Chapter Eleven: The Strong Man Releases His Wrist

  Since the day they left Pingzhou, Cao's caravan had been traveling on the vast grassland for more than half a month. The destination of this trip, Xiaozhou, was no longer an unreachable distance. However, Tang Song and his group encountered another problem: the water they brought with them was running out. With over 100 people and mouths to feed, and at least 7-8 days' journey to Xiaozhou, the number of sick people in the group was increasing. If things continued like this, their efforts might be wasted.

  "Li, what's your take on this?"

  At this moment, inside the temporary tent set up by Tang Song, Li Daimu and Baima sat face to face with Tang Song, discussing countermeasures together. Li Daimu shook his head and said: "Tang brother, your method is feasible, but it's really risky. Sending a small number of people to speed up the journey to arrive at Xiazhou first, and then turning back with water sources, can't avoid accidents. If they are delayed for one or two days, the remaining people will really die of thirst on the road. In my opinion, this plan is not feasible."

  "What's wrong with that?" White Horse retorted. "Give me forty sturdy men, and I'll make the round trip in four days, day and night, without any risk."

  "Miss Bai, the heavens have unpredictable winds and clouds. Now that our convoy has arrived in Yan Prefecture, this place is very close to the Tangut Huihe tribe. Even during peaceful times, there were often Tangut people causing trouble and looting. Now with war fires raging everywhere, if you encounter any unexpected event on the road, I, Li Mou, will not be able to bear the responsibility!"

  Li Daimu didn't even have time to look at Baima's face, his own face flushed red as he argued forcefully.

  "You scoundrel!" The white horse was about to counterattack when it heard the sound of a horn blowing outside the tent, and its ears immediately perked up in alertness.

  Li Daimu's face turned white in an instant, and he trembled with fear, saying: "This... is the sound of a Qiang flute from the Party people, could it be that I really hit the mark."

  Tang Song, who had been listening to the two men arguing like a dead man, was now quite calm and comforted Li Dabing, saying: "The Tangut tribes often plunder before winter and after spring. Now that it's the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month and very cold, I don't think it must be the Tanguts. Let's go out and take a look."

  Three men walked out of the tent and looked around. At this time, night fell, and the sound of a flute woke up many people who were sleeping in their tents, looking confused. Li Dabu stood on high ground, raised his hand to gaze into the distance and said: "A pair of horsemen came from the northeast direction, judging by their attire, they don't seem to be Tanguts." After speaking, Li Dabu suddenly stopped, and shouted in terror: "Hurry up! The ones coming are bandits from Sichuan!"

  At this shout, the people of Cao's chariot team suddenly became a group of ants on a hot pot. Tang Song hastily shouted: "Everyone don't panic, put out the bonfire, pack up and hide in the northwest direction."

  Everyone followed his instructions, but with such a large caravan and so many complicated things, how could they be collected in time? Just as the horse bandits were approaching, Tang Song gritted his teeth and said: "Abandon the caravan, everyone follow me immediately!"

  "No way!" Li Da Mu roared "These armor and weapons are the life of the Cao family, can't be lost!"

  Tang Song suddenly became furious and said: "Fool! If you don't leave now, your life will be gone too. What's the point of talking about the Cao family? Even if our convoy is lost, we can still think of a way to get it back!"

  "I, Li Daimu, swear to share life and death with the Cao family!" Li Daimu stood firm, unmoving, as half of the people around him hesitated for a while before standing behind him. The rest looked at Tang Song, waiting for his orders.

  "Alright, alright, Brother Li. Time is pressing, you and I will each take half of the cavalry, divide into two routes, if we survive, we'll meet again in Xiazhou." Tang Song sighed, turned around, waved his arm and shouted: "Those who are willing to go, follow me northwest!"

  The Cao family's cavalry split into two directions to escape, and the leader of the horse thieves saw from a distance, furrowing his brow: "Tuan Lian Shi, are we going to divide our troops?"

  "It won't work." The person beside him said, "The night is dark and the wind is strong, dividing our troops would be too dangerous. Let's capture one group first, then go find the other group, they can't run far with their carts."

  He pointed in the direction of Li Da Mu's group and said, "There are more people on this side, let's catch them first."

  As soon as the horse's head fell, a large group of people rushed southwest.

  Tang Song and his group escaped for three hours, people and horses were exhausted. At this time, they could no longer see the pursuing soldiers behind them. Looking around, there were only thirty-two people left, twenty horse-drawn carriages, and some people had fallen behind on the road. Tang Song sighed and said in a low voice: "This time, even if we reach Xia Zhou, it's likely that nothing will come of it."

  Bai Ma saw him with a look of death, and was so angry that he said: "These things will be discussed when we arrive in Xia Zhou. The most important thing now is how to get rid of these horse bandits."

  Suddenly, the sound of horseshoes shook the sky, and that group of horse bandits had caught up. Looking around, seeing that everyone was exhausted and fallen to the ground, Tang Song's face sank, and he commanded: "Everyone pick up the bows and crossbows on the carriage, gather together, and listen to my orders." The crowd then struggled to get up, and they all did as instructed.

  Bandits closed in, surrounding Tang Song and the others. One of them raised his long knife and pointed at Tang Song and the others, saying: "Don't you dare put down your weapons and surrender? I am Wang Xiaobo from Qingcheng County, those who want to live had better obey!"

  Seeing Tang Song and others did not move, it seemed that they were going to die together with the net. Suddenly, this made him furious, and he shouted towards his back: "Bring someone over for me."

  A surge of movement behind, a man with a terrified face was pushed forward, Wang Xiaobo didn't say a word, one knife cut him into two segments, in an instant the corpse was in two places.

  "Niu Er!" Behind Tang Song, a man holding a bow and arrow had tears all over his face. He was Niu Da, and the dead person was his younger brother Niu Er.

  Wang Xiaobo saw the effect, hehe smiled and said with a horizontal knife: "From now on, I will kill one person every time a incense stick is burned, until you are willing to surrender. Continue to bring people for me!"

  "That's enough!" Tang Song roared, "If you want money and wealth, take it away! Why must you harm people's lives? Are you, Wang Xiaobo of Qingcheng County, really a bloodthirsty person?"

  "Hahaha." Wang Xiaobo laughed wildly and said "Now I am the one holding the knife, and you are the fish on the chopping board. What can you do if I kill you?"

  Just then, another person was brought out from the crowd. Tang Song's body shook, and this person turned out to be Li Daimu. At this moment, he had a face full of bloodstains and was covered in dirt, obviously having suffered greatly. Tang Song gritted his teeth, finding it hard to make a decision. Seeing Wang Xiaobo's knife about to fall, he suddenly steeled himself and said: "Wait!"

  Taking two steps forward with a trembling body, Tang Song said bitterly: "If we surrender, can you spare our lives?"

  "Alright, but these goods will have to belong to me now."

  Tang Song heard this and turned around silently, facing everyone and saying: "Everyone, put down your weapons..."

  Everyone looked at each other after hearing him, and threw down the knives, swords, bows and crossbows in their hands, giving up resistance. Tang Song looked at Baima's expression, strangely, he saw ridicule and pity on Baima's face, and suddenly said stupidly: "You..."

  "Fire the arrow."

  An arrow flew past Tang Song's ear, and his hair scattered instantly. Before he could react, he was grabbed by the white horse and pushed onto the horse, which galloped away with a slap on its rump. The white horse rode up to the horse, turned around, and shot an arrow straight at Wang Xiaobo. Wang Xiaobo dodged too late and was hit in the thigh, falling off his horse. The people around him rushed to help him, but he pushed them away, furious: "Chase! Chase for me! And these bastards, shoot every last one of them to death!"

  Tang Song collapsed on the horse's back as if his soul had escaped, he suddenly turned his head and saw that one by one, the people in Cao's carriage team fell to the ground with arrows, Li Dabu's headless corpse had been trampled into mud by the horse hooves. Turning his head again to look at the white horse, there was no expression on this woman's face, how many life and death separations had she seen to have such a state of mind. Or...

  Tang Song suddenly lifted his head and asked Bai Ma: "You knew all along that they wouldn't keep their promise?"

  The white horse shot an arrow backwards while galloping wildly on its horseback, saying lightly: "Not bad, because they are not bandits."

  "What?!"

  The white horse put away the bow and tapped its own horse's buttocks and Tang Song's horse's buttocks, saying: "They are speaking the dialect of Hedong, and the real Wang Xiaobo is a chivalrous and generous good fellow, famous far and near."

  "Why didn't you remind me in the first place?" Tang Song's tone turned from puzzlement to anger, and he shouted loudly.

  "I don't know if you've heard the story of Zhuangzi's wrist. In my opinion, these Cao family people are a burden, and with them, we'll be dragged down sooner or later. Our water is already insufficient, even if they aren't killed today, they'll die of thirst on the road in two days. As long as you and I can make it to Xiazhou, that's enough."

  Tang Song listened and looked up at the sky with a smile, two lines of tears flowing down his cheeks. He said sorrowfully to the white horse: "This woman, how despicable can she be?"

  It seems that Tang Song is very dissatisfied with what was said, and Bai Ma coldly retorts: "Don't say such things, it's you, Director Tang, who killed them, I didn't do anything."

  "It was I who killed them." Tang Song suddenly felt a pang of sorrow in his heart and had no strength to refute.

  "Shut up, damn it! It seems like another group of bandits is coming from ahead!"

  Just as Tang Song lost his spirit, the white horse's words pulled him back to the cruel reality. He raised his head and looked ahead, and indeed there was a large group of people dressed similarly to the horse bandits before. He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh and say: "I didn't think that I would still die at the hands of these filthy horse bandits."

  Tang and Song stopped five steps away from the group of people, and the pursuing soldiers behind them also dared not to advance rashly when they saw this pair suddenly appear, pulling their horses to a stop to observe the situation.

  "The good fellow ahead." The white horse stopped and said, "We are merchants from Ba Prefecture. We were ambushed by a group of scoundrels impersonating Wang Xiaobo. Our companions were killed or injured. Please, kind sir, save our two lives!"

  That group of horse bandits suddenly huddled together and whispered something, among them a man in military uniform, with a handsome face, about twenty years old, rode out on horseback, smiling but not quite smiling, saying: "Miss, you two go to the back of my men first, I'll take care of this place."

  The white horse looked at him gratefully and pulled Tang Song's horse into the crowd in the back.

  The man stepped forward and pointed at the fake Wang Xiaobo, saying: "You are the scoundrels who impersonate Wang Xiaobo of Qingcheng County?"

  The fake Wang Xiaobo hesitated for a moment, then said: "I am Qiuhu, the commander of the Bianzhou militia, and I have been ordered by the government to capture the convoy smuggling military supplies. These two are the leaders of the convoy, please let them go, and hand them over to me, and I will thank you on behalf of the government."

  "Oh? You're an official?" The man said with a hint of a smile.

  "Ah, exactly."

  With a swish, the large blade swept over Qiu Hu's head. Fortunately, he reacted quickly; otherwise, there would have been another nameless corpse on this plain at this time.

  Qiu Hu didn't expect the other party to suddenly become hostile, and he had already moved out of the official residence, so he immediately became angry and said: "Where did you come from, you dare to oppose the government!"

  The man looked up at the sky and smiled, holding his knife horizontally, with a hint of ferocity on his handsome face, saying: "I am Wang Xiaobo from Qingcheng County."