On the official road from Wufeng County to Sanyang Mountain, Lijia Gou, Zhaojia Village, and Yunjia Village were all necessary stops. Beyond Lijia Gou was Zhaojia Village, followed by Yunjia Village. Therefore, if the Western barbarian bandits were after the prisoners, none of these three villages would escape their fate.

Soon the Zhao family began to flee again, with their families in tow. Some were reluctant to part with the newly discovered grain in their homes, and they cried and cursed all the way.

The road south soon passed through Yunjia Village. The messenger had just arrived when the villagers were notified door-to-door, and they hadn't even had time to gather and leave the village.

However, at that moment, everyone heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them.

Some children were already crying loudly in fear, and the adults were also in a panic.

Someone shouted, "Scatter! Get to the fields!"

"Too late! Too late!"

The old patriarch of the Yun family was also extremely anxious, as not all the people of Yun Family Village had yet come out to assemble!

Suddenly, a tiger's roar was heard.

A white-browed tiger with piercing eyes emerged from behind.

Xiao Youran sat steadily on the tiger's head and said in a deep voice to everyone, "Grandpa Clan Chief, quickly let the people from Zhao Family Village into the village. Yun Family Village only has one road connecting to the official road at the east end, and horses can't travel through the paddy fields. If they don't come in, fine, but if they do, we will definitely guard this entrance to the death! If all else fails, there is a mountain at the west end of Yun Family Village, which can be used as a place to hide for now."

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhao realized the plan was feasible and bowed deeply to Xiao Youran, saying, "We can only rely on Xiao Fubao!"

Xiaoyou patted Xiaobai's head, and Xiaobai took two steps forward, then looked up and let out a long howl.

The people of Zhao Village and Yun Village spread the news and rushed to the west end of the village.

Moments later, people began to see countless black wolves rushing down from the western mountain and heading towards the eastern end of the village.

A moment later, someone chuckled and rode past on a black wolf, who was Song Jia Dalang's guard.

Originally, Xiao Youran only had ten guards. With the addition of the four Song brothers and the guards who originally stayed behind, there were only eighteen people. During the days when the Western Yi bandits were trapped on Sanyang Mountain, some young men from Zhao Village and Yun Village envied the coolness of riding the black wolf. Following suit, more than ten of them subdued the black wolf and made it their mount.

Even Yun Tiankuang tamed a smaller black wolf and rode on it, looking majestic.

Of course, they didn't believe they had the brute force to subdue the black wolves. They knew the black wolves were only being polite because they were after the white tiger under Xiaoyou Ran's mount.

Therefore, the number of guards in the black wolf pack has now increased to more than twenty.

The villagers, who had been filled with anxiety, suddenly felt at ease.

Before long, dust billowed along the official road, and horses' hooves thundered.

The leader was a young general who glanced sideways as they passed a side road.

This is clearly a small path leading to a village, and at the village entrance, there seems to be a row of dark-looking things standing there.

Upon closer inspection, it looks like there's an animal?

He immediately put his index finger to his lips and blew a few signal whistles.

Signalmen followed behind and relayed the signal.

Then the entire cavalry force slowed down and came to a stop, and then cavalrymen began to pour out from the part closest to the village road.

The young general, who had been at the front, was now at the back, slowly making his way towards the village.

The young general beside him asked, "Fifth Prince, we already know the location of Three Sheep Mountain, why waste time here?"

The young general was Hamuyi, the fifth prince of the Western Yi tribe. He originally planned to take advantage of the Zhou dynasty's unpreparedness to raid Taizhou and then return home, but unexpectedly, Qingshan City was well-defended, and he quickly turned the tide of battle. He led 20,000 troops, but only a few thousand remained. They were then scattered into several smaller groups and went into hiding. A few days ago, he received a secret report that a thousand-strong force had been tricked and trapped in a cave and taken prisoner, and that the enemy had only deployed a pack of black wolves and a tiger.

He found it incredible.

Since he evaded the Great Zhou army in Qingshan City and headed south, he never thought any civilians could stand against them. As long as they didn't attack cities or directly confront the Great Zhou army, the people in those villages and towns were at their mercy, powerless to fight back. So his plan was to quickly head south to rescue these thousand captured tribesmen and leave this hellish place as soon as possible.

Therefore, Wufeng County was not in his plans at all.

He led his thousand soldiers directly around the city and headed south. When he passed through Lijia Gou, he only wanted to ask someone where the mountain where the prisoners were being housed was, but unexpectedly he was met with insults from the people of Lijia Gou. He could not tolerate this, and feeling hungry, he ordered the massacre of the village so he could have a meal there.

This delayed things by half an hour.

As he passed the village entrance, he suddenly remembered the pack of black wolves and tigers mentioned in the secret letter. He immediately realized that it was the villagers who had trapped the thousand tribesmen, and there was no reason for him to ignore it.

In his view, his thousand soldiers were the elite of the Western barbarian cavalry, but how could a mere dozen wolves and a tiger be a match for him?

There is no reason not to avenge one's people!

Rather than rescuing those thousand captured tribesmen and then dragging them along as a burden to seek revenge, it would be better to avenge them first, and then go and rescue the prisoners!

Although his horse was slow, the cavalry in front of him all made way for him so that he could quickly reach the front of the column.

The village road was narrow, only wide enough for three or four horses to ride abreast, and it only widened at the village entrance.

So, as the group moved slowly, Hamuyi reached the front of the group and saw the tiger and several wolves in front of him.

As they approached, he tightened the reins, stopping the horse and bursting into laughter. Pointing ahead with his whip, he chuckled, "Is that a person sitting on that tiger? A baby? Probably still nursing! Why isn't it at home drinking milk?!"

"Hahaha—" The people behind them burst into laughter.

"Is there no one left in the Great Zhou?! They either send a few beasts or a baby to guard the gate?" the young general beside him shouted.

This drew another burst of laughter.

The little girl across from me said in a clear, crisp voice, "Oh, so the prisoners on the mountain were trapped by these beasts? Does that mean you Westerners are even worse than beasts?!"

When it was Song Da's turn to laugh, even though there were fewer of them, they still managed to chuckle a few times.

A cool breeze whistled past.

The Western barbarians shouted angrily, "Give us back our people!"

"Give me your life!"

Before Hamuyi could even speak, someone had already rushed towards the white tiger.

Xiao You Ran didn't move at all.

A small black wolf pounced directly at the man on horseback.

The man looked at the little black wolf with disdain. "Another wolf cub that hasn't been weaned yet, right?"

He brandished his long sword and thrust it in the direction the little black wolf was pouncing.

But the little black wolf twisted its body in mid-air and crashed into the horse's rump.

One of the Westerners laughed, "How much strength can this little wolf cub have?"