Chapter 28

In a hurry, with no time to explain, he smeared a handful of blood on his face, put on his helmet, and left, running back to the main road.

Xu Fei bit down on the large knife, putting on his clothes while chasing after him. After picking up the knife, he also smeared blood on his face from the ground, finding the martial air he was looking for.

With this disguise, things became much easier. With a bloody face, no one could recognize him, and he boldly approached and checked each vehicle.

More and more soldiers emerged from the surrounding mountains, responding to the military orders, gathering together.

Xu Fei followed behind Yu Qing, fearing that he would be exposed.

Yu Qing ignored the puzzled looks of the gathering soldiers, moving through the crowd, even pushing some aside with his hand.

Xu Fei, following behind, was a bit nervous, realizing that this Brother Shiheng was truly fearless. After changing clothes, he acted without any hesitation. Thinking about the cheating in the riddle game, he felt that Brother Shiheng was not a first-timer at such deeds, quite experienced.

Apart from the sounds of fighting, a wave-like commotion suddenly surged from the surrounding mountains. Yu Qing looked around, his face changing slightly, and he tugged at Xu Fei's sleeve, "Let's go!"

He ran directly to the nearest iron cage, jumped up, and kicked it, landing on top of the cage. The candidates inside looked up at him with puzzled expressions.

Seeing this, Xu Fei wanted to ask what was happening, but Yu Qing waved him over, "Come up quickly."

Xu Fei also jumped, using the cage to gain momentum, and landed on the cage top. However, the iron frame was not easy to stand on, and he almost slipped and fell.

Soon, the wave-like commotion broke through the mist, revealing countless rats scurrying forward.

The scene was terrifying, making people shudder.

The newly gathered soldiers immediately started shouting in confusion, disrupting their formation, and wildly swinging their weapons.

A powerful gray-robed figure appeared, sending out palm strikes that sent large groups of rats flying, but it was useless. The rats continued to surge forward, biting anyone they encountered.

The candidates in the cages were completely panicked. They couldn't run and could only jump around, hitting, slapping, pinching, and flinging the rats, screaming and squeaking in a chaotic mix, nearly going mad.

Seeing the situation in the cages, Xu Fei almost collapsed, but he had no time to think. He and Yu Qing hurriedly swept away the rats climbing up.

Fortunately, they were on top of the cages. The rats found it difficult to climb, and even when they did, they struggled to walk on the metal bars, often slipping and falling through the gaps. By sweeping the edges of the iron frame with their weapons, they could prevent most of the rats from getting close.

Noticing the situation, some soldiers also climbed up. When it became too crowded, others quickly ran to nearby cages.

The escort officer, Fu Zuoxuan, was already carried by Jin Huahai to a tree, where it was easier to defend against the climbing rats.

Seeing the countless rats and hearing the sounds of fighting from the mountains, Jiang Yinan suddenly realized the cause of the commotion. The archers hidden around had likely been exposed and were already engaged in battle.

Archers were not good at close combat, and with the rats causing trouble, the outcome was predictable. Jiang Yinan waved his hand, sending a group of rats flying, and roared, "Order them to retreat!" He shouted up to the tree, "Brother Jin, have your people quickly go to support mine."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three signal arrows shot into the sky.

Jin Huahai also knew the value of these archers, as there were not many in all of Liestate. With such a major incident, it would be difficult to explain a large loss. He immediately shouted out.

A group of gray-robed figures rushed into the mountains, leaping from tree to tree to avoid the rats.

Another group of gray-robed figures took emergency measures, cutting branches, sprinkling powder, and then lighting them, creating a thick yellow smoke that drove the rats away.

The old woman with the cane, standing on a tree trunk, lowered her gaze. A white-furred rat returned, leaping onto the tree and then onto her cane, chattering at her.

The old woman frowned and quickly flew away, arriving at a battle site.

She was not interested in the black-robed figures surrounding an archer. Instead, she landed next to Bai Lan, who was also on a branch, and demanded, "What are you two up to? Did you really investigate the escort situation? The candidates are protected by steel cages, making it impossible to take their heads."

Bai Lan was stunned, "Where did these steel cages come from?"

The old woman, "You ask me?"

Bai Lan choked, then changed his tone, "Don't worry, we'll find a way to break through."

The old woman sneered, "Cages that even high-altitude attacks can't break, how easy do you think it will be to break through? They might be waiting for you to open them! You'd better check it out yourself, or you'll end up with countless casualties and nothing to show for it, which would be a big problem."

Bai Lan's face turned serious, and he suddenly leaped down, joining the attack. After a few strikes, he shattered the archer's head and then led several black-robed figures to the scene to assess the situation.

The situation was clear, and the old woman's words were easily confirmed.

Bai Lan, feeling heavy-hearted, hurried back to find his husband and explained the situation in detail. They had miscalculated, thinking that the escort would care about the candidates' lives, but it turned out they didn't.

The escort was clearly using the candidates as bait, and a direct attack might not be advantageous.

Hei Yunxiao's face darkened for a moment, then he looked up, "Have Gao Yuan's team extract them from the air, grabbing the people and the cages together!"

Bai Lan said solemnly, "That's too dangerous; Gao Yuan won't agree."

Hei Yunxiao, "First, have our people attack to draw the enemy, then use the mist to cover the sudden extraction. There's still a chance of success." He sighed, "At this point, we have to try. They've already started, and they won't want to back down. They'll want to achieve something to seek protection from Lady Xixia, so they'll agree."

Bai Lan nodded silently...

In the mist, thick yellow smoke appeared, choking people and driving the rats away.

The candidates in the cages didn't know what they had done in their past lives to deserve this. First, they were bitten and terrified by rats, and now they were being choked to the point of wanting to die. They lay in the cages, coughing and crying.

Those standing on the cages were also choking and couldn't stand it. Yu Qing was the first to jump down, grabbing a smoking branch and covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, continuing forward.

He still cared about his 2,000 taels of silver and couldn't abandon it like trash.

Xu Fei, also choking, jumped down. He didn't know what to do, so he followed Yu Qing, grabbing a smoking branch and running after him.

After some effort, they found the baggage carts in the mist.

Strangely, there were no guards or rats here. The rats seemed to be targeting people, and there was no choking smoke.

However, there were many bodies on the ground, mostly guards and servants, killed by falling rocks, some unrecognizable.

Xu Fei, though trained in martial arts, had never seen such a bloody and brutal scene before. Initially, he was too shocked to react, but now, as he recovered from the shock, he found it hard to accept, occasionally dry heaving.

In contrast, Yu Qing seemed unfazed, running around and looking everywhere. Xu Fei didn't understand how someone of the same age could act so calmly.

Seeing such a scene without fear was not natural. The Linglong Temple deliberately arranged for disciples to experience such situations. If they panicked easily, they couldn't focus on observing, and the practice of the "Observation" technique would be useless.

Remaining calm in the face of change was the fundamental quality of practicing the "Observation" technique!

Seeing the many dead servants, both were heavy-hearted, wondering about Chong'er's fate. Yu Qing was more concerned about not finding his luggage.

Most of the carts had been destroyed by the air attack, and many bags had fallen off due to the horses being spooked and dragging the damaged carts around. Searching in the mist was very troublesome, and if Chong'er were here, he might know where the luggage had fallen.

"Come, this cart is still intact. Let's see if your luggage is inside."

In front of a cart with a dead horse and a broken shaft, Yu Qing called Xu Fei over to help identify the luggage.

They climbed into the cart and started searching. Xu Fei couldn't recognize anything, as he was usually taken care of and didn't pay attention to his luggage.

Yu Qing found this incomprehensible and got angry, "Do you think it's appropriate to carry a knife and sit with a group of scholars? If you had put your knife and luggage together, wouldn't it be easy to identify?"

Xu Fei was speechless. Honestly, he could tell that Brother Shiheng was looking for the 20 pounds of spirit rice, not worrying about Chong'er.

He was more open-minded or thought it wasn't the time to argue. He understood but didn't say anything, swallowing his words.

He was impressed by this person. At such a critical moment, risking so much to search for spirit rice, was life more important or money?