Chang Lili was about to say that there were only three or five people when she turned around and was dumbfounded.
Under the moonlight, dozens of dark figures rushed towards them like a raging flood.
Her steps began to falter, and her mother-in-law, whose legs were weak, tried to free her arm from Chang Lili's grasp.
"Mother-in-law, what are you doing?" Chang Lili asked in alarm.
The old woman seemed to have no strength left to speak: "I...I can't run anymore, don't worry about me."
"Stop dawdling! If we don't leave soon, we'll all be in trouble!" Zhou Lue said impatiently.
So the three of them, one holding the other's hand, struggled through the mountains, but the man in black was still about to catch up.
A handsome, somewhat thin figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. In any case, it wasn't from the direction the men in black had come from; these men in black had clearly broken in from outside the mountain.
But as the slender figure approached, her heart skipped a beat, and a familiar, youthful, clear voice rang out: "Are they here for you? Who have you offended?"
Hearing Zhang Ziqing's question, Chang Lili was speechless for a moment. Who had she offended?
The image of Xiao Shu'er flashed through her mind. Who else could she have offended besides Xiao Shu'er? Xiao Shu'er had actually extended her evil clutches here?
"I...I'm not sure." She felt that she didn't know how to explain her grievances with Xiao Shu'er, and besides, she couldn't make any conclusions at the moment.
“It’s good that you’re here. They can’t escape now, and they can’t win a fight either. Here’s what we’ll do: you take them into the woods first, and I’ll stall for time,” Zhou Lue said.
Zhang Ziqing gave an almost inaudible "hmm," and Zhou Lue let go of his hand. Zhang Ziqing then grabbed Chang Lili's hand and pulled her into the woods.
At that moment, a clear, shrill voice suddenly rang out: "My God, who are these people? Assassins?"
Zhou Lue had already faced the men in black. Although the other side had a large number of people, Zhou Lue lived up to his reputation as the number one martial arts master in the world. When he charged towards the men in black, it was like a boulder being thrown into the sea, creating a huge wave.
Several men in black were sent flying by the impact. Zhou Lue shoved one of them away with each hand and shouted at them, "Aren't you going to help?"
Several people ran forward. Chang Lili was a little puzzled. She had just told them to go first, but now she was asking them to go back and help.
No one paid any attention to poor Zhou Lue, when suddenly Zhang Ziqing's calm voice said, "I'm talking to you."
Jiang Yingxue, who was running after them, was slightly taken aback. Even in the moonlight, it was clear that her face quickly flushed red. She looked at Zhang Ziqing, her eyes filled with shyness.
"Then...then I'll go help." Jiang Yingxue looked at Zhang Ziqing expectantly, and after receiving an almost inaudible "hmm," she turned and ran.
Chang Lili saw the sweet smile on her lips, but she couldn't care less. She turned around and saw that Jiang Yingxue was also facing the man in black. Her moves were quite skillful, showing that she knew martial arts.
"She... knows martial arts?" Chang Lili was a little incredulous. She had easily subdued Jiang Yingxue before, and now it seemed that Jiang Yingxue was probably caught off guard that time. Now it seemed that Jiang Yingxue did not settle scores with her afterward, thank goodness.
The facts were obvious. Zhang Ziqing did not answer her, and at that moment they ran into the woods.
Chang Lili suddenly felt that this light machine department gave people a strange feeling. They usually seemed like a disorganized bunch, but now that foreign enemies had invaded, they had united as one.
They didn't care what kind of trouble she got into; they just protected her.
Chang Lili followed Zhang Ziqing into the woods. Although Zhou Lue and Jiang Yingxue had stalled for time, there were just too many men in black, and some of them managed to escape and catch up.
Zhang Ziqing tightened his grip on Chang Lili's arm and said in a deep voice, "Hurry up."
But at this moment, the mother-in-law suddenly fell to the ground. She had been running for a long time and was already panting heavily. At this moment, she could barely lift her feet.
Without saying a word, Chang Lili broke free from Zhang Ziqing's arm and went to help her mother-in-law.
"Go away, don't worry about me!" But the mother-in-law refused to let Chang Lili help her.
Zhang Ziqing frowned. Seeing the man in black approaching, he knew that Chang Lili wouldn't abandon the old woman, so he had no choice but to go and help.
Although he didn't know martial arts, he was determined to fight the men in black. Seeing them approaching, he shouted, "Keep hitting them!"
Seeing him turn around to face the man in black, Chang Lili asked anxiously, "What are you doing?"
Under the moonlight, a silver dagger gleamed in the black-clad man's hand. Chang Lili's eyes widened suddenly: "Watch out!"
The man in black acted swiftly. Chang Lili watched helplessly as the short knife stabbed towards Zhang Ziqing's chest. Zhang Ziqing, who was unarmed, seemed to have no time to dodge.
Something suddenly flashed through the air with a whooshing sound; the man in black's short knife was fast, but the thing was even faster.
With a soft thud, a crossbow bolt pierced the black-clad man's arm and side, blood dripping from the arrowhead.
The dagger in his hand fell limply to the ground before it could fall. The man in black looked at his waist in disbelief, his head lolled to the side, and he collapsed to the ground.
Chang Lili and Zhang Ziqing couldn't help but look in the direction from which the crossbow bolts came. The first thing they saw was a wine jar reflecting the moonlight. The jar was taken down, revealing a weathered face covered in dust, with an expression that was half-asleep and half-awake.
He stood against a tree, his hand resting on a crossbow.
Zhang Ziqing was the first to react. When she saw that another man in black had entered the woods and was helping his mother-in-law, she urged Chang Lili to move forward.
As she walked, Chang Lili noticed a repeating crossbow cart next to the tree in front of her, exactly the same one that the drunkard uncle had used earlier.
Zhang Ziqing led her over and asked, "You know how to use this, right?"
Chang Lili nodded: "Yes."
She immediately understood Zhang Ziqing's meaning; he wanted her to operate the crossbow like the drunkard uncle to deal with the men in black.
After Zhang Ziqing told them to be careful, he ran off to the other side. Chang Lili saw him standing next to another crossbow cart, his eyes fixed on the black-clad men, his hand on the crossbow cart, ready to fire at any moment.
Chang Lili then noticed that the moonlight was falling into the forest, and every so often there was a crossbow cart leaning against a tree.
She had been in the Light Machinery Department for so many days, walking through the woods every day, and hadn't even noticed.
However, these crossbows were probably locked to prevent them from being used by bad guys. Zhang Ziqing had just used a key to unlock them so that Chang Lili could use the crossbow cart.
With a few whooshing sounds, the drunkard uncle and Zhang Ziqing fired their crossbow bolts. The powerful bolts tore through the air and pierced straight into the bodies of the assassins who had just stepped into the woods.
Chang Lili was amazed by the skills of the drunkard uncle and Zhang Ziqing in driving the repeating crossbow cart, which could be summarized as "fast, accurate and ruthless".
Her mother-in-law called out to her anxiously, "Lili."
"It's alright." She immediately focused her gaze on the edge of the woods, ready to fire her crossbow at any moment.
More and more men in black were entering, and it seemed that Zhou Lue and Jiang Yingxue couldn't hold out any longer.
As Chang Lili fired her crossbow, she prayed silently that the two of them would be safe and sound.
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