For Ning Que, who had been walking among herds of beasts in forests and grasslands since he was a child, he was not afraid of a killer who was good at assassination at night, but the mysterious cultivator. Therefore, after chopping off the assassin's head, he immediately rushed back to the slope where the fire was still burning. He quickly picked up the boxwood bow and arrow and aimed at the Great Sword Master in the distance.
This time, his vigilance was somewhat superfluous. That middle-aged scholar in blue robes no longer made any movements. He only quietly leaned against a large tree. The pair of black eyes on his bloody face quietly looked at the youth in the firelight. He muttered a few words, and then with a faint smile, he spread out his hands and died.
Ning Que aimed at the body of the Great Sword Master and kept silent for a long time until his arms began to tremble. He slowly put down the bow and arrow and suddenly felt fatigue and soreness invading his body.
He did not look back and asked, "Are you all right?"
The fire caused by the kerosene bomb ignited the fallen leaves, but the rotten mud at the entrance of Northern Mountain Road gradually extinguished the fire. The big black umbrella was closed again. Sangsang half squatted on the ground and looked up at his back, shaking her head. It seemed that she knew that her young master could know what she had done without her saying anything.
The maidservant knew that Ning Que was not concerned about her. She stood up, lifted the hem of her skirt, and quickly ran to the carriage that was about to become ruins. She crazily pushed aside the heavy wooden shards, and then hugged the little boy in her arms, her face full of tenderness as she gently wiped the dust off his face.
About six or seven grassland barbarians and Tang bodyguards were still alive. They struggled to get up and walked to the carriage ruins with difficulty. The heavily injured bodyguard leader led the others to kneel on one knee and said with his head touching the ground, "I didn't fight well and let the thief disturb Her Highness. I deserve to die a thousand times."
Under the illumination of the stars and the remaining sparks, the blood-soaked men knelt down to worship a maidservant holding a child. They were not sad, but showed a sense of bravery or tragedy.
Sangsang walked to Ning Que's side and they quietly watched the scene. They had already guessed the true identity of the maidservant and did not bother to pretend to be shocked.
After catching their breaths for a while, the guards and barbarians bandaged each other's wounds with difficulty and applied ointment. When their breathing had stabilized, they began to clean up the battlefield and carried back a few of their severely injured companions. At the same time, they killed all the enemies who were still breathing. After finishing these tasks, these fierce men subconsciously looked behind them.
Looking at the lad in the slightly burnt cotton jacket, the bodyguards had a complicated expression in their eyes. They were shocked, confused and even a little scared … They saw Ning Que's previous moves and knew that this lad was skilled in martial arts and excellent in archery, but he was not a hidden powerhouse beyond the imagination of the secular world.
In this attack, it was the bodyguard and Lyu Qingchen who had been fighting against the two most powerful cultivators on the enemy's side. It was them who had taken out most of the Great Sword Master's life, which gave Ning Que the chance to kill him with three arrows.
However, the more it was so, the more they felt that this lad was a very terrible person.
The timing and angle of the attack were extremely precise and ruthless. The gentle and immature appearance of the lad hid a calm heart. Especially the last three knives that killed the three assassins in black, it was even more incredible. How could he do all this at such a young age? How many people had he killed and how many heads had he chopped off in the grassland border town?
Leaning on a branch, the bodyguard walked to Ning Que and his handmaiden with difficulty. He cupped his hands and bowed deeply. He did not say a word of thanks, but the deepest gratitude from the bottom of his heart was reflected in this action.
Ning Que held Sangsang's hand and moved to the side, refusing to accept his salute. Just as the Great Sword Master had said, the Tang bodyguards brought by Her Highness to the grassland had shown an iron-blooded demeanor and strict military discipline in battle, which deserved the respect of any enemy or friend.
"I can see that your martial arts are not conventional. If we were to fight bare-handed, I don't think you'd be a match for me. But even I wouldn't be able to block the three assassins when they appeared, let alone kill them so cleanly. "
The bodyguard leader looked at Ning Que's immature face and suppressed the shock in his heart. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Lad, I'm very curious about your ability to kill. Where did you learn it?"
Ning Que scratched his head and kept silent for a while. Then he said with a smile, "The ability to kill is naturally learned through killing."
Of course, he could not tell the bodyguard leader that he had been preparing to be killed or killed by the enemy since he knew the name Xiahou when he was four years old.
The valiant general of the Tang Empire had no idea that in a small town far away in the frontier fortress, there was a young man diligently practicing his saber and chopping firewood every day, analyzing the fighting styles of all the experts under his command, and coming up with countless countermeasures.
So for Ning Que, the three assassins in black who died under his knife today were just the inevitable result of his hard practice and cultivation for more than ten years. If it were other enemies, such as the bodyguard leader in front of him, it would be difficult for him to achieve such a beautiful result.
Today, in the battle of Northern Mountain Road, Ning Que finally met with the subordinates of General Xiahou. Maybe it was just an accident, or maybe it was the arrangement of fate. Anyway, the knife and arrow of revenge finally began to show its coldness.
The bodyguard leader touched his wounded chest and frowned at the lad who had a face full of indifference. He murmured, "You are only fifteen or sixteen years old. Have you killed more people than me?"
"If you count the animals, I have killed a lot." Ning Que answered with a smile.
"I said you killed people." The bodyguard leader asked in a serious tone and then explained, "I'm not questioning you. I'm just really curious."
Ning Que rubbed his face and looked at him after a moment of silence. He said, "The biggest income in the border town is killing the Horse Gang. We usually call it firewood. In recent years, I have been leading the firewood collecting in the City of Wei. Speaking of killing, I have killed a lot of people these years."
A grassland barbarian followed behind the bodyguard leader and was about to express his gratitude to the young soldier. He had the same question in his mind. However, after hearing Ning Que's answer, he turned around and left without saying a word. It could be seen that his footsteps were a little messy and his shoulders were slightly trembling.
A grassland barbarian looked at him and asked in confusion, "Dumu, what's wrong with you?"
The grassland barbarian named Dumu sat down beside the fire. He raised his wounded arm with difficulty and patted his face which was numb because of fear. He said, "That lad … should be the legendary woodcutter from Shubi Lake."
As soon as he said this, the four grassland barbarians beside the fire changed their expressions at the same time and no longer spoke. Some of them secretly looked up at Ning Que and then quickly lowered their heads, as if they were afraid that the lad would see them spying on them.
These barbarians were famous Horse Gangs on the grassland before they were subdued by Her Highness. They were known for their extreme fierceness. But for them, the powerful border army of the Tang Empire was the real Horse Gang. The imperial cavalries in the frontier fortress cities would carry out a part-time money-making activity when the season changed and the logistics were not enough — to rob the grassland Horse Gangs.
The border army of the Tang Empire called this activity firewood collecting. The Horse Gangs called this bloody battle firewood chopping. They called the most ferocious leader of the Tang Empire the woodcutter. And the woodcutter of Shubi Lake … was the most ferocious and horrible existence. He was the reason why Shubi Lake turned red, the nightmares of the grassland Horse Gangs, and the scary stories around the fire.
But before tonight, they had never thought that the woodcutter could be so young.
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