The screaming continued in the valley.

“This damn bandit.”

“How come you attacked without saying anything?”

“Such a shameless surprise attack.”

All sorts of shouts continued from the bandits. Since they were armed with close-combat weapons, they were powerless against the hail of arrows. They could only try and hide behind rocks and trees, having lost all momentum.

“I still haven’t met my grandson. Who would warn you that you were going to be attacked?”

Zhu Zan shot arrows nonstop, and his mouth didn’t close for one moment, either.

While cursing the bandits, he also talked to the guards.

“Although you all travel like young maidens who have not left home yet, you do have a bit of talent.”

“Your bow and arrow is pretty good. In a moment, I’ll get to see how your close-combat skills are.”

“Say you guys, what are you running around for. You’re not allowed to break formation.”

Manager Gao stood in front of the carriage, carrying a knife in his hands. Although he did not have the ability to kill anyone, he could cut the reins off the cart to prevent it from turning over if the horse got frightened.

He gripped his knife as he listened to the screams, his back soaked through with sweat.

“My dear Master Jiu, we are fighting for our lives here. Could you be a bit more serious?” he mumbled.

By then, the mountain bandits were all in hiding. They held their weapons and cursed.

The guards kept shooting arrows at them, their protective formation escorting the carriage forward.

“Don’t let them run.”

“Kill them.”

The bandits who had lost their leader seemed to have quickly chosen a new one. With this order, the evasive mountain thieves raised their weapons and charged.

Their movements were nimble, and they were extremely clever in the use of rocks and trees to avoid the arrows shot by the guards.

Because the guards shooting while moving, their speed and accuracy fell greatly.

“Halt!” Zhu Zan shouted loudly.

The group stopped immediately.

“The first two rows keep your bows. The rear row, use long spears,” Zhu Zan said in a loud voice.

The guards divided up.

“This Master Jiu is from a military background,” Manager Gao said to himself. “Or he once trained soldiers.”

He finally saw it. Although it wasn’t for long and it wasn’t very obvious, but these guards’ movements had been subtly manipulated by him.

That’s why it was possible to immediately assemble into a battle formation while remaining calm.

But why did he not say it plainly? Explicitly saying that he wanted them to practice the military formation would have certainly made everyone more cooperative, and the training would have definitely been more effective.

Did he not want to be identified?

Manager Gao held the knife as his thoughts ran wild. The bandits who had rushed down the mountain were being shot down by arrows.

However, they were too numerous. They descended like moths drawn to a flame. The distance between the two parties continued to shorten.

“The second row, take out your glaives,” Zhu Zan said.

The guards immediately did as told.

Whether because of nerves or focus, they made no sound. In contrast, the shouts of the bandits were even harsher.

In a solemn silence, Zhu Zan suddenly asked, “How much did they give you?”

This made the guards feel a little nervous, and Manager Gao could not help but roll his eyes.

“Now is the time to fight for you life,” Zhu Zan continued. He put down his bow and said, “I don’t know how much your life was hired or bought for. You must now think if your life was worth the price.”

What was he saying?

Manager Gao froweed.

If one loses his life, money becomes worthless.

Could it be that he wanted everyone to surrender now?

“What I want to say is that no matter how much money someone spends, they cannot buy your life,” Zhu Zan continued: “Your life is in your palms. Only you can decide when you live and die. You are not fighting for money, nor are you fighting for your faith or honor. You fight only for yourselves.

“If you flee now, you can’t escape. These people are not here for money. They are here for your lives. Your lives should not be taken away by anyone else.”

As he spoke, he pulled out the sword hanging by his waist and gripped it with both hands.

“Come on now, for yourself, fight for you life.

“Bowmen to the rear, spearmen to the front, glaives follow.

“Kill!”

Accompanied by this cry, they all stepped forward, along with the second row of glaivemen.

“Kill!” he shouted again.

“Kill!” the guards echoed him in unison.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The valley reverberated with their cries reaching to the skies, suppressing the screams of the mountain bandits.

Manager Gao clenched his knife. He felt his frozen skin burn.

“Kill!” he also shouted. Because of excitement and nervousness, his voice shook.

The valley trembled with cries of “Kill!” that sounded like thunder.

The vibrations reached distant cliffs, and a number of people stood up from where they hid behind rocks.

“It’s quite loud,” said one man with a frown. “Is it a difficult situation?”

“How could it be? The ones who went to ambush were all hand-picked. Although they are not the elite, they can deal with those Fang Family guards who had never seen blood without breaking a sweat,” another man said lightly.

“Yeah, I’ve seen it along the way. These guards are indeed good at traveling and are quite keen, but this just means that they are trying to keep themselves alive. If this is all they do, they won’t be able to compare to us who struggle for our lives,” another man added.

“We must still be prepared for anything,” the first man said seriously. “We have to be absolutely sure…”

At this, he frowned.

“If not for the sake of preventing rumors from spreading, we should have gathered more manpower,” he said.

“It is a bit strange. Why do the Jinyiwei appear wherever we go? What are they doing? Are they really watching us?” The other two men also frowned.

“One should always be careful. A swift battle decides things swiftly,” said the first man. “Try not to use those people again.”

This made the other two men smile.

“Big Brother, you’re putting yourself down. Look at how many of us there are, and how many of them, yet you also made those people come and help us. Rest assured, today, the young master of the Fang Family will not escape his death, just like his father,” said one of them.

“No, it’s different from then with his father,” said the other man, shaking his head.

Everyone looked at him.

“His father had breathed his last on his own bed at home, but he will not be so lucky,” the man said with a sly grin. “Sadly, his body will stay in the wilderness.”

He laughed and laughed, and the other two laughed with him. They were still laughing when someone ran over to them.

“Sixth Master, the situation is not very good,” said the newcomer hurriedly.

This made the three people stop laughing.

“What’s wrong?” they asked in unison.

“Brothers are having a bit of trouble,” the recent arrival said anxiously. “It’s a difficult situation.”

What?

The three people looked at each other.

“Go,” one of them said, waving his hand.

A couple people rushed down to the valley.

At the same time, on the other side of the valley, someone else was waving their hand as well.

There were people here hiding behind rocks, lush vegetation hiding them.

“Not making a move now? It looks like they can’t hold on anymore,” someone said quietly.

“No, they can still hold on,” the first man said quietly, looking through the lush vegetation at the two sides clashing in the valley.

Although they were far away, they could still see one wave of bandits after another pouring down, like they would never stop.

Could they really hold on?