The Thief Prince

Meanwhile, Cao Su spurred his horse forward, but the further he went, the more he felt something was amiss.

The mist in the dense forest was wispy, and behind the mist, it seemed as if countless eyes were watching me.

The feeling of being watched was too real, which made him increasingly agitated.

He wanted to tell the team to stop, but when he looked back, his team had already disappeared into the forest, with no end in sight.

If we stop now, we will be stuck on this narrow dirt road, unable to move forward or backward, which would be even more dangerous.

He gritted his teeth and had no choice but to urge his horse forward, pulling out half of the iron mace from the side of the saddle with his left hand.

The entire journey was speechless.

At first, Zhang Xian ran ahead with an arrogant air, but after walking for a while, seeing that Cao Su remained silent with a tense face and the surroundings were becoming increasingly eerie, he gradually felt uneasy.

He spurred his horse to move closer to Cao Su, and forced a dry laugh, trying to make conversation:

"Commander, please don't think I'm rushing you. We military officers are in a life where we have to live on the edge. If we don't respect the prefect, we won't have a good time."

Cao Su didn't reply, but instead glanced at the treetops on both sides.

Zhang Xian continued, "This time, there's no need to exert ourselves to the death to suppress the bandits. Just driving them out of Danzhou territory will be enough to complete the task."

"When the time comes to report our achievements to the court, the military commander will naturally receive credit for it."

Cao Su remained silent, his unease growing heavier, making it difficult for him to even breathe.

Seeing that he was ignoring him, Zhang Xian also became angry: "Commander Cao, I'm talking to you, you..."

"Don't speak!" Cao Su suddenly raised his hand. "That's not right!"

Zhang Xian was startled and hurriedly reined in his horse, looking around.

But apart from the rustling of leaves in the wind, there was no other sound.

He was about to explode in anger when Cao Su shouted, "Pass on the order! Speed ​​up and get out of this forest immediately!"

Several cavalrymen beside him spurred their horses and gave orders in different directions, and the column immediately quickened its pace.

The cavalrymen began to let their horses trot, and the infantrymen, in order not to fall behind, also had to trot.

This caused the queue to stretch out even longer.

After walking for another two or three miles, the trees ahead gradually thinned out, allowing a few rays of light to shine through.

Cao Su had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly heard a burst of shouts of killing behind him.

"Oh no!" Cao Su's head started buzzing instantly.

The bandits of Dangshan were extremely cunning; they deliberately let their vanguard pass through, targeting only the rear guard.

He knew all too well how capable those local troops were.

They were all bandits who had been granted amnesty and convicted criminals; they were completely unreliable.

He immediately turned his horse around, grabbed his brow dagger, and was about to charge back when a hand grabbed his armor belt.

"Commander! Commander!" Zhang Xian's face was ashen, and he lay sprawled on the saddle. "Forget about what's behind us! Heaven knows how many bandits there are!"

"Please, please take me away from here! I beg you!"

Cao Su looked down at the face streaked with tears and felt a surge of anger rising to the top of his head.

He was hot-tempered by nature and had been holding back all the way, but he finally couldn't suppress it anymore.

A punch landed squarely on Zhang Xian's cheek, making him cry out "Ouch!" and only managing to avoid falling to the ground by clinging to the horse's neck.

"Say another word, and I'll eat you alive!"

Ignoring Zhang Xian, Cao Su spurred his horse, raised his sword, and shouted, "Imperial Guards, follow me!"

Leading dozens of Imperial Guard cavalrymen, he turned his horse around and charged straight towards the area where the shouts of battle were the most intense.

But by this time the line was in complete chaos. Those at the front didn’t know what was happening behind them, while those at the back were just pushing forward. The two streams of people were crammed together on the narrow dirt road.

Horses were neighing and soldiers were running around in all directions; they were no longer listening to any orders.

Cao Su managed to gather thirty or forty men, killed more than a dozen enemy soldiers blocking his way, and then rushed back to the middle of the dense forest.

A hail of arrows rained down on them, and more than ten soldiers fell instantly.

Cao Su used his eyebrow-tipped dagger to deflect the incoming arrow and then took a closer look.

Several strange-looking war chariots were parked across the dirt road ahead, their side panels raised high.

Dozens of black-clad bandits were crouching behind the barrier, their crossbows constantly protruding from their firing ports and firing at him.

"What kind of strange thing is this!" Cao Su exclaimed anxiously.

The chariots completely blocked the narrow road, and there were dense forests on both sides. Even though Cao Su was highly skilled in martial arts, he was so overwhelmed that he couldn't lift his head.

Several times he charged forward but was forced back by a hail of arrows, leaving him only able to stand there anxiously.

On the other side of the battle line behind Che Lei, Li Zheng took the lead and charged into the enemy ranks.

He swung the spiked club in one hand, making an exaggeratedly large circle.

The soldiers who were swept away all coughed up blood, as if they had been hit by a stroke of luck, and flew backward one by one.

I wonder if these people will be lucky enough to be resurrected once.

Seeing Li Zheng's bravery, the henchmen also roared and charged into the crowd with their weapons, looking somewhat like ruthless bandits.

The local soldiers, who had little will to fight to begin with, were routed like a tidal wave when the Black Wind Bandits, whose ferocity had been unleashed, charged.

Li Zheng smashed a soldier's head with a stick and finally rushed to the transport vehicle that the soldiers were escorting.

He pulled out an axe and cut the rope on the cart. Looking inside, he found only miscellaneous items such as Fan Yang hats and arm guards.

He turned and yelled at his henchmen, "Quick! Find armor! Find crossbows!"

"The brothers who fired the crossbow bolts earlier, grab your bows and crossbows and go support Leader Zhang Yin!"

As he spoke, he swung his spiked club again, sweeping away two soldiers who had rushed at him, sending them flying more than ten paces away.

Upon hearing Li Zheng's order, the henchmen began attacking the transport vehicle.

Li Zheng didn't focus on the transport wagons; instead, he began charging at the remaining government troops, grabbing his spiked club and heading wherever there were the most men.

He didn't need any special techniques; he just swept through with all his might, using his divine strength to take several lives with a single sweep.

As he continued killing, Li Zheng felt increasingly uneasy.

Didn't they say there were thousands of government troops? Why does it feel like the enemy is getting smaller and smaller, and we can't find anyone to fight anymore?

He stopped the pursuit, found a nearby transport vehicle, jumped on it, and looked around to observe.

The battlefield turned out to be one-sided, with the government troops no longer putting up any resistance. Whether they were local militia or imperial guards, they all desperately tried to get into the woods.

Their two hundred Black Wind bandits achieved the effect of two thousand men, and they managed to completely break the government army.

Damn it, Zhou Jun is even more cowardly than I thought.

If that's the case, why would I bother trying to steal the hook eight?

We'll wipe them all out, and their weapons, armor, and warhorses will all be ours!

Just then, Li Zheng heard the sound of horses' hooves.

Looking back, they saw Wu Anqing leading a group of brothers out of the dense forest, leading their horses and charging at the fleeing soldiers.

Seeing this, Li Zheng shouted with all his might, "Brother Wu'an, stop chasing! Come with me and kill that enemy general!"

Upon hearing Li Zheng's shout, Wu Anqing immediately abandoned the pursuit and turned back.

"The boss!"

A cavalryman yielded his horse to Li Zheng, who mounted and shouted to Wu Anqing:

"Hahaha! Plans have changed, prepare for total annihilation!"