"Heh heh," Old Man Wang said, but his hands didn't stop. He ruthlessly chopped down a Tartar who had fallen from his horse.
"Don't say I'm an old man; even if our whole family, young and old, were tied up, we wouldn't be a match for that little girl."
Old Man Wang had a plan in mind. Look at the Tartars they were fighting; weren't they all pierced by crossbow bolts? Some even had two.
"That's right." Wang Dafu cut off a Tartar's leg with a cleaver, eliciting another howl from the Tartars.
"Dad, this is the first time we've fought so satisfyingly." Wang Dagui nimbly moved towards another Tartar.
Fu Xinci stood on the hillside, watching everything unfold on the main road. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my god, it's so bloody!" She needed to retrieve all her crossbow bolts quickly.
After finally felling the last Tartar, Old Man Wang and his two sons, exhausted, slumped to the ground, panting like bellows. They didn't care about the large splashes of blood on them; they were practically covered in it.
Mother Wang and her two daughters-in-law, being women, were terrified by the bloodstains on themselves. Trembling, they knelt on the ground, unable to move.
When Fu Xinci arrived, she took a discreet look. The Tartars weren't dead yet, muttering in languages she couldn't understand.
"Heh heh," it was better that they weren't dead. If captured, they might still be of great use.
As Fu Xinci checked them over, her small hands brushed over them one by one. After cries of agony, all the crossbow bolts returned to her hand.
"Sigh~" Fu Xinci looked at the bloody crossbow bolts with disdain. Some even had fragments of flesh on their tips.
"..." She needed to find a secluded place to clean these crossbow bolts.
Otherwise, if she put them directly into her space, she'd be disgusted to death.
When Captain Jin and his men ran over, they saw the ground covered in blood. Seven Tartars and seven horses lay in pools of blood.
The Wang family father and sons sat on the ground, weak and exhausted, almost turning into blood-soaked figures.
"Old Wang, how is your family?"
The villagers of Wujia Village ignored the Tartars, assuming they were dead. They rushed to Old Man Wang's family to inquire with concern.
Captain Jin, however, went first to the fallen Tartars and knelt to examine them.
"Where is Ci'er?" Fu Yu, holding a large club, spun around looking for his daughter.
"Yes, where has our Ci'er gone?" Grandpa Meng also searched around anxiously, having not seen his granddaughter.
The moment Old Man Wang saw these two father and son, he scrambled up and knelt properly, performing a deep kowtow to them.
The rest of the Wang family, following Old Man Wang's example, also knelt before the father and son.
"Oh my, nephew, you're going to break this old man's back!" Grandpa Meng said, personally stepping forward to help Old Man Wang up.
Old Man Wang, however, did not rise. He insisted on leading his family in a kowtow to Grandpa Meng.
"Nephew, what on earth are you doing? Get up quickly."
Seeing everyone's confused gazes, Old Man Wang finally said with tears in his eyes, "Uncle Meng, if Ci'er hadn't come to help just now, all six of us in our family would have perished here today."
When the two daughters-in-law of the Wang family thought of the lewd glances of the Tartars just now, a chill ran down their spines.
That fear was so deep it seemed to penetrate their flesh and blood, something they would never forget.
Seeing her two daughters-in-law's dazed expressions, Mother Wang knew that the day's events had terrified them. She gently patted their backs.
After a long while, the two daughters-in-law finally burst into tears.
"It was a blessing in disguise. We had all despaired, and then Ci'er appeared on the hillside as if she had fallen from the sky."
"Yes, those little arrows were shot so accurately. Ci'er even shot down the sabers from these scoundrels' hands."
When everyone heard the Wang family father and sons speak, even Fu Yu looked at them with disbelief, thinking they were talking about someone else.
Captain Jin, however, with shining eyes, examined the fatal wounds on the Tartars. He then cheerfully searched them for gold, silver, and weapons.
Finally, he ordered ropes to be brought and tied to their ankles.
"Where is Ci'er?" After listening to the Wang family father and sons, Fu Yu still insisted on asking about his daughter's whereabouts.
"She went that way," Wang Dafu pointed to the hillside where the little girl had appeared.
Meng Yutang, worried about his elder sister's safety, suggested he and Meng Yuluo go look for her.
Grandpa Meng did not feel safe letting the two leave alone and stopped them, saying, "You two shouldn't go. We don't know if there are any more Tartars around. You two should stay with everyone else."
"Yes, you two don't have the ability to protect yourselves, so don't run around."
Meng Yutang thought about their brothers' meager skills. Together, they couldn't even beat one Tartar. He no longer dared to entertain the idea.
It wasn't until Fu Xinci returned after cleaning her crossbow bolts, her small figure reappearing on the hillside, that Fu Yu hurried over. He pulled his daughter close and looked her over several times, only relaxing when he confirmed she was alright.
After his son had checked, Grandpa Meng checked her over twice more, which made Fu Xinci giggle.
She really wanted to tell her grandfather that if no one else were around, she could have dealt with these Tartars with a single burst.
With outsiders present, she could only use her crossbow.
Sigh, it had been a while since she last used them, and her accuracy had deteriorated. It seemed she couldn't slack off anymore; she had to keep practicing.
Captain Jin looked at the seven injured horses and said regretfully, "It would have been great if their legs weren't hurt."
Just as everyone was sighing with regret, Captain Jin brightened up. "It doesn't matter if they're injured; we can eat the horse meat."
Upon hearing Captain Jin's words, everyone's thoughts began to stir. The Tartar warhorses were large, each weighing over a thousand catties.
Seven horses meant a lot of meat!
As everyone was lost in their fantasies, Captain Jin spoke, "Let's pack up quickly and take these things back." Captain Jin feared that if a large group of Tartars were to arrive, they would suffer greatly.
"Aye," the crowd agreed. Several people worked together to drag a horse back.
"Uncle Jin, what about those Tartars?"
"Of course, they'll be thrown into the mountain ravine. That's their best destination."
After speaking, Captain Jin called over some of the younger, strong men from Wujia Village. Each of them dragged a Tartar towards the mountain ravine.
"Big sister?"
"Sister Xin Ci."
Fu Xinci knew what they wanted to ask and replied, "Probably thrown into the mountain ravine to feed the wolves."