The flying birds scattered in alarm. Zhu Er keenly sensed a murderous aura.
Zhu Er's expression suddenly tightened. He unsheathed his long sword half an inch from its scabbard at his waist. "Miss, the comers are ill-intentioned."
Cui Jintang frowned slightly.
Before they could fully prepare their defenses, dozens of dark shadows suddenly sprang out from the once-desolate forest.
All of them were masked, with fierce looks in their eyes and shining blades aimed at people.
The man in the lead had a fleshy face and wasn't masked. He bared his chest and arms, with a straw stem between his yellow teeth. His gaze was like a wet tongue. It first swept over the boxes and trunks, and finally lingered on Cui Jintang's face.
He let out an exclamation. "What a beautiful little lady."
"Such delicate skin, little lady," he spat out the straw stem and cackled. "Today, I'll take the gold, silver, and valuables, and I want you even more! Taking you back to the stronghold to warm my bed would be wonderful!"
After saying that, dozens of bandits behind him all burst into raucous laughter in agreement.
The vulgar words mixed with the stench of sweat assailed them. Cui Jintang showed disgust on her face.
"Get into the carriage first."
Pei Zhaolin's voice came to her ears along with the wind.
The next moment, the wind blew across her face.
Pei Zhaolin had already rushed forward.
No one saw how he drew his sword. They only saw a flash of cold light—
The once-arrogant bandit leader suddenly stopped laughing. He opened his eyes wide and looked down blankly. He reached out his hand along the pain and wiped it.
There was a large amount of blood on his hand!
A line of blood exploded from his throat.
Blood sprayed. The bandits were stunned for a long while before they scurried around shouting, "Boss!"
One of them covered the bandit leader's neck and roared at Pei Zhaolin, "Cut this pretty boy to pieces to avenge the boss!"
Pei Zhaolin squinted his eyes.
The two sides clashed. For a moment, the blades flashed and they were all mixed up.
Zhu Er tightly guarded the carriage. Any bandit who got close had his throat slit by Zhu Er's sword.
Cui Jintang bent down and got into the carriage. She tightly grabbed the shaft of the carriage. Looking at Yan Liangwen, who was still snoring loudly, she kicked him hard. "Yan Liangwen, wake up!"
The latter turned over, mumbled discontentedly twice, and then fell asleep heavily again.
Cui Jintang rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth angrily. "Others are coming to rob your silver, and you're still sleeping!"
There was no other sentence in the world more venomous to him than this!
Yan Liangwen opened his eyes instantly. He was still confused and hadn't figured out the anxious situation in front of him when he caught a glimpse of a flash of cold light from the corner of his eye!
Cui Jintang quickly grabbed the back of Yan Liangwen's collar and squatted down. The bloodstained broadsword smashed down hard on the opposite side of them.
Cui Jintang whispered, "Run!"
She quickly jumped out of the carriage. Suddenly, a bandit rushed up in front of her!
Cui Jintang pulled out the hairpin from her hairpin and held it in front of her, staring closely at the bandit.
The bandit looked at Cui Jintang, with greedy desire in his eyes.
His eyes lingered on the hairpin in Cui Jintang's hand. "The fabric on this little lady looks expensive. Why don't you take it all off and sell it to me today?"
"You filthy thing. It's an insult to my eyes just to look at you!" Cui Jintang shouted angrily.
The bandit was enraged and lifted his broadsword heavily. "You ungrateful bitch. Don't blame me—"
The sword tip whirled around. The sword-wielder suddenly appeared like a ghost and another person's life was ended with a single sword strike!
Pei Zhaolin tightly grabbed her hand and shouted in a low voice, "Go!"
There was a dense forest beside the path.
The two looked at each other and then stepped into the forest.
"You hurt our boss and still dare to run?!" The bandits were furious. Just as they took two steps to chase, they were all blocked by Zhu Er.
Zhu Er glanced back at Fu Li, who was shivering in fear while hugging a tree. "Why aren't you running?"
Huang Zuoshi, sweating profusely, clasped his fists and shouted, "Little brother, be careful!"
Then he quickly grabbed Fu Li and also ran into the forest.
After the extra people were gone, Zhu Er then darkened his face and seriously started to fight.
After a stick of incense, he glanced at the corpses all over the ground and wiped the blade of his sword with his sleeve.
A bunch of scumbags.
—
The dense forest on the side of the cliff was lush and prosperous, like a giant mouth of an abyss, constantly engulfing them.
Pei Zhaolin grabbed Cui Jintang's hand and swung his sword to cut down a green snake.
Seeing the snake, Cui Jintang turned pale. "Thank you, Lord Pei."
The shouts of killing behind them gradually faded away, and Pei Zhaolin finally stopped.
Apart from the two of them, the others hadn't caught up yet.
Pei Zhaolin pondered for a moment and said, "You rest here for a while. I'll be back soon—"
"No!"
Since seeing the snake, Cui Jintang's whole body had been stiff. "I'm afraid of snakes! I don't want to be alone. I want to be with you."
Cui Jintang spoke very frankly. She was really scared.
On the contrary, Pei Zhaolin was slightly stunned for a moment. His eyes drifted around unnaturally. It took him a long while to reply softly, "Okay."
"Give me your hand."
Cui Jintang reached out and grabbed Pei Zhaolin's sleeve. "This is okay too..."
Pei Zhaolin's expression remained unchanged. "There are many insects and snakes in this forest. If there's any accident, it'll be easier for me to take care of you."
Before he could finish his words, his foot suddenly sank—
It was a trap!
Pei Zhaolin immediately put his arm around her waist and rolled down, cushioning her with his own body.
Amidst the sound of breaking branches, Cui Jintang only felt the world spinning. Finally, she slammed heavily into Pei Zhaolin.
Her head was in a daze. After reacting, she quickly propped herself up from Pei Zhaolin's arms, but her palm unexpectedly felt sticky and wet.
Cui Jintang felt herself. There was no pain or injury on her body.
Pei Zhaolin was kneeling on one knee beside her. A deep red wound was exposed from the tear in his black robe. He covered it with one hand and immediately asked her, "Are you injured? Can you move?"
Cui Jintang shook her head. She reached out and grabbed his injured arm. Then she looked up at the distant hole and said anxiously, "You said you'd protect me. When we fell just now, didn't you know to fall to the side?"
While scolding, she took out her embroidered handkerchief and wiped the dirty soil from the wound. Then she wrapped the wound with the handkerchief.
"I'm sorry."
Compared with yesterday's apology, Pei Zhaolin said it much more smoothly today.
He looked at the damp earthen wall. After calculating in his mind, he said, "I'll climb up first and then find vines to pull you up."
Cui Jintang glanced at his arm and the obviously darker part of his clothes on his back. She turned her head with a complicated mood. "There's no need to be in such a hurry."
Pei Zhaolin got up and reached out to pick up some soil to feel it. "This hole should be used by nearby farmers for hunting. They just finished hunting, and the smell of blood is strong."
"Snakes like this kind of place the most. You're afraid of snakes. We can't stay here for a moment longer."
Hearing this, Cui Jintang only felt dizzy.
She immediately hugged Pei Zhaolin's waist and closed her eyes. "I know your lightness skill is excellent. Stop making it so complicated. Just carry me up!"
Pei Zhaolin froze all over.