Chapter 328: Fierce Bandits Raid the Camp

Jiang Jiang Mingyu could not sleep all night, his mind filled with Zhang Zhang Jiaqi's beautiful yet poisonous face. He had clearly already married his beloved Liu Liu Yifei, yet he still could not forget that woman with whom he had once fought side by side.

"Zhang Jiaqi, what exactly are you thinking?" Jiang Jiang Mingyu murmured to himself, "Why must you oppose me? We were once so compatible, risking life and death together. Could all of this have been a lie?"

He recalled the dream from that night in Jizhou City, where Zhang Zhang Jiaqi, dressed in strange attire, appeared before him with an arrogant expression. That dream seemed to have foreshadowed long ago that Zhang Jiaqi would become his enemy.

"But I cannot bear to hurt you..." Jiang Jiang Mingyu's tone was filled with pain, "I truly wish we could still love and rely on each other as we once did."

At that moment, a gust of wind sounded outside the window, causing Jiang Jiang Mingyu to shiver all over. The wind seemed to whisper faintly, "I will make you pay the price..."

"Zhang Jiaqi!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu sat up abruptly; he had clearly heard Zhang Zhang Jiaqi's voice.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu steadied himself, shaking his head in self-mockery. That was merely the sound of the wind outside the window; how could it be Zhang Jiaqi? He was indeed missing her too much, his mind already clouded.

"Forget it, I should go for a walk in the garden; perhaps it will clear my mind." Jiang Jiang Mingyu put on his outer robe and came out into the courtyard.

The night was vast, and a thin mist hung between heaven and earth. Jiang Jiang Mingyu paced alone on the small path, his expression desolate.

"Zhang Jiaqi, I miss you so very much. If time could flow backward, I would surely hold your hand tightly and never let go again..."

"Hahaha, so you regret it now?" A cold female voice sounded by his ear.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu whirled around and saw a familiar figure emerge from the mist—it was none other than the Xi Xia Wang Fei, Zhang Zhang Jiaqi!

She was still as breathtakingly beautiful, wearing magnificent Xi Xia palace robes, a smile playing on her lips.

"Zhang Jiaqi, is this really you!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu looked at her in disbelief.

"Of course it is me, dear Jiang Jiang Mingyu. Did you think you could forget me?" Zhang Zhang Jiaqi stepped closer to him step by step.

"But... but you have already become the Xi Xia Wang Fei... we can never be together again." Jiang Jiang Mingyu said painfully.

"Jiang Jiang Mingyu, I ask you, do you regret it now? Do you regret leaving me behind?" Zhang Zhang Jiaqi lifted his chin.

"I..." Jiang Jiang Mingyu choked, tears swirling in his eyes, "I truly regret it so much..."

Zhang Zhang Jiaqi chuckled softly, "I actually still love you too, but alas, it is too late. I have already married the Xi Xia Emperor, and you have your own Empress. There is no possibility between us anymore."

"No! This is impossible!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu grabbed her hand tightly, "I will never let you leave me a second time! Zhang Jiaqi, leave here with me, let us be together again!"

"Fool, you and I are already beyond our own control." Zhang Zhang Jiaqi smiled sadly, "This is the path we chose ourselves; regretting it now changes nothing."

"Zhang Jiaqi..." Jiang Jiang Mingyu embraced her, tears dripping onto her hair.

"Let go, Jiang Mingyu." Zhang Zhang Jiaqi stepped back, slowly merging into the mist, "We cannot be together; this is fate. Take care..."

"Zhang Jiaqi!!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu reached out to grab her but caught only a wisp of mist. Zhang Zhang Jiaqi had vanished without a trace.

"No!!!!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

Just then, Jiang Jiang Mingyu suddenly woke up from the dream. It turned out that everything just now was merely a hallucination born of his constant longing; his final meeting with Zhang Jiaqi still existed only in that parting dream...

The entire next day, Jiang Jiang Mingyu, with a dizzy and throbbing head, remained groggy, with not a shred of spirit.

At night, exhausted to the extreme, he finally closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The night on the Xi Xia wasteland was cold and dark, with howling winds and chilling air. A group of Xi Xia bandits silently lurked on the hill behind Jiang Jiang Mingyu's camp, peering at the faint lights within the encampment.

The leader of the group was a man with a black face and slanted eyes, his face covered in the marks of wind and frost. He was the chief of this band of bandits—Shi Shi Gandang.

"My lord, this is indeed Jiang Jiang Mingyu's camp," a subordinate confirmed softly.

Shi Shi Gandang sneered, his yellow teeth looking especially ferocious in the darkness, "Of course! I saw Jiang Jiang Mingyu's hateful face with my own eyes! This time we are certainly right!"

"Then, my lord, what are you planning to do?" another subordinate asked, confused.

"What do you think?" Shi Shi Gandang smiled grimly, "What else could it be? Of course, we are going to Jiang Jiang Mingyu's place to demand some military provisions! The brothers have been half-starved these past few days; I must find food for you!"

"But... but Jiang Jiang Mingyu has three hundred thousand troops under his command!" a subordinate said in terror, "How can we possibly stand against them?"

"Rest assured! I have sent people to secretly monitor; most of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's fierce soldiers are already exhausted. Listen, they are sleeping like dead pigs!" Shi Shi Gandang pointed at the pitch-black camp, where heavy snoring could be heard.

Hearing this, everyone's stomachs "gurgle" loudly. Hunger made them lose their reason; they only wanted to find food quickly to fill their bellies.

"Enough, stop talking nonsense! In a moment, follow me closely, sneak quietly around to the back of the camp, and head straight for the rear granary. I guess the grain must be there." Shi Shi Gandang ordered in a low voice, "Fight quickly and decisively, grab the grain and run immediately; do not bring trouble upon yourselves!"

Everyone nodded hurriedly, their eyes turning fierce; their rumbling bellies urged them to charge into Jiang Jiang Mingyu's camp in one go, even if it cost them their lives.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves faintly came through the wind; it was the sentries of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's camp patrolling. Shi Shi Gandang and his men quickly hid behind trees, holding their breath and waiting.

After the sentries walked far away, this group of Xi Xia bandits cautiously emerged from their hiding place.

"Go, follow me!" Shi Shi Gandang crouched low, leading the men toward the rear of the camp.

At this time, the newly risen autumn moon revealed its face from behind the clouds, instantly exposing the figures of this group of bandits on the hillside. Fortunately, no one discovered their movements; Shi Shi Gandang breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace toward the target.

This group of Xi Xia bandits thus silently infiltrated the rear camp of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's army, moving through the dim tents. They finally saw the rear army granary; Shi Gandau's eyes lit up, and he immediately used a crowbar to pry open the granary door lock...

It was their own bad luck; after the events of these two days, Tu Tu Kesiluo had not yet fallen asleep.

He had been pondering how to offer some guidance to Jiang Jiang Mingyu, but not knowing how to start, he simply walked out of the tent to stroll.

After wandering aimlessly for a while, Tu Tu Kesiluo, as if guided by ghosts, arrived at the rear army where the grain was stored.

Glancing at the tranquil night sky, he was just about to turn back when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He clearly heard, in the darkness not far away, extremely faint footsteps moving toward him.

Thinking that he had walked for over half a month and basically hadn't seen a single breathing creature, Tu Tu Kesiluo couldn't help but frown slightly.

"What is going on?"

At this moment, Tu Tu Kesiluo, who had been observing secretly, suddenly twitched an eyelid—this group was nothing more than ordinary bandits here to steal grain!

"After all this trouble, it's just some unknown small fry; how boring!" Tu Tu Kesiluo muttered inwardly. But then he thought, even a mosquito is meat; it was just right to break the fast.

At this time, the leading big man was anxiously rushing around between the granaries, becoming increasingly irritable, "Damn it! Where the hell is the military grain hidden? Find it for me quickly!"

The small minions behind him also grew anxious, fearing they would be discovered by Jiang Jiang Mingyu's army if they delayed too long.

"Big brother, we should retreat quickly. This place is too big; how can we find the grain?" a small minion suggested.

"Go to hell with retreating! I must find the military grain, otherwise we will starve to death in the wilderness!" Shi Shi Gandang said viciously, "You brats, search properly for me! Starve to death in the wilderness!"

Everyone, helpless, could only search in all directions. After a long time, they still found nothing, and each one was extremely anxious.

"Damn it! Where the hell is this hidden!" Shi Shi Gandang flew into a rage, "Jiang Jiang Mingyu hid the grain too deep; we have no chance! Retreat quickly!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and was just preparing to leave when they heard a cold sneer from behind, "Want to leave? Not so easy!"

It turned out that Tu Tu Kesiluo had led men to encircle from all four directions and eight corners, trapping the bandits so tightly that not even water could leak through.

"You bandits, dare you come to rob the military grain of my Great Steppe Iron Cavalry?" Tu Tu Kesiluo crossed his arms, "It is simply seeking death!"

Shi Shi Gandang's face changed at once, knowing he could not escape this calamity today. Yet he still forced his spirit up and said, "You... who are you? We have no grudge against you, let us go!"

"No grudge?" Tu Tu Kesiluo sneered, "The grain of my Great Steppe is your very grievance! Brothers, attack, cut these bandits to death!"

No sooner had the words fallen than countless Iron Cavalry warriors surged out from all four directions and eight corners, rushing straight toward them.

"It's over, run!!" A chill ran down Shi Shi Gandang's back, and he hurriedly fled toward the small path they had come from.

But soon they discovered the small path had long been blocked off layer by layer. These bandits were trapped within the encirclement, with no road to escape.

"This... my lord... do... do not kill us, we dare not do it again, we dare not do it again..."

At this moment, even if each of them had grown eight heads, they would not be enough for Tu Tu Kesiluo and the others to chop.

Tu Tu Kesiluo sheathed his long sword and spoke coldly.

"Two paths: either I, this prince, will execute you on the spot right now, ending the threat forever."

"Or surrender to my army, pledge loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor of Great Da Jiang; not only will you keep your small lives, but you will not have to endure hunger and cold in the future."

Originally he had intended to execute all these people, but just now, he suddenly recalled Jiang Jiang Mingyu's actions from half a month ago.

They were all local bullies nearby; they could be said to know the situation of Other Xi Xia very well; perhaps they would be useful at some point?

Those fierce bandits hardly thought at all, directly speaking with seven mouths and eight tongues toward Tu Tu Kesiluo.

"We wish to surrender; we, these ones, wish to submit to His Majesty the Emperor of Great Da Jiang."

"Since you are willing to surrender to Great Da Jiang, then you must thoroughly reform your past errors; from now on, you shall be one member of my army." Tu Tu Kesiluo said in a deep voice, "I will give you a chance to prove yourselves."

Shi Shi Gandang nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, my lord, for lifting your hand lightly; we will surely serve His Majesty and repay with our lives!"

Those little underlings also kowtowed like pounding garlic: "We are grateful to my lord, grateful to His Majesty!"

Tu Tu Kesiluo sneered once: "Grateful? I see you are merely afraid of death. But as long as it is useful, I will hand you over to His Majesty for disposal."