Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Black Cavalry Pursuit and Kill

The Back Cang Village before them was like a ruin; Han Ming and the others ran into the village as if mad, and looking at the pile of charred corpses before them, they could already imagine what had happened. The two men rushed into every corner of the village, hoping to still find a trace of survivors, but after searching the whole village only the sound of the two of them remained.

"Go, kill one, let one go to find the rest of the people."

The sound of horse hooves interrupted Han Ming and the other's grief; the two understood these were the murderers left behind to mop up survivors, and without a word they raised their sabers and went to fight for their lives. In a single clash with the Black Cavalry, both Han Ming and his companion were wounded. Han Ming realized the two of them were simply no match at all.

"Run, if this goes on we'll both die, find Chief Han, avenge us." Han Ming shoved the other hunter away; he had already resolved to buy time with his life. The village's extermination had left this man with no hope for the world; his family, his children were all gone, he wanted to try using his life to take revenge.

"Ah, you heaven-damned butchers, I'll fight you to the death." Han Ming used his body to block the blade; the saber cleaved a great gash across his chest, flesh and skin rolling open. Han Ming backhanded a saber strike with all his strength onto the Jiao Horse; the Jiao Horse neighed in pain, its hooves kicking him flying. Seeing the Jiao Horse wounded, and by a mere ant at that, the Black Cavalryman held nothing back either, yanking the horse's head around, the hooves stomping straight for Han Ming's head. Han Ming rolled to dodge the trampling; his saber had just been kicked away, so he bit down directly on the horse's leg with his teeth.

The Jiao Horse neighed in agony; the Black Cavalryman was also enraged, one saber stroke lopped off Han Ming's head. Han Ming's eyes stayed open; he was unwilling, his teeth still clamped on the Jiao Horse, the severed head still not letting go. The Black Cavalryman hated he couldn't hack Han Ming to pieces; this damn bug actually still dared resist, venting his spleen he slashed at Han Ming's head, hacking it to a bloody pulp, the Jiao Horse also torn a chunk of flesh off.

……

"Chief Han, quick, save us, our village is gone!" The hunter, covered in wounds, ran toward the returning village party, wailing as he ran. No matter how great the pain, he had to get the news out first. Everyone helped him up first; the long escape plus his wounds had already exhausted him. The three Black Cavalrymen trailing behind now revealed their figures; cold killing intent foretold ill intent.

"Tsk tsk tsk, looks like the rest are all here, perfect, catch them all in one net, no need to waste more time."

The hunter realized he had done a foolish thing; it was he who had led the murderers here; rage extreme, he vomited blood. Pointing at the Black Cavalry he said: "You have such vicious hearts, actually wanting to slaughter everyone, not leaving a single one. It was them, they slaughtered all the remaining people of our village, Back Cang Village is no more, Chief Han, we must avenge them."

The crowd hadn't fully accepted this news when the three Black Cavalrymen began their charge. Everyone knew this wasn't the time for questions; they picked up weapons preparing to fight to the death. The fortune-telling old Daoist shouted anxiously: "Run, you're no match for them, don't throw your lives away." No one listened to the fortune-telling old Daoist's words.

"So there's a remnant hiding here, brothers, looks like we've hit a big merit this time." The three Black Cavalrymen got excited. Ning Ze and the others' arrows struck the pitch-black armor, all bouncing off. Han Xian's father thrust a spear down, not even a mark was seen, and the Black Cavalryman backhanded a slash, directly knocking him back several big steps. The rest could only barely use the terrain to block the Black Cavalry's attacks.

After a round of probing, everyone's hearts sank to the bottom; this time they might not escape this calamity. Han Xian's father decisively gave the order: "Go, Ning Ze, take them and run first, I'll hold them here, don't get in the way here. You're smart, I hope you understand what you're doing, quick, don't let us down."

Ning Ze knew the situation was dire; his people staying here could do nothing, would only die together; he understood Han Xian's father's resolve, and said: "Three to a group, scatter and flee, go to where Han Xian was surrounded by wolves, don't throw your lives away." Han Xian already understood his father had made a death resolve; he was unwilling to leave, wanted to stay and fight desperately alongside his father. The Black Cavalryman seized the moment, a saber slashing at Han Xian; Han Xian's father blocked a saber with his back, then shoved Han Xian away. Ning Ze turned back and gave Han Xian a direct slap: "You want to fight desperately with your own life, don't go harming others; you stay here, Uncle Han still has to watch over you, who's going to look after Han Er?" Han Xian came to his senses, tears in his eyes, taking Han Er and diving into the thicket.

"Uncle Han, you mustn't die, only living holds hope for revenge." Finished speaking, Ning Ze finally dove into the woods.

"Old brother, Ning kid told us not to die, haha, this time I'm afraid we'll have to fight desperately whether we like it or not, don't know if these old bones can stall long enough to let Ning kid and them escape this calamity." Han Xian's father and the two hunters looked at each other with bitter smiles.

The Black Cavalrymen's eyes turned cold; how come the bugs of this village like to resist so much. Now because of these three people blocking in front, they had to spend effort catching bugs again. The Jiao Horse understood its master's mood, pawing the dirt nonstop, ready to charge at any moment. The Black Cavalrymen also didn't want to delay further, drew short spears and charged as a group.

Han Xian's father and the other two didn't dare take it head-on, weaving around the dense forest's big trees, wanting to neutralize the Black Cavalry's charge advantage. No one expected, a big tree too thick for one man to embrace was directly smashed through; the three hiding behind the tree were flung away by the remaining impact. The three were heavily injured in an instant; luckily the three cavalrymen on the other side had used this charge and were somewhat spent, the Jiao Horse's four hooves also a bit unsteady. The Black Cavalrymen dismounted to fight, drawing short sabers and rushing at the three.

The three gritted their teeth hard, stood up, holding weapons heavy as if poured with lead, already knowing they wouldn't survive.

Ning Ze and them, relying on their familiarity with the terrain, also didn't dare stop for a moment; their bodies torn ragged by thorns, who knows how many wounds scraped open along the way. The fortune-telling old Daoist also followed behind them; now wasn't the time to settle accounts with him, Ning Ze didn't bother with him.

At the valley mouth, only Han Xian's squad was missing. Fortunately, not much time passed before Han Xian came out from inside the valley; he had hidden Han Er in a relatively safe place, Han Da was looking after him.

Everyone looked at Ning Ze; no one could make up their mind. Ning Ze felt the pressure of responsibility for the first time; everyone's lives were practically in his hands. Ning Ze scanned everyone; the young men and women's faces still carried fear and bewilderment; they still couldn't accept the result that the village was gone. Ning Ze knew he couldn't let everyone lose confidence; without something to hold onto, maybe no one would want to live, so he said: "We haven't seen the village yet; only by living can we know what happened to the village; even if the worst outcome occurred, we must live to avenge them."

In an instant, everyone's eyes were ignited by the two words "revenge"; sorrowful emotions were covered by vengeance; at the same time, a thread of hope remained in their hearts. "Ning Ge, you say it, we all listen to you." Wang Pangdun recovered first, his honest voice suppressing madness.

"Pangdun, you and Liu Lv'er set traps at the valley entrance, delay the cavalry's pursuit time; Lan Feng, you three scout the situation, don't get close to the cavalry, remember, don't let them discover you, don't fight head-on. Han Shan Three Brothers go collect combustibles, pile them at the windward spot. Han Xian, you go find the wolf pack; when you see smoke, lure the wolf pack over."

Ning Ze was now very crazy and very calm; he wanted to drive wolves to devour tigers, he didn't want to keep being hunted. After the whole squad's members were all dispatched, only Ning Ze and the fortune-telling old Daoist remained; neither spoke, waiting for the other to open their mouth. Ning Ze didn't want to play dumb, wasting time, couldn't help but say: "Who exactly are you? First meeting, yet able to so familiarly destroy my traps, I knew you must be here for me; what about those cavalrymen's 'remnants'?"

The fortune-telling old Daoist, carrying a hint of world-weariness, said: "Correct, I indeed came for you; your old man commissioned me to take you away. As for who I am, your old man didn't say; obviously he doesn't want you to know. Rest assured, I bear you no ill will. The cavalry's 'remnants', that's not something you can understand right now; your old man is one of them." Speaking of remnants, the fortune-telling old Daoist's mouth held a thread of mockery, seemingly not acknowledging those two words.

Ning Ze hated this kind of hiding and concealing; asked two questions, not a single direct answer, continued asking: "This can't be said, that can't be said, what can you tell me? Also, why won't the old man come back, and you won't take me away either?"

The fortune-telling old Daoist was silent a while, still told Ning Ze some things: "The old man might also be being hunted; whether he can return nobody knows; these cavalrymen are all just small fry. Although I was commissioned to take you away, unless absolutely necessary I don't want to take you away; once I take you away, branded with the 'remnant' label, you'll be hunted for life. These past days, I've been investigating, found no one tracking here, felt your old man was worrying unnecessarily, planned to wait a while then leave; didn't expect these people's claws and teeth still found this place."

When Ning Ze learned these pursuing cavalry were just some claws and teeth, he couldn't imagine what kind of existence lay behind them. Suppressing his own guesses, thinking calmly, instead of worrying about the person behind, better think about how to survive now, and said: "You say these are small fry; how do you plan to deal with them? You've been made by them now; if you're hunted, we're just collateral, right?"

Embarrassment floated onto the fortune-telling old Daoist's face: "Although they're small fry, I can't beat them; to survive we still have to rely on you yourselves. Ning kid, what's with that look? My ability doesn't lie in killing people, you understand?"

Hearing the old Daoist's words, Ning Ze's anger had nowhere to go; truly good-for-nothing at everything, bragging top-tier, he looked at the fortune-telling old Daoist with disdain, and said: "Then what use are you? You came to take me away; now you need me to take you away instead, even becoming my burden; sure enough, just as unreliable as the old man."

Leaving the scolded, bewildered old Daoist behind, Ning Ze hurried to think of a way. The three knights had already dealt with the obstacles, following the traces Ning Ze and them left behind all the way. The three, with high skill and bold courage, one pursued each path; the one chasing Ning Ze's path was most unlucky, along the way who knows how many traps left behind, making that cavalryman furious nonstop; the woods often echoed with his roars.