A Great Hero's Daily Life: Ambush

Helping so many people is troublesome, but it must be done.

Feeling sympathetic is one thing, but the main reason is that it's related to Lin Xiao's dying wish quest.

His dying wish quest upon this descent was to become a Great Hero. Previously, his idea was to wait until he was strong enough, then roam the martial arts world performing acts of chivalry to accumulate renown. Once he had enough renown, he'd find people to help him build a reputation, and the title of Great Hero would naturally follow.

But this situation happened to arise, forcing Lin Xiao to change his plan and rescue these refugees, adopting a different approach to becoming a Great Hero.

The world was in chaos right now, making it easier to gain renown. As long as he rescued and sheltered these refugees, and the more people he saved over time, the higher his reputation would be. Even without needing to find people to build his reputation, the title of Great Hero would come automatically, and with even greater substance. He was sure he could complete the dying wish quest perfectly, achieving two goals at once.

This was Lin Xiao's initial plan, but once they were settled, the tasks became endless. Thousands of people's basic needs all fell on him. Lin Xiao was so busy he was running around like a headless chicken, quickly forgetting his original intentions.

He was busy like this for a full ten days, until a large number of wooden houses were built in the valley, forming a big village. He named it Zushan Village, and only when everyone had a place to live did things finally settle down.

But before he could catch his breath, new problems arose: they were running out of food.

Before, they had survived by hunting and eating wild fruits. But with the consumption of over two thousand people, even the valley's abundant resources couldn't last. Everything edible in the valley was basically gone. Now, the village's hunting team needed to leave the valley to hunt outside to meet their needs.

This couldn't continue, so after settling things in the valley, Lin Xiao convened a meeting with everyone in the center of the village. He decided to lead them out to find food and buy some seeds to plant.

Just buying food wouldn't solve the problem; they needed to be self-sufficient. Plus, the valley had a water source, open land, and was fertile. Once cultivated, they could farm.

After ten days, the hundred-person village guard had taken shape. Lin Xiao left half the men to guard the valley and took the other half out of the valley himself.

When they arrived, the hundred guards were all on horseback. But when they left, most of them were walking because they had killed and eaten all the warhorses these past few days.

Emerging from the mountains, Lin Xiao led his team north. According to the map, there was a small town in that direction.

However, when he arrived, he found the town had already been occupied by the Hu people and transformed into a massive transit base. Large groups of cavalry patrolled the surroundings frequently, and vast quantities of looted supplies from Zushan Longtan Gully and Zushan Pass were stored here before being transported to the various Hu tribes in the north.

Lin Xiao had his subordinates hide in the woods while he went out alone, hiding by the roadside. When a patrol of Hu people passed, he ambushed them, killing most of them and leaving only two. From them, he learned about the town's situation.

As he suspected, this town called Yulin was indeed an important transit hub. Every few days, supplies plundered from the Central Plains were transported here and then sent back to the northern tribes. Hu armies also passed through here from the north from time to time.

The town had nearly ten thousand Hu soldiers stationed there. Moreover, it was not far from Zushan Pass. If conflict broke out, Hu cavalry from Zushan Pass could arrive to reinforce them within two hours, and Hu forces from Shanhaiguan Pass could arrive within two days.

"This is a bit troublesome!"

There was no way to buy food around here; it would definitely be confiscated by the Hu people. To get a large amount of food, they would have to snatch it from the Hu.

He killed the two survivors and quickly cleaned up the scene. Lin Xiao rejoined his subordinates, informed them of the situation, and told them to follow him carefully and stay hidden.

At this stage, his subordinates were of little use. Although they had weapons and leather armor, they were ordinary people before. They might be able to maintain order, but fighting a large battle against the Hu would be suicide. He couldn't count on them; he could only rely on himself.

There was no need for an ambush. He rode a captured horse alone on the road, charging at small Hu patrol teams and eliminating them. Afterward, his subordinates would emerge to clean up the battlefield. The Hu's armor, weapons, and horses were all valuable items. They were all taken back to arm more people in the future.

He followed the main road until he was less than a mile from Yulin Town, having already eliminated four Hu patrol teams without a single one escaping.

Then, he waited at the intersection, attacking any patrol team that passed by. Doing this less than a mile from the town was incredibly audacious.

Yet, they weren't discovered all day. It wasn't until the next day, when a patrol team didn't return, that an anomaly was noticed. But by then, Lin Xiao was long gone.

The hundred warhorses, along with the armor and weapons, were all transported back to the mountains by his subordinates. The warhorses could temporarily be used as food. It was a waste, but at this point, they couldn't afford to be picky. They were almost out of food; who cared about waste?

He came out again the next day and found that the Hu patrols had increased in size several times. Before, a patrol consisted of a dozen or twenty people; now, a patrol had nearly a hundred. Lin Xiao considered this and decided to give up on further attacks for now, opting to observe.

He didn't take these numbers lightly, but he wasn't confident he could annihilate them all.

After the patrols left, Lin Xiao took a different route, leading his subordinates over the mountains. Circling a few mountains from here would take them towards Longtan Gully. He wanted to see the situation at Zushan Pass.

As soon as they crested the ridge and descended the hundred-meter-high slope, they saw a massive convoy emerging from Zushan Pass, heading towards Yulin Town along Longtan Gully.

It was a transport team of several thousand people, escorting not only hundreds of carts of supplies but also what seemed to be tens of thousands of Han refugees. Lin Xiao observed carefully and noticed a large group of what were likely captured soldiers from the Great Kang Dynasty among them.

He looked down at the enormous convoy with a grave expression, his mind racing as he considered how to act.

Such a massive amount of supplies, tens of thousands of refugees, and two to three thousand captured soldiers. If he could rescue them, Zushan Village's strength would expand exponentially. It would instantly solve their supply problems and provide them with a population.

Especially those two to three thousand captured soldiers, if equipped with weapons, they would be regular soldiers, ready for battle immediately. If he could rescue them, Zushan Village would have the military force to protect it. Relying on Zushan Village's terrain for defense, even tens of thousands of Hu soldiers entering the mountains wouldn't be able to do anything to them.

Most importantly, with those two to three thousand regular soldiers defending their home, Lin Xiao would be free to go out and "wander."

He had no intention of staying put forever. He still wanted to return to the Central Plains to see the current situation, find out if Dushan Fortress had indeed rebelled, and perhaps visit the Yin Sha Maiden to reminisce and have a heart-to-heart talk, given their past intimacy.

Therefore, his hesitation wasn't about whether to act, but how to act.

Ten seconds later, as his gaze fell upon the few high-laughing leaders of the Hu army, he made up his mind. He beckoned his subordinates, whispered a few words to them.