“Help—”
"Mother! Father!"
The screams were so horrible that they almost pierced the sky. Some women even hugged the bandits’ thighs with both hands, begging them to let go of the child they had robbed. They cried and cried, “Please let him go. He’s just a child—”
The horse bandit seemed to feel reluctant for a moment.
But he still broke free from the woman's restraints and kicked her hard on the shoulder. As the woman cried out in pain, the child was thrown heavily to the ground, his head hitting the ground, his neck making a crisp sound, and his body and head formed a strange angle. The woman immediately lost control and went crazy when she saw it.
He wanted to fight the bandits desperately but was subdued.
The youngest and most beautiful women were tied up and thrown on the backs of horses, while the older ones were not treated this way. They were tied up and strung together in a line by the bandits. As for the men in the village, they were all killed regardless of their age. Each corpse was brutally stabbed several times by the bandits with weapons, and some were even so broken that their original appearance could not be seen. They were dead beyond death and were directly exposed in the wilderness.
Another half hour passed and they returned with a full load.
This group of horse bandits were herdsmen from the Shiwu tribe.
Since the governor of Longwu County was brutally murdered, the border walls and fortress checkpoints have become a low wall of little use to them, and similar looting has occurred every now and then. Their group came relatively late, and the brothers in the neighboring tribes had already made a fortune. Every time they returned with a full load, gold, silver, treasures, food, women, everything!
How could they not be tempted
He asked the women in the tribe to help prepare dry food, warm clothes, arrows, and simple defensive armor, and fed the war horses to be fat and strong. After making preparations, he united with several brother tribes of varying sizes nearby and prepared to go out and do something.
This first ticket made a lot of money.
Food, lots of it.
Gold, silver and treasures, lots of them.
Women, more.
The Shiwu tribe has backward medical technology and a relatively simple diet. The probability of dystocia among women is extremely high, and the infant mortality rate in the tribe is also high. Every generation of the Shiwu tribe members faces an embarrassing problem -
There are too few women of marriageable age.
Even though there is a custom within the tribe that "the wife of the father is inherited and the brother marries the sister-in-law after his death", or even that several brothers share one wife, there are still a large number of men who remain single. Women are a more precious resource in Shiwu than gold, silver, jewelry, cattle, sheep and horses.
A similar situation is also happening in the northern desert.
However, Beimo is not as comfortable as Shiwu at this moment.
Most typically, this group of horse bandits were made up of small tribes with close blood ties, with only a hundred or so young and strong men. In the past, they were very timid about going out to rob.
Not to mention such a great harvest, as soon as we break through the border barriers or border walls we will be targeted.
The methods used by Xin State to deal with horse bandits were no more merciful than the methods used by horse bandits to deal with common people on the border; in fact, they were even more brutal.
If the bandits were caught, they would be considered lucky if they were beheaded on the spot. If they were unlucky, they would be captured alive and taken to the border. Hemp ropes were passed through their necks and armpits, tied tightly, and dragged on horseback until only a skeleton was left, in order to deter the Ten Crow spies who were ready to make a move at the border.
The father and grandfather of the leader of this group of horse bandits were both unlucky. One was dragged to death, and the other was hit by stones and hung near the border gate for public display. The bodies were crawling with maggots before they were let down and thrown away at random, and then secretly picked up.
The operation went smoothly and everyone was very proud of it.
I don't think this process is as dangerous as my ancestors said. From the preparation stage to the smuggling into the country and then to the scouting, everything went smoothly. It was getting dark now, so I could stop and cook some dried meat.
An elderly bandit sneered, and the other bandits did not dare to refute him. This was because this old bandit was also a well-known elder in their tribe, and the one who planned and led this operation. "You are so naive."
The young leader said, “It is indeed simple.”
The old bandit drank a mouthful of the tasteless broth, chewed the dry and hard meat slices, and said, "No one is in charge of Longwu County now, but who knows when another tough guy will come? It's easy to lose your life if you are careless!"
The young leader sneered.
Although his tribe was not large, it was not isolated from the outside world and had heard a little about the current situation.
If Longwu County was really under control, the defense would not have been so lax in the past two or three months. The remaining troops in Longwu County now have to take care of the defense of the checkpoints, patrol the border walls, and clean up the horse bandits that keep popping up. Now they can't even take care of their scale. The location where they plunder is getting closer and closer to the center of Longwu County.
In addition, Longwu County's immediate superior—
The man named Zheng Qiao is an ally of the Ten Wus. Especially in the past two or three years, the defense of Longwu County has become increasingly lax, and the chances of horse bandits coming out to rob and succeed have become increasingly greater.
Hehe, they are not afraid now.
The old bandit frowned when he heard this.
He scratched his hair which had not been washed for two months.
He warned: "In short, it is better to be careful."
The young bandits didn't take this to heart.
After eating and drinking, arrange patrols and night watches.
The remaining bandits had nothing to do, and as they looked at the thirty or so shivering women, their minds became active. In the past, they would enjoy the spoils after returning to a safe area, but now, it was okay to take advantage of them.
Except for a few older ones with experience in plundering, most of these horse bandits are between 18 and 24. They are willing to do this just to find a woman. It is too difficult to get a woman through tribal channels. They are not a big tribe. Those who fall into their hands are either too old or have some physical problems...
How can they compare to the fresh and young girls in Longwu County
The youngest bandit among them, who was only twelve or thirteen, could no longer sit still when he saw his fellow tribesmen exchanging meaningful glances. He jumped up and said, "I want a wife too!"
"Go away, go away! You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you're still thinking about a woman? Compared to you guys, you're still too young."
"Hey, learn it on the side first."
For a moment, the bandits burst into laughter.
The youngest bandit was not convinced.
Why is he so small
They are not even as efficient as I am!
Take the village just now for example. There were several times when they were not decisive in their actions, but I was quick with my sword and was still a little warrior praised by everyone in the tribe. I can still be the leader of the tribe in two years, so what's wrong with choosing a wife first
Most of the common people in Longwu County knew a few words of the Ten Wu language, and they trembled uncontrollably when they heard their conversation. However, they were all tied up tightly, and could not escape or die.
One can almost imagine the near future.
Some people have closed their eyes in despair.
The evening breeze brought with it the remaining warmth of the setting sun, but it felt as painful as a knife when it blew on people's faces. They numbly watched the bandits walking towards them.
He didn't care about the bandits' reactions. What they needed was not a docile and considerate woman.
They just need a woman who can give birth, and it would be even better if she is good-looking.
The old bandit frowned: "Don't make too much trouble."
"Uncle, it's rare that they are happy. We will continue our journey back after dark. We will not delay." The young leader did not move. It was not because he was not greedy for these women, but because he already had a wife in the tribe. This woman was very fierce and capable. She was strong and had given birth to two children and was pregnant with another. If she knew that he had cheated on her this time...
There is no peace when I go back.
Seeing this, the old bandit moved his lips.
Just as he heard a woman screaming "Don't touch me", the old bandit saw two figures approaching from afar.
The other young bandits also noticed and stopped what they were doing, preparing to fight. Until they saw the two men clearly.
The bandit leader made a secret gesture.
The horse bandits put down their weapons but remained aggressive and stared at the two young men viciously.
One of the young men was riding a snow-white mule, and the other was wearing colorful clothes, with a braid on his head. He had a young face but a strong body. The leader of the horse bandits stopped the two and shouted, "Stop!"
The young men stopped one after another.
The young mule said angrily, "We've gone the wrong way again!"
Another person was also indignant: "Can you blame me for this?"
"Don't blame you, blame me?"
“…Okay, blame me!”
After saying that, the young man with the flashy pigtail turned his attention to the leader of the horse bandits. He was riding on a tall horse and lowered his head slightly, taking in all the people.
He asked, "Who are you? Why are you asking us to stop?"
The night was already dark.
The moonlight was dim and the vision was obstructed. The bonfire for cooking meat soup was extinguished by the bandits. Dozens of bandits hid in the bushes. The boy seemed to have not seen the size of this group of bandits. Seeing their large and small bags, he mistook them for a caravan.
The bandit leader asked, "Who are you?"
The braided boy on his horse sneered, "Who are we? Do we need to report to you? Have you seen a nest of rats running over here?"
The bandit leader naturally didn't see any rats.
The boy with pigtails kept cursing.
It could be heard from his words that there seemed to be a nest of rats destroying their granary, so the two of them were furious and wanted to catch the rats and scald them to death with boiling water.
Who knew that halfway through the chase, I couldn't find any trace.
The two got lost in the neighborhood for a while.
I vaguely saw a bonfire over here, so I went closer to ask.
Upon hearing this, the bandit leader was silent for a moment.
In the bushes, some horse bandits had secretly bent their bows and drawn their arrows, and following the sound, they aimed their arrows at the vital points of the two young men.
No matter whether the two boys came to look for the rat or the chipmunk, they could not leave alive. Although the two boys did not look very smart, once they walked far away and found something wrong, they would bring people back to encircle and suppress them, which would cause some trouble.
"Have you seen that nest of rats?" The pigtailed boy was very dissatisfied with the bandit leader's silence. He took out a large silver bead from the money bag hanging from his waist and said in a defiant tone, "Did you see this big piece of silver? Tell me where that damn, stinking nest of rats is. This is yours. Not enough, I still have another bag!"
He patted his purse as he spoke.
The dull sound of broken silver colliding was very pleasant to the ear, but the boy's condescending tone annoyed the bandit leader even more. The pigtailed boy muttered when he saw that no one had answered.
"Isn't it said that 'a big reward always brings out the brave'?"
The mule boy beside him said calmly: "What does this mean? It only means that what you gave is still too little."
The pigtailed boy said angrily, "You still call this young?"
"A lot?"
The pigtailed boy sneered: "You have emptied your purse, can you give me half of it?"
The mule boy didn't say anything else, just sneered and threatened: "... I'm going to write a letter to your cousin."
Tell the parents, it always works.
The pigtailed boy: "..."
While the two were talking, the evening breeze rustled the grass leaves, and beneath the rustling sound, a very faint hum of the bowstring was heard. The young mule tilted his head nonchalantly, letting the arrow brush past his hair.
He sneered, "Ah, the rat has shown up."
What
The leader of the horse bandits had little experience after all, and was confused for a moment, but the old horse bandit reacted and immediately realized that something was wrong. He ordered an ambush to take the two teenagers away in one go.
But, they never expected—
The smile of the young man with pigtails instantly turned into a cold murderous intent. The strong cold light spread from the horse's hooves upwards and instantly turned into a tightly armed horse armor. The young man was also wearing armor.
In just a few strokes, he shot down all the arrows shot at his companions.
As for the shot on him
Do you think you can break his armor with arrows made of stones, animal bones or rusty metals
In the words of the Lord—
It's the most ridiculous thing in the world!
The mule boy had a grim expression on his face and only said, "Protect the women and children who were robbed, and capture them alive!"
That’s a lot of requirements!
The boy with pigtails did not dare to be negligent.
Because this lord really has no moral principles! He said he would write a letter to complain, and he really did write a letter to complain. He wrote one before, and the young man was scolded by his cousin in a letter of 18 pages!
You can't scold him enough, and you can't beat him enough.
Yes, I can't beat it_(:з)∠?)_
He was not convinced, and he was furious and angry. He couldn't help but say something sarcastic, and then he was beaten up. In the end, he was ridiculed: Gong Xichou came and only got beaten up, and you are still arrogant to me
Xu Quan who doubts his life:
Isn't Mr. Shen a scholar of literature
Yes, the mule boy was Shen Tang, who was traveling day and night to Longwu County. However, when he was about to reach the seat of Longwu County, he encountered a tragedy that had just happened not long ago.
Thinking that the bandits didn't run too far, she and Xu Quan went ahead.
The main force went to the government office first.
The remaining few followed them.
The two of them were unlucky, and Xu Quan was confident that he was good at tracking and tracing. He almost got lost in the wilderness with Shen Tang, who was unfamiliar with the place. It was not until the bonfire led the way that they realized that it was easy to find the way.
This group of horse bandits is also interesting.
He did not launch a sneak attack when the two men got close.
This gave them a great opportunity to get closer.
Xu Quan didn't want to lose a "rat", so he summoned hundreds of Wuqi soldiers without saying a word, half of them to protect the women and children who were tied up and robbed, and the other half to deal with the horse bandits.
If we want to capture them alive, then there can't be too many deaths.
With a flash of his sword, Shen Tang killed several desperate criminals who were trying to use their lives to buy a chance for their fellow tribesmen.
I didn't kill them, I just cut their tendons with great precision.
There were also brave warriors among the horse bandits, such as the leader and the youngest horse bandit, but they were not very strong, one was a second-class upper-class warrior and the other a third-class hairpin. In front of Shen Tang and the others, they didn't even have a chance to break through.
Soon his legs were trampled by Xu Quan's warhorse.
The crisp sound of bones cracking is so pleasant to the ear.
In the ears of the horse bandits, it sounded like the King of Hell taking souls away.
In the darkness—
The sound of riots arises, and the sound of riots disappears.
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