Chapter 1280

First Volume, Chapter 1280: Playful and Bold

Gradually regaining his composure, Iron Beard feared his troops would scatter like birds and beasts at any moment, so he hastily feigned calmness to soothe them.

"Don't panic—there's no way the Northern Border's main force has come here to crush us."

"The Southern Border is still at war, and the King of the Northern Border is fully in charge of the Southern Campaign; this army must be heading to the Front Line to reinforce them, with no connection to us at all."

The others found this reasoning plausible—how could a ragtag band like theirs, hastily assembled, warrant such a massive mobilization by the Northern Border Troops?

After all, under Qin Feng's rule, the Northern Border had become an iron barrel.

Not just Beixi County—any Northern Border county city was heavily fortified and astonishingly well-armed.

After all, Beixi County was the model for all other counties, so the military strength of any single county was more than enough to crush Iron Beard; there was absolutely no need to mobilize the entire Northern Border Army.

But for safety's sake, Iron Beard immediately abandoned the assault on the mountain, ordering all rebel bandits to lie low among the hills, stay silent, and avoid drawing the attention of the Northern Border Army.

At that very moment, Qin Feng had already ordered the encirclement of Yunlan Mountain.

Ning Hu assisted in issuing the orders.

"Listen up—surround Yunlan Mountain completely; not a single fly is allowed to escape."

"These reckless rebels dare to touch Qin Family members—they will all perish here, not one shall be spared."

Regular Army is Regular Army—in an instant, the troops split into four columns.

Flanking forces moved to encircle, while a cavalry unit raced at top speed to seal off the southern slopes of Yunlan Mountain, joined by the troops stationed to the north.

In an instant, Yunlan Mountain was completely surrounded.

Only when Iron Beard learned that Yunlan Mountain had been encircled did he realize the situation was dire.

"Damn it, this is too weird—could this army have come here specifically for us?"

"Has one of you committed a crime so heinous that the County Yamen called in troops to crush us?"

In response to Iron Beard's accusations, the crowd remained utterly silent.

These rebel bandits followed Iron Beard only to find a meal—they had never intended to accomplish anything grand.

Since arriving in the Northern Border, the crimes they'd committed could be counted on one hand, all mere bandit raids and looting.

Logically, the Northern Border Army should have ignored them entirely.

Seeing no one speak, Iron Beard grew angrier—he gritted his teeth and snarled: "Are you all fucking mute?"

"I refuse to believe the Northern Border Army came here just for me, Iron Beard."

Chen Bolin could no longer hold back: "Aren't you already famous throughout the region? Is the Northern Border Army here for us, your insignificant little fish?"

At these words, Iron Beard flew into a rage: "Shut your fucking mouth!"

"I'd say the Northern Border Army came here for you!"

Iron Beard's violent reaction stemmed from his fear that his own men might bind him and hand him over to the Northern Border Army to beg for mercy.

This was no time for bravado.

Just as the argument dragged on, a strange voice suddenly came from nearby.

"Well, there sure are a lot of bandits in this mountain."

At these words, every eye in the crowd snapped toward the voice—there walked a young man, hands behind his back, leisurely approaching.

Who else could it be but Qin Feng?

To prevent the mountain bandits from panicking and threatening Shen Qingci's safety, Qin Feng decided to confront them directly.

Of course, he did not come alone—besides Ning Hu, he was accompanied by ten-plus Tianji Camp Guards.

Beyond them, dozens of Tianji Camp Guards and Anwu Guard were hidden in the woods behind.

Should conflict erupt, these forces were sufficient to ensure Qin Feng's safe withdrawal.

After all, Qin Feng faced a group of bandits clad in CottonCloth, wielding Broad Axes—not Regular Army—so he handled the situation with ease.

Seeing the mountain bandits on the verge of internal strife, Qin Feng felt even calmer.

With this rabble, attempting to annihilate thirty Tianji Camp Guards or harm Shen Qingci was pure fantasy.

Since the Tianji Camp Guards all wore layers of CottonCloth over their armor, they appeared merely imposing in build, with no visible aura of killing intent.

Iron Beard sized up Qin Feng and let out a cold snort.

"Who the hell are you? Come to steal the loot after hearing the news?"

"Heh, you're fucking unlucky."

At these words, the bandits all sneered—though terrified of the army below, they were fiercely defiant toward fellow outlaws.

"Idiot, why show up now? Of all times? You deserve this."

"You didn't lift a finger during the siege, and now you show up to claim your share? You won't even get a drop of broth."

Facing the bandits' insults and mockery, Qin Feng felt no anger—only amusement.

These fools, on the brink of death, still couldn't resist turning on each other—utterly stupid.

Qin Feng wasn't in a hurry—he'd play along.

"You haven't even started the assault yet—I've arrived at the perfect time. When the fighting begins, my men will take the lead."

"For the loot, I'll take only three-tenths."

Watching the young man's foolishness, Iron Beard burst into loud laughter.

"Stupid! Utterly stupid!"

"What the hell kind of time is this to be thinking about assaulting the mountain?"

"Even if you did attack, with your pitiful few men, you think you deserve three-tenths? You haven't even woken up."

Chen Bolin couldn't help but sneer: "You're some random nobody—I've never seen your face before; you're clearly no one important."

As he spoke, Chen Bolin pointed at Iron Beard.

"Open your dog eyes and look—this man is Iron Beard, the chief of Heifeng Camp, commanding three hundred men, already famous across the land before even setting foot in the Northern Border."

Hearing Chen Bolin's introduction, Iron Beard immediately puffed out his chest, striking a pose of supreme pride.

Then Chen Bolin began introducing himself: "As for me, I'm known as Jade Yama. Though I can't compare to the Grand Chief, I still have over a hundred brothers."

Chen Bolin glanced at the dozen or so men behind Qin Feng and sneered bitterly: "With so few of you, don't embarrass yourselves."

"If you kneel and light incense now and pledge to follow me, I might spare you a meal."

Ning Hu burst out laughing in fury; if Qin Feng weren't in high spirits, he would've already charged forward and cut that damn Jade Yama into pieces.

Qin Feng's smile grew even thicker.

"Don't judge me by my numbers—I fight like one man against two."