Chapter 393: Can they all jump onto our faces? [Thanks! Bow again!]

It was still morning,

on the flat ground outside the mountains,

the two armies had not yet engaged in battle,

the Bai Gao Kingdom's Iron Kites had not yet appeared,

and the cavalry of the two countries in front of the Great Zhou military formation had only just charged for a while.

On the flank of the Great Zhou military formation,

in the mountains,

"Bang bang~ bang bang."

Watching his own young master dismount in front, pull the feathered arrow from Qingyun's shield, and shoot it back out,

A-Lan, who knew there would be another fierce fight, felt his heartbeat quicken.

His palms also sweated slightly.

A-Lan was not on the battlefield for the first time; he had previously accompanied his young master to the fief of Prince Yan with Xun Shu.

But that time in Prince Yan's fief was completely different from the feeling of being a scout for the past ten days.

Because as a scout, you don't know where the danger is!

Your spirit must be highly concentrated; one moment of carelessness could lead to trouble.

"Let's go! Let's go take revenge!"

Hearing this,

"Hoo!"

After A-Lan took a deep breath, he gripped the reins used to gather the mounts tightly.

"A-Lan, pass that quiver over!"

His young master's voice came, and A-Lan hurriedly took a quiver from beside the saddle of the little Li horse and handed it to the scout in front.

The feathered arrows in that quiver were all taken by his young master from his comrades.

After taking them down, his young master had personally repaired the arrowheads and tail feathers, only leaving the arrow shafts, which were thinner than the ones the young master used himself, untouched.

One squad, ten people.

Six powerful ones went to attack,

while A-Lan and the eagle trainer sent by the Huyan family gathered the horses.

Watching his young master hang the quiver on his belt with one hand, A-Lan hurriedly walked to the side with the other three comrades who remained to gather the horses, pulling the horses in their hands.

Perhaps sensing the killing intent,

the little Li horse A-Lan was leading shook its head irritably.

A-Lan, who often took care of the little Li horse in the Marquis's mansion, hurriedly comforted it.

On the mountain top,

watching the horse tied under the tree, which was neighing and struggling after being shot,

the Bai Gao Kingdom scout quickly drew his waist knife, walked over, and skillfully stabbed it into the horse's chest between its two legs.

The horse, shot and stabbed, soon stopped moving.

On the other side, watching the Great Zhou scouts walking toward the mountain top while holding shields,

Meile Mele Amai said urgently:

"Wave the flag! Blow the horn! Let those behind all come up!"

"Yes, Squad Leader!"

Saying this,

the Bai Gao scout hurriedly went to the side, held up the flag, and waved it to warn the mountain top behind him.

"Woo~"

The horn also sounded.

Down the mountain,

behind Qingyun, who was holding the shield,

Xu Zaijing saw the Bai Gao flag waving on the mountain top.

He put the feathered arrow with the carved shaft back into the quiver and pulled out the feathered arrow he usually used from the quiver on the other side.

Subsequently, Xu Zaijing poked his head out from behind Qingyun to look at the waving Bai Gao flag.

After two breaths,

listening to the still noisy Bai Gao horn sound,

Xu Zaijing drew his bow and nocked an arrow extremely quickly.

"Pi-pi"

The sound of the bow arms straining made even He Guan glance over.

Immediately,

He Guan's gaze followed the feathered arrow Xu Zaijing shot.

On the mountain top, the waving Bai Gao flag disappeared.

After one arrow was shot,

Xu Zaijing switched sides and pulled out a thin-shaft feathered arrow with carved characters, specially designed for shooting people.

He shot it the moment he poked his head out again.

On the mountain top,

the Bai Gao scout, who was bending down and pulling an arrow from the quiver, took a look to the side; the comrade there was lying on the ground, turned away on his side.

Looking at it, it seemed he had been shot in the face,

and the bloody arrowhead had even pierced through the back of his head.

After taking one look, this scout withdrew his gaze,

nocked the feathered arrow on the bowstring,

took a deep breath, and while suddenly rising, he drew his bow in one motion.

"Shoo~"

"Slap~"

This scout only felt his palm go numb and the web between his thumb and index finger ache.

The strong bow in his hand seemed to have life, twisting uncontrollably to one side.

A moment later,

the Bai Gao scout saw clearly that his bow arm had been hit by a feathered arrow!

Judging by the position, this feathered arrow was clearly also aimed at his face.

Seeing this scene,

the Bai Gao scout grinned, having escaped death, and squeezed out a smile.

"Shoo!"

This Bai Gao scout felt his face get hot,

and a long thing appeared before his eyes.

What was it?

He fell backward uncontrollably,

looking at the treetops and the sky before him,

his vision quickly turned to darkness.

Down the mountain,

"Thanks!"

Xu Zaijing, who had already drawn his bow again, shouted.

"You thieving bird!"

He Guan cursed while pulling out a feathered arrow, not knowing whether he was cursing Xu Zaijing or that lucky enemy.

His powerful arrow had actually hit the enemy's bow arm, really!

As a result, Xu Zaijing picked up the bargain.

Thinking of this,

He Guan drew his strong bow again.

Aimed instantly,

and then the enemy in his field of vision had already disappeared with a feathered arrow stuck in his head.

Seeing this scene, He Guan gritted his teeth, slightly adjusted the angle of the arrowhead, and released his fingers.

Suddenly!

He Guan's hair stood on end,

and the bone behind the center of his eyebrows jumped incessantly!

On the mountain,

a Bai Gao scout,

his forearm was pierced by the sharp feathered arrow shot by He Guan, and the arrow, not losing momentum, pierced into his throat.

"Sss—"

A blood line, thinner than a child's urine, sprayed out from the neck of the Bai Gao scout.

And beside this shot Bai Gao scout,

his squad leader, Meile Mele Amai, had a trace of a very confident, sure-to-win look in his eyes.

The reason was,

just now, that Great Zhou scout had exposed himself for a moment longer when he poked his head out to shoot.

Just that moment was enough for Meile Mele Amai's sharp arrow to hit!

Then,

Meile Mele Amai's eyes widened,

his face full of disbelief.

Before he could react from the shock and see the Great Zhou scout's movement down the mountain, he reflexively tilted his body.

Subsequently,

he felt his eye corner get hot and painful.

'Is this the feeling of being shot?'

This was the last thought in his mind.

It wasn't just Meile Mele Amai who was shocked;

down the mountain,

in an instant,

He Guan, who saw clearly what was before him, also couldn't control his eyes from widening!

Because,

just an inch away from He Guan's brow center,

a sharp arrowhead gleaming with cold light stopped in mid-air,

and the arrow shaft behind the arrowhead

was being gripped by a powerful hand.

Before He Guan could react from the fright and escape from death,

that feathered arrow was shot back.

This back-and-forth took no more than two or three breaths.

Until He Guan retreated behind the shield,

he then turned his head and looked at Xu Zaijing beside him with wide eyes: "Damn it, I almost died just now?"

Without turning his head, Xu Zaijing, who was still looking forward and drawing his bow to shoot, said: "Yeah!"

He Guan calmed his mood, shook his right hand that was shaking uncontrollably, gritted his teeth and said: "Dog-day Bai Gao little biting insect, I must kill him!"

Xu Zaijing turned his head to dodge a feathered arrow aimed at his head, drew his bow to counterattack, and said: "He's dead. Was my prediction okay?"

"Dead?"

He Guan's hand stopped, and after taking a few deep breaths, he pulled a feathered arrow from the quiver again, stood up, and drew his bow to shoot.

"Tsk!"

Listening to Xu Zaijing's tsk sound to the side, He Guan, who had just shot his feathered arrow to his grandmother's house, roared in a low voice behind the shield: "Fifth Young Master, shut your mouth for me!"

"Oh!"

He Guan took another deep breath, stood up, and drew his bow to shoot.

Confidently not looking to see if he had hit, he lowered his body and pulled out another feathered arrow.

He Guan stood up again, but could no longer find the target.

Subsequently, the six of them accelerated their pace.

Arriving at the mountain top,

Qingyun and several scouts checked it out.

First, to see if these enemies shot in vital spots needed a finishing blow,

and second, to collect the iron plates proving the identities of the Bai Gao scouts.

"Young Master, twelve corpses on the ground, about a squad's worth."

Xu Zaijing looked at Meile Mele Amai, who was dressed differently from ordinary scouts and lying on the ground with an arrow in his eye, and nodded.

After checking the terrain on the other side of the mountain top,

whether it was the experienced old scouts or those like Xu Zaijing and Qingyun who hadn't been doing this for many days, they couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"No wonder they wouldn't let us come over no matter what. This terrain... it's marchable!"

The old scout sent by Zhu Qinghu sighed.

Xu Zaijing to the side nodded with an ugly expression: "Send the signal, have A-Lan and the others come over!"

Qingyun hurriedly walked to the side, pulled out a whistling arrow, and shot it toward A-Lan's direction.

In less than a quarter of an hour,

A-Lan and the other four hurried over leading the horses.

Xu Zaijing lifted his chin toward the eagle trainer.

The eagle trainer understood and removed the leather blindfold from the Gyrfalcon on his shoulder.

"Hoo hoo~"

The Gyrfalcon spread its wings and flew into the sky.

Xu Zaijing's gaze followed the Gyrfalcon's figure.

Sure enough,

not long after,

the Gyrfalcon began to circle in the sky in the distance.

Xu Zaijing looked at the winding mountain road below that could accommodate two horses passing side by side.

He also looked at the Bai Gao scouts waving flags to warn on the mountain tops along the mountain road and said:

"Let's go, let's explore further ahead!"

One hour later,

the sun was in the sky,

judging by the sun, it was after the Wu period (after 11:00 AM).

Of the five mountain tops that had just been waving flags to warn,

only two remained at this time.

When the Bai Gao noble descendant Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding, leading the seven hundred Iron Kites in the vanguard who had not yet put on armor, appeared on the mountain road,

he only saw one mountain top still waving a warning flag.

The mountain road was difficult to travel.

The commander of their unit was also surnamed Ren Duo, a clansman of the Great General Ren Duo Si Yi.

Because the Great General's military law was strict, there were extremely severe time limits for every army unit to arrive at a certain position.

Not allowed to be early, and even less allowed to be late!

So this army was supposed to arrive here at the Wu period (after 12:00 PM), not allowed to be too early to let the Great Zhou scouts see the dust and arouse the Great Zhou commander's vigilance.

At the beginning of the Wei period (around 1:00 PM), they would enter the mountain gully where horses could run and start putting on armor.

At the Wei period (around 2:00 PM), they would appear on the flank and rear of the Great Zhou army.

However,

a scout squad leader surnamed Meile, the younger brother of a deputy general in front of the mountain road, began to warn.

The Iron Kites led by Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding, who were at the very front of the army and eating lunch, were sent ahead by the unit commander to investigate because they had horses.

On the mountain top by the mountain road,

Qingyun, with a bruised face, was cleaning up the identity iron plates of the Bai Gao scouts with several comrades.

He Guan pulled the Bai Gao scout's flag off the flagpole, and while changing it to the Great Zhou battle flag, he looked in the direction from which the Bai Gao army was coming.

"Fifth Young Master, I see the horses coming up this mountain road are all so tall and big! They wouldn't be the Bai Gao Iron Kites, would they?"

Xu Zaijing saw clearly with his excellent eyesight and nodded: "Yes! Ordinary horses can't bear the weight of the Iron Kites' armor and the armor of the horses."

He Guan laughed: "Tsk! Really! I see they are putting on armor?"

Xu Zaijing looked at the somewhat narrow mountain road and nodded.

At this time, another Great Zhou scout walked over: "Fifth Young Master, A-Lan is already prepared on the road!"

Xu Zaijing walked a few steps forward and looked down, just seeing A-Lan on the mountain road below skillfully comforting the Bai Gao Kingdom scout's warhorse.

After comforting it, he even covered the warhorse's eyes.

The Bai Gao scouts also had one man and two horses; the morning battle had captured about seventy horses, and over sixty could still run.

Sensing Xu Zaijing's gaze, A-Lan looked up and waved at Xu Zaijing.

He Guan also came over, looked at A-Lan on the mountain road and said: "Fifth Young Master, to have so many Iron Kites, there must be seven or eight thousand people following behind. We are blocking here?"

Xu Zaijing looked at the dust in the mountains further away, his eyes showing a look of recollection, and he remained silent for a long time.

He Guan: "Hmm? Fifth Young Master?"

Xu Zaijing withdrew his gaze, his eyes filled with a serious look, and asked: "Brother He, do you believe one person dares to block ten thousand people?"

He Guan: "Ah?"

Xu Zaijing put away his smile and said: "Brother He, with the terrain below, we are just blocking here! Even if the Bai Gao Kingdom has one hundred thousand people, they can't all jump in front of us, right?"

"Fine!"

He Guan had already put the battle flag on the flagpole, walked to the front, and stood the flag up.

The autumn wind in the mountains blew the flag fluttering incessantly.

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding passed what he saw back.

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding and the other Iron Kites stood to the side leading their horses, giving up one side of the road.

In less than a quarter of an hour,

a team of elite Bai Gao Kingdom infantry (foot soldiers) lined up in a single file and hurried over from behind.

Precious Iron Kites would not be used to attack the mountains.

Thinking of this,

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding watched a hundred-man team of infantry change from single file to double file, the first two with giant shields, the ones behind drawing bows, and slowly walked toward the mountain road ahead.

At this time,

the commander of this unit, a general surnamed Ren Duo, rode his horse to Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding's side.

Seeing this person, Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding hurriedly bowed and touched his chest to greet him.

After the commander nodded and returned the salute, he stared intently at the front, where the infantry were blocked by the arrows shot over.

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding looked at the commander's worried eyes and said in a low voice to comfort him: "General, it is still early, we don't need to worry."

Hearing this, the commander let out a long breath: "I hope so!"

Just as he finished speaking,

two miserable neighs of horses came from afar, and a loud order from a military officer came from the two rows of infantry in front.

Immediately, a burst of bowstring snapping sounds.

The horses' neighing became even worse!

"What's going on!?"

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding shouted and asked.

"There are startled horses running this way..."

"Shoo!"

The inch-gold chisel arrows, made by the Great Zhou Arrow Institute's master craftsmen and carefully selected, were shot out by the powerful strong bow.

The infantry officer who had just replied, because he forgot to cover his figure while talking backward, was pushed forward by the huge force of the feathered arrow.

Looking down at the arrowhead piercing through his chest, the officer only felt his body go soft.

This change,

made General Ren Duo glance at Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding to the side.

And among the infantry on the mountain road, a Bai Gao archer saw this scene and wanted to draw his bow to retaliate out of revenge.

As a result, just as he stood up,

another feathered arrow was shot over.

The Bai Gao archer, wearing armor, fell down with a feathered arrow stuck between his chest and abdomen.

Because he was shot, the Bai Gao archer also released the bowstring in his hand, and the shot feathered arrow was nailed straight into the inside of the infantry's shield in front.

A little more to the side, and it would have hit a comrade's head!

For half an hour of this stop-and-go fighting,

the time was almost reaching the hour stipulated by Great General Ren Duo Si Yi.

But the army was still moving at a turtle's pace on the mountain road!

A-Lan occasionally released two startled horses to charge the formation, which had too great a blocking effect on the Bai Gao army that was like a long snake on the mountain road!

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding didn't know how many Great Zhou scouts had died.

But, the infantry had already replenished another hundred-man team, and Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding counted the corpses being carried away from time to time, turning his head somewhat evasively.

"Zhejue Zhongding!"

Hearing someone call him, Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding hurriedly looked up, looked at General Ren Duo who was speaking not far away, and bowed and touched his chest to salute: "General!"

"Zhejue Zhongding, in a moment I will let the infantry give up a small path for charging, you lead the charge."

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding heard this and looked at the horse corpses by the roadside filled with Bai Gao feathered arrows.

In front of the infantry, there were also such startled horses that had been shot to death while charging.

General Ren Duo said: "You and the horses, both only wear armor on the front, when you encounter such obstacles, just leap over them!"

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding nodded heavily.

At first,

Xu Zaijing and the others captured four mountain tops with Bai Gao scouts.

Starting from the fourth mountain top, they delayed the Bai Gao army,

fighting while retreating,

Xu Zaijing and the others had already given up two mountain tops and had successfully delayed the Bai Gao army for more than half an hour.

On the mountain top,

watching the infantry's large shields that were no longer moving,

Xu Zaijing rubbed his arms and said to the old scout who followed:

"Brother An, Brother Meng!"

"Fifth Young Master?"

Not far away, the two scouts An Woyi and Meng Xizhou, whose hands were shaking from pulling the bow, looked over.

"You two can go notify the Commander."

Watching A-Lan, who was still repeating the old trick of covering the horses' eyes with about forty horses left on the mountain road, Xu Zaijing continued: "I estimate we can still delay them for quite some time, have the Commander get ready!"

"Fifth Young Master! We are not leaving!"

He Guan to the side shook his head and said: "Can you two still pull the bow?"

The two scouts were speechless.

"Go."

Xu Zaijing said again.

The two scouts An and Meng looked at each other and said with difficulty: "Fifth Young Master, then we are going, don't be reckless!"

Xu Zaijing laughed: "Rest assured, I cherish my life very much!"

Saying this,

Xu Zaijing saw the movement of the Bai Gao infantry in the distance, and even vaguely saw the figures of the fully armed Iron Kites.

The two scouts sent to deliver the order had already mounted their horses and walked down the mountain.

In Xu Zaijing's field of vision, he saw A-Lan release two more pained horses,

and then the galloping horses were shot to the ground by the infantry's strong bows.

At this time, the two large shields in front of the infantry opened a gap!

A rider wearing Iron Kite armor suddenly rushed out.

Xu Zaijing hurriedly nocked an arrow,

but the fierce arrow was blocked by the rider's arm shield.

Subsequently,

the tall, fine horse, half-armored, actually leaped over the horse corpse blocking the road in one jump.

Xu Zaijing looked at A-Lan in the distance who hadn't noticed yet, his eyes anxious.

He turned back to take the long spear from behind the saddle of the little Li horse not far away,

relying on his complete armor,

used the spear butt to slow down, and just slid down the seventy or eighty-degree mountain slope like that.

A trail of dust made A-Lan, who was preparing to lead the horses back down the mountain, look over.

Xu Zaijing landed on the mountain road.

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding on horseback also saw Xu Zaijing coming down from the mountain slope.

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding, behind the Iron Kite armor mask, showed a cruel smile at the corners of his mouth.

He spurred his horse to charge toward this Great Zhou scout who didn't know what was good for him.

Then, as they got closer and closer,

Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding looked at that Great Zhou scout and had a somewhat familiar feeling.

Closer.

More familiar.

Xu Zaijing danced a spear flower and was just about to throw his long spear, but that Iron Kite...

Behind the infantry army,

General Ren Duo, watching the charging Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding skillfully leap over the obstacle, felt full of: I didn't misjudge the person.

Then, in General Ren Duo's field of vision, Zha Jue Zhejue Zhongding looked as if he had seen a ghost, reined in his mount to lift its front hooves, turned around, and... fled in panic??!?

He charged toward the infantry in a very disheveled and fierce manner...

Iron Kites were born to charge the formation...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 394 =====