Chapter 29

The wind blew up the yellow earth, blinding the eyes. From a distance, the nine members of the Bai Xiaosheng group saw a group of Liao soldiers surrounding and attacking the disciples of the Beggar Sect. The number of Liao soldiers was not large, only about forty to fifty, and theoretically, the nine-person elite team should not have been surrounded by them. However, the reality was the opposite.

Looking far into the distance, Bai Xiaosheng noticed that there were two people in the crowd with considerable martial arts skills, who were leading the Liao soldiers in the attack on the Beggar Sect disciples.

"It's Khitan warriors!" Wang Gouzi exclaimed in surprise and immediately said, "Let's go!"

Khitan warriors were martial artists from the Khitan people. Xiao Feng's father, Xiao Yuanshan, was a famous expert among them. Such a skilled expert was rare even in the Song Dynasty, as he had defeated many martial arts masters of the Song Dynasty alone.

The nine people quickly ran forward and in a blink, they had rushed into the fray. The Liao soldiers also noticed them, and the two leading Khitan warriors chattered for a moment. Then, a group of soldiers charged towards the nine people.

A cavalry charge was a terrifying thing, but that was only if it was a large cavalry unit. Here, there were only about forty to fifty cavalry in total, and only twenty charged, which was not enough to be a threat.

Wang Gouzi led the charge, leaping forward with his bamboo staff like a cunning snake, striking down several cavalry in an instant. Next was Bai Xiaosheng, who used a sword. His method was much more brutal than Wang Gouzi's. With one sword thrust, he created three sword lights, instantly taking three lives. The other seven people also used their skills, quickly bringing down the twenty cavalry and killing them.

Seeing their men die in an instant, the two Khitan warriors were enraged. One of them stepped forward, leading ten cavalry in a charge. Wang Gouzi, not to be outdone, sped up and met them head-on. The two crossed in mid-air, and the Khitan warrior dismounted, trying to break into the group of eight. At this moment, Bai Xiaosheng's sword flickered, and the sword light instantly enveloped the Khitan warrior, forcing him to retreat. Wang Gouzi then took the opportunity to attack from behind, drawing him away.

Without the assistance of the Khitan warrior, the ten Liao cavalry were no match for the eight people. In a blink, they were all killed. The eight people exchanged glances, and Bai Xiaosheng's sword flickered as he moved forward. Three others followed him, while the remaining four turned to assist Wang Gouzi.

Among the Liao soldiers, the three surviving Beggar Sect disciples were invigorated by the arrival of help and fought bravely. The Khitan warrior was also formidable, fighting three people at once without any disadvantage. The occasional attacks from the surrounding Liao soldiers further distracted the three, preventing them from focusing on the Khitan warrior.

Now, with the arrival of Bai Xiaosheng and the other four, the Khitan warrior's advantage was gone, and the Liao cavalry could no longer hold their ground. Some of them quickly fled, while the Khitan warrior chattered a lot, but no one understood what he was saying.

"No need to waste words with him, kill him!" Huazi, one of the three, said with a face full of hatred. Their nine-person team had just arrived and encountered this group of Liao soldiers, and six of them had died, so they deeply hated the Liao soldiers.

The others also had no good feelings towards the Khitans. Hearing this, they immediately rushed forward. Behind, Bai Xiaosheng did not join the fight but walked to a Huazi who had been stabbed in the abdomen, blood flowing. He asked, "Brother, can you hold on?"

Huazi nodded, his face pale as he leaned on his bamboo staff. Bai Xiaosheng knew he had lost a lot of blood and immediately tore off a piece of his own clothing to quickly bandage him, tightly wrapping the wound. As for stopping the bleeding by pressing acupoints... pressing acupoints was a skill, and although Bai Xiaosheng was familiar with meridians and acupoints, he did not know how to do it. Using it recklessly could be fatal, and with such a large wound, it might not even be effective.

Soon, the fight on both sides was over. They had killed the Khitan warrior and quickly walked over. Wang Gouzi looked at the three survivors, his face very grim.

Beside him, no one spoke, only looking at the bodies of their fallen comrades with sorrow. Bai Xiaosheng's gaze also fell on a familiar face—Wang Mazi.

This group was Wang Mazi's team, and he was already dead!

"Brother..." Kneeling in front of Wang Mazi, Wang Gouzi burst into tears, causing the others to sob quietly, unable to stop. After about half an hour, Wang Gouzi stood up and said fiercely, "Brother, rest in peace. Big Brother will kill more Khitan dogs to honor you!"

"Right! Kill Khitan dogs to honor our fallen brothers!"

At this moment, everyone was filled with hatred and passion, including Bai Xiaosheng, who was also affected and clenched his fists.

"Sanzi, you three go back and report this to the leader, and ask him to send another team." Wang Gouzi instructed the three, then turned to Bai Xiaosheng and said, "Brother, you have the best lightness skills among us. You and Dachong stay behind to monitor this area. If you see anything, signal immediately. Got it? Any problems?"

"Don't worry, I'll guard this area well." Bai Xiaosheng patted his chest, slightly excited.

Wang Gouzi nodded and gathered everyone again to dig graves for their fallen comrades. As for the Khitans, no one cared. This was a bad habit of ancient people; leaving bodies exposed to the sun could easily spread disease. But thinking of everyone's hatred for the Khitans, Bai Xiaosheng swallowed his words.

With few people around and deaths every day, both sides tacitly collected the bodies. Even if a disease spread, it wouldn't harm many people.

Thinking this, Bai Xiaosheng put the matter out of his mind. He didn't notice that after living here for eighteen years, his behavior was being influenced by the people around him.

Soon, everyone dispersed, leaving only Bai Xiaosheng and Dachong, who was also called Huazi. Dachong was an orphan who had grown up in the Beggar Sect for twenty-seven years.

In Bai Xiaosheng's team, Dachong was the best at martial arts after Wang Gouzi. Now, Bai Xiaosheng was also above him. Of course, although Bai Xiaosheng had shown his skills several times, his actual strength was not enough to completely surpass these Huazis. They were all elite members selected from this area, and Dachong, who had grown up in the Beggar Sect, had very strong skills. If Bai Xiaosheng really fought him, it would take at least a hundred moves to win, and in a life-or-death struggle, the result might not be good because Bai Xiaosheng lacked experience.

To the point—both of them found a hidden spot and looked down at the road, monitoring every movement to ensure no one slipped past them.

Until evening, neither of them saw a single person.

"Bai Xiaodong, you eat something first, let me monitor for a while." Dachong walked behind Bai Xiaosheng and said. Bai Xiaosheng nodded without refusing; he had been staring for over an hour and was a bit tired.

Taking the dry food from Dachong, Bai Xiaosheng sat to one side and quietly started eating.

The night passed with both of them taking turns monitoring. The night was calm, and no one tried to sneak an attack. In fact, the raiding teams were not real Liao cavalry but just cavalry from various tribes gathered to rob and plunder. If the Liao army really launched a large-scale southern invasion, the role of these Huazis would be much smaller.

Early the next morning, just after getting up, Bai Xiaosheng saw a green signal light up to the east—informing the brothers that the enemy was coming! At this moment, Dachong turned back, and the two exchanged glances, immediately rushing towards the signal. After taking a few steps, a red signal lit up to the south. Both were shocked, and Dachong said, "Brother, change direction!"

Bai Xiaosheng nodded, understanding that red was an emergency signal, and they needed to investigate first.

The two moved quickly, and since the areas were not far apart, they reached the red signal location in just fifteen minutes. Hiding behind a hill, both were shocked—large groups of Liao soldiers were slowly passing on the road below. From the formation and length, there were at least eight hundred Liao soldiers.

The two exchanged glances, and Bai Xiaosheng's gaze turned to the distance, where he saw several bodies, the bodies of the Huazis. They must have been too careless and were discovered by the Liao soldiers, leading to their deaths.

"What do we do?"

Bai Xiaosheng asked. In this situation, he wouldn't be foolish enough to charge down. Eight hundred people, one charge, and they would be turned into mush. He joined the Beggar Sect to become the leader and learn the sect's ultimate skills, not to die.

Dachong stared intently at the Liao soldiers, gritting his teeth and spitting out one word: "Wait!"

Bai Xiaosheng understood and did not ask further. The red signal seen just now was not seen by him alone; others must have seen it and would be coming soon. When they gathered, they could discuss a plan.

They didn't wait long. Soon, Bai Xiaosheng noticed movement behind him. He turned and saw several Huazi figures. Feeling relieved, Bai Xiaosheng slightly waved, and those people noticed and quickly walked over.

Following the two's gaze, Wang Gouzi and his group also saw the large group of Liao soldiers below, all drawing in a breath. Eight hundred people, that was a large unit. With their numbers, they couldn't possibly deal with it. Even with two or three hundred people, they might not be able to stop the charge of eight hundred Liao soldiers.

Everyone's gaze turned to Wang Gouzi, the leader here, expecting him to make a decision.

Before Wang Gouzi could speak, there was more movement behind them. The nine people saw that another group led by Qiu Jiu had arrived. He didn't say much, just sat down without a word, his eyes fixed on the large Liao army below.

Seeing his expression, everyone sighed inwardly, and Bai Xiaosheng felt particularly sorry for him. He was too deeply entrenched in his hatred! But Bai Xiaosheng was not Qiu Jiu, so how could he understand his feelings?