The moon was at its zenith, the mountain wind was howling, and faintly a few wolf howls could be heard in the distance. Ma Dai led ten elite soldiers to the summit from the back mountain.
There is a cliff behind the mountain, and there is a very deep valley below. The cold wind makes people feel shaky, but the soldiers are not afraid. They take out grappling ropes and climb up the cliff with the help of the big trees on the cliff.
One of them didn't even need a rope. He moved like a nimble monkey, jumping left and right, climbing vines and crawling on them. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from everyone's sight.
Ma Dai shook his head and sighed. Liu Qi indeed had many talented people under his command. Even these so-called chicken thieves and dog thieves were employed by him. He truly had the spirit of the ancient benevolent men.
When they were almost at the top of the mountain, a protruding rock blocked the way. Just when everyone was in a dilemma, several ropes were hung down from the cliff, and everyone grabbed the ropes and climbed up.
Shi A had been waiting at the edge of the cliff, letting the mountain breeze blow on him, standing still as if he had taken root, with the demeanor of a great hero.
Ma Dai clasped his fists and said, "Thank you!"
Shi A waved his hand and smiled: "From now on, we are all colleagues, no need to be polite!"
There are three felt tents on the top of the mountain, which are lower and simpler than the tents below. There is only a small path leading to the mountain. There is nothing to do in the camp, so the soldiers on the mountain can sleep soundly, with snoring sounds coming one after another.
Ma Dai hid in the bushes and carefully observed his surroundings. He saw a row of stone walls built on the front side of the mountain. They could not only block the wind, but also be pushed down the cliff to repel the enemy at critical moments.
The sentinels were having sweet dreams, but they could never have imagined that Ma Chao and his party would pass by here, and that someone would even climb up the mountain from the cliff behind the mountain.
Shi A jumped up lightly, came to a nearby tent, pried open the curtain with a dagger, and just as he leaned over to check the number of people, he suddenly groaned and somersaulted backwards.
Seeing him staggering, Ma Dai quickly held him up and asked in a low voice, "Were you discovered?"
"No... No!" Shi A's face flushed, he gasped for air, retched several times, and then he fanned his nose and said, "It stinks, it really stinks!"
Ma Dai was startled and frowned, "How many people are there?"
"Four!" Shi A pulled out a black scarf from his arms and put it on his face skillfully, saying, "The shorter one has stinky feet, start with the taller one."
Ma Dai nodded slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then cut off half of his clothes to cover his mouth and nose. The others didn't understand why, but they followed suit.
The ten men were divided into three teams and quietly approached the tent. Ma Dai grabbed the curtain and shouted, "Kill!"
Ten people moved in unison, bent over and rushed into the tent. In the bright moonlight, a few cold lights flashed.
As the sound of a knife cutting through flesh and bone was heard, the snoring in the tent stopped abruptly.
"Ugh—" Immediately afterwards, a retching sound was heard and everyone rushed out again. Some people vomited their dinner on the spot.
Ma Dai ran to the edge of the woods, tore off his shirt and took a deep breath. These guys were even stinkier than bedbugs, and even covering themselves with cloth couldn't block out the indescribable smell.
"Damn it, this is worse than poison!" Shi A patted his chest, walked over and asked, "Is it time to send a signal?"
Ma Dai waved his hands, signaling Shi A to take action. He was still feeling irritated and couldn't speak for a moment.
Shi A came to the edge of the cliff, found the torch on the beacon tower, lit it, and turned twice towards the valley.
Ma Dai also called on everyone to prepare again, and just wait for the lanterns on the mountainside to fall, and then they would rush down the mountain and eliminate the defenders on the mountainside.
As soon as everyone gathered together, they saw that the lantern had fallen, immediately caught fire, and turned into ashes in the night wind in the blink of an eye.
"Charge!" Shi A moved swiftly, climbed over the stone wall and landed lightly on the mountain road.
"Wait a minute!" Ma Dai looked at the shaking stones and suddenly had an idea. He turned around and told everyone, "Push the stone wall!"
Several people stepped forward and exerted force at the same time. A stone wall three or four feet wide collapsed. Huge rocks fell down with a loud bang, carrying dust and hitting the platform on the mountainside.
"This—" Shi A widened his eyes. Cao's army on the mountainside was buried by rocks.
"Get down the mountain!" Ma Dai shouted and led everyone down the mountain road.
At this time, a big fire had been started in the camp. Seeing the signal from the lanterns, people set fire to the camp everywhere. Ma Le had been waiting next to the hay next to the stable. In an instant, the sky was lit up red, and the camp was bright.
Pang De, who was lying in ambush in the forest, rushed out with his troops, cut all the reins, seized the mounts, drove the horses out, and headed straight for the rear camp.
Suddenly, Shichengguan was in chaos, with smoke and fire everywhere, people shouting and horses neighing. Countless war horses were running wildly in the flames, neighing with their heads raised.
Ma Chao ran straight to the camp gate and swept his spear across the area, killing the guards who were sleeping with their arms folded. He then pushed aside the fence and rushed in first, heading straight for the frightened war horses.
The awakened Qiang people had no reaction at all. Some were still sitting on the bed in a daze when the soldiers rushed in like wolves and tigers and chopped them down.
The Qiang soldiers who hurried out of the camp were panicked and ran to the stables. For them, not having a mount was like losing two legs and they could hardly move.
But at this time, all the mounts in the camp were running around, and they rushed to grab the horses. At this moment, a man rode his horse and rushed over, waving his spear. There were screams everywhere, and the figure even flew into the air, like a tiger descending from the mountain, unstoppable.
The Qiang people were killed and their horses were thrown to the ground, and they fled in all directions. A few of them who had managed to grab mounts were aroused to ferocity, and rushed forward with roars, but were knocked off their horses in just one move.
"Xiliang Ma Chao is here. Everyone must die tonight—"
Ma Chao sat on his horse, pointed his spear and shouted loudly, the sound shaking the whole area. The Qiang people were immediately panicked and looked at the unruly figure in the firelight in disbelief.
Ma Chao was a powerful figure in Xiliang and even more famous in the Qiang tribe. He earned the title of "Godly General" for his martial arts. Wherever he went, all tribes obeyed him.
The Dangxiang tribe had been holding a grudge against Ma Chao for having their chief killed in a duel. This time, they were instigated by Han Sui and wanted to take the opportunity to take revenge. They never dreamed that Ma Chao, who had been trapped for two months, would appear here.
Just by hearing this name, all the Qiang people were dumbfounded. They lost all their fighting spirit and fled in all directions. Ma Chao rode his horse forward, but before he could catch up with them, he heard ghosts crying and wolves howling.
At this time, many people had already grabbed mounts, especially Ma Chao's guards, who followed him and urged their horses to charge, galloping back and forth in the firelight, and no one could stop them.
The Qiang people were already terrified and fell to the ground screaming. Some of them knelt down and begged for mercy, but Ma Chao at this time was like a killing god. He swept his iron spear mercilessly, and some of them flew into the air.
With anger that had been pent up for months and the force of thunder, he stabbed and pierced the Qiang soldiers with his spears, and the panicked fleeing Qiang soldiers fell into complete despair.
In just half an hour, Shichengguan returned to peace again. Thick smoke and the smell of blood drifted in the night wind. Everyone gathered on the mountain road, looking at the corpses on the ground with indifferent expressions.
"It's great! I haven't been so happy to draw my sword in a long time!" Xu Shu wiped his sword dry and ordered: "When the enemy sees the fire, they will definitely send people to check. Each person will have two horses. Collect supplies and retreat immediately."
Ma Chao wrapped a piece of cloth around his spear, dipped it in the blood of the Qiang people, and wrote eight big words on the two pillars at the entrance of the village: Blood debt must be paid with blood, the murderer is Ma Chao!