Chapter 98: Eight Horses at Dragon River

On the slope of Qika Mountain, eight war horses descended from above, reaching the foot of the mountain in the blink of an eye.

A man in his mid-thirties on the lead horse held the reins and swung his riding crop: "Open fire!"

At the command, the people on seven war horses held their reins with their left hands and raised automatic rifles with their right hands toward the sky.

"Rat-tat-tat...!"

The deafening gunfire echoed at the foot of the mountain, sustained and clear.

At the mountain's foot, when the dock gang crowd heard such intense gunfire, they thought the garrison had arrived and instinctively looked up toward the slope.

Dawn was breaking and the sun was rising in the east. Xu Hu stood in the crowd and could see that all eight riders were wearing military uniforms.

By the seven cars, Su Tianyu looked at the slope in shock and helped up Bai Hongbo who had been knocked down.

The rest of the people all leaned against their battered cars, panting, gripping their weapons tightly, looking at the dock gang crowd with frightened and relieved eyes.

After a brief standoff, as the eight horses charged to the mountain's foot, everyone finally saw the riders' faces clearly.

All eight wore army green uniforms, carried automatic rifles in their right hands, and had weapon holsters hanging on the left side of their saddles containing pistols and grenades.

The man in his mid-thirties on the lead horse, though of average build with dark skin, had a strong and handsome face. He wore no rank insignia on his shoulders. However, from the shoulder boards and arm patches of the other seven, they didn't appear to be Dragon City soldiers, nor did they look like Xinaluo's government troops.

The eight horses slowly advanced to the front of the seven cars.

"Who's Xu Hu?" the young soldier on the second horse called out, holding his riding crop.

Xu Hu frowned at him without speaking, while a burly man beside him stepped forward: "What's the meaning of this? Whose people are you?"

The young man on the second horse pulled his reins, making his horse step forward slowly, and looked down at them saying: "No need for idle talk. Dock gang clear the way, we're escorting seven cars and their people into the city."

"Who the fuck are you?" the dock gang's burly man cursed with furrowed brows. "You think you can just go in because you say so?!"

The soldier on the second horse directly pointed his gun at the burly man's face: "I'll say it one more time, clear the way."

"Clear your mother's way!" The burly man, unafraid of the gun, pointed back at him: "If you want to pass, ask if the dock gang's hundreds of brothers agree!"

"Who the fuck are you people?!"

"Get back, or we'll deal with you too!"

"...!"

In the center of the crowd, someone asked Wei Xiangzuo: "Sitting hall, which faction are these people from? Never seen them before?"

"They look Chinese, but I'm not sure either," Wei Xiangzuo shook his head.

Xu Hu couldn't figure out their identity and didn't want to offend people unnecessarily, so he stepped forward and called out: "I'm Xu Hu from the dock gang, what do you mean by this?"

"So you're Xu Hu?" the man on the second horse still looked down at him and demanded.

"Yes!"

"What a coincidence, my commander also has 'hu' in his name," the soldier on the second horse looked at the man on the lead horse and said: "This is Zhao Weihu of the Xinaluo Ruler Army!!!"

Xu Hu was stunned for a moment, then immediately replied: "We have no quarrel with the Ruler Army!"

On the lead horse, the man called Zhao Weihu ignored him and just turned to point his riding crop at Su Tianyu and the others, saying: "Get in your cars, we'll escort you across the bridge."

Hearing this, Yu Mingyuan immediately waved and called: "Get in the cars, quickly!"

Su Tianyu and the others naturally didn't waste words and obediently got into their cars.

Xu Hu had heard of the Ruler Army. They were a private armed force that had been active in the Xinaluo region in recent years, mostly composed of Chinese. It was said that the group's founders were all former officers of Zone One's Chinese Army Corps, but for some unknown reason, these people had committed the crime of desertion and entered regions like Xinaluo to form an armed force.

Why were they called the Ruler Army?

Because warfare was frequent in the Xinaluo region, and the Ruler Army helped whoever paid them more, with payment calculated by the length of attack or defense lines. These people charged money for every ruler's length they moved, so outsiders called them this.

At the mountain's foot, Su Tianyu and the others got into their cars.

The young man on the second horse pointed his crop at Xu Hu and the others and shouted: "Clear out!"

"You're just the fucking Ruler Army, eight people won't work!" Xu Hu shouted through gritted teeth with red eyes. "No one can protect these people today! Dock gang brothers with guts, raise your guns, let's test the Ruler Army brothers!"

"Don't move!"

"One more step and I'll shoot you!"

"...!"

The dock gang members with guns also stepped forward, pointing their guns at Zhao Weihu and his men.

"Either you retreat, or I'll deal with you too," Xu Hu's composure had long since shattered. Now never mind the Ruler Army, even if it were government troops, in his agitated state he might not be able to make calm judgments.

"Deal with me too? That's quite bold!" Zhao Weihu, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly pulled his reins. "Charge!"

The war horse moved forward as Zhao Weihu drew his short gun and opened fire directly at the gun-wielding lackeys at the front of the dock gang.

"Bang bang!"

As the gunshots rang out, two men were shot in the legs and instantly fell.

At the same time, the soldiers on the other seven horses all moved their horses to shield Zhao Weihu.

"Fuck you, what's so special about the Ruler Army?!"

A dock gang leader raised his gun and shouted: "Get them!"

"Whoosh!"

Just then, the young man on the second horse pulled out a signal flare from his waist and pulled the pin.

"Swoosh!!!"

A signal flare instantly shot out and exploded in the sky.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat...!"

In an instant, gunfire erupted across nearly a kilometer of the Qika Mountain slope, dense and deafening.

As dawn broke, over a hundred military pickup trucks on the mountain ridge collectively turned on their high beams, shining down the mountain.

Ruler Army soldiers stood on both sides of the vehicles, guns aimed downward, their bearing imposing but showing no intention of crossing the border line.

Xu Hu turned to look, his scalp tingling.

"If eight people won't work, how about over a hundred pickup trucks?" the young man on the second horse, shouldering his automatic rifle, raised his eyebrows and demanded of Xu Hu.

Xu Hu clenched his fists, motionless.

"The dock gang people can't leave until I do," Zhao Weihu pointed his riding crop at Xu Hu and said, then pulled his reins forward.

Yu Mingyuan had now realized why the garrison hadn't shown up. If they came, the navy's people would also come, and then if both sides reached a standoff, no one could handle it well if something big happened.

So the garrison didn't come, but the Ruler Army did!

What was the garrison for? They were Dragon City's official armed forces active in the outer areas - how could they not know about armed groups operating in the surrounding areas? How could they not have contact with them?

What was called officials and bandits being one family? What was called the army?!

It was obvious!

Yu Mingyuan covered his head and ran to Zhao Weihu's horse, immediately looking up and calling out: "Commander... Commander Zhao, your identity is quite sensitive. Better take Xu Hu in together, otherwise if the navy troops give you trouble, this...?"

"Just a lackey operating in the open, what use is he?" Zhao Weihu pulled his horse's reins and replied. "No problem, just us eight will escort you."

At these words, the second horse waved to the mountain.

On the Qika Mountain slope, the Ruler Army soldiers shouted loudly: "Get lost, clear the way!!!"

In the car.

Su Tianbei looked at Zhao Weihu on his war horse and couldn't help but sigh: "Really fucking awesome! What are Thunder Boys? What are desperados? This is the real deal!"

Su Tianyu didn't reply, just lowered his head and urgently sent a text message.