Chapter 16: Hu Merchants
Guo Hao stood on the hillside, staring at a camp not far away. The camp should be a temporary one and the area was not large, probably able to accommodate hundreds of people.
There were no guards near the camp, let alone any defensive equipment. It was obvious that the other party did not think that anyone would dare to mess with them.
Relying on the physical fitness brought by 26 points of martial arts, Guo Hao easily observed that there was a big word "Yang" written on the flag fluttering in the camp.
"Sir, we have already investigated it! There are no other people or people within dozens of miles. There is only this caravan transporting goods, and there are only more than a hundred guards. There is no need to worry at all."
"Then why are they so confident?" Guo Hao narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
"Sir, they should be Hu merchants operating in the grassland."
"Hu Shang?"
"It's a caravan doing business with the Hu people. They sell salt and tea from the Central Plains to the Hu people. They must have reached an agreement with the various Hu tribes, so they dare to be so relaxed." A middle-aged man explained to Guo Hao.
"What's your name? How do you know these things?" Guo Hao looked at the man who was speaking seriously. Compared to others, he knew a lot more.
"Sir, my name is Li Yang. I was exiled and once served as a city defender in Luoyang City." The middle-aged man said with a bow.
"Very good! You are good. If you can come back alive this time, you will be my deputy!" Guo Hao said casually. Compared with the man in the field, a subordinate who used to be a city defender did know more.
"Thank you, sir!" Li Yang responded and retreated. He valued the possibility of revenge by following Guo Hao, and he didn't care about being a deputy.
"Making a deal with the Hu people means helping them to cause chaos, and they will be killed without mercy." Guo Hao stared for a while and made a decision.
He didn't care whether these merchants were innocent or not. So what if they were innocent? The gold and silver used by the Hu people for trading were not looted from the Central Plains. Since they wanted to make huge profits, they had to bear the corresponding consequences.
What's more, there are a lot of things in this caravan. If we can rob them all, it will be a bumper harvest .
Clouds drifted across the sky, blocking out the sun and bringing heavy shadows, as if foreshadowing what was to come.
"Li Yang, take fifty people and go around behind them. If anyone tries to escape, kill them without mercy. Don't let anyone go!" Guo Hao ordered viciously.
"Here!" Li Yang led his men and started to circle around.
Guo Hao waited there for a long time. After Li Yang and others arrived, Guo Hao raised the crescent halberd and announced the start of the attack.
Guo Hao wrapped cloth around the horse's feet to reduce the sound of the hooves. Although it affected the speed a little, it was not a big deal.
When the process was halfway through, Guo Hao shouted, "Charge! Don't let anyone get away!"
After shouting, he also added "boost morale", which made the already high morale of the troops even higher.
"Your troops' morale has reached its limit, all troops' attributes +10%"
The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, echoing in the desolate land, as if thousands of troops were galloping.
The guards on guard at the camp were frightened by the sudden noise. They couldn't remember how long it had been since they had heard such noise in Xiliang.
The caravans of the Hu merchants usually had unimpeded access outside the Great Wall. After all, no tribe wanted to survive the winter without sufficient supplies. Even the tribes that looted villages needed to exchange for supplies such as salt, tea, and ironware.
In most cases they still needed to rely on these Hu merchants, so most tribes were quite respectful to the caravans. Even the disrespectful tribes did not dare to risk the world's condemnation and attack the caravans.
It was not until the old man among the guards recalled the initial attack that he realized that it was the sound of galloping horses.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack...ah!"
Several cold lights flashed in the air, piercing his throat and chest. Arrows fell from the sky like meteors, nailing all the guards at the door to the ground.
The guards in the camp wanted to stop the charge of Guo Hao and others, but it was too late. Guo Hao and others had practiced the process of rain of arrows and charge and trampling many times and were already very familiar with it.
The guards, who were so overwhelmed, were knocked away by their horses, and then hundreds of horses rushed past them, trampling over their bodies.
On the ground, only a pool of unrecognizable flesh and blood was left.
"You bold Hu people, I am a Hu merchant allowed by the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu!"
A fat man in gorgeous clothes ran out of the tent, his words full of anger. In his opinion, these were just a group of confused Hu people. As long as he raised the sign of the Xiongnu Chanyu, it would be enough to make these guys retreat.
"This is Han territory, the Chanyu can't control us!"
Before the fat man finished shouting, Guo Hao's crescent-shaped halberd stabbed into his chest. The fat man vomited blood and was thrown away by Guo Hao before he could even see the face of the person coming. He fell heavily to the ground without a sound.
"Kill them all, leaving no one alive!"
Looking at the people fleeing in all directions in the camp, Guo Hao felt a surge of rage in his heart. They were all parasites sucking blood from the people. He would feel satisfied only if he killed them all.
Guo Hao's order was cold and cruel, but no one objected. They all had no good feelings towards Hu Shang, and it was exactly what he wanted to do if all these guys who helped the tyrant were killed.
The battle lasted less than an hour, and there were no enemies left in the entire camp.
After a while, Li Yang and others who were responsible for finishing off the task in the distance returned.
"Sir, don't leave any one alive, kill them all!"
"That's right. One team will go on guard, and the others will hurry up and clean up the battlefield and be ready to evacuate at any time!"
Guo Hao was thinking about the next route when several archers came over with a group of women. "Sir, these are the women we found in the carriage!"
"what happened?"
"Sir, we are all Han people who were trafficked here. Thank you for saving our lives!" Before Guo Hao could finish his question, a woman broke free from the control of the archers and prostrated herself on the ground.
Before Guo Hao could continue to ask questions, the woman picked up the weapon on the ground, put it on her neck and said sadly: "My family has been destroyed and I am no longer innocent. I will repay your kindness in my next life."
After saying that, he wiped it hard, breathed his last, his eyes full of relief.
Guo Hao stared at the dead body in front of him, as if there was a fire burning in his heart. Although he didn't know the corpse, he was extremely angry.
He tried hard to suppress his inner anger and asked in a deep voice: "What about you guys?"
"We are a good family, but our family was destroyed and we were kidnapped and sold here. We have nowhere to go. Please make the decision, sir."
"Come back with us, I'll find a place for you."
"Thank you, sir!"
Looking at the women lying on the ground and the women who had committed suicide, he didn't know how many more Han people were suffering on this grassland, and now he was powerless to do anything.
"Let's go! Take all the spoils back!"
"My Lord, these bodies?"
"Burn this place down with fire. Wait until a heavy snow covers it and nothing will be left."
“Yes!”
Guo Hao and others rode away on horseback, leaving behind the burning camp.
A raging fire shot up into the sky, carrying with it the stench of burnt human flesh that drifted into the distance.
