Then, a burst of firelight was seen in the distance, followed by shouts and neighing horses, quickly descending into chaos.
Zhang Sheng and Qi He were also curious. What had that little girl (Sister Fu) done?
They exchanged glances, seeing the same desire to find out in each other’s eyes.
However, before they could even get up from the ground, they heard another deafening boom: Boom.
Terrified and despairing screams mixed with panicked confusion. Both men saw startled horses galloping past them not far away.
The Tatars on the horses shouted loudly, likely hoping for help.
But the loud noises continued to erupt in different locations, one after another. Many were struggling to save themselves, and even more were bewildered, having no time to care about others.
Watching the panicked horses stampede around them,
Zhang Sheng and Qi He, terrified, remained on the ground, not daring to move.
For no other reason than if they were trampled by a startled horse, the best outcome would be broken bones, and the worst could be losing their lives.
They cherished their lives and wisely chose to stay put on the ground.
The booming sounds seemed to occur rhythmically a few more times, and the wails of anguish spread to a wider area.
They could hear the fleeing hooves of frightened horses scattering in all directions. Lying on the ground, they dared not move even more.
In the woods, a moment ago, Qi Yuanshan had led the soldiers of the garrison, ready to fight the Tatars with their lives.
There were only fifty-six of them in total, with five wounded. Only fifty-one were able to fight.
They had no retreat. They knew the outcome of fifty-one against three to four hundred. Yet, they chose this path: if they could take one down, it was worth it; if they could take two, they were in profit.
Qi Yuanshan: "Heh heh, I must have killed thirty, if not twenty, Tatars in the past few days. No matter how you count it, it's a profit."
"Commander, you said too little."
"I think the Commander understated it."
"Haha, it doesn't matter how many. As long as we can chop off Tatar heads."
"That's right. At worst, in eighteen years, I'll be a good man again." The rough voice conveyed a tragic determination.
"Yes, at worst, in eighteen years, I'll be a good man again. Let's fight them!"
Everyone stood up, picked up their weapons, determined to fight the Tatars to the death.
Suddenly, a loud boom startled everyone.
Qi Yuanshan, regaining his senses, immediately shouted: "Everyone, get down!"
There was no reply. Dozens of people quickly crouched down, their eyes all looking towards the outside of the woods.
"Boom." Another deafening sound. Hearing the devils' wails from outside the woods, their hearts filled with unspeakable joy.
If not for the unclear situation outside, they would have rushed out immediately to slaughter those Tatars mercilessly.
Although Xiaobai was afraid of death, it became energetic seeing humans wreaking havoc on the Tatars.
It wanted to atone for its mistakes. Otherwise, how could it have the face to follow humans in the future? It had to go report the news first.
When Fu Xinci teleported away again to a new location, preparing to throw another grenade, Xiaobai seized the opportunity, jumped out of the human's pocket, and bolted into the woods, afraid of being shot by the careless Tatars if it ran too slowly.
It didn't consider that the Tatars now had no time to hunt them, and were too busy fleeing.
Oh my heavens, grandma! Xiaobai finally darted into the woods.
"Squeak squeak?" Where are they? Didn't the humans say the boy's father was in the woods? Did it run to the wrong place?
Just as Xiaobai was about to scratch its head, it heard someone calling its name: "Xiaobai? Xiaobai."
"It's Xiaobai."
Almost everyone in the garrison recognized Xiaobai. Seeing Xiaobai looking at them, covered in dirt, they all grinned widely.
"It's so good to see Xiaobai." Commander Zheng didn't expect to see his sister-in-law's pet at such a time.
Xiaobai also didn't expect to be so popular. Fortunately, pride didn't cloud its judgment. Xiaobai stared at the dirty faces and finally managed to identify the boy's father. It pushed through the crowd and rushed to Qi Yuanshan.
"Squeak squeak."
"Xiaobai, what are you doing?"
"Squeak squeak." Xiaobai struggled to lift its short little legs.
Qi Yuanshan immediately saw the tightly bound paper scroll tied to Xiaobai's hind leg. As he clumsily untied it and opened it, his vision blurred slightly.
"Commander, what did Xinci say?" asked Wang Dabao, whose face was black except for his gleaming white teeth.
Qi Yuanshan did not answer his question. He cupped Xiaobai in his hands, his gaze fixed on Xiaobai, and asked, "Xiaobai, were those terrifying sounds outside made by Xinci?"
"Squeak squeak." Xiaobai nodded vigorously, extended its chubby little paws, pointed outside the woods with a fearful expression, and continued, "Squeak squeak."
It meant that from now on, they couldn't provoke that human. If she got upset, she would throw things indiscriminately. Look at how the Tatars were ravaged, looking like useless wretches, running like scared dogs.
Qi Yuanshan knew that the loud noises were made by Xinci. He didn't care about anything else.
"Brothers, charge out with me and slaughter those damned bastards!"
"Yes!" The soldiers of the garrison had been waiting for the Commander's command. As Qi Yuanshan finished speaking, everyone picked up their weapons and charged out together, leaving behind only the five injured soldiers, their faces flushed with anxiety.
Xiaobai looked back foolishly. Should it stay here? Of course not, it wanted to help too.
"Squeak~." Chong! (Charge!)
Don't blame Xiaobai for its tongue, it couldn't clearly distinguish between the words "chong" (charge) and "tong" (pass through).
Nine of the ten grenades were thrown, leaving one behind, as a fallback in case anything else happened.
Looking at the earth pits blasted on the ground, Fu Xinci was incredibly grateful that it was winter. Although it wasn't the coldest part of winter yet, the ground was frozen, so the craters were not very large.
This also meant they wouldn't scare their own people too much.
However, seeing the scattered, dismembered bodies of Tatars lying around the edges of the craters was an eyesore.
Frankly speaking, she had never killed a living person in the apocalypse, only humanoid monsters.
But in the past few days, especially today, she didn't know how many Tatars she had killed with grenades, and even more were likely injured.
But she had no regrets. For the Tatars who invaded Liaodong, their ultimate fate was to lie exposed in the wilderness.
Fu Xinci hid behind some bushes, thinking about how to inform Uncle Qi and the others.
Then she saw figures moving in the woods opposite. In a short while, she saw Uncle Qi leading the way out of the woods.
Fu Xinci could recognize Qi Yuanshan at first glance, thanks to that great saber.
Otherwise, judging by the way the soldiers of the garrison were dressed, if you only looked at their faces, you wouldn't be able to tell who was who without a careful look.