The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 17 Hexi Fort Master
"Brother, you are so amazing! You actually killed nineteen Karluks."

"Nineteen! These are nineteen extremely vicious Karluks. How did you kill them all?"

The entire Hexi Fort was in shock and excitement, and Erhu, who was standing next to Li Xiao, was even more excited.

He hugged Li Xiao's back and started shouting.

Having grown up following Li Dalong, his admiration for Li Xiao reached an unprecedented level at this moment.

This is his brother.

Da Hu, standing beside him, was also excited. He stood on the other side of Li Xiao and said excitedly, "Er Hu and I only managed to kill two Karluks together. That's not even a fraction of what you did!"

"Brother, please teach us how to kill people in the future. We must kill more Qarluk bastards to avenge our father and second uncle." Erhu shouted that he wanted to learn how to kill from Li Xiao.

Li Xiao grabbed the back of the two men's heads with one hand each, rubbed their heads hard, and spoke to them to comfort them.

"This is both your first time on the battlefield, so you're inevitably unskilled. Killing two Qarlugs is already quite impressive."

"Follow me in archery and martial arts training, and you will become more and more powerful."

Upon hearing this, both of them looked longing, fantasizing that they could be as powerful as Li Xiao in the future, brave and skilled in fighting on the battlefield, and no one could match them.

But in fact, most of these 19 Qarlug people were killed by Li Xiao with arrows from a long distance.

Only six or seven people actually died at the hands of his sword.

And I don’t know if it’s because of the time travel, but Li Xiao feels that his strength has become even stronger.

With an eighty-pound horse bow like this, Li Xiao in his previous life could only shoot ten arrows at most before his strength began to decline.

But it is not the case now. Whenever I feel a little tired, I can feel a warm current sweeping through my body, and my strength instantly becomes stronger.

Li Xiao also had an intuition that he was far from reaching his physical limit.

Only fifteen years old.

As you get older, your body becomes stronger and your strength becomes more terrifying.

Li Xiao didn't know how much he would grow in the future.

Will he become a brave general like the King of Chu and Li Cunxiao who can resist any enemy?

"Dalong, good job, you didn't bring shame to your grandfather or your father."

"We Hexi men are really brave."

"A tiger father will have a dog son~"

"Fuck those Karluk bastards! We'll kill them the same way next time we see them."

While Li Xiao was talking to his two younger brothers, more and more eyes were focused on him.

Young and old men all gave Li Xiao a thumbs up, and countless admiring and praiseful eyes were focused on him.

The spirit of the northern border is heroic, and what people admire most are warriors.

There is no doubt that through this battle, Li Xiao has conquered these villagers with practical actions.

No one would think of Li Xiao as a teenager anymore.

His influence in the hearts of the people is rapidly approaching the level of his father.

People just say 'like father, like son'.

Li Xiao responded to the praise from people around him with a chuckle.

Without any pride or complacency, he knew very well that relying on the strength of one person alone would be of no use at all.

Even if he was invincible and brave, he could not destroy all the Karluks.

Ultimately, it depends on the power of the people.

In this world, Li Xiao's base is the villagers of Hexibao, the Han people in Jinzhou and even the entire northern border.

Next, Li Xiao also stepped forward to collect his spoils.

After killing nineteen enemies, they were given a total of twenty-five horses, twenty-three scimitars, eighteen longbows, four strings of copper coins, and other miscellaneous items such as bone fragments, daggers, leather armor, etc.

These things used to belong to the Karluk and Khitan people, but now they have become Li Xiao's property.

Although Li Xiao does not need so many weapons, in a place like the Northern Frontier where war is imminent at any time, no one would complain that there are too many weapons and horses, they would only feel that they are not enough.

In this place, weapons, war horses and food are the hard currency.

These things can be kept, and maybe Li Xiao will even use them to form a volunteer cavalry in the future.

After all the spoils were distributed, the old man walked up slowly, stood on the big rock, and glanced at everyone.

At this moment, all sounds stopped abruptly.

The old man's status and influence in Hexi Fort remain unquestionable.

"Everyone, the Qarlugs are coming, and our lives will be uneasy." As soon as the old man opened his mouth, he put enough psychological pressure on everyone.

The joy of victory before gradually faded away.

Everyone understood that this time they had only destroyed a small group of Qarlug cavalry, and more troops would surely arrive soon.

But then, the old man changed his tone and said in a low voice: "I am old."

"The burden of Hexi Fort is almost unbearable."

"It's time to choose a young person to take my place."

After the old man finished speaking, everyone fell silent. No one spoke, and everyone stared at the old man.

Many people have realized this before.

Because several years ago, the old man had stopped managing the affairs of Hexi Fort and handed everything over to Li Xiao's father, Li Dahai. "During the Battle of Beishan, Dahai was lost, Erjiang's life or death is unknown, and we don't know how many of the hundred men in Hexi Fort will be able to return."

The old man's low voice rang out in the open space at the entrance of the village. As usual, there was not much emotional fluctuation, but every word seemed to contain unquestionable power.

The old man's prestige in Hexi Fort remains unchanged.

"But for those of us who are left in Hexi Fort, we must avenge them and live well."

"Even if we old guys wanted to, we don't have the energy."

"We still have to rely on young people."

As he spoke, the old man gently waved to Li Xiao and said, "Dalong, come here."

At this moment, everyone's eyes fell on Li Xiao at the same time. They all knew what the old man meant, but no one refuted or questioned it.

Li Xiao also understood that this day would come sooner or later, but he did not expect it to come so soon.

After all, in his opinion, even if the old man wanted to pass on the throne, he should wait until the Qarluk crisis was over.

Although it was a bit sudden, Li Xiao did not back down.

He took a deep breath, then walked forward with a determined look on his face and came to the side of the old man.

When everyone in Hexi Fort stared at Li Xiao, his eyes also swept over everyone in Hexi Fort without any fear.

At this moment, still no one questioned it. Instead, some people nodded secretly, smiling and showing support.

Especially the dozen or so young and strong men who fought with Li Xiao the earliest today, they witnessed Li Xiao's strength throughout the whole process.

Although they are elders, they are also convinced by Li Xiao.

In addition, the position of the lord of Hexi Fort has been inherited by the Li family for many years.

Everyone accepted this rule.

So now that Li Xiao's father is no longer around, he, the eldest grandson, can naturally take over power from the old man.

"Dalong is my eldest grandson, and he is the one that everyone has watched grow up."

"Everyone saw Dalong's performance in today's battle."

"He's an accurate archer, a brave warrior, and he's pretty much mastered the art of deploying troops from me."

"It can be said that the disciple is better than the master."

"So, I plan to let Dalong take over from me as the Lord of Hexi Castle today."

"Everyone can speak frankly about what they think."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the people present began to whisper, but no one raised any objections.

Although in their opinion, Li Xiao is indeed a little young and his prestige is definitely not as good as that of the old man and Li Dahai.

However, Li Xiao's performance today still conquered them.

It also made them believe that Li Xiao was capable of being a good castle lord.

At least it won’t be too bad!

Sure enough, shortly after the old man finished speaking, Li Xiao’s third uncle, who was also the old man’s younger brother, stood up.

He said loudly: "Dalong is a good boy with undeniable abilities. I believe he will do better than his grandfather and his father."

As soon as Third Grandpa opened his mouth, Li Xiao knew that the two old men must have discussed it in advance.

Third Grandpa also has great prestige in the village. With him taking the lead, others will have no objections.

"Dalong is great."

"The lord of Hexi Fort should indeed be Dalong."

"I also believe that Dalong can do a good job."

……

Everyone nodded, and no one raised any questions.

In essence, this is the Li family's family affair.

The normal transfer of power in Hexi Fort would not be so troublesome, but because of the accident of Li Xiao's father, a vacuum in power inheritance appeared.

To become the Lord of Hexi Fort, Li Xiao not only needs the old man's consent, but also the support of everyone.

Li Xiao also knew that this was because his prestige had not reached that level yet!

But he also believed that as long as he was given time, he would convince everyone.

"My fellow villagers, my elders, thank you all for your trust in me."

"Now that I'm the lord of this castle, I will definitely do it well."

"It's not just about revenge for my father and the others, more importantly, I have to keep everyone alive." Li Xiao said to everyone in Hexi Fort.

……

At this moment, the fourth generation of Hexi Fort masters were born, Li Xiao and Li Dalong.

A fifteen-year-old boy.

From then on, the burden of the 252 households and 1,358 people in Hexi Fort fell entirely on Li Xiao.

Li Xiao’s primary goal was to keep these people alive during the subsequent rampage of the Karluk people.

(End of this chapter)