"Brother Fugui, I'm leaving!"
Liu Changshun, with disheveled hair and a pale face, said to Zhou Fugui before drifting into the darkness.
"Brother Changshun, don't go! It's my fault, brother, please don't go!"
Zhou Fugui shouted anxiously and chased after him desperately, but he couldn't catch up.
"You Han thief, you dog thief! Give me back my life!"
From the darkness, countless severed limbs and broken bodies suddenly emerged, some with intestines spilling out, dragging their mangled forms and surging towards Zhou Fugui.
"Ah!"
Zhou Fugui screamed and woke up. It was all a dream.
"Big brother, you're awake?" After Zhou Fugui woke up, the little girl squatted beside him, looking at him with concern.
"Hmm, is that you? Aren't you hungry anymore?" Zhou Fugui asked the little girl with a smile. "Aren't you afraid of me anymore?"
"Yunu isn't afraid. Yunu already knows that big brother is a good person," said the little girl named Yunu obediently.
"A good person? Heh, a good person?" Yunu was only five years old, but she was so well-behaved and sensible that it was heartbreaking. This was probably because she had experienced such a tragedy of life and death at the tender age of five. Zhou Fugui couldn't help but stroke little Yunu's head with pity and said, "Whether brother is a good person or not, brother will protect you. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Yunu believes. Big brother has already saved many people," Yunu nodded.
Just then, a commotion and argument, even the clash of blades and spears, came from outside. So Zhou Fugui took Yunu's little hand, walked out the door, and asked, "What happened?"
"Camp commander, many soldiers have arrived, and Albugu, the camp commander, is also here. They want to seize people..." reported a soldier from the White Tiger Camp.
"Seize people? Humph, it's not that easy to seize people." Zhou Fugui snorted coldly upon hearing this, handed Yunu to a fellow villager named Hong Wei, and said, "Look after Yunu. No matter what happens, you must protect her. Otherwise, you will be punished by military law."
"Don't worry, camp commander. I will protect her even if I have to give up my life," Hong Wei replied, patting his chest.
"Zhou has already lost too many fellow villagers and comrades. I don't want to lose any more. You must live well too," Zhou Fugui said, patting Hong Wei's shoulder.
After speaking, Zhou Fugui drew his saber and walked out.
In the battle of Guangling Commandery, the White Tiger Camp lost four to five hundred of its three thousand soldiers and injured three to four hundred, a loss of nearly thirty percent. Among them were over a hundred of Zhou Fugui's fellow villagers. The casualties were heavy.
"You White Tiger Camp, you've got some nerve!"
"They're utterly audacious! They dare to harbor southern rebels. This is tantamount to colluding with the enemy!"
"Call out your camp commander! We'll capture and punish him!"
"This is too blatant! Call him out! We're not afraid of killing him!"
As Zhou Fugui walked out, many Yan army soldiers had arrived outside, pointing at the White Tiger Camp and cursing. The soldiers of the White Tiger Camp, armed with swords and shields, were confronting them.
Behind the White Tiger Camp were over two thousand Xia people, all trembling and watching the scene with extreme fear.
The over two thousand Xia people huddled together, relying on each other, as if only by doing so could they feel a little safer.
"Where is that rebellious brat Zhou Fugui? Hurry up and call him out!" Albugu, the commander of the Bold Camp, riding a tall horse, also cursed loudly.
"What did you call me, camp commander?" Zhou Fugui walked out from the crowd, his saber at his side, and said with a cold smile, "What is the matter for a junior officer to be summoned?"
"I am Albugu of the Duanbu clan. Zhou Fugui, you have gone too far." Albugu said angrily.
His name was clearly Albugu, and Zhou Fugui knew it, not for just a day or two. Yet, every time he was called "What did you call me?". Wasn't this clearly teasing him? Albugu thought furiously.
Moreover, Zhou Fugui was the camp supervisor and was technically under Albugu's command.
"Oh, Albugu of the Duanbu clan? What have I done that is too much?" Zhou Fugui said with a cold smile.
He always disdained people who brought up their Xianbei identity at every turn.
"Who are they? They are southern rebels! You dare to shelter them and even give them porridge to drink! Zhou Fugui, are you trying to rebel?" Albugu pointed his horsewhip at the Xia people behind the White Tiger Camp and roared.
Seizing people, seizing money, seizing property, seizing everything they could get their hands on – this was the usual practice of the Yan army.
Stealing money and property goes without saying. After seizing people, women could be taken as female slaves, to be defiled or kept as maids, while men would be made to work like cattle and horses.
The influence or power of the Xianbei people was not only demonstrated by herds of cattle and sheep, mountains of wealth, and vast pastures, but also by having a multitude of slaves.
The White Tiger Camp had taken in over two thousand Xia people, which naturally made many Yan soldiers envious.
"Rebel? Camp commander, your words are gravely mistaken!" Zhou Fugui said calmly. "I, Zhou, led my troops to fight valiantly and was the first to enter Guangling Commandery, earning the first merit. Have you ever seen someone rebelling like this?"
"You were the first to enter Guangling Commandery and earned the first merit?" Albugu said angrily. "Without my clan's army attacking the city first, could you, with your thousands of Han soldier trash, have entered Guangling Commandery?"
As soon as Albugu said this, he was so furious that he didn't consider the consequences. The consequence was that it further united the Han soldiers against a common enemy.
"Yes, the commander ordered the army to attack the city first. But Camp Commander Albugu, where were you during the siege? Although I entered Guangling Commandery afterward, I was still leading my troops in bloody combat!" Zhou Fugui said.
"Good, good, good! A glib tongue!" Albugu was no match for Zhou Fugui in debates or arguments. So Albugu blushed and said, "Even if you are not rebelling, what is your intention in sheltering and harboring these southern rebels?"
"Haha, sheltering and harboring?" Zhou Fugui chuckled and asked, "What order did the commander give?"
"Three days for self-determination!" Before Albugu could answer, the banner officer Tubuyan said to Zhou Fugui with some flattery.
Tubuyan was somewhat afraid of Zhou Fugui. This little troublemaker had beaten him black and blue, yet he was still promoted to camp supervisor, while he remained a mere banner officer. Tubuyan was naturally afraid of such a person and preferred not to offend him, whether he was Han or Xianbei.
"Banner Officer Tubuyan is correct," Zhou Fugui said loudly to Albugu. "The commander's order was three days for self-determination. These Xia people were captured by me. Whether they are killed or kept is up to me. In other words, these people are already mine. Do you dare to seize them? During the great battle, you, Camp Commander Albugu, were nowhere to be found. Yet, when it comes to seizing people and merits, you appear. Is there any reason for this in the world?"
"Rebellious brat, silver-tongued! Guards, charge up and seize the people!" Since he couldn't outtalk Zhou Fugui, nor could he curse him out, Albugu, relying on his superior numbers, resorted to force. He waved his hand and gave the order.
But Albugu roared for a long time, yet his thousands of men hesitated, pushing and shoving, reluctant to move forward.
There were two reasons for this. Firstly, the White Tiger Camp, after a brutal battle, had become a formidable force. Not long ago, when Zhou Fugui was a banner officer, he had fought one banner against three and routed them. Many of them, like Tubuyan, had witnessed this firsthand. Secondly, most of Albugu's troops were also signed troops and Han soldiers. Albugu was incompetent in managing his troops, often beating and scolding them, and frequently withholding their pay and rations. Resentment had been simmering among them for a long time.
"White Tiger Camp!" Zhou Fugui raised his hand and also shouted the order, "If they are polite, treat them with courtesy. If they attack, fight back! If they dare to draw their weapons, kill them, without mercy!"
Zhou Fugui had plenty of ways to deal with a fool like Albugu.
"We obey the camp commander's orders!" The soldiers of the White Tiger Camp shouted in unison, raising their swords and spears.
"Advance!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The soldiers of the White Tiger Camp then took a large step forward, holding their swords and spears.
The sight of the White Tiger Camp raising their weapons scared away many of the soldiers of the Bold Camp. Albugu roared with anger and whipped them fiercely, but he could not stop them. Unintentionally, someone thrust a spear shaft into his back, knocking him off his horse.
His subordinates hastily helped Albugu up.
"Guards! Guards! The Han man Zhou Fugui is rebelling!" Albugu, lying on his horse and fleeing, shouted.
With their commander running away, the soldiers of the Bold Camp scattered.
"Hahahaha!"
The soldiers of the White Tiger Camp burst into laughter and felt immensely pleased.
Stupid pig! Zhou Fugui cursed him in his mind and shook his head.
"Camp Commander Zhou, greetings," Just then, an elderly elder among the Xia people trembled as he walked up to Zhou Fugui, bowed deeply, and said, "This old man thanks Camp Commander Zhou for saving our lives."
"We thank Camp Commander Zhou for saving our lives! Camp Commander Zhou is a living bodhisattva who saves the suffering and the distressed!"
The Xia people all knelt on the ground, kowtowing before Zhou Fugui. Some were weeping uncontrollably.
At this moment, how could these Xia people not understand that Zhou Fugui had risked his life to save them? And Zhou Fugui was a Han man. The Xia people were deeply moved and immensely grateful to Zhou Fugui.
At the same time, they understood that not all people in the Yan army, like the Han general before them, were the bloodthirsty beasts and heartless creatures that the Xia court propagated.
They felt a sense of kinship.
"Everyone, please rise quickly, please rise quickly." Seeing the Xia people like this, Zhou Fugui felt extremely ashamed and regretful. At the same time, he strongly felt that he had become a person again. Zhou Fugui hurriedly clasped his hands in reply, his voice even choked with emotion.
Not long ago, Zhou Fugui had led his troops to kill many Xia people.
At this moment, Zhou Fugui felt ashamed and regretful, and at the same time, he was extremely worried that he could only protect them for a while, but not for a lifetime.
And could Zhou Fugui really protect them for a while?
"Giddy-up... giddy-up... giddy-up..."
"Where are the rebels?"
"Someone dares to rebel? All will be executed without mercy!"
Just then, the sound of urgent horse hooves sounded like thunder, approaching rapidly. Judging by the momentum, there were at least over ten thousand people.