Chapter 731: Bandits

The night road was not easy to walk, especially since the road ahead went uphill and began to be rugged. Thirty li was said, but the effort was comparable to sixty li. It never rains but it pours; snowflakes suddenly drifted down from the sky.

Standing here, they could only eat the northwest wind and make ice sticks. Everyone was helpless, so they had to urge the cattle and horses amidst complaints and continue forward.

"The roving bandits are becoming more and more rampant."

"Isn't it said that the Panlong City army is very powerful? Why don't they manage the bandits on this road?"

"My horse can't walk anymore."

"I won't come next time. I'm afraid of making money but not having a life to spend it!"

The team was full of complaints. He Lingchuan turned a deaf ear and only whispered to Menban and others.

Menban and others took orders and went to arrange the layout.

Sun Fuling watched from the side and suddenly said to He Lingchuan: "Have you been promoted again?"

"Hmm?" He Lingchuan touched his face, feeling a bit smug, "Where did you see that?"

Sun Fuling had a dimple on her cheek: "Bossy!"

"This is called commanding with ease!"

At this time, Nail came to report: "The wounded said that the Qinglang Post Station was attacked about two hours ago. The enemies were all water bandits, probably fifty or sixty people. They entered the post station to set fire and loot, snatching food, horses, and the guests' property."

"I heard the last attack was seven days ago. The merchants were right; these bandits are becoming more and more rampant." Menban said hatefully, "If this continues, the trade route will be greatly affected."

"Cheer up, increase the alert range." He Lingchuan exhaled, "Notify the brothers, feed the horses, pack the gear; ten li ahead is Hunlong Ridge."

Once it snowed, it got dark quickly. Ten or twenty breaths later, the scenery fifty zhang away could not be seen clearly.

The caravan lit torches and continued forward.

The peregrine falcon flew down again and said: "Those two silly birds flew away, not following anymore."

"That's because there is only one road south, and we must pass through Hunlong Ridge." Liu Tiao said, "They have no need to track anymore."

He Lingchuan took out a knife and handed it to Sun Fuling: "Does the Master know how to use a knife?"

He was afraid they were going to get busy.

"Naturally." Sun Fuling took the knife and hid it under her cloak, "For a while, you don't need to worry about me."

He Lingchuan knew she was never pretentious; if she said she didn't need to be worried about, then she really didn't need to be.

In the miserable wind and bitter snow, the caravan walked to Hunlong Ridge.

The high and low mountain ridges were full of stone nests.

There were two roads to the free port, and Hunlong Ridge was one of them. Although it was not easy to walk, it was much better than the other strong road. For so many years, the caravans coming and going had all walked Hunlong Ridge.

Halfway through the journey, the road became narrower and narrower, and the scout ahead suddenly blew a loud whistle—

Ambush! Immediately after, a rain of arrows arrived.

Merchants and passengers hugged their heads and hid behind the carts without saying a word, handing the scene over to the guards.

Weren't they hired to accompany them to ensure their safety? The guards had just driven the carts into a circle to form a cart formation when the bandits on the heights threw homemade earth mines at them, blowing up the livestock and neighing endlessly. Immediately after, this gang of bandits waved their blades and charged down with "ao ao ao" shouts.

There were over a hundred people, and there were people on the hillside shooting cold arrows to support their companions. The cooperation was quite skilled, which showed that they had done these things many times.

At this time, the bandits heard a voice coming from the caravan, calm and short: "Extinguish the fire, kill!"

The torches in the caravan were all extinguished with a few "pu pu" sounds.

Torches in the night are targets; they must be extinguished to kill in the dark.

This was a night of wind, snow, and killing. The caravan leader shrank behind the cart, only hearing the sound of blades clashing, screams, and curses in the outside world.

He wanted to see the situation outside the cart formation, but as soon as he stretched his head, his face felt hot, and he was poured with a salty, fishy liquid.

He shrank his head back, smacked his lips, blood?

Ah pui pui pui!

At this time, a three or four-year-old child crawled out from behind his mother to pick up a toy outside the carriage.

The merchant was shocked: "Don't go..."

Before the words fell, a bandit was knocked away by Menban's shield and happened to fall on the toy.

Seeing Menban about to rush in, he grabbed the child in a flash and held a knife to his neck: "Don't move, or I'll kill him!"

Menban's pace paused.

Just at this time, someone walked silently behind the bandit, twisted the bandit's arm, and the knife in his hand flew away.

The bandit felt light in his hand and didn't react; immediately after, his cheek felt sharp pain, and his eyes went black...

Everyone present heard a dull "bang," the bandit's neck was kicked crooked, and he fell down, unconscious, and something in his mouth was kicked seven feet away, happening to fall into the merchant's hand.

The merchant felt something extra in his hand and looked down, it was actually a bloody tooth! He was so scared that he shivered and threw it away.

Sun Fuling stood up calmly and picked up the child on the ground: "This is too dangerous."

The child just grinned at her, his teeth hadn't even grown out, how could he understand the word "dangerous"? Master Sun: "..."

She stuffed the child back into his mother's arms: "Watch him, don't crawl around."

"Uh." Menban, who witnessed everything, scratched his head. The Master looked delicate and beautiful, but she beat people up more fiercely than Liu Tiao? No wonder Boss He was so afraid of her. Looking at the unconscious bandit again, his chin was swelling rapidly, bigger than a steamed bun.

Sss, it's fine here, he turned to help Liu Tiao.

After about half a quarter of an hour, the sound of fighting in the darkness gradually faded.

Someone shouted to retreat, and there was the sound of hoofbeats, moving from near to far.

The merchants didn't even dare to breathe.

Soon, there was no movement around.

That calm voice sounded again: "Light the fire, it's over."

Torches were lit one after another, and the caravan members climbed up from behind the carts, seeing the mess on the ground—

People fell all over the ground, and blood flowed all over the ground.

But they were basically strangers.

"The bandits were beaten back?" Everyone looked at each other, "We won?"

That lazy-looking teenager stood at the very front, with a few drops of blood sliding off the bright blade, which was particularly eye-catching on the white snow.

The caravan leader subconsciously shrank his legs to avoid the blood dripping onto his boots.

The teenager noticed it, and the knife in his hand shook and disappeared.

Other guards all had blood and hair on their weapons, full of killing intent.

However, the guards all followed his lead, and even the few who returned from chasing the fleeing bandits bowed their heads to him and said: "Commander, six or seven ran away."

"No need to chase." He Lingchuan waved his hand, "Let them go back and pass a message."

"Commander?" The caravan leader looked around, "Are, are you a soldier?"

They clearly only hired two teams of guards.

"Great Wind Army." Menban wiped the red and white stuff off his shield, "You are lucky to have met us fishing in plain clothes."

Actually hiring the Great Wind Army as guards, the caravan was overjoyed and thanked them one after another. Burning high incense before going out was indeed useful! The Great Wind Army escorted the caravan over the ridge and successfully arrived at the next post station before turning northeast.

The most dangerous section of the Xiji road had passed, and the escort mission that He Lingchuan and others did on the way ended, and they were going to Yuheng City next.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 732 =====