Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Cherji, Yadan and others gathered together and faced a grim situation. The enemy was numerous and surrounded them, and their strength had been greatly weakened.

Cherigi looked at everyone with a firm gaze, his voice filled with determination: "We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must find a way out!"

Yadan nodded, clutching his injured arm and saying, "Prince, we can use the terrain to find a weak point and break through."

They quietly observed the surrounding situation and found a loophole in the enemy's defense. Cherigi led the group and launched a charge in that direction.

The battle was fierce, and everyone fought with all their might. Cherrigi brandished his scimitar and fought bravely, his figure like a god of war.

In the fierce fighting, they gradually broke through the enemy's defense line. Yadan led the remaining tribesmen to follow closely behind, coordinating with Cheliji.

Finally, they rushed to where the horses were. Yueji had already grabbed several horses and was waiting for them.

Cheliji jumped onto a horse and looked back at the people behind him, a glint of determination flashing in his eyes: "We must get out alive and avenge the Qiang King and his dead people!"

They galloped on their horses, broke through the enemy's last line of defense, and flew away into the distance.

On the way to escape, Cheliji was filled with grief and anger. He vowed to take back the tribe and eliminate the traitor Tuguli.

Cheliji and others tried their best to escape from the pursuit, but Tuguli's troops pursued them relentlessly. They were exhausted and the situation became increasingly critical.

They rode non-stop all the way, from the starry sky to the bright sky, not daring to stop for a moment. Tuguli's pursuers were like leeches attached to their bones, and just when they felt despair, a small tribe in front appeared before their eyes, like a ray of light in the darkness.

--split line--

It was just dawn and the air was filled with mist. Ma Chao walked out of the tent of a small Qiang tribe. The Qiang girl in the next tent had been waiting for Ma Chao all night. When her hints failed, she asked Ma Chao directly for a night of lovemaking. However, Ma Chao slept well all night and did not enter her tent. The Qiang girl's enthusiasm made Ma Chao quite uncomfortable. He did not even bother to eat breakfast and was ready to hurry on his way. The Qiang girl heard a noise from the next door and hurried out. Under the Qiang girl's resentful gaze, Ma Chao packed his bags and was about to set off. Suddenly, he was startled and felt the ground shaking a little. Ma Chao relied on his experience and knew that at least fifty cavalrymen were coming. Ma Chao quickly shouted "Meet the enemy~~"

The Qiang soldiers quickly emerged from their tents, scimitars and pitchforks in hand. Before they could mount their horses, they saw a group of cavalrymen galloping towards them in the distance. Ma Chao ordered everyone to pile up the carts used for daily transport outside the tribe's tents, forming a small defensive perimeter. The Qiang soldiers stood guard behind the perimeter, weapons drawn.

Ma Chao mounted his horse with his spear in hand and stood in front of the formation. The knights in the distance were getting closer and closer. In front of him were two or three young Qiang people, one of whom had feather arrows stuck in his body. The people behind him were chasing him relentlessly and shooting arrows from time to time. Ma Chao shouted: "Knights in front, don't shoot. There are innocent Qiang people behind me. Don't hurt the innocent." The Qiang man in front was only concerned about running for his life, shouting as he ran: "Save me, brave man. I am Prince Cheliji. There are rebels behind me. The Qiang King has been killed. Please help me stop the pursuers!" The pursuers behind him didn't care and shot arrows directly in front. The arrows flew, and hit the outer chariot formation with a sound of "bang, bang, bang". The Qiang people hid behind and trembled, not even daring to raise their heads for fear of being hit by the arrows.

Seeing that the pursuers were attacking indiscriminately and didn't care about the lives of the Qiang people at all, Ma Chao was furious. He pushed away the spearheads with his spear and rushed forward on his horse.

Ma Chao swung his spear and swept away the oncoming arrows. When he got closer, he found that the people being chased were Cheliji and his men. He found that they were disheveled and their faces were covered in smoke and fire. They had lost all their heroic spirit of the day. Without saying a word, he let them go to the camp to hide. Ma Chao then gathered his energy and charged towards the pursuers' camp. When the second round of arrows came, Ma Chao turned left and right, and his chestnut horse rushed into the pursuers' camp against the rain of arrows. The pursuers shouted and surrounded Ma Chao. Ma Chao was not surprised at all. He swung out his Thousand Army Breaking Spear, and two pursuers in front of him were strung together like a gourd and fell off their horses. When the spear slipped out of his hand, Ma Chao drew out the Qiang King's sword and slashed left and right, killing two more people. The horse was still charging forward. When it rushed to the spear, Ma Chao drew out the spear again. He slashed with the sword in his left hand and stabbed with the spear in his right hand. No one could stop him from the pursuers. He broke through the enemy's formation all the way, turned around and continued to charge, and then broke through the enemy's formation from the back to the front again. He reined in his horse and stood with his spear across. More than half of the pursuers had been killed or wounded, and the remaining pursuers were terrified and stopped. Seeing that the pursuers had lost their morale and worried about the injuries of Cheliji and his men, Ma Chao hung up his spear, took out his bow and arrow, opened the bow like a full moon, and shot out arrows like meteors. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, three pursuers fell off their horses. Ma Chao shouted, "If you dare to take a step forward, these three will be your fate!" The rest of the people were terrified and fled in panic.

Seeing his pursuers flee in fear, Ma Chao, concerned for Cheliji's well-being, decided not to pursue them. Amid the cheers of the Qiang people, he spurred his horse back to the barracks. Upon entering, he saw Cheliji, Yadan, and the other two already bandaged. He inquired about Cheliji's circumstances since their separation, and how he had ended up in such a predicament. Cheliji recounted his experiences since returning.

It turned out that Cheliji and Yadan were trapped in a desperate situation and were fighting a bloody battle. Yueji led the tribesmen who had been dismissed before and came with horses. The cavalry charged the infantry, like a god descending from the sky, tearing the encirclement apart, rescuing Cheliji and Yadan, and mounting them on horses, and breaking out of the tent.

Seeing that Cheliji was about to break out, Tuguli quickly sent more troops and arranged for cavalry to intercept him. After a bloody battle, Cheliji was exhausted and finally broke out. The cavalry was chasing him closely. In desperation, Cheliji's guards split half of their troops to block the pursuers and buy time for Cheliji to escape. Tuguli also sent more troops. Except for the troops guarding the Qiang leader, most of them were sent to pursue Cheliji. Even if they left troops to block the way, they would not be able to hold out for long. In desperation, Yadan suggested dividing the troops to disrupt the pursuers' route and increase their chances of escape. Cheliji looked back at his remaining entourage of guards, only about fifty in number, all wounded. Most of these were sons and nephews of various chieftains, who had kept them with him simply to gain closeness to the Shaoqiang King. He hadn't expected them to stick with him even in this desperate situation. Overwhelmed with emotion, he decided to prevent his brothers from dying in vain, and to spread the news of Tuguli's usurpation and murder, as well as the imprisonment of the tribal leaders, by accepting Yadan's suggestion. They formed small groups of five and fled in all directions. Cheliji, Yueji, and two of Yadan's companions also died along the way, having been left behind to block the pursuers.

At this point, Cheliji was extremely sad, with blood running through his pupils. He said in a sad and painful voice: "Actually, my brothers don't have to die. Tuguli is a beast in human skin. He just wanted to kill me. My brothers died for me. If he didn't care about me, Tuguli would not dare to kill them. Damn Tuguli. My father was very sincere to him and loved him very much. I didn't expect that he would turn around and kill his brother and usurp the throne for power. Ah, I hate him so much, woo woo..." Ma Chao looked at Cheliji's embarrassed appearance, the multiple wounds on his body, and his face that was blackened by smoke after breaking out of the fire. Thinking of his high-spirited appearance that day, he felt really sad to see him look so depressed now.