Chapter 17
The phrase "fortune is often found amidst danger" is indeed true. After surviving this crisis, what awaited Frog Fort was not just wealth, but — extravagant wealth.
The stray horses in the forest represented mobile fortunes and Xu Shenji was so excited that he could feel his beard bristle.
Xu Ling'er, skilled in horse rearing, could naturally tame them. Emitting bursts of whistle sounds from her mouth, she began to gather the horses together. Qin Man, being a hunter, was also well-versed in horse handling. With the additional help from Xu Shenji, the warhorses lost in the forest were soon corralled.
A meticulous count revealed that excluding those gone astray in the woods or killed by the chaotic rocks, there were eighty-one horses corralled.
This number seemed surreal to Xu Shenji, a pauper. Qin Man, who had never seen such a spectacle, scratched his head and chuckled.
Xu Shenji, Xu Ling'er, Qin Man... Generally speaking, they were all country bumpkins. The only person with worldly exposure in Mountain Fortress was probably Lin Shaoyu. After all, he displayed might with his weapons, horse and blue full-body armor. However, even Lin Shaoyu could barely contain his excitement at the scene before him. It was akin to displaying eighty-one luxury cars in front of a second generation rich kid, an overwhelming allure indeed.
Of course, this fight had left behind valuable spoils other than horses. Armor and weapons, for instance, but the people of Frog Fort were too few to move them. They picked the best and let go of the rest, focusing first on securing the most valuable horses and bitterly letting go of the rest.
"Ling'er, let's herd the horses and head back to the Mountain Fortress!" Xu Shenji placed the last sword on the cart. By now, he had filled it to the brim, leaving no room for anything else.
Qin Man was holding two iron bows and had a quiver on his back, displaying a foolish smile.
"Old Xu, with all these horses, are you able to ride them all? Lend me one."
A mocking voice emanated from the forest. A group of people slowly emerged. Xu Shenji was startled. It was Gao Feihu and Gao Feibao from Flying Tiger Village.
"Oh! Second Chief, it's rare to see you up so early!"
"Cut the nonsense, old man!" spat Feibao disdainfully.
Gao Feihu snorted coldly, "Old Xu, your Frog Fort has struck it rich, and you're leaving us nothing but scraps. How about splitting up these horses?"
Xu Shenji felt a chill. His eyes darted around and he saw groups of people marching out from the surrounding forest. It wasn't only Flying Tiger Village—Little White Wolf of Apricot Blossom Ridge, Thousand-foot Snake from Dog Head Ridge, and Xiong Da and Xiong Er of Bald Mountain... More than half of the bandits from Mount Qingniu had arrived. Each brought a small group, ranging from about twenty to thirty people, outnumbering those from Frog Fort.
Now they were all eyeing the eighty-something horses with greedy interest.
"We captured these horses fair and square, why should we share with you guys?" retorted Xu Ling'er.
"Ling'er, shut up." Xu Shenji quickly silenced his daughter, then turned towards the crowd with a sycophantic grin: "Fellow leaders, we have all struck it rich today, haven't we?"
"Not as much as you did." Gao Feihu replied. "You folks from Frog Fort got the lion's share, we only got the scraps. Can your Fortress even swallow this fortune of horses?"
Today, every bandit who had managed to come had looted something- be it weapons or armor, enough to boost the combat capabilities of their men. But compared to what Frog Fort had secured, their loot paled in comparison. Forget the horses, even the cartload of weapons and armor that Xu Shenji had gathered was enough to make one salivate.
"I say we don't divide it up. Let's take what we can; I want that white horse." Gao Feibao shouted, taking the lead to charge towards the herd.
The bandits from other villages were eager to do the same, none wishing to be left behind.
Whiz!
An arrow shot from nowhere, striking the right eye of a horse. It neighed in distress, falling to the ground and bringing down Gao Feibao with it.
"Who did that?" Gao Feibao scrambled up, brandishing his knife and yelling.
Qin Man held a bow in his hands, drew out another arrow from his quiver, and placed it on the bowstring. The arrow traced the direction of his gaze across the bodies of the group of bandits.
Such outstanding archery!
Every bandit silently praised him, momentarily ceasing their rush toward the horses.
Gao Feihu sneered: "From the looks of it, Frog Fort intends to fight with us?"
Qin Man remained silent, his bow and arrow aimed at Gao Feihu, his face stern.
The truth was, neither Xu Ling'er nor Xu Shenji could fight. The only one able to do so in Frog Fort was Qin Man. However, he had just had an intense battle with a hundred cavalrymen, and did not have much strength left.
The two forces came to a stalemate. Gao Feihu tightened his grip on his knife, uncertain whether to take on Qin Man.
"Does Frog Fort intend to swallow all this and not share even a little with the other groups?" Gao Feihu gripped the handle of his knife tightly.
"What does Chief Gao suggest we should do for division?"
Just then, a languid voice echoed, drawing the attention of the bandits. They turned to see a skinny horse slowly emerging from the valley with a young man on its back, carrying a large axe on his shoulder.
"Big Chief!" the three from Xu's group chorused.
The bandits whispered to each other, all thinking this must be the son of the previous chief of Frog Fort, rumored to be an incompetent drunkard; however, his demeanor today contradicted this narrative.
Cheng Dalei, carrying his large axe, situated himself in the center of the surrounding crowd. As Gao Feihu carefully observed him, he realized Cheng remained surprisingly cool despite the situation.
"What about I make a suggestion?" Cheng Dalei swept his gaze around the crowd and said: "Why not kill you all and skip the division part?"
Swoosh!
His suggestion caused a flurry of commotion amongst the crowd.
"Kid, have you eaten a bear heart and a leopard's gall?"
"Even your father didn't dare say that to us when he was alive!"
"You only have a handful of people and you dare talk shit!"
"Enough talk. Kill him!"
Tempers flared, the crowd chattered loudly and broke into chaos.
"Everyone, quiet!" Cheng Dalei's roar overlapped with every other sound. "I am just asking, are there a thousand men here or not?"
Gao Feihu frowned, "Chief Cheng, why this question? Does it matter if there are a thousand or not?"
"If there aren't a thousand, I'm afraid it might not be enough for me to kill." Cheng Dalei said calmly. "If I've killed a thousand, then what's another thousand?"
Whoosh!
It was as silent as the autumn wind, not a sound was made among the crowd. Everyone looked puzzled, casting glances and seeking the explanation in each other's eyes.
Yeah, how could Frog Fort with merely four or five people, rout a thousand? Up till now, nobody had understood this.
Gao Feihu's eyes sparkled, lowering his voice, he asked, "Chief Cheng, please dissipate your anger and retract your fierce force. We are yet to understand how you accomplished what you did today?"
"Hahahaha!"
Cheng Dalei, with an axe on his shoulder, laughed loudly. His laughter gave the bandits goosebumps and they wondered what was making this madman laugh.
Suddenly, he stopped laughing and roared, "I have divine powers that can call down heavenly thunder!"