Chapter 80: Battle in the Forest
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling nocked the arrow and shot both arrows at the same time, penetrating the two people who were laughing loudly in front of her. Alarmed, the Hus shouted, “There’s an ambush! It’s an ambush by the Han people!”
As Mu Yangling moved, she quickly drew her arrow and nocked her bow. Liu Xuan and Liu Li ran to the forest on both sides and kept shaking the trees. Struck by terror, the Hus thought that they had already been surrounded by the Han Chinese. They drew their swords and broke out of the encirclement.
Mu Yangling’s aim was perfect, and she killed five people in an instant. This instilled some fear in the Hus.
They had trailed after General Wu Shu to plunder resources on the enemy’s land while he led his division to the county. Since they were not soldiers and did not have the ability to be under his command, they could only scavenge whatever remained in the villages. As long as they wield the butcher’s knife, the timid Han people could only kneel and beg for mercy. Therefore, more than a hundred of them were divided into four teams. When the two teams gathered in front, they originally thought that they could sweep through the villages in the countryside. But from the looks of it, they seemed to have fallen into the Han people’s trap.
Wu Ye felt a little regretful. Those Han Chinese were so sly that for four years, General Wu Shu had only managed to fight with the Han generals to a draw. If even an impressive figure like General Wu Shu could not take her down, they might really have fallen into a trap.
Freaking out, Wu Ye cried out loudly, “We fell into a trap!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the startled Hus simply grabbed the abducted women before starting to run away. However, just as one of them grabbed a woman’s hair to drag her to his side, an arrow pierced through his neck. Seeing this happen one after another, Wu Ye was the first to give up on the women and flee with his broadsword.
When the others saw that the leader, Wu Ye, had already fled, they decided to abandon the women, too.
They could always snatch other women in the future, but if they lost their lives, that would be the end of it.
Behind the tree, Mu Yangling gripped the last arrow tightly.
Liu Xuan rushed forward and cut the rope. Together with Liu Li, he pulled the women who were sitting on the ground up and urged in a low voice, “Get up quickly! They’re coming back!”
Seeing the numb expressions on those women’s faces, Liu Xuan scolded angrily, “Hurry up and run! My niece is still baiting them ahead and there are only three of us. Do you want us to die saving you?”
As soon as these words were spoken, these women finally reacted. They supported each other and stumbled as they followed Liu Xuan and Liu Li into the forest.
After pushing these women into the cave, the two of them used trees and dead branches to hide them, then said in a low voice, “We’ll go lure them away. You guys hide here and only leave at dawn. Don’t make a sound, or none of you will survive.” After saying that, he pulled Liu Li and ran out.
Mu Yangling had already started killing the Hus with her broadsword.
After running for a while, Wu Ye realized that no one was chasing after him. Even the arrows that had been shooting at him earlier had disappeared. Wu Ye’s intuition told him that he had been deceived. Just as he turned around to run back with his men, a child suddenly jumped out of the forest and slashed his companions.
Furious, Wu Ye and his companions picked up their sabers and were about to surround her, but the child nimbly alternated between attacking and retreating into the forest. The other party was too strong. When the sabers and swords collided, his purlicue1 trembled and he almost dropped his saber. Moreover, the men around him were injured by her one after another, but they didn’t even manage to touch the corner of her clothes. Wu Ye forgot that the previous team hadn’t come out after entering the forest and directly chased after her with his saber.
When Mu Yangling lured them to the trap, she blocked their sabers with her sword. She kicked Wu Ye in the stomach and sent him flying. Then, she used the momentum to kick someone’s leg and flip over. Turning around, she ran to hide behind a big tree. Just as the Hus scattered and surrounded her, Liu Yong suddenly brought people to attack from the flank. Three against one, they soon managed to kill several Hus.
Wu Ye rolled behind a tree at the side and peeked out to observe those people’s killing moves. Seeing that they were not organized and only knew how to slash randomly, he figured they only had the upper hand because it was three against one, and because his men could not spare the time to attack.
Enlightened, Wu Ye shouted, “They’re not soldiers, they’re Han civilians. Kill that child! Only that child knows martial arts.”
When Liu Yong heard the shout, a cold light shot out from his eyes. He took the opportunity to stab his opponent before turning around to kill Wu Ye. However, he was slashed by a Hu. He only managed to raise his saber to block the attack before falling to the ground. The Hu person laughed. “The Han people are all little yellow chicks who can’t withstand a single blow. Boys, form a formation and kill them.”
Mu Yangling was helping Liu Xuan and the others restore the trap when she heard this. She shouted, “Stop them from gathering and disperse them.”
“No, Ah Ling, there are too many of them.”
There were still more than 20 of them left. When it was three against one, they were somewhat evenly matched. However, considering the barbarians were more formidable than them, their odds of winning weren’t high if it was two against one.
“Ah—Cousin.” When Fang Zhuzi saw that his cousin had been killed beside him, he was so frightened that he could not even hold his saber steadily. He swung his saber around and said, “Ah Ling, come and save me!”
As the Hus gradually gathered together, the Nearhill Village men died one after another.
Mu Yangling gritted her teeth and tied the knot before bending down to pick up the sword. She said in a low voice, “You guys keep guard here. I’ll lure the enemy over.”
A Hu person kicked Liu Dazhuang away and slashed at Liu Yong’s head. Mu Yangling raised her saber to block and forced the Hu person back three steps. With a backhand slash, she slit his neck. Mu Yangling pulled Liu Dazhuang up as she shouted, “Retreat, quickly retreat!”
Mu Yangling went forward to save her men and asked them to retreat in a team while she killed the enemy and lured them into a trap. Her figure was light as she stepped over the trap. The moment the Hus following behind stepped on the ground, they sank and fell into the trap. Even if they didn’t die, they would be severely injured. Mu Yangling took this opportunity to burrow into the forest.
The other young men from Nearhill Village were also hidden, leaving only the Hus outside.
Wu Ye held his saber and turned it warily as he advanced carefully step by step. Fearing that the enemy would target stray men one by one, the barbarians gathered together and advanced cautiously.
This was the effect that Mu Yangling wanted. Seeing that the other party had entered the shooting range, Mu Yangling let out a long roar and turned around. At her signal, Liu Xuan cut the rope, and a row of wooden stakes flew over from not far away. The Hu people screamed in fear and dodged in all directions, but because they were standing too closely, they tripped. Amid this chaos, five wooden stakes pierced right through the chests and abdomens of three Hus…
Wu Ye fell sitting on the ground and was about to get up to escape when a row of wooden thorns suddenly fell on his head. Those who had yet to get up and escape widened their eyes and died with grievances.
Seeing this, the remaining Hus went crazy and shouted, “Us brave eagles on the grassland have never been afraid of death. Let’s kill them! We must kill them!”
With a wave of Mu Yangling’s hand, everyone bent down and tried their best not to show their faces. When she turned around and nodded slightly at Liu Li, the latter suddenly raised his saber and sprinted into the deep forest.
The sound of Liu Li running alerted the Hus. This time though, the Hus were much more cautious. Although they did chase after Liu Li, they were no longer rash like before. Instead, they slowly chased forward as if they were scouting, and would look up at the sky from time to time.
Mu Yangling took out the dagger that Mu Shi had given her and followed behind them. Taking advantage of the fact that the person walking at the backmost was unguarded, she covered his mouth and nose, slit his neck, and dragged him behind a tree.
Liu Xuan, Liu Yong, and the others widened their eyes as they watched from behind while Mu Yangling quietly dealt with the Hus one by one. The people in front did not seem to notice at all.
With Liu Li leading them in circles around the area, by the time the Hus realized that something was amiss, they turned around and realized that there were only six of them left. They started freaking out.
Sitting on the ground, Mu Yangling whispered to Liu Yong, “Bring our men over and kill them.”