All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

Everyone inside was quiet, and the sounds of fighting outside gradually subsided, as if everything was slowly returning to normal.

But everyone knew that this was all an illusion. The Mongol invaders had already broken in, and the quietness of East Street was only because the Mongols hadn't arrived yet. Once the Mongol cavalry arrived, it would likely be an even more brutal massacre.

"What do we do now?" Zhao Lei suddenly asked in the silence.

The group's original plan was to climb the cliff behind the county town to leave, but now Senior Brother Huang was seriously injured, and the three of them were also exhausted.

Climbing that steep cliff now would be tantamount to suicide; even in their prime, they might not have been able to make it to the top. Given this situation, the only outcome left for them seemed to be waiting to die.

Yang Pan remained silent, offering no advice. He wasn't the kind of shrewd strategist who could turn a desperate situation into a life-or-death one, nor was he someone with the incredible luck to survive against all odds, but closing his eyes and waiting to die was definitely not in his nature.

Before his time travel, his colleagues often called him a madman or said he was brainless. This was because Yang Pan always acted exceptionally decisively, even recklessly, when faced with dire situations.

He'll set his mind on an idea and then execute it relentlessly, regardless of whether the idea is right or wrong, because it's the only solution he can come up with in a desperate situation.

"Let's go to the Qin residence. As I said before, Instructor Zhao might still be alive. If we go to the Qin residence, he might live a little longer."

Yang Pan calmly raised this idea, which was also the suggestion he had previously made to Zhao Lei and Shi Yingfeng.

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent again. Previously, the three had been trapped in a desperate situation, unable to think clearly and believing this might be the only way. But now, after calming down and considering the situation, they realized that even if Instructor Zhao was still alive, the Xu family wouldn't let the Qin family go. Perhaps the Green Mountain Gang and the Xu family were currently besieging the Qin family; going there now would be like walking into a trap.

"I agree with Junior Brother Yang's opinion. Let's go to the Qin residence and take a look," Huang Hui said weakly.

"Staying here is just waiting to die. Going to the Qin residence might be a gamble, and we might live a few more hours."

Seeing that Huang Hui had also spoken, Shi Yingfeng and Zhao Lei exchanged a glance and nodded silently. Right now, they were all in the same boat; the absence of any one of them would increase the risk of death.

Having made their decision, the group rested for a while before setting off towards the Qin residence. Huang Hui didn't linger either; although his back wound was large, it hadn't damaged his internal organs, so he could still move with difficulty.

The group proceeded cautiously. Perhaps due to the previous battle, they did not encounter any members of the Green Mountain Gang on the streets ahead. Their journey was smooth and even unusually quiet until they crept to a house with a broken gate. Through the gate, they could see the Qin Mansion diagonally opposite.

The gates of the Qin residence were now covered in marks from sword and axe blows, and a large number of men surrounded the perimeter. These men included members of the Green Mountain Gang and guards from the Xu family dressed in blue robes. They were tightly guarding the Qin residence, clearly not intending to let anyone inside escape.

Yang Pan and the others glanced at it quickly, then hid themselves tightly in a blind spot inside the house.

"It seems there's no hope for the Qin family either."

Zhao Lei's voice was filled with despair as he slumped to the ground. Shi Yingfeng's expression was equally somber; the slight glimmer of hope he had initially held had vanished completely.

Yang Pan turned to Huang Hui, whose face was pale, and asked, "Senior Brother Huang, if you weren't injured, could you break through their encirclement?"

Hearing this, Huang Hui was clearly taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly:

"I've only recently developed my internal strength, and I wouldn't even be considered a master in the martial arts world. In an open area, I'm confident I could easily kill seven or eight members of the Green Mountain Gang with a weapon, but in this kind of encirclement, there's no way to escape. Instructor Zhao's strength is about the same as mine, so he probably won't be able to break through."

The atmosphere grew even more deathly still, and Yang Pan felt a deep sense of despair. Everyone fears death, and when the idea of ​​coming to the Qin residence was first proposed, Yang Pan actually had the greatest hope, because it was his last gamble.

Just as everyone hopes to be the ultimate winner when the outcome of a bet is yet to be revealed, but once the result is revealed and one has lost the bet, all that remains is despair and disillusionment.

The group fell silent, huddled quietly in the corner as if awaiting death.

However, after only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a commotion and sounds of fighting erupted from outside again.

"What's wrong? Have the Mongol Tartars arrived?!" Zhao Lei stood up instantly, his voice trembling slightly.

Shi Yingfeng's chest heaved, but he still gripped the long knife tightly in his hand. Yang Pan also felt cold all over, but he still managed to get up and slowly moved to the gate to peek over.

The Green Mountain Gang members and Xu family guards who had been surrounding the Qin residence became extremely agitated, crowding towards the main gate. Suddenly, the tightly closed gate burst open from the inside, and a barrage of short arrows shot out from within.

"This is a crossbow!"

Yang Pan's pupils contracted as he saw the short arrows embedded in the bodies of those who had been shot. The only arrows he could recall that were so short were the crossbow bolts he had seen in movies and television shows in his previous life.

Before Yang Pan could even ponder why crossbow bolts were being fired, several figures clad in silver-white armor rushed out from the Qin mansion gate.

Their bodies were covered in silver-white armor, so even though they were surrounded, the enemy's swords could only produce futile clanging sounds when they struck them.

"Armored soldiers!" At this moment, Zhao Lei and Shi Yingfeng also came over and saw several armored soldiers fighting fiercely at the entrance of the Qin Mansion. The two couldn't help but exclaim.

"Senior Brother Shi, you've spent the most time in the Qin residence. Are there armor and crossbows in the Qin residence?" Yang Pan asked in a trembling voice, not out of fear, but out of excitement at seeing hope again.

Indeed, it was the end of a dynasty; even some wealthy merchants and landowners had forbidden weapons like armor and crossbows in their homes.

"I don't know. I'm just an ordinary guard. I don't usually have a chance to speak with Master Qin."

Shi Yingfeng shook his head. He was indeed just an ordinary guard, but since he started learning martial arts at the Iron River Martial Arts School, he had gained some favor with Instructor Zhao. If given more time, perhaps Instructor Zhao would introduce him to Master Qin and give him some important responsibilities, but now...

Just as the group was talking, the armored figures at the Qin residence gate had already charged into the middle of the street. No longer threatened by injury, these men fought with extraordinary ferocity, and in a short time, more than a dozen corpses lay on the street.

In particular, there was an armored figure whose long sword moved unpredictably, each strike creating a tremendous impact, as if the air itself was being torn apart by the sword, accompanied by sharp whistles.

"Get out of my way!"

Zhao Tong roared, unleashing a torrent of swordsmanship that had been honed over decades. Each strike carried the force of a relentless storm, yet this ferocious technique also contained exquisite variations.

Those who surrounded him were either brutally hacked to death by him or tried to raise their swords to defend themselves, only to have their throats slit at tricky angles by his sudden change in swordsmanship.

*Pfft! Pfft!*

Bang bang bang!

The sounds of flesh tearing apart and corpses falling to the ground continued incessantly until Zhao Tong and the surrounding figures disappeared at the end of the street.

Silence! Deathly silence!

It took Yang Pan and the others a while to gradually come to their senses.

"That, that must be Coach Zhao, he's amazing!" Zhao Lei managed to utter a few words after a long pause.

Yang Pan was equally unsettled; the opponent's swordsmanship was still swirling in his mind. That storm-like swordsmanship, that exquisitely precise maneuvering, was simply incomparable to basic swordsmanship.

"They're all gone, what do we do now?"

Shi Yingfeng asked. Originally, the group's goal was to join forces with Instructor Zhao to find a way out, but now Instructor Zhao and his group had actually rushed out and lured away all the enemies. For a moment, the group was at a loss as to what to do.

"Let's go to the Qin residence and see if there are any other armors or crossbows," Yang Pan said after a moment's thought.

In fact, he felt there was no hope for the armored soldiers, because among the people who rushed out of the Qin residence, besides the three wearing armor, there were several guards who were only wearing clothes.

If there were enough armor, there was no reason not to arm everyone; however, he noticed that everyone had a crossbow.

The group exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, then helped Huang Hui walk into the Qin residence.

Upon entering the Qin residence, the group discovered that the scene inside was far more gruesome than what they had witnessed. The courtyard was littered with corpses—guards, servants, and female relatives—and they even spotted the body of Master Qin himself.

The other person had a gruesome wound on their neck, and it was unclear who had killed them.

Without much thought, the group searched the courtyard and rooms and eventually found several crossbows.

"It's a pity we don't have armor." The group sighed, but at least they had crossbows, which increased their chances of survival.