Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Whether it was a thief or a soldier, people who sat on a horse’s saddle commonly used short bows or machetes due to the limited space. Yet, Ning Que was different. Starting from the City of Wei, the boxwood bow and podao that he used were slightly longer, so he was accustomed to standing on the saddle, holding his body straight to shoot arrows by drawing his bow or to chop people by pulling out his knife. Although it was not that convenient to handle, in the eyes of onlookers, this position was actually quite majestic.
When he shot another arrow in the darkness and killed the second member of the Horse Gang in the distance, Mo Shanshan, who had been standing behind him without any expression, finally showed some splendor in her eyes.
Above the Wilderness were winter clouds, shading the stars. Even his hand holding the bow could not be seen in the dark night. However, Ning Que could accurately shoot the Horse Gang member who was beyond a stone’s throw away. It was really incredible, as if the night could not block his gaze and he was capable of seeing everything clearly in the darkness.
Although Ning Que only had 10 acupoints through of all the acupoints in his body, and the Qi of Heaven and Earth that he could control was not abundant, his many years of meditation and mental exercise made his Psyche Power and Perception State condense like a needle, so he was sensitive to the variation of the surrounding aura. While he was ascending the mountain of the Second Floor of the Academy, that he was able to pass the trail depended much on this ability.
At this time in the night’s darkness, his ability to easily see the Horse Gang and lock them in front of his own arrows was due to his extremely condensed and sensitive Psyche Power. The Psyche Power coming from his sense of perception touched the Primordial Qi between heaven and earth by relying on the night wind. Thus, for him, this Wilderness was as bright as daylight.
This method may have never been used by other cultivators in the past because it wasted too much Psyche Power. If someone’s Psyche Power was abundant enough, he could directly kill those ordinary people in the Horse Gang. Why did he use the Psyche Power as a means of detection?
To put it in a nutshell, it could only be said that Ning Que had always been different from ordinary cultivators. The Qi of Heaven and Earth that he could handle was pitifully little, while his Psyche Power was so abundant and his sensitivity was so strong. And his will, which wholeheartedly combined cultivation with combat, was so strong. These several exclamations contributed to such an emotional scene.
When Ning Que shot out the second arrow, Mo Shanshan stood to the side, silently staring at him. As one of the best cultivators of the younger generation in the world, she was keenly aware that there was a very concise movement of Psyche Power at that moment, rising with the vibration from her side. She could not help furrowing her eyebrows, and wondering whether he was really a cultivator.
The Horse Gang in the distance just woke up from their sleep, but there had been two fellows who were killed by arrows. Although they were amazed at how these arrows could be so accurate in the darkness, they still made the quick reaction to jump on horseback and kick their horses forward to run toward the direction where the arrows came from. They wanted to narrow the distance between the two sides in the shortest time possible so that their enemy’s terrifying archery could not be displayed. At the same time, in order to fight back, they let the darkness no longer be a like a curtain in front of them.
Horse hooves resounded like rain.
While the Horse Gang was running over, Ning Que pulled the bowstring and an arrow fiercely penetrated the head of a horse. It then mournfully fell to the ground, with the Horse Gang member on its back being thrown to the ground. Another arrow flew away, narrowly rubbing the cheek of a Horse Gang member.
Those in the Horse Gangs on the grassland were skillful in riding and Archery. When they were charging, they would curl their bodies around the bellies of their horses. Ning Que’s arrows would be difficult to directly threaten them. Instantaneously, with increasingly clear and intensive hooves, he could vaguely see that nearly 10 men from the Horse Gang were sweeping through like a fierce wind, and even the reflected light of their sharp weapons could be seen.
The Big Black Horse had not experienced a real battlefield, but it was not afraid while it saw its kin getting closer and closer. On the contrary, in its eyes appeared the glory of excitement, and it kept thrillingly driving its forehoofs, trying to rush forward without waiting for Ning Que to lift the reins.
Looking at those of the Horse Gang who were getting closer and closer and listening to their mournful rage, Mo Shanshan did not know how Ning Que would deal with it. Then her fingers, which had kept in her white sleeves, gently picked up something.
The Big Black Horse’s excitement did not please Ning Que, and he gave it a heavy strike on its head in annoyance, indicating for it to be a bit quiet. However, he jumped off the horse. As soon as he landed on his feet, without any hesitation, he rushed toward the Horse Gang, who had frantically swept over along with the dust and gravel.
The distance between the two sides was becoming very close. Being in contact with each other would be the only constant. No matter who would have insufficient time to draw their bows and shoot an arrow. The Horse Gang finally saw the enemy’s appearance clearly. Then two riders, staying respectively on the right and left at the forefront, just lifted their reins to crash directly into Ning Que, while several riders following behind were strangely crying out and sat straight, pulled out their machetes from their waist, and kept waving them.
with a screaming sound.
Ning Que pulled out the podao from his back, and staggered his feet to avoid the two horses that were coming with a fierce wind. He turned his right hand, then two flashes of white light were drawn out by the blade, and blood suddenly appeared.
The two horses were pitifully crying and suddenly fell forward, crashing heavily into the Wilderness with two muffled sounds. Their forehooves, which had been cut off by the podao, were flying in the air according to inertia, spilling out two miserable lines of blood.
The blade struck following a curving, fatal, and cold trajectory. If replaced by ordinary people, perhaps they could hardly avoid such a strange cleaving motion. Whereas, Ning Que was too familiar with Horse Gangs and machetes that they always used. He was so familiar with them that he could easily avoid his clothes being touched by them even with closed eyes.
It was deep in the night, so there was not much of a difference between keeping your eyes open or closed.
Thus, he easily lowered his head, turned around, and tilted his body to successfully avoid several blades that were hitting downward from the Horse Gang. And then he tightened his two hands, with the spindly podao tearing open a few terrifying gaps in the night sky, chopping down a few horseshoes, splitting chests and abdomens of the Horse Gang men, taking down a few strands of horses’ manes. After that, he heavily and firmly stood in the hard mud of the Wilderness.
In a moment, he rushed into the crowd of the Horse Gang. Two of the Horse Gang were killed under his podao and five horses collapsed. Yet the Horse Gang’s machetes did not leave a mark on him.
At this point, the clouds gradually scattered in the sky, letting some starlight through. Though his face still could not be seen clearly, his stature was clearly visible. Horse Gang members lifted their reins to turn around, looking toward Ning Que, who was standing with a knife in the Wilderness. Their bodies stiffened and their hands tightly holding machetes were shaking, while still feeling extremely cold.
Those in the Horse Gang rescued their companions on the ground that still had breath at their fastest speed, riding together toward the periphery for some distance. They looked nervously and alertly toward Ning Que, but had no courage to draw the bow to aim at him.
Ning Que went over, listening to the miserable shouts from the horses whose hooves had been chopped off in the Wilderness at night. He pulled out the podao and carried it in his hand, then slowly and steadily, he cut the throats of those horses to let them die at the fastest speed.
Then he watched the Horse Gang that was not too far away, stretching out his fingers to continue waving in the night wind. He did not know whether the opposition could see clearly his gesture or the meaning contained in that gesture.
“Why not kill everyone in the Horse Gang?”
Mo Shanshan looked at those escaping Horse Gang members in the darkness and asked, feeling puzzled.
“Horse Gangs can’t be killed off.”
Ning Que said, “At least for the men of this Horse Gang clinging to us, I can’t kill them off by myself.”
Mo Shanshan turned around to look at him attentively. Yet, her eyesight was drifting, which seemed very inattentive.
Ning Que stared at her pretty, little round face and said, after a moment of silence, “The reason why I kill people tonight is that I hope they can bring back an accurate message.”
“What message?”
“I want to tell them that there’s still a man in the grain team specializing in killing Horse Gangs besides you, a Talisman Master. If the Horse Gangs want to eliminate us, they must pay a higher price. If the benefits they get and the risks they meet are disproportionate, maybe they will withdraw.”
Mo Shan said, “Although I haven’t encountered a Horse Gang, I’ve heard a lot of legends about grassland Horse Gangs. They’re well-known for their cruelty. Why would they retreat only because of some minor setbacks?”
“The crueler they are and the more love they have for killing, the more fear of death… As for Horse Gangs, I may know more than you.”
He continued, “The purpose of killing the Horse Gang tonight, in addition to letting them bring back a clear message, is to teach you something.”
Mo Shanshan’s refreshing eyebrows, which were as condensed as ink, furrowed. “Teach me to kill people?”
“To kill people, or how to avoid being killed.”
Ning Que looked at her, and seriously continued, “You’re the most powerful person on this team. When Horse Gangs attack, I can protect myself. But for those ordinary soldiers and civilians, they ultimately depend on you. A few days ago, you consumed your Psyche Power to lay talisman arrays outside the camp. In my opinion, it’s a waste of your time and energy.”
He said, “You’re our trump card. So you should be kept for offense rather than defense.”
Mo Shanshan remained silent for a long period of time after hearing his words, and then she said, “I’ve cultivated Talisman Taoism since my childhood. As far as I know, only Divine Talisman Masters can attack their own initiative.”
Recalling Master Yan Se’s teachings in Chang’an, Ning Que could not help but laugh. He watched her expressionless, but comic round face, saying, “Who says Talisman Masters who haven’t entered the Knowing Destiny State can’t make an attack? As long as proper measures are used, even frozen bread can be used to kill a person.”
Although he had a clear understanding of the grassland Horse Gangs, with whom he had dealt for many years, the situation did not go exactly as expected. The Horse Gang left the grain team a little further behind on the second day, but did not disperse away. Instead, they merged into another group, watching the grain team from a distance.
Distance created beauty, as well as a sense of security. Though the growing distance between the Horse Gang and the grain team had no substantial significance in safety, it was obvious that the mental stress of the Yan forces and civilians in the team were reduced. Even girls from Great River Kingdom occasionally had smiles on their faces.
Mo Shanshan lifted a corner of the curtain, and watched Ning Que, who was sitting on the Big Black Horse next to the carriage, and looked at his cheek, half of which was covered by a bamboo hat, and then suddenly asked, “Are you very familiar with the Wilderness?”
Ning Que nodded.
Mo Shanshan stared at the shadow cast on his face by the bamboo hat, saying, “It’s so windy in the Wilderness. Normally ordinary people don’t wear bamboo hats, but why do you and many Horse Gang people all wear bamboo hats?”
Ning Que hooked the lacing at his chin with his little finger, and then said, “It has lacing, so you aren’t afraid that it will be blown away. As for why we’re used to wearing a bamboo hat… the sun is too strong in the Wilderness, and it can help to give you shade. The most critical thing is that it can cover your face.”
The purpose of covering their faces was not because they felt ashamed to face people, but do not let others see their faces. Both he and the Horse Gangs always protected their own identities thoroughly.
Cat Girl looked at the Horse Gang walking nearly in parallel with the grain team in the northeast, asking with her thin brows furrowing, “Senior Brother, where do all these Horse Gangs come from? It should not be too far away from the palace here. Is there no one to handle them?”
“It seems that I have answered that question a few days ago.”
Ning Que lowered her hat, saying, “Many of the most powerful Horse Gangs have their own masters, and so does the Horse Gang following us now, obviously.”
Cat Girl asked with curiosity, “How do you know?”
Ning Que looked at the distant Horse Gang, and then said after a moment of silence, “Because this Horse Gang is too disciplined.”
“Who’s their master?”
“I don’t know.”
Ning Que shook his head, thinking that there were few forces that could afford to support such a large Horse Gang group on the grassland. However, as was analyzed a few days earlier, those forces had no reason to instigate their Horse Gangs to rob the grain team.
The countries of the Central Plains called for peace talks with the Left-Tent palace. The grain team represented an attitude. The grain they guarded, although small in quantity, carried symbolic significance. If these Horse Gangs took aim at the grain, they should immediately withdraw themselves once they found the grain team hard to control. Unless their purpose to rob and kill the team was not for the grain, but to destroy the agreement, or aim at someone in the team. Then this situation would become very tricky.
Thinking of this, he subconsciously took a sideways glance at the window of the carriage beside him. A corner of the curtain was blown up by the winter wind, revealing Mo Shanshan’s indifferent and calm face.
In his opinion, it was probably the girl in white in the horse carriage who was qualified in the team to attract so many Horse Gangs. Of course, when thinking about this question, he excluded himself in advance as he believed that no one actually recognized him, who was disguised as a disciple of Black Ink Garden mixing in with the grain team.
The situation deteriorated as Ning Que considered. The grain team only spent a relaxing day, then the atmosphere quickly became more nervous, and even scary, because, over the following two or three days, the Horse Gang did not leave. What was worse, small Horse Gang groups continuously appeared, joining up with the Horse Gang in the distance.
It was not too far away from the palace here. Even elite cavalries were sent here to back the team up, and it only took them about two and a half days to get here. It would be impossible for the grain team to easily break out, thus they had to pin their hopes on reinforcements. That night, two bunches of fireworks rose up to the sky in the camp, brightly shining in the deep dark night, and also reflecting the mountain-like Horse Gang in the distance.
Fireworks bloomed all the way and other Horse Gangs kept joining in. The number of those in the Horse Gang accompanying the grain team was getting larger and larger, and they gradually became a dark mass of people, crowds, and horses. People of the grain team would feel frightened, even just taking a quick glance at them.
Ning Que became more and more silent. Looking at more than 600 among the Horse Gang in the distance, he felt more and more confused in his heart. “What do these Horse Gangs want to do?”
