"We have been keeping an eye on this small tribe of Shatu people for two days. This tribe has always been very cautious, with almost no one leaving the group alone. The guards are also very strict, and we have not found an opportunity to take action. If this small tribe reunites with the other seven tribes of Shatu tomorrow, then it will be even more difficult for us to take action!" Zuo Yuquan said in a deep voice, his eyes moving around the faces of several people, "I just want to ask everyone, should we give up now and look for another opportunity, or are we ready to take action..."
The rangers in this team were gathered together temporarily, without a so-called leader. In addition, there were not many people in the team, so these important decisions had to be discussed together. Now there were only two choices before everyone, either give up the goal this time, or take a risk and try. Of course, even the so-called risk did not mean letting these few people destroy this small tribe, but choosing the opportunity to chop off a few heads and then leaving quickly, so that the efforts spent in the past two days would not be in vain.
"If you want to do it, you're really risking your life, so you have to think carefully..." Mao Taishun also lowered his voice, "Even if we chop off a few heads and leave immediately, we will definitely be chased by these Shatu people. It's hard to say whether we can escape, so everyone should think carefully..."
Several people fell silent.
"Brother Zuo, what do you mean?" Zhao Bing pondered for a moment and asked Zuo Yuquan. Although Zuo Yuquan was not the leader of the group, he was experienced and was the organizer of the team, so he was a bit like the team leader in the temporary team.
"I won't say anything yet, so as not to affect everyone's judgment. After all, this is not a trivial matter. Whether you want to fight or leave, you have to think carefully. One is risking your life, and the other is giving up the opportunity in front of you. Think about it carefully!" Zuo Yuquan said calmly, then glanced at Yan Liqiang, "Brother Wang, tell me what you think first. Brother Wang, do you want to fight or leave?"
After Zuo Yuquan said this, everyone's eyes were focused on Yan Liqiang's face.
Yan Liqiang pondered for a moment, "We have been here at Gulang Grassland for quite a few days now. You should all be able to feel the situation these days. The people of the seven Shatu tribes have become smarter, or they are afraid of being killed. There are fewer and fewer scattered Shatu people. They are all banding together. I estimate that even if we give up leaving this time, it will be difficult or even impossible to encounter a Shatu tribe with fewer people than this small tribe and easier to attack. Rather than miss this opportunity, I think it is better to give it a try..."
"Well, Brother Wang wants to fight?"
"Yes, I want to stay and fight!" Yan Liqiang said straightforwardly, "Although these Shatu people are numerous, they are not completely without loopholes after following them for the past two days. For example, at night, when these Shatu people fall asleep, their defense will be relaxed, and there will be many places that cannot be taken care of. I think this is our opportunity. As long as we plan well, we can definitely make a move and leave quickly before these Shatu people react..."
"Brother Jia, what do you think?" Zuo Yuquan asked Jia Lang again.
Jia Lang's eyes moved smartly, and then he chuckled, "I think what Brother Wang said makes sense. These Shatu people are gathering together. If we miss this opportunity, we may encounter more Shatu tribes in the future, and they may be more guarded. These Shatu people have been a little nervous these days. I guess they think they can join up with other tribes tomorrow, so they may relax tonight. This is the opportunity for us to take action!"
"What do you mean, Brother Mao?"
Mao Taishun's expression changed for a while, but he still made up his mind, "Damn it, let's do it. The crossbow I bought hasn't been used yet, and it will come in handy tonight!"
"What do you mean, Brother Zhao?"
"Fuck!" Zhao Bing threw the grass stem in his hand to the ground and said a word coldly.
"I will make the same decision as Brother Zuo!" Xu Meng said in a muffled voice without waiting for Zuo Yuquan to ask.
Zuo Yuquan smiled, "My meaning is the same as everyone else's. This is our chance, let's fuck him!"
Everyone agreed and decided to take action tonight. Everyone was excited. The remaining thing was to discuss how to start. However, the latter problem was relatively simple, because there were not many people in total. Everyone's goal was to get the head of the Shatu people. There was only one way, which was to sneak to the periphery of the Shatu camp after midnight. If they could take down a few of the outermost tents of the Shatu people, it would be enough. The rest, there were only a few things to discuss, how to avoid the guards of the Shatu people, how to evacuate if their whereabouts were exposed and discovered, and what contingency measures were there...
After discussing and deciding, everyone began to prepare, gathering their strength, eating to replenish their energy, continuing to observe the situation in the Shatu camp, and waiting for it to get dark.
As the sun set, the sky over the entire grassland seemed to be covered by a black curtain and quickly became dark.
The Shatu people, who had been busy all day, began to settle down at this time. They returned to their tents to eat and rest. The guard team outside the Shatu camp also gradually returned to the camp.
A few hours later, it was completely night. The lights in the entire Shatu camp gradually dimmed and went out. Finally, there was no light left. Even the braziers in the camp were extinguished. Only a few Shatu people were still walking around in the tents. Two hours later, there were no Shatu people walking around. On the entire grassland, only the faint howling of wild wolves could be heard from a distance, and nearby, there were the sounds of insects chirping and the sound of grass swaying in the wind. The whole world was quiet.
Yan Liqiang and his men were waiting like wolves for another two hours. After they felt that all the Shatu people in the camp were fast asleep, they finally started to move.
Everyone put on the bit of their mounts to prevent them from making any noise, then they led the rhinoceros horses out from behind the small mound and followed the dense grass, approaching the camp step by step.
If it were broad daylight, of course, everyone would not dare to do this. The visibility is good during the day, and there are guards outside the Shatu camp. If everyone came out like this, they would naturally be exposed. But it was night, and although there was still some light in the sky, the visibility of ordinary people was no more than a hundred meters. If the horses were released too far away from the Shatu camp, once everyone's actions were discovered and they were chased by the Shatu people on rhinoceros horses, they would probably be caught up before they could even reach the place where the horses were released. Therefore, everyone had to lead their mounts to a place close enough to the Shatu camp so that it would be convenient for them to escape after the action.
The rhino horses and people walked quietly, so the crowd led the horses, walking slowly and carefully, slowly approaching the Shatu camp. They walked for more than half an hour, and only stopped when they had led the horses to a place less than a kilometer away from the outermost camp of the Shatu people. Then they used the stakes on the saddles to fork the reins of the rhino horses to the ground to prevent them from running away, and then they quickly crouched down and ran towards the Shatu camp...
Yan Liqiang was holding a bow and running in the front. He had the best eyesight and was good at bows and arrows and could shoot far, so in this operation, he was responsible for clearing the way, being on guard, and covering the rear. The task of chopping off heads was left to the other five people. All the heads obtained in this operation would be divided equally after being counted. For those who could not divide the heads equally, the proceeds from the heads would be divided equally.
When they ran to more than 200 meters outside the Shatu camp, Yan Liqiang suddenly squatted down and raised his hand. The few people following him also squatted down and hid in the grass.
"What's wrong?" Zuo Yuquan asked in a low voice.
"There is a security team coming up ahead..."
Zuo Yuquan nodded. At this distance, Zuo Yuquan could only vaguely see the shadowy tents of the Shatu people in front of him. At this time, everyone could only listen to Yan Liqiang.
About two minutes later, everyone saw a patrol team of more than 30 Shatu people passing through the tents in front under a dim light.
"These Shatu dogs have learned to be smart. The night patrol teams no longer use torches but lanterns..." Mao Taishun muttered.
"Torches are too conspicuous at night, and the Shatu people are afraid of attracting the enemy, so they use horse lanterns instead. Those horse lanterns, after all, are from our Han Empire..." Zuo Yuquan said in a low voice.
"Um!"
After the patrol team of Shatu people left, everyone did not move, but continued to lie down. They lay like this for about ten minutes before another patrol team passed by.
As soon as the team left, Yan Liqiang turned around and said, "We only have less than half an hour to take action and evacuate. Even if we are not discovered within half an hour, we must leave..."
Everyone nodded in understanding. The most crucial thing in this operation was not to be discovered by the Shatu people, and not to be entangled after being discovered. If they were entangled by the Shatu people and could not evacuate in time, they would have no way out.
Seeing that the patrol team had gone away, Yan Liqiang stood up suddenly and ran quickly towards the Shatu people's camp. While running, he had already pulled out a dagger from his waist. When he was less than a hundred meters away from the camp, Yan Liqiang had already thrown the dagger in his hand out.
The dagger flew out of Yan Liqiang's hand silently. Zuo Yuquan and others who followed Yan Liqiang only heard a slight muffled sound coming from the bushes in front of them. When they ran closer, they found a big wolf dog raised by the Shatu people lying in the bushes. It had been hit in the chest by Yan Liqiang's dagger and died without a sound...
Everyone was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. No one had noticed the dog lying here just now. If they had rushed over rashly just now, before they got close to the Shatu people's tent, the dog would start barking and all their efforts would be wasted. They would be discovered by these Shatu people in an instant.
Yan Liqiang not only discovered the dog, but also killed it silently with a flying knife from dozens of meters away. He did a great job and resolved the first crisis for everyone in one go.
Yan Liqiang pulled the dagger out of the dog again and continued to rush towards the tents. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the outermost Shatu tent...
At this time, it was up to Jia Lang to show his skills. Jia Lang quickly took out a dagger and a thin copper tube from his body, squatted on the ground at the door of the tent, quietly used the dagger to pry open the curtain inside, then put the copper tube in, and used a fire starter to light something he carried with him. As soon as he opened his mouth, he quickly inhaled the smoke from the thing into his mouth, then aimed his mouth at the copper tube and blew the smoke from his mouth into the tent.
After finishing all this, Jia Lang took out a few pills from a medicine bottle and asked everyone to put them in their mouths. Then Xu Meng took a big knife and opened the curtain of the tent. He rushed into the tent. The tent was filled with the muffled sound of a sharp blade piercing into bones...
Jia Lang was not idle. When Xu Meng entered the tent, his small copper tube had already reached into the second tent next to it. Zhao Bing also rushed in afterwards...
(End of this chapter)