Chapter 1 "Extinguish the Fire, Curfew!"

Every night, at a certain hour, soldiers would come to deliver the curfew order, telling all the laborers to extinguish their bonfires and rest.

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert was significant, but in this season, coupled with the tents, it was still bearable.

"Alright!"

Xue San took water and extinguished the bonfire before crawling into the tent.

The other three random guys had their own simple tents. The laborers had come out in a hurry and weren't nomads, so the tents in the laborers' camp were very small, just to give a semblance of shelter.

The soldiers' tents, on the other hand, looked good; clearly, they were military-issued.

"My lord sleeps inside, I'll sleep outside."

Liang Cheng placed his blanket at the entrance of the tent and lay down.

Zheng Fan didn't stand on ceremony. Liang Cheng was a jiangshi (僵尸, zombie) and shouldn't be afraid of the cold, but he still looked at Xue San with some curiosity. "San'er, aren't you coming in to sleep?"

Xue San shook his head with a smile, pulled out the wine bag he had secretly brought from the tent, and then pointed outside. "My lord, I'll sleep outside. I've already dug the pit. I'm small, so it's easy to dig a pit."

After Xue San went out, Zheng Fan also lay down.

However, he couldn't sleep tonight no matter what.

The saber was under his blanket, within easy reach. It seemed that this cold object could bring him real warmth.

"My lord, rest easy, we're watching," Liang Cheng said.

"Okay."

There was no more communication, because Zheng Fan trusted Liang Cheng's judgment.

The grain transport team they were in was definitely undertaking more than just transporting grain.

Liang Cheng said that their baggage train was likely being used as bait, and the deliberate choice of such a "death-seeking" terrain to camp tonight meant that the bait would be deployed tonight.

Even if you told the centurion in the baggage camp, he would likely silence you first. Judging by the strange behavior of that cavalry unit these past few days, the regular soldiers in the baggage camp probably knew their mission.

As for telling the innocent laborers the truth to protect them, and then leading them in a breakout...

First of all, this was the desert, four days' march from the border city of Huto City. Once the laborers scattered, whether the barbarians or the Yan cavalry attacked them, it would be a one-sided massacre. Few would make it back to Huto City alive.

Moreover, if they did that, Zheng Fan and the others would become unregistered, and it would implicate Blind Si Niang and the others in Huto City.

So, no one was a saint, and Zheng Fan had never thought of learning from saints. Furthermore, from another perspective, being a little cold-blooded and using these two or three thousand laborers as bait to annihilate the enemy and achieve the war's objective might be a loss for the laborers, but for the overall situation...

It was a murky calculation, and even those who understood could only learn to "pretend to be confused."

Zheng Fan kept telling himself that he was just a laborer, just a laborer, nothing more...

On the battlefield, just stay alive.

Well,

If conditions permit,

He wouldn't mind getting some benefits for himself.

However, because of the day's travel, his physical exertion was indeed great. After lying down, Zheng Fan still felt his eyelids getting heavy. He could only cautiously maintain some semblance of awareness while trying to doze off.

Liang Cheng, sleeping at the tent entrance, opened and closed his eyes intermittently.

Outside the tent, in the well-concealed small pit, Xue San slowly sipped his wine, licking his lips from time to time.

Perhaps,

For Zheng Fan, this was an anxious wait;

But for them,

This was,

In half a year,

The greatest expectation!

Let the night

Grow deeper!

…………

Behind the dirt slope outside the camp, a group of black figures appeared.

The black figures gathered here, then dispersed at great speed, slowly approaching the camp perimeter. They silently took out the sentries in their respective directions and began to infiltrate the camp.

You couldn't say they were well-trained, because everyone's methods were different, but they were indeed silent, infiltrating without causing too much commotion in the camp.

These were instincts cultivated during daily hunting.

The desert conditions were harsh. These barbarians were warriors forged by nature. Even the Yan iron cavalry relied on superior equipment and tactical discipline to resist them in the Yan-Barbarian War a century ago. Therefore, these laborers in the camp, who had been wielding hoes until recently, were no match for them.

Three black figures tiptoed into a tent where three people were lying down. The black figures crept to the side of the sleeping laborers.

In the darkness, only a glimmer of light in their eyes seemed to convey their intentions.

The three attacked almost simultaneously, one hand covering the victim's mouth, and before the laborer could wake up, the other hand, holding a knife, slashed directly at the neck!

"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"

No screams were heard, not only here, but in several other places. This infiltration and night raid was proceeding in an orderly manner.

After dealing with this location, the three black figures quietly exited and moved to the next tent.

First, they peeked through the tent flap to check the number of people inside. One of the black figures was a little surprised; one person was lying right at the tent entrance.

Forced to do so, they had to deal with this one first.

The black figure squatted down.

Like an experienced worker on an assembly line, the next steps were just a simple repetition.

First, reach out and quickly press down on the person's mouth. The person seemed to wake up, but it didn't matter. The other hand, holding a knife, slashed directly at the person's neck!

"Ka...ka..."

A grinding sound came.

The black figure paused.

This time, the throat-slitting felt like sharpening a knife on a whetstone.

Moreover, the expected hot, scalding liquid didn't splatter out.

Almost instinctively, the black figure slashed back and forth at the person's neck several more times with the knife.

"Ka...ka...ka..."

By the Barbarian God, was this a human neck? Why was it so hard?

However, the black figure's confusion didn't last long, because a hand suddenly grabbed his neck.

"Crack!"

The sound of bone breaking came.

The black figure's neck was snapped, and his head and shoulders began their closest contact ever.

The two black figures outside the tent seemed to hear the sound inside and were extremely alarmed and ready to act, but unexpectedly, a head gradually emerged from the ground beneath their feet.

A smile appeared on Xue San's lips as he sprang from his concealed pit, and as his body reached a certain height, the daggers in his hands slashed forward!

"Puff!" "Puff!"

The two black figures fell to the ground.

Xue San twisted his neck. It had been a while since he had felt the sensation of killing.

If he didn't know that the environment didn't allow it, Xue San would have liked to groan comfortably, and perhaps even imitate a few wolf howls.

Awoo, awoo, awoo...

At this moment, the tent was lifted from the inside, and Liang Cheng and Zheng Fan walked out together.

Liang Cheng was holding a bloody head in his hand, and said to Xue San:

"Cut off the heads."

"Alright."

At the same moment,

A piercing whistle arrow sound broke the false silence of the night.

The gates of the camp were opened by the black figures who had infiltrated, and from outside, the sound of warhorses thundering came.

A thousand cavalrymen howled and roared into the camp through the front and back gates, charging into the camp.

The camp's outposts had long been taken care of, and the outer defenses had been significantly weakened by the earlier infiltration. In this situation, the two groups of cavalrymen smoothly charged into the main camp area.

The sleeping laborers were awakened, some bewildered and not knowing what was happening, while others saw the approaching barbarians in animal skins riding warhorses and started shouting in terror.

As Liang Cheng had foreseen, the enemy's surprise attack caused the camp to break down easily.

The hundred or so regular soldiers who were originally in the main camp area were scattered by the fleeing laborers, and after being overrun by the barbarian cavalry, they were hacked to pieces.

The camp under the night sky instantly became a playground for the barbarian cavalry, who wielded their sabers and wildly slaughtered the fleeing prey.

First, kill the prey, and then enjoy the wonderful moment of dividing the spoils.

Liang Cheng walked in front, Xue San followed behind, and Zheng Fan walked in the middle. After leaving the tent, the three headed straight for a corner of the camp, where a pile of wooden carts used to stack "grain" and the camp fence provided a simple defensive structure. It was a spot they had scouted before nightfall.

Zheng Fan clenched the saber in his hand tightly, his spirit highly alert.

Xue San sat on the wooden cart, swinging his short legs.

Then, Xue San turned his head and said to Zheng Fan behind him, "My lord, why don't we take advantage of the chaos to slip away now? It's still too dangerous here."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fan shook his head and said, "I trust Liang Cheng's judgment."

This baggage train was bait, and now the fish had taken the bait. The net should be coming soon.

Although using the lives of thousands of laborers as bait seemed a bit cruel, now that things had been arranged, what Zheng Fan and the others needed to consider was how to protect themselves as much as possible while taking advantage of the situation, and also obtaining some tangible benefits.

For example, the heads of these barbarians!

As for running away, what a joke. Running away now would be no different from a 49er defecting to the Nationalists.

Seeing that Zheng Fan insisted, Xue San didn't try to persuade him. When he turned his head back, his eyes met Liang Cheng's, and a knowing satisfaction passed between them.

Their lord wasn't foolish.

After everyone guessed the fate of this labor team, he didn't shout about telling everyone to protect themselves, but directly brought up another matter.

"When escorting the grain the day before yesterday, I heard those two soldiers say that barbarian heads can be exchanged for rewards and military merit."

Xue San smacked his lips a few times, thinking: As expected of the lord who could draw them out, although he was inevitably flustered and unaccustomed because he was an ordinary person, his heart was really black.

"Woo woo woo!"

Two barbarian cavalrymen chased a soldier over, and the one in the lead rode forward and slashed the soldier down. At the same time, he saw Zheng Fan and the others standing between the wooden cart and the fence in front.

"Woo woo woo!"

They let out excited howls and continued to spur their horses forward, launching an attack on the new prey.

Liang Cheng stood up silently, Xue San closed his eyes, his earlobes twitching slightly.

Zheng Fan couldn't help but swallow. He had only learned from some materials that cavalry in the age of cold weapons were absolute kings;

Although there were only two warhorses charging here right now, the impact was no less than standing in the middle of the road and facing an SUV speeding towards you.

The sound of hooves, mixed with breathing, gradually slowed down... slowed down... and slowed down again...

Time seemed to have slowed down at this moment.

However, Zheng Fan still did not choose to escape and avoid it, but continued to grip the sword in his hand in a way that didn't seem so standard.

The distance closed.

Xue San moved first.

His body first quickly darted downwards, and then bounced up at the front of the warhorse in an incredible way.

The barbarian knight subconsciously swung his sword over, but hit nothing, while Xue San had already appeared on his side, and was still moving upwards.

The dagger in his hand was held in reverse, he raised his wrist and slashed diagonally!

"Bang!"

The dagger pierced into the barbarian cavalryman's jaw and disappeared instantly.

The barbarian cavalryman only felt his vision turn blood red before losing consciousness.

Liang Cheng, on the other hand, waited for the cavalryman to charge in front of him before he moved.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the barbarian cavalryman, the man in front of him would be turned into mincemeat under the hooves of his warhorse, but the man raised his fist in an incredible way and smashed it into the warhorse's head.

"Bang!"

The warhorse's front legs buckled directly, and the terrifying inertia threw the barbarian cavalryman forward.

Liang Cheng directly grabbed the animal skin clothes on the other person's back, pressed him against the cart board, and at the same time, suddenly raised his head and looked at Zheng Fan:

"My lord!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Almost instinctively,

Zheng Fan raised his sword,

And slashed directly at the barbarian cavalryman in front of him who had been completely subdued!

"Puff!"

Blood splattered,

Red, hot, scalding,

Zheng Fan opened his mouth, his eyes wide, his body swayed a few times,

Slowly, he tasted another flavor,

Sweet...