The big ship was slowly approaching. People wearing Cao's armor were guarding the dock, and the rest were hidden behind the stone wall.
Seeing that Xu Shu remained silent, Ma Chao asked, "Sir, do you have any clever ideas?"
Xu Shu laughed and said: "With a small army and few generals, it is useless to use tactics. Later the enemy disembarked and asked them to put out the fire. We captured one boat, destroyed the other two and left here."
At this time, Cao Jun on the boat also discovered that there was a fire in the pass. He speeded up the boat and quickly approached the shore, shouting questions.
Ma Le stood at the dock and answered, saying that reinforcements had arrived and a fire accidentally broke out, and asked everyone to rush ashore to put out the fire.
The three ships arrived at the dock and hurriedly anchored. Many people were already rushing to disembark and go to the pass to put out the fire. All their materials and property were here.
When the defenders were halfway gone, Ma Chao spurred his horses out. The two men instantly killed the soldiers who were still parking the ship at the port. The war horses neighed, and they jumped on board to occupy the middle ship.
Ma Dai and Pang De led ten men each, killed the soldiers in the other two ships, lit torches and threw them into the cabin, cut the cables and let them drift away with the current.
The defenders rushed into the pass and found that all the houses were destroyed, fires were burning on the walls of the pass, the gates were filled with corpses, and blood flowed into rivers. They all panicked.
When they heard the screams at the port and rushed back, Ma Chao and others had already led the boat and rowed to the other side.
Cao Jun came after him. Ma Chao and Pang De set their bows and arrows and shot down several people. The other soldiers hurriedly hid behind the stone wall and could only watch the ship go away.
There were very few ships in the Xiliang area, and most of them couldn't even swim. Only three large ships left the port. Everyone was dumbfounded and stood on the dock in a daze.
At the critical moment, flames shot into the sky, and the ships at the port moved away. Two of them, still emitting black smoke, flowed far away along the current and capsized in the waves.
Xu Shu directed everyone to row together, crossed the big boat to the other side, picked up some emergency supplies and took them away, and burned the boat. Ma Le went first to ask for help from the Di people.
Everyone was resting on the shore when they saw that a large group of troops from upstream had arrived, with flags fluttering and dust filling the air. There were 20,000 troops.
Ma Chao stood on the bank of the river, built a pergola and looked over. He saw the flag with the character "Yan" on it. Sure enough, it was Yan Xing who was leading the troops. There were more than 3,000 cavalrymen in different costumes behind them, who were the Qiang tribe.
Ma Teng and Han Sui dominated Xiliang, one in Hexi and the other in Huangzhong. They both made friends with the Qiang people and secretly attracted the Qiang people from various tribes to compete with each other secretly.
The reason why Ma Chao dared to go to Jincheng alone this time was because of the support of Dang Xiang Qiang. He never expected that they would betray him, putting everyone in a desperate situation and almost annihilating the entire army.
Horseshoe Bay was filled with thick smoke, and the fire was expected to burn for a while. The pursuers were unable to enter the pass. When they learned that Ma Chao had crossed the river, there was a sudden commotion. They divided into several teams and went to the shore to observe, and found Ma Chao and others.
Seeing Ma Chao escaping, everyone looked panicked. Yan Xing stood above the port with a knife in hand, looking at Ma Chao from a distance, and ordered to build a ferry to cross the river immediately.
The Qiang people even stood up and watched, whispering to each other. The sound of the mighty general sounded throughout Xiliang, and all the Qiang people were afraid. If Ma Chao escaped this time, the consequences would be disastrous.
Xu Shu said: "The pursuers will be able to cross the river tomorrow at the latest. It is not suitable to stay here for a long time. Let's go quickly!"
Ma Chao put his hands on his hips and pointed at the angry gulls of the Qiang people on the other side: "Party thieves, when I, Ma Chao, come back, you will be exterminated!"
Regardless of whether the other side could hear or not, everyone jumped on their horses and deliberately walked eastward along the river, pretending to go to Hanzhong. After bypassing the bend of the river, they continued southward towards Wuhan.
Although the Di people are different from the Qiang people, they are still nomadic and live by the water. Ma Chao only knows that they are in the territory of Panhan, and their specific location needs to be found.
On the second day, everyone entered a vast grassland, where they saw winding rivers, abundant water plants, large lakes reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, and lush greenery, making it look like a fairyland.
Ma Chao couldn't help but laugh on his horse and said: "I didn't expect that there would be such a piece of grassland in Wuhan. If King Di lives here, why would he need to move around?"
Everyone was relieved and happy to see it. They had been running away for days. When they saw this open space, they couldn't help but cheer. Their horses couldn't help snorting, trying to rush out.
"Just rest here and go fetch water!" Ma Chao ordered to dismount, while others went to fetch water.
Xu Shu frowned and said: "This grassland stretches for hundreds of miles and stretches as far as the eye can see. King Di is the lord. It is impossible that he doesn't know about it, but he doesn't come to occupy it. I'm afraid there is something fishy."
Ma Chao smiled and said: "The world is so big, there are all kinds of wonders, and there are also places I don't know about."
Ma Dai said with emotion: "When I got here, I was reminded of the land west of Hexi. Seven or eight hundred miles east and west along the weak water, there are also grasslands like this, with flocks of cattle and sheep, and thousands of horses galloping..."
When I was thinking about it, someone suddenly shouted, and everyone stood up, only to see a soldier fetching water, and he and his horse fell into the grass.
"No, that's a swamp over there!" Xu Shu stood up and shouted, "Quickly take off your belt and save people."
Ma Chao and others immediately took off their belts and threw them over. Everyone worked together to rescue the soldier, but the horse was already stuck in the mire, and in a blink of an eye, only half of the horse's head was left struggling outside.
A moment later, a horse disappeared out of thin air on the grass. Only a few bubbling sounds were heard, and everyone stared there in a daze.
"The swamp here is so terrifying!" Ma Dai said in astonishment: "I have never seen anything like this when I was in Hexi."
Xu Shu glanced around, frowned and said: "The water and grass here are rich, but there are no cattle, sheep or wild animals. The barbarians are not fighting for this place. Sure enough, there is a reason."
"It seems that this place is blocked. Do we have to go back the way we came?" Ma Chao smacked his lips and no longer dared to be arrogant. He knew that no matter how capable he was, once he fell into the swamp, he would only die.
When everyone was anxious, suddenly a horse team came galloping from the northwest. The first person wearing Cao's armor was Ma Le who went to find King Di.
Soon the cavalry team came closer, and Ma Chao shouted in surprise: "Agui? Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"General Tian, how great it is to see you again!"
On the black-maned horse, a dark-faced, strong man as thick as a black bear yelled. He turned over and ran over quickly before the horse was stable.
Ma Chao strode forward, and the two held their arms and laughed. One remembered the kindness of the past, and the other was grateful for saving the other when he was in trouble. This is the best test of friendship.
"How did you get to the Evil Spirit Grassland?" Agui asked doubtfully: "Fortunately, we are only on the edge now. If we walked in, I would not dare to look for you easily."
Ma Chao pointed at the soldiers covered in mud and sighed: "Someone almost died just now. This place is really weird, and the name is weird too."
Agui sighed: "General Tian doesn't know. This grassland is controlled by evil spirits. Every step is in danger. Moreover, the weather is changeable. It looks like a sunny day, but in the blink of an eye, there will be a storm, and even hail and snow in June and July. It is unpredictable. , entering this place is almost a narrow escape."
"Is it so scary?" Ma Chao was surprised.
"Come on, the storm is coming!" Agui pointed to a huge black cloud in the southeast, "Let's get out of here first."
As soon as he finished speaking, the windy and sunny grassland suddenly became violent, making people unable to stand steadily. Everyone hurriedly mounted their horses and retreated with the Di people's cavalry.
