Grinding to Martial Emperor from the Border Army

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Encounter

With Sun dead, the other guards scattered in a panic.

However, Lu Yuan’s group outnumbered them, and their leaders were all quite strong.

Lu Yuan, in particular, flipped his Palm Moon Saber, his gaze fixed on a Bone Forging expert. With a roar from his warhorse, he was upon his opponent in an instant.

He simply thrust the blade forward.

"SLICE!"

The Bone Forging expert was cleaved down the chest, his organs and a spray of blood erupting and splattering onto the ground.

Wu Han’s axe swung in wide, powerful arcs, felling a man with every blow. The horse bandits behind him were just as savage, brandishing their sabers and cutting down their enemies with reckless abandon.

In a short time, the Sun Family’s entire retinue was wiped out.

Not a single person was left alive.

"CRACK!"

An Entry Level horse bandit pried open a chest, his face lit up with excitement. He yelled to Wu Han, "Chieftain, it’s all iron armor!"

The men swarmed forward, prying open one chest after another on the carts.

Most of the chests were filled with iron armor. While slightly different from standard military issue, it was still finely crafted.

"Put on a set of armor! We’re taking the rest with us."

Wu Han bellowed.

His men swarmed forward and began strapping on the armor.

Ignoring the blood and grime caking their faces, their eyes shone with excitement.

Hauling all this armor back by cart would be too slow. Having the men wear some of it was a better solution, as it would significantly ease the burden of transport.

About an hour later, more than two hundred fierce-looking men, now clad in iron armor, stood ready.

Wu Han scanned the group, a satisfied expression on his face.

Lu Yuan knew that after this, it would be difficult for this force *not* to rise to prominence beyond the border.

No ordinary band of horse bandits could stand against a force clad in iron armor. Any group Wu Han targeted would be annihilated sooner or later.

Over a hundred sets of armor were left over.

Furthermore, they found a large stack of silver notes on Sun’s body.

Wu Han took the notes and counted them. It was about fifty thousand taels of silver. He casually handed them to Lu Yuan. "After selling weapons and armor, the Sun Family would buy medicinal herbs and horses unique to the Northern Barbarians to take back."

"Sun brought a lot of silver with him this time—a full fifty thousand taels."

He finished with a wide grin. He was always happy to see the Sun Family suffer.

Lu Yuan accepted the silver notes without ceremony, but he still counted out a portion, giving ten thousand taels each to Wu Han and Zhou He.

Wu Han tried to refuse, but Lu Yuan waved it away. "I’ve been short on silver for my cultivation recently, so I’ll take the lion’s share. Don’t scoff at this ten thousand taels—send someone to buy grain. The men who follow you need to eat."

"Besides, you also need Elixirs for your own cultivation. And if you can, train more trusted subordinates."

"Alright. I’ll do as you say." Wu Han didn’t argue, taking the silver notes and stashing them away.

As for Zhou He, he was grinning so wide his eyes nearly disappeared.

He’d earned over ten thousand taels of silver from a single trip. Even though Lu Yuan took the lion’s share, he felt no dissatisfaction whatsoever.

He was very clear about his place in the hierarchy.

’My job is to be Lu Yuan’s right-hand man. Besides, if it weren’t for him, Wu Han and I would have died that night. We wouldn’t even be standing here otherwise.’

Once everything was settled, the column of men started toward their stronghold.

Because they were laden with loot this time, Wu Han sent scouts ahead to clear the path.

While they weren’t afraid of encountering imperial forces, they didn’t want a direct confrontation.

Lu Yuan rode leisurely, taking an occasional sip from his wine flask.

’This operation went smoothly. Once I get back and buy some Elixirs, I can focus on my cultivation.’

’Then, whether war breaks out with the Northern Barbarians or I’m just staying in the city, I won’t have to worry about running out of resources.’

Just as they had been traveling for about two hours, with the sky gradually darkening...

"CLIP-CLOP!"

The mounted scout Wu Han had dispatched suddenly galloped back.

"Chieftain, there’s a fierce battle up ahead! It looks like imperial troops are trying to capture someone."

Before Wu Han could even respond to the scout, Lu Yuan ordered in a low voice, "Go around them."

Laden with goods, they naturally wanted to avoid any conflict.

The scout looked to Wu Han, who promptly raised his whip and cracked it against the man’s head. "From now on, his word is my command. I listen to him, so you’d better do the same. Now get moving."

"Yes, Chieftain!"

The scout acknowledged the order and spurred his horse forward to relay the command.

Meanwhile, Madam Xiao and her daughter were fleeing in a sorry state across the Wasteland.

Dozens of Iron Kites served as their escorts.

But close behind them, several hundred imperial troops were in hot pursuit. Their horses were soaked in sweat, white foam flecking from their mouths.

This time, the Northern Barbarians had dispatched one thousand Elite Cavalry and one hundred Iron Kites to meet them, a force that even included experts from the National Preceptor’s Mansion.

It was a small, elite force, meant to be inconspicuous and more than capable of completing the mission.

But who could have expected that the Brocade Robe Envoys of Dayong would get wind of their plans?

Thus, a simple mission devolved into a running battle.

Helian Tielin himself had come out of the city with a Brocade Robe Envoy to make the capture.

The two sides had clashed the moment they met. Fortunately, the experts from the National Preceptor’s Mansion, leading the thousand Elite Cavalry, managed to hold off the General’s Family Head, the expert aiding the Brocade Robe Envoy, and the bulk of the pursuing army.

This was the only reason the Iron Kites had been able to fight their way out while escorting Xiao Hua and her mother.

However, a Centurion from the Brocade Robe Guard Office was now in hot pursuit. While he had no top-tier experts with him, he was followed by several hundred mercenaries from the garrison. The few dozen Iron Kites protecting the Xiao mother and daughter were no match for such a force.

All they could do was fight and flee.

Beneath the pitch-black sky, shrill cries occasionally echoed across the Wasteland.

Lu Yuan and his men heard the shouting but paid it no mind, simply urging their horses to go faster.

But as fate would have it, trouble found them anyway.

As they were rounding a hill, the scout who had just left galloped back again. "Chieftain, there’s a group heading right for us! They look like Northern Barbarians, and there’s an imperial army chasing them!"

At the scout’s report, Lu Yuan spurred his horse to the front of the column.

He could already hear the faint thundering of hooves.

He turned to Wu Han. "Since we can’t avoid them, we’d better prepare to fight."

As he spoke, he hefted the Crescent Saber in his hand.

This particular saber had been taken from the spoils and was of much better quality than the one he had been using from their stronghold.

"Alright, I’m with you," Wu Han said, though he hesitated. "But who are we fighting?"

After all, both the Northern Barbarians and the imperial forces were his enemies now.

Lu Yuan considered for a moment. "Let’s wait and see."

With that, he looked ahead. Behind him, the horse bandits raised their blades, licking their lips with bloodthirsty grins.

Up ahead, Xiao Hua and her party were galloping straight toward them.

They hadn’t noticed the figures blocking their path, and by the time they did, it was too late.

They stared at the fierce, armor-clad warriors blocking their path, weapons at the ready.

The faces of both Madam Xiao and her daughter, Xiao Hua, turned pale.

"HREEEEEE!"

At that exact moment, Xiao Hua’s warhorse finally gave out, collapsing to the ground with a piteous cry.

Despair filled Madam Xiao’s eyes.

Clearly, even without this new group blocking their path, they would never have escaped the pursuit of the Dayong cavalry.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!