightly around him, and even in the high-speed movement, the wind did not blow his hat off.

  It's really impressive, even from such a distance, he can still identify the leader! He thought to himself.

  Although it cannot be determined at this time whether the other party is accidental or intentional, during the battle, the enemy must be estimated as much as possible.

  Zu Ji was furious and waved his horse spear, saying: "Dà gōng zǐ, this black arrow thief has killed several lives in my Zu family. Today I will take his head to sacrifice to the spirits of A Bao and others in heaven." As he spoke, he urged his horse on, shouting angrily as he chased after the Hu cavalry wrapped in a cloak: "Halt, you little Hu barbarian! Dare you accept a spear from your ancestor Zu Ping?"

  His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, he deeply knew the ferocity of the Black Arrow Hu people. Previously when they robbed horses it was at night, and now it was also at night, it can be seen that this person not only had exceptional archery skills but also had extraordinary eyesight beyond ordinary people. Being a good shooter can be achieved through later training and practice, but eyesight is innate, being so gifted and uniquely talented, cannot be said to be anything but a formidable enemy.

  He was worried that Zu Qi would make a mistake under pressure, so he quickly spoke up and said, "A Ji, don't act rashly."

  His heart was on fire, and he had already run far away, so for a while he didn't hear Zuo Zhao's words clearly. He passed by a barbarian, his furious state making him exceptionally brave and powerful, almost without looking at the barbarian who was being surpassed, his spear swung horizontally, as fast as lightning and as powerful as thunder, in just one strike, he cut that barbarian into two pieces from shoulder to head. The strength of his arm made Zuo Zhao feel a chill.

  The beheaded body of the barbarian remained on the horseback for a while, running out a distance before falling down.

  "Ha ha ha, you little thieves, can't even withstand a single blow."

  Even Zuo Zhao and Han Dang, who were in the rear, couldn't help but secretly sigh when they saw this scene. Zuo Qian was young, yet he had such ferocity, truly a rare talent.

  Who would have known, Zu Qi's laughter had not yet subsided when another string resonance suddenly came from a distance. In the darkness, black feathered arrows merged into the dark curtain, making it fundamentally impossible to discern, and all that could be felt was a strong gust of wind rushing over.

  Zu Zhao didn't see clearly what happened, but heard Zu Ji's mournful cry, and then saw the opponent's body shaking violently for a while, almost falling off the horse. Fortunately, Zu Ji threw away the spear in his hand in time, barely holding onto the reins, and didn't fall off on the spot. Soon, his mount slowed down.

  "Aji, how are you?"

  Zi Chao's heart was hesitant as he sped closer, wondering whether to stop and save the person or continue chasing.

  "I've come to save you!" Just then, a voice suddenly came from the rear of the large group of people, it was Zu Fan.

  Zu Zhao's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't slow down his horse. He continued to gallop forward in pursuit. Zu Ji's figure gradually fell behind, and the last glimpse of him was tumbling off his horse...

  I hope heaven will bless Zuji with peace and safety! He muttered to himself for a while.

  After all, they grew up together since childhood, and besides, there is only one person around him who can truly listen to his plans, and that is Zu Qi.

  In a fit of righteous indignation, he kicked his horse's belly several times and chased after the black-bearded thief with an unstoppable momentum.