Narration System for the Journey of Martial Arts

Page 63

Upon seeing the hunting dog lying in a pool of blood on the ground, Zhu Jiuzhen exclaimed in shock, "General? General of the Cavalry? You..."

She looked at the group opposite her and said angrily, "How dare you kill my General of the Cavalry! Can you afford to pay for it?"

.........

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The group of people opposite them exchanged glances and suddenly burst into laughter.

The leading man cracked his whip, urging his horse forward two steps, and said disdainfully, "We've roamed the Western Regions and never had to pay anyone back. But you, little girl, have you thought about how you're going to compensate us?"

Zhu Jiuzhen was furious and said, "You killed my beloved dog, stole my prey, and now you want me to pay for it? Do you know who I am?"

The man cracked his whip, ripped off the fire fox, threw it onto the snow, and said viciously…

"This fox was our prey to begin with. Now that your dog has bitten it like this, it's worthless. If you don't compensate us, who will?"

"I don't care who you are, none of you are leaving here today without two hundred taels of silver."

"You..." Zhu Jiu's face turned red with anger, and she was so anxious that she couldn't speak.

Wei Bi frowned as he looked at the group's confident demeanor, feeling somewhat uneasy. However, he looked around and found no one nearby.

Looking at the more than twenty servants and thugs behind him, as well as more than ten hunting dogs, he felt much more at ease knowing that his own side was even stronger.

He rode forward, cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, gentlemen. I am Zhu Wulian, a guard of the Manor. May I ask where you are from? Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."

………………

"Poor hospitality? Bah..."

The lead rider snorted coldly, spat, and mocked...

"I had no idea when the Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor became the property of the Wei family."

"What, Zhu Changling is giving up his comfortable life as the head of the manor to become a dog for the Wei family?"

"Let me tell you, stop trying to pull strings. I'm not afraid of anyone. If you don't have two hundred taels of silver today, you'll leave your heads behind."

As he spoke, he patted the curved sword at his waist.

With a 'clang,' Zhu Jiuzhen drew his long sword from his waist and said angrily, 'You dare to insult my father! Cousin, why waste your breath on them? Kill them!'

As soon as Zhu Jiuzhen moved, the servants of Zhu Family Village behind him drew their weapons.

Wu Qingying, standing to the side, was still completely bewildered, not knowing how a perfectly normal hunting trip had turned into this. However, the Zhu and Wu families had always stood together through thick and thin, leaving her no room for hesitation.

Wu Qingying waved her hand, and the servants behind her drew their long swords and surrounded the group.

Seeing the sudden change in the situation, Wei Bi sighed, suppressed a trace of unease in his heart, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Let's finish this quickly and kill them."

The men opposite roared, and the leader slapped his horse and cursed, "You've gone too far! You stole our prey, and now you want to kill us to cover it up? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

Wei Bi snorted coldly and spurred his horse forward. He sneered, "You few people are asking for death. When you get down there, tell the King of Hell that Wei Bi of Kunlun killed you. Don't die a foolish death."

………………

Just as the two sides were about to clash, a whistling arrow rang out, making the air howl.

In an instant, a sharp arrow shot out from a distance, as fast as a meteor, with overwhelming power and without hesitation. With a strange whistling sound, it pierced through the forest and shot straight into Wei Bi's chest.

Wei Bi's eyes suddenly bulged, and he made a "hehe" sound. He looked down and saw that a sharp arrow had already pierced his heart, going through his chest and back, with a section of the shaft still trembling.

"How...how...could...this be?" Wei Bi's face was full of disbelief, still unable to believe that he would die here.

Unfortunately, he had no choice but to believe it. As the arrow came, the sound of bows being drawn and arrows being shot rang out in the distance, and a whistling sound filled the air as a large rain of arrows was thrown in.

Despite the trees blocking most of the arrows, Zhu Jiuzhen's side still suffered heavy casualties after just one volley of arrows.

Zhu Jiuzhen was shot in the left shoulder and slumped down, powerless. Wu Qingying fell to the ground in a sorry state and rolled several times. Her mount was riddled with arrows and she herself was shot in the chest. Fortunately, it did not hit a vital spot, but her face was as pale as paper, half from bleeding and half from fright.

With the whistling of the horn, a series of howls and strange cries echoed from the woods, and squads of cavalry and bandits surged out of the forest. The leader, holding an ornate longbow, didn't even look around; with a wave of his hand, the men behind him drew their scimitars and charged forward.

Wei Bi's vision blurred, and he felt dizzy. He was still wondering what was happening when he saw himself still sitting on the horse.

With a thud, his head hit the ground, everything went black, and he stopped breathing completely.

Although the servants of Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor all possessed some rudimentary martial arts skills, none of them had ever encountered such a large-scale cavalry charge, and they were all panicked. If it weren't for the fear that their entire families might be punished by the manor lord if they fled, they would have run away long ago.

The two girls who were in charge, though usually spoiled, had never seen anything like this before, and immediately just stood there dumbfounded.

"Protect the young lady and leave immediately! As long as the young lady is safe, her family will be safe. Fight them!" someone shouted.

With their families threatened, the servants were all contorted with rage, clearly filled with resentment. Several of them, already wounded in the hail of arrows, gritted their teeth and charged forward.

Unfortunately, the cavalry swept through the area like mowing grass, with heads rolling one after another. By the time the charge was over, the ground was littered with corpses.

………………

"Chief, those two little girls and a few guards escaped through the gap we left!"

A moment later, a bandit cavalryman rushed from outside the woods to report.

The man holding the ornate longbow smiled contemptuously and said, "Burierte, give the order: in a quarter of an hour, the entire army will set off for Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor. This time, Zhu Changling must offer enough wealth to buy the lives of his entire family!"

He pointed to the headless corpse stiff on the horse's back and continued, "That one, that Wei Bi, retrieve his head. When you go back, send the body to Weijiaji as a return gift, and then slaughter Weijiaji."

"Yes," the man named Burilt replied, and then signaled to the others to begin their work.

After everyone else left, a burly man with a covered head appeared like a ghost beside the man with the carved longbow: "Habusa Hasatu, you did very well!"

The cavalry leader was none other than Habusa Hasatu, one of the Thirteen Bandits of the Southern Desert. He seemed to have known the man would appear, and simply shrugged and said casually, "I only hope to satisfy you, my lord."

The masked man said in a low voice, "Do what you're supposed to do, and don't cross the border, Habusa Hasatu."

After saying that, he soared up like a golden-winged eagle and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

A quarter of an hour later, with the sound of a horn, more cavalrymen silently emerged from the depths of the woods. Habusa Hasatu waved his hand and led more than six hundred cavalrymen to set off, heading straight for Zhuwu Lianhuan Village.

Chapter 124 Zhu Wu's Response to the Chain Manor

A quarter of an hour ago.

Zhu Jiuzhen and Wu Qingying, protected by a few surviving servants, escaped back to Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor.

When the gatekeeper saw the young lady return covered in blood, he was terrified and could only shout and scream, not knowing what to do.

As everyone rushed through the gate to protect Zhu Jiuzhen and Wu Qingying, and closed the door, it only caused a chaotic scene.

One of the guards, knowing the seriousness of the situation, disregarded his injured right hand and rushed up the fire platform, striking the warning gong on the hill to inform his master that there was an enemy attack.

Unfortunately, after a century of peace, the servants of Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor, who had been ruling the area and were used to being in charge, were completely bewildered when they heard the gong, not knowing what was going on.

In his study in the backyard, Zhu Changling, who was checking accounts, was startled by the sound of a gong, his face blank. He vaguely remembered someone telling him what the sound of the gong meant.

Unfortunately, many years have passed, and my memory has become hazy. I still can't remember what the gong was for.

In the main hall of the front courtyard, the old steward of the Zhu family was slightly stunned when he heard the sound of the gong. Then his expression changed drastically. As the head steward of the entire mansion, did he know what the sound of the gong meant?

"Why is there only one gong sounding? Where are the other torches? Where have all the people gone?" The old steward slammed his fist on the table and immediately ran out of the room.

Then he saw that the front yard was in a mess, and a large group of servants were surrounding the injured Zhu Jiuzhen and the other person, showing concern and being very attentive. He immediately felt a pain in his heart and was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

He strode forward, dodged the horsewhip in Zhu Jiuzhen's hand, and without even looking, lashed the face of the little maid beside Zhu Jiuzhen, eliciting a horrifying scream.

"Shut up, me!"

The old steward roared, flicked his riding crop into the air with a sharp crack, and shouted...

"You idiots, you deserve to be beaten to death. You, you, you, you protect the young lady and the other woman and take them to the backyard. Everyone else, get out of my way."

"Where are Qiao Fu, Zhu Quan, and Lei Hu?"

Pointing to the three people escorting Zhu Jiuzhen to the backyard, the old butler immediately called out.

Immediately, three people ran over from the front hall and the back courtyard. They were Qiao Fu, Zhu Quan, and Lei Hu, who were in charge of training the Zhu family's guards.

"You three idiots! Has anyone been assigned to the fire-lighting platform? Why hasn't anyone sounded the gong? Immediately send someone to the fire-lighting platform to check the situation and gather the guards in the manor to prepare for battle!" The old steward shouted and gave orders.

He then hurriedly ran to the study in the backyard, as he still needed to inform Zhu Changling.

With the old steward in charge, the guard leader finally understood what needed to be done and immediately arranged for people to ring the warning gongs in various locations.

Soon, the sound of gongs spread across the hill, echoing from both the Zhu and Wu families.

………………

In the main house in the backyard, Zhu Weishi, who was pruning bonsai, was also taken aback. It was the first time she had heard this gong sound, and she found it unusually noisy.

"Why is there gonging everywhere? Xiao Cui, go and see what's going on?" Madam Zhu Wei said to the maid beside her, her face full of displeasure.

Before the maid could even move, a little maid was seen running across the courtyard gate and heading this way.

"Madam, something terrible has happened! Miss is injured!"

Madam Zhu Wei couldn't help but spit inwardly, finding it unlucky. She thought to herself, "I'm perfectly fine, I don't know which little maidservant can't even say a nice word today."

Zhu Weishi was still frowning when she saw a little maid run in, looking anxious.

Madam Zhu was taken aback, only then hearing the maid's last sentence. She then asked anxiously, "Jiuzhen is injured? What happened? Is it serious? Have you called a doctor?"

As she spoke, she walked towards the gate. When she arrived at the gate, she saw her husband, Zhu Changling, and the old housekeeper looking anxious. They only glanced at her before running towards the front yard.

Zhu Wei was stunned, not knowing what had happened.

Once outside the courtyard, they found servants, guards, and maids running around everywhere.

Madam Zhu wasn't stupid. She grabbed a maidservant and demanded, "What's going on? What happened?"

The young maidservant, her face filled with fear, trembled as she said, "Madam, it seems someone is attacking. The old steward has ordered the guards to fight back! I've been assigned to boil water and cook cloth." With that, she hurriedly grabbed a bolt of white cloth and left.

Zhu Weishi took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Looking at the panicked servants and maids in the courtyard, she quickly ran towards the backyard where Zhu Jiuzhen lived.

………………

The backyard.

Hearing the commotion, Zhu Yuchen couldn't help but sneer and said to A Niu beside him, "Do you think Zhu Changling will remember that he has a son here if he runs away?"

Ah Niu stood to the side, smiling awkwardly, scratching the back of his head without saying a word.

Zhu Yuchen shook his head, listened to the commotion ahead, and sighed, "What a bunch of good-for-nothings."

Ah Niu smiled憨厚ly and said, "Young Master, the manor hasn't defended itself against enemies for many years, so this reaction is not surprising. After a few more times, they will know what to do."

Zhu Yuchen smiled disdainfully. He knew in his heart that if it weren't for A Niu restraining them, Habusa Hasatu's men would have slaughtered Zhu Wu Lianhuan Manor today. These good-for-nothings couldn't stop the regular cavalry who were licking blood from the blade.

"Go and keep an eye on things! Don't let those useless people in the manor mess things up. If Habusa Hasatu really leads his men in, things will get complicated!" Zhu Yuchen waved his hand and said.

Ah Niu nodded, took a knight's scimitar from the house, hung it on his waist, and leaped over the wall in the backyard to leave.

………………

The front yard, inside the mansion gate.

Accompanied by the old steward, Zhu Changling ascended one of the two dilapidated torch-burning platforms.

From here, you can see the hillside below in one unobstructed view.

With just a glance, Zhu Changling's vision went black. He saw a large, silent mass of cavalry galloping along the mountain path below the hill, their destination right there.

After taking one look, Zhu Changling was certain that there were six or seven hundred people. He immediately trembled and almost lost his balance, but the old steward supported him.

"Master, please think of a solution! So many cavalrymen... this looks like a regular army!" the old steward said anxiously.

Zhu Changling steadied himself and said, "Yes, yes, think of a way. A way? Old steward, do you have any ideas?"

The old butler felt a bitter taste in his mouth, but he still gave the reminder...

"Master, we should have the young lady, the madam, and the family members gather in the backyard. The mountain walls there are steep and the cavalry cannot pass through. If all else fails, they can escape through the back mountain."

"In addition, the guards and servants in the mansion must be organized to meet the enemy in the front yard. We must block the gate and not let them rush in, or we will really be finished."

"Also, we must contact the Wu family immediately. Our two families occupy the high points at both ends of the hill, so we can support each other."

Zhu Changling nodded repeatedly and said, "Good, good, good, do as you say, do it immediately. Notify me immediately if anything happens. Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed!"

Just as the two were about to descend from the torch platform, the old steward tugged at his clothes and said, "Master, over there, over there looks like Master Wu!"

Zhu Changling looked up and saw a figure on the fire platform in the opposite courtyard. It was the head of the Wu family. He immediately waved to signal.

Then, on the opposite platform, people were waving small yellow and green flags, a dazzling display. Zhu Changling was taken aback and asked, "What are they doing?"

The old butler frowned, then suddenly realized, "Master, it seems to be flag signaling, a flag signal used for communication."

“Signal? What are you saying?” Zhu Changling asked.