Chapter 169
Chapter 169
The granaries and armory burned while the slaves rebelled.
King Huxie smashed his wine jar in fury. “Capture the rebels! Kill them all!”
“Disaster, Your Majesty!”
King Huxie could no longer bear that word. He kicked the messenger as he arrived.
“What now?!”
The unlucky man scrambled up. “Y-your treasure vault is burning too.”
“What?! My treasures! Put it out! Who set these fires? Those damned slaves? Capture the arsonists. I’ll kill them!”
Someone smelled something strange near the royal tent and rubbed the ground.
“Oil.”
His expression changed. “Your Majesty…”
Song Jin approached. “Brother, what are you doing?”
“There’s sesame oil. Notify the King.”
“Oh, I know.”
Song Jin produced a fire striker and tossed it down before his eyes.
“You!”
The man drew his saber.
“Heh. Last target complete!”
Song Jin ran.
“Catch him! He’s the arsonist!”
“The royal tent is burning!”
King Huxie had barely gone a hundred yards toward his vault when he saw his own tent ablaze.
“Outrageous!”
They had trampled his dignity and challenged him openly.
“Take him alive! I’ll carve him into ten thousand pieces! Bring me my weapon!”
“Your Majesty, the armory is still burning. No one can enter.”
“Find me anything! I’ll kill them myself!”
He had lost all reason.
Central Plains martial artists were agile and fast with lightness skills, while grassland warriors favored raw power. The Barbarians could not catch Song Jin or Ji Si, though a prolonged pursuit would still exhaust them.
Their final route led to the stable.
Ji Si, carrying Jiang Yunsui, joined the rebel slaves.
She finally saw the Yue tribesmen’s power. Though starved for so long, a few days of food restored much of their strength. One lifted a Barbarian overhead and hurled him into the others, knocking down a row.
Fat Chef moved nimbly with his cleaver despite his bulk.
“Hurry! Were the other pens opened?”
“Yes! Everyone ran, and the sheep followed!”
At night, with the Barbarians relaxed and the main rebel force drawing most pursuers, the other slaves had their best chance. Their survival now depended on fate.
“Run for the stable!”
King Huxie abandoned even his burning treasures and led a large force after them.
“Kill them! Kill them all!”
“Your Majesty, they’re heading toward the stable.”
King Huxie’s eyes were bloodshot. “How do they know where it is? Even if they reach it, they can’t ride my horses. Surround them!”
At the stable, Jiang Yunsui whistled loudly.
The fifty-odd horses she had fed every night rushed from their stalls.
“Choose one and feed it a grass cake,” Song Jin ordered.
The restless horses calmed after eating.
Ji Si launched a Cloud-Piercing Arrow.
Firecrackers erupted inside several stalls. The remaining horses panicked and bolted.
“Go!”
Jiang Yunsui had selected excellent mounts. When they raced away, the frightened herd followed them as if following leaders.
Her heart hammered. Tonight was more thrilling than anything Little Mushroom had ever experienced.
King Huxie’s force arrived and recoiled from the charging herd.
“My horses! My horses! Stop them! Shoot – no, don’t shoot my horses!”
Those were hard-won warhorses. King Huxie could hardly bear to imagine how much wealth he would lose. “Those bastards stole my horses! I’ll kill them! I’ll kill every last one of them!”
He was plainly beside himself. Jiang Yunsui’s party rode hidden among the herd, and his soldiers hesitated, unsure whether they were supposed to shoot. King Huxie could only rage helplessly until fury finally won.
“Shoot! Kill them!”
Only a few arrows flew before the ground began shaking violently. The Barbarians’ mounts grew frantic.
“What now?! Was tonight determined to ruin him?”
“Your Majesty, bad news…”
“Shut up!”
“I-it’s a yak herd. They’re charging this way.”
“What? Why would a yak herd come now?!”
The dark mass was already within three hundred yards, huge bodies pounding forward like moving hills.
“Protect me!”
Even powerful Barbarians could not match yaks. King Huxie forgot the rebels and fled for his life while the herd smashed his formation into chaos.
“Over here! Song Jin, Little Yunsui, this way!”
Song Jin and Ji Si led the horses toward Ji Lu and Ji Yan’an’s group.
Ji Lu stared at the enormous herd they had stolen. “Good heavens, we’ll be rich if we get all these horses home!”
“Stop talking and run,” Song Jin said. “They’ll reorganize and pursue us soon.”