Seeing his underlings being routed, Ni Er gritted his teeth. He thought to himself that since the arrow was already on the bowstring, he had to shoot.
With a wave of his hand, two black - clad men standing at the back stepped forward.
These two men were extremely agile. After a three - step run - up, they leaped lightly into the small courtyard.
Since the others were useless, Ni Er had no choice but to send out his two trump cards.
Ni Er stood in the shadow, sneering. "You asked for this," he thought.
In an instant, the two top - notch fighters had landed in the courtyard, successfully avoiding all the obstacles. One wielded a soft sword and the other a ring - pommel knife. Their attacks were fierce.
Seeing the danger, Pei Xia pushed Qi Jiao into the house. He then drew his saber from his waist and stepped forward to meet the attackers.
These two men were undoubtedly highly skilled. With Pei Xia's strength, he could barely hold his own against one of them. After several rounds of fierce fighting, neither side had the upper hand.
The other fighter almost swept through the rest of the people.
Ye Geng was trying to protect his two younger brothers when he was hit by the back of a knife and sent flying several meters away.
Inside the house, the women let out shrill cries. Jiang Yuniang cried and wanted to rush out, but was firmly held back by Aunt Ye.
Ah Hu had never seen such a scene before and burst into tears. His grandmother, Aunt Cai, quickly covered his mouth.
Ye Yun's eyes turned red. He grabbed a stick and attacked the thief's lower body.
The thief dodged several times, and his blade came within a foot of Ye Yun.
At this critical moment, Leng Yao rushed out with a pair of large scissors.
"Try to hurt my man? I'll fight you to the death!"
Although the thief was extremely fast, Leng Yao's sudden appearance undoubtedly distracted him.
The moment he hesitated, Qi Jiao quickly circled around and splashed chili water in his face.
The thief was caught off guard. The chili water stung his eyes painfully. He bent over, unable to see.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qi Jiao spilled two baskets of soybeans under the eaves. The round soybeans rolled everywhere, and the thief slipped on them, almost losing his balance.
He managed to steady himself, but his eyes were in such pain that he couldn't open them at all.
"Quick! Capture him!" Qi Jiao whispered sharply.
Ye Yun seized the opportunity and swung the stick with all his might, hitting the thief hard on the back of the head.
Ye Pa was afraid that it wasn't enough and gave him another hard blow.
The two brothers quickly tied up the thief and dragged him to one side.
There was only one more attacker left in the courtyard.
Pei Xia was still engaged in a fierce battle with the other thief.
The sword - wielding thief was clearly more skilled than the other one. His movements were as fast as lightning, making it difficult to get close to him. For the time being, it was impossible to find an opening to launch a surprise attack.
Sweat poured down Pei Xia's handsome but pale face. There were two deep cuts on his chest, and his inner robe was soaked with blood.
Qi Jiao was extremely anxious and wished she could jump into the fight to help.
Leng Yao pulled her back and said seriously, "It's dangerous! Don't be impulsive!"
Qi Jiao thought to herself, "Who was being impulsive just now?"
Pei Li looked over here and wished he could grow a few more arms and legs to help his elder brother.
Qu Si was also extremely worried and held his breath for Pei Xia.
He assigned a few young men to guard the captured thief and told Pei Li to go find the long bamboo poles used for cultivating oyster seedlings.
The two of them, along with the Ye brothers, each held a long pole and surrounded the thief in a circle. They attacked from all sides, hitting the thief with the poles one after another.
No matter how powerful the thief was, after such continuous attacks, he soon lost his rhythm.
Pei Xia flipped his arm and took advantage of the thief's momentary vulnerability. In just three moves, he had his saber at the thief's throat.
Qu Si quickly stepped forward and kicked the sword out of the thief's hand.
Ye Pa and the others were afraid that the thief would escape, so they directly pressed on top of him. The weight of several young men pinned him down so tightly that he could barely breathe.
The thief was furious and roared, "Two fists can't fight against so many legs! It's so unfair for so many of you to fight against just one of me!"
Pei Xia came over with a thick hemp rope and tied him up. "So what if we're unfair? Get up and fight me if you can!"
Then, without giving the thief a chance to speak, he stuffed a rag into his mouth.
The thief: …
Outside the courtyard wall, Ni Er heard the sounds of the fight inside stop.
He thought that his two top - notch fighters had succeeded. Excitedly, he shouted towards the courtyard, "Open the door for us quickly!"
The thief with a rag in his mouth could only make inarticulate sounds.
The other one was unconscious and couldn't respond at all.
Qi Jiao rushed over to check Pei Xia's injuries.
Pei Xia held her hand and looked into her worried eyes in the moonlight. He whispered to comfort her, "I'm fine."
Qi Jiao knew that this was not the time to be emotional. The hidden danger had not been eliminated yet. So she whispered, "Be careful."
Pei Xia nodded and turned to look at Qu Si. They both picked up their swords and stood by the door.
Then, they suddenly opened the door.
Black Three and the others, ignoring the burning pain on their bodies, were eager to take revenge and rushed straight in.
Just then, the regular sound of horses' hooves was heard. A string of torches was approaching from afar.
The officers and soldiers had arrived!
Ni Er, who was at the back, seeing this, immediately abandoned his underlings in the courtyard and turned to run.
Qi Jiao noticed Ni Er trying to escape and shouted, "Huanghuang, Lianlian, Dada! Bite him!"
Three small dogs dashed towards Ni Er like lightning, biting and tearing at his legs. They soon knocked Ni Er to the ground.
Ni Er cried out in pain.
Pei Xia kicked Ni Er hard in the chest.
Ni Er fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string.
Fang Qian, the leader of Yuhua Stockade, rode his horse over and dismounted in front of the Pei family's house.
He said coldly, "Who reported this to the authorities?"
Fang Qian had only brought five or six subordinates with him, but they were all tall, strong, and capable fighters.
Pei Xia stepped forward and briefly explained what had happened.
He didn't mention Lord Fu Qi at all. He only said that Ni Er and his men were water bandits who had broken into the house to rob. They weren't satisfied with just taking the food. These people even wanted to kill everyone for the money! He couldn't bear it any longer, so he had mobilized the young and strong men in Baiyun Village to defend themselves and protect their families.
Fang Qian's face was dark.
It wasn't his turn to be on duty today, but the person who reported the case said that a group of fierce water bandits had come to Yinwan. The situation was serious, and the lives of an entire family were in danger.
There weren't many available men in Yuhua Stockade, so he had to get out of bed and rush all the way here.
He had thought there would be a fierce battle.
Unexpectedly, this young man in front of him had some skills.
Fang Qian couldn't help but take a few more looks at Pei Xia.
The courtyard was soon brightly lit.
Fang Qian ordered his subordinates to tie up the injured and unconscious bandits tightly and then connect them in a line, leading them out like livestock.
He nodded and said, "It's too late today. We'll take the bandits back first. Tomorrow, you come to the patrol station to give a detailed account."
Pei Xia and Qi Jiao came out and bowed to Fang Qian to express their gratitude. "Thank you, sir, for coming all the way here so late. We're extremely grateful."
Fang Qian showed no expression on his face. He turned his horse around and disappeared into the night with his subordinates.
The wailing of Black Three and the others gradually faded away. Qi Jiao heard one of Fang Qian's subordinates whipping the bandits, and Black Three immediately fell silent.
The danger was finally over.
Pei Xia finally couldn't hold on anymore. He leaned on Qi Jiao's shoulder and coughed twice.
Qi Jiao smelled the stench of blood.
She took out a handkerchief and covered Pei Xia's mouth. The white handkerchief was quickly stained red with blood.
Qi Jiao's mind went blank. Her face turned deathly pale.
She quickly helped Pei Xia into the house.
There were many injured people in the courtyard, and Ye Geng's condition was the most serious.
He had fainted, with a large bump on his head. Jiang Yuniang was lying on Ye Geng's body, crying loudly.
Aunt Ye was extremely worried when she saw the situation. Her son was seriously injured and unconscious, and her son - in - law was spitting blood. What kind of sin had they committed?
Aunt Ye had experienced many hardships in her life. She quickly calmed down.
Aunt Ye and Tang Guiniang began to assign tasks.
"Some of you carry the injured into the house."
"A Li, go with your elder brother from the Cai family to invite Doctor Gong."
"Hui'er and A Yao, go and boil some hot water and bring some clean towels."
...