Heading to Ye County, Encountering Horse Bandits

Heading to Ye County, Encountering Horse Bandits

The second day, dawn had just begun to break.

Two hundred Black Armored Army soldiers received orders to assemble at the First Battalion parade ground.

Before setting out, Zhou Shan went to Commander Wu's tent.

"Zhou Shan, I just received a letter delivered by someone from the Ye County Commandant," Commander Wu said. "A band of horse bandits has appeared within Ye County recently. Quite a few merchant teams have had their goods plundered. The Ye County Commandant has sent men to suppress these horse bandits before, but every time the Black Armored Army left the city to hunt them down, the bandits seemed to receive word in advance and vanished without a trace.

The Ye County Commandant suspects that someone in the city has been colluding with the horse bandits and feeding them information. That is why the Black Armored Army returned empty-handed every time they left the city to suppress the bandits. Only then did the Ye County Commandant write to request aid, asking Qingyang City to send a force of the Black Armored Army to eliminate them.

Now that you have formed the Bandit Suppression Squad, go to Ye County first and wipe out this band of horse bandits.

It would be best if you could capture the horse bandit leader alive and interrogate him to find out which force in the county city has been colluding with them. The Black Armored Army must resolutely strike down and eradicate such selfish forces that undermine a county's stability."

"I understand!" Zhou Shan nodded, then asked, "Does Commander Wu have any further instructions?"

"That will be all for now. The Bandit Suppression Squad has greater freedom—you can decide for yourself where to suppress bandits. If there is an urgent mission, I will send someone to notify you." Commander Wu waved his hand. "You may leave!"

"Understood. This subordinate takes his leave."

Zhou Shan cupped his hands and withdrew from the tent.

Before long, Zhou Shan arrived at the First Battalion parade ground.

A Centurion was responsible for taking attendance. After finishing the roll call, he stepped before Zhou Shan and announced in a booming voice, "Commandant, all two hundred Black Armored Army soldiers are present. None are absent. Awaiting your orders."

"Set out for Ye County!"

Zhou Shan gave the order.

The two hundred Black Armored Army soldiers followed behind him and left the military camp.

Zhou Shan rode a Demonic Beast known as a Black Scale Horse.

Demonic Beasts were wild animals that had embarked upon the path of cultivation.

To put it another way, the difference between a Demonic Beast and an ordinary beast was like the difference between a martial artist and an ordinary human.

But taming Demonic Beasts was no easy matter. They were far more ferocious than beasts like tigers and lions. Only great powers like the Guiyuan Sect possessed the strength to raise and train Demonic Beasts.

Even so, the number of Demonic Beasts was not large.

At present, only the military camp of Qingyang Commandery possessed a certain number of Demonic Beast mounts.

Black Scale Horses were covered from head to toe in a layer of black scales, as though clad in iron armor. Though they were merely ordinary Demonic Beasts, their strength was comparable to that of Third-class Martial Artists. In battle, a Black Scale Horse could kick a tiger to death.

Within the Qingyang Commandery military camp, only Centurions and those above them were qualified to be equipped with Black Scale Horses.

The mounts of ordinary Black Armored Army soldiers were Crimson Flame Horses, which possessed a thin trace of Demonic Beast bloodline and had red fur like burning flames.

Leading two hundred Black Armored Army soldiers, Zhou Shan soon left Qingyang City.

The Black Armored Army galloped swiftly along the main road in the direction of Ye County.

After the Great Jin Dynasty fell, the major powers had begun attacking one another, and the flames of war stretched to the heavens. This bred countless bandits. Some refugees, unable to survive any longer, could only sink into banditry.

Qingyang City was somewhat more stable because the Black Armored Army was stationed there in force, but beyond Qingyang City, chaos reigned everywhere.

Zhou Shan had already felt this when he had escorted military equipment before.

However, that mission had been to escort military equipment, with safety as the foremost priority. As long as the bandits fled quickly and kept far away, there was no need for the Black Armored Army to pursue them.

This time was different.

Zhou Shan's mission was to suppress bandits.

Therefore, whenever he encountered bandits on the road to Ye County—especially those who had slaughtered villages, exterminated families, and committed crimes beyond counting—Zhou Shan naturally did not let them go. He did not even need to act personally. All it took was an order for a Centurion to lead forty Black Armored Army soldiers, and those ordinary bandits would be wiped out.

After all, bandits with First-class Martial Artists overseeing them were rare.

By the time he reached Ye County, Zhou Shan had eliminated more than a dozen bands of bandits, large and small.

The Black Armored Army entered Ye County and proceeded along the main road.

Zhou Shan was still pondering how to find that band of horse bandits when, during the march, they came upon a group of horse bandits besieging a merchant team.

That merchant team was enormous, with more than a hundred large carts. Every cart was piled high with goods. Excluding the drivers, there were more than two hundred guards alone. On the banner flying high above them was a single character: "Zhang."

These guards were well equipped. Not only did they have blades, swords, and armor, they even had bows and crossbows.

Thus, the horse bandits had not yet taken down the merchant team and were still locked in battle.

"This is the Zhang Family Merchant Team of Ye County. Looks like our luck is not bad."

A smile appeared on Zhou Shan's face.

He had been worrying over how to find that band of horse bandits. If he searched the entire county, the commotion would be too great, and the horse bandits might catch wind of it and flee far away. Yet not long after entering Ye County, he had already encountered them.

"Charge, all troops!"

Zhou Shan gave the order, and the two hundred Black Armored Army soldiers immediately launched their charge.

"Young Master, we cannot keep these goods." Within the Zhang Family Merchant Team, a middle-aged man dressed as a steward said in a grave voice, "These horse bandits are after this shipment. If we lead our men and break out directly, we should be able to leave safely. I doubt these horse bandits would dare continue pursuing us. But if we stubbornly hold on, we can last at most half an hour. The family's reinforcements may not make it in time."

"Damn it!" Young Master Zhang felt utterly stifled. He said furiously, "How did these horse bandits know our delivery time and route? Why did they set an ambush on the road to Lushan County rather than Kunyang County? Could there be horse bandit spies in the city?

Over the past half month, our goods have already been plundered twice.

If this continues, not only will we earn nothing this year, we will even suffer losses."

"Sigh, begin the breakout!"

Young Master Zhang let out a sigh.

But just as his words fell, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

"Young Master, it's the Black Armored Army!" The middle-aged steward pointed at the horse bandits, who had abruptly scattered apart, and said with delight, "The Black Armored Army has arrived. We do not need to break out, and we can keep the goods as well."

"Not good, it's the Black Armored Army!"

When the horse bandit leader saw the black torrent charging toward them in the distance, his expression changed drastically.

The people in Ye County had only provided him with the Zhang Family Merchant Team's delivery time and route. They had never mentioned the Black Armored Army, which was why he had dared to plunder the Zhang Family Merchant Team so boldly.

He had never expected a squad of the Black Armored Army to suddenly emerge.

"Brothers, mount up at once! Retreat quickly!"

The horse bandit leader immediately shouted.

"Hahaha! Kill them! The Black Armored Army is here—we absolutely cannot let these horse bandits escape!"

Seeing that the horse bandits were preparing to flee, Young Master Zhang laughed loudly. Naturally, he would not let this chance for revenge slip away, and he immediately gave orders to the guards around him.

The Zhang Family guards immediately clung tightly to the horse bandits.