Border Soldier: My fiancée snatched credit and broke off the engagement, so I promptly became a marq

The gray car was less than two miles from Black Stone Fortress.

Further west lies the scree beach.

Beyond the gravel beach, there are three forks in the road: one leads to the Northern Barbarian camp, one to the trade route outside White Wolf Pass, and the last one leads into the Black Pine Forest. Once Liang Qi enters the forest, it will be difficult to capture him.

Lu Shuangyi glanced at Chen Mu's newly stitched shoulder.

"I'll go."

Chen Mu shook his head.

"You guard the breach."

"With your injuries like this, how can you catch up?"

"The horse is good."

Where are they?

Chen Mu grinned.

"He didn't die either."

Lin Qinghe, who was putting away her needlework, tightened her grip upon hearing this.

Chen Mu added a sentence before she could get angry.

"I don't charge into battle, I only chase the vehicles."

Lu Shuangyi sneered.

"Even the northern barbarians won't believe what you say now."

She took off her dagger and tossed it to Chen Mu.

"One hour."

"If you don't come back by then, I'll bring people to pick you up."

Chen Mu caught the knife.

The hilt of the knife still carried the warmth of her palm.

Lin Qinghe tightened the last loop of cloth.

"The anesthesia wore off after half an hour."

She paused for a moment.

"Don't leave the knife inside your body."

Chen Mu understood.

She didn't try to stop him from going.

She was just teaching him how to come back alive.

"it is good."

Anato brought over a black horse.

"The path in the middle of the gravel beach is a fake path; if you walk a mile, you'll end up in a muddy ditch."

Chen Mu looked at her.

"Does Liang Qi know?"

"He would know if he had traveled with the people from the north."

"Then lead the way."

Yan Heng frowned: "She's a spy from the Northern Barbarians."

Anado shook the rope on her wrist.

"Tie your hands and lead the way. Don't blame me if you fall and die."

Chen Mu drew his short knife and cut the rope around her wrist.

Yan Heng's expression changed.

Anato was also stunned.

Chen Mu tossed her a scimitar he had seized.

If you run, I will chase you.

"What if we catch up?"

"Break their legs and carry them back."

Anato smiled.

"Chen Mu, you're really brutal to women."

"Enough talk, get on the horse."

Thirty-two riders charged out of the west gate.

Zhou Tie wanted to go, but Chen Mu left him to guard the city. The soldiers he brought with him were all border troops who had just been assigned to the Han family's horses, half of whom had never ridden a fast horse before. Chen Mu did not let them form a long line, but instead divided them into three groups and spread them out along the snow.

Ma Liu also came.

He was a poor rider, but quick at recognizing cart tracks, and he lay on his horse's back watching the snow the whole way.

"The gray car should go to the right!"

"There are still more than twenty riders protecting them!"

Liang Qi was clearly prepared.

The guards behind the gray cart were half dressed in northern barbarian fur coats and half in old Han army armor. Seeing the pursuers approaching, they turned and fired.

The first volley of arrows came rushing in from the wind and snow.

Chen Mu lowered his body, and the arrow grazed his cotton hat. Behind him, a soldier was hit by the arrow and fell from his horse, his foot still caught in the stirrup, and was dragged a dozen paces away.

Ma Liu was in a hurry to be rescued.

Chen Mu shouted, "Third team, rescue the people! First two teams, follow me!"

He did not chase the car directly behind.

Anato led ten riders northward, disappearing into a shallow, snow-covered ditch. Chen Mu led another group southward, deliberately making his horses' hooves pound heavily and erratically.

Hearing the loud noise from the south, Liang Qi's guards turned all their bows around.

The next moment, Anato burst out of the shallow ditch on the north side.

Her scimitar first severed the reins of one rider, then slit the throat of the second. The black horse squeezed between the two enemy riders, their shoulders colliding, blood and snow flying together.

"Now!"

Chen Mu led the cavalry on the south side to suddenly accelerate.

The two teams were like an open pair of iron pincers, clamping down between the guards.

The border soldiers, whose horsemanship was inferior to their opponents', did not engage in a sword fight on horseback. Instead, they obeyed Chen Mu's orders and threw out the lassoes first.

The rope was looped around the horse's neck and the rider's shoulder, and the two riders behind pulled outwards simultaneously. The enemy rider had just raised his sword when he was dragged off his horse, his head slamming into the gravel, and he fell silent on the spot.

The first layer of protection was torn open.

A rider wearing an iron mask and nose shield suddenly emerged from the side and rear of the gray vehicle.

Instead of a scimitar, he held a short chain with barbs. The chain swung along the horse's neck, hooked onto Chen Mu's left arm, and was pulled sharply outward.

Chen Mu's body was half off the saddle.

The rider seized the opportunity to close in, and with his other hand pulled out a sharp awl, thrusting it straight into Chen Mu's ribs.

Chen Mu did not struggle against the iron chain.

He simply loosened his grip on the stirrups and lunged forward, taking advantage of the other man's momentum. Both men tumbled off their horses, rolling three times in the snow. The sharp spikes grazed the edge of their heavy armor, and Chen Mu's hand was already gripping the iron chain.

As the rider tried to get up, Chen Mu wrapped the chain around his neck and pulled him hard back with his knee.

The man kicked wildly, his fingers digging ten bloody furrows into the frozen ground.

Chen Mu kept pulling until he stopped moving before cutting the barbs wrapped around his arm.

The blue-maned horse ran for more than ten feet before turning back on its own.

Chen Mu stepped on the back of the dead man and remounted his horse.

When the soldiers behind saw this, their courage, which had been suppressed by the arrows, was restored.

"Keep up with the corporal!"

"Don't let the gray truck get away!"

The gray car is just ahead.

When Liang Qi turned around and saw Chen Mu, all the color drained from his face.

"set fire!"

Two ceramic jars rolled out of the carriage.

The earthenware pot shattered on the snow, and the burning oil spread out with a roar. The two chasing horses were startled and reared up, their formation instantly scattering.

Chen Mu did not circle around the fire.

He grabbed the felt from the saddle and covered the blue-maned horse's eyes, then squeezed its belly hard with his legs.

The blue-maned horse leaped across the line of fire with its momentum.

Flames licked the horse's tail and scorched the hem of Chen Mu's cotton-padded jacket. He drew Lu Shuangyi's short knife mid-air and landed only ten steps away from the gray cart.

Liang Qi whipped the horse like a madman.

The wheels plunged into the gravel beach, jolting so violently they almost flew off.

There are three forks in the road ahead.

Liang Qi chose the middle option without hesitation.

Anato shouted from behind, "That's a muddy ditch!"

Liang Qi obviously knew this as well.

He didn't go to the wrong place.

He deliberately led the gray cart onto a false road, then jumped off at the fork in the road and rolled into a snow ditch on the right. The gray cart, dragging two horses, continued galloping towards the middle road, drawing the pursuers' attention.

Chen Mu saw a dark figure flash across the snow and immediately reined in his horse.

The blue-maned horse reared up.

He tumbled off the horse, his shoulder hitting the ground hard, and his vision went black for a moment. When he looked up again, Liang Qi had already disappeared into an abandoned mill.

"Liang Qi!"

Chen Mu drew his sword and gave chase.

Moldy wheat chaff was piled up in the mill, and half of the millstone was still there. Liang Qi hid behind the millstone, holding a crossbow in his hand.

The crossbow string clicked softly.

Chen Mu suddenly tilted his head.

The short arrow grazed my cheek and embedded itself in the door frame.

The arrow is blue.

poisonous.

Liang Qi missed his target with his first arrow, then turned to move the wooden gate next to the stone mill. Behind the gate was a secret passage leading to the ditch. He had left himself more escape routes than the gates of Black Stone Fortress.

Chen Mu picked up a tattered grain sieve and smashed it over.

Liang Qi raised his hand to cover his face.

Chen Mu seized the opportunity to pounce, his short sword aimed straight for the chest.

Liang Qi drew his waist knife to parry, and sparks flew as the two blades clashed in the narrow room. He was no weakling; his swordsmanship was even more ruthless than Zhao Chenglie's, and every move was aimed at Chen Mu's right shoulder.

The wound reopened quickly.

Blood flowed down his arm to the hilt of the knife.

When Liang Qi saw this, joy finally appeared in his eyes.

"A kitchen soldier dares to chase me?"

He kicked Chen Mu in the injured shoulder.

Chen Mu took half a kick, his back slamming into the millstone.

The dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Liang Qi lunged forward with a sinister grin.

"Don't you like to stand up for the dead?"

"Go down and keep them company!"

The blade fell.

Chen Mu suddenly squatted down, grabbed the millstone lever with both hands, and pushed it forward with all his might.

The heavy stone mill turned half a circle.

The wooden pole slammed into Liang Qi's waist, shoving him into the gap between the millstones. Liang Qi screamed as his right arm, holding the knife, was caught between the two millstones.

Chen Mu grabbed the short knife from the ground and stabbed it through the back of his hand.

The knife was driven into the wooden platform.

Liang Qi was unable to move.

"Don't kill me!"

"I know where Han Wenshan hid his silver!"

"I also know who in White Wolf Pass does business with the north!"

"Hand me over, and I can get you promoted—"

Chen Mu punched him in the mouth.

Teeth mixed with blood flew out.

"I'm pursuing you not for a promotion."

Liang Qi's eyes were filled with terror.

"What do you want?"

Chen Mu grabbed his hair and pressed his face against the millstone.

"The people who died in the fire at the old Nancang warehouse."

"Those three households in Westburg."

"Names scraped off in the mass grave ditch."

"They want your life."

Liang Qi still wanted to beg for mercy.

"Chen Mu, I'll give you a thousand taels!"

"There are still 20,000 taels of silver in the Western Hills Silver Vault. The Han family doesn't know the exact entrance, so only I can take you there!"

Chen Mu paused for a moment.

Liang Qi thought he had found a way out and hurriedly continued.

"With money, you can buy an official position, a horse, or even a castle!"

Why bother risking your life for those poor bastards?

Chen Mu looked at him.

"Twenty thousand taels is a lot."

Liang Qi nodded frantically.

"It's all yours!"

"But if you live, another door will be sold tonight."

Chen Mu took out the poisoned crossbow from Liang Qi's sleeve and broke the crossbow arm in front of him.

"If I'm short of food, I'll take it myself."

"I need a horse, I'll take it myself."

"I'd rather not use your dirty money to buy my life."

Liang Qi's hope was completely shattered.

Chen Mu pushed the grinding rod.

The stone mill turned slowly.

The first scream rang out from the mill, but was quickly swallowed up by the wind and snow.

The second note was only half-finished.

After the millstone had completed one full rotation, Liang Qi's voice completely disappeared.

Chen Mu loosened the millstone and leaned against the wall, panting for a long time.

Anato rushed to the door with her knife.

She saw the blood under the millstone but didn't ask Liang Qi what he had said.

He simply went over and helped Chen Mu up.

Chen Mu instinctively pushed her.

"I can walk."

"Do you Han Chinese always say this when you're about to die?"

Anato put his left arm on her shoulder.

"Dr. Lin told me to bring you back alive."

"You listen to her?"

"She gave me a packet of poison."

Anato blinked.

"If you don't listen, I'll rub it into your wound."

Chen Mu glanced at her.

Anato couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The pursuers quickly closed in.

Thirteen of Liang Qi's guards died, six surrendered, and four escaped. The gray cart that had crashed into the muddy ditch was also pulled out.

There is a hidden compartment underneath the carriage.

There were no ledgers in the dark.

It contained twenty-four copper tokens for the Northern Barbarians, three hundred taels of silver, and a map of the Wild Dog Gully grain camp.

Forty-three pack mules had originally followed the gray wagon. After the guards scattered, the pack mules were all left behind on the gravel beach, each carrying two bags of roasted wheat and a bundle of dried meat.

Ma Liu cut open the bag, grabbed a handful of wheat grains, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed until tears streamed down his face.

"Real food."

"Enough to feed the South Gate for three days!"

Chen Mu took the map of the grain camp.

Anado watched for a while, and the smile on her face slowly disappeared.

"This is the grain field of the Ugut vanguard."

"The picture shows three hundred cows, at least eight hundred sheep, and fifty carts of hay."

Ma Liu gasped.

"So many?"

Anato points to a black moon at the corner of the picture.

"His main force will arrive before the black moon rises."

Chen Mu looked up at the sky.

The clouds are dispersing after the snowstorm.

A faint sliver of white appeared in the east.

Less than two hours before dawn.

He stuffed the grain camp map into his clothes.

"Let's get the grain back first."

"and then?"

Chen Mu looked towards Wild Dog Gully.

"Go and bring back the cattle and sheep from the painting."