whoosh——!
An arrow shot from the darkness cut through the air and accurately hit a Cossack in the chest.
The arrow was so powerful that the Cossack felt as if his chest was about to break.
Unable to bear the severe pain, the Cossack lost his balance and fell off his horse.
The Don horses used by the Cossacks generally have a shoulder height of between 1.5 and 1.6 meters.
It is impossible not to feel pain if you fall from this height, even in the most vulnerable position.
The Cossack who slid down from his horse saw the ground, covered with thick white snow but now trampled into a mess, coming towards him.
He fell heavily to the ground, splashing a thin layer of snow.
Because he landed on his right shoulder, the Cossack now felt severe pain in his right shoulder.
The severe pain caused his right arm to lose sensation briefly.
However, he couldn't care less about his right arm now.
After being shot to the ground by the sudden arrow, the Cossack immediately tried to pull out the arrow from his chest in panic, and then tried to squeeze out the poisonous blood.
He had just seen how several of his companions were killed by these poisonous arrows.
Although he tried to pull out the arrow as quickly as he could, it was a pity that it was of no use even if he squeezed out the poisonous blood in time.
As soon as he pulled the arrow out of his chest, his body suddenly twitched.
Then, streams of white foam came out of his mouth, and finally he fell heavily to the ground, no longer moving, and no longer showing any signs of life.
Vladimir happened to be not far from his subordinate who had died of poisoning.
Looking at another of his subordinates being poisoned to death, Vladimir remained calm, as if the dead person was not his subordinate at all.
Vladimir thought to himself:
——These poison arrows of the Ainu are really troublesome.
Vladimir has been exploring in Ezo for half a year.
During these six months, Vladimir did not spend every day watching the snow and bears.
He also completed the task of exploring the Far East assigned to them by the Tsar, the supreme ruler of Russia.
During the six-month expedition, Vladimir also collected a lot of information about the indigenous people of this place, the Ainu people.
Let’s not talk about bears, animals whose qualities far exceed those of humans.
The fact that wolves like to live in groups, attack others in a rush, is enough to give humans a hard time.
Using only bows, spears, and daggers to fight against powerful animals like bears and wolves is too inefficient.
When hunting a bear, even shooting a dozen ordinary arrows may not kill it.
So the Ainu invented poison.
The venom recipes used by the Ainu in different places are slightly different.
Vladimir only knew that the venom used by the Ainu people in a certain area in the north was made from a mixture of the root of the aconite and the sting of a stingray - it was extremely toxic.
Vladimir once saw with his own eyes how an Ainu man used a poisoned arrow smeared with this venom to kill a bear in 10 breaths.
The bear was about 2 meters tall when it stood up. Even such a big bear could not survive more than 10 breaths just from being hit by a poison arrow.
Vladimir didn't know what material the venom used by the villagers of China was made of.
He only knew that once his subordinates were hit by the arrows they shot, they would die from the poison in just 5 or 6 breaths.
——When fighting against these natives who use poison arrows, it would be more convenient to wear heavy armor.
Vladimir then thought to himself.
As far as Vladimir knew, one of the important reasons why the Japanese were able to win repeatedly in their struggles with the Ainu was that the Japanese mastered iron smelting technology and were able to make iron armor.
The iron armor greatly reduced the threat posed by the Ainu people's poison arrows to the Japanese.
If the Ainu wanted to use poison arrows to inflict damage on armored enemies, they could either shoot at areas not protected by the armor or shoot with enough force to penetrate the armor - however, there were only a handful of archers who could do this.
Although many of his and Alexei's men had fallen, Vladimir never showed any anxiety or regret.
Because this amount of casualties is still within an acceptable range.
The morale of the subordinates is still very high.
This is not an encounter that yields no benefit after it is fought.
This is a battle you can plunder to your heart's content after you finish it.
They had been going through hard times for a long time.
Every day, all I do is watch the snow.
They all wanted to vent their long-pent-up desires tonight.
So even though they had witnessed many of their companions falling off their horses and dying, the remaining people still maintained high morale.
Their desire for plunder, indulgence and release made them completely ignore their dead and wounded companions, as well as the counterattack launched by the villagers of Qina Village.
After rushing into the village, the morale of Vladimir and his men actually rose slightly.
Because they found out that their boss did not lie to them.
In this village, there are really more women than men.
Although the women in this village looked very strong, they bravely fought back against them with bows and arrows and other weapons.
Whether it is Vladimir or Alexei, their subordinates are not rookies who have ever held a knife and killed someone.
Europe has not been peaceful in recent years.
Before coming to the Far East, they had participated in many battles in Europe.
I wouldn't dare say that I've been through hundreds of battles, but I definitely have enough combat experience.
Therefore, even though the villagers of China had powerful weapons such as poison arrows, they still found it difficult to fight against the Cossacks who were well-equipped and had excellent combat experience.
Vladimir rode his horse somewhere in China Village, and under the protection of several of his subordinates, he observed the battle situation within his field of vision - the battle situation could be described in one word: extremely good.
Vladimir didn't know what was happening in other areas that he couldn't see, but the Ainu people within his field of vision had been completely suppressed.
He guessed that it was probably the same in other areas.
Just as Vladimir was feeling proud and began to imagine the scene of everyone dividing the spoils together, one of his subordinates rode towards him in a hurry.
"Boss! Boss!"
"What's wrong?" Vladimir frowned as he looked at the subordinate who was riding his horse towards him. "What happened? Why are you so flustered?"
"Something happened in the east!" the subordinate screamed, "A very powerful guy suddenly appeared and killed many of our people!"
"He's wearing Japanese clothes! He looks Japanese!"
"Japanese?" Vladimir's eyes widened.
…
…
Yashili didn't know how her friends were doing now, but she felt like her brain was a mess.
The battle situation was completely different from what she had imagined.
Although she was not as confident as the girl with the red headband, she did not think that they would be unable to defeat these white foreigners.
After all, they won so beautifully in the battle against the invading gold diggers last year.
There were strange noises like something exploding, screams, the sound of horse hooves... These sounds that came one after another, tightly bound her chest like silk threads, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Yashili guessed that her mother, who was still lying beside her, and her three friends were probably the same.
Without exception, they all looked as pale as Ashley.
Although they tried their best to hide it, one could still see fear in their eyes.
The girl with the red headband no longer said with confidence that she would "kill one enemy with one arrow" as before.
The girl with the purple and blue headbands - both of them had trembling lips now.
Although Yashili's mother is a beautiful woman in her early 30s, her horizons are not much broader than Yashili and his friends.
Faced with the Cossacks' muskets, Yashili's mother was also at a loss.
The confused state of mind resulted in them being unable to perform to their full potential.
Up to now, except for Yashili's mother who successfully shot a Cossack and killed him from poison, the record of Yashili and the other four is still -0.
Yashili now felt his arms were sore.
She had lost count of how many arrows she had pulled from the quiver behind her.
She only knew that her arms were sore, and after shooting a few more arrows, she probably wouldn't have the strength to pull the bow anymore.
Just as Yashili pulled out another arrow from the quiver behind her and tried her best to do what she could, she suddenly heard a scream from her side.
A very familiar scream.
Yashili looked in the direction of the sound—the one screaming was the older sister who lived next door to her.
Because they live close to each other, Yashili has a very good relationship with this older sister.
From time to time, Yashili would go to play with this big sister, and sometimes when this big sister got some delicious food, she would share it with Yashili.
She was originally lying on the roof like Yashili and the others, fighting the enemy with a bow and arrow.
But just now, she was hit by a stray bullet.
A stray bullet hit her left leg.
The powerful force of the bullet directly knocked her off the roof and onto the snow.
The blood flowing from the wound soon dyed the ground beneath her red.
She covered her left leg, wailed and screamed continuously, and lost the strength and ability to get up and escape.
If the elder sister doesn't leave the ground quickly, she will definitely die.
So - Yashili gritted his teeth, released the bowstring that had been slightly stretched, and said to his mother and the red-headed girl beside him:
"Mom! Ella! Let's go carry that big sister to safety!"
The girl with the red headband also discovered the older sister who was unable to move due to an injured left leg.
Yashli's mother and the girl with the red headband didn't hesitate or think too much - there was nothing to hesitate or think about.
Their fellow villagers were suffering, and they had the opportunity to save them - no matter what, they could not think of any reason not to save them.
The red-headed girl nodded bluntly, then jumped off the roof first and ran towards the older sister who was still covering her left leg and screaming.
And Ashley and her mother followed closely behind her.
The three of them took advantage of the fact that there were no Cossacks nearby and quickly ran to the side of the older sister.
"It's okay, it's okay." Yashili comforted her elder sister, "We are here to save you."
Yashili and the red-headed girl stood on either side, helping the older sister up, while Yashili's mother stood guard with a bow in her hand.
However, at this moment——something strange happened.
Da da da da da da…
Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves approaching.
As soon as the sound of horse hooves reached Yashili's ears, Yashili's expression froze instantly.
Twisting his stiff neck, Yashili looked in the direction of the sound of horse hooves - a Cossack was riding towards them, waving a saber.
After seeing the Cossack attacking them, Yashili immediately reacted as if by instinct - she handed her elder sister to the girl with a red headband, then quickly took off the bow and arrow on her back and aimed the arrow at the attacking Cossack.
And Yashili's mother also readied her bow and arrow at almost the same time.
The Cossack was so fast that it only took him three or four breaths to hit them with his knife.
Due to time constraints, Yashili and her daughter had no time to aim, and they released the bowstring immediately after pulling it to its full length.
The originally tense force bounced off from between the two men's arms, and a sound of breaking through the air was heard.
Two arrows flew straight at the Cossack.
Then the Cossack swung his sword twice and directly knocked the two arrows away.
Yashili and her daughter looked horrified.
The Cossack, on the other hand, smiled - an expression he loved to see on his enemies' faces.
He was an expert with sabers, and in his eyes, the arrows shot by Yashili and her daughter were so slow that he could easily deflect them.
The girl with the purple headband and the girl with the blue headband not far away also noticed the abnormality of Yashili and the others. They screamed and pulled their bowstrings to their full potential, intending to help Yashili and the others. However, their arrows could not hit the Cossack who was extremely fast due to his excellent horsemanship.
After a brief moment of shock, Yashili's eyes, which usually showed a look of cowardice, now flashed with rays of light called "determination".
She threw the bow aside, held the poisoned arrow with both hands, and walked towards the Cossack in front of her with firm steps.
She wanted to intercept the Cossack with her own body.
Behind her are her mother and her friends.
Since her father disappeared, her mother has been dependent on her.
After his father disappeared, Yashili was in a very negative and depressed mood and he cried so many times that he had no tears left.
Thanks to the presence of her friends, including the red-headband girl, who always accompanied her, Yashili slowly came out of the shadow of her father's disappearance.
Whether it was his mother or his friends, Yashili didn't want them to get hurt.
She didn't want her mother and friend to get hurt - as soon as this thought popped into her mind, she felt a huge force surging in her body, allowing her to dare to do something that she would never dare to think about normally.
Although he knew that if he did this, even if he succeeded in stopping the Cossack, he would definitely die, and if he didn't die, he would probably only have half his life left.
——Being hit by such a fast horse... must be very painful...
Yashili couldn't help but think this in his heart.
A look of fear crept into Yashili's eyes, and his eyes were covered with a thin mist due to fear.
But despite his fear, Yashili took firm steps and walked towards the Cossack.
At this time, Yashili's mother and the girl with the red headband finally discovered Yashili's intention and shouted at Yashili, wanting Yashili to come back - but it was too late.
Yashili was only a horse's length away from the Cossack.
——Please succeed!
She prayed loudly in her heart.
He prayed that his selfless attack would stop the Cossack and save his mother and friends.
——Please succeed!
Yashili made the same prayer in his heart again.
Then, holding the poison arrow tightly in his hand, he rushed towards the Cossacks in front of him...
…
…
Yashili suddenly saw a dark shadow.
…
…
A dark figure leaped down from the roof next to her.
The dark figure jumped down from the roof next to her.
The landing location of this black shadow was——the Cossack who had rushed in front of her.
For some reason, the shadow reminded Yashili of bears and wolves pouncing on their prey.
Chichichichichichi——!
The sound of a sharp weapon splitting flesh and bones could be heard.
The dark shadow held a knife that reflected a dazzling cold light under the moonlight. The blade cut from the Cossack's left shoulder all the way to his right abdomen - he was cut directly in half.
The Cossacks' expressions of joy at seeing an easy-to-bully enemy turned into fear.
His upper body was flying in the air, while his lower body was still firmly sitting on the horse, continuing to rush forward with the horse.
After the black shadow cut the Cossack in half with one blow, the next moment after his feet landed on the ground, he reached out and supported Yashili, who was still in a forward-leaning posture, and pulled her to his side, saving her from being hit by the horse.
It was only then that Yashili finally recognized the shadow.
It was someone she had just met.
He is the man that the grandmother likes very much and wants to be her grandson-in-law.
…
…
"You look weak, but I didn't expect you to be so strong." Ogata whispered to Yashili in front of him.
Yashili couldn't understand the Japanese that Ogata was speaking.
Until now, she was still immersed in shock at Ogata's heroic feat of leaping down and chopping the Cossack in half with one sword, and she looked at Ogata in a daze.
Ogata let go of the hand that had been supporting Yashili.
Then, using the words he had learned from the "Guide to Common Ezoic Phrases", he whispered to Yashili:
"Don't worry. Everything is fine now."
Finally, I heard words from Ogata that I could understand.
It was not until then that Yashili discovered that there seemed to be a strange light flashing in Ogata's eyes.
…
…
Time goes back to just now——
After hearing the dense sound of horse hooves, Ogata and his men immediately rushed out of Skulucci's tent.
As soon as they left the tent, Skuluch's subordinates led by Afje, who had also heard the sound of horse hooves, immediately surrounded Skuluch and asked him what they should do now, whether to keep their troops in place or send someone to see what the sound of horse hooves was all about.
Facing these subordinates who were surrounding him, Skulucci just said, "Be quiet, let me take a look at the situation first," and they all immediately quieted down.
There was no high place nearby, so Ogata and his friends could only climb to the top of Skulucci's tent.
Because the tent could not bear the weight of so many people, Skulucci was the only one who climbed to the top of the tent to check the situation.
Like a monkey, Skulucci quickly climbed to the top of the tent, then took out a telescope from his arms and looked in the direction where the sound of horse hooves came from.
Although the distance was a little far, with the excellent performance of the telescope in his hand and the bright moonlight, Skulucci could barely see clearly - a group of guys riding tall horses were rushing towards Qina Village from the north. They were about to rush into the village.
Skuluch saw at a glance that these people were his kind, the Cossacks.
Just by looking at their horses, you can tell they are Cossacks.
After all, apart from the Cossacks, no one in this land would own such tall horses.
Skulucci was very familiar with the faces of the two leaders of this group.
Skulucci curled his lips and jumped down from the tent.
As soon as Skuluch jumped back to the ground, one of his subordinates, Afjie, was the first to speak to Skuluch and asked:
"Boss Skulucci! What happened? (Lucia)"
"Sukabule." Skuluch calmly said one of the only two words in Russian that Ogata understood, "It's the snot from the two boars, Vladimir and Alexei. (Russian)"
After briefly explaining the situation to his subordinates, Skulucci looked at Ogata and the others and switched to Japanese.
“It’s so unfortunate.”
"I just warned the people of that village while it was still light today that a group of Cossacks were planning to plunder everywhere, and asked them to pay attention and make corresponding preparations."
"As a result, they were attacked tonight."
"There are about 80 of them, coming from the north. The people in that village should not be a match for them."
As soon as Skulucci finished speaking, Xu Fang heard intensive gunfire coming from the direction of Qina Village.
In addition to the gunshots, faint screams were also heard.
Hearing the dense gunfire, Ayaka's face turned ugly.
Ating's expression changed.
Ogata did not show much expression or change in facial expression.
Just narrow your eyes slightly.
Then he turned around and ran out of the camp almost without hesitation.
There was no need for Ogata to say anything specifically, as Atachi followed closely behind Ogata with a determined look on his face.
Following Ogata is Ayaka, who has close ties with many villagers in China Village.
Looking at Ogata who turned around and rushed out of the camp without saying a word, Skulucci was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly shouted loudly at Ogata's back:
"Mashima-kun! Where are you going?"
Ogata did not answer Skulucci.
Because he didn't have time to slowly answer Skulucci's question.
Skulucci thought Ogata didn't hear him, and was about to repeat his question loudly again, but his open mouth suddenly froze and the words were stuck in his throat.
Because - at a certain moment just now, for some reason, he mistook Ogata's departing back as... someone else's back.
Ogata's back actually overlapped with that man's back.
Although he hadn't seen that person for a long time, that person's back was still deeply imprinted in Skulucci's mind.
"Master Genichi..."
As if it was a conditioned reflex, Skulucci murmured the name softly.
…
…
If they didn't lend a helping hand to the villagers of Qina Village, they would most likely not be able to defeat the well-equipped Cossacks.
Even if we win, it will definitely be a pyrrhic victory.
Whether or not to help the villagers of Qina Village to the best of his ability - this question was not a difficult one for Ogata to decide.
Today, the villagers of Qina Village cooperated very enthusiastically with Ogata in finding clues about Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen - this small favor alone was enough for Ogata to have sufficient reason to draw his sword.
The current situation is to race against time and kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible, which may save one more villager of Qina Village from harm.
So Ogata decided to go all out and not hold back.
After rushing out of Skulucci's camp, Xu Fang took a deep breath.
Then his chest began to rise and fall in a specific rhythm.
[Ding! The host has entered the state of selflessness! ]
A strange light slowly appeared in Ogata's eyes.
…
…
Timeline returns to the present -
Da da da da…
The sound of horse hooves appeared again.
Three Cossacks not far away witnessed the tragic death of their companion being cut in half by Ogata with a single sword. They roared in anger and rode their horses towards Ogata.
The three men took out the muskets hanging on the saddles and pointed the muzzles at Ogata.
"Be careful! (Ainu)" Yahili subconsciously shouted to Ogata who was standing next to her.
She had seen too many times with her own eyes how these white-skinned people used these long-barreled weapons to take the lives of villagers.
Ogata seemed to be deaf to Yashili's reminder. His expression did not change at all. He maintained an expressionless look, pulled out the Da Zi Zai from his waist with his left hand, and silently raised the two swords in his hands.
It’s not that Ogata deliberately put on a blank expression.
After entering the "selfless state", emotional fluctuations will become very small, and the whole person will be in an extremely calm state.
In this state, one becomes too lazy to show expression.
Although he was being pointed at by three black gun muzzles, there was no panic or fear on Ogata's face.
The three Cossacks who were pointing their guns at Ogata now had expressions of ecstasy on their faces.
They thought Ogata was also a "half-savage" who had never seen a musket and had no idea what they were holding in their hands.
With the blessing of this joy, they pulled the trigger almost at the same time.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three gunshots rang out.
Three bullets cut through the air and flew straight towards Ogata.
In the imagination of these three Cossacks, Ogata would soon be hit by three bullets and fall to the ground groaning in pain.
However—this scene did not appear.
Ding, ding, ding!
Ogata held Daishakuten and Daijizai in his hands and swung them three times in a row.
The bullets fired by the three Cossacks were all deflected by Ogata's sword.
In the eyes of others, a bullet is so fast that its trajectory cannot be captured, but to Ogata, who has entered the "state of no self", it is as slow as a paper airplane thrown at him by a child.
As long as the trajectory can be captured clearly, the rest will be easy.
Ogata deflected the bullet with a knife, which not only shocked the three Cossacks, but also made Yashili, who was standing behind Ogata and witnessed everything, stare with his eyes wide open and mouth wide open in a very ungraceful manner.
Those three Cossacks may not have known anything about swordplay, but they knew what it meant to be a man who could split bullets.
Driven by the instinct of "fear of death", the three Cossacks wanted to rein in their horses quickly and then escape from Ogata's sight, the farther the better.
But Ogata did not give them a chance to escape.
After swinging his sword to deflect the bullets they fired, Ogata kicked his hind feet and ran towards the three Cossacks.
The three Cossacks did not have time to rein in their horses, and their horses continued to carry them straight towards Ogata.
The one closest to Ogata among the three saw an arc of knife light sweeping towards him.
Then, a sharp pain came from his side.
A large amount of blood spurted out from the wound on the side of the abdomen.
In addition to blood, his strength also spurted out from the wound.
The Cossack felt that he was losing more and more strength, and finally he didn't even have the strength to sit on the horse and slowly fell off the horse.
However, the horse he was riding did not notice that the person riding on its back had fallen to the ground, and continued to rush straight forward.
After killing the first Cossack with one blow, Ogata rushed towards the second one.
The second Cossack knew that it was too late to rein in his horse and escape now, so he looked fierce and prepared to fight Ogata.
He is an expert equestrian, and the horse under him has been his good partner for many years. They have a tacit understanding with each other.
He patted the neck of the horse under him with a specific force, and the warhorse immediately neighed, raised its two front hooves and kicked towards Ogata.
The power of horse hooves cannot be underestimated. If you are kicked by them, you will be dead if not killed.
But in response to the horse's two front hooves kicking at him, Ogata simply lowered his body and dodged them.
Then - the Cossack... no, it should be said that both the Cossack and his horse saw a flash of a knife.
Because the horse raised its front hooves, it was inconvenient for Ogata to swing his knife at the person on the horse's back.
So Ogata simply chopped off the horse first.
Da Shitian first swept horizontally across the horse's belly, and then swept towards the legs of the Cossack on the horse's back with the remaining force.
The Cossack screamed and fell heavily to the ground along with his horse that was hit.
Yashili, who was not far away, was already stunned at this moment.
It wasn't just Yashili who was stunned.
Her mother and her friends were all stunned at this moment.
For some reason, Yashili suddenly recalled what her grandmother had said to her before: "That young man is definitely a good man among millions."