Reborn as Murong Fu: This time I am the protagonist

Chapter 548 Old Friends from Liaodong
After saying this, Murong Fu pressed his right palm on the saddle, and his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared in a flash.

Even the guards, who knew their master's skills, couldn't help but exclaim, "Such fast lightness skill! Even Yun Zhonghe, one of the Four Evils who was once known as the best in the world for lightness skill, couldn't compare!"

Another guard glared at his colleague and said, "What kind of dog is Yun Zhonghe? Does he even deserve to be compared to Murong of Gusu? Slap yourself!"

Upon hearing his colleague's reprimand, the soldier felt ashamed and quickly lowered his head, saying, "Yes!" He then slapped himself seven or eight times in quick succession, until blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth. He only stopped when the person who had reprimanded him shouted, "Stop! If you do it again, it won't be so easy to get away with it!"

Tong Guan stared in shock at the scene before him, so much so that the shock brought by Murong Fu's unpredictable movements was lessened considerably. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Murong Fu used the Free and Easy Wind Riding Technique, his figure flashing like a streak of light, chasing stars and the moon, and the sounds of fighting became increasingly clear from several miles away.

Before long, Murong Fu climbed a small mountain about ten feet high and stood on the top to look down and observe the two groups of people fighting.

Within the dense crowd, a small caravan of a few dozen people had formed a circle with their wagons and goods. Dozens of tall, burly men, clad in thick animal hides, hid behind the wagons, intermittently firing arrows at the approaching enemies. Each arrow shot took the life of one of their kind.

The arrows fired by the enemy were often blocked by the men with their shields, or a few skilled and daring men would catch the arrows with their bare hands and then nock them on their own bows to shoot back at their opponents.

The caravan members were skilled archers, so although the enemy besieging them had an overwhelming numerical advantage, they were locked in a stalemate for a time.

The group besieging the caravan appeared to be a band of mountain bandits. Apart from a very few wearing simple leather armor, the vast majority of them had tattered clothes and carried a variety of weapons, including farm tools, knives and spears, and some even carried sharpened wooden sticks. Although they were numerous, they could only be described as a rabble in comparison.

Wu Sanqi felt that his luck had absolutely run out today.

As the most notorious bandit in the Jingdong Road area, Wu Sanqi had gathered more than a thousand henchmen. They usually occupied the mountain stronghold, robbing passing merchants. Occasionally, they would also raid the villages at the foot of the mountain. They usually lived a peaceful life with the local government and the county government.

Today, his henchmen reported that a caravan had passed by at the foot of the mountain, carrying dozens of carts of goods and dozens of fine horses. Among them was a beautiful woman with a rare and elegant appearance. He immediately became interested, gathered his men, and excitedly went down the mountain to take advantage of the situation.

He had expected to return with a full load of goods, but to his surprise, the caravan of several dozen people took the most effective defensive measures in an instant. They quickly used shields and wagons to protect the goods and people in the middle, and even drew their bows and shot dozens of his henchmen dead. If he hadn't killed several of his retreating men in succession, and if he hadn't had dozens of elite bandits under his command to hold the line, plus the advantage of having more people, this rabble would probably have scattered in all directions.

Fortunately, as time went on, some of the caravan members were injured and lost their fighting ability. With their numerical advantage, even if it was ten against one, they would still win in the end.

Thinking of this, Wu Sanqi glanced greedily at a beautiful and agile figure in the arena with his sly little eyes, his gaze full of fervor.

The young girl held a sturdy bow, aiming specifically at the eyes of her enemies. With each arrow, a man clutched his eye and retreated in agony, his pitiful cries chilling those around her. "Seventh Sister, what excellent archery! Truly a fine woman of my Wanyan tribe!"

A burly young man laughed and praised the girl while shooting an arrow that struck a bandit in the throat, knocking him off his horse.

The girl glanced at the large enemy force in front of her with a worried expression: "Second brother, the clansmen we sent out to ask for help have been gone for three hours. The Song Dynasty's government troops should have arrived by now. Why is there still no sign of them?"

"Perhaps the Song Dynasty's officials and soldiers were slow to act and didn't have time to arrive?"

The young man answered hesitantly.

Unbeknownst to them, the people they had sent to report to the local government and ask for help had already arrived at the nearest county office. However, when the local magistrate heard that a band of thousands of bandits was robbing a caravan, he was terrified and immediately ordered the city gates to be closed. He dared not send anyone to suppress the bandits.
The young man glanced at the group of wounded tribesmen and said worriedly to a younger man who looked similar to him but was a little older, "Brother! There are too many enemies. Why don't we mount our horses and fight our way out while we still have the strength?"

The older youth gritted his teeth, his expression shifting, and said in a deep voice, "No, this shipment was collected from seven tribes, including the Wanyan tribe. If it's lost, hundreds or even thousands of our people will starve to death this spring. The prestige that the Wanyan tribe has worked so hard to build will vanish, and the Jurchen people will once again become a disorganized mess, vulnerable to bullying. We absolutely cannot allow this to happen. Hold on a little longer; perhaps reinforcements are already on their way!"

This group was none other than the Wanyan siblings, whom Murong Fu hadn't seen in a long time, leading the elite troops of the Wanyan tribe. In a normal battle, these few dozen skilled archers and horsemen, clad in protective iron armor, would have easily defeated this ragtag group of a thousand. However, their purpose in coming to Song territory was to trade horses, hides, medicinal herbs, and other goods; they couldn't possibly be carrying prohibited items like iron armor. Furthermore, they were unwilling to abandon the goods that several tribes had painstakingly acquired over half a year, so they had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure: waiting for reinforcements.

Aguda said to Wanyan Yingge, "Sister, your brother and the others will cover you and open an opening for you. Run to the nearest government office and ask the Song army for help."

Wanyan Yingge stubbornly said, "No! I will fight to the last moment with my people! I believe he will appear before me again like a god descending to earth! Until I see him, I will be absolutely safe!"

Aguda sighed helplessly: "A thousand miles of east wind, a single line of light; in the end, it's all because of lovesickness."

Normally, the Wanyan tribe never brought their female relatives with them when they traded with the Song Dynasty via sea routes. However, this time Yingge insisted on coming along because she wanted to see the Song person who had left a deep impression on her again.

Aguda sighed inwardly: My foolish sister, how can you be so lovesick? If you die here, how will he ever know?
Just as they were pondering, a spark streaked across the sky and landed on the caravan's carriage. Then, countless sparks fell like fireflies. It turned out that the bandits, seeing that a direct assault was futile, had switched to a fire attack. They planned to first destroy the barriers that the caravan relied on to maintain its formation, and then surround the enemy from all sides.

In an instant, flames engulfed a carriage.

Aguda hurriedly said, "Quick! Put out the fire!" He quickly used his shield to protect himself and used mud to extinguish the fire.