"Crackling... crackling... crackling..."
Fire brings light, fire brings warmth, but fire is also sin, also disaster. Fire can devour life, can devour everything in this world.
"Let's go!" Zhou Fugui, looking at the raging inferno at Qin Family Village, waved his hand.
In the darkness, the roaring flames were like a giant beast, reddening half the sky, devouring everything in this world.
A sudden upheaval at home, Zhou Fugui led people to seek revenge at Qin Family Village. The village master, Qin Tianming, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide. To his death, he did not reveal the whereabouts of Xiao Mei Zhou. However, if Qin Tianming wouldn't speak, others would. Some members of the Qin family, unable to endure the torture, revealed Zhou Xiaomei's location. She was indeed in the hands of the Duan father and son.
After learning the truth, Zhou Fugui massacred all twenty-odd members of the Qin family and reduced Qin Family Village to ashes with a single fire.
Zhou Fugui did not want to do this, but the thought of his elder brother, who had raised him, a man who had been honest and diligent his whole life, being brutally murdered and tortured for over two months before dying, tore his heart to shreds. His rage became uncontrollable.
The fury in Zhou Fugui's heart was comparable to the great fire at Qin Family Village, soaring to the heavens.
...
Duan Family Manor, Luming Village, You Province
"Kuixiong, is that man dead or not?" Duan Mu, the tribal leader of the Xianbei Duan tribe, asked a subordinate named Kuixiong.
Duan Mu and his son Duan Tianjuan had ordered an ambush on Zhou Fugui. Their subordinates had already reported back, claiming Zhou Fugui was killed. Yet, Duan Mu still felt a lingering unease, so he asked again today.
"My Lord, rest assured. That Han man was struck by over ten arrows, how could he possibly survive? Falling into the frozen river, how could he not die? Unless he is an immortal," Kuixiong hurriedly replied, setting down his wine bowl.
"Hmm, did you find the body?" Duan Mu, finally relieved, nodded and asked.
"The body? We found it, but it was already unrecognizable, impossible to identify," Kuixiong answered.
In truth, Kuixiong and his men had searched the riverbank with all their might and had not found Zhou Fugui's body. They had no choice but to find a floating corpse and present it to Duan Mu and his son to cover their tracks.
However, Kuixiong and his men genuinely believed Zhou Fugui was surely dead.
"Father, what are you afraid of?" Duan Tianjuan, the son of Duan Mu, said dismissively, swirling his wine cup. "He was just one man. Even if he miraculously survived, what can he do? Hmph, a mere Han, daring to defy the heavens?"
"What do you know?" Duan Mu shook his head. "Back then, this man was just a conscripted Han soldier, an insignificant grunt in the army. Yet, he repeatedly achieved merit and became a Battalion Commander, even a Brigadier General of the Great Yan. I also heard he was brave and skilled in battle, adept at leading troops. It seems I underestimated him. Tianjuan, why did you have to trouble his family? Alas, how will this be resolved?"
"Father, what do you mean?" Duan Tianjuan sneered. "No matter how brave he was, wasn't he still a dead man under the blade? Father, he's just a Han, and he's already dead. What are you still worried about?"
"Alas, Tianjuan, you still don't understand," Duan Mu sighed. "I heard that man was a favored general of the Left Virtuous King. He... he, he, he also had a close relationship with that person, possibly becoming the Left Virtuous King's prospective son-in-law. To die such a tragic death, if the King blames us..."
At this point, Duan Mu couldn't help but shiver.
Zhou Fugui and his family were Han. They could disregard them, but Murong Bole and Murong Huiying were not people they could afford to provoke. Especially Murong Huiying, who commanded tens of thousands of valiant warriors of the Fire Phoenix Camp. If she were angered, what good fortune could the Duan father and son expect?
"Father, don't worry," Duan Tianjuan said in a low voice. "That annoying person is dead. Who knows it was us? Moreover, they are fighting in the south and suffered a great defeat. Now is their moment of weakness. If we succeed in our grand plan, what need will we have to fear the Left Virtuous King, or that wench?"
The barbarians galloped across the Central Plains, establishing numerous new dynasties. Some of these new dynasties were extremely short-lived. Once weakened, others would seize the opportunity, and the succession of power was extremely frequent.
The banners on the city walls changed with the rulers, one after another making their appearance!
"The young master speaks wisely." Just then, a corpulent Yan general, his clothes disheveled, strode in and declared loudly.
"Commander Albugu..." Duan Tianjuan, seeing him, asked with a lecherous smile, "Are you full? How was that person?"
"Too tender, like a corpse, and she kept crying and moaning, wishing for death," Albugu said, sitting down and downing a large bowl of wine with a laugh. "But thinking it was that man's sister, this general felt immense satisfaction."
Albugu was incompetent in leading troops. When war broke out, he only knew how to flee, bully civilians, and harm his allies. Yet, he eventually obtained the rank of Right Commander.
Albugu harbored deep hatred for Zhou Fugui. From the day Zhou Fugui joined the army, Albugu had intensely disliked and resented him. After that, Albugu had been searching for an opportunity to kill Zhou Fugui, but Zhou Fugui's rank only grew, and he repeatedly achieved merit, earning the favor of Murong Bole and Murong Tengge. He was also involved with Princess Ziyue, and Zhou Fugui might even become Murong Bole's son-in-law. This filled Albugu with jealousy and hatred, yet he was powerless against Zhou Fugui.
Now that Zhou Fugui had been stripped of his command by the Yan court and had returned home alone, it was the perfect opportunity to strike. Therefore, Albugu had sent his men to join forces with the Duan father and son's subordinates to ambush Zhou Fugui.
"Hahahahaha!" Everyone present burst into laughter.
"Would you like to have a taste, my Lord?" Albugu then asked Duan Mu.
"Father has already tasted," Duan Tianjuan replied with a lecherous grin.
"You are too shameless!" Qin Yulian, the daughter of Qin Tianming, who was serving nearby, could no longer bear to listen and spoke out in anger. "What sin did his sister commit? To be so defiled by you, is this something a human would do? It's worse than beasts."
"Slap!" Duan Tianjuan, enraged, stood up and slapped Qin Yulian across her beautiful face. Pointing at the fallen Qin Yulian, he cursed, "Bitch slave, what right do you have to speak here? You slut, still thinking of that Han man? If you dare to speak another word, this young master will throw you into the military camp."
The Duan father and son had their own household guards, and quite a few of them, but they were not here. At this moment, there were only a little over a hundred guards in the manor.
"Duan Tianjuan!" Qin Yulian, lying on the ground, looked at Duan Tianjuan and said angrily, "To achieve great things, how can one commit such a beastly act?"
"You slut, what do you know about great things?" Duan Tianjuan sneered. "It's not for the sake of the agreement I have with your dead father, or I would throw you into the military camp right now and let you suffer the torment of a thousand men riding and ten thousand pressing upon you."
"Young master..." Qin Yulian sighed. "Why do you hate him so much? How did he provoke you?"
Qin Yulian was originally betrothed to Zhou Fugui, but under duress, she had become Duan Tianjuan's woman. And Duan Tianjuan, after snatching someone else's wife, still refused to let go, persecuting him and his family. Qin Yulian found this utterly incomprehensible.
"He opposed this young master, that is his crime. He became an official, that is his crime. He was involved with that slut, that is even more of his crime. He, a lowly Han slave, actually became an official of the Great Yan, even wanting to become the Left Virtuous King's son-in-law, wanting to climb to the imperial court. This is a crime deserving death!" Duan Tianjuan replied, consumed by jealousy and hatred.
"My Lord, young master, he's dead, he's dead."
Just then, a Duan family soldier rushed into the courtyard in a panic and reported.
"You impudent servant, what do you mean dead or alive?" Duan Mu, seeing this, asked with a very displeased expression.
"Guarding... Zhou family's... the woman's... her two brothers were killed, their heads were... were... severed. The Zhou family woman was also rescued," the soldier stammered, in a state of panic.
"What? He's here! He's come for revenge!"
Albugu, holding a bowl of wine and leisurely about to savor it, heard this and immediately stood up in fright, his face turning pale as he cried out. The porcelain bowl full of wine fell to the ground with a "smash," shattering into pieces. Shards of porcelain and wine splashed all over Albugu.
Albugu was both jealous and hateful of Zhou Fugui, but he was also afraid of him, extremely afraid.
Others might not understand Zhou Fugui, but Albugu did. Not only was he skilled in leading troops, but he was also a fierce general in the army. Leading three thousand miscellaneous Han troops, he was the first to enter the city of Guangling Commandery, truly formidable. In the Battle of Niuzhu, Zhou Fugui's unit was the first to counterattack the Xia army. In the Battle of Luyi, Zhou Fugui's three thousand White Tiger Battalion, after suffering half their casualties, still led over a thousand men to fiercely engage tens of thousands of Xia troops. The crucial point was that after the fierce battle, they were able to retreat unscathed. This feat had become renowned throughout the land.
What terrified Albugu the most was that Zhou Fugui had shot and killed Pu Yijian, the foremost archer of the Great Yan, on the Yan palace training grounds, earning him the reputation of "Yan's Yang Youji."
Such a formidable and fierce general, how could Albugu not be afraid? He was terrified to the bone.
At this moment, how could Albugu and the others not understand that they had ambushed Zhou Fugui, but he had not died, and had now come to seek revenge?
"Do not panic!" Duan Tianjuan, at this moment, appeared relatively calm. He glanced dismissively at Albugu and said, "It's just that two people are dead, and that little slut was rescued. Perhaps it wasn't that Han slave who did it, perhaps it was his subordinates. I suspect they rescued her and fled. Hmph, you can run from the monk, but not from the temple! Kuixiong, take some men and go see. Catch them and I will have them quartered!"
"Yes, sir!" Kuixiong loudly responded, then led a few men to the front of the gate and opened the courtyard door.
With a "噗" sound, as soon as Kuixiong opened the courtyard door, an arrow flew in and pierced the orbit of Kuixiong's eye. Its force was immense, the arrowhead entering from the left eye and exiting from the back of the skull, scattering blood and brain matter.
"Ah!" Kuixiong cried out in agony and fell to the ground. After twitching his body a few times, he died instantly.