Their luck seemed to falter a bit.

Shortly after passing through Linfen, nearing dusk, the caravan prepared to dismount and camp.

Perhaps because the day’s journey had gone smoothly, everyone was somewhat relaxed at this moment.

Especially the guards responsible for the caravan’s safety.

After tethering their horses under a tree, they gathered near a stream

They headed towards the stream to fetch water.

However, just as they moved about seventy or eighty steps away from the caravan, where people were unloading goods and preparing to pitch tents, shouts of attack suddenly erupted from the hillside, directed straight towards their group.

Guo Jia turned towards the direction of the shouts and saw a band of several hundred mountain bandits charging down the mountain path.

Because the terrain sloped gently around them, the bandits approached rapidly, almost upon them.

Guo Jia’s brow furrowed.

With Mi Zhu’s earlier explanation in mind, he had no doubt about what he was witnessing—these were indeed the Hedong mountain bandits!

A quick glance between Guo Jia and Mi Zhu confirmed that his assessment was correct.

What luck, the Hedong bandits were attacking!

In such a crisis, there was no need to ponder why Mi Zhu’s description of the Hedong bandits sparing small merchant caravans did not apply now.

The priority was to ensure their own safety.

The leader of the bandits wielded a curved blade, stained with blood, his fierce and sinister countenance appearing particularly brutal in the twilight gloom.

It was clear these were not bandits they could negotiate with to ensure their survival!

If Mi Zhu’s words held true then Another group should be surrounding them from behind, their best course of action now was swift killing and looting to maximize efficiency.

Almost exactly as Guo Jia had suspected, as the foremost bandits charged down the hillside, mere steps away from the caravan on the valley side,

He lunged forward with his blade.

“Move faster!”

The leader scanned the seemingly meager caravan with disdain, knowing this was his best option now.

Another group among them had been targeted by Chu Yan, forcing them into a cat-and-mouse game in the mountains.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun had reportedly returned to Leping the day before, limiting Chu Yan’s mobility.

It didn’t matter if the caravan was big or small; swallowing them whole was the priority.

However, not everyone in the caravan was helpless.

Take Mi Zhu, for instance.

Though traveling with a small caravan, his attendants were handpicked experts from the Mi clan, each capable of handling ten men alone.

Guo Jia, despite facing such a situation for the first time in his life, likely due to his naturally strong courage, was not thinking about relying on Mi Zhu’s attendants to navigate through this chaos and secure an escape route.

Instead— He was contemplating how to delay the actions of these mountain bandits.

His gaze was sharp, his mind racing.

He knew that quickly untying the horses tethered to the trees and fleeing on horseback was not the optimal solution because the bandits were clearly prepared for such scenarios.

After slaughtering the leader army of the caravan, they headed straight for the horses, swiftly cutting the ropes.

Though mountain bandits typically didn’t ride horses near the border of Bingzhou, a few among them did, primarily for mobility reasons.

Several of them had already mounted up, seizing bows and arrows hanging from the sides of the horses—weapons originally intended for those who had gone to fetch water!

Guo Jia observed this without showing any fear.

He noted that only a few of the bandits were equipped with bows, and those who mounted with bows displayed some clumsiness, indicating they were mainly there to prevent anyone from escaping rather than engaging in direct combat.

The real fighters wielded knives.

However, this didn’t mean they lacked aggressiveness.

The first bandit who attempted to mount and flee was swiftly brought down by a flurry of arrows.

Guo Jia decisively grabbed the flint in his belt pouch and approached Mi Zhu. “Do you have any skilled archers among your men?”

Mi Zhu himself was a skilled archer; his short bow was with him now and could inflict damage.

But at this moment, with everyone scrambling for their lives, wielding a bow would only make him the bandits’ prime target without benefiting the situation.

Understanding Mi Zhu’s gesture, Guo Jia whispered, “Then I’ll create an opportunity for you. Let’s try to shoot down their leader.”

Whether killing the leader would deter the others remained uncertain, but it was crucial to boost morale and unsettle their attackers.

The caravan was small, about a hundred people strong, and the bandits seemed reluctant to engage in prolonged combat.

There was potential for a counterattack.

To create this opportunity, Guo Jia had to sow chaos among the bandits and disrupt their momentum of pursuit.

He had few resources at hand, but sometimes quality mattered more than quantity in situations like these!

Guo Jia thought to himself, if they couldn’t mount horses and escape at this moment, couldn’t they at least drive the horses still attached to empty carts towards the direction where the bandits were?

With a plan forming in his mind, Guo Jia couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at the difficulty of being a person with no physical strength tasked with setting fires.

But difficult or not, it had to be done.

Otherwise, losing their lives here before even officially entering Bingzhou would surely become a subject of mockery once news reached Leping and reached Xi Zhicai’s ears.

Guo Jia picked up a few dry branches from the ground, preparing them as kindling.

After Mi Zhu signaled two of his attendants to accompany him, Guo Jia swiftly ran towards the designated direction, using unloaded crates to shield his movements.

Just as he ignited the dry branches and prepared to cover the final distance, he suddenly heard another set of hoofbeats, rhythmic and distinct.

Unlike the usual noise of a merchant caravan’s horses and carts, this sounded more like the synchronized movement of a marching army.

Before the hoofbeats drew closer, a powerful sound broke through the air towards them.

Amidst the chaos and clamor, it stood out remarkably clear.

Peeking out from behind the crates, Guo Jia caught sight of where the wind and hoofbeats were coming from.

A sturdy white-feathered arrow sliced through the air, piercing the head of the bandit leader with uncanny accuracy, emerging from his forehead in the next moment.

It was a deadly shot!

The precision and lethality of the arrow struck Guo Jia with awe.

The arrival of this arrow undoubtedly signaled the arrival of another force.

In the declaration of this imposing approach, he witnessed the second white-feathered arrow swiftly follow suit, taking another life with the same precision and strength.

Impressive archery!

Equestrian archery was already a rare skill, and those who mastered it were few.

Yet these two arrows seemed to fly effortlessly, with such dominant piercing force, declaring the arrival of this cavalry was anything but ordinary!

As the space left by the fallen men cleared, Guo Jia turned his gaze northward, towards the stream valley.

With the approaching hoofbeats, he could now clearly see the newcomers.

The dimming sunlight from the southwest cast an unusually shimmering light and shadow over this northern-bound troop, especially their leader.

It allowed him to see at a glance—a girl of no more than thirteen or fourteen years old!

The girl in dark clothing with arrow sleeves, narrow boots on her feet, and hair tied up in a bun, held a hefty longbow in her hands.

In an instant, she effortlessly drew the bowstring and aimed with the same white-feathered arrows seen earlier, identifying her as the archer of the preceding shots!

Her spirited demeanor, evident in her expressive eyes and brows, sharpened as she tightened the bowstring.

With a swift release, the arrow flew, striking down a bandit who was already raising his sword to attack.

Just three arrows, yet their impact was resounding!

Before the bandits could even retaliate with arrows of their own, the fierce cavalry charged forward.

Guo Jia observed clearly as the girl in dark clothing hung her longbow on the saddle and swiftly grasped two half-length spears in her hands.

With a skilled motion, she threw one spear, catching the returning half and seamlessly joining them into a complete double-headed lance.

The lance swept horizontally, knocking down several scattered arrows aimed at her, all the while maintaining its forceful momentum.

In one thrust, she impaled a bandit straight through.

Her consecutive successes did not halt her advance.

Amidst the thundering of hooves, a clear voice rang out through the valley with unstoppable momentum:

“I am Qiao Yan, Ye Shu of Leping! How dare the bandits of Hedong act so brazenly!”