Ma Chao took down the prey from his horse, having hunted two more yellow goats and several rabbits along the way, and handed them over to the villagers for preparation and consumption.
The villagers were not polite; they immediately skinned and deboned the meat, setting up a pot to boil a large pot of meat broth.
The women in the village each went back to bring grains and vegetables, and began cooking right outside the Village Chief's house.
Ma Chao conversed with the Village Chief, discussing the local customs and traditions, while the children were interested in Ma Chao's splendid horse, surrounding it to watch.
Perhaps a little annoyed, the splendid horse flicked its head and let out a snort, scaring the children who ran off screaming, which made everyone laugh heartily.
In a short while, the meat was cooked, and the Village Chief took out his turbid wine, which he usually couldn't bear to drink, and shared it with everyone.
Everyone cheered loudly, and the atmosphere became even more lively, truly more festive than New Year's.
As night fell, the spring chill was biting, and the night was thick, with not a single ray of moonlight piercing through.
People dispersed from their merriment, and Ma Chao was arranged by the Village Chief to rest in a side room.
Ma Chao closed his eyes, feigning sleep, but was not deeply asleep.
Suddenly, he heard a slight movement in the courtyard, and a commotion in the cow shed.
As farmhouses did not have stables, Ma Chao's horses were tied in the cow shed.
Ma Chao put on his cloak, sword in hand.
With the talent of a top martial artist, his eyesight was much stronger than that of ordinary people.
He didn't light a lamp, quietly opened the door, and hurried towards the cow shed.
In the cow shed, there were two shadowy figures untying the horses; one was pulling the reins in front, and the other was driving from behind.
The splendid horse, unwilling to be led away by strangers, stood still.
The person driving from behind became a little anxious and whipped the horse's body.
The horse cried out in pain with a neigh, and in the quiet night, the sudden neigh was very abrupt.
Oil lamps were lit up one after another in the farmhouses, and strong men, clad in clothes and carrying sticks, came out to investigate.
Ma Chao arrived and saw the two men stealing his horse.
Ma Chao shouted loudly and charged forward with his sword.
Seeing someone coming, the two men, emboldened by desperation, drew the ox-ear daggers tucked into their waists and lunged forward, intending to take lives.
As soon as Ma Chao engaged them, he realized that neither had any martial arts skills, they were just farmhands.
He didn't kill them; with one swing of his sword, he knocked the short dagger out of one man's hand and kicked him down.
The other, seeing that they were no match, turned and ran in fright.
Ma Chao flung his scabbard, hitting him squarely on the calf, directly knocking him to the ground.
At this moment, the villagers, hearing the sounds of fighting, rushed over in a hurry.
Seeing the two men subdued, they went forward to tie them up and used torches to examine them closely.
Both were local ruffians, and one of them was even from their own village.
Old Village Chief Yang De was furious and cursed, "Yang Xiao Er, you dog, being lazy and idle usually is one thing, but today you ate and drank plenty of meat and wine, and I couldn't be bothered to deal with you.
Who knew you'd be so bold as to steal the honored guest's horse?
Fellow villagers, tie him to a tree and beat him; I don't care if he dies!"
The surrounding villagers shouted and pushed him towards a tree to tie him up.
An old woman rushed out from the crowd, crying and wailing, kneeling before Yang De, pulling on his pant legs to plead, "Oh, Old Uncle, you can't beat him! If he dies, how will I live?
His father died early, and his eldest son died in battle two years ago.
We are a family, you know; by seniority, Xiao Er should call you Old Uncle.
You must spare him this once, no matter what..."
Old Village Chief Yang De looked at Ma Chao with a troubled expression, but Ma Chao was deep in thought.
Seeing this, the old woman threw herself in front of Ma Chao, kowtowing repeatedly to plead for mercy.
Ma Chao helped the old woman up and said to the Village Chief, "Don't rush to beat them.
Let's first ask them what they planned to do after stealing the horse."
Seeing this, Yang Xiao Er was scared witless and stammered out the truth.
It turned out that when Ma Chao arrived today, he was young, dressed in brocade robes, and rode a splendid horse, which made Yang Xiao Er extremely envious.
That night, after eating meat and drinking wine, he felt even more jealous.
After drinking, he went to the neighboring village to hang out with a ruffian named Liu San.
The lively scene of the village boiling meat and warming wine that night had already been known by the neighboring village.
This ruffian Liu San was itching with desire.
Yang Xiao Er intentionally showed off, and Liu San's eyes lit up as he listened.
The two of them put their heads together and came up with this idea, and then put it into action.
Ma Chao felt that Liu San was being evasive and probably had other thoughts he hadn't revealed.
He deliberately said, "Since that's the case, for Old Uncle Yang's sake, I'll let Yang Xiao Er go.
However, my splendid horse is worth a hundred gold pieces; how can I just let this go?
Take Liu San down and send him to the authorities tomorrow."
Liu San, seeing Ma Chao's good attitude towards the old woman, thought that as an outsider, and with everyone being fellow villagers here, he might not delve deeper, so he played a little trick and only mentioned stealing the horse tonight.
Upon hearing about being sent to the authorities, he was instantly terrified and quickly begged for mercy, "My lord, my lord, please beat me to vent your anger, but please don't send me to the authorities!"
Ma Chao said, "Since that's the case, tell me the truth.
My horse is clearly a military horse; how could a village ruffian like you handle it?
Even if you stole it, where could you sell it?
Tell me, what is your reliance?"
Liu San mumbled, not daring to speak.
Ma Chao feigned anger and said, "If you won't speak, then beat him.
If he dies, I'll take responsibility."
The surrounding villagers already gnashed their teeth at such rural scoundrels, and even more so since he stole from their own village, making them even more furious.
Hearing this, they swung their sticks, hitting flesh with loud thuds.
After only four or five blows, Liu San completely gave up and confessed everything.
Liu San was already a ruffian and a scoundrel, rampant in the village, disliked by the villagers, and no one supported him.
He had been beaten by the villagers for stealing from the village, and his heart was already full of resentment, hating his own villagers to the bone.
He heard that remnants of the Yellow Turban bandits had fled to the area, burning, killing, looting, eating meat and drinking wine in large bowls, raping and plundering, and he was filled with envy.
He even specifically sought them out to pledge allegiance.
Unwilling to be a mere henchman, he offered a malicious plan to lead the bandits to plunder his own village.
After the deed was done, when the villagers reported to the authorities, Liu San would tip them off, allowing them to escape the government troops'剿滅.
Because of this excellent performance, Liu San was personally summoned by Huang Bing, who promised him a minor leadership position, allowing him to freely recruit henchmen and then develop the next target.
Liu San had been actively trying to win over Yang Xiao Er these past two days, preparing to lead bandits to plunder Yang Family Village.
This was because although Yang Xiao Er was a ruffian, he admired the life of a hero and had not committed any great evil, and was extremely filial to his mother.
He feared that Yang Xiao Er would not be willing to be an inside accomplice in plundering his own village, so he had delayed revealing his intentions.
Just today, Yang Xiao Er boasted about Ma Chao's splendid horse, and Liu San added fuel to the fire, instigating him, thinking that after stealing the horse, Yang Xiao Er, having already committed a crime, would have no turning back and would naturally join their ranks.
On the other hand, by presenting the valuable horse and plundering another village, he would surely gain appreciation from Huang Bing, and perhaps even be given a major leadership position.
After hearing this, the villagers gnashed their teeth, wishing they could beat Liu San to death.
Yang Xiao Er, even more so, clenched his jaw, his eyes wide with rage, blood rushing to his pupils, struggling to fight Liu San.
And because they were targeted by bandits, they felt anxious and uneasy, causing a commotion in the crowd.
Ma Chao waved his hand to stop the chaotic scene and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, calm down first.
Now is not the time to fear them.
Since the village has been targeted by bandits, there is always a danger of being plundered.
Even if they don't come to plunder this village, other villages will suffer.
The only way now is to wipe out these bandits so that we can live a peaceful life!"