Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Bet

  "Brother Xing, has Brother Zheng's team returned?" Leng Xiao Yao rode his warhorse back to the gathering point, and before he even dismounted, his voice had already floated into Xing Zi Xuan's ears.

  "Not yet." Han replied indifferently, his face expressionless.

  "What's wrong?" Leng Xiao Yao furrowed his brow, earlier the enemy had clearly not pursued them, so why hadn't Zheng Xiaotiger's team of three hundred cavalry returned yet? Had something unexpected happened?

  "Hoofbeats, hoofbeats..." The sound of horses' hooves echoed out, the ground began to shake, and in an instant, Zheng Xiaohu arrived at Leng Xiao's side with his men.

  "Ah!!!!!!" Zheng Xiaohu flipped over and got off his horse, with an excited look on his face, shouting: "Xiaoyao, is there still that package? Come on, grandma's, I'll wipe them out."

  "Halt your nonsense!" Leng Xiangyang shouted in anger.

  "Ah!" Zheng Xiaohu, who was originally in high spirits, was stunned by Leng Xiao's sudden outburst, and the excitement on his face instantly froze. Not only was Zheng Xiaohu stunned, but also Xing Zixue and others who had been living with Leng Xiao for more than half a year were also stunned, because in their impression, Leng Xiao was an extremely easy-going partner who never got angry, so why was he so angry today?

  Leng Xiao's face exuded a dense chill as he asked, "Commander Zheng, may I ask why you've returned so late?"

  Carefree...

  "Shut up and answer my question first." Leng Xiao Yao interrupted Zheng Xiaohu's intended explanation, her face cold as she asked.

  Zheng Xiaohu seemed to understand why Leng Xiao was asking this question, and with a guilty look on his face, he said: "Sorry, Xiao."

  "Alas!" Leng Xiao Yao sighed, shook his head and waved his hand: "You haven't wronged me, but you've wronged the brothers who follow you. Military orders are like mountains, doesn't Commander Zheng know that because of your selfish desires, many people will die? Tonight, return to Hu Shan Valley."

  "Free and easy..." Zheng Xiaohu heard this sentence from Leng Xiangyang and suddenly shouted out in surprise.

  "That's all, you go back to Hushan Valley tonight, it's an order." After Leng Xiao Yao finished speaking, he turned around and left Zheng Xiaohu and the others, walking quietly alone on the small path.

  "It's just a deputy captain, what's so impressive about that." A soldier from the Light Cavalry Regiment couldn't help but grumble when he saw Leng Xiao Yao's haughty attitude.

  "Shut up." More than a dozen angry voices rang out at the same time, scaring that complaining soldier half to death. When he saw Zheng Xiaohu and more than a dozen people staring at him with cannibalistic eyes, he was suddenly frightened, breaking out in cold sweat on his back.

  Xing saw the dejected expression on Zheng Xiaohu's face, reached out and patted him lightly on the shoulder, saying softly: "Captain, don't be disheartened. This time we didn't make it, but there will be another chance next time."

  "Little Tiger, or I'll get a few of my brothers to go and persuade Xiao Yao for you, how about that?" said a chiliarch who was very close to Zheng Xiaohu.

  Zheng Xiaohu shook his head and said, "Xiao Jun, thank you for your kindness. You don't need to go either. Although I haven't been in contact with Xiao Yao for long, I can tell that he's a man of his word. And this time, I really shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake. Just help me kill a few more enemies, and consider it as helping your brother on the battlefield."

  "Alright!" Everyone saw Zheng Xiaohu's intention and no one mentioned this matter again.

  Qin Hao gazed at Zheng Xiaohu's receding figure, and couldn't help but turn to the self-taught person beside him and say: "Captain, why don't we go ask Xiao Yao for help?"

  "Do you think it's really useful for us to go?" Xingzi learned bitterly smiled and turned away, in fact, he didn't want to do so either. But from his understanding of Leng Xiao Yao, he knew that even if they all went together to plead, it would be useless. From the first time on the battlefield, he realized that Leng Xiao Yao was not only a soldier but also a man of his word, what he said could not be changed by anyone.

  "Xiao Hao, let's go." Weng Yang patted Qin Hao's shoulder and then hooked his arm around Qin Hao's shoulders as they walked towards their warhorse.

  "Bang!" In the beastman army camp, Batulu glared at the dozen or so generals sitting in front of him with a furious expression, his voice cold: "What's wrong? Are you all mute? Speak up!"

  A dozen or so beastman commanders saw their general smash the wine bowl and immediately shied away from their general's gaze. What a joke, didn't these subordinates know their general's temper? At this time, it was clear that their general was in a rage, who would dare to provoke him now?

  "General, I have something to say," said Rutbah, standing up.

  Bart saw that Lute was about to speak first, his face slightly changed color, and he casually waved his hand and said: "What's the matter, say it!"

  "Actually, winning this war is not a difficult task. There are two main things that our army needs to do right now." Ruteba said, pausing for a moment and looking at Bateru, actually wanting to see if Bateru was listening to what he was saying.

  Bartol saw Lute pause and said, "Go on."

  "Firstly, humans have revealed that the explosive material has too much power and can also cause small-scale casualties on our side. In my personal opinion, humans absolutely do not have many of these materials; otherwise, Humen would not have been breached by us in the first place. Therefore, we cannot give humans time to breathe or prepare."

  "You mean we should launch a forced attack?" Batulu slightly furrowed his brow and said.

  Routbard nodded and said: "That's right, but the second thing I'm waiting for can't be ignored either, that is the more than a thousand light cavalry in the rear."

  "It's just a thousand or so light cavalry, nothing more. Tomorrow when we launch our attack, I'll assign two thousand-man units of Tiger Warriors to wait specifically for them, to avenge the blood feud for my fallen tribesmen." A Tiger Warrior commander spoke up, his tone full of disdain. In his opinion, during the forest battle earlier, they had simply been careless; if it were a real fight, one unit of Tiger Warriors could have easily annihilated two thousand human soldiers.

  Luteba heard the general's words and saw his expression, couldn't help but shake his head and say: "Tiger Road, you're underestimating this thousand-man light cavalry."

  "Routaba, what did you just say?" The general who was called to the Tiger Road by Routaba stood up quickly, with a hint of anger on his face.

  Lute saw that Toru was so angry, but instead he laughed and said: "Don't believe me? Let's make a bet on it!"

  "What about the gambling law then?"

  "I bet you that these two thousand men will be defeated by this mere thousand light cavalry tomorrow, do you believe it or not?"

  "What's the bet?"

  "If I lose, I am willing to retire and hand over the position of Tiger Army Corps Commander to you, how about it?" Rutba's face showed a faint smile.

  "Ah!" Lute's words shocked everyone present. It was because of Lute's identity that Bate couldn't do anything to him. This time, the Tiger Army had a secret and important mission, which was why they hadn't left the Military Heaven Dragon Country. The Tiger Army was known as the number one army in the world, second only to the Mongol Army, and this title wasn't obtained easily. Therefore, the commander of this army wasn't someone ordinary people could compare to.

  "Are you serious?" Huo Lu's eyes flashed with sharp light, although he didn't want to gamble with Luteba, but the stakes offered by Luteba were too tempting, forcing him to accept this bet.

  Luteba heard the question from Hulü and smiled faintly, saying: "Although I, Luteba, am not a big shot, I have never broken my word. Don't you know that?"

  As soon as Luote Ba's words fell, Hu Lu remembered that in the Beastman Empire, Luote Ba seemed to have never gone back on his word, he was a man of his word, so he would be admired by the generals.

  "Alright, I'll take this bet..."

  "Wait a minute..." Ruterba waved his hand, stopping Tulu from continuing.

  Tiger Road saw that Lu Te Ba had stopped himself from speaking, with a hint of triumph on his face, and said: "What? Does the leader of the Road Gang want to go back on his word?"

  "My chips are already out, what about you?"

  "Ah!" Hu Lu was stunned when he heard Luteba's words. Yeah! Since the other party has already put out their stakes, this gamble can't just be one-sided victory goods, right? So what can he use as a stake for this bet? Money? It seems that Luteba doesn't have less than him either! Goods? It seems that whatever he should have, Luteba also has. Power? It seems that Luteba's army is several times stronger than his own...

  Hu Road was taken aback, and suddenly found himself in a rather tragic situation. As the proud captain of his team, he couldn't think of anything valuable enough to use as a wager. Thinking about this, Hu Road felt quite embarrassed and said: "You tell me! What do you want from me?"

  Luteba seemed to have anticipated that Hulao would ask this, so as soon as Hulao's words fell, Luteba spoke directly: "If I win, how will I command your current 30,000 troops? Regardless of the outcome of the battle, after the war, all your subordinates will be returned to you."

  Hulu heard Luteba's words, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and the "Wang" character on his forehead became more pronounced. After a moment, Hulu seemed to have thought of something, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he said to Luteba: "Alright, no problem. I'll bet on this gamble. If I lose, including myself, we'll all follow your command until the end of the war."

  "Alright, let's make it a promise then. General, will you be our witness?" Rutuba asked, bowing slightly to Batoru.

  "Alright, no problem. I'd like to see the Tiger Army's prowess too. I'll be a witness." Batru was actually dissatisfied when Rutbah said that his 2,000-strong Tiger Army wasn't a match for the human Light Cavalry's thousand men. So when he heard this wager, he agreed without hesitation. He wanted to take this opportunity to kick Rutbah out of the army, so as not to be in his way anymore.