Chapter 294 Returning a Favor
Fei Shan Hu's forces stormed in.
Another disorganized throng of bandits poured in. In the deepening gloom, it was impossible to tell their exact numbers, but they were a dense, dark mass.
Cheng Xu, however, showed no fear. He roared with laughter, "Keep throwing those grenades! And the firearms? Second volley ready? Fire! Fire, fire!"
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, those two simple-minded powerhouses, flung their arms again, and two more hand grenades soared through the air. Simultaneously, a chaotic volley of flintlock rifles, arquebuses, and Three-Eyed Arquebuses erupted.
A cacophony of explosions and bangs shook the forest as the firearms roared.
Fei Shan Hu's unit had barely arrived before they were battered into disarray. Like Da Honglang's forces, their morale collapsed almost instantly.
The morale of one group of bandits doesn't multiply by two when joined by another; they only drag each other down. One group collapsing or two groups collapsing—the speed is the same.
Fei Shan Hu's men also let out a strange cry and scattered, fleeing backward and to either side.
Fei Shan Hu's face darkened. "What in hell was that?"
"Damn it, we can't hold them! Retreat, quickly!"
Fei Shan Hu and Da Honglang had no choice but to retreat together.
As they pulled back, they exposed Wang Zuogua's main contingent and his second-in-command, Miao Mei's unit.
These two forces were still contending with Wu Zimian's division.
Wu Zimian had already slipped away under the protection of his personal guards, but the Yansui garrison troops he left behind were still fighting. Their morale wasn't particularly high; from the start, they looked as though they were about to lose. However, the sudden, incessant booming and banging of firearms from Cheng Xu's side changed everything.
To the bandits, the sound was terrifying; to the government troops, it was reassuringly familiar.
A thousand-household commander bellowed from the ranks, "Our reinforcements have arrived! Don't be afraid! Reinforcements are here, and they're elite troops carrying firearms! They must be men from the new Shaanxi Governor Liu Guangsheng!"
"With reinforcements, we can win! Don't be afraid!"
Hearing this, the government troops' morale soared.
Government troops were inherently superior to bandits. Although Wang Zuogua's forces included many border guards and former soldiers, they were still a notch below truly regular government troops. The bandits had only gained the upper hand by routing Wu Zimian and suppressing the government soldiers.
Now, with the government troops' morale revived, the bandits stood no chance.
The government troops' spear formation surged forward with renewed vigor, pressing ahead and forcing Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei's units to retreat step by step.
Wang Zuogua turned his head and saw that Fei Shan Hu and Da Honglang had also fallen back, and his heart sank with a bad premonition.
He immediately bellowed, "Quickly, take the warhorses we just seized and let's retreat!"
Da Honglang, who happened to be skilled at riding, swiftly swung himself onto a warhorse. Several of his fierce subordinates also vaulted onto their mounts.
A large herd of horses doesn't actually need every single horse to be ridden. As long as a few lead horses are ridden and charge out, the rest will follow.
So these few were enough. Da Honglang and his trusted henchmen spurred their horses with a kick to the flanks. "Go! Run!"
As he fled, five hundred warhorses followed him, thundering off towards the northeast.
Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang watched, and both exclaimed, "Damn it!"
Both of them grew anxious at the same time.
This was simply too much! The militia couldn't possibly catch up. If these horses got away, wouldn't they have failed to carry out the Heavenly Lord's orders?
It was over. The greatest crisis since the militia's formation had arrived.
With a click, Li Daoxuan slipped on the Infinite Gauntlet, flicked the switch, and the Infinity Stones began to glow with multicolored light. He was about to make a grand, showy entrance.
But just as he prepared to act, he suddenly witnessed an interesting scene.
Zao Ying, who had just climbed the nearby hillock to observe the spectacle, suddenly brandished her cavalry saber, pointed it towards the direction Da Honglang was fleeing, and called out loudly, "Brothers, let's intercept those warhorses!"
A subordinate beside her asked, "Huh? Why?"
Zao Ying replied, "The Guyuan rebels saved our lives. Of course, we must return the favor."
Her subordinates understood at once. "Understood!"
Zao Ying rode at the front, charging directly towards them.
Behind her, 120 horse bandits shouted in unison, brandishing their cavalry sabers as they galloped after Da Honglang.
This was where horsemanship truly mattered!
Da Honglang merely knew how to ride; he was by no means an expert horseman. But the horse bandits had all grown up on horseback, their riding skills exquisite. Though they couldn't compare to the northern nomadic tribes, within the passes, each of them was a top-tier equestrian.
When they charged, their speed was simply incomparable to Da Honglang's.
Da Honglang only heard the urgent drumming of hooves from his side. He turned his head and saw Zao Ying charging towards him with fierce momentum.
Da Honglang cried out, "Damn it!"
He quickly swung his spear, thrusting it straight at Zao Ying.
But Zao Ying was prepared. She shifted her body sideways on horseback, effortlessly dodging the spear. The two horses closed the distance in an instant. With a flick of her wrist, Zao Ying's cavalry saber flashed silver, sweeping towards Da Honglang's waist.
Da Honglang was scared out of his wits. On horseback, he didn't know how to evade the blade. In a desperate scramble, he thought to abandon his horse, letting out a strange cry as he tumbled off the other side of the saddle. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and rolled several times.
Zao Ying, too busy to care about Da Honglang's fate, reached out and snatched the reins of the horse Da Honglang had just been riding, pulling it along. Her subordinates also charged in, cutting down several of Da Honglang's men from their horses, seizing their reins, and leading them away.
Their actions immediately created a leading effect. The remaining four hundred-plus warhorses all began to follow them.
Li Daoxuan watched her with interest, thinking, *If you try to take these horses and slip away from the battlefield, profiting from the chaos, then I'll have to reach out and stop you.*
However, human nature, it seemed, wasn't always so wicked.
Zao Ying didn't lead the horses away in an escape. Instead, she circled them around and then charged towards Cheng Xu and his group.
The militia members were a little tense, hesitating whether to engage these thundering cavalry. But Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang shouted simultaneously, "Stop! Don't attack!"
They could tell Zao Ying had no intention of fighting.
The large herd of warhorses was brought to a halt before Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang. Zao Ying flung the lead horse's reins into Cheng Xu's hand. "Thank you for saving my life. Here are five hundred horses in return. We're even."
Xing Honglang burst into laughter. "Yichuan's Zao Ying, your reputation truly precedes you!"
Zao Ying stared at Xing Honglang for several seconds, then suddenly said, "Yongji's Xing Honglang?"
Xing Honglang guffawed. "That's me, alright!"
Zao Ying laughed heartily. "No wonder, no wonder, hahaha."
She pointed towards the still-fighting government troops and Wang Zuogua's men. "What about the situation over there?"
Xing Honglang shrugged. "We've got the warhorses, so naturally, we're not getting involved with them anymore. How about we just leave?"
Cheng Xu agreed, "An excellent plan! Let's pull back."
Zao Ying nodded. "Right, there's no more benefit in fighting. I'll withdraw too."
She clasped her fists towards Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang. "May the green mountains endure and the rivers flow long. We shall meet again someday."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the sound of an arrow slicing through the air echoed. A powerful arrow, flying from behind her...
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