Chapter 75: Encounter
Editor: Atlas Studios
At midnight, it was the quietest time of the night. As Mu Yangling led them along the road, they could only hear their own breathing and footsteps, so any sudden sound would appear especially abrupt.
When Mu Yangling heard the clicks, she raised her hand to stop everyone. She brought the six of them and hid behind a tree on the side of the road. Liu Li whispered, “What’s wrong?”
“There’s the sound of hooves.”
Liu Li and the others looked at each other in anticipation and fear. If it were the Han Chinese, they would have a messenger. But if it were the Hus…
Mu Yangling waved her hand for everyone to lower their bodies. This time, even without her reminder, everyone heard the sound of horse hooves.
A group of ten cavalrymen passed by them. Under the reflection of the snow, Mu Yangling could see very clearly that they were wearing Hu costumes. Mu Yangling’s expression changed slightly. The ones heading south were actually Hu cavalrymen?
Then how could they possibly escape?
Mu Yangling clenched her fists as she waited for the ten cavalrymen to run far away before coming out from behind the tree. Glancing in the direction where the cavalrymen had left, she said, “There’s no need to look in front. The Hu cavalrymen are most likely going to scout the way ahead. Let’s look behind. Cousin Li, go back and inform my father and the others to immediately bring everyone onto the main road and advance towards the county with all their might.”
Liu Xuan said in surprise, “But there are Hu cavalrymen in front. What if they turn back?”
A vicious glint flashed across Mu Yangling’s eyes. She looked at Liu Yong and said, “You’re my best student when it comes to setting up the traps. Take the three of them and run forward for half an hour. Set up traps in the middle of the road, digging five small pits side by side, leaving a distance of three steps between them. It should only be as deep as a fist.” As she spoke, she took a bundle of rope from her waist and handed it to him. “Place the rope in front of the traps. Once you see them riding back, pull the rope up. After they fall into the trap, run into the forest. However, I don’t think it’s likely that you’ll encounter them before I come back, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
Liu Yong, who dared to sell his younger brother and sister at the tender age of nine, was publicly acknowledged as a heartless person in Nearhill Village. He took the rope from Mu Yangling’s hand and looked at her solemnly as he asked, “Do you trust me that much?”
Mu Yangling nodded. “I trust you. Your parents and brother are still at the back.”
Liu Yong felt a lump in his throat. He tightened his grip on the rope and looked up at her seriously, then said word by word, “Don’t worry. Even if I die, I’ll make sure they leave their horses behind.”
If the cavalrymen did not have horses, they would not be so terrifying.
The corners of Mu Yangling’s lips curled up slightly. After sending them off, she brought the remaining two people to investigate the back.
After walking for about 35 minutes, they saw flames soaring into the sky from afar. Liu Xuan pounded the ground in hatred. “These barbarians!”
Mu Yangling looked deeply for a while before saying, “Let’s go. They burned this village down, so they’ll definitely move forward.”
The three of them hurriedly rushed back, but the people of Nearhill Village had already fallen into chaos. The Hus who had burned down West Mountain Village had already caught up from the path. All the people who had stayed behind to guard their property had been killed, and the village had been burned down.
The villagers, who had just walked onto the main road, turned around and saw that their houses had turned into a sea of fire. They immediately cried out loud. Mu Shi was so angry that his face turned ashen. He shouted, “What are you crying for? Hurry up and run forward in teams. Hurry!”
Also anxious, Liu He hurriedly handed his youngest grandson to his eldest son and shouted, “Everyone, leave quickly! Hurry! The Hus are about to catch up.”
Recalling the Hus’ rebellion 12 years ago, everyone wiped their tears and gritted their teeth as they ran forward.
However, how could the villagers, who were dragging their luggage and bringing the old and young, outrun the Hus? Five or six Hus with sabers dashed out from Nearhill Village and went forward to slash people randomly.
Heads rolled to the ground, their eyes still wide open.
The team walking at the backmost was instantly thrown into chaos.
Hearing the commotion in front, Mu Shi shouted, “Where’s the young and strong? Didn’t I ask you to protect the square formation?”
Liu He’s face was ashen. Everyone immediately sprinted ahead when they saw the Hus, leaving the old, weak, women, and children behind. How could they resist?
As Mu Shi pushed the cart forward, he looked at his wife and children in the cart. In the end, he gritted his teeth, lowered his head and walked forward, ignoring the people at the back.
He might be able to save them if he gave up his wife and children to go to the back, but once he lowered this cart, he might be separated from them forever.
Regardless of whether the Hus would catch up or not, in such a chaotic situation where people’s movements were restricted, they could be squeezed off the cart and be trampled upon at any time. Mu Shi could not help but tell himself that he was not his parents. He had to be responsible for his wife and children first.
Face covered in tears, Shu Wanniang hugged the children in her arms tightly, not daring to ask her husband to turn around and save the people at the back.
At this moment, even Liu He and the others could not turn around. They could only try their best to get the young men with families behind to turn around and save them. However, because they did not know how many Hus were behind them, very few people dared to go back.
When Mu Yangling, Liu Xuan, and Liu Dazhuang arrived, they only saw six Hus slaughtering the villagers as if they were in an uninhabited place. Those who were slashed and killed didn’t even get a chance to wave their hands to stop them.
This was the first time Mu Yangling had seen a dead person in this world. Before she could react, she fiercely hit a Hu person with the stick in her hand. With her astounding strength, he was knocked to the ground as the stick struck his back. Mu Yangling leaped forward and deftly hooked the saber in his hand with her foot. With a slash, she slit his neck.
The murderous Hus did not notice Mu Yangling and the other two at all and continued to kill in front.
With the saber in hand, Mu Yangling went forward to kill another Hu from the back. Only then did the other four see Mu Yangling. Shocked, they shouted in Hu language, “Where did this child come from?”
Mu Yangling understood what they were saying. She originally wanted to swiftly finish off the remaining four people, but when she saw Liu Xuan and the others’ angry and terrified gazes, she changed her mind and threw away the saber in her hand. Instead, she raised her stick and went up to them.
Before the Hus could react, Mu Yangling suddenly attacked and hit one of their hands and legs with the stick. That person fell to the ground and could not get up for a long time.
The remaining three howled and rushed forward with sabers.
Mu Yangling struck each person with the stick once. This was the benefit of having great strength.
With her incredible strength, she could take on ten at one go. Moreover, Mu Yangling had learned martial arts such as grappling and knew where the most vulnerable part of the human body was. Hit in that spot, it would hurt so much that the attackee wouldn’t be able to straighten their body, but it wouldn’t be fatal.
Mu Yangling kicked the saber to Liu Xuan and Liu Dali’s feet and said, “Keep an eye on them. If they dare to move, kill them.”
Mu Yangling said to the chaotic crowd, “Go ahead and cry. It’s best if you attract the remaining Hus as well. When the time comes, you can go down and reunite with your fellow villagers.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone stopped crying and covered their mouths, not daring to cry out loud. Only then did Mu Yangling snort coldly and sweep her gaze across the scene. There were a total of 18 corpses lying on the ground, and there were also more than ten people covering their wounds.
Mu Yangling’s expression was a little ugly. There were so many of them. Even if they pounced on them one by one, surely they could eliminate six Hus, right?
The other party was holding cold weapons, not hot weapons that allowed them to kill people with a bang before they even got close. Mu Yangling really couldn’t understand why they would rather cower on the ground and wait to be killed than take the risk of being injured.
If it was her, she would drag someone down with her even if she died.