Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 20 Refugees (Part Two)

“These people are disguised as refugees and are following us, which shows that they have reservations and will not attack us openly. Nine times out of ten, they will drive the refugees to act as outposts, while the real killers are hidden among the refugees.”

Pei Qinghe's eyes flashed with a cold light: "We need to find out how many of our real opponents there are and what their combat strength is."

"The battlefield cannot be chosen by them; it must be determined by us."

"There is an inn ten miles ahead. Let's stop at the inn."

At least the post station had a courtyard and walls, allowing for basic defense. It also had a postmaster, servants, and cooks; having extra manpower was always helpful in critical situations.

The guard nodded in agreement: "Alright, let's hurry to the post station."

Captain Sun instinctively picked up the conversation: "What if they don't come?"

"The enemy may come, and we may go," Pei Qinghe said coldly. "If they don't come, we will take the initiative to attack."

The guard, Gao, had never been humiliated before. Upon hearing this, his blood boiled, and he replied without hesitation, "That's right. If these bastards dare to have any evil intentions, kill them all."

Without any powerful connections or backing, Captain Sun was much less daring: "If the enemy outnumbers us, we might not be able to defeat them. It would be better to stay at the inn for a few days and wait for reinforcements to arrive."

Pei Qinghe glanced at Captain Sun: "The best-case scenario is that reinforcements are coming. If the county government remains stagnant and the Julu army is unwilling to send troops to rescue us, we can't just keep hiding in the post station forever."

If they could all figure out that the other party had an extraordinary background, how could the county magistrate and the general of Julu Army not have thought of it?

This matter involves a power struggle within the Eastern Palace, clearly a quagmire. A wise person would choose to protect themselves; who would want to wade into such muddy waters?
Captain Sun's expression grew increasingly grim, and he remained silent.

The guard, much bolder, sneered and said, "Don't be afraid. There are over fifty of us! We're not pushovers!"

Pei Qinghe twitched the corner of her mouth: "We have more than just these people on our side who are capable of fighting and risking their lives. There should be more than three hundred people."

Guard Gao: "..."

Captain Sun: "..."

Pei Qinghe has included the entire Pei family, young and old.

These days, Pei Qinghe has been training and disciplining the women of the Pei family. Their neat formations, strict discipline, and high spirits are all clearly visible.

Whether it will actually work in practice is hard to say.

Captain Sun coughed and asked in a low voice, "Sixth Miss, are you really confident?"

Pei Qinghe said calmly, "You'll know once you try."

Captain Sun: "..."

The guard, Gao, had much stronger confidence in Pei Qinghe. As a guard of the Eastern Palace, he had witnessed Pei Boren's resourcefulness and admired Pei Zhongde's bravery and martial prowess.

Pei Qinghe is Pei Zhongde's daughter and the clan leader elected by the Pei family. She trained the Pei family members, young and old, to be quite capable in just one month, which shows her prowess.

"How should we proceed?" the guard asked directly.

Pei Qinghe whispered a few words.

The guard nodded in agreement.

Captain Sun took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.

Everyone set off again.

Two fine horses galloped away, one heading towards the county government office, and the other galloping towards the Julu Army.

……

"Our whereabouts have been discovered!"

"Now how to do?"

From the depths of the dense forest beside the official road came several urgent whispers. A disdainful sneer rang out: "What's there to be afraid of! What can they do even if they find out! We're here to kill!"

The sneering man was about nine feet tall, strong and powerful, with a fierce look in his eyes.

His surname was Wu, and he was the third child in his family. His cousin, Wu Zhong, was a confidant of the King of Wei.

Wu San rarely shows himself in public, mostly engaging in shady, clandestine activities. In terms of skill, he ranks among the top ten of the Prince of Wei's secret guards, a true master.

This time, Wu San brought a hundred bodyguards. To conceal their identities and facilitate their operation, they specifically captured one or two hundred refugees.

“Third Brother, I’ve been following them from afar for two days. The women and children of the Pei family are quite different from ordinary women.” A man with triangular eyes whispered, “Not to mention anything else, their walking speed is almost as fast as an army marching…”

Clang!
Wu San casually drew his long sword, its gleaming blade flashing with a cold, sharp light: "Zhao Da, you're getting more and more senile. You're afraid of a bunch of women and children. Here's what we'll do: don't follow me anymore, just ride back home. And don't come out on any more assignments. It's much better to stay home and take care of your wife and children."

All the guards grinned.

Zhao Da, with his triangular eyes, gave an awkward smile and remained silent.

Wu San licked his lips, a lewd glint in his eyes: "The Pei family is a den of beauties. Don't touch that Sixth Miss Pei; take her back to our master untouched. As for the rest of the beauties, hehe!"

The guards shouted excitedly, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Wu San stood up, giving the crowd a disdainful look: "Now that they've discovered our whereabouts, there's no need to hide anymore. Let's chase after them now! We'll make our move when it gets dark!"

"We've had our fun tonight, now we'll head back tomorrow."

The guards responded in unison.

The more than one hundred refugees who had been captured were all emaciated, pale and thin, and walked unsteadily. They were being driven forward by the guards, and one of them suddenly collapsed as he walked.

Wu San grew impatient and swung his long sword.

puff!
The sword flashed.

Blood splattered.

A head fell to the ground, rolled around, covered in dirt and fallen leaves, and its eyes stared wide open in despair.

This bloody and cruel scene filled the refugees with dread. They dared not look any longer, hurriedly turning their heads away and silently hurrying on their way.

For Wu San, killing was commonplace. These numb-looking refugees were like pigs and dogs in his eyes, not even human.

He then chopped down another staggering vagrant: "Listen up, all of you, follow us obediently. Once the job is done, we'll give each of you a bag of grain. Anyone who dares to shout or run away, I'll kill him on the spot."

The refugees dared not even breathe, and strained with all their might to move forward.

Wu San and the others all had horses.

However, since they were pretending to be refugees, they had to put on an act. More than a hundred fine horses were tethered in the woods. The guards, dressed in tattered clothes, with long swords at their waists and bows and arrows on their backs, moved swiftly forward.

It got dark quickly.

The official road was deserted, with no pedestrians. The post station a few hundred meters away came into view.

The inn, built many years ago, was quite dilapidated, though it still had a considerable number of buildings. Lanterns hung outside the wide gate, swaying gently in the wind.

Qiu Da crept over and asked in a low voice, "When do we make our move?"

Wu San narrowed his eyes and casually said, "When it gets dark, you take a few men and sneak in to set a fire. Once the fire is burning, we'll rush in during the chaos."

"Kill all the guards of the Eastern Palace. Kill all the soldiers escorting them as well."

"Leave a few members of the Pei family alive, don't kill them all."

……

The new book will be available next Friday, and there will be double updates after that.
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(End of this chapter)