Top-notch Little Horseman

"This... I'm afraid it's not that simple." Liang Biao shook his head and said, "No matter what, they are government soldiers. It's already good enough that they didn't send us back to the army."

"If we really stay here, we might endanger Brother Ye Chen..."

Liang Biao shook his head at his brothers, dissuading them from their idea.

"Brother Biao is right. Given our current status, we can't afford to harm Brother Ye Chen," Liang Zhaowu nodded gently.

Liang Biao nodded, looking at his brothers and saying, "Listen up, all of you! We've helped him repair the wall and courtyard to repay the favor, and now we need to leave this place as soon as possible. Nobody can have any other ideas!"

"Alright, it's late, that's all for now. Everyone go to sleep! Get some rest so you can work well tomorrow!"

......

As Ye Chen and his group arrived at Huangchen Pass, Zhao Shaojun, carrying the five hundred taels of silver given to him by Liang Kun, headed north along the official road.

Beiliang County is a lawless place, a melting pot of all sorts of people.

Zhao Shaojun was very familiar with this place. When he arrived, it was already dark.

Instead of entering through the main gate, he squeezed through a gap in the city wall, walked for a while in the dark alley, and finally stopped in front of a mottled wooden door.

He took a deep breath, reached out and gently knocked on the door, knocking five times—three long and two short.

Soon, the door opened a crack, and an eye peered out before the door was opened.

A fat man in his forties with a scar on his face stepped out.

He was a local tyrant in Beiliang County. On the surface, he sold wild game, but in reality, he was involved in all sorts of things.

The fact that he could still grow so plump at the end of the Qin Dynasty shows how well he lived.

"Oh, isn't this Official Zhao... What brings you all this way?"

Zhao Shaojun, covering his nose, went straight into the house, took out one hundred taels of silver from his pocket, put it on the table, and shouted, "Brother Wolf, we have work to do!"

Inside sat a muscular man with a scar near his eye, which made his cold, wolf-like eyes appear even more terrifying.

"What job?" His voice was somewhat cold, showing no regard for Zhao Shaojun.

"Kill someone!" Zhao Shaojun said in a deep voice.

"Kill whom?" Wolf Brother asked, raising his eyes slightly.

"One of my stable boys, a horse herder in his early twenties!" Zhao Shaojun said bluntly, "One hundred taels of silver for his head—a very good deal!"

"Where?" Wolf Brother frowned slightly, his voice tinged with doubt.

In these famine years, human life is cheap; one hundred taels of silver is enough to buy many lives.

"Desolate Pass!"

Upon hearing the place name, Wolf Brother suddenly raised his eyes and stared intently at Zhao Shaojun.

"Huangchen Pass? The pass that was breached by the Northern Barbarians, why would I need to do anything to get him to his death there?" Wolf Brother's doubts deepened.

"He was thrown there by my master. If you can kill him, I'll give you a hundred taels of silver. Will you do it or not?" Zhao Shaojun looked at Wolf Brother and asked calmly.

"This is a good place to get started, I'll take this job!" Wolf Brother reached out and grabbed the silver on the table.

"There are ten of them, no, eleven. If you can kill all ten men, I can give you another hundred taels of silver!" Zhao Shaojun said, staring at Wolf Brother with a serious expression.

"The man has to get rid of it, but the woman can't be touched."

"Ten horsemen and one woman?" Wolf Brother's eyes darted around as he asked.

"Ten lives, one survivor, a flat price of two hundred and fifty taels!"

"Deal!" Zhao Shaojun immediately replied.

He was secretly delighted. He had made half a silver tael for free from this deal, which was two hundred and fifty taels of silver!

This large sum of money was a huge amount for him!

Liang Kun gave him five hundred taels of silver, and just like that, through his hands, he directly swallowed two hundred and fifty taels of silver.

No, there's also fifty taels of hush money; maybe we can save that too.

Wolf Brother looked up at Zhao Shaojun and asked, "When are we going to make our move?"

"We'll arrive at Huangchen Pass by tomorrow evening," Zhao Shaojun said, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Make your move within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before we arrive. Kill the person and leave immediately. Don't linger."

Wolf nodded and said, "Understood. With the money in place, I guarantee your satisfaction with the service."

"Pay a deposit of 150 taels, and remember to pay the remaining 100 taels later."

The deal was done, and Zhao Shaojun didn't linger there; he turned and left.

Wolf Brother received the money and immediately got to work, calling over his four brothers.

The shortest one, less than 1.6 meters tall, is the fifth oldest among them, the youngest, just turned eighteen this year, and his name is Zuo Lun.

He was incredibly skilled with a bow and arrow, and he used not just one bow and arrow, but three.

The fourth brother was a tall, thin man, as skinny as a rib. He was skilled with a small knife and was a treacherous assassin.

The third brother was a short, stout man, barely 1.6 meters tall, but weighing over 150 kilograms, named Hong Dadao.

He was thirty-five years old, with a neck thicker than his head, and wielded a large cleaver.

The second brother was a pale-faced scholar, whose complexion suggested he was sickly, but his martial arts skills were second only to the eldest brother, Wolf, among the five of them.

All four men were dressed in patched and tattered clothes, but their eyes were incredibly fierce, clearly indicating that they were criminals who had seen blood and were desperate criminals.

Wolf Brother explained the situation and then told them to go and prepare.

……

After leaving the border army camp, Yunhe Bridge immediately returned to his own camp to check on the condition of his warhorses.

His five hundred warhorses absolutely could not be harmed.

Three days passed quickly, and those useless military doctors were completely helpless.

Only three days have passed, and more than a dozen warhorses have already died!

Among them were five warhorses, top-quality warhorses that had just been purchased from beyond the Great Wall last year, each worth thirty taels of silver.

Five horses died in one go, which cost 150 taels of silver. How could he not feel heartbroken?

Of course, what he was heartbroken about wasn't the money; he never cared about money. What he was heartbroken about was his warhorse.

That's a fine steed, hard to buy even with money, a top-class warhorse.

It was because he had these five hundred warhorses and a cavalry unit that he had the authority to speak in the border army camp.

He sat in the camp, pondered for a long while, and finally gritted his teeth, whispering to the guards at the door, "Go, go and invite Commander Chen over. Quickly, go immediately!"

The guards obeyed and left, quickly bringing Chen Baiquan in.

Cao Bucun deliberately kept him in the border army camp, so he never left.

He was led into the camp by his personal guards, and he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on, but he remained expressionless.

This was Cao Bucun's intention in keeping him in the camp—to solve the problem of the sick horse.

If the main camp has no other choice, they will definitely come to invite him to introduce Ye Chen. Their Right Guard will also come into the sights of the border army camp, and he might be able to advance further.

Chen Baiquan straightened his armor and then clasped his hands in a fist salute towards Yunhe Bridge.

"General Yun summoned me here. What are your orders?"