Chapter 81: Pursuit
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling led them to clean up the battlefield. Out of the 55 people, only 42 survived. Mu Yangling picked out the corpses of those from Nearhill Village and got someone to dig a hole on the spot. “Let their families come here to collect the corpses later.”
Liu Yong walked to Mu Yangling’s side and asked curiously as he looked at the miserable-looking Hus on the ground, “Didn’t they say that the Hus are excellent fighters? That even five Han Chinese are no match for one Hu?”
Mu Yangling squatted down to take a look, her expression solemn. Although they were all wearing Hu costumes, they were not military uniforms. “They’re not soldiers. They’re just ordinary Hu civilians.”
“Then will the village chief and the others encounter soldiers?” If the ordinary Hu civilians were already so powerful, how powerful were the soldiers?
“We’ll rest here for 15 minutes before leaving.”
Liu Xuan ran to Mu Yangling’s side and asked in a low voice, “What about the women in the cave? Should we bring them along?”
“No, how can we drag them along when we might not even be able to keep our lives? Let them hide in the cave. As long as they don’t climb out or make a sound, no one will discover them.”
Mu Yangling led her men to chase after Mu Shi and the others. It was already dawn. By the time Mu Yangling caught up to them, they were not far from the county.
The villagers were surprised and happy to see them return with injuries and blood. But those who did not see their family member return cried bitterly, for they knew that their loved ones would never come back.
Mu Yangling ran to the front to look for Mu Shi. Seeing her daughter in such a sorry state, how could Shu Wanniang not know that they had hidden something from her? However, now was not the time to ask. She only pulled Mu Yangling over to size her up. Seeing that only her palm was cracked and there were no other injuries on her body, she was relieved.
Mu Yangling was extremely exhausted. After all, she was only nine years old, and she had been fleeing and killing enemies since midnight. Now, she was just forcing herself to hold on.
Mu Shi quietly took out some dry food and stuffed it into her mouth. Then, he stuffed her under the blanket and said, “Sleep for a while. We’ll be able to reach the county soon with me pushing the cart.”
Mu Yangling’s eyelids were a little heavy, but she still said, “Father, those Hus weren’t soldiers. Where did the Jin soldiers go? Without the army leading the way, they wouldn’t have the guts to rush…”
“Alright, what matters most is that we manage to escape. It’s the Imperial Court’s business where the Jin soldiers go.” Mu Shi pressed his daughter down indifferently, lifted the cart, and started pushing it.
When the others saw this, they quickly took their things and followed.
However, after walking for less than half an hour, Mu Shi stopped. All the villagers of Nearhill Village behind him also stopped and looked up at the flames soaring into the sky.
Trembling, Liu He walked to Mu Shi’s side and pointed at the fire. “What’s that? What’s that?”
Mu Shi only remembered what Mu Yangling had asked him just now. “Where did the Jin soldiers go?”
The villagers who had been fleeing the entire night knelt on the ground. “The county is gone. Where else can we escape to?”
Mu Yangling, who was only sleeping lightly, woke up startled. When she opened her eyes, she saw the flames soaring into the sky in front of her. Her expression changed and she got out of the cart. “Father, are the Jin soldiers still in the city?”
“They must be.” Mu Shi said, “This fire just started. I didn’t see it before.”
“Then where will they go after burning the city?” Mu Yangling became anxious. For the first time, she regretted staying in her comfort zone after coming to this world and had not tried her best to understand it.
Liu He calmed down. “After plundering the county, it’ll be the town’s turn. They probably won’t let off the villages they pass by on the way either. They bypassed Xingcheng Pass and avoided the West Camp to plunder resources on the enemy’s land.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s faces turned even more ashen.
The Han people all knew that if the Hus attacked cities with the aim of occupying lands, usually only those stubbornly resisting at the pass would be slaughtered. Aside from that, the Hus would at most snatch grains and wealth. However, if their aim was to plunder resources on the enemy’s land, the Hus would slaughter everyone, including the old and the young. Not only would they plunder women, grains, and wealth, it was common for them to set fire to the village in this case.
“We can’t stay on the main road.” Liu Daqian said, “The Jin soldiers will see us the moment they leave the city.”
“We’ve walked into a dead end.” Third Uncle Liu squatted on the ground and covered his head in frustration.
As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately questioned the Mu father and daughter. “If we had stayed in the village, perhaps nothing would’ve happened.”
Liu He hit them with his walking stick and shouted, “If you had stayed, you’d have ended up in the same state as the people guarding the village. Are there fewer people in West Mountain Village than in our Nearhill Village? Does West Mountain Village still exist now?”
Everyone lowered their heads and did not speak.
Liu He turned to ask Mu Yangling, “Ah Ling, what do you think we should do?” After his youngest son returned, he asked in detail about how they had killed the enemies. Although he did not see it with his own eyes, he also realized that Mu Yangling was better at fighting a war than Mu Shi.
Mu Yangling replied without thinking, “Let’s go north to Jialing Lake. By walking along the lake, we’ll reach the West Camp.”
“We can’t leave. My son went to report and hasn’t returned yet.” Third Great-aunt ran out and grabbed Mu Yangling’s hand. “Ah Ling, quickly think of a way to save your uncle and the others. They went to report last night and haven’t returned yet. Do you think they’ll be stuck in the county?”
“No.” Mu Yangling raised her chin to indicate that they should look ahead. “The east gate of the county has just opened. Those who could escape have already escaped. I’m afraid they haven’t entered the county yet.”
Following her gaze, everyone saw a large group of people rushing over. Some with good eyesight climbed up the tree beside them and looked around. They shouted, “Oh no, there are many people fleeing ahead. There are probably more than a thousand of them.”
Mu Yangling made a prompt decision. “The people behind, turn around and form the first square formation. Turn around one by one. This will now be the fifth square formation. Go forward immediately and take a small path to Jialing Lake. Hurry!”
The people behind hurriedly turned around and ran forward. Mu Shi also quickly turned the cart into a bay. The people from Nearhill Village hurriedly fled in the direction of Jialing Lake.
Madam Ma-Liu held Xiuhong tightly, her face pale. Since she was old and had been running for most of the night, It was inevitable that could not take the cold and exhaustion anymore.
Noticing her abnormality, Mu Yangling went forward, picked up the two luggage bags from the cart, and threw them into the forest at the side. Then, she picked up the two of them and placed them on the cart. She and her father pushed the cart and moved quickly.
“Ah Ling, I can’t sit…”
“Just sit.” Mu Yangling interrupted her and said, “You’re so light that I can easily carry you with one arm. I still need you to help take care of my mother later.”
Mu Yangling led her men all the way to Jialing Lake, while the people who had escaped from the county scattered in all directions as the Jin soldiers rode out to chase after them. At the fork in the road, they saw many footprints heading towards Jialing Lake. Ah Su, who was in the lead, shouted, “There are many footsteps here. Many people must have fled here. There are actually traces of carts and ox carts among them. I’ll lead a small team to chase after them.”
There were 21 people in the small team. Immediately, the 21 horses chased along the path in an orderly manner.
Mu Yangling had not thought of cleaning up the traces on the road at all. Firstly, It was unnecessary since there was a large group of refugees following behind. Secondly, there was no time.
Therefore, when Liu Yong, who had been left at the back to investigate, ran over and said that the sound of hooves was coming towards them, Mu Yangling didn’t have time to make any more arrangements. She could only get the people who survived last night to come out with swords and cover all the villagers as they left.
Mu Shi and Shu Wanniang only had time to take one look at their daughter. Before they could say a word, Mu Yangling ran away with her men.