218 Get on the Horse and Yousre a Thief VI (2/2)

The Horse Gang sprinted from the steep meadows and were at their highest speed when they arrived at the low lands. This speed would have been perfect in a normal situation. However, the problem was that this situation was nowhere near normal. This flat land was not your normal flat land.

It was unusual to see a valley between two stretches of meadows in the Wilderness. This spot used to be a river many years ago but had dried up in the last thousand years, leaving behind the remnants of a seabed. The last traces of the river could not be seen as sand brought along by wind covered it up. The two river banks had become the meadows while the river bed became solid gravel soil land.

Even the Horse Gang who had traversed the Wilderness did not know that this used to be a river. Ning Que did not either. However, he discovered that there were bright and smooth circular pebbles beneath the thin layer of sand when they were setting up camp last night.

The middle of the watercourse was slightly deeper and had accumulated a thicker amount of sand and mud over the last ten thousand years. It was not difficult for one to travel on horseback after the land had been covered with grass. However, near the river banks, which was the edge of the meadows, the land was covered by a very thin layer of stone sand. Should one exert a slightly greater amount of pressure, or if the wind blew slightly harder, one would see round pebbles as well as the natural potholes beneath.

This was not a trap, not a trap set by Haotian for the Horse Gang. Even the heaviest Southern Mountain horse carrying two people on its back would not be trapped in this if it wasn't traveling at high speed. However, the Horse Gang was propelled by the steep incline from the meadow, and the horse hooves met the ground at high impact.

Which was why the low lying land between the meadows became a trap set by Haotian for the Horse Gang.

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The horse hooves which moved so quickly they were like darting shadows landed heavily on the flat land. The strong hooves dug into the ground and slipped further in before they could extricate themselves. Due to the high speed, the war horses were unable to keep their balance and fell with their riders on to the ground.

The hooves kicked up the black pebbles and mud but were trapped between the layer of rocks beneath. The horses could not stop their momentum and their heavy weight pressed on their forelegs. There were loud snaps as several legs were broken, revealing blood, flesh and stark white bones.

The riders behind those who have fallen have realized that there was a problem. However, they were unable to stop moving forward for the same reason- they were galloping at high speed. Their horses fell one by one at the edge of the low-lying plains, groaning at the impact.

If the first hundred riders rushed down from the meadow like a tidal wave, the seemingly normal black pebble ground surrounding the camp was like the famous breakwaters by the seaside of Song Kingdom. Their rounded rocks breaking the waves mercilessly.

The waves rushed over and over and faded into froth over and over. The waves at the front moved forward, the waves at the back followed. Each wave was higher than before and crashed onto the previous wave. Each wave that followed was in a more terrible state than the previous one.

The sight at the slopes of the valley was gory.

Several horses laid on the ground with broken legs and necks. Their riders have fallen with them, legs broken by their own horse landing on them. They pushed at the horses with all their might to no avail. The lucky ones have fainted or died, those who were not as fortunate laid on the ground, groaning. Those who rushed down at high speed at the back of the team suffered the worst impact as they began to pile up above one another. Fresh blood flowed onto the ground, like juice being squeezed out of flesh.

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The Horse Gang's ability to fight was better than that of the grain team. Even though they have lost over a hundred riders in the first wave, they would still pose a significant danger if they took the time to regroup or even if they abandoned their horses and charged on foot.

If the grain team consisted of a hundred soldiers from the elite troop of Tang, or even if they were ordinary soldiers, they might be able to turn the situation around by taking the opportunity to rush at the laager and kill a few Horse Gang members.

However, it was a pity that most of the people who made up the team were civilians. They might have the courage to hold up their spears behind the protection of the shield. However, they had no guts to rush up to kill the enemy. The point was, the three hundred Horse Gang members at the back who have managed to avoid the natural trap at the low-lands. They were holding on to their bows and arrows while surveying the camp alertly.

As such, all hopes of defeating the Horse Gang lay in the hands of the two hundred riders on the south. Everyone in the camp knew then, that the two hundred riders who chose to ascend the meadows were not trying to run away, but were trying to avoid the trap that Haotian had laid in the old river course.

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The two hundred yan riders started moving off. However, it took a lot of effort and was slow moving as they tried to ascend the steep slope. This was especially so when compared to the big black horse running in the forefront.

The Horse Gang who had been watching the Yan riders intently moved when they did. They sped down the meadow at their fastest speed, trying to attack the Yan riders from the side. However, they did not expect that they would ride up the meadows instead of through the valley.

The Horse Gang looked at the Yan riders that they had no way of chasing. They whipped the riding crops in their hands and whistled for the troop to speed up. The hooves of their horses thundered through the land as they met the same fate as their comrades who sped down from the north.

Their faces burned as the bitter cold winds lashed out at it. Ning Que heard the painful wails behind him and knew that the Horse Gang would not be able to catch up with him. He started to think of weird questions as he gradually loosened up.

The wind was able to make one's face burn. Was it because of heat resulting from friction? If this was the only reason, then how thick must his own skin be?

Facing the storm with calm was used to describe someone who had an extremely good disposition. However, this could be learned in later life. Ning Que had faced death since he was a child and experienced many difficulties. He had learned to think about useless things when faced with big issues that had to do with death so that he would eventually calm down.

It was like how he held the boxwood bow with both hands calmly even though the wind lashed out at him. He did not tremble even slightly.

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He moved his feet into position.

Straightened his body.

Held up his bow.

He placed his fingers on the string.

Tightened it.

And released it.

The arrow left the bowstring like a dewdrop dripping off a leaf. It fell slowly before changing shapes slightly. The arrow burgeoned out as it spun. The arrowhead wavered, its fletchings shook unsteadily. It followed a complicated trajectory and eventually flew in a straight line, tearing the air as it flew towards its target in the distance.

The arrowhead touched dark, rough skin that had been tortured by the strong sun and winds. It tore through layers of skin and muscles like paper just as it tore through the air, bringing with it broken bones and a stream of blood and only stopped shaking when it wedged itself deeply in his throat bone. The fletching continued to shake even faster, humming lightly.

Three members of the Horse Gang were shot down consecutively. Blood flowed on the lands as they fell off their horses without a sound.

Ning Que's eyes were emotionless as he watched the scene around him. His bamboo hat was tied tightly with a string and did not move even when met with the strongest winter gale on the Wilderness. He stared at the nearing Horse Gang through the slit above his mask.

Almost two hundred members of the Horse Gang were trapped in the round stones on the periphery of the low-lying lands looking extremely pathetic. The three hundred members behind tried to salvage what they could but to no avail. Their formation was extremely messy, and the defense on the sides was extremely weak. They would definitely be defeated if a large knife cleaved at them at this moment.

He led two hundred riders up the meadow to become this large knife.