Two months later, Haixi County, Donghai Prefecture.
Longwan Village was a small village by the sea. To its north lay the ocean, and to its other three sides were neighboring villages. A small road wound through the village, leading to Huian County.
The villagers of Longwan Village were either fishermen or farmers. Whether they fished or tilled the land, they toiled from sunrise to sunset, drinking from wells, eating what they cultivated, or living off the catch of the sea and the hunt.
At dusk in Longwan Village, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, villagers led their plows, carried their hoes, or hauled their fishing nets back to the village, preparing to eat and rest well for the night, only to rise and labor again early the next morning.
The last rays of the sun pierced through the trees surrounding Longwan Village, casting dappled shadows on the ground. A night mist began to rise, shrouding the entire village in a hazy, ethereal veil, creating a scene of profound tranquility.
"Morning mist brings clear skies, evening mist brings clouds." With the arrival of the evening mist, visibility in Longwan Village deteriorated. Consequently, no one in the village noticed the arrival of over a dozen wooden boats that quietly glided towards the shore.
After the wooden boats silently docked, hundreds of people disembarked.
These hundreds wore a motley assortment of clothing; some garments were clearly not of Han make. They brandished various weapons: steel sabers, axes, wooden clubs, scythes, hook-spears, and more. The array was chaotic and diverse, with the only commonality being their ferocious visages and bloodthirsty eyes.
"You, take twenty men and charge from the right. You, take twenty from the left. I will lead the rest through the center," ordered a leader clad in black, his voice low. He was a Zhen'ao tribesman.
This black-clad Zhen'ao tribesman was powerfully built and tall, with bulging muscles in his arms. He was also a one-eyed man, and as he brandished his saber and gave orders, a ruthless, savage glint flickered in his solitary eye.
Thus, the Zhen'ao pirates divided into three groups, using the thick fog as cover, and stealthily approached Longwan Village.
"Kill!"
"Charge in and slaughter them!"
"Haven't eaten meat in ages."
"I won't just eat meat, I'll have women too..."
"Kill! It's like New Year's!"
Upon reaching Longwan Village, the Zhen'ao pirates surged in with wild shouts, charging towards the village.
"Clang... clang... clang..."
"Pirates are here!"
"Quick, grab your weapons, fight them!"
"Argh..."
The Zhen'ao people called the sea their home and their livelihood, engaging in murder and plunder upon its waters, while also conducting some overseas trade. After the defeat and flight of King Murong Hong of the Eastern Sea, the Zhen'ao people had been relatively quiet for a period, but today they had resumed their raids along the coast.
In this era of turmoil, plagued by natural and man-made disasters, the people of Donghai Prefecture, already living in hardship, were now subjected to the harassment and plunder of the Zhen'ao pirates, a burden that felt like a frost upon the snow.
Moments later, thick smoke billowed from within the village. The screams of women, the cries of children, the sounds of blades entering flesh, and the death throes of the dying echoed to the heavens. Pirates, roaring with laughter, stormed into the village houses, plundering and slaughtering wantonly.
A woman from Longwan Village, her clothes disheveled and weeping loudly, burst from her home only to be pinned to the ground by several pirates, who tore at her garments and defiled her with abandon. The man of the house roared in defiance, desperately fighting the pirates, but was impaled by several long spears through his belly, his insides spilling out, blood flowing everywhere.
As the pirates rampaged through the village, they looted and set fires everywhere. In a short time, Longwan Village was engulfed in roaring flames, the fire reaching the sky, visible from ten miles away.
Amidst the inferno, houses collapsed with loud crashes, and countless figures ran to and fro, the din of shouts and screams filling the air.
Disaster had struck, and the peaceful Longwan Village was instantly plunged into chaos.
"Young Master, what do we do?"
At this moment, over twenty riders arrived outside the village. One of them asked a young man at the fore.
The young man was imposing and noble in appearance, his eyes like two cold stars. His broad chest gave him a majestic bearing.
"Are they pirates?" the young man, mounted on his horse, leaned forward, straining to see into Longwan Village.
"No doubt about it, it must be pirates raiding Longwan Village," replied one of his subordinates. "We are only twenty-five strong, Young Master... perhaps we should hurry along?"
"My father always said..." the young man said slowly, drawing a weapon. "To aid the endangered and help the distressed is the aspiration of a gentleman!! The pirates are ravaging Longwan Village and preying on the people. How can we stand idly by?"
"Indeed!!" the twenty-five subordinates of the young man responded in unison.
"But their numbers are great, and we are only twenty-five. What can we do?" asked one subordinate.
"Though their numbers are great, they are merely a mob," the young man scoffed. "Go and chop more branches, tie them to your horses' tails. I will employ a stratagem to deceive them."
"We are willing to follow the Young Master into battle!" the subordinates shouted in unison. They then dismounted, drew their sabers, cut down some branches nearby, tied them to their horse tails, remounted, and lined up beside the young man.
The twenty-five riders formed a line. A subordinate bowed on his horse and asked the young man, "The pirates are mixed with the villagers. How do we distinguish them?"
The pirates' attire was not military uniform, but rather ordinary civilian clothes. Mixed together, they were indeed difficult to discern.
"Those with fierce faces are the thieves, those wielding weapons are the bandits!" the young man declared loudly, then slowly raised his weapon.
The young man's weapon was a "Lang Tou Tun Jin Qiang" (Wolf Head Swallowing Gold Spear). The shaft was forged from fine iron, measuring one zhang, one chi, and three cun in length. The spearhead was shaped like a black-gold wolf's head, its maw open to swallow the blade, hence its name.
"Kill!" The young man, holding the Wolf Head Swallowing Gold Spear in one hand, pointed forward, let out a great shout, spurred his horse, and charged towards Longwan Village.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" His over twenty subordinates followed, their horses galloping, sabers flashing, as they charged towards Longwan Village.
The twenty-five riders descended from a hillside. The twenty-five horses, in groups of five, kicked up twenty-five columns of dust. The dust rose several zhang high. In the evening mist, viewed from afar, it appeared as if a thousand cavalry were charging, creating a formidable and astonishing spectacle.
"Bandits, surrender quickly!"
"Drop your weapons, and your lives will be spared!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
As the twenty-five riders galloped forward, they shouted loudly, striking fear into the hearts of the pirates in the village. Some of the bandits were already contemplating retreat, searching for escape routes.
Why had the Yan army reacted so swiftly this time? Many among the bandits secretly wondered if the Yan army had arrived so soon after they had begun their raid.
In the past, when the Yan army reinforcements arrived, the bandits had already fled, leaving behind only devastation. The Yan army was mockingly referred to by the pirates as the "Street Sweeping Army." Some even claimed that the Xianbei Yan army would then proceed to plunder the populace, becoming even more ferocious than the pirates.
The pirates assumed they were facing the Yan army.
"Meet them! Meet them! Twenty-five men per unit, disperse, disperse! Be careful of the horses trampling," the one-eyed Zhen'ao pirate leader, a seasoned bandit with vast experience, recognized that the "Yan army" was merely a feint and that there were few of them. He roared desperately.
However, although the one-eyed Zhen'ao leader saw through the "Yan army's" ruse, the pirates were not a well-trained military force but a disorganized rabble. As they heard the one-eyed leader's desperate shouts, and before they could even form ranks, still milling about in a confused huddle, the young man and his twenty-five men charged in.
With a deafening "Bang!" the twenty-five warhorses crashed into the disoriented pirates almost simultaneously. Over ten men were sent flying, emitting screams. Some landed on the ground with broken bones, while others were flung into the burning houses, their cries tearing at the soul. Some fell silently, having died before they even hit the ground.
"Neigh!" The warhorse beneath the young man, startled, whinnied and reared on its hind legs.
The young man gripped the spear shaft tightly and plunged it into the chest of a pirate to his left. The distinct sound of cracking bone was heard, followed by the visceral gurgling of internal organs spilling out. On the tip of the Wolf Head Swallowing Gold Spear, the still-writhing heart of the pirate was even impaled.
The pirate died instantly, yet his body continued to twist.
The young man roared, using his core strength to lift the writhing corpse and hurl it at a pirate to his right.
The pirate to his right, startled, had no time to dodge and hastily raised what appeared to be a pot lid or a wooden shield to protect himself.
With a thunderous "Crack!" the young man, along with the corpse, slammed into the pirate, reducing him and his makeshift shield into a bloody, pulpy mass.
At this moment, the front hooves of the young man's warhorse, which had been raised, landed, crushing a pirate beneath them.
In a flash, the young man had killed three pirates, leaving the remaining bandits utterly terrified.
The twenty-five subordinates of the young man were all valiant warriors. Witnessing the young man's prowess, their morale soared. With furious roars, they hacked and thrust, consecutively killing over twenty more pirates.
"Kill them all!" The one-eyed Zhen'ao leader, witnessing his brothers being slaughtered by the "Yan army," could no longer restrain himself. Wielding his weapon, he charged towards the young man.
"Kill them all!" The other pirates roared in unison and charged forward.
The young man and his men were fierce, and the Zhen'ao pirates were equally ferocious. Although the young man and his men had gained the initial advantage, killing dozens of pirates, the remaining ones still roared and engaged them in a desperate struggle.
Both sides were fierce, and in their desperate combat, for a time, victory was undecided. Blood flowed like rivers, and the land was strewn with cries of misery and the bodies of the fallen.
"Wuuu..."
Just then, a low horn call echoed from the distant hills. Following it, a large black flag appeared before the eyes of both battling factions. Then, a warhorse appeared on the hill, followed by a second, a third, and a fourth, until countless cavalry clad in black armor emerged onto the ridge.
The true Yan army, the Snow Bear Army, had arrived!