Chapter 50: Standing Alone, Lingering Flames of the Demonic Cult
Seeing Sun Buer charging alone towards the bandits, Zhang Wangyue inwardly cried out, “Not good.”
Bandits on horseback are bandits, but on foot, they are civilians. These bandits are cruel; to avoid exposing their identities, they aim for their targets and strike, ensuring complete annihilation, leaving no one alive.
However, such bandits also have a weakness: their arrogance masks shallow martial arts. They rely solely on their momentum and dare to fight desperately.
The aggressive fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who don’t care about their lives; this is the principle. There are instances where martial artists with good foundations encounter desperate fighters. Despite their superior martial arts, they become weak-kneed, their techniques falter, and they end up being killed in return.
Facing such bandits, True Person Sun, relying on her agility and swordplay, could skillfully maneuver, holding off ten opponents and assassinating them one by one, which was not a problem.
But there is another type of bandit, mainly composed of vagrants and deserters. They possess exquisite horsemanship, strict discipline, and ruthless methods. Most importantly, they come and go like the wind, their whereabouts unpredictable, and each of them is skilled. It’s not impossible for a master to be in charge.
From the fierce momentum and formation displayed by the bandits, Zhang Wangyue easily identified the suddenly appearing bandits as the latter type.
Seeing Sun Buer charge out, the Head Escort shouted orders for the escorts and runners to attack with bows, arrows, hidden weapons, and fishing nets, while he himself darted out like an angry arrow in an instant.
Casualties had already occurred.
The night watch runners desperately moved towards the escort cart, but the sound of hooves suddenly amplified behind them. The runner turned and swept his saber, but a spear “hummed” with a trembling sound and thrust forward, piercing the runner’s chest and exiting his back. It lifted him high, pushing him forward for ten feet before his corpse fell to the ground as the bandit withdrew the spear.
Only then did Sun Buer realize her recklessness. In her field of vision, two sabers and one spear attacked from the center, splitting left and right.
The momentum of the sabers, the spear, and the horses surged towards her, causing the strands of hair at her temples to fly wildly.
In the span of a thought, Qingjing Sanren considered that if she used the Golden Goose Skill, she could evade the spear thrust from the front and even kill a few people. But what then? The charging horse troop would trample her into a pulp.
A sharp whistle of arrows streaked past Sun Buer’s head in an instant. Three arrows flew in succession, indistinguishable, striking the three bandits thrusting at Sun Buer.
With two “puffs,” the heads of two bandits jerked violently upwards. Black hair and red blood splattered in the night. The bandit to Sun Buer’s left, however, tilted his head in a flash. With a short “chi” sound, a wound about a foot long appeared on the bandit’s cheek, his red and white tendons and muscles curling outwards, the blood obscuring the gruesome sight.
Zhou Yan had already reached the center of the group. Seeing Sun Buer in danger, the Head Escort charged out, firing three arrows in succession.
“Light the signal flame tubes,” Zhou Yan urgently shouted.
This was a judgment based on common sense. From Zhongdu to Jingzhou, he and Huyan Lei, Wang Kui, and others had escorted mule and horse trains many times, witnessing the magnificent momentum of hundreds of mules and horses thundering across the land.
The escort team had over a hundred escorts and runners. Huyan Lei, Wang Kui, Shi Baichuan, and others were all experts. On foot, they could handle two or more opponents without any problem. Therefore, with the right methods, they were not afraid of these bandits. However, if the enemy were allowed to charge in formation, it would be another matter.
Huyan Lei also realized this problem but was at a loss for a solution.
It was still the old problem: in outdated modes of thinking, even the most advanced instruction was meaningless repetition. The escorts knew the problem, but for the moment, they couldn’t achieve “when soldiers come, block them; when water comes, divert it.”
Zhou Yan’s words were undoubtedly like a sudden enlightenment.
The escort team was about to arrive in Jingzhou, and everyone from the escorts to the runners felt relieved and relaxed. However, thanks to the escort team’s rule of always keeping their clothes and equipment on during their journeys, everyone immediately leaped up, ready to fight, having gathered their daily carried gear. Zhou Yan’s words awakened them from their daze. Six or seven runners lit flame tubes and aimed them at the bandit formation.
“Ch… bang.”
Brilliant fireworks exploded amidst the formation of men and horses.
Zhou Yan had gambled correctly.
Let alone the bandits of this era, even the imperial army’s iron cavalry had not undergone anti-explosion training. Occasionally, elite cavalry had only undergone drills to accustom their horses to fireworks.
The fine horses beneath the bandits were startled, and a chorus of neighs erupted. Red fireworks exploded directly above the heads of the charging warhorses.
The horses suddenly plunged forward, rolling on the ground like collapsing walls. The sickening sound of breaking bones from men and horses echoed.
Huyan Lei was overjoyed. Seeing the effect, he rushed to Sun Buer’s aid, holding his Gold-Inlaid Tiger Head Spear. As he ran, he said, “Brother Zhou, well done.”
Changing his tone, Huyan Lei shouted, “Fire all the flame tubes, leave none behind! If the bandits charge in, don’t panic. Use tripping ropes, fishing nets, and hidden projectiles.”
Zhou Yan, Huyan Lei, and the others’ actions undoubtedly calmed the initially panicked runners, who quickly followed the escorts and prepared for battle in sections. Meanwhile, skilled archers among the runners fired from a distance.
Zhang Wangyue arrived beside Sun Buer at this moment and punched the side of the charging warhorse’s neck. The horse neighed and violently shook its head. The Head Escort lowered his body and delivered a surging Iron Mountain Lean onto the horse.
The horse was pushed out with a “boom,” colliding with another horse beside it. Man and horse tumbled together. Zhang Wangyue’s toes flicked, landing him on the ground as he picked up a spear and thrust it out, piercing the heads of two bandits.
Sun Buer seized the opportunity to strike. With a flash of Sword Light, two bandits were already impaled by her sword.
The bandit formation fell into disarray. This gave Qingjing Sanren, whose Lightness Skill was exceptional, an opportunity. She leaped up, her toes landing on a bandit’s head, and applied force downwards. With a “crack,” the bandit’s head drooped. She then used it as a stepping stone, moving like a Startling Swan towards another bandit ten feet away.
Zhou Yan, now free, drew his bow and arrow, having inflicted significant casualties on the bandits. He moved parallel to his bow, firing without missing, shooting down the bandits who had scattered due to their startled horses.
The bandit leader had never anticipated such an outcome. Their horses were startled and scattered by the fireworks, and the opposing side had quite a few experts.
It was merely an escort team; even the imperial army did not have such equipment.
As a leader, he possessed the ability to assess the situation. They were not far from Jingzhou, where they could easily alert the garrison. Seeing the opponent’s fierce counterattack and having lost the initiative, there was no possibility of success.
He was indeed decisive. The leader, though unwilling, understood that if something could not be done, retreat was the best course of action.
With a whistle, he signaled his troop to retreat.
Truly well-trained, the bandits who had arrived with whistles were gone within mere dozens of breaths.
There were some bandits who had been shot by the runners and were lucky to be alive.
Without Zhou Yan’s command, runners immediately took bamboo paper, soaked it, and began interrogating them.
The air was filled with a nauseating smell of blood. Zhou Yan walked towards Zhang Wangyue, Sun Buer, and the others.
Huyan Lei said, “If not for Brother Zhou’s quick thinking and the idea of using fireworks to startle the horses, it would have been extremely difficult to repel the enemy so easily this time.”
Zhang Wangyue nodded, still feeling the lingering fear.
Zhou Yan said, “It was a flash of inspiration; I didn’t expect it to actually work.”
“If we find a good way to deal with concentrated bandit charges in the future, these scoundrels will have bitten off more than they can chew,” Huyan Lei said, looking at the fine horses left behind by the dead bandits.
“Does the Head Escort know the origin of these bandits? They are truly ferocious,” Sun Buer asked.
“There will be results soon,” Zhou Yan replied.
At Fengling Ferry crossing, Huyan Lei used Zhou Yan’s water torture method to interrogate the “Iron Arms Arhat” and “Ground Rolling Tiger.” They didn’t last three rounds.
The interrogated bandits confessed everything after enduring only the first round.
An escort hurried over and announced, “The bandits confessed. They are from the Demonic Cult, subordinates of Zhang Sanqiang from Jiangxi.”
Zhou Yan was stunned.
Demonic Cult, a very familiar term.
