Chapter 59: Good Skills

In the valley, the three hundred soldiers from Lianzhou faced off against the members of the Qinghe Gang and Lianping Sect.

The leading soldier, glaring at the group of martial artists, shouted, “You audacious rascals! How dare you attack officers? Do you rebels think you can revolt?”

“Who would dare? Please don’t place such a label on us, Sir.”

The leader of the Lianping Sect, with a flick of his wrist, raised his bright red sleeve and pointed to the barbarians being surrounded by several martial artists not far away. “It’s those colluding with the barbarians who are trying to rebel! We’re merely assisting in apprehending this Northern Barbarian spy. If you don’t want to thank us, that’s one thing, but how can you blame us?”

“Are you implying that you and the Northern Barbarians are in cahoots?”

The soldier’s expression turned cold as he pointed at the leader of the Lianping Sect, scolding, “You androgynous freak, don’t spout nonsense!”

The leader of the Lianping Sect seemed not to hear the insult, still smiling faintly. “Why are you so angry, Sir? Did I hit a nerve?”

Realizing he couldn’t win a verbal battle against the leader of the Lianping Sect, the soldier decided to stop talking and sneered, “You’re asking for death.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, over twenty figures in government armor appeared on the stone slopes on either side, each armed with bows and arrows, aimed at the members of the Qinghe Gang and Lianping Sect in the valley.

The leader of the Qinghe Gang, the leader of the Lianping Sect, and their group of martial artists finally halted, their expressions turning wary as they looked at the soldier.

With a grin, the soldier said, “Did you really think some superficial skills could stand against the government? Since you’re eager to die, I’ll grant your wish. After all, only the dead can keep a secret.”

“Attack!”

With a command, the soldier’s smug smile lingered on his lips.

However, no arrows flew through the air.

The soldier’s smile froze, staring in disbelief at the black figures that suddenly appeared behind the archers on the stone slope.

These figures in black moved swiftly, and before they knew it, all twenty of the archers were down on the ground without a single one escaping.

The leader of the Qinghe Gang kicked away the soldier blocking his path and sneered at the soldier. “Why don’t you keep laughing now?”

“……”

As he watched the leader of the Qinghe Gang and the leader of the Lianping Sect approach him, the soldier retreated repeatedly. His three hundred men split into two groups—one protecting him while the other engaged with the martial artists surrounding the Northern Barbarian commander. Their goal was clear: as long as they could help the commander escape, the martial artists would control the other people, allowing them to feign ignorance.

Before they could help the Northern Barbarian commander escape, the black-clad figures who had dealt with the archers leaped down from the stone slope, their agile movements charging forward.

Though there were fewer than thirty of them, their fighting prowess was comparable to that of over a hundred soldiers. Most soldiers couldn’t last even five moves against them!

The most impressive among them was the one leading the charge, who easily disarmed two of the Northern Barbarian commander’s strong subordinates with a single strike. He then faced the commander directly, skillfully countering the commander’s powerful attacks without being suppressed by the sheer force.

In no time, the man knocked the commander’s large knife from his grasp and pressed a sword against his neck. “Bring him here, bind him.”

Two black-clad figures stepped forward and expertly bound the Northern Barbarian commander with iron chains, securing him with a fist-sized lock. No matter how strong he was, there was no chance of escape.

After handling the Northern Barbarian commander, the black-clad figures proceeded to tie up the officer in charge, the centurions, and the mine overseers.

This time, they didn’t use chains or locks; sturdy hemp ropes were sufficient.

“Leader Cao, Master Chen.” Qi Xu sheathed his sword and gave a respectful nod to the two leaders.

“Tianshu Pavilion’s Pavilion Master?” Although they had communicated via letters, this was the first time they had seen the Pavilion Master in person. To their surprise, he appeared rather ordinary, as if he could easily be lost in a crowd.

But his skills were anything but ordinary.

“Long admired, long admired. Pavilion Master, your skills are truly impressive, easily subduing even that barbarian with innate strength.”

“Please, no need for such formalities.” Qi Xu clasped his hands together and said, “Thanks to the two of you, we were able to take this place in one fell swoop.”

At that moment, a figure descended beside Qi Xu.

It was a team that had been dispatched to handle another mining location nearby.

“Master, the people over there have been controlled.”

“However… the overseer Liu and two of his managers are missing.”

Qi Xu’s expression darkened, revealing a glint of determination in his eyes. “Pursue them; they can’t have gone far.”

“Not a single person involved in this matter can be spared.”

“……”

“Mingxuan, over here!”

As the whistle sounded, Wei Yunlan hurried over, just in time to see Wei Mingxuan leading a group of refugees along the wooden path built against the stone wall up the back mountain.

This path had originally been used only by the mine overseers. The miners who were once brought up by the overseers had all become the food for the wolves.

The refugees who followed Wei Mingxuan up to the back mountain were all visibly tense, cautiously glancing around. When they confirmed that there were indeed no wolves in sight, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe what you said was true; there really is a way to avoid the wolf pack!” some of the refugees who had grown familiar with Wei Mingxuan exclaimed.

Finally escaping the predatory mine, many were overwhelmed with emotion, teary-eyed from the relief.

Wei Mingxuan addressed the refugees, “This place isn’t safe. Now that you’ve made it out of the mine, you should hurry down the mountain. Your loved ones might still be waiting for you where you were abducted!”

The refugees, once caught up in their excitement, quickly calmed down. “Right, we should hurry while those overseers haven’t caught up to us!”

Before long, most of the refugees who had followed Wei Mingxuan ran down the mountain along the route that Wei Yunlan and the others had cleared over the past two days.

At this moment, three figures suddenly appeared on the narrow wooden path beside the mountain wall.

They were dressed similarly to the refugees.

However, a closer look revealed that their physique and demeanor were completely different from that of the refugees.

One of them even bore a resemblance to the “overseer” seen in the mine two nights prior.

Wei Yunlan exchanged a glance with Seventh Lady Yu, and the Tianshu Pavilion guards stationed here quickly spread out to surround the three individuals.

One of the men among them, who had unnaturally pale skin, glanced around with a disdainful smirk. “I was wondering why those refugees dared to run up the back mountain; it turns out someone is here to assist them.”

As he spoke, the rustling sounds of the forest grew louder.

More and more footsteps were approaching from that direction.

Wei Yunlan’s expression tightened. This man could command the wolf pack!