Chapter 13: Live Well
Dozens of meters away, Tie Tou and another youth were already struggling to hold off a Geluolu veteran.
Just as the Geluolu cavalryman used brute force to knock the weapon from Tie Tou’s hand and prepared to thrust his saber into Tie Tou’s chest.
Suddenly, his body staggered, his face twisted in agony, and the arm holding the saber trembled uncontrollably in an instant.
A spear had pierced through his back with tremendous force, the spearhead already protruding from his front chest.
Blood spurted out, and the Geluolu man’s body soon fell from his horse.
Tie Tou had nearly died under the Geluolu man’s saber and was still shaken when he heard his comrade shout from nearby:
“Da Long Ge!”
Looking in the direction from which the spear had been thrown, there stood Li Xiao on horseback.
Tie Tou then realized that Li Xiao had saved him.
He showed a surprised and relieved expression and shouted, “Da Long Ge!”
Li Xiao had no time to deal with these two guys and just shouted, “Be careful.”
He then went off to hunt the next target.
Another Geluolu man wielding a spear—many grassland tribesmen liked to use spears as their main battle weapon, and the main reason was one word: poor!
Spears were cheap to make—a stick plus a spearhead made a spear.
For nomadic cavalry with initially poor equipment, the spear was the highest cost-performance weapon.
Therefore, one could also discern a person’s status in the tribe from their weapons.
Those with only a spear in hand were definitely the lowest herdsmen, or even slaves with no personal rights.
Those with a spear plus a saber and bow and arrow had higher status, counting as warriors in the tribe, and they were harder to deal with.
So, the few Li Xiao had encountered were not tough opponents.
The instant the spear came at him, Li Xiao’s body merely swayed lightly. Before the spear could reach his chest, his cavalry saber swiftly chopped down.
“Clang~”
A crisp sound of wood breaking rang out as Li Xiao directly severed the Geluolu man’s spear.
Immediately after, the cavalry saber flipped lightly in his hand.
In the instant the two horses passed each other, the blade effortlessly sliced across the Geluolu man’s neck.
After killing the spearman, Li Xiao continued to the next target, finally encountering an opponent who could test him.
A Geluolu man who looked like a small leader.
But without any surprise, he was soon cut down from his horse by Li Xiao.
As more blood accumulated on his cavalry saber, his movements became increasingly relaxed and fluid, his killing techniques more proficient, performing entirely like a battle-hardened veteran.
When no more enemies stood before Li Xiao, he shook the blood from his cavalry saber and surveyed the battlefield.
Facing the siege of numerous Hexi cavalry, hardly any Geluolu men remained mounted.
After all, each Geluolu man faced the assault of two or three Hexi cavalrymen simultaneously, with no power to fight back.
“Whoosh~”
Accompanied by the whistle of an arrow, a Geluolu man fleeing on horseback dozens of meters away instantly fell to the ground.
Li Xiao slowly lowered his longbow.
With that, the battle ended.
All the Geluolu men were slain on the south bank of the Dragon Bone River, dyeing the originally clear river water a bloody red.
Hexi Fort had also suffered significant losses.
One man died in battle, four were seriously wounded, and over a dozen had light wounds.
The man who died in battle was an old man whose home was quite close to Li Xiao’s home.
Every time Li Xiao went home, he would often greet him and call him Grandpa Liu.
In Li Xiao’s impression, he was a good-tempered, talkative, and kindly old man.
He had not expected that one battle would separate them forever.
This made Li Xiao even more deeply feel the cruelty of ancient warfare.
This was not playing a mount and blade game; real death was not distant.
“Da Long, don’t be too sad.”
“Uncle Liu got his wish.”
In front of Grandpa Liu’s corpse, Li Dashan comforted Li Xiao.
He worried that Li Xiao, experiencing such slaughter for the first time and seeing a familiar person die before him, might not adapt.
But Li Xiao’s heart was not that fragile; whether in his previous life or this one, it was not his first time killing.
“I’m fine, Sixth Uncle~” Li Xiao nodded calmly.
“Grandpa Liu avenged Second Uncle Er Mao too—he killed three Geluolu men, and he came out ahead!” Li Xiao said.
Grandpa Liu’s son had died in battle at North Mountain not long ago, alongside Li Xiao’s father.
In grief and rage, Grandpa Liu had fought recklessly in the battle just now, trading life for life with the Geluolu men.
When he killed the third Geluolu man, he was also stabbed in the chest by a Geluolu man’s saber.
Perhaps in the moment he fell, he had no regrets!
“In the future, take good care of Uncle Liu’s widowed mother and orphans!” Sixth Uncle sighed.
He then shouted to the crowd, “Quickly clean the battlefield—finish off any surviving Geluolu men and cut off their heads.”
Cleaning the battlefield was a very important task.
Mainly, gather the enemy’s horses to bring back, then their sabers and other weapons, as well as the arrows on the corpses and ground.
All of these had to be recovered and reused.
Even the spears used by the enemy were important strategic supplies.
After all, the grassland was not as prosperous as the Central Plains; ironware was scarce, and these spearheads could be smelted and forged into farm tools even if not used directly.
Of course, searching enemy corpses was also essential—perhaps some gold, silver, and copper coins or other valuables could be found.
Finally, the Geluolu men’s clothes had to be stripped off too; grasslanders had no such taboos, and they could be washed and worn.
Those that truly could not be worn still had other uses.
The root cause was the scarcity of supplies on the grassland; the people of Hexi Fort were unwilling to waste anything that could be used.
In this battle, Li Xiao personally cut down five Geluolu men, and he shot even more—ten at least.
These spoils of war were all Li Xiao’s, though he had no interest in things like weapons and clothes.
But the Geluolu men’s war horses were quite good.
No one living on the grassland would complain about having too many horses.
From this one battle alone, Li Xiao had added nearly twenty horses to his family, plus the gold, silver, and copper coins on these Geluolu men.
While the Hexi Fort crowd cleaned the battlefield, the old master squatted on a bloodstained stone.
Holding a saber with a chip in its blade, he gazed at the Geluolu corpses covering the ground and gently exhaled a breath of stale air.
His two sons—one dead, one missing—had struck him a heavy blow.
In just one day, Li Xiao noticed many more white hairs on the old master’s head.
But fortunately, this slaughter had vented the depression in his heart, and the old master’s mood had improved a lot.
“Grandfather, bandage your wound.” Li Xiao walked over and said to the old master.
In this battle, the old master was as fierce as in his youth, personally taking three Geluolu men’s heads.
Of course, he paid the price of injury—a Geluolu man’s saber had slashed his chest, not deeply but enough to tear flesh, blood staining his clothes.
“Minor wound, no big deal.” The old master shook his head stubbornly.
In his youth fighting wars, he had suffered countless wounds.
The King of Hell would not take him.
So, this current injury truly seemed no big deal to the old master.
But he did not refuse Li Xiao bandaging his wound.
“Da Long, your father is gone, and we don’t know if your Second Uncle is still alive—this family is just us few left.”
The old master looked dejected, sighed lightly, and said, his turbid eyes even showing a bit of moisture.
Li Xiao knew the loss of his two sons had hit him hard.
But Li Xiao was helpless and could only comfort him, “Then us few must live well.”
“Don’t let my father worry even in the King of Hell’s place.”
“Huff huff huff~ Yes, we all must live well.” The old master gently exhaled and said.
The old man could not die yet.
His grandsons had not grown up; they were still children.
If the old man could not hold on either, the grandsons would truly have no support.
Fortunately, these grandsons had not disappointed the old master.
Da Hu and Er Hu were both excellent—no cowardice, no disgrace to the Li Family. In another two years, they could grow up and help Da Long.
But what satisfied the old master most was Li Xiao; he already knew of his performance earlier.
Divine archery, taking enemy heads from a hundred meters away, every shot a hit; fearless in close combat, four heads taken—a true battlefield fierce general, brave and skilled in combat.
The old master believed that with more Geluolu men, Li Xiao’s battle achievements would only be greater.
What pleased the old master most was Li Xiao’s strong ability in deploying troops and his high talent for commanding cavalry.
This showed Li Xiao had full potential to become a qualified commander.
So, the old master sitting on the stone earlier had sighed that heaven was not so cruel to him.
Though the son he had high hopes for was gone, heaven had given him an outstanding eldest grandson.
Thus, the old master’s only current expectation was for Li Xiao to grow quickly, gain enough prestige and strength, take over his position, and command Hexi Fort.
Truly holding up the family.
That way, even if the old master passed away, he would have no regrets.
