"Giddy up... giddy up... giddy up..."
"The two dogs have escaped, quickly, quickly seal the four gates, search thoroughly."
In Deer Horn City, Hai Leku, a thousand-man commander under Duoyongjian, led a rebellion, intending to kill Linyue and Zhou Fugui. However, after over a thousand Xiongnu rebel soldiers rushed into the palace where Prince Bian of Xiongnu and Princess Linyue resided, Zhou Fugui and Linyue managed to escape. Consequently, the rebel soldiers sealed the four gates and searched the city for the pair.
Squadrons of Xiongnu cavalry, brandishing torches and weapons, galloped through the streets, searching for Zhou Fugui and Linyue, and seizing the opportunity to loot the city's treasures and brazenly insult its women. The city's residents, meanwhile, bolted their doors and windows to ward off the rebels.
Deer Horn City was the fiefdom of Prince Bian of Xiongnu. Normally, they wouldn't dare, but at this moment, they could settle this score by blaming Linyue and Zhou Fugui.
In a secluded alley, a group of about ten Xiongnu cavalrymen galloped past. Suddenly, a dark silhouette leaped down from the wall, kicked a Xiongnu rebel soldier off his horse with one foot, and then swiftly ended his life with a blade.
The Xiongnu cavalrymen ahead, unaware, sped past. The dark silhouette, now on horseback, glanced left and right before turning the horse's head and disappearing into the darkness.
The dark silhouette was, of course, Zhou Fugui. After ambushing a Xiongnu cavalryman, he had seized a warhorse and entered a stone house. He extended his right hand into the darkness, and Linyue, hiding inside, clasped Zhou Fugui's right hand, mounted the horse, and sat behind him.
"We can't stay in the city," Zhou Fugui said, holding a long saber in one hand and the reins in the other, glancing back slightly.
With the rebels searching so desperately, they would find them sooner or later. Moreover, dawn was approaching, and after daylight, Zhou Fugui and Linyue would have nowhere to hide.
"Yes, if we can get out of the city and find General Zhunjin, everything will be fine," Linyue nodded.
"Hmph, General Zhunjin?" Zhou Fugui snorted upon hearing this and asked, "Where are they?"
"Where are who?" Linyue asked, perplexed.
"You know perfectly well," Zhou Fugui replied, then asked, "Where are my brothers?"
Zhou Fugui slowly rode out of the stone house, a black cloak covering Linyue behind him.
"So you're doing this for your brothers?" Linyue asked back, somewhat distressed.
"And if I am?" Zhou Fugui retorted. "Not long ago, you intended to kill me and humiliated me in front of everyone. Why should I save you? Hmph, to be frank, I'm saving you today for my brothers."
"Did I try to take your life?" Linyue asked.
"You intended to, can't you understand plain speech?" Zhou Fugui said, somewhat angrily.
"Did I humiliate you?" Linyue asked again.
"Hmph, in front of everyone, you wanted to ride me... isn't that humiliation?" Zhou Fugui snorted coldly.
"Pfft!" Linyue couldn't help but chuckle at this, whispering with a laugh, "So General Zhou is such a petty-minded person."
"Nonsense, a true man can be killed but not ridden... who could endure such a thing?" Zhou Fugui said angrily.
In his anger, Zhou Fugui's voice rose, and Linyue quickly patted his waist, saying, "Speak softer, lest you alert the rebels. Then you won't be ridden... you'll be killed. General Zhou, escort me out of the city, and Linyue promises to return your brothers to you."
"Hmph, I hope you don't deceive me, otherwise..." Zhou Fugui lowered his voice and snorted again.
"Otherwise what?" Linyue peeked her head out from under the cloak, looking at Zhou Fugui's profile under the starlight and asking.
The sky was dotted with countless stars, twinkling ceaselessly. Their light fell upon the earth, adding a faint glow to the darkness. The starlight slanted across Zhou Fugui's face, illuminating half of it while leaving the other in shadow, giving him a stern appearance. It also outlined his features: a high-bridged nose, chiseled and distinct facial features, thin lips adorned with a clear mustache above, and thick, neatly trimmed beard below. His sword-like eyebrows slanted upwards, merging into the dark hair that fell to his temples. His hair, freshly washed, smelled clean and refreshing, resting against his ears and falling behind his head.
Such a handsome and charming young man, who could bear to kill him? Linyue mused inwardly.
However, this was merely Linyue's thought. If it were others, perhaps men consumed by jealousy, wouldn't they kill him without hesitation? Even other women might kill him if they couldn't have him...
"Otherwise... hmph, hmph..." Zhou Fugui seemed unable to find any answer beyond a few grunts.
"That's how pigs in a pen grunt," Linyue said with amusement, lowering her voice and chuckling, her lips pursed.
"The best grunters aren't pigs..." In the face of life and death, during their escape, Zhou Fugui and Linyue grew increasingly familiar with each other. Linyue's playful teasing now elicited no reservation from Zhou Fugui; he always had to win these verbal spars.
He felt as if he was born with the instinct to save her, and at this very moment, that feeling was intensifying.
Linyue felt the same way.
"Hmm...?" Linyue, not having fully registered his words, was about to say something more when a large hand reached out and covered her mouth.
With Linyue guiding the way, Zhou Fugui rode the warhorse to a small gate of Deer Horn City, a gate meant for livestock. The area near the gate, unsurprisingly, reeked, but it was still guarded by over a dozen Xiongnu rebels.
"Who goes there? State your name!" All the Xiongnu rebels had tied scraps of cloth around their mouths and noses to block out the stench. A Xiongnu rebel asked in a muffled voice.
"Under Commander Hai Leku..." Zhou Fugui replied as he slowly advanced on horseback, but he couldn't come up with a name for Commander Hai Leku's subordinate.
"Haqiri." At this moment, a female voice, sounding like that of an eunuch, answered for Zhou Fugui.
Haqiri was Commander Hai Leku's personal attendant.
The Xiongnu rebels were immediately perplexed. They saw only one man on horseback, yet two voices, one female and one sounding like an eunuch, had spoken. Was he hermaphroditic?
"Thwack! Thwack!"
As the Xiongnu rebels were lost in confusion, Zhou Fugui suddenly squeezed his thighs, jerked the reins, and charged forward. With lightning speed, he wielded his saber to slash left and then right, cleaving two Xiongnu rebels to the ground. Then, pulling back on the reins, the warhorse leaped over the chevaux de frise, carrying the two of them as they galloped towards the city's exit.
The small gate only had a fence and no city gate, and the fence wasn't fully closed, with only a chevaux de frise placed at the entrance, thus providing Zhou Fugui an opportunity.
"Ah?"
"It's the Princess and that Han!"
"Those two dogs ran away, chase them, chase them!"
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
"Ah..."
The Xiongnu rebels, upon realizing what had happened, grabbed their weapons, mounted their horses, and prepared to pursue. However, three arrows flew in rapid succession, felling three Xiongnu rebels. The rest, terrified, shouted and hurried back into the city to fetch reinforcements.
"Giddy up!"
Zhou Fugui urged his horse on desperately. The warhorse's hooves churned the ground as it carried Zhou Fugui and Linyue into the distance. Only by getting far away from Deer Horn City, and before dawn, could they be considered safe.
"Baa..." Zhou Fugui galloped on. Suddenly, a vast expanse of white appeared before him: a flock of sheep. The sound of the galloping horse startled the flock, sending them scattering in panic. A shepherd, herding his sheep to sell in the city at dawn, stood frozen, staring blankly at Zhou Fugui and Linyue rushing towards him.
Seeing this, Zhou Fugui had an inspiration. He reined in his horse and pointed his bloody long saber at the shepherd's nose.
"My lord, spare me!" A bloody long saber was thrust before his nose, still dripping with small bits of flesh and fresh blood. The shepherd was so terrified that he almost wet himself, his legs giving way as he knelt on the ground, pleading for mercy, mentally cursing his wife.
His wife, wanting to earn money, had nagged him all night to go to Deer Horn City early to sell their flock...
"Heh heh, why would I want your life?" Zhou Fugui said with a smile, pointing his saber at the shepherd. "See that gate? Drive the sheep over there, and I'll spare your life! Quickly, delay even a moment, and I'll chop off a hand."
"Baa... baa... baa..."
Terrified, the shepherd had no choice but to obey Zhou Fugui's command, desperately driving the flock towards the gate. At the same time, he cursed his wife in his heart. Without her nagging, how would he have encountered this god of death?
Oh heavens, my sheep! Damn wife, I'll whip you eighteen times when I get back.
The sheep reached the gate, just as the Xiongnu rebels, preparing to pursue, were emerging. The horses and sheep collided, creating a chaotic mess. The horses struggled to move, while many sheep were trampled to death. With each dead sheep, the shepherd let out a mournful sigh of pain.
"Clang!" A gold ingot landed in the shepherd's arms. He turned back in surprise and saw that the god of death had already galloped down the slope and disappeared.
Thank you, great hero, thank you, dear wife. I'll have a good time with you later... The shepherd was overjoyed. He glanced at the chaotic Xiongnu rebels and, taking advantage of the darkness, slipped away.
...
"General Zhou is indeed remarkably astute..." Zhou Fugui galloped on, and Linyue, clinging tightly to his waist, praised, "Using sheep to obstruct the enemy, I can't believe you thought of that."
"Haha, where, where..." Zhou Fugui said modestly, but inwardly, he smiled proudly. "No matter how astute, am I not still in your hands?"
"Heh heh, I fell into your hands? But now I've fallen into yours," Linyue said, her mood greatly improved now that they were temporarily out of danger. She began to chat and laugh with Zhou Fugui.
"We share the same fortune," Zhou Fugui laughed.
Thus, they rode under the stars, identified their direction, and sped towards the location of Linyue's main contingent. However, as they were sharing a single horse, no matter how fast it ran, it couldn't match two, or even three, horses. Therefore, escaping the pursuers and leaving danger behind would be extremely difficult.