Chapter 534: Xu Fifth Brother, he is muddled [Thanks! Bow again!

"What are you doing? Where is the owner of these donkeys?"

The thieves, whose weapons had been taken and hands bound, lay to the side. Qingyun and He Guan asked questions while pulling the feathered arrows from their bodies.

Xu Zaijing patted the somewhat restless donkey's neck,

and after calming it down,

he incidentally lifted the cloth covering the wicker basket.

Looking at the things hidden in the basket,

Xu Zaijing's eyes narrowed slightly.

To the side,

Gu Tingye, who was originally watching He Guan and Gao Puyu interrogate them, saw the things Xu Zaijing took out of the wicker basket, and his eyes widened.

Gu Tingye walked to another donkey, looked at the bundles of crossbow arrows in the basket, raised his head in surprise and said: "Zaijing, this, they..."

Xu Zaijing looked at the crossbow accessories in his hand and said: "They were planning to ambush us."

As he spoke, Xu Zaijing turned his head and looked forward,

there were many trees planted on both sides of the official road ahead, some as thick as a bowl, some as thick as a youth's embrace, not sparse, blocking a lot of vision.

The smell of blood had already spread on the road,

the three people shot down, although they were sweating from pain and screaming, they didn't answer the questions asked by Qingyun and He Guan.

Qingyun looked up at Xu Zaijing and said: "Young Master, these three people are like dead soldiers, their mouths are very hard."

Xu Zaijing nodded: "Hmm, stop the bleeding and apply medicine, return to the capital and hand them over to the Imperial City Guard soldiers."

Hearing Xu Zaijing say this,

the expressions of the three people hit by arrows were different,

some breathed a sigh of relief, the whole person relaxed and was dragged away by Qingyun;

some had blood flowing down from the corners of their mouths again, that was blood flowing from their mouths when they sneered;

the oldest one, however, kept his head down, and Xu Zaijing couldn't see any expression.

After his gaze swept over the expressions and attitudes of the three, Xu Zaijing said: "Put on armor and mount horses!"

Great Zhou official road,

beside a brick-earth bridge,

on both sides of the bridge were mounds of earth as tall as a person dug out from dredging,

looking from the mounds, there were trees blocking a lot of vision,

through the gaps in the trees, one could vaguely see dust scattering not far away, and the sound of horse hooves came.

Winter water was scarce, and most of the river ditch under the bridge had dried up, with only a few water pits washed out by the river beside the bridge still glistening with moisture.

Around the water pits, there were many fallen leaves and withered grass. Through the withered grass, one could see that these water pits... were actually dark red.

In the dim bridge hole directly under the brick-earth bridge, several young figures were lying there, and the water pits were stained red by the blood flowing from beneath them.

Not far away, there were bundles of firewood scattered around.

Beside the earth mounds on the river ditch,

there were more than a dozen people holding crossbows and gripping knives crouching there,

these people were all wearing masks, partly to cover their faces, and partly to prevent the white steam they exhaled from being seen.

As the sound of horse hooves grew louder, some people had already started to step on the stirrups at the front of the crossbows, using both hands and feet to load arrows onto the crossbows.

Suddenly,

the sound of horse hooves, which should have been getting closer and closer, disappeared at this time.

This made the dozen or so people behind the earth mounds stop their movements.

Some people on the edge, taking advantage of their positional advantage, quietly looked outside.

In their field of vision, the targets that should have been advancing lightly were now wearing armor, both people and horses.

Xu Zaijing stationed his horse on the official road,

tilted his head and glanced at a reed depression not far away that had been harvested,

and then looked at the ground of the official road more than ten steps away,

and then looked at the earth mounds by the river forty or fifty steps away.

Gu Tingye, wearing armor behind Xu Zaijing, tilted his head curiously and looked forward through the gap in his helmet.

"Zaijing, what's wrong?"

Gao Puyu to the side said: "Second Brother, there are horse-tripping ropes, look, that place where the wind is blowing up dust."

"This road looks flat, who knows if there are pits dug to trap horse legs."

Gu Tingye heard this and looked carefully forward.

Gao Puyu saw Xu Zaijing look back and shouted knowingly: "Fire!"

Soon,

behind them, Gu family personal guards, someone lit several fire feathered arrows tied with flammable grease.

The fire feathered arrows shot out soon ignited the reeds by the road,

the north wind was blowing in winter,

Xu Zaijing and the others were upwind,

the fire borrowed the wind's momentum, and it burned fiercely in a few breaths.

Watching the black shadows fleeing from the depths of the reeds, He Guan beside Xu Zaijing had already drawn his bow and shot arrows at those thieves.

"Second Brother, let's go!"

"Hah!"

Gao Puyu shouted to the side.

Afterward, Gu Tingye followed Gao Puyu, leading the personal guards, riding their horses off the official road, and detouring toward both sides of the bridge mounds.

He Guan and Qingyun rode their horses to detour to the other side,

while riding and running, He Guan and Qingyun also kept drawing their bows and shooting urgently.

Beside the bridge in the distance,

seeing that the matter was exposed,

someone behind the earth mounds shouted loudly, commanding people to go to both sides to use crossbows to defend the flanks.

While everyone was detouring on horseback,

from behind the earth mounds, crossbow arrows were shot out from time to time,

Gu Tingye skillfully used equestrian techniques like hiding in the stirrups, either dodging arrows or drawing his bow.

Xu Zaijing didn't follow the official road, but rode his horse at a trot outside the water-draining ditch on one side of the official road, walking straight toward the bridge.

On the other side, the reed depression was burning fiercely, and black grass and wood ash flew into the air.

"Ding"

"Pop"

From time to time, crossbow arrows shot over were either knocked away or knocked down by Xu Zaijing using the bow arm of his strong bow.

In the gap between the thieves behind the earth mounds loading crossbows, Xu Zaijing would also draw his bow and counterattack.

When he was more than ten steps away from the bridge,

looking at the terrain and environment near the earth mounds, Xu Zaijing dodged a crossbow arrow and fiercely clamped his horse's belly.

The tacit understanding Little Xiao Li Ju immediately accelerated and ran toward the earth slope.

Looking at the Little Xiao Li Ju galloping over,

the thieves behind the earth mounds hurriedly pressed down on the strong crossbows of their companions and shouted in Northern Liao language: "Wait for his mount to go up the slope, the mount's belly has no horse armor!"

The thief companions understood, the horse stepped up the slope, and its belly was no longer facing down, but slightly upward, which was a good opportunity for a volley.

Shoot the horse first to shoot the man, capture the thief first to capture the king!

If the horse is injured or frightened and falls, pressing down on the rider, with such heavy horse armor plus the weight of the horse, no matter how complete the rider's armor is, he is a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

As they spoke,

Xu Zaijing had already approached on horseback,

then,

in the surprised eyes of the thieves, Little Xiao Li Ju suddenly turned direction, becoming sideways to them.

At this time, Xu Zaijing had already inserted his strong bow back into the bow case, held the long spear in reverse with one hand, and with the other hand, he exerted slight force on the saddle, cooperating with his feet standing slightly on the stirrups, and his whole body floated for a moment.

Then, Xu Zaijing just got off the horse directly from the tail of Little Xiao Li Ju.

Throughout the process, Little Xiao Li Ju's belly, which had no horse armor, was never exposed to the crossbow arrows.

"Clatter~"

The long spear danced in Xu Zaijing's hand, blocking the crossbow arrows shot from behind the earth slope.

But it seemed Xu Zaijing's movements made them too surprised, the time of the crossbow arrows being shot was different,

"Ding~"

"Thud~"

Some crossbow arrows were nailed into Xu Zaijing's arm shield, and some were nailed to the front of Xu Zaijing's chest armor.

These crossbow arrows only slightly hindered his footsteps,

Xu Zaijing then walked quickly toward the thieves.

"Woo~"

The whistling sound of the long spear came,

the thief leader who gave the order in Northern Liao language reflexively raised his strong crossbow to block.

"Crack"

The tooth-aching sound of wood tearing rang out, the strong crossbow became a state of broken parts, and the leader was smashed to the ground with his chest sunken.

Stab, thrum, pierce, lift, chop.

The bright spear blade traveled through the thief crowd like a swimming dragon.

Touching it meant heavy injury, and being hit meant death.

As Xu Zaijing moved and shifted, crossbow arrows were shot from behind from time to time.

Some were nailed into Xu Zaijing's armor, and some were shot into the thieves lying on the ground after Xu Zaijing dodged them.

Ten or so breaths later,

because Xu Zaijing broke through from the middle, the thieves behind the riverbank earth mounds were attacked from both front and back, and there was only the fate of fleeing and being chased by Qingyun and He Guan.

"Neigh~"

On the other side of the bridge,

the sound of horse neighing came,

Xu Zaijing hurriedly turned around and ran toward the side where Gu Tingye, Gao Puyu, and the others were detouring.

The thief who had shot at him from behind Xu Zaijing had already disappeared.

Xu Zaijing ran quickly to the other side,

and in his field of vision were a group of thief soldiers with their backs to him, busy volleying at Gu Tingye and the others.

Xu Zaijing was somewhat anxious and wanted to whistle to call Little Xiao Li Ju, but the gorget of his helmet blocked his mouth tightly.

At this time,

"Clatter clatter"

"Pfft~"

Little Xiao Li Ju strolled to his side and snorted.

Xu Zaijing happily patted Little Xiao Li Ju's neck, which was wearing horse armor,

"Hiss!"

The spear butt of the long spear was inserted into the soil,

Xu Zaijing took the strong bow from beside Little Xiao Li Ju's saddle and began to name them one by one.

After no more than four or five arrows,

the thieves with their backs to him were overwhelmed, and soon became the ones being chased by Gao Puyu and the other Gu family personal guards.

Why didn't Gu Tingye go? Because his mount's leg was hit by a crossbow arrow.

In the reed depression beside the official road,

the reeds had already been burned out by the fierce fire, and there were only ashes all over the ground, and a few wisps of blue smoke.

Beside the bridge, where the shouting and killing were rampant just now, it had also returned to the tranquility that should be there on a winter afternoon.

Beside the bridge,

Gu Tingye was giving his mount armor with a look of pity, looking toward Xu Zaijing from time to time.

Not far away, Qingyun and He Guan, each dragging two or three corpses behind their horses, walked over from the other side of the river, leaving a red trail along the way.

Gao Puyu and several Gu family personal guards were also dragging corpses or thieves who were hit by arrows but not yet dead.

Not far in front of Xu Zaijing, a woman with disheveled hair but fair skin and a beautiful face, her eyes like water between her hair strands, clear and charming, was lying on the side with her legs curled up and her body looking seductive.

This woman had a feathered arrow stuck in her shoulder, and her tearful expression was very pitiful.

But Xu Zaijing had no leisure to look at this woman, because when he was charging and killing the thieves with his long spear just now, he was hit by several arrows, which were still stuck in the armor on his back at this time.

Xu Zaijing, with crossbow arrows stuck in his back, looked somewhat funny when seen in the sunset.

After pulling out a crossbow arrow embedded in his chain armor, Xu Zaijing carefully examined the arrow cluster.

After another while,

Gu Tingye came over to help Xu Zaijing remove the crossbow arrows,

Qingyun and He Guan joined the team of collecting corpses,

soon, the thief corpses were neatly arranged, and the injured thieves who were still alive were dragged to the side and tied up.

"Young Master!"

Qingyun's shout came from the river ditch,

Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye tilted their heads and looked,

and saw the corpses of four children, male and female, in rags, moved out from under the bridge.

He Guan looked at the traces around and sighed: "I think these children were picking up firewood nearby, unfortunately saw these thieves, and were silenced by them."

As he spoke,

He Guan walked to the side, took his bow and arrow from his mount, and walked toward the tied-up, still groaning and injured surviving thieves.

"Open your mouth!"

He Guan's cold voice came.

"Thrum!" A sound of bowstring vibration.

After two sounds of bowstring vibration, two more corpses were added beside the row of corpses.

Xu Zaijing said: "Brother He, don't do it yet, someone is coming, don't scare people."

He Guan looked up and saw people walking over tremblingly along the earth mounds by the ditch in the distance.

It was an old man wearing thick clothes and leaning on a crutch.

Walking closer, looking at this scene on the road beside the bridge, the old man didn't know if he was frightened or frozen, swallowed his saliva, held his crutch, and bowed:

"Good heroes, the old man, the old man is an elder of the local village, and once served under the old General Yao of the West Army. I don't know if you good heroes have seen the young children in the old man's village?"

"Age roughly..."

Halfway through the sentence, the old man looked at the scene not far from the bridge and sighed: "Oh my, oh my! This, this, everyone come over and take a look!"

While sighing, he kept thumping the ground with his crutch.

Hearing the old man's shout,

not far behind the old man, several men and women appeared.

Soon,

more and more people gathered around.

Amidst the crying of the children's parents, the villagers gathered nearby, some full of sighs and sadness, and some strong men looked at the woman hit by the arrow not far away and whispered.

The old man who walked up first stood to the side full of admiration, nodding repeatedly and saying: "So it is the personal guards of the Marquis of Yongyi and the Marquis of Ningyuan who are here to eliminate thieves; the old man is rude."

As he spoke, the old man also looked at the strong bows, fine horses, long spears, and armor not far away with envy several times.

Gao Puyu to the side said: "Just now, if the old man hadn't come, we would have gone to look in the vicinity!"

The old man nodded repeatedly.

Xu Zaijing said: "Old man, for the four children in the village who died, when the reward money from the Imperial City Guard comes down, I will have to trouble you to distribute the silver money."

The old man bowed and said: "You can rest assured, the old man will definitely keep it in mind."

Xu Zaijing bowed and said: "Thank you, old man."

At this time, He Guan said: "Old man, we are about to execute these few living thieves on the spot! It's better for the villagers to avoid it."

"This Commander, no need to avoid. Killing thieves here can be considered a comfort to them."

The old man said, looking at the children's families who were still shedding tears.

"Hmm! That's fine!"

As he spoke,

He Guan walked toward the three Northern Liao spies who were tied to the cart and had previously stood beside the donkeys.

The three Northern Liao spies who were tied to the cart and thought they could live until before entering Bianjing, looking at He Guan walking over, had a rare look of cowardice appear in their eyes.

"Let me go! Whatever you want to know, I'll say it!"

One of the spies who didn't speak before said with a slurred voice and a fearful expression. 【53

Someone nearby shouted angrily in the Northern Liao language, seemingly cursing the cowardly person.

Very quickly,

"Zhou dog~"

"Maitreya is in the world!"

After the cursing and praying, there were three sounds of He Guan's bowstring,

Watching the companions still alive by the bridge being executed one by one by He Guan, the woman who had been struck by an arrow saw her expression change from initial determination to slowly becoming unable to look at He Guan.

At the same time, she looked pitifully toward Xu Zaijing, Gu Tingye, and the others.

Gu Tingye licked his lips, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Xu Zaijing's cold gaze and swallowed his saliva.

Subsequently,

when He Guan walked over, grabbed the Northern Liao spy by the hair, and dragged her toward the rows of corpses,

the spy didn't speak at first, appearing calm and waiting for death,

but halfway through being dragged, the spy couldn't care about the arrow wound on her shoulder and began kicking her legs wildly: "I, I, I know many things, many, don't, don't kill me!"

Her voice was shrill.

The old man looked at Xu Zaijing; in this short time, he already knew that among this group of strongmen, it was this young noble son who was in charge.

"Two young masters, several Yuhou, this old man has also spent time in the army and knows that a living, defecting enemy is much more useful than a dead one! So, please let this Yuhou stop!"

As he spoke, the old man looked at the eight feathered arrows not far away, stuck in the ground, their tail feathers trembling against the north wind.

The pungent smell of blood made the old man feel as if he had returned to the battlefield in the Northwest decades ago.

The next day,

in Bianjing City,

at the Duke of England's mansion,

Zhang Wu Niang raised the corners of her mouth slightly, her eyes full of teasing as she looked at everyone in the room, and said: "I heard... that last night, Fifth Brother Xu brought a woman back to the capital!"

"Ah?"

"What?"

The several noblewomen and wives in the room exclaimed one after another.

Various tropes from storybooks and operas—chance encounters, unintended connections, and repaying kindness with one's body—flashed through the minds of certain noblewomen in the room.

Li Wu Niang, who was shortsighted, squinted her eyes, held Yu Yanran's hand, and sighed: "Ah? This, Brother Xu, he, he is muddled!"

(End of chapter)