Jin Feng had always believed in letting professionals handle professional matters, so that everyone could maximise their role.
He was an engineer, not a warrior, so he preferred staying in the laboratory rather than the battlefield.
If there were any other way, he would not rush to the front line to bayonet the enemy.
But now, he had no choice.
The bandits’ archers were something Jin Feng had not anticipated, causing the veterans to suffer over half casualties in an instant.
The veterans were their strongest martial guarantee at present. Without Old Black and the others, the female soldiers alone could not hold the mountain pass.
They would also lose their only terrain advantage.
So, no matter what, they had to rescue Old Black and hold this last line of defence.
“A Lan, bring the rest with me!”
At Jin Feng’s command, the female soldiers all stowed their crossbows, drew black knives from their waists, and followed Jin Feng charging out from the summit towards Old Black and the others.
The hunter hesitated for a moment, then drew his machete from his waist and followed closely behind Jin Feng.
“Master…”
Guan Xiaorou covered her mouth, her eyes reddening at once.
“Hold it in, no crying!”
Qing Mu Lan glared at Guan Xiaorou. “In the army, when men go to fight, women crying is inauspicious!”
Hearing this, Guan Xiaorou forcibly held back her tears.
Tang Xiaobei looked somewhat nervous yet excited, her little face flushed red. The small crossbow Jin Feng had specially made for her was gripped tightly, ready to fire at any moment.
“A Mei, we take control of the heavy crossbow!”
Qing Mu Lan arranged. “Xiao Bei, Xiaorou, haven’t you both learned crossbows? Keep your eyes on the enemy archers opposite. The moment they lower their shields, take them out immediately. Understood?”
“Understood!”
Tang Xiaobei raised her crossbow.
Guan Xiaorou nodded heavily too.
Qing Mu Lan nodded, then led A Mei to the heavy crossbow.
She handled aiming and firing, while A Mei managed the windlass for stringing.
“A Mei, if we can’t hold, you must do everything possible to take the master and break out!”
Qing Mu Lan suddenly turned to A Mei, her face more grave than ever.
“What about you, miss?”
A Mei asked.
She was Qing Mu Lan’s personal guard, not Jin Feng’s.
Though she had a good impression of Jin Feng and usually helped him when Qing Mu Lan had no needs, in a life-or-death crisis, her first priority was still Qing Mu Lan.
“A Mei, do you know why I came to Jin Chuan?”
Qing Mu Lan turned to look north. “Brother Qing Huai told me that Great Kang can do without anyone else, but absolutely cannot do without the master.
Brother Qing Huai sent me to Jin Chuan not just to learn skills, but more importantly to protect the master, because Brother Qing Huai said he is the only one who can block the northern grasslands and prevent the people of Great Kang from perishing!”
In the era of imperial power, Qing Mu Lan’s words were absolutely treasonous.
Normally, she would never say them, but now their lives hung by a thread, and she could not care about that.
“So, A Mei, I order you: if the master is in danger, you must use every means to take him away. Understood?!”
Qing Mu Lan stared fixedly at A Mei.
A Mei hesitated but finally nodded and agreed. “Yes!”
Only then did Qing Mu Lan feel relieved and look down.
By now, Jin Feng had led the female soldiers to the slope.
Old Black, with the four veterans still able to fight, was already engaged in close combat with the bandits.
Without teammates’ assistance, Old Black’s group struggled greatly but still held the not-so-wide pass.
“A Zhu, A Juan, take the wounded brothers back. A Lan, take four to fill in behind Old Black’s group. The rest act freely, mainly watch for the enemy archers!”
Jin Feng picked up a black knife left by a fallen veteran from the ground while quickly arranging.
Though the female soldiers’ combat power was inferior to the males, assisting behind Old Black’s group and finishing off enemies was no problem.
Old Black’s pressure suddenly eased, and they steadily held the pass.
The bandit archers behind the suicide squad, seeing female soldiers join the battle, all lowered shields and drew longbows again.
“You finally dare show your heads!”
Qing Mu Lan, who had been watching the archers, snorted coldly, raised her hand, aimed at one, and pulled the trigger.
Joining her were two freely acting female soldiers, plus Guan Xiaorou and Tang Xiaobei.
Before the bandit archers could even nock arrows, four were taken out by the sudden volley.
The remaining two survived not because Qing Mu Lan’s group missed but because they lacked prior coordination on targets, with two hitting the same archer.
And Tang Xiaobei missed…
The two surviving archers, though alive, were scared into raising shields and crouching, daring not to peek out again.
“Jin Feng is in the field himself. The guards definitely won’t dare fire the heavy crossbow. Everyone charge!”
The bandit chiefs below, seeing veterans and suicide squad locked in combat, immediately led the remaining bandits rushing up.
In an instant, the narrow mountain path was packed with heads.
“Brothers, hold on!”
Jin Feng roared with red eyes. “Trust me. Hold until dark, and I will definitely get everyone out alive!”
“Haha, without the master, my son would have died long ago from lack of medicine money. From the day I reached West River Bay, my life has been the master’s!”
Old Black kicked away an opposing bandit and laughed. “If I don’t trust the master, who can I trust?”
“Haha, me too!”
The other veterans laughed in agreement.
The female soldiers said nothing but proved themselves with actions.
By now, the path before the veterans was dyed red with bandit blood, but sustained high-intensity combat drained stamina greatly. With too many bandits, Old Black’s group gradually faltered.
Finally, one veteran dodged too slowly, got stabbed in his knife-wielding right arm, and the black knife fell to the ground.
Then his leg took another slash.
The bandit grinned, raising his knife to stab the veteran’s neck.
The veteran, knifeless, could not dodge.
At that moment, A Lan behind grabbed the veteran’s collar, pulled him back, and stepped into his position.
A Lan had not fought bandits head-on, so her stamina was full. After replacing the veteran, she consecutively killed four bandits, greatly reducing pressure on the veterans.
A Lan’s performance surprised Jin Feng greatly.
He had not expected the female soldiers to progress so much.
The veterans’ stamina was heavily depleted. Jin Feng feared more casualties if they continued, so since the female soldiers could hold temporarily, he immediately arranged for them to replace the males when opportunities arose.
Ten minutes later, Old Black’s four were also replaced by female soldiers and retreated panting to the rear.
Fighting continuously for nearly half an hour with nerves at peak tension, they were long exhausted.
Jin Feng had to enter the fray himself, leading the hunter and the remaining three female soldiers as auxiliaries to A Lan’s group.
“That’s West River Bay’s Jin Feng. Brothers, charge! The chief said whoever kills Jin Feng gets two hundred taels of silver!”
A bandit underling recognised Jin Feng, and then all bandits surged like mad, stepping over comrades’ corpses.
A Lan and A Ju blocking in front of Jin Feng suddenly faced immense pressure.
