Everyone rushed into the hunting lodge in a hurry.
Caiyu gave a series of quick orders:
"Block the doors and windows with the firewood piles and wooden racks in the house!"
"Ruan San, there's a slingshot on the wall. Take it and hide on the roof!"
"Ruan Si, there are two bows hanging at the head of the bed. Take one!"
"Ruan Wu, hide behind the door!"
"Ruan Liu, keep an eye on the windows!"
"Qingqing, you..." Caiyu hesitated for a moment, then stuffed a slingshot from the corner into her hand. "Hide behind the bed!"
Qingqing felt rather embarrassed for a while. Knowing that she might be the biggest burden in the group, she didn't dare to say a word. She stuffed the slingshot into her pocket and hid behind the bed.
After giving the orders, Caiyu picked up the other bow and hid in the corner farthest from the door.
Just as they finished setting up inside the house, they heard noises outside.
First, there were a series of exclamations, followed by cries for help and shouts to organize the rescue.
Presumably, a small number of the pirates who had run ahead had fallen into a trap and stepped into the swamp. The ones behind had started an emergency rescue.
Caiyu's heart was in her mouth. She had no idea how many people had been trapped.
Then, there came seven or eight shrill screams. It must be Han Fen and the others who had been lying in ambush. They had taken advantage of the enemy's chaos and launched an attack!
The sounds of swords and weapons clashing outside rang out one after another. There were continuous shouts of killing and cries. The sky - shaking noise was mixed with sobs and screams, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.
No one knew exactly how many people had died.
Nor did they know whether the pirates or the Song family's bodyguards had suffered more casualties.
As time passed, the faces of the people inside the house became more and more solemn.
They had never expected that there were so many pirates chasing them. It seemed as if there was no end to them!
Suddenly, the sound of a musket rang out.
As soon as the sound came, the floor beneath their feet seemed to tremble.
The loud and intense gunfire startled Qingqing so much that she almost jumped up. Tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
She probably never thought in her life that she would one day hear the sound of a musket.
Caiyu and the other four bodyguards guarding the house remained calm. They still held their weapons firmly and stood as still as pine trees.
But actually, at this moment, a dull and suffocating feeling had filled the entire hunting lodge. An invisible sense of oppression weighed on everyone's hearts.
Everyone had noticed that there were probably not only pirates but also a group of soldiers of unknown origin.
Because it was impossible for the pirates to buy so many muskets even if they purchased them from the Japanese pirates.
Only the regular army of Daye would have such firepower.
Caiyu's fingers holding the bow tightened tightly. Her bright eyes were filled with a bone - chilling coldness.
If she couldn't guess who had sent the people outside at this moment, she would be out of her mind!
The Crown Prince!
Heh!
He was really something!
In order to delay Song Yinghuai from entering the capital in time, he had staged such a good show and used her, Lan Caiyu, as a bargaining chip for assassination.
It turned out that this pirate siege was just a cover to confuse Song Yinghuai.
The real ones lurking in the dark in Lingbi were a group of the Crown Prince's personal soldiers!
It seemed that the Crown Prince intended to discard her as a useless chess piece... or rather, he intended to let this chess piece play its last bit of usefulness in his hands and use her to hold Song Yinghuai back!
Caiyu's hands began to tremble slightly. Excitement and anger made her breathing become rapid.
Her eyebrows were tightly knitted, and her pretty face was as gloomy as the dark clouds before a storm. It seemed as if she could burst out with amazing strength at any moment.
She wouldn't let the Crown Prince succeed!
Before she rescued her family, no one could take her life!
"Bang!"
A sharp musket shot rang out on the door panel of the hunting lodge!
The gunpowder pierced through the door panel and shot directly at Ruan Wu who was hiding behind the door!
Ruan Wu couldn't dodge in time. His face was hit by the broken door panel debris and the exploding gunpowder. He let out a shrill scream!
"Ruan Wu!"
This unexpected scene made everyone in the house let out exclamations.
At the moment when Ruan Wu turned his head, Qingqing saw his face with the flesh flying and blood splattering everywhere. He looked like a ghost.
She let out a scream and quickly covered her mouth tightly. Muffled sounds kept coming from her throat.
Big tears suddenly fell to the ground. Her eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot eyes.
The little girl had never seen such a gory face. She bit her lips hard to hold back her cries.
Her fingers dug into her cheeks. She almost suffocated and fainted from covering her mouth so tightly before she finally stopped her violent trembling.
Hearing the scream, the people outside became even more excited and started to load and shoot continuously.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The continuous shooting made it impossible for everyone to get close to the door to rescue Ruan Wu. They could only watch helplessly as a hole the size of a wooden basin was blasted out of the door.
The gunpowder of the musket was sweeping into the house through the hole in the door. A lot of it also hit Ruan Wu behind the door.
"Ruan Wu!"
"Ruan Wu!"
The remaining three bodyguards gritted their teeth. The veins on their foreheads bulged. They watched as their comrade, who had shared joys and sorrows with them, was still full of energy a moment ago and now was beyond recognition.
A real man doesn't shed tears easily, but only when deeply hurt.
At this moment, the hot tears in their eyes couldn't stop flowing. They could only watch in panic as Ruan Wu suddenly threw himself at the door and blocked the hole with his chest.
His body was continuously hit by the musket shots. It shook violently, but his two arms were tightly clasped on both sides of the door. Until he died, his body still remained in the position of blocking the hole in the door.
Like a monument, engraved in everyone's hearts.
Caiyu seemed to be nailed to the spot. She stood there motionless like a dried - up tree. Her face was as pale as paper, showing a bluish - gray deathly look.
Since childhood, her father and brother had talked to her about life and death on the battlefield in their spare time. Although she had never seen it with her own eyes, she always thought that she had developed a strong and invincible character.
After the Lan family had encountered misfortune, she had entered Yanjing and killed several people one after another.
She thought that she was invulnerable.
It was not until Ruan Wu died in front of her eyes that she realized that the passing of a life was not only fragile but also had such a gory way of dying.
"Ruan Wu!" Caiyu suddenly let out a loud cry. Crystal tears rolled down from her eyes. "Ruan Wu..."
Before this, she hadn't even had time to remember his real name.
She only knew that this dark - skinned young man was ranked fifth in the bodyguard team.
After this, she could only silently recite this name that was like a number and engrave it deeply in her heart.
The sound of the musket outside stopped.
Suddenly, a cold and sharp knife stabbed through the window. Then a hand holding the knife reached in, trying to break into the house through the window.
Ruan Liu waved the knife in his hand and slashed down hard!
Blood splattered everywhere, and a shrill scream rang through the sky!
Then, one arm after another was crazily chopped off by Ruan Liu like firewood!
The smell of blood rolled in the house.
There were also several footprints on the roof. Ruan San and Ruan Si used the slingshot and the bow, two long - range weapons, to fight back fiercely through the skylight.
The sound of people falling one after another came from outside the house.
"Bang!"
Ruan Wu's body was pushed hard from the outside. Ruan Wu fell straight back to the ground!
Caiyu gritted her teeth tightly. She stood upright, pulled the bow to the full, and shot an arrow!
The arrow passed through the hole in the door and firmly stuck into the chest of the person outside the door. The person didn't even have time to let out a cry before collapsing to the ground.
The people who rushed forward next were continuously shot by Caiyu, arrow after arrow.
Every arrow hit the target!
After the hole in the door was blasted open, it unexpectedly became Caiyu's best sniping point.
Through the hole in the door, there were vague figures moving outside. It seemed that there were many people surrounding the house.
In the distance, there were still faint sounds of fighting, ringing out everywhere around the forest.
Presumably, Han Fen and the others had been scattered by the musket fire and were fleeing and counter - attacking in the forest.
But after a round of attack on the hunting lodge in which two or three dozen people had died, the attack stopped.
A cold male voice sounded outside. "Everyone inside come out. We won't take your lives. We only want one person."
Everyone looked at each other. No one believed the promise of the person outside.
If they didn't take lives, then why had they killed without discrimination just now?
Ruan San gritted his jaws and said suspiciously, "Strange. Why don't they continue to attack the hunting lodge with firearms?"