"You protect the young mistress. Everyone else, get into combat mode!" Qian Chen said, then walked towards the people coming from the opposite direction.
"Young Marshal, no, you..." Jiang Nan couldn't stop her; Leng Yue had already started walking towards the boulder. Jiang Nan looked ahead and behind, but finally chose to walk towards Leng Yue.
"Excuse me, brother, which gang are you from?" Qianchen shouted.
"No need for probing. Today we're going to rob you of your money and take your lives. I understand the principle that one must be loyal to one's employer." The other party shouted.
“Friends, we’ll meet again someday. You can take the money, why must you kill us all?” Qianchen gestured as he negotiated with the other party.
The soldiers behind Qianchen understood his gesture and hid themselves, choosing the best place to fight.
"Enough talk. Blame it on your Lian family for offending the wrong people. You're not leaving this Treasure Mountain today." The other party seemed to have lost patience. "Brothers, charge! Kill them all, leave no one alive!"
Qianchen had already gripped his QQ (a weapon) in his hand, and activated it the moment the other side shouted. Both sides had opened fire, but because the distance wasn't close enough, neither side had suffered any casualties yet.
However, the other side consisted of bandits from this Treasure Mountain, who already had the advantage. In addition, their ambush location was excellent, so Qianchen's disadvantage quickly became apparent.
The enemy was positioned on high ground, forming an encirclement. Qianchen, on the other hand, was in a lower position, with no place to even take cover from bullets, except for the surrounding carriages and horses. Not only that, but he also had to deal with enemies from three sides simultaneously, leaving him with absolutely no advantage.
The moment Leng Yue and Jiang Nan heard the "q" sound, they knew something was wrong. Leng Yue was anxious and wanted to push the stone away. Jiang Nan said that pushing the stone away would reveal a flat plain on the other side, making it easier to escape. They could also quickly reach the Lian family's territory, where they could get support.
The reason the enemy didn't ambush them upon their arrival wasn't just because the timeframe was too short for preparation. Also, the pass of Protectorate Mountain served as a barrier and a dividing line between powerful factions. Therefore, they dared not.
Similarly, their inability to leave the Treasure Mountain meant they would receive no support. Even if they were evenly matched, let alone given the already vastly different numbers of troops, victory wouldn't be easy.
Given the current situation, it's more likely they'll be trapped and die here.
"Ah!" Leng Yue pushed the boulder with all her might, but it was no use. No matter how much she learned or how many techniques she used, the boulder did not budge.
Seeing that Leng Yue was truly unable to push him, Jiang Nan's face darkened. "Young Madam, don't waste your energy. I know you've already tried your best."
"I want to die with the young marshal. You should find a way to escape." Jiang Nan glanced at Leng Yue, then turned and ran.
"Zero, come quick." Leng Yue called Zero out after seeing Jiang Nan leave. "Take a look over there, what exactly are they up to?"
The screen shifted instantly, revealing an empty space on the other side. "Nothing there, absolutely nothing!"
"Impossible." Leng Yue didn't believe it. "I could definitely push such a stone, so why didn't it work?"
"Wait, let me check again." Zero pulled up the data and found that the stone didn't seem to be a real stone. "Yueyue, the data for this stone is wrong."
"What do you mean?" Leng Yue didn't quite understand.
“Your estimate is correct. Based on the density of this stone, it should only weigh one ton at most. However, the weight shown here is as high as hundreds of thousands of tons.” Ling flipped through the data for Leng Yue to see.
Leng Yue nearly choked on her breath. "What the hell is this? It's not a mountain!"
"That's right, I understand!" Leng Yue said, forming hand seals and chanting, "Heaven and earth are boundless, Qiankun borrows the law, Laozi, hurry and obey the decree! Break!"
Leng Yue bit her tongue, and as she spat out a mouthful of blood, the boulder blocking the mountain pass fell down with a crash.
A loud bang silenced the two sides engaged in battle. Jiang Nan had just reached Qian Chen's side when he turned around and saw that the barrier had already been opened.
Jiang Nan shouted excitedly, "Young Marshal, it's open! The road is open!"
Qian Chen then gave the order, "Retreat!"
The bandits never expected Leng Yue to be able to open the boulder, so they were completely unprepared. While they were distracted, Qian Chen had already led his men away in a car and driven a long way.
Qianchen pulled Lengyue into the carriage, while the bandits gave chase. They knew that a feud had been formed, and failing to eliminate Qianchen and his companions would only lead to endless trouble.
The firepower from behind was intense; even with the passage open, many soldiers still fell. Leng Yue was held tightly in Qian Chen's arms, but she knew this wasn't a solution.
Seeing how relentlessly the other party was pursuing her, she couldn't let it go so easily. After thinking for a moment, Leng Yue once again formed hand seals and borrowed some mist.
This made visibility even worse in the already poor mountain area. Taking advantage of the fog, Qianchen led most of his men out of the Treasure Guardian Mountain.
Originally intending to stop and rest in a town, Qian Chen changed his mind. "Give the order to the brothers to be patient. We'll travel through the night and reach the Lian family's territory as soon as possible."
Jiang Nan received the order and left quickly.
After a fierce battle, everyone was exhausted. However, everyone knew that the bandits who had appeared at the Treasure Mountain earlier were not ordinary.
This wasn't the first time the martial arts practitioners had followed this path. For so many years, they had maintained a peaceful coexistence with these bandits; their sudden disruption of this harmony suggested a larger conspiracy. Besides, the bandits themselves claimed they were acting on someone else's orders!
When it's impossible to determine whether you're dealing with the enemy or your allies, it's safest to return to base as soon as possible.
And so they marched through the night and finally arrived safely in the Yunnan-Guizhou region at the crack of dawn.
Upon arriving at familiar territory, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. After entering Yunnan and Guizhou, Qian Chen ordered the troops to rest on the spot. The soldiers, who had been running all night, slept soundly on the ground.
"Young Marshal, we just checked and found that more than twenty brothers have sacrificed their lives." Jiang Nan said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
"Give them a proper burial, double the compensation, and take good care of their families," Qian Chen said in a low voice, taking a deep breath.
"Several brothers' bodies were not brought back in time..." Jiang Nan's eyes were red; the situation had been too chaotic before, and there simply wasn't enough time.
"Let's erect a cenotaph first, then send troops to bring them back when we get back!" Qianchen patted Jiang Nan on the shoulder.
Jiang Nan nodded. They were all brothers who had lived and eaten together, and they all felt bad.
Leng Yue wasn't idle either; the first-aid kit she always carried came in handy. Her wedding dress was tattered, but Leng Yue didn't care. She was currently working with the others to apply medicine and bandage the wounded soldiers.
Qianchen saw Leng Yue busy at work, and his mouth moved slightly, but in the end he did not stop her.
"We owe it all to the young mistress this time," Jiang Nan said admiringly, looking at Leng Yue who had been busy working. "The young mistress is really amazing. If it weren't for her, we probably would all be dead!"
Qian Chen looked at Jiang Nan, "She's always been great!"
Jiang Nan was about to say something more when he saw the young marshal go to find the young mistress, and he just stood there staring blankly.
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