Chapter 21: Decision

Wei Yunlan raised her hand and wiped her face forcefully, staining her backhand with fresh blood that was still somewhat warm.

Seeing the bright red, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes.

She had actually… killed someone.

However, she couldn’t afford to be distracted at this moment. The surrounding bandits, seeing their brother killed, became even more frenzied, their earlier mercy for beautiful women completely abandoned as they all raised their weapons and joined the battle.

Just as a bandit was about to stab Wei Yunlan in the chest with his long sword, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm, causing the long sword he was tightly gripping to fall to the ground.
 “Hiss… you stinking wench, what did you do to me?”

What had Wei Yunlan done?

Her gaze moved past the bandit kneeling before her, howling in pain, and landed on a few dense trees by the roadside.

Wei Yunlan guessed that it must have been the Tianshu Pavilion guards hidden in the shadows who had intervened.

These guards were not supposed to be seen, but their silent assistance was enough to help them avoid many life-threatening dangers!

The Wei family members didn’t understand why the bandits attacking them suddenly started losing ground one after another, but it didn’t stop them from seizing the opportunity to fight back.

Dong Da and Liu Quan pushed aside the bandits blocking their way, grabbed the fallen curved swords on the ground, and with a few swift slashes, cut down the bandits who were about to reach the carriage.

Suihe also kicked with all her might, pushing away the bandit surrounding her, and returned to Wei Yunlan’s side.

“Damn it, this family is really tough!”
“Forget them, let’s go grab those carriages in front!”

Seeing that they couldn’t break through the Wei family’s defenses, the bandits finally changed their target, with more of them charging towards the Liang family.

The Feng family members who had been hiding near the Liang family’s carriages hurriedly ran away, yelling in alarm. The Liang family’s servants were pushed aside by the Feng family members, and in the chaos, several bandits managed to charge towards the carriages.

Shrieks of terror immediately erupted from within the carriages.

“Help! Someone, help!”

“Tsk, what are you yelling for? Even if you scream your lungs out, it won’t do any good!” A bandit used the tip of his sword to lift the curtain, revealing the carriage occupied by Madam Liang and her young son.

“She’s a bit old, but she’s got some looks. Our boss doesn’t fancy her, so she’s perfect for us.”

The bandit chuckled, reaching out to grab Madam Liang’s collar.

Madam Liang was terrified, crying out in a panic, “Stop!”

“I am the niece of the Empress Dowager, the cousin of the current Emperor! How dare you harm me!”

The bandit was taken aback and paused his actions.

Just when Madam Liang thought the bandit had been scared off, she heard a burst of laughter from the other side.

“Haha, niece of the Empress Dowager, cousin of the Emperor? You think you can scare us with that?”

“If you were really that close to the Emperor, would he let you be exiled to the border? You’re just making up lies to scare us, you’re really asking for death!”

Early on, when most of the bandits charged towards the Wei family at the back, Xie Guan had realized that these bandits didn’t want to clash head-on with the officials.

This meant they wouldn’t need to risk their lives, and even if they lost some goods or women, it wouldn’t be considered a failure on their part!

But he hadn’t expected the Wei family to fight back so fiercely, causing the bandits to turn their attention to the Liang family.

Everyone else was fine…

But the Liang family was absolutely crucial, especially Madam Liang!

Seeing that bandits had already entered Madam Liang’s carriage, Xie Guan and the officials, who had only been putting in a third of their effort, immediately exerted all their strength, pushing away the bandits beside them and rushing towards Madam Liang’s carriage.

They didn’t care about the Feng family members who were in their way, directly using them as shields to slow down the bandits’ advance.

For a moment, screams of agony rang out, and the scene was thrown into utter chaos.

In the chaos, the bandits had looted a considerable amount of goods. The most eye-catching were two chests of gold ingots and a chest of jeweled hairpins and ornaments taken from the Liang family’s carriage.

The bandits also lifted the oilcloth covering the Wei family’s carriage, revealing the pots, pans, rice, flour, and fodder underneath. Disappointment clouded their faces.

“Damn it, a bunch of poor devils, wasting our time!”

“We’d be better off following Third Boss to rob those carriages in front!”

These bandits lacked any real martial skills, relying only on their numbers. Now that their morale had plummeted, Dong Da, Liu Quan, and Suihe easily exploited their weaknesses.

In an instant, three more bandits met their demise under the Wei family’s blades.

The officials in front had also killed several bandits, causing the remaining bandits to panic.

“Where’s Big Boss? Why hasn’t he sent reinforcements?”

From the direction of Liangzhou entering the mountains, the sound of hooves could be faintly heard in the distance. The bandit leader, who was engaged in a fight with Xie Guan, stiffened and immediately yelled, “Retreat!”

The surviving bandits pushed aside the officials and scattered towards the mountains.

The crisis was finally over. Wei Yunlan retreated to the mule cart, re-covering it with the oilcloth and placing the medicinal herbs she had previously stored in her dimensional space back in their original place.

The sound of hooves grew closer. It was a group of Liangzhou soldiers.

They did not pursue the fleeing bandits. “It’s not that we don’t want to chase them, but the terrain on Mount Yueheng is too complex. With just our small force, forget about catching the bandits in the mountains, if we were to actually go up there, we might not even survive!”

Madam Liang’s face was filled with displeasure, but she didn’t say anything more.

The Liangzhou soldiers joined Xie Guan in counting the casualties.

Most of the corpses on the ground belonged to the bandits, causing the Liangzhou soldiers to look at this group from the capital with respect. “You all have such impressive skills!”

Xie Guan accepted the compliment with a guilty conscience.

Many bandits had died at their hands, not just the officials, but also the Wei family, the Bai family, and the Liang family’s servants had all contributed.

But their own casualties were also significant…

Just from Old Madam Feng’s eight grandsons, three had perished in this crisis, and her only unmarried son had also died under the bandits’ knives.

Old Madam Feng wept uncontrollably.

Tingxue retreated to Wei Yunlan’s side and whispered, “Miss, I saw it all. To save Master Liang’s young son, Xie Guan pushed Fourth Master Feng, otherwise Fourth Master Feng wouldn’t have been cut by the bandits.”

The Feng family members were clearly aware of this as well.

Although under Old Master Feng’s suppression, no one dared to vent their anger on Xie Guan or the Liang family, the occasional glances they cast towards them were filled with resentment.

A chill ran down Wei Yunlan’s spine, and she gained a clearer understanding of this exile group.

In times of crisis, they could all be abandoned, they could all be used as shields for the Liang family.

How else could one explain why Xie Guan and the officials had dodged and weaved when the bandits first attacked, but only fought back after the bandits changed their target?

The Liang family had ulterior motives, Xie Guan was helping them, and then there was Old Master Feng, who was always anxious and worried, and Old Madam Feng, who was always stirring up trouble…

How could they possibly reach Beiguan safely in this group?

The idea that had been brewing in Wei Yunlan’s mind for some time finally solidified at this moment.

This couldn’t go on!

Their lives couldn’t be held in the hands of these people.

They were not even halfway through their journey, the real crisis hadn’t even begun yet, and they absolutely couldn’t continue traveling with these people!