At the foot of Qilin Mountain, a mountain road more than ten meters wide wound its way towards the distant capital city like a coiling giant dragon.
It was afternoon, and the sun was scorching hot. Waves of heat rose from the ground, making one dizzy.
The leaves on the trees were curled up as if roasted, and even the cicadas hiding in them seemed too lazy to chirp, their calls getting softer and softer.
On such a sweltering day, a convoy of carriages was slowly moving forward.
Dozens of carriages approached from afar in a grand and imposing manner, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The lead carriage drawn by two horses was especially eye - catching. It was exquisitely carved with gold and jade, extremely gorgeous.
The golden bells hanging under the canopy swayed from side to side, making a sound like the clinking of jade and ice. Hearing it, one seemed to feel a bit of the summer heat dissipate.
At this moment, a mountain breeze blew down from above, causing the branches and leaves to rustle and the tree shadows to be mottled.
Inside the carriage, Su Nansheng and He Xun were sitting side by side. It was extremely quiet inside.
"If you're scared, just cry."
He Xun's voice was not loud, but it was especially distinct in the quiet carriage.
"Really?"
Su Nansheng looked beside He Xun, with a strange look on her face.
Beside He Xun, more than a dozen fully - armed and muscular constables were squeezing into the corner as much as possible, their faces full of embarrassment.
Su Nansheng actually really wanted to throw herself into He Xun's arms and act all innocent and vulnerable.
But in the face of these more than a dozen strong men, she really couldn't be scared, nor could she throw herself into his arms.
He Xun resignedly closed his eyes for a moment and then turned his gaze to the constables beside him.
Seeing this, Xu Yi, who had been nudged by his subordinates, had to force a big - toothed smile and say awkwardly:
"The wooden boxes on the back carriages really couldn't fit us."
He didn't want to squeeze with the newly - wedded couple either, but their statures were just too big to squeeze into those small wooden boxes.
But if there were too many carriages, they were afraid of arousing the vigilance of the mountain bandits. So they had to squeeze into the carriage. It was really a last - resort move.
General He was so understanding that he would surely understand them.
Thinking this, Xu Yi nodded seriously at He Xun to prove that he was telling the truth.
He Xun turned back helplessly and said to Su Nansheng:
"When the mountain bandits rush out later, just hide behind me. I'll protect you."
Actually, he shouldn't have brought her here, but he really couldn't refuse her words "I want to accompany you".
He thought Su Nansheng would be a bit nervous at least, but he saw her take out a dagger from her bosom.
The dagger was as thin as a cicada's wing, but its blade glistened with a sharp light, indicating its sharpness.
Then, Su Nansheng pulled out a silver hairpin from her hair bun. The tip of the hairpin was sharp, and there was a blood groove on the shaft, obviously also a sharp weapon.
Finally, Su Nansheng stretched out the sleeve arrow tied to her arm in front of He Xun:
"You just focus on killing the enemies. I'm not going to be your burden."
"And me!"
Bi Tao poked her head out from beside Su Nansheng:
"Sir, I'm from a military background. I'll protect my mistress. All these weapons of hers were prepared by me. How about it? Pretty good, right?"
Bi Tao held her head high, looking proud and expectant.
He Xun glanced at Bi Tao and then at the few people in the corner, twitching the corners of his mouth.
All the people present deserved credit for Su Nansheng's lack of dependence on him.
Just as he was thinking, the carriage suddenly stopped.
"Hey, why are you lying in the middle of the road? What if we run you over and scare our master and mistress?"
Fei Yu's tone was overbearing and arrogant, just like a typical evil servant.
"Ouch, sir, I've sprained my foot. Help me!"
Hearing the weak voice outside, Su Nansheng and He Xun exchanged a look. Here they come.
Su Nansheng motioned for Bi Tao to sit on the other side of the carriage window to block the constables, and then opened the window and poked her head out:
"What's going on?"
The man lying on the ground was hunched over. Although he was grimacing and shouting for help, there was no sign of pain on his face.
"Reply to you, ma'am. This man is blocking our way."
Fei Yu's tone was full of dissatisfaction.
"Hey, old man, get out of the way quickly, or we'll just run over you."
Bi Tao also poked her head out, with the same arrogant tone.
Seeing that there were women inside, the man groaned and moved to one side to make way.
Just as Su Nansheng closed the window, the carriage started moving again.
At this moment, a sharp whistle pierced the sky, and immediately there were rough shouts of killing coming from afar in the forest.
"First tie up those women on the carriages."
"All these carriages of luggage. We're going to get rich this time."
"Look at these people. They're so scared that they don't even know to run!"
Just as the shouts surrounded the carriage, the constables hiding in the carriage and wooden boxes rushed out all at once, and the sound of fighting filled the air.
Su Nansheng hid in the corner of the carriage. Looking at the broken window on one side, her lips twitched.
Did they really have to break out in this way?
"Mistress, aren't we going out?"
Bi Tao was observing the situation outside through the broken window, her voice full of eagerness.
"No. Stay inside obediently!"
Su Nansheng was rarely strict with Bi Tao.
Others might not know very well, but Su Nansheng knew that in her previous life, when these mountain bandits were being interrogated, there were hundreds of souls under their knives.
These were all evil devils. One must never be careless!
Just as she was thinking, Su Nansheng felt herself being thrown backward and hit the carriage heavily. Then came the shrill neighing of the horse.
Oh no, the horse was startled!
The thought had just flashed through her mind when Su Nansheng felt someone put an arm around her waist.
"Mistress, use my strength to get off the carriage."
Before Bi Tao had even finished speaking, Su Nansheng had already been taken off the carriage by her.
At the same time, the carriage ran out of control and rushed forward, hitting many mountain bandits and constables.
Without the cover of the carriage, the sounds of fighting and the clashing of weapons around were even louder.
At this time, Su Nansheng noticed that compared with the mountain - full of bandits, the number of constables was really pitifully small.
Everywhere around, two or three bandits were surrounding one constable and fighting.
Su Nansheng's face turned pale involuntarily. This was really like poking a hornet's nest. Didn't they even need to leave anyone at their base camp?
Seeing two women jump out of the carriage, some bandits immediately rushed towards them.
Amid the sudden sound of something breaking through the air, a long knife was aimed straight at Su Nansheng's chest.
With a clang, Bi Tao parried the long knife with her sword and at the same time reached out to protect Su Nansheng behind her.
Bi Tao waved her long sword nimbly. With a quick dodge, she stabbed a bandit, but she was also entangled by two other bandits.
"Damn it! They dared to set an ambush for us. Catch those two women!"
A rough voice roared angrily.
Hearing this, three or four groups of people rushed towards Su Nansheng at the same time.
He Xun and Fei Yu fought while retreating, trying to come to Su Nansheng's rescue, but the bandits were so desperate that they fought with their lives on the line. He Xun and the other were held back for a moment.
Just in that moment, a man with only half of his hair and mottled blood on his face had already pounced in front of Su Nansheng.
Seeing this, all the constables were shocked. The bandit leader that Li Feng had told them about was the one with only half of his hair.