"The Xun hexagram signifies wind movement!"
Xu Nian's eyes sharpened; she knew she wouldn't give them a chance to get close.
Her hands moved with lightning speed, forming hand seals, and in the blink of an eye, she was a hundred meters away from Li Hong'an and the others. However, there were simply too many of them—at least a dozen in total. Even with all her strength, she couldn't easily break through their encirclement!
"Witch! I'd like to see how long your sorcery can last!" Li Hong'an's blade was about to strike Xu Nian's hair when suddenly his vision blurred.
The Divine Man had already flown more than a hundred meters away!
Xu Nian moved quickly, but there was nothing she could do against their sheer number! She had assumed that these dozen or so were all the people who had come to rob the caravan that day, but she never expected them to be right where she was passing by.
At Li Hong'an's command, many more people jumped out from the mountains!
Dozens of people formed a large circle, surrounding her like dumplings.
She dared not use the power of the Eight Trigrams again, for fear that pointing at something would send her back to some bandit, which would really be the death of her!
"Gentlemen, you may not know this, but an army of 100,000 men is about to pass by here." Xu Nian put his hands behind his back. "Considering we are all old acquaintances, I am kindly reminding you that if you don't run now, you will miss your chance!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Do you think I don't know if an army has passed by?!" One of the bandits hesitated for a moment, unwilling to easily believe Xu Nian.
"I say, you little wench, are you scared? You should have said so earlier. If you had knelt down now and let me have my way with you, I might have considered letting you go."
Xu Nian frowned, already knowing that these bandits wouldn't have anything nice to say.
After that person finished speaking, a chorus of agreement quickly followed, and even Li Hong'an felt that she couldn't escape. She began to scrutinize herself inch by inch with a wanton gaze.
Her stomach churned, but she forced a smile. "Believe it or not. I'll just tell you one thing: that army is on its way to fight the Xiongnu on the border. They just set off today, and they've probably only gotten this far. If we don't escape, we'll be dead if we run into them!"
"this……"
"Can you swear that everything you're saying is true?!"
Xu Nian: "Of course, if I utter a single falsehood, may I be struck by lightning! I'm telling you brothers, the one with whom I have a grudge is Li Hong'an, not you. It's not worth risking your lives for him."
Many of the people here only started working for Li Hong'an later.
They knew nothing of the wedding feast on the mountain or the encirclement and suppression by government troops at the time. Naturally, they didn't harbor any deep hatred towards Xu Nian, especially after hearing her say this.
He was so confident that he wasn't afraid to swear oaths, but his heart started to pound.
They respected Li Hong'an as their leader, but it's human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm, especially for people like them who were afraid of their families finding out they had become bandits.
If they were captured by the soldiers, they would be severely injured, if not killed. Many of these people, who had families to support, immediately decided to give up.
In the end, their relationship with Li Hong'an was just a chance encounter, a partnership, and there was really no need for them to risk their lives and their entire families!
Seeing that many people were beginning to waver, their hands holding knives slowly dropping, Li Hong'an, along with many of the older men, immediately became anxious. "Brothers, don't believe her! This witch is a silver-tongued devil; it was because of her deception that our stronghold suffered such heavy losses!"
"Exactly, she's just a woman! I've been robbing goods here for so long and haven't seen any soldiers! Why should I believe her?!"
"A bunch of cowards! A woman's few words have scared you like this. Don't you have any brotherhood at all?!"
Seeing that they were arguing incessantly but none of them came forward to confront her, Xu Nian deduced that they believed her and dared not make a move.
So she pressed on, "Whether what I said is true or not, you'll know in a little while. But I can warn you, I'm familiar with those soldiers. When they see you, they'll probably attack without saying a word! You gentlemen all have families to support, it's not worth ruining your families for me, is it?"
"Everything I've said is true. This grudge has nothing to do with you. Helping is a favor, not helping is your right. Brothers, don't listen to their nonsense. You're risking your lives here, and in these people's mouths you're just called cowards. It's clear they're not sincere towards you. Brothers, you'd better be careful and not be used as pawns."
Thanks to Jiang Yuanqing for his teachings and guidance during this time!
Xu Nian had never felt so eloquent, able to make even the dying sound alive!
All of this is thanks to his daily bickering with the future emperor and empress, as well as the Fifth Prince and his group of royals. His ability to turn the dead into the innocent is extremely powerful!
When the news reached her, it always managed to persuade some people, who immediately laid down their weapons and disappeared without a word.
Others, with fiery tempers, agreed with Xu Nian. They immediately started arguing with Li Hong'an and his group, "Brothers, this little girl is right! We've only known each other for a few months, why should we risk our lives for their personal grudges, only to end up with nothing to show for it!"
"Yeah, you're the coward! Let's go, guys!"
Seeing that most of the people had left, Li Hong'an was furious, his lungs felt like they were about to explode, and without thinking, he immediately slashed at Xu Nian! "Witch! Prepare to die!"
"Heaven descends with boundless power, and the universe lends its magic. The Thunder God manifests his power, bestowing upon me divine might. Five thunderbolts descend from the heavens, so be it!" Xu Nian, who had been accumulating power earlier, silently chanted the incantation.
Fingers flew across the paper, forming hand seals with lightning speed!
In an instant, dark clouds obscured the sun, and purple lightning flashed in the center of the clouds. Just as she finished speaking and Li Hong'an was about to leap forward, a bolt of lightning struck the hilt of the man's sword!
A crisp "ding" sounded!
The longsword snapped in two, but Lei Fa did not stop!
One after another, the lightning struck the bandits. Li Hong'an, being extremely close to Xu Nian, was struck in the wrist by the purple lightning, and the smell of burning flesh instantly filled the air!
Not far away, on the official road, which is separated from the mountain wall.
Gu Zhan frowned as he looked at the dark clouds overhead. He had clearly consulted a feng shui master before setting out on this day. The weather was fine and sunny—a perfect day. How could the weather have changed so quickly?!
"Marshal, look over there!"
The adjutant beside him was also puzzled; the sky was so overcast, yet not a single drop of rain had fallen.
Turning their heads, they saw thunder crashing down from the mountains, so powerful that they couldn't hear a sound from their side. It was as if the thunderbolts were just their illusions!
Gu Zhan was already suspicious, and now that he saw Lei, he understood everything. His expression immediately changed. "Rest here! Right Assistant General, take a group of men and come with me to take a look over there."
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