Night roads were hard to travel, especially with the route ahead beginning to climb into the mountains, where the road turned rugged. Although the caravan leader said fifteen kilometers, in terms of effort, it was actually enough to match thirty.
When it rained, it poured. Snowflakes suddenly began drifting down from the sky.
Standing here, all they could do was eat the northwest wind and turn into popsicles. Helpless, everyone could only urge the oxen and horses onward amid a chorus of complaints and continue forward.
“The wandering bandits are getting more and more rampant.”
“Don’t they all say Panlong City’s army is very powerful? Why don’t they do something about the bandits on this road?”
“My horse can’t even walk anymore.”
“I’m not coming next time. I’m afraid I’ll earn the money but won’t live to spend it!”
The caravan was full of grumbling, but He Lingchuan acted as though he heard none of it. He only lowered his head with Doorboard and the others, conferring for a while.
Doorboard and the others accepted their orders, then went off to make arrangements.
Sun Fuling watched from the side. Suddenly, she said to He Lingchuan, “Have you been promoted again?”
“Hm?” He Lingchuan touched his face, a little smug. “How’d you tell?”
A small dimple appeared on Sun Fuling’s cheek. “The way you order people around.”
“That’s called commanding with calm assurance!”
At this moment, Nail came over to report, “The wounded said that Azure Wolf Post Station was attacked about four hours ago. The enemies were all water bandits[1]. There were probably about sixty of them. They entered the post station, set fires, looted it, and stole grain, horses, and the guests’ valuables.”
Doorboard said hatefully, “I heard the last attack was seven days ago. The merchants are right. These bandits have been growing increasingly rampant. If this continues, the trade route will be badly affected.”
“Stay sharp and expand the security perimeter.” He Lingchuan breathed out. “Notify the brothers. Feed the men and horses, ready the gear. Five kilometers ahead is Turbid Dragon Ridge.”
Once it began snowing, the sky darkened quickly. A dozen or so breaths later, the scenery about 150 meters away could no longer be seen clearly.
The caravan lit torches and continued forward.
The peregrine falcon flew down again and said, “Those two stupid birds flew away. They aren’t following anymore.”
“That’s because there’s only one road south from here, and we have to pass through Turbid Dragon Ridge,” Willow said. “They don’t need to keep following us.”
He Lingchuan took out a saber and handed it to Sun Fuling. “Do you know how to use a saber?”
It looked as though they would have to get busy soon.
“Naturally.” Sun Fuling accepted the saber and hid it beneath her cloak. “You don’t need to worry about me later.”
He Lingchuan knew she was never pretentious. If she said he did not need to worry, then he truly did not.
Amid bitter wind and snow, the caravan reached Turbid Dragon Ridge.
The uneven hills were covered with stone hollows.
There were two necessary routes toward the free port, and Turbid Dragon Ridge was one of them. Though it was difficult to travel, it was still far better than the other route. For all these years, caravans coming and going had taken Turbid Dragon Ridge.
Once they were more than halfway through, the road grew narrower and narrower. Suddenly, the scout ahead blew a clear, ringing whistle—
An ambush!
Immediately afterward, a rain of arrows suddenly fell from above.
The merchants and passengers hugged their heads and, without another word, hid behind the wagons and carts, handing the scene over to the guards.
Had they not hired them along precisely to ensure their safety?
The guards had just driven the wagons, carts, and horses into a circle to form a barricade when the bandits on the heights began throwing homemade earth bombs at them, making the horses whinny nonstop. Immediately afterward, the bandits waved their weapons and charged down with howling cries.
Halfway up the slope, others fired arrows from cover to support their companions. Their coordination was quite practiced. Clearly, they did this sort of thing often.
At that moment, the bandits heard a voice come from within the caravan, calm and brief: “Put out the fires. Kill the bandits!”
The torches within the caravan went out with several soft puffs.
Torches at night were targets. Putting them out made it easier to kill in the dark.
This was a snowy, windy night made for killing. The caravan leader crouched behind a cart, hearing only the clash of weapons outside, along with cries of shock, screams, and curses ringing without end.
He worked up the courage to look outside the wagon barricade. But the moment he stuck his head out, his face grew warm as a handful of salty, metallic liquid splashed all over him.
He quickly pulled his head back, smacked his lips, and realized: blood?
Ah, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!
At that moment, a three or four-year-old child across from him crawled out from behind his mother and went to pick up a toy outside the carriage.
The merchant was horrified. “Don’t go...”
Before he finished speaking, a bandit was knocked flying by Doorboard’s shield and happened to land on the toy.
Seeing Doorboard about to charge in, the bandit snapped alert, grabbed the child, and held a knife to his neck. “Don’t move, or I’ll kill him!”
Doorboard’s steps paused.
Just then, someone silently strolled up behind the bandit and twisted his arm. The knife in his hand flew away.
The bandit felt his hand lighten and had not yet reacted when a sharp pain erupted across his cheek. Then, his vision went black...
Everyone present heard a muffled thud. The bandit’s neck was kicked crooked, and he toppled to the ground unconscious. Something flew out of his mouth, landing about two meters away, right in the merchant’s hand.
The merchant suddenly felt something appear in his palm. He looked down and saw a bloody tooth. He shuddered in fright and quickly threw it away.
Sun Fuling calmly straightened herself and scooped up the child from the ground. “That was far too dangerous.”
The child only grinned at her. His teeth had not even grown in properly, so how could he understand the word “dangerous”?
Ms. Sun: “...”
She stuffed the child back into his mother’s arms. “Watch him carefully. Don’t let him crawl around.”
“Uh.” Doorboard, who had witnessed everything, scratched his head. Ms. Sun looks like a delicate beauty, yet when she hits someone, she’s even fiercer than Willow! No wonder Boss He’s so afraid of her. Looking again at the unconscious bandit, he saw the man’s jaw rapidly filling with blood and swelling larger than a steamed bun.
Hiss, looks like things are going to be all good here. He turned and went to help Willow.
After about seven minutes, the sounds of fighting in the darkness gradually quieted.
Someone shouted to retreat, and the sound of hoofbeats rang out, moving from near to far.
The merchants and travelers did not even dare breathe loudly.
Soon, there was no movement around them.
That calm voice rang out again, “Light the torches. It’s over.”
Torches lit one after another. The caravan members climbed out from behind the carts and saw a field of wreckage—
Bodies lay all over the ground, and blood flowed everywhere.
But most of the faces were unfamiliar.
“The bandits were beaten back?” Everyone looked at one another. “We won?”
The lazy-looking young man stood at the very front. A few drops of blood were still sliding down the bright tip of his saber, especially striking as they dripped onto the white snow.
The caravan leader instinctively drew back his leg to keep the blood from dripping onto his boots.
The young man noticed. With a flick of his hand, the saber vanished.
The other guards all had weapons stained with blood and hair, killing intent spilling from them.
Yet the guards all followed his lead. Even the men who had pursued the fleeing bandits and returned lowered their heads to him. “Company Commander, six or seven escaped.”
“No need to chase them.” He Lingchuan waved a hand. “It’s just as well to let them go back and deliver a message.”
“Company commander?” The caravan leader looked around. “Y-you’re soldiers?”
They had clearly hired only two teams of guards.
“Gale Army.” Doorboard wiped the red-and-white matter from his shield. “You’re lucky. You happened to run into us fishing in plain clothes.”
They had actually hired the Gale Army as guards. The caravan was overjoyed, and everyone thanked them one after another. So burning high incense before setting out really is useful!
The Gale Army escorted the caravan through the ridge. After they safely reached the next post station, they turned back toward the northeast.
The most dangerous stretch of the West Ji Road was already behind them. He Lingchuan and the others had completed the escort mission they had taken on along the way. Next, they would head to Yuheng City.
1. I’ll be using this term to refer to bandits accustomed to carrying out their operations across rivers and lakes, though I’ll opt for more specific terminology should the author do so. ☜
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