“Xiaorou, up you come!”
Jin Feng reached out and lifted Guan Xiaorou onto his horse. “Xiao Bei, you go to Mu Lan’s horse!”
“Got it!”
Tang Xiaobei agreed at once, grabbed Qing Mu Lan’s hand, and flipped onto the horse.
Old Black slashed the reins tying the cart horse with one stroke, then had the veterans position the carriage across the middle of the official road.
Though it was an official road, it was also a mountain path, not very wide, and the horizontally placed carriage blocked it completely.
A Mei opened the carriage door and pulled out a portable heavy crossbow along with a box of arrows.
Many parts of the heavy crossbow were forged from steel, and the arrow shafts were carved from extremely dense wood. Together they weighed over two hundred jin, something few ordinary male soldiers could carry.
Yet the seemingly slim and frail A Mei lifted the box with one effort and, following their prior drill, steadily placed it on the back of the cart horse.
“Old Black, bring this brother along!”
Jin Feng spotted the hunter and called back an instruction.
Had the hunter not come to warn them, they might have plunged straight into the bandits’ encirclement.
The hunter had risked his life to alert them, so Jin Feng could not ignore his safety.
“Old Zhang, take him!”
Old Black shouted, and a slight, wiry veteran pulled the hunter onto his horse’s back.
Giddyup!
Seeing everyone ready, Jin Feng shook the reins, and the warhorse galloped wildly along the mountain path.
They had barely left when the bandits arrived on their heels.
But the narrow mountain path was blocked by the carriage and some small trees.
By the time the bandits cleared the carriage, Jin Feng and his group, riding warhorses, had already fled three li away.
“Damn it, it’s all because of that meddling fool. Without him, Jin Feng would never have escaped!”
The bandit chief with a knife scar on his face said unwillingly.
The person who hired them was willing to pay two thousand taels of silver for Jin Feng’s life, one hundred taels for each veteran killed, and fifty taels for each female soldier.
In Scarface’s eyes, Jin Feng’s group was a mountain of silver worth several thousand taels.
Though they had to split the money with two other bandit groups, his share would still exceed a thousand taels.
But now the silver mountain had escaped.
As for whether killing Jin Feng would bring retaliation from Qing Huai, Scarface had never worried.
He was already an outlaw. With the silver, where couldn’t he go?
By the time Qing Huai got the news and rushed back, he would long since have vanished to enjoy himself somewhere.
“Old Liu always plans without leaks. Jin Feng definitely won’t escape.”
Another plump bandit chief said sinisterly, “Let’s keep chasing. I believe Jin Feng absolutely won’t get away!”
“Old Chu, tell me the truth. Do you know something?” Scarface asked. “Has Old Liu set an ambush further back?”
“I don’t know, but I know Old Liu’s character. Since he’s laid a plan, he wouldn’t have overlooked this possibility.”
The plump bandit chief asked, “Old Chen, what do you think? Chase or not?”
“We’ve come this far, let’s chase a bit further.”
The last bandit chief said.
Thus, the bandits continued the pursuit along the official road.
The plump bandit chief guessed correctly. Five li ahead, Jin Feng thought he had shaken off the bandits and was considering where to go next when, two zhang in front, a large tree growing between the cliff wall and the road suddenly toppled over.
The tree was as thick as a water bucket. If it hit them, they would likely be smashed flat into meat paste on the spot!
Jin Feng instinctively yanked the reins tight!
The warhorse neighed, its speed dropping rapidly. Jin Feng and Guan Xiaorou both leaned forward.
But as an excellent grassland breed, the warhorse only ran another four or five metres before stopping dead.
Boom!
The tree grazed the horse’s nose and crashed onto the mountain road, kicking up clouds of dust.
Jin Feng quickly bent to shield Guan Xiaorou, but his back was painfully lashed by branches, and his face was scratched open.
Old Black, running at the front, was less fortunate. His warhorse was directly struck by the tree, its neck crushed flat.
Fortunately, Old Black reacted swiftly, leaping off and throwing himself to the roadside.
Though momentum left him bruised and swollen, he had at least saved his life.
The other veterans behind all stopped, but two female soldiers, less skilled in horsemanship, collided with others’ mounts, making the scene somewhat chaotic.
When Jin Feng raised his head, he saw a group of bandits, no fewer than before, rushing out from behind the tree, source unknown.
“Kill Jin Feng, ten taels of silver reward per person!”
A bandit brandished his knife and shouted.
What did bandits do it for, if not silver?
The bandits, spurred on, charged with howling cries.
Yet the female soldiers were still in disarray, warhorses jammed on the narrow mountain path, unable to turn.
“Everyone, abandon the horses!”
Jin Feng decided instantly and shouted, “Old Black, hold them off! Female soldiers, cover with crossbows!”
“Yes!”
At Jin Feng’s command, all veterans and female soldiers leapt from their horses.
The ten veteran guards immediately formed two ranks, gripping knives with both hands, standing in horse stance before the tree!
Qing Mu Lan’s ten female guards simultaneously unhooked folding crossbows from their waists and swiftly strung them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! …
The next second, ten arrows flew out, passing over the veterans’ heads, and ten bandits on the opposite side fell.
But immediately more bandits filled the gaps!
Worse still, the replacements carried shields.
The second volley was entirely blocked by the shields.
“Kill!”
The bandits yelled as they leapt over the tree!
Yet what greeted them were gleaming black knives!
Jin Feng’s guards were handpicked elites from the veterans, not only highly skilled but perfectly coordinated, utterly unlike the rabble of bandits.
The first wave of charging bandits was cleanly dispatched by the veterans.
Unfortunately, more and more bandits surged forward, and with hand-to-hand combat underway, the male soldiers no longer crouched low, so the female soldiers dared not fire arrows freely for fear of hitting their own.
“Sir, there are too many bandits opposite. If we’re pinned down, once the rear bandits catch up, we’ll be attacked from both sides.”
Qing Mu Lan reminded, “Sir, do you have any plan?”
“Don’t talk, I’m thinking!”
Jin Feng scanned the terrain, his mind racing for a countermeasure.
Unfortunately, this spot was clearly chosen carefully by the bandits. One side of the road had the felled tree and a sheer cliff wall, impossible to climb.
The other side was a cliff over ten metres high, with no path.
In other words, they were trapped on this narrow mountain path.
Moreover, the rear bandits could arrive any moment, leaving Jin Feng too little time to devise a good plan!
Just as Jin Feng hesitated, the short hunter gathered his courage and approached, saying:
“Mr Jin, I’m a hunter, I often hunt in this area, I know a small path up the mountain, it’s better for defence over there!”
