Chapter 755: Night March

Before the sky went completely dark, the Zhao Battalion's horse troop, guided by scouts, arrived at a hamlet three li from the official road. Like the Shi Family Stockade, this place was also an earthen fort with deep ditches and high walls.

But this household had not lost its head like the Shi family. Seeing Zhao Jin's several hundred riders and nearly a thousand horses bearing down with such ferocious momentum, they immediately shrank back in terror and dared not show themselves.

Zhao Jin and his men did not attack the stockade either. They simply set up camp against the eastern side of the earthen fort. Only when the people hiding behind the mud walls saw the Zhao Battalion's retainers dismount and settle in did they dare to peek out slightly. And once they spotted the bows and arrows the men carried, the last shred of wishful thinking in their hearts vanished entirely.

With so many bows bearing down on them, the high walls and deep ditches of this earthen fort could not stop the other side at all. They need only suppress the wall-top with arrows, and the rest could cross the ditch at their leisure, scale the wall, lower the drawbridge, and open the stockade gate. Once the gate was open, how could the common folk and able-bodied men inside the stockade deal with the tigers and wolves in full iron armor outside?

Realizing this, the people inside the earthen fort actually relaxed a bit. They even dared to show themselves and ask the good heroes' origins and intentions, adding that as long as the hamlet was not ravaged, they would not stint on whatever tribute was required.

The Zhao Battalion's horse troop naturally had no interest in such a tiny hamlet. The conditions Zhao Jin set were to let the Zhao Battalion's retainers go inside to draw water from the well, borrow firewood, straw, and cooking stoves to prepare meals, and then for the hamlet to remain sealed all night — no opening the hamlet, no letting outsiders in. After saying this, he directly tossed in ten taels of silver.

When that silver ingot was thrown in, it startled the militia on the wall inside the earthen fort. When they picked it up and saw it was silver, their eyes went wide.

With both sides being so straightforward and sensible, the earthen fort dared not be remiss. They hurriedly opened the gate to let people in. Although it was confirmed that they had been cowed into submission, the Zhao Battalion's retainers still dared not slacken in the slightest. Apart from not riding horses, every man was fully armed. That full suit of iron armor plus long blades and long spears intimidated the hamlet's laborers and able-bodied men even more. The several men of the leading wealthy household could barely speak coherently.

But what utterly astonished this earthen fort was that such a formidable armed force did not demand any money or valuables, nor any women to serve them. They merely supervised the laborers inside the fort as they carried buckets of well water out one by one, then sent out the stoves, firewood, and straw, and watched them seal every gate, raise the drawbridge again. Then another silver ingot was tossed in from outside.

Gleaming white silver — whether weighed or bitten, it could not be seen as fake. Calculating the weight, the fort had actually made a profit on the little they gave. Besides, the stoves were only borrowed for a day, not taken for good. The earthen fort truly did not lose out this time. Just whose troops were these, so mighty and so generous?

They had originally thought to ask, but then they saw several dozen riders return to the ranks. By the light of the campfires, they could see that the returning men were carrying over a dozen human heads in their hands. They were truly terrified into cold dread and dared ask nothing at all, only hoping that the baleful stars below would leave quickly at dawn — otherwise disaster would surely befall them.

"Their riding skill is decent, and a few have good fighting ability, but those are all skills for fighting alone. They didn't even have a second horse. Once we really caught up, they were as good as dead." Ji Xiang spoke very casually.

Those small bands of riders looked swift and fierce, but against the Zhao Battalion's horse troop — which had received proper training and had no shortcomings or weaknesses — they did not have the slightest chance of victory. Even if they tried to flee, they could not outrun the Zhao Battalion, where each man had two horses and could maintain pursuit speed indefinitely. Their deaths were inevitable.

The dozen-plus heads brought back were of no use to Zhao Jin, so they were simply dumped outside the camp. The night was deep and dark, and there was no one around to see them. But the other small bands of riders never showed themselves again. They had already learned the Zhao Battalion's methods and seen the consequences of taking the risk. With their capital so small, they naturally dared not enter the fray.

"Small squads are nimble, so they dare to spread out and search, hoping to come early and snatch some advantage. But a large force is different — they can't afford the delays. If they want to intercept us, they can only take fixed routes and go to fixed places." The campfires blazed. After Zhao Jin and his companions had inspected the camp's defenses, they sat around the fire to discuss.

When a large force of cavalry moves, their provisions and routes cannot be handled carelessly; otherwise, chaos easily ensues. Not to mention other things, if such a large cavalry force spread out to search randomly, they would easily scatter themselves and easily alert unrelated local powers. After all, not everyone could race down the official road like the Zhao Battalion from Xuzhou.

Zhao Jin fixed his gaze on Ji Xiang and Liu Yong and said, "Tonight, send out everyone with the best riding skill, the best fighting ability, and the most familiarity with this area. I reckon the force that should be coming this way is less than thirty li from us now."

Ji Xiang and Liu Yong accepted the order and went to make arrangements. Chen Sheng sat there in silence for a moment, then spoke: "How many men will come to intercept us tomorrow?"

"The number of our men and horses can't be hidden. A few hundred riders certainly wouldn't dare block us. They'd have to scrape together at least a thousand or so riders before daring to make a move. With a heavy reward of tens of thousands of taels, even split among several groups it's still a considerable sum. Plenty of powers will surely be tempted."

Chen Sheng nodded, then stood and said, "I'll go check on the men below. You rest a while first."

Watching Chen Sheng's retreating figure, Zhao Jin smiled and shook his head. Ever since they had rescued Xiaolan, his companions had deliberately made time for the two of them to be alone. After all, everyone was still young, and some things were done a bit rigidly. But on this journey, hurrying back north and fighting desperately at every turn, what leisure did they have to rekindle old feelings?

That said, the moment they reunited at the Zeng Family Manor, the past had indeed surged into their hearts. Everyone had been moved and emotional. But afterward, Zhao Jin also realized that neither he nor Mu Shulan were the young boy and girl of those years anymore. Each had changed a great, great deal.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jin turned his head to look at Mu Shulan. During their council after setting up camp, Mu Shulan had been quietly listening right behind him. Everyone felt it was perfectly natural, as if it had been this way from the very start.

Mu Shulan had heard everything just said. The girl's expression was very calm. Sensing Zhao Jin looking at her, she raised her head and met his eyes, then suddenly spoke: "Brother Xiaojin, if we can't make it back to Xuzhou this time, I'll just die together with you."

Her tone was very calm, as if she were not speaking of life and death at all. Zhao Jin was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood. Mu Shulan had heard what was said about over a thousand riders blocking the way ahead. Their own side had just over four hundred riders, while ahead there were a thousand. Such a balance of forces could hardly be called optimistic.

Mu Shulan had never seen the fighting strength of the Zhao Battalion's iron cavalry. When the Zeng Family Manor was bathed in blood, the girl had been inside the prison. After that, she had simply followed the main force all the way south. As for the battle at the Shi Family Stockade, it was truly not worth mentioning — she reckoned the Incense-Smelling Sect's people could have managed that much too.

With these judgments, four hundred against over a thousand — the smaller force was clearly at an absolute disadvantage. No wonder Mu Shulan was so pessimistic and despairing.

What truly made Zhao Jin's heart clench was the calm in Mu Shulan's eyes, and the flat, indifferent tone when she spoke of going to her death. The girl's experiences these past few years were hardly as light and untroubled as she made them seem.

But Zhao Jin still smiled. He reached out and ruffled the top of Mu Shulan's head, saying with a laugh, "Die? What do you mean die? Do you think that just because they have a thousand riders and we have four hundred, we'll be the ones to suffer?"

Mu Shulan was very composed at this moment, and did not pretend to be naive in her reply. She simply said, "Brother Xiaojin, four hundred against a thousand — we would suffer a great loss. Is there really no way for us to turn back or go around now?"

This judgment was not wrong in the slightest. For a girl of this era, knowing this much was already exceptionally outstanding. But Zhao Jin's smile only grew broader; it was just that the camp was quiet at night, so he held back his laughter.

Mu Shulan's brows furrowed, and a look of anger appeared on her face. Her voice turned very cold as well: "Brother Jin, Xiaolan is not a child anymore."

Although Mu Shulan tried to turn her head and shake off Zhao Jin's hand, Zhao Jin still tousled her hair a few more times, then pointed toward the Zhao Battalion retainers who were busy standing guard and said, "Xiaolan, my retainers eat their fill, train diligently, and are well-equipped. What do they live for? To kill the enemy, fight battles, and win. But what are the men blocking us living for? They live for eating, drinking, and pleasure — for running roughshod, throwing their weight around, and lording it over others. They are unwilling to train during the time they spend on pleasure and bullying. They are unwilling to take the money they spend on feasting and entertainment to buy weapons and iron armor. How can a thousand such men compare to my four hundred?"

"Brother Jin, Brother Xiaojin, you..."

Mu Shulan could not quite accept what Zhao Jin was saying; she was clearly struggling to keep up.

Zhao Jin did not explain in detail. He only said with a smile, "Tomorrow you'll understand."

That night, Mu Shulan did not sleep well. What surprised her was that the Zhao Battalion's horse troop remained as disciplined as ever. On this journey, Mu Shulan had heard and seen a great deal. She knew that the news of a large force of a thousand riders blocking the way tomorrow was something the entire horse troop should be aware of. Yet everyone, from top to bottom, was perfectly calm, as if they did not know there would be a great battle tomorrow against a foe that outnumbered them, as if from start to finish this was merely a sightseeing tour to the south.

During the night, they rested in shifts and squads, rotating roughly every two double-hours. The sound of hoofbeats rang out unceasingly — those were the scouts outside returning with reports nonstop.

Mu Shulan knew that the men guarding her were Zhao Jin's personal guards. One of them, it seemed, was even Sun Dalei's younger brother. These two stood guard beside her, while Zhao Jin did not sleep the entire night.

In this hazy, half-conscious state, Mu Shulan drifted into slumber. But she had not been deeply asleep for long before someone nudged her awake. Zhao Jin's personal guard told her in a low voice that it was time to move out.

Bleary-eyed, Mu Shulan was draped in a felt blanket and helped onto a horse. Only after traveling for a while did the girl fully wake. She had thought daybreak was near, but she had not expected it to still be deep in the night. Looking up to gauge the moon's position, Mu Shulan realized she had slept less than half a double-hour. There were still at least two double-hours until dawn...

No one made a sound. Everyone rode forward in silence. Were they going to break through the blockade ahead under cover of night? But why not ride faster? The horse troop was only moving at a trot, and after traveling a stretch, everyone hurriedly switched horses again. Every so often along the way, they would also bring out grain to feed the horses.

After traveling like this for who knows how long, Mu Shulan noticed the troop beginning to split up. She herself was with Zhao Jin's unit.

After all, she had first been unable to sleep at night, and then had been woken later. Mu Shulan's drowsiness grew heavier and heavier, until finally she could not help but doze off on horseback.

Thanks to old friends "User Cold Night," "Misty and Ethereal," "User 282381994," "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," "Grain Rain Is Actually Lesser Fullness," and "Sweet Sugarcane" for the tips, and thank you everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.