Chapter 54: Winter of Jiwei (5)

  The sky has darkened, the moon is high in the air, the forest is quiet and still, and all around is hushed.

  Li Chengzhong took out dry rations and a water bottle, ate a few mouthfuls, and inadvertently raised his eyes to see that the woman was staring at him. He was somewhat perplexed and didn't know why the woman was staring at him, so he ate another two mouthfuls, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze. Suddenly, he became aware of his awkwardness and, feeling embarrassed, took out a piece of flatbread from his bag and handed it to the other person.

  The woman took it and ate it without hesitation, then stared at Li Chengzhong's water bag. Li Chengzhong hurriedly handed over the water bag, smiling awkwardly: "You said you didn't bring any food when going out..."

  The woman, without the slightest hint of feminine reserve, casually wiped the mouth of the flask with her sleeve and took a few gulps of water. "Everything is with my companion..." she said, revealing a snowy white neck that made Li Cheng's heart skip a beat, despite being a man who had never been intimate with women in his two lifetimes.

  Li Chengzhong asked, "Where is your companion?"

  "We were intercepted by the Khitans on the road, and all our companions died in battle..."

  Li Chengzhong suddenly didn't know what to say anymore, seeing the woman leaning against a tree and sitting down, he also sat down under the nearby tree.

  "I didn't know it was you..." Li Chengzhong forced out a greeting.

  "I am a Xianbei," said the woman.

  "Can you see in the dark too?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Oh...... your Chinese is pretty good......" Li Chengzhong continued to make small talk.

  "My mother is Han Chinese."

  "Huh... Are you saying Xianbei women also have to come out and fight?"

  "In recent years, the Khitan have been on the rise, and we Xianbei have fought them many times but couldn't defeat them. Many of our people were taken captive... Anyone who can wield a sword or spear must come out to fight; if not, our entire Xianbei tribe will be forced to surrender and become slaves of the Khitan." The woman said calmly, as if she was talking about someone else's business.

  Li Chengzhong, however, heard the intense hatred in his faint words and fell silent. After a long while, he said, "We Han people have also been ravaged by the Khitan people, but unfortunately we suffered heavy losses during our southern campaign, otherwise the Khitan people wouldn't be so arrogant."

  The woman nodded and said, "I've heard... I hope you all recover soon. If you Hans don't make it, we Xianbei won't have a chance either... In any case, we Xianbei will never surrender, no one wants to be a slave of the Khitans!" As if to emphasize her words, she furrowed her brow and waved her arm.

  At this moment, the moonlight sprinkled on the woman's high nose bridge, dyeing a patch of silver light. Li Chengzhong was stunned and couldn't speak.

  A faint sound of horseshoes came from a distant place, startling Li Chengzhong's indulgent thoughts. He climbed up the treetop and looked towards where the horseshoes sounded, only to see a torch lighting up in the distance, slowly approaching the forest, and the horseshoe sounds became clearer. Listening carefully, it seemed that there was more than one person. He quickly got down from the tree and whispered to the woman: "Someone is coming... could they be your companions?"

  The woman frowned and said: "Four people, not my companions, all my companions were killed in battle. Are you not from the Lu Long army?"

  Li Chengzhong smiled wryly: "We... uh... won't be riding horses out for a stroll at night." Wang Dalang, although ordered to form a scouting team, couldn't possibly have formed one so quickly and be able to patrol at night. Out of a man's small dignity, he felt somewhat ashamed that he didn't have any cavalry under his command, so he hastily changed the subject: "How did you know it was four people?"

  The woman casually said: "Can't you hear it? You're really...". As she spoke, she took down the knife from her horse's back, then picked up a bow, nocked an arrow, and hid behind a tree.

  Li Chengzhong, who didn't want to be despised by the woman, was still despised. He felt a bit embarrassed and didn't dare speak recklessly anymore. He led the two war horses to a distant place where they couldn't be seen, then came back and greeted the woman, pointing upwards and saying: "I'll go up there, wait for you to shoot down the torch later. I'll fight with them, you use arrows to shoot from the outside..." As he spoke, he slipped up a tree and hid among the branches. The forest was small, and the tree he chose was facing the direction of the approaching people. If those few people really entered the forest, it's very likely they would pass under the tree.

  As the torches finally arrived at the edge of the forest, Li Chengzhong heard a few people talking on the edge of the forest. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but it sounded like Khitan language, and he involuntarily tightened his grip on the knife in his hand.

  Li Chengzhong had been through many battles, big and small, since joining the Lu Long army. He had faced enemies head-on and killed with his own hands, taking countless lives. Although he didn't have any family-transmitted sword techniques or formal martial arts training, he relied on his physical advantages - height, strength, and good nutrition from his past life - as well as simple hand-to-hand combat and stabbing techniques practiced in the army. In this era, he could hold his own against one or two opponents at close range and wasn't afraid of fighting three or four people. When he saw that the final group consisted of four Khitan cavalrymen, he felt a bit more at ease, thinking to himself that with the element of surprise on his side, as well as the woman's archery support, victory was not impossible.

  Four Khitan cavalrymen cautiously rode their horses into the forest, with the first one holding a torch in his left hand and a knife in his right hand. The three behind him each held knives and guns, and carried bows and arrows on their backs. Without using reins, they controlled the speed and direction of their horses solely by the strength of their legs, demonstrating exceptional horsemanship.

  Li Chengzhong held his breath, and saw the first Khitan cavalryman pass under the tree, thinking to himself: "Shoot an arrow!" But he didn't see the woman shoot. The second rider also passed by, but the woman still hadn't shot. Li Chengzhong was getting anxious, not knowing why the woman wasn't shooting, urging her on in his mind. The third rider passed under the tree, and the woman still hadn't shot an arrow, until the fourth Khitan cavalryman arrived under the tree, when Li Chengzhong finally heard a soft "whoosh" sound.

  The arrow shot extremely accurately, and the first cavalryman on horseback swayed for a moment before falling backwards. Li Chengzhong vaguely saw that when he fell backwards, an arrow was stuck in his throat. The torch in his hand also fell to the ground, and the surroundings suddenly darkened.

  The remaining three Khitan cavalrymen shouted, taking advantage of the residual light from the ground fire, Li Chengzhong aimed at the opportunity to pounce down and knocked the last Khitan cavalryman off his horse. The Khitan cavalryman was knocked to the ground with Li Chengzhong's sturdy body on top of him, instantly losing consciousness. Li Chengzhong raised his hand and slashed his knife across the man's neck, and the Khitan cavalryman immediately stopped moving, without even a groan.

  The two riders in front heard the noise and shouted a few sentences. The first one rushed towards where the arrow was shot, while the second one turned his horse's head and charged towards Li Chengzhong. In the forest, it was difficult to speed up on horseback, so Li Chengzhong easily dodged him. The Khitan cavalryman turned his horse's head again and came back, only to see Li Chengzhong circling around a tree with him.

  The Khitan cavalry swung their swords twice, both of which were dodged by Li Chengzhong. Li Chengzhong took advantage of the opportunity to gradually approach the horse. The cavalry was entangled with the infantry on the spot, and it was not easy to get out of this situation. At this time, the Khitan cavalry had no chance to dismount, so they could only wave their sabers at Li Chengzhong while on horseback. Li Chengzhong waited for the right moment to flash forward, grabbed the cavalry's arm that was waving the saber, and pulled it outward with force. The cavalry lost its balance after being pulled hard and fell off the horse, but one foot was stuck in the stirrup and couldn't be freed. Li Chengzhong then struck him with several blows, killing him on the spot.

  Li Chengzhong pulled him down from the horse stirrup, jumped onto the horseback and chased in the direction where the woman was hiding. He heard the sound of shouting, fighting and his heart felt anxious. After he went around a few trees, he saw that the Khitan cavalry who had chased over had already dismounted and were fighting with the woman. The woman was after all a female, although she shot arrows very accurately, but in a single-handed combat, she was no match for the fierce Khitan cavalry. She was already exhausted, her fur hat fell to the ground, her long hair scattered out, under the Khitan cavalry's continuous chopping and hacking, she retreated in disarray.

  Li Chengzhong could ride a horse, but he couldn't ride and shoot at the same time. He wouldn't even do kung fu on horseback. When he charged to the edge of the battle formation, he jumped off his horse and rushed towards the Khitan cavalry. The Khitan cavalry abandoned the woman and turned around to face Li Chengzhong's sword with their own blades. As the two swords clashed, Li Chengzhong felt a shock in his wrist and almost lost his grip on his sword. He was inwardly startled: "What great brute strength!"

  Li Cheng was caught off guard, but his feet didn't hesitate. Following the close combat techniques taught by his unit before crossing over, he lifted his leg and kicked out with a single swift motion. Modern military hand-to-hand combat doesn't have many fancy moves - it's all about being ruthless and efficient. Those underhanded tactics from ancient martial arts are considered classics in modern military combat. This kick was particularly vicious, and the poor lighting made it a stealthy attack. The Khitan man couldn't see clearly in the dim light, had no defense, and was kicked right in the vitals. His entire body stiffened up, and he let out an extremely unpleasant muffled groan from his abdomen, like someone screaming with their mouth covered.

  Li Chengzhong casually dropped the knife in his hand, pinched his arms and twisted them back, kneeled on top of him, and the Khitan cavalry had no power to resist. He was stunned and fell to the ground, but his legs kept kicking the ground, not for resistance, but to vent the pain in his lower body. Li Chengzhong himself was shocked by what he saw, and subconsciously shrunk his own little brother...

  Li Chengzhong turned his head to glance at the woman, and the woman's gaze towards him also changed somehow, but it was unclear whether for better or worse. Li Chengzhong didn't bother with that much, opening his mouth to ask: "Can you speak Khitan?"

  The woman nodded and walked over to ask the Khitan cavalryman who was lying on the ground a few questions, but the Khitan cavalryman was still in too much pain to speak. Li Chengzhong had no choice but to let the woman go find a horse rope from the Khitan cavalryman's mount and tie him up to a tree. He then went to pick up the torch that had fallen to the ground but was still burning, and stuck it on one side to illuminate the area.

  Under the flames, the Khitan cavalry had painful expressions, with beads of sweat as big as beans dripping from their foreheads.

  It was clear that they couldn't ask questions at this time, so Li Chengzhong and the woman waited aside. The woman glanced at the suffering Khitan cavalry, then glanced at Li Chengzhong, suddenly blushed and said: "Good skills, you Lu Long army are quite capable...”

  Li Chengzhong cleared his throat and changed the subject: "The young lady's archery skills are not bad, especially her timing for shooting arrows is very good. It's just too dangerous..." At this time, he had already figured out that the woman was waiting until the last moment to shoot the arrow in order to create the best opportunity for him to eliminate the last Khitan cavalryman, but by doing so, she also brought herself a lot of trouble. If Li Chengzhong hadn't arrived a step earlier, she would have died under the knife of that Khitan cavalryman.

  The woman said, "Of course we should fight the enemy together. What kind of reason is there to let you face the enemy alone? A little danger doesn't amount to anything." The words were spoken lightly and naturally, but they carried a heroic and bold spirit that was uniquely feminine.

  After waiting for a while, seeing that the Khitan man seemed to have caught his breath, the woman began to ask questions in the Khitan language. At first, the Khitan cavalryman closed his eyes and refused to speak, but after Li Chengzhong used several underhanded tactics to slightly intimidate him, he finally opened his mouth, answering the woman's questions while occasionally glancing at Li Chengzhong with a mixture of fear and trepidation.

  Li Chengzhong listened to them chattering away for a good half day, but couldn't understand a word, so he sat aside and carefully examined the woman in front of him. In the soft firelight, the woman's profile under her long hair looked exceptionally beautiful.

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