The big ship was slowly approaching. Men wearing Cao's armor were guarding the dock, and the rest were hiding behind the stone walls.
Seeing that Xu Shu had remained silent, Ma Chao asked, "Sir, do you have any good ideas?"
Xu Shu laughed and said, "With so few soldiers and generals, it's useless to use tricks. The enemy will disembark later and ask them to put out the fire. We will seize one ship, destroy the other two, and leave this place."
At this time, Cao's army on the boat also discovered that the pass was on fire, so they rowed faster, quickly moved towards the shore, and shouted loudly.
Ma Le answered while standing at the dock, saying that reinforcements had arrived and that a fire had accidentally broken out, and asked everyone to rush ashore to put out the fire.
Three ships arrived at the dock and hastily dropped anchor. Many people rushed to get off the ships and go to the pass to put out the fire. All their supplies and property were here.
When most of the defenders had gone, Ma Chao urged his horse out, and the two of them instantly killed all the soldiers whose ships were still docked at the harbor. The war horses neighed, and they leaped up and occupied a ship in the middle.
Ma Dai and Pang De each led ten men, killed the soldiers on the other two ships, lit torches and threw them into the cabins, cut the ropes and let them drift away with the current.
When the defenders rushed into the pass, they found that all the houses were destroyed and the fire was burning on the wall. The city gate was filled with corpses and blood was flowing like a river. Everyone was in a panic.
When they heard the screams from the port and rushed back, Ma Chao and others had already led their horses onto the boat and were rowing towards the other side.
Cao's army chased after them. Ma Chao, Pang De and others drew their bows and shot down several people. The other soldiers hurriedly hid behind the stone wall and could only watch the big ship go away.
There were very few ships in the Xiliang area, and most of them could not even swim. When the only three large ships left the port, everyone was dumbfounded and stood on the dock in a daze.
At the critical moment, flames shot up into the sky, and the ships in the port moved away. Two of them were still emitting black smoke, drifting away with the water and capsizing in the waves.
Xu Shu commanded everyone to row together and cross the big boat to the other side. They picked up some urgently needed supplies and took them away. They also burned the boat. Ma Le went to ask the Di people for help first.
As the group was resting on the shore, they saw a large group of troops from upstream arriving with flags waving and dust everywhere. There were at least 20,000 soldiers in total.
Ma Chao stood on the river bank, with his hands on the awning, and looked over. He saw the word "Yan" on the flag. It was indeed Yan Xing who was leading the troops. There were more than 3,000 cavalrymen in different costumes behind him. They were the Qiang tribe.
Ma Teng and Han Sui dominated Xiliang, one in Hexi and the other in Huangzhong. They both made friends with the Qiang people and secretly won over the Qiang people from various tribes, competing secretly with each other.
The reason why Ma Chao dared to go to Jincheng alone this time was because he relied on the support of the Dangxiang Qiang. He never expected that they would betray him. Everyone was in a desperate situation and almost wiped out.
Thick smoke was billowing from Horseshoe Bay, and the fire was expected to continue burning for a while. The pursuers were unable to enter the pass, and when they learned that Ma Chao had already crossed the river, there was a commotion, and they divided into several teams to observe the shore, and they also discovered Ma Chao and others.
Seeing Ma Chao escape, everyone showed a look of panic. Yan Xing stood above the harbor with a knife in his hand, looking at Ma Chao from afar, and ordered to build a ferry to cross the river immediately.
The Qiang people were even more anxious to watch and whisper to each other. The mighty General Tian's reputation spread throughout Xiliang, and all the Qiang people were afraid. If Ma Chao was allowed to escape this time, the consequences would be disastrous.
Xu Shu said, "The pursuers will be able to cross the river tomorrow at the latest. We should not stay here for long. Let's go!"
Ma Chao put his hands on his waist and pointed at the Qiang people on the other side of the river and said angrily: "Dangxiang thieves, the day I, Ma Chao, return, will be the day for you to be exterminated!"
Regardless of whether the people on the other side could hear them, everyone mounted their horses and deliberately headed east along the river, pretending to go to Hanzhong. After bypassing the river bend, they continued south to head towards Fuhuan.
Although the Di people were of a different race from the Qiang people, they also lived a nomadic life and lived near water. Ma Chao only knew that they were in the territory of Fuhan, but his specific location still needed to be discovered.
On the second day, everyone entered a vast grassland, where they saw winding rivers, abundant water plants, large lakes reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, and lush green land, like a fairyland.
Ma Chao couldn't help laughing on his horse and said, "I didn't expect there would be such a grassland in Fuhan. If the Di King occupied this place, why would he have to migrate everywhere?"
Everyone was delighted by the sight. After days of fleeing for their lives, they could not help cheering when they saw this vast open space. Their war horses also snorted, wanting to rush out.
"Let's rest here and go get some water!" Ma Chao ordered everyone to dismount and some people went to fetch water.
Xu Shu frowned and said, "This grassland stretches for hundreds of miles and is endless. The Di King, who is the overlord of Fuhan, would know about it, but he didn't come to occupy it. I'm afraid there is something strange going on."
Ma Chao laughed and said, "The world is so big that there are all kinds of wonders. There are also places I don't know."
Ma Dai said with emotion: "Arriving here reminds me of the land west of the Yellow River. Along the Ruoshui River for seven or eight hundred miles, there are also grasslands like this, with herds of cattle and sheep, and thousands of horses galloping..."
Just as they were reminiscing, someone suddenly shouted. Everyone stood up and saw a soldier who was fetching water had sunk into the grass with his horse.
"Oh no, there's a swamp over there!" Xu Shu stood up and shouted, "Quickly untie your belt and save people."
Ma Chao and his men immediately untied their belts, threw them over, and worked together to rescue the soldier. However, the horse was already stuck in the mud, and in a blink of an eye only half of the horse's head was left struggling outside.
A moment later, a horse disappeared out of thin air on the grass. Only a few gurgling sounds of water were heard, and everyone stared at it in a daze.
"The swamp here is so terrible!" Ma Dai said in astonishment: "When I was in Hexi, I never saw such a scene."
Xu Shu glanced around and frowned, saying, "This place has lush grass and water, but no cattle, sheep or wild animals. The Hu people don't fight for this place. There must be a reason for that."
"It seems that this place is blocked. Should we go back the same way?" Ma Chao smacked his lips and no longer dared to be arrogant. He knew that no matter how powerful he was, once he fell into the swamp, he would have no way out.
When everyone was getting anxious, suddenly a horse team came galloping from the northwest. The first person was wearing Cao army armor. It was Ma Le who was going to look for the Di King.
Soon the cavalry approached, and Ma Chao shouted in surprise: "Agui? How are you, my king?"
"General Tian, it's so great to see you again!"
On the black-maned horse, a sturdy man with a dark complexion and as strong as a black bear shouted, and without waiting for his mount to stabilize, he jumped off and ran over quickly.
Ma Chao strode forward, and the two men held each other's arms and laughed, one remembered the kindness in the past, and the other was grateful to the other for saving him when he was in trouble. This was the best test of friendship.
"How did you get to the Evil Spirit Grassland?" A Gui asked in confusion, "Luckily, we are only at the edge now. If we go in, I won't dare to look for you easily."
Ma Chao pointed at his soldiers covered in mud and sighed, "Someone almost got killed just now. This place is really weird, and the name is weird too."
Ah Gui sighed, "General Tian, you don't know that this grassland is controlled by evil spirits. Not only is there danger at every step, but the weather is also changeable. It may be sunny in the daytime, but it may turn into a storm in the blink of an eye. There is even hail and heavy snow in June and July. It is so unpredictable that entering this place is a life-threatening situation."
"Is it so terrible?" Ma Chao was surprised.
"Hurry up, the storm is coming!" Agui pointed to a huge black cloud in the southeast, "Let's get out of here first."
Just as he finished speaking, a strong wind suddenly blew up on the sunny grassland, making it impossible for people to stand steadily. Everyone hurriedly mounted their horses and followed the Di cavalry to retreat.