Zhong Li stood on the high point of the hill, overlooking the camp below.
The camp, which had been dark, was suddenly illuminated. People holding torches and flicking whips confronted the elite soldiers guarding the camp.
"Where did they come from?" Lu Wu Xie frowned, staring intently at the enemies surrounding the camp, ready to attack at any moment.
Lin Jin shook his head. "I don't know. Ah Wu and I were on watch. I went to relieve myself on one side, and when I returned, I saw this scene. That's why I came to find the Young Master."
"Are they bandits?" Zhong Li squinted, looking at a man in slightly more elaborate attire among those holding torches. The man had a long beard, half of his arm exposed, a standard bandit's attire.
"That shouldn't be!" Lu Wu Xie quickly denied. "This is outside Liaocheng. The Southern Yue Kingdom is in an era of peace and prosperity. Even if bandits were rampant, they wouldn't be this bold."
"Then who..."
Before Zhong Li could finish her sentence, the man in the ornate attire pulled a horn from his waist and blew it quickly.
"This horn sound..." Lu Wu Xie frowned, seeming to find the sound familiar. But before he could recall, all the subordinates beside the bandit leader drew their swords and charged towards the elite soldiers guarding the camp.
"Damn it! We need to help," Zhong Li pulled out the scalpel from her embrace and sprinted down the hill.
Lu Wu Xie glanced at Lin Jin, then unfastened the golden fish pouch from his waist. "Go, no matter what it takes, break open the gates of Liaocheng and have them send reinforcements!"
"But, Young Master..."
"Hurry!" Lu Wu Xie pushed Lin Jin, drew the long sword from his waist, and also hurried down the hill.
By the time Zhong Li arrived at the camp, the two groups were already engaged in a fierce battle, with the ground littered with screaming survivors and silenced corpses.
Logically, the personnel they brought this time should have been sufficient to resist such bandit attacks. However, on one hand, it was nighttime, and most of their troops were still groggy. On the other hand, their camp was not far from Liaocheng, so no one expected them to be attacked at this critical juncture.
Zhong Li grabbed a bandit preparing to abuse one of their own. As her scalpel struck, the bandit clutched his throat and fell to the ground.
"Are you alright?" She helped up a comrade and asked.
The elite soldier shook his head, thanked Zhong Li, and quickly rejoined the fight.
Zhong Li went straight towards her carriage, fighting her way through. She remembered that Hua Yao and Zhong Wu You were still sleeping soundly inside.
"Hua Yao, Wu You!" she shouted hoarsely, trying to wake the sleeping woman in the carriage.
At the same time, the bandit leader seemed to hear her call. He glanced in the direction of the carriage, swept aside the elite soldiers blocking his horse's path, tightened his grip on the reins, and as his horse reared up with a neigh, the injured soldier lying on the ground was trampled to death by its hooves.
Zhong Li's eyes widened in anger, her worry for the two escalating. She cut down two bandits blocking her path and rushed towards the carriage in three quick steps.
But human speed could not match that of a horse. As she arrived, the bandit leader's ornate spear had already pierced deep into the carriage.
"Hua Yao, Wu You!" Zhong Li screamed, her eyes wide.
The bandit leader reacted much faster than an ordinary person. Seeing Zhong Li arrive behind him, before she could react, he threw away the spear he had thrust into the carriage, pulled a long saber from the spare pack behind his horse, and lunged towards Zhong Li's abdomen.
Simultaneously, a pebble hit the bandit leader's hand, and the saber dropped to the ground.
The bandit leader narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction the pebble came from.
Lu Wu Xie had already moved ahead, wrapping his arm around Zhong Li's waist and shielding her tightly behind him.
"Are you the Young Master of the Prince Xian's Estate?" The bandit leader looked at the man opposite him, with his sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, his elegant and handsome demeanor undoubtedly marking him as the most handsome man in Jincheng.
Lu Wu Xie frowned, ignoring the bandit leader's words. He quickened his pace and charged towards the enemy.
"Good, today I will cut off your head and dry it to use as a wine cup!" the bandit leader sneered, drawing his long spear and meeting the attack.
Zhong Li stood in place. The surrounding firelight had illuminated the camp as brightly as day. She glanced at Lu Wu Xie, who was locked in combat with the bandit leader, then her gaze fell on the carriage opposite. She walked quickly and pulled aside the carriage curtain, calling out, "Hua Yao, Wu You."
She had expected a bloody scene inside the carriage. It was only when she found the carriage empty that her heart tightened again. Hua Yao wasn't inside; could it be...
"Li'er, I'm here!" Just as Zhong Li was about to check another carriage that had already been burned to ashes, Hua Yao's voice sounded from diagonally opposite.
She followed the voice and saw Hua Yao, with her hair disheveled from sleep, holding Zhong Wu You in her arms, a dagger in one hand shielding her chest, hiding behind Lan Heng and Ah Wu. Her eyes were fixed on Zhong Li.
"Be careful!"
Seeing that both were safe, Zhong Li quickened her steps towards them. Suddenly, Hua Yao's eyes widened in horror as she shouted, looking behind Zhong Li.
Zhong Li reacted, dodged the long sword thrusting towards her, and with a counter-attack, killed the bandit who had ambushed her from behind.
"Damn it! Fire attack, burn them all to death here!" The bandit leader was kicked off his horse by Lu Wu Xie and lay in the grass in a sorry state. Seeing all his hundred subordinates about to be lost, his heart jolted as he shouted.
At the same time, he picked up the saber from the ground, dodged Lu Wu Xie's attack, and ran towards Zuo Teng's prison carriage nearby.
The area around Zuo Teng's prison carriage was already surrounded by elite soldiers and bandits. Bodies were piled up on the ground like small mountains. Zuo Teng's hands and feet were bound. In his panic, he could only repeatedly signal for help to Lan Heng and Lu Wu Xie.
"As expected, they are after Zuo Teng!"
Zhong Li and Lu Wu Xie also went to provide support.
Lan Heng and Ah Wu also noticed the problem. Just as they were about to rush towards the prison carriage, these bandits, as if well-trained, began to fight with them again.
The fire began to fiercely destroy the camp's belongings.
"Save me, save me, Young Master, save me!"
As the fire was about to engulf the prison carriage, Lu Wu Xie leaped onto it, raised his long sword, and chopped off the chains binding Zuo Teng. He then pulled Zuo Teng out of the carriage and handed him to Zhong Li, saying, "Take him and run, I'll be right behind you."
Zhong Li nodded, took out a small bottle from her waist, and stuffed it into Zuo Teng's mouth amidst his cries and protests.
At the same time, Zuo Teng seemed to be bewitched. He stopped crying out and looked at Zhong Li with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.
"Follow me!" Zhong Li commanded and quickly ran towards the small woods not far from Liaocheng.
Zuo Teng nodded dazedly and followed with faltering steps.
The sounds of fighting continued behind them. Zhong Li killed two bandits pursuing them, daring not to look back, relying only on her memory to navigate through the woods.
As the first rays of sunlight from the City in the Sky shone into the woods, Zhong Li finally lost her strength. Her foot stepped on a stone, and she stumbled and fell to the ground.
Zuo Teng, who was following behind her, had clearly recovered from the drug's effects. In his daze, he also collapsed and fell asleep beside a tree.
Zhong Li forced herself to sit up. She had no time to mind the dirt staining her body. Assured that the surroundings were no longer dangerous, she put away her scalpel and took out a roll of bandages to walk over to Zuo Teng.