Chapter 75 Bring a message to Sui Yu, asking her to remarry
After half a month of tracking, Zhao Xiping and his group of thirty people discovered the whereabouts of the wandering Huns at the foot of Mazong Mountain north of Jiuquan.
As soon as they met, the two sides started fighting.
The roaming Huns were ferocious, tall and strong, and had superb horse-riding skills. In terms of strength, the poorly trained Han soldiers were inferior to them, but they had the advantage only in the weapons in their hands.
Zhao Xiping was arranged to shoot arrows from the rear, and four arrows hit two people, who fell off their horses one after another. The Huns became alert and avoided the direction of the arrows during the fight, and even pulled the Han army to block them.
There were only five arrows left in the quiver. Zhao Xiping looked at the smoke-filled battlefield. He held the bow for a long time but couldn't find a target to shoot. He felt exhausted and had no choice but to drive his horse closer.
The Xiongnu bandits hiding behind a rock silently rushed towards the archers on horseback. When they were about to get close, Zhao Xiping suddenly turned around, raised his fingers that were holding the leather string, and the sharp arrow pierced through his chest. The Xiongnu bandits wearing animal skins fell to the ground with a thud.
A scimitar struck, startling the horse beneath him, which bolted forward, causing the rider to tilt backwards and nearly fall off. Zhao Xiping quickly grabbed the reins, but just as he was about to lose his grip, a Xiongnu cavalryman in the rear, machetes in hand, caught up with him and, with a single thrust, snapped his bowstring.
The Huns laughed and stared at Zhao Xiping like a dying prey, their eyes full of ferocity.
Zhao Xiping didn't have time to think too much. He pulled out a long sword from the horse's back and swung it to chop the horse when they passed each other. The enemy horse was startled by the pain and the Hun on the horse fell off.
Zhao Xiping fought for this very purpose. He was not good at horse riding, and he had no chance of winning in a fight on horseback.
Not far away, the battle between the enemy and us reached a critical moment. Zhao Xiping looked back, dismounted with a long sword in his hand and a quiver on his back, and faced the Huns with gloomy faces.
The two swords clashed, their feet kicked each other, their shoulders butted. Zhao Xiping gritted his teeth and yelled. He leaned sideways, drew his sword, and thrust it out to his chest, bracing himself for the blow. He raised his long sword and slashed with all his might as the blade of the machete pierced his flesh.
The head fell to the ground, followed by the machete. Zhao Xiping gasped and covered his chest with his hands, blood gushing out from between his fingers, dripping onto the dusty yellow earth.
The injury was not life-threatening, but Zhao Xiping endured the pain and sprinkled medicine powder on the wound. He called back the black horse, grabbed the reins and jumped on the horse, then returned to the battlefield with a long knife with a rolled blade. There were corpses lying all over the ground, with blood and dirt on them, and a lot of dust had settled down.
Zhao Xiping rode his horse in a circle to help his comrades who were at a disadvantage to kill the Huns. Once someone gave up their target and chased him, he would gallop away and avoid confronting the Huns head-on.
The battle lasted for nearly an hour and ended at noon with three Hun bandits running away with injuries.
The blood and energy at the foot of the mountain were boiling, and the dust raised by the horses' hooves rose slowly into the air under the autumn sun. A strong horse, whose hips were injured and unable to get up, lay on the ground and neighed. Birds circled in the sky, and wolves howled on the mountainside.
Zhao Xiping tore his coat and leaned against the stone to treat his wound. His rabbit-fur vest was soaked with blood, and the wooden board that blocked the blade had long been shattered and disappeared. The wound under the cracks in the rat skin was rolling with blood and flesh, and bright red blood was dripping from the wound.
"Hu——" Zhao Xiping let out a long cry. He suppressed his fear and took out some medicine from the dead body on the ground to apply to the wound. He sprinkled the medicine powder on the wound. The pain made veins on his forehead pop out. When the pain subsided, fine beads of sweat appeared on his face.
"How is it?" Wu Zu came over with his injured arm hanging down.
"I won't die." Zhao Xiping wiped the blood and sighed, "The Huns are very strong." The injury was more serious than he expected.
"Those who eat meat are definitely stronger than those who eat rice and flour, and there have been many casualties this time." Wu Zu felt a sense of dread. He heard another wolf howl and pulled himself together. "Will this affect our journey? Let's pack up and leave. It's getting dark, and the wolves on the mountain will come down."
Zhao Xiping sat still and said, "Let me take my time. It won't affect our journey."
"OK."
Wu Zu went to count the casualties, Zhao Xiping leaned against the rock and watched with lingering fear. There was a dead man lying half a step away from him. He remembered his name, Gu Shicheng. He was a very timid man. He was stuffed into the team by his father to go out this time, just because his father wanted him to practice his courage. He didn't expect that he would die after going out.
Now that his son is dead, Father Gu will probably live with guilt for the rest of his life.
Zhao Xiping thought of himself. He touched his torn waistcoat. If he died, Sui Yu would have a hard time in the second half of her life even if she was still alive.
"You killed four people." The soldier came over with a bunch of human ears and counted them out like an account: "You shot three to death and cut off one head. Do you have any others?"
Zhao Xiping shook his head. After that, he only killed the next enemy, so it couldn't be considered a single kill.
"Alright, get on your horses." Wu Zu shook the blood from the man's ears and pointed at the corpse beside him. "Take Gu Shicheng with you and walk north for two days to find a good place to bury him."
Zhao Xiping had no objection. He stood up with the help of a stone. Suddenly, he thought of something. He said something to the Wu Zu, bent his upper body and walked away to pick up the rattan bow that had fallen on the ground.
The soldier carrying the body picked up an intact bow and arrow and threw it to him, saying, "There are intact ones here. Take one and report it to the captain as one less."
"I'm used to the weight of this bow. I'll just add a leather string when I get home." Zhao Xiping refused. He stuffed the cane bow through the seam of his bundle, then smiled and boasted, "This bow was given to me by my wife. It can save my life on the battlefield."
The others all uttered a "tsk" sound when they heard this.
The solemn atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
There were thirty people when they came, but only thirteen were left alive when they returned. Seventeen corpses were tied to the backs of horses. They killed the wounded horses that were wailing non-stop, and each person took a piece of horse meat. They took the captured thief horses and the machetes, kitchen knives, food, cloth, and furs stolen by the thieves and rode west.
The five men were injured and their return journey was much slower. When they camped outdoors at night, they could clearly hear the howling of wolves in the distance.
A bonfire was built in the open space on the leeward slope. The flames illuminated everyone's face. The horse meat on the fire smelled fragrant, and someone's stomach growled.
The soldier poked the shiny lump of meat and handed it to Zhao Xiping. As he got closer, he smelled the pungent smell of blood.
"Has the wound opened again?" he asked.
"Well, I think I'll feel better after a night's rest." Zhao Xiping was hungry, but he had no appetite. He took out his knife, roasted it over the fire, cut a piece of horse meat and fed it to his mouth. He said, "If I weren't injured, I could go back and shoot the two wolves now."
"You're not injured badly enough, yet you still want to make a name for yourself." Wu Zu sneered, "Will you come out next time?"
Zhao Xiping said without hesitation: "Come out, I'm going to go back and practice archery, boxing and kicking."
"Bewitched." Wu Zu said disdainfully.
Isn't it just that he's been possessed by a ghost? Zhao Xiping didn't refute. He pressed the wound lightly. The injury was so serious, he was scared to death, but he didn't back down.
Late at night, the night wind howled through the mountains. Zhao Xiping shook off the wolfskin covering himself and lay down beside the fire, closing his eyes to sleep. He was woken by the cold in the middle of the night, feeling weak in his limbs, his head heavy, and his whole body so tired that he had no energy.
"I have a fever." He woke Wu Zu up. "Is there any medicine?"
When Wu Zu woke up, he took out some medicine and applied it to Zhao Xiping's wound again. After the wound was healed, he took out a bag of hot water and handed it to him, then went to check on the other three wounded soldiers.
The three people who were in good spirits before going to bed all had a fever.
"After daybreak, I will send you to a nearby town to see a doctor," said Wu Zu.
Zhao Xiping lay on the ground and watched the night fall. He was a little worried. The fever caused by the wound was more fatal than the hideous wound. He thought of Sui Yu. If he died, how would she live?
After enduring the torment in the middle of the night, at daybreak, a group of thirteen people mounted their horses, crossed the mountain stream and followed the river upstream. When they walked out of Mazong Mountain, they could see the city wall of Jiuquan County in the distance.
At noon, Zhao Xiping and others walked into a small village outside the city. There was a traveling doctor in the village who boiled a few bowls of medicine for them to drink, and then asked them to go to the clinic in the city to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Wu Zu decided not to carry the bodies with him. He sent five men to take Zhao Xiping and others to Jiuquan County first. He and two others stayed behind to dig a pit to bury the bodies and erect a monument.
When night fell, a group of ten people arrived outside the city gate. After handing over a letter explaining the situation, a small door on the side of the city gate opened, and Zhao Xiping and others were admitted to the hospital overnight.
Zhao Xiping vaguely felt the pain from the flesh cutting, wound cleaning, acupuncture, and drinking medicinal soup.
It was two days later when he woke up again. He opened his eyes and felt that the woman standing in front of him looked familiar. He looked at her several times before tentatively calling out, "Mom?"
Mother Zhao sneered.
Zhao Xiping felt something was wrong. He looked around and found that he was still in the clinic, but there was no one else there.
"Mom, why are you here? Where are my colleagues?"
"I came to see if my infatuated son is dead or not, and whether the Lord of Hell praised you?" Seeing that he had woken up, Zhao's mother slapped him in the face, "Why did I give birth to such a fool like you? Are you cheap? You're willing to give up your life for a woman."
Zhao Xiping was silent. He cursed Wu Zu in his heart, thinking that it was Wu Zu who leaked the secret.
Zhao's mother pinched her waist and cursed him, but when she saw that he had a stern face and pretended to be deaf, she became angrier the more he cursed.
Zhao Xiping and others had scolded her enough and asked, "Where are the others?"
"You were the most seriously injured. You were drowsy and slept for two days due to a fever. Everyone else is gone." Zhao's mother brought him some water and then continued to scold him, "You bastard! You didn't even go home when you were injured like this! If your uncle hadn't come to the clinic and saw you, we would have had to wait for someone to come back and report your death if you had died."
"Your words are so rude."
"You listen to it even if it's unpleasant. You're not afraid of death, but you're afraid of unpleasant words?" Mother Zhao felt distressed and angry.
Zhao Xiping stopped talking.
After a while, Zhao Xiping lay on the donkey cart and was pulled home by his eldest brother. Zhao's mother walked beside the cart and scolded him all the way, repeating the same curses over and over again in different ways.
When she entered the village, she changed her sullen face and put on a kind motherly one, but after entering the house, her face fell again.
"Third brother, are you okay?" Zhao Xiaomi asked worriedly.
"He's fine, very well." Zhao's mother sneered.
Zhao Xiping sighed deeply. He stood under the eaves, looking at the chickens running around the yard, and said, "I've lost a lot of blood. Little sister, go stew a chicken for me to replenish my blood."
Zhao Xiaomi glanced at her mother, and seeing that she was silent, she chuckled, waved her hand and shouted, then took her nephews and nieces to chase chickens around the yard.
"Mom, you didn't say anything to my comrades, right?" Zhao Xiping was a little worried.
"I sent someone to tell Sui Yu that you were dead and asked her to find someone to remarry."
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