Chapter 432: Twin Ditch Alley Fight

The big man who had spoken first cupped his fists and said, "The Feng family has shown our Cheng family great kindness, but the Chengs are natives of Pizhou. If we offend Zhao Jin, we'll face huge trouble both officially and behind the scenes. The lives of our entire household, young and old, cannot be gambled with. I must ask you all and Master Li to understand. The Cheng family will also send someone to apologize to the Old Master and the Grand Old Master."

After saying these polite formalities, the big man spurred his horse forward a few steps and shouted, "Master Jin and all you masters of the Zhao Character Camp! The Cheng family didn't know Master Jin was here. This is a misunderstanding. The Cheng men will leave now and send generous gifts to make amends later. We hope Master Jin will not take offense. We're leaving now!"

After speaking, this big man of the Cheng family turned his horse around, gave a shout, and the fifty-odd riders followed him away.

The faces of the several Feng family men were utterly grim. One of them looked back and said, "Everyone, if any of you want to leave, just say the word. We'll go back and explain to Master Li."

Though the remaining men's faces showed caution, none wanted to leave. A man in the front row chuckled coldly and said, "The Cheng family are locals. They may have a big estate, but their guts are small. Without Master Li's patronage, how could Old Pi here earn his keep in Pizhou? Old Pi isn't leaving!"

"My Lai family has served at the Old Master and Grand Old Master's side for generations. We were sent out to earn some easy silver, but sooner or later we'll go back. How could I leave!" a slightly plump man said with a laugh.

"If the Grand Old Master hadn't shown us mercy, our whole crew could never have gotten into the salt business, could never have lived so well. I know what's good for me, and none of my brothers will leave!" a big man wearing a wolfskin coat inside-out said gruffly.

The several Feng family men looked deeply moved. One shouted loudly, "I'll remember the loyalty of you all! When the time comes, I'll tell Master Li, tell the Old Master and Grand Old Master. None of you brothers will be treated poorly! That Cheng family doesn't know what's good for them — they won't live much longer. When the time comes, we'll all carve them up together!"

Someone cheered, and everyone roared with laughter. The man from the Lai family added, "Who cares if it's Zhao Jin or Li Jin? Anyway, they're few in number, and it's pitch black here. We'll do them in while it's chaos, then loot this damn place and leave. Who'll know it was us?"

The Feng family's leader nodded and shouted, "Charge in! Five taels of silver per head, and countless other spoils! Charge in!"

The crowd roared in agreement. They didn't even bother forming ranks. They threw their torches ahead first, drew their weapons, and of the dozen-plus men, only one held a torch for light — the rest all prepared for battle.

Small fires blazed up on the ground one by one. This group hadn't yet grown completely reckless; they didn't start by setting fires to burn everything. After all, this town had several thousand people — going too far could easily cause trouble.

"Zhao Jin's group is right inside the town! There's light over there — you can see the horses!" someone shouted.

In the pitch-black night, even a single point of light was conspicuous. Before Zhao Jin's squad had scattered, they'd tossed their torches in one spot and left the horses there too. From a distance, it looked like the main force was all gathered there.

Though the streets inside the town weren't wide, they were still broad enough for mounts to charge. With so many riders, if they just charged through, how could anyone possibly stop them?

"Per head..." someone was still shouting words to boost morale, but before he could finish, an arrow came whistling in — *thwip* — and shot him dead off his horse.

Bowstrings twanged, arrows shrieked. The mounted squad the Feng family had assembled all carried torches for light, making them perfect targets in the darkness.

Over a dozen men screamed and fell from their horses. Some were killed outright; others were merely struck.

"On the rooftops! Someone's shooting arrows!" Everyone quickly figured out where the arrows were coming from and shouted at the top of their lungs.

But amid the shouting, the shriek of arrows tearing through the air never stopped. More men screamed as they were hit. The cavalrymen crowding the road were far too easy to hit, while those on horseback found it nearly impossible to spot where the archers were.

The riders knew how to shoot too. Some roughly judged the direction and, from horseback, nocked arrows and shot back. But the men on the rooftops simply ducked down after firing, making themselves even harder to spot.

"Break through!" The scene was total chaos. The leader shouted for them to charge inward, thinking that once they got inside, the archers would no longer matter.

Zhao Jin stood silently, pressed flat against a wall. The riders charging into the town simply surged toward the center, paying no attention at all to the narrow alleyways along the roadside — which were really just the gaps between two houses.

"They really think this is catching turtles in a jar!" Zhao Jin muttered. He stepped out, spear in hand, and thrust fiercely. The main body of riders was jammed together on the road, nearly at a standstill. Zhao Jin's thrust struck a rider on the edge right in the ribs. He stabbed in and pulled out; blood gushed, and the man slumped sideways off his horse.

The moment one man was killed, those beside him noticed. By the torchlight, they could naturally see the ambusher in the narrow alley.

"Someone's hiding in there!" someone shouted. There was no way to turn a horse around, but seeing a comrade killed, fury boiled over. On top of that, their blood was already up from the earlier rousing. Men simply grabbed their weapons, dismounted, and charged into the narrow alley. The figures inside turned and ran, which only made the pursuers more aggressive.

The ambushers in the narrow alley didn't run fast — it looked like they were about to be caught. The pursuers were just thinking, *five taels per head*, when they saw the men ahead turn around. By the light from outside, they could see the man in front holding a long spear. In such a cramped space, how could they dodge? They had walked right onto the road to their deaths!

Before they could even finish the thought, the man before them strode forward, spear thrusting out. The move was swift and fierce — no way to evade. He was run clean through. The man behind him got splashed full in the face with blood and froze for just an instant — and in that instant, the spear stabbed in again.

The third man had already turned to flee, but the man behind was faster. The long spear drove straight into his back. In the blink of an eye, three men were dead. Someone finally managed to turn his horse around and, with a roar, spurred it charging in. Cavalry against foot soldiers, striking from above — there was no way to lose.

But in this narrow alley, the horse couldn't pick up any speed at all. The man from before had run a few steps, then actually stopped, turned back around, and attacked again. One spear thrust stabbed straight into the horse's body. Maddened by pain, the horse bucked and thrashed wildly, smashing straight through the nearest wall. But the rider had already been thrown off and trampled by a hoof — he couldn't move anymore.

Screams rang out everywhere. In the streets and narrow alleys of the town, in the darkness beyond the torchlight, attackers darted out unpredictably. Caught completely off guard, the casualties were devastating.

These fighters were extremely slippery. Whether their strike hit or missed, they turned and fled immediately. Anyone who chased after them found that the opponent's skill and equipment were both formidable — of those who pursued, very few ever came back out.

On a street near the open ground, a fat, burly man drew his blade, cut down one man, then turned and retreated inside. This street was a bit wider than the others, and his steps were slightly slower. The Lai family subordinate closest to him spotted an opening, and three men dismounted and followed him in. Just as they were about to catch up, the fat, burly man turned around. One cleaving blow to the head cut down the man slightly ahead of the others. In the same motion, he swung his long blade sideways, knocking aside the second man's podao, and the edge sliced his throat open. The third man never imagined this man was a god of death; his instinct was to flee, and he was run straight through by the long blade.

Who could have imagined this man would be so ferocious? For a moment, no one dared advance, and they let him walk away into the distance.

"No one's over here — it's an ambush!"

When they charged into the center of the town, they saw it was filled with riderless mounts, scattered luggage, and torches tossed in haphazard piles here and there. Coupled with the screams and wails echoing from all over the town, their immediate thought was that they had fallen into a trap.

"Pull back, pull back!" someone shouted. Ever since entering, they hadn't achieved a single thing. It felt like attackers were bursting out from everywhere. They couldn't stay here any longer.

But this retreat only caused greater chaos. The streets were narrow — turning a mount around was no easy task. The archers, who had only just stopped shooting, began firing again. The ambushers who had hidden in the alleys earlier now charged out to wreak havoc. For a moment, men and horses tumbled in disarray. Some riders simply spurred their horses forward and charged straight out the other side of the town.

The town fell quiet. Even the prominent local households who had some able-bodied men, or those figures who walked the rivers and lakes — all of them trembled with fear and dared not step outside. People were fighting and dying out there, but at least no one had broken down doors or entered courtyards. Better for everyone to just play the turtle and keep their heads pulled in.

They had entered with ferocious momentum, but when they regrouped outside the town, they were utterly bedraggled. Fortunately, quite a few had spurred their horses out the other side and circled around to rejoin the group.

At the start, there had been over three hundred riders. After the Cheng family left, over two hundred remained. But now, there were at most two hundred men. Mounted bandits always got an extra share when dividing loot in the gangs. The riders brought here were the main force and elite of every group — the heart's blood of the leaders. Losing so many at once left every one of them aching with pain.

That Old Pi, who had been so boastful earlier, now had an extremely ugly look on his face. The leader of the salt gang had taken an arrow in the arm. Only the Lai family man was still relatively intact, though even he was covered in dirt and dust.

"Feng family brothers, this time I've lost my capital. I really can't afford any more losses. If we keep this up, forget about future business — I'll first..." Old Pi said in a sullen voice.

He was cut off mid-sentence by the Lai family man: "If you leave now, do you think Zhao Jin will let you off later? Where in this world is anything that easy?"

Old Pi's face grew even uglier. The salt gang man said sullenly, "Old Lai, you're a house-born servant of the Feng family. Us brothers don't have your luck..."

"If you're going to do it, see it through! Whatever you've lost, the Feng family will make it all up to you! The Feng family keeps its word and never mistreats those who shed blood to help!" the Lai family man said through gritted teeth.

As he spoke, he shot glances at the several Feng family men. The leader hesitated for a moment, then nodded solemnly and said, "Everyone, you've put your capital on the line. The Feng family will not..."

A startled cry suddenly rang out. From the intersection, several dozen men came charging out with battle cries. Not only were their formations orderly, but they were fully equipped with both long and short weapons. On the flanks, a few men ran while pausing to stand, nock arrows, and draw their bows.

After pulling back, the Feng family men had all dismounted. This was standard practice for riders — you had to conserve the horses' strength at all times. Besides, no one thought Zhao Jin and his men in the town would dare charge out. They assumed they were hiding in the town, turtled up, and that coming out would mean certain death.

The moment Zhao Jin's side charged out, the Feng faction fell into utter panic. The fighting inside the town had taught them a harsh lesson, making them feel they were no match in foot combat. And now, in this situation, it was even worse — when mounted men fought those on foot at close quarters, the cavalry lost all advantage.