Without listening closely, everyone could hear a rumbling sound coming from the earth.
"The earth dragon has turned over!"
In the panicked crowd, someone shouted, and everyone immediately took off running towards the outside of the mountain stronghold.
The first person to reach the outside of the village stopped in his tracks.
What came into view was a group of men dressed in black, with their faces covered by black cloths, riding on tall horses.
The overwhelming sense of oppression made the leading man's legs go weak and he almost knelt on the ground.
It's him!
That ruthless killer has arrived!
Earlier, when he was preparing to offer the prey he had hunted as tribute to the bandits, he happened to see these men in black slaughtering the bandits.
The villagers who arrived later were also stunned. Were these bandits back again?
The atmosphere became tense, and the villagers, who had suffered a series of blows, were too frightened to even breathe.
Yun Mo coldly stared at the villagers before him and rode forward.
For every step the horse took forward, the villagers took a step back.
Before long, seeing that the men in black on horseback did not kill them, the villagers consciously made way for them, keeping their distance and trying to minimize their presence.
Upon hearing the commotion, Yun Shiyi and his guards leaped down from the distant top and knelt on one knee in front of Yun Mo.
"Your subordinate greets Your Majesty!"
Yun Mo stared at him sharply, "How is Madam?"
"Rest assured, Master, Madam is well!" Yun Shiyi said in a deep voice.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Yinan grabbed her sword and ran out of the village, worried that there might still be bandits left in the deep mountains.
Behind her were Yunming and the Qianxia sisters, and even Shanque and Hongmu.
Lin Yinan saw the tall and upright figure sitting on the horse from afar; it was Yun Mo.
The two have not seen each other for a long time since she left Xihe.
Yun Mo leaped off his horse and landed in front of Lin Yinan. He ripped off the black veil covering his face, revealing a pair of gleaming eyes.
"Anan!"
He spoke with surprise, his bright eyes scanning Lin Yinan up and down.
As Yun Mo approached, Lin Yinan smelled a strong, sour odor emanating from him, and his face was full of fatigue, indicating that he had traveled for a long time.
"Why are you here?"
Sure enough, Yun Mo said, "That day, while patrolling the mountaintop, I happened to see the highest-level signal being fired in the sky in the direction of Chi'an, so I rushed over."
These signal flares are only available to a few numbered team leaders within the secret guard unit.
A few days ago, he received a letter from his second brother saying that his wife had come to Chi'an.
Therefore, he guessed that something must have happened to Lin Yinan and the others.
"I'm so glad you're alright!"
"You almost caused the mountains in the entire Chian County to collapse. How many people did you bring?" Lin Yinan asked.
Yun Mo said, "One hundred cavalry, followed closely by four hundred infantry."
"What about Chi'an? The mountain roads are difficult to travel, why did you bring cavalry up here?" Lin Yinan said with a hint of reproach.
The mountain roads are rugged, and their horses are hard-won; if they were lost, it would be a great loss.
"Yunyi looks fine."
Lin Yinan nodded, looked at the sharp-looking cavalry behind him, and said gently, "Alright, let's settle the soldiers down first. Where do you think would be a good place to settle them?"
"What's going on over there?" Yun Mo raised his hand and pointed to the shacks outside the village.
Lin Yinan said calmly, "They were just some disobedient villagers. I killed a few yesterday and made them move out of the village, which freed up a lot of houses."
If there are empty rooms, then his soldiers won't have to sleep outdoors.
Yun Mo waved to the soldiers behind him, "Hu Zi, Da Tou, you guys take your men to the council hall to rest. Yun Xi, you take the rest of the brothers and settle in the two courtyards next door."
"Yunxi, Huzi, Datou, you've been to the mountain stronghold before and know it quite well. Discuss how best to arrange the night watch."
Lin Yinan said to Zhao Mang, who was standing in the crowd, "Village chief, find a few women to cook for the soldiers. Get the food from Qianxia."
"Yes, I will make the arrangements right away and make sure the soldiers don't go hungry," Zhao Mang said confidently.
Zhao Mang quickly dispersed the villagers who were watching and worked very hard.
The city lord and his wife had shown him great kindness, and he couldn't afford to mess things up again.
Among the soldiers, Yunxi, Huzi, Datou, and several other squad leaders had been here before when they were suppressing bandits, so they were quite familiar with the situation of the stronghold. They quickly led their respective soldiers to the stronghold.
After a long while, until the soldiers dispersed and Lin Yinan, Yun Mo, and the others disappeared, leaving the villagers looking at each other in bewilderment.
Er Mazi stomped his foot in frustration, "Oh! I should have known better than to rebel with Brother Wangcai!"
Wangcai and his brothers initially said that having fewer people would make them easier to handle, and that they would first kill a cow to intimidate them. However, they ended up hitting a brick wall. No matter how few people they had, they couldn't defeat even a single finger of the other party.
"I finally got this room!" someone wailed softly.
Looking at the situation today, do you think they're easy to manipulate?
The other villagers hung their heads numbly. They had done things they shouldn't have done. They didn't even have a house to shelter them from the wind and rain. They really regretted it!
The villager in charge of supervision spat on the ground, "Pah! You deserve it! Did you listen to Zhao Mang's advice back then?"
"It's too late to back out afterward!" another villager chimed in.
Lin Yinan was unaware of the villagers' misunderstandings; she led Yun Mo toward the courtyard where Lin Shuo was.
Yun Mo looked left and right, but despite all the commotion, his second uncle, Lin Shuo, was nowhere to be seen.
"Anan, where is Second Uncle?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Ming's shoulders slumped instantly.
Lin Yinan's eyes and brows held a hint of sorrow. "My second uncle is injured and is still unconscious."
"How did you get injured so badly?" Yun Mo asked Yun Ming.
Yun Ming had no choice but to tell Yun Mo everything that had happened. Finally, he said, "Third Brother, it's all my fault. I failed to protect Uncle Lin."
Looking at the frustrated Yunming, he realized that without the protection of his father and elder brother, he also bore responsibility for not teaching him well.
For a moment, Yun Mo couldn't bring himself to say the words of reproach.
He patted Yunming on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You learn from every experience. Life is like a whetstone; the more you experience, the sharper you become. The road ahead is long, so you must be more cautious in your actions."
"Third Brother, I understand!" Yun Ming clenched his fist secretly.
Yun Mo said to Lin Yinan, "Doctor Lü is in Xihe, which is nearby. Should I send a secret guard to invite him here?"
Lin Yinan: "No need. I already had a doctor from the village at the foot of the mountain examine me yesterday. He said I should wake up as early as tonight."
"That's good."
Upon entering the house to see Lin Shuo, Yun Mo took his hand and felt his strong pulse before feeling relieved.
After looking at Lin Shuo, the two left the house.
Hearing the commotion, Hong Mu and the others, who were staying in the neighboring courtyard, rushed out to watch. They whispered among themselves to the guards dressed in black.
Yun Mo's ears twitched slightly, his sword-like eyebrows furrowed, his eyes turned cold, and his longsword was instantly drawn.
In the dim light, the crowd saw a figure flash before their eyes, and upon closer inspection, they saw a gleaming sword resting against Hong Mu's neck.
"You are a Hu person!!"
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