"Uncle Hou."
"Mm."
"I have a question for you too."
"Go ahead."
"Back then, you stepped in to save Butcher Zhang and his wife, but in the end, you failed to change what happened, and you were beaten into this state, with all your martial arts crippled... Do you regret it?"
"I do."
Hou Huai answered without hesitation.
Wu Shuangren looked into his eyes. "Then if you had another chance to do it all over, would you still choose to step in that day?"
"..."
Hou Huai fell silent.
A moment later, he smiled.
Wu Shuangren smiled too.
They both knew each other's answer.
Wu Shuangren didn't talk with Hou Huai for long, because Xu Nanzhi said he needed a good rest.
He left the clinic and went to the county yamen.
Just as he arrived at the entrance to the jail, Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong happened to be coming out.
"Dad, Uncle Liao."
Wu Shuangren greeted them.
He noticed a distinct smell of blood on Wu Dongrong.
"Your father and I just finished interrogating those two."
Liao Yu spoke to Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren asked, "What did you find out?"
Liao Yu said, "Those two bastards are from the Mist Hidden Temple. Hong Zhanming sent them to kidnap your mother and force you out of the city. Inside the city, he can't send a large force to surround and attack you. Once you're outside, it's another matter."
Wu Shuangren nodded. He had already guessed as much.
The cavalry outside the city had come to provide cover tonight. If the two men succeeded in kidnapping Xu Nanzhi and were discovered on their way out, the cavalry could stage a feint to tie down the people inside the city and cover their retreat, or send men to meet them.
Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu had interrogated the two men and extracted the details of their plan.
After hearing it all, Wu Shuangren's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"Dad, Uncle Liao, I want to seize this chance and hit back!"
The cavalry outside the city were still waiting in the distance with their torches raised.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out on the city wall, and figures could be dimly seen moving about.
"Stop him!"
"Don't let him get away-"
The roars, driven by internal skill, carried far through the night.
Immediately afterward, the shrill sound of a whistling arrow came from the southeast of the county city: three long blasts and one short.
On hearing it, the cavalry force that had remained motionless in the distance immediately sprang into action. They wheeled their horses around and galloped toward the sound.
But they had barely ridden any distance when the same urgent whistling sounded from the southwest of the city, again three long blasts and one short.
The cavalry paused briefly, then split into two groups and rode off in the two directions, one to the left and one to the right.
In the darkness, dozens of torches trailed into a long dragon. Hooves drummed over dry grass and broken stones, like muffled thunder rolling across the earth.
The whistling arrows sounded from up ahead from time to time, guiding the force onward.
On the hillside ahead, a few points of fire bobbed up and down. At most, there were three or five torches, flickering as they climbed. Indistinct figures moved within their halos, impossible to make out clearly, but as soon as they heard the approaching hooves behind them, the flames jolted and withdrew toward the crest.
"After them-"
Someone in the force barked the order, excitement suppressed in his voice.
Whips cracked, and the hoofbeats quickened. More than fifty riders swept up the hillside like a tide, their torches lighting the sand and withered wormwood beneath their horses' hooves.
The slope grew steeper and steeper. Clods of earth scraped loose by hooves came tumbling down, and the horses could not help slowing.
Suddenly, a dense mass of figures appeared above them on the hillside!
Bowstrings twanged in a continuous chorus, drowning out the wind. A swarm of arrows tore through the torchlight, their points making short, sharp sounds as they cut through the air, like a sudden downpour of black iron cast from the night sky!
The attack came far too suddenly.
Striking from darkness into light, they made the torch-bearing cavalry the most conspicuous targets in the night!
When the first volley fell, seven or eight riders at the front were struck and toppled backward off their horses. Their torches flew from their hands, spun halfway around in the air, and fell into the dust beneath the horses' hooves, scattering showers of sparks.
Some horses were also hit. They reared with startled whinnies, throwing their riders to the ground.
The riders in the rear jerked on their reins. Their warhorses reared, and the torchlight swayed wildly.
"Fuck, it's an ambush-"
"Fall back! Fall back!"
Someone shouted, but the next volley of arrows soon cut him off.
At the crest, more than fifty archers were rapidly nocking and drawing their arrows!
Bo County had three main defensive forces: the militia, the constables, and the archers responsible for guarding the city.
There were a little over fifty archers in all, and they took orders directly from the county commandant, Xu Jing.
The fact that all the archers were here meant that Xu Jing supported tonight's counterattack!
It was only because Xu Jing had given his approval that Wu Shuangren's counterattack plan could be put into action.
The cavalry who had come outside Bo County tonight numbered only a little over a hundred, all men belonging to the Mist Hidden Temple.
The other hundred-odd mounted bandits had not come.
It was precisely because he had learned this crucial piece of information that Wu Shuangren had proposed a counterattack.
Those two hundred-odd riders from the Mist Hidden Temple had always been a tremendous threat outside the city. Tonight, only half of them had come, and Wu Shuangren's side had the advantage of intelligence. They had every chance to strike back, take the opportunity to weaken the enemy, and knock some of the arrogance out of them!
Of course, going outside the city to fight the enemy cavalry in the field was undoubtedly an extremely risky move.
Wu Shuangren had merely wanted to try. He hadn't expected to gain Xu Jing's support.
Once Xu Jing had given his approval, Liao Yu, Wu Dongrong, and the Mo Family had also agreed to the operation.
It was Wu Dongrong who had proposed using the information obtained through interrogation and a simple ruse to make the enemy split their forces first.
Using the terrain to ambush the enemy was Xu Jing's tactic.
When Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing had come to the county yamen to request reinforcements that day, Xu Jing had proposed the same tactic.
Simple, but effective.
The enemy were not truly well-trained cavalry, and their tactical skills were mediocre at best. Now they were paying a bloody price!
"Kill-"
On the hillside, Wu Shuangren fixed his sights on a rider who had just been giving orders. He equipped [Match for One Person], drew his saber, and was the first to charge down the slope!
52: Slaying the Riders
In the night, firelight swayed amid a clamor of voices.
Hoofbeats scattered down the slope. Two volleys of arrows had already torn the enemy formation to pieces, and the jolting lights bunched together and scattered apart.
"Throw away the torches! Throw away the torches!"
The man who had ordered the retreat was shouting again.
He had realized that with their torches raised, they were nothing but glaringly obvious targets for arrows!
Only without a source of light could darkness become their camouflage.
The riders hurled their torches far away, sending sparks flying all over the slope. Firelight blazed on one side, while on the other, the cavalry wheeled their horses around and retreated through the shadows.
The slope Xu Jing had deliberately chosen was too steep. With their torches gone as well, the riders didn't dare urge their horses on as they descended, for fear of an accident.
One man grew impatient and squeezed his horse's flanks. It had barely picked up speed when its front hooves suddenly slipped, and the whole animal toppled sideways, throwing its rider clear.
Others were carried too far forward by their momentum, pitching headfirst from their saddles and slamming into the ground. Some split their heads open, blood streaming down their faces; others broke their legs outright...
The whinnies of horses mingled with muffled groans and screams.
"Kill-"
The ringing battle cry came from the crest, rising above all the chaos!
Immediately afterward, a figure was the first to charge out of the darkness at the top.
It was Wu Shuangren!
He carried no torch. Clad in leather armor and gripping a simple saber, he sent gravel flying with every step, his figure tracing a sharp diagonal line through the hazy night.
"Shuangren!"
Worried for his son's safety, Wu Dongrong was the second to charge out.
But the wound on his thigh had yet to heal, slowing him down.
The next person to charge down the hillside was neither Liao Yu nor either of the Mo Family's two heads, but Xu Jing!
The county commandant wore a full suit of leather armor and carried a bow and arrows, drawing and shooting as he ran.
Every arrow struck one of the dark figures ahead!
Wu Shuangren plunged into the rear of the disordered cavalry and cut down a rider who had just scrambled to his feet with a casual slash.
He planted a foot on the saddle of a fallen horse and used it to launch himself upward, quickly clearing the chaotic mass of men and horses at the rear. With a clear target in mind, he charged at the man who had been issuing orders from the crowd!
The man was still calling out orders.
In the darkness, a voice was harder to hide than a figure.
Wu Shuangren fixed on the direction and pushed off. With only a few steps left between them, he stepped onto a rock jutting diagonally from the earth and used it to leap upward. Raising his saber in both hands, he chopped down toward the source of the voice!
The leader reacted extremely quickly. He had noticed Wu Shuangren in advance, and now turned in his saddle, raising his saber crosswise to block.
Clang-
The two blades met, throwing off a spray of dark red sparks that lit their faces as they crossed-
The leader's eyes were wide and filled with anger; Wu Shuangren's face held nothing but a focus so calm it bordered on indifference.
The leader was still thinking about what had happened tonight and how to respond afterward, still angry that he and his men had fallen into a trap.
But Wu Shuangren had eyes only for his opponent!
The horse was moving downhill, and the man on its back not only had nothing to brace against, but was hampered in exerting his strength.
Wu Shuangren's strike carried the force of his downward charge, and with that single blow, he chopped the man off his horse!
The man's martial arts were formidable as well. After landing, he rolled with the momentum to shed the force and quickly rose to his feet.
Before he could steady himself, the wind of a saber rushed at him again!
The leader exhaled sharply and chopped out with all his strength.
Their sabers met for less than a breath. Veins bulged on the leader's arm, and Qi and blood surged within him as he prepared to unleash a second burst of force like a rising wave.
But Wu Shuangren suddenly withdrew his saber. The force vanished without warning, like a door being abruptly pulled open while someone was pushing against it, the timing perfect!
The leader's full-powered chop cut through empty air, and he could not help pitching forward. Then he saw Wu Shuangren, who had just stepped aside, suddenly get "pulled" back.
Returning with him was the saber in his hand, sweeping diagonally upward from below as his body turned with the blade.
The leader hurriedly raised his saber crosswise to block. With a clang, the upward force knocked his blade high, leaving his chest exposed.