Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

Chapter 39 Settlement

"Wind, wind, wind..."

This group was very experienced. They said they would go in and take a look, but instead of pushing the door open, they surrounded the small post station.

As dusk settled, the sky gradually darkened.

Jiang Ding'an couldn't understand their shouts. He simply drew his knife slowly, stood at the door, and stared intently at the bolt.

He would chop at the door as soon as the other party pushed it open.

Huang Guoshu trembled, tears welling in his eyes: "Brother-in-law, elder brother, save me..."

Ye Ci slowly took the longbow off his shoulder, placed his fingertips on the quiver, and scanned the area with the gaze of a hawk. His breathing was steady, and his face showed no emotion.

The shouts outside the door grew more urgent, followed by a loud crash.

Jiang Ding'an clenched his fists.

Just then, four dark figures leaped in from the wall, brandishing long knives.

Ye Ci seemed to have guessed that the other side's main gate was just a feint, and that they would actually jump over the wall to enter.

Without the slightest hesitation, the bowstring vibrated with a "hum," and the arrow shot out like a shooting star, accurately piercing the throat of the dark figure.

Then, three more arrows shot out in quick succession.

All four dark figures let out a muffled groan, collapsing to the ground before they could even scream.

There was a brief pause, and the people outside seemed to be listening.

After a moment, the people outside the door were clearly unsure of what to do, and then several torches were thrown in forcefully.

Some landed on the rooftops, some on the courtyards, and some even landed on the dry woodpile at the post station.

Instantly, there were crackling sounds, and thick smoke billowed out.

Ye Ci's eyes darkened. He glanced at the doorway, then at Huang Guoshu, who was trembling with fear, and said in a low voice:

"Throw all the firewood out."

Huang Guoshu was startled awake by the shout and grabbed bundles of firewood, throwing them outside the door.

The people outside were caught off guard by the sudden flying firewood, and curses mingled together.

Ye Ci seized this opportunity and said in a deep voice:

"Senior Brother Jiang, climb over the wall! One on the left, one on the right!"

Before he finished speaking, he lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaped up like a swallow, grabbed the top of the wall with one hand, and used the momentum to flip over and jump out.

Jiang Ding'an followed closely behind, long sword in hand, and leaped into the air, landing steadily on the ground.

As soon as he stepped outside, Jiang Ding'an couldn't help but admire Ye Ci's wit. It turned out that there were about twenty people on the other side, almost all of whom stayed at the door, with only a small number left to light fires on both sides.

They've been outflanked!

As soon as Ye Ci landed, a dark figure pounced on him.

The man held a long knife, the blade whistling sharply.

Ye Ci dodged to the side, his long sword sweeping across, and with a "whoosh," the man's head flew off.

Amidst the blazing firewood, Ye Ci and Jiang Ding'an appeared like gods of war descending upon the world.

Unstoppable.

Before the other party could react, Ye Ci killed another person.

On the other side, Jiang Ding'an had already rushed to the entrance of the post station, wielding his long sword with impenetrable speed, causing the two opponents to retreat in defeat.

Those two were clearly at the level of internal strength.

The other barbarian soldiers couldn't get involved at all; they would get injured if they were even touched.

The expert with hidden strength roared and thrust his blade at Jiang Ding'an's heart with all his might. Jiang Ding'an was prepared and dodged to the side, while simultaneously retaliating with a backhand strike that pierced the opponent's heart.

At this moment, Ye Ci also arrived and delivered a powerful punch from behind, causing the remaining man to spit out blood and travel a full three feet away.

Huang Guoshu peered through the crack in the door and, realizing the other barbarian soldiers weren't as formidable as he'd imagined, also drew his sword and charged out.

"Hey! You bunch of bastards! Kneel down before your Grandpa Huang!"

"Kneel down!"

He roared and slashed down with his sword.

The fight lasted less than 15 minutes before the squad was eliminated.

Corpses lay scattered on the ground, their blood staining the earth red.

The air was thick with the stench of blood.

Jiang Ding'an gasped for breath: "Junior brother, you just broke through to the Dark Force realm, how are you so powerful! I've been practicing Dark Force for several years!"

Ye Ci remained silent, holding a torch as he squatted on the ground, constantly turning over the corpse, then frowned.

He pondered for a moment.

He tied the burning firewood to the horse's back, and the horse, in pain, neighed and galloped away.

Huang Guoshu and Jiang Ding'an both understood and followed suit.

Before long, the warhorses scattered and fled.

"Hurry up!"

Ye Ci mounted his horse.

Jiang Ding'an quickly took Huang Guoshu with him and fled on horseback.

As night fell, the sound of horses' hooves gradually faded into the distance.

……

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The moonlight was bright and clear. A group of people took shelter by a mountainside to rest, with a babbling brook nearby.

Jiang Ding'an lay by the stream, his feet in the water, his arms limply draped over his chest, a knife wound on his forearm revealing a gruesome scar.

Huangguoshu squatted on the ground, resting its head on a huge rock.

He had previously worn a brocade robe, but now it was tattered and worn out, and after three days of hunger, his face had become thin.

"Senior brother, could you please pull your foot back?"

Ye Ci chewed on some dry rations, walked to the upper reaches of the stream to fetch water, and shook his head helplessly.

Eat what you're supposed to eat.

Anyway, he will always maintain his physical strength.

Jiang Ding'an was speechless.

In the past few days, they have been continuously chased by barbarians, and have been running around and hiding.

Fortunately, Ye Ci was quick-witted. After killing several waves of barbarian soldiers, he tied their horses to tree branches and released them around to distract them.

They also set up some feints and traps in some forests, which delayed many of the pursuers.

But today, they were caught up again, and only managed to fight their way out with great difficulty.

"Actually, it's me who dragged you all down with me."

Ye Ci ate his dry rations and spoke calmly.

Jiang Ding'an said weakly, "What nonsense are you talking about? If it weren't for you, we might have been surrounded and killed on our first day at the post station."

Ye Ci remained silent for a while before saying, "They should realize that we are not ordinary bodyguards, so some misunderstandings occurred."

He overlooked one thing: the other side was looking for Jianwu Hou's troops, but his tactics of feinting and dividing his forces were mostly the same ones used by the Jianwu army scouts back then.

In particular, his triple shot that day was a famous feat of the archer battalion: "one arrow to kill the enemy, three shots fired simultaneously."

This was shouted by a fleeing master of internal energy, who said, "Found it!"

Others mistook Ye Ci for someone from the Jianwu Marquis's faction.

"So what if it's a misunderstanding? It's a fight to the death anyway!"

Jiang Ding'an sighed deeply: "The southern barbarians' army is so formidable, how did our Great Qian manage to stop them?"

He was somewhat discouraged, knowing that Dark Force martial artists still held a certain status in the Great Qian Dynasty; those with Dark Force could become centurions as soon as they joined the army.

However, there were actually three or four members of the opposing team's small squad who possessed hidden strength, and each of them was highly skilled.

Fortunately, Jiang Ding'an was a master of internal energy; otherwise, he would have been killed long ago.

Ye Ci calmly asked, "Have you heard of the Gale Camp?"

"The Gale Battalion?! They're the Gale Battalion..."

Jiang Ding'an sat up in surprise, his calves splashing water, making a splashing sound.

He had certainly heard of the Southern Barbarian Gale Camp; they were infamous for their ruthlessness!

This team is the elite of the elite. Even the ordinary soldiers are at least at the Ming Jin level, and they are all veterans. They are decisive in killing and have the effect of stopping children from crying on the border.

But he had only heard of it; he never imagined that he would be dealing with this team for the past three days.

Why is the Gale Camp chasing us?

Huangguoshu bowed its head, striking the boulder with its head, making a "bang, bang" sound:

"Damn! It's the Gale Camp!"

His voice betrayed neither pain nor relief: "How the hell am I so awesome! I've just entered the martial world and already clashed with the Gale Camp. If I survive this, I must write a biography for myself, the Martial Saint Huang Guoshu... The mere Gale Camp, upon hearing of my name, chased me like a vicious dog for three days."

Despite this, a shadow of gloom crossed everyone's eyes.

After a night's rest, I heard the cry of an eagle early the next morning.

The three knew this and caught up with him again.

The group had no choice but to mount their horses again and head northeast.

When they reached a hillside, Ye Ci suddenly pulled on the reins and stared at the huge rock in front of him.

Under the sun, a gentle breeze swept across the hillside, yet it could not move the giant rock.

"It's time to put an end to this."

He dismounted, looked back into the distance, and spoke slowly.

"Let's settle this once and for all?!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Guoshu immediately jumped off his horse.

"Brother Ye, I understand now. You must be a peerless master hiding your true strength. Those villains pushed you so hard that you've decided to stop hiding and take action against them!"

Jiang Ding'an: "???"

Ye Ci: "???"

"Brother, I've seen through you all along! Now that things have come to this, make your move! I promise to keep your secret!"

Ye Ci: "..."

Jiang Ding'an: "This kid reads too many storybooks."

Ye Ci nodded: "There's no other way. We'll split into two groups. You guys continue running towards Yizhou, and I'll stay here to hold them off."

Huang Guoshu looked at Jiang Ding'an: "Brother-in-law, is there something wrong with what I said? He said he could stop them."

Jiang Ding'an shook his head: "You can't stop her. The moment you stop, you'll be surrounded. When that Green Snake arrives, you're no match for her. She's the kind of woman even Chen Sanshou would run for his life over!"

"We'll die together."

Jiang Ding'an looked at Ye Ci calmly: "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm scared," Huang Guoshu said. "I've practiced martial arts since I was a child. If I die now, it'll be like suffering for the rest of my life."

"Stop talking. Even if we split up, I might not die. It just means there's a sliver of a chance if we separate..."

Ye Ci, supporting himself on the blue stone, pointed ahead. The two looked in that direction and saw a dilapidated town in front of them.

"Qingniu Town!"

At this moment, Jiang Ding'an was stunned. He realized that he had been running in the direction Ye Ci pointed all the way, but he had not expected to have returned to Qingniu Town. However, the town in front of him had obviously been attacked. Many roof tiles were broken and lying on the road, and there were also some traces of fire.

"What do you want to do?" Jiang Ding'an asked.

Ye Ci remained calm, gazing ahead: "I'll enter Qingniu Town, and once I hear the sound of horses' hooves, I'll set fire to the houses."

"set fire?"

"Yes, setting a fire will attract them, and they will definitely stop chasing us."

"In town, their cavalry is useless. With my internal strength techniques, I can fight them in the streets, and the barbarian soldiers are trapped here in a short time. This will give you a chance to escape..."

"As long as I don't run into someone like Green Snake, I can hold out here for a long time. If it really is Green Snake, I can just steal a horse and escape. After all, once we're in town, I'll be in the shadows while they're in the open..."

Despite the relaxed tone in his voice, Jiang Ding'an suddenly became agitated, grabbed Ye Ci's collar, and raised his voice several times higher:

"What nonsense are you spouting! You'll be surrounded by the entire Gale Camp, and you think you can escape? That's suicide! Suicide..."

"Is there a better way?"

Sunlight fell on Ye Ci's shoulder. He gently brushed away Jiang Ding'an's hand, which felt somewhat weak.

"There was once a squad leader who did the same thing. I hadn't been a soldier for long then, and I was in the Gale Battalion. At that time, I was just an ordinary man, and my squad leader was a strong and burly man. He stayed behind, letting me, an ordinary man, escape. Later, I met other squad leaders. One of them told me, 'Fear of death doesn't guarantee survival, and wanting to die doesn't guarantee death.' Later, we both escaped, and he... well, he lived a little longer..."

"But if we don't make a clean break, no one can escape it. I have experience with this...we'll all die."

After running for three days, everyone was exhausted.

The yellow fruit tree beside him paused, remained silent for a moment, and then said:

"Brother Ye, you're a good person!"

Having said that, he jumped onto his horse and called to Jiang Ding'an, "Brother-in-law, let's go quickly! Leave this to Brother Ye. I believe he won't die. Even if he does, when I write my biography, I will definitely include a significant part about him."

"Haha, I'll be waiting for you to write your own biography... If you two manage to escape back home, remember to take care of my family for me..."

Ye Ci immediately mounted his horse, gave it a sharp slap on the rump, and headed towards Qingniu Town.

That hearty laughter, like a heavy hammer, struck Jiang Ding'an and Huang Guoshu hard in their hearts.

This is a real man!

Jiang Ding'an remained silent, unable to forget his junior brother Ye, who had always diligently practiced martial arts in the courtyard.

I still remember to introduce him to potential partners.

If you're dead, where will you find a partner?

He, however, was to stay behind alone to draw the attention of the Gale Camp!

He also has family...

There are four "elderly, weak, sick and disabled" people.

"Walk!"

Without further hesitation, Jiang Ding'an leaped onto his horse and shouted to Ye Ci, "From this day forward, your family is my family!"

******

As we entered Qingniu Town, we saw some collapsed houses on both sides, with bloodstains glaringly visible on the walls.

"Why is it you?"

Panic-stricken sounds came from beside the broken wall.

Ye Ci turned his head and saw Chen Sanshou, dressed in tattered clothes, hiding in the base of the broken wall. He seemed to have difficulty walking and only poked half of his head out.

"You weren't caught?"

Ye Ci asked, "Or did you kill the Green Snake?"

If the green snake were dead, Ye Ci felt that his chances of escaping would increase even further.

"Kill that crazy woman?"

Chen Sanshou, hiding behind the wall, cursed, "If I had that kind of skill, I'd be even better than the martial arts graduate!"

He finally managed to circle back and hide in the town, not believing that the other side would come back to search the place again.

"Then your Grandmaster level of Internal Energy isn't quite up to par."

Ye Ci's gaze swept coldly over them: "If we're talking about rank, Qing She is only a minor commander in the Gale Camp. There are definitely people in this team who are stronger than Qing She."

Chen Sanshou's face was grim; when had he ever been looked down upon by such a young upstart?

But he didn't want to waste his energy teaching Ye Ci a lesson, yet then a hint of doubt appeared on his face...

This young man is calm and unhurried.

Chen Sanshou watched as Ye Ci walked ahead, found a section of ruins, and went inside.

What is he looking for?

After a while, Chen Sanshou got an answer. He saw that Ye Ci had a torch made of burning firewood in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Chen Sanshou shouted angrily.

Ye Ci glanced at him, then continued walking forward without looking back.

"It's getting dark, I need a light."

"Bullshit, it's noon!"

"It will always get dark eventually."

"What exactly do you want?!"