A humble carriage, followed by four horse-mounted guards in front and back, passed through a bamboo forest. The road was muddy, and the sky was drizzling. Although the rain was not heavy, it was cold.

The four guards and the coachman were all wearing coir raincoats and had large bamboo hats on their head. Even so, they served only to keep them out the rain, not the cold.

A guard sidled up and shouted to the man inside the carriage. "Uncle Li, the weather is too terrible. I am afraid that the rain will only get worse. Should we find a place to rest first?"

Li Zheng, the butler of Ling family, lifted the curtain of the carriage. He said, "Okay, let's find a place to rest first. Young man, do you know any places around where we can find shelter from the rain?"

"We can get to Liantang Town after we go through the bamboo forest and another mountain."

"Alright, then we will go along with your plan," the butler said.

Guard Wang nodded, and yelled to the other three men, "Ride steadily, brothers! We can rest after we go a bit further." Then, the butler pulled down the curtain and got back into the carriage.

"Butler, we've been travelling for six days. How long will it take us to get to the capital?" asked Stone, the manservant of Ling family, who had followed the carriage from Tanyang along the way.

"Soon. We will arrive at the capital in about four days," the butler answered.

"Huh? Four more days?" Stone said in disappointment.

"What's with the impatience, you brat? Guard Wang is the one riding the horse, and yet he didn't even complain! And you're complaining when you're sitting comfortably in the carriage?" the butler complained.

"Oops, I wouldn't dare complain. It's just that this carriage has been shaking too much. And I've been sitting for so long time that my body's aching all over."

The butler raised his hand and slapped Stone on his head. "I'm much older than you, and yet I never complained! You're so young and you're grumbling?"

Stone rubbed his head and dared not complain anymore. He gave an ingratiating smile and then exhaled, rubbing his hands together, after appeasing the butler's anger.

Gradually, the carriage passed through the bamboo forest and entered the mountain path.

Before they entered the mountain path, Stone lifted the curtain and looked outside the window. Surprised by what he saw, he yelled, "Look, butler, there is an official road."

The butler immediately leaned out to look. As expected, he noticed a wider road which led towards the west.

Guard Wang said, "That path leads to Sheng Zhou. We'll arrive at the border if we move further west from Sheng Zhou and cross a small town. This official road is one of the official roads that will take us from Sheng Zhou to the capital. If it doesn't rain, we should be able to meet someone from the border." Excited, Stone yelled, "So that's the way to the border. Brother Wang, is it possible to see Marshal Yuwen if we go from here?"

Guard Wang and the three other guards burst into laughter. Guard Wang said, "You still want to see Marshall Yuwen, Stone?"

"Stone, stop daydreaming! There's no way that you'll get any chance to see Marshal Yuwen," teased Guard Wang as he burst into laughter with the rest guards. "If only I could be a soldier working under Marshal Yuwen. I mean, I just want to see him one more time," Stone said longingly.

"Oh, ho, looks like somebody's got a great ambition!" Guard Wang and the other three guards laughed again.

Feeling humiliated, the steward raised his hand and gave Stone another knock on his head.

Stone was really an idiot. Fortunately, he didn't tell anyone in advance that his destination was Yuwen Family.

"Shut up! Sit there quietly and don't bother Guard Wang and the others again."

Stone looked like he had something else to say, but Guard Wang and the others changed the subject before he could get the words out. "We will enter the mountain road in a few minutes. Hey! Pay more attention, brothers! It is hard to travel on rainy days. Lao Liu, you're manning the carriage, so you need to be extra careful."

"Okay," answered the coachman. Clearly, he was a man of a few words.

The carriage inched along the mountain road. Just like Guard Wang said, it was difficult to travel along the mountain road; the path was either potholed or muddy. And it was impossible to judge the actual depth of the pits because of the water. They would run into big trouble if their wheels got stuck in one of the pits. Besides, certain spots on muddy path was so soft that the wheels of their carriage might actually sink down.

The coachman, Lao Liu kept his eyes fixed on the road and drove the carriage carefully. The two guards were also exploring ahead, alerting those behind them whenever they came across potholes.

"A part of the road ahead is uphill. Lao Liu, later you get off and walk." Guard Wang said.

Lao Liu, the coachman nodded.

After a while, they reached the uphill section. Lucky thing was that there were no potholes and mud. Lao Liu jumped out of the carriage and ran as he urged the horse with whip in hand.

When the carriage had reached the top of the hill, Guard Wang in front suddenly felt something was wrong. He scanned around with a sharp look in his eyes, finding some suspicious signs that could easily be ignored. He immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Be careful, something is wrong here."

"What's wrong?" The butler's heart jolted at the seriousness in the words and he immediately poked his head out to ask.

"Uncle Li, stay in the carriage and don't came out!" Guard Wang said with a grim face.

"Ha,ha, you guys are a little bit smart. You can actually find the hidden cheval-de-frise!" a ferocious laughter broke out. Out of the woods on both sides of the mountain road emerged a dozen bandits with knives in their hands.

As soon as the bandits came out, the atmosphere changed. The four guards immediately took out their weapons, prepared for battle.

"Oh, I didn't expect that we would still run into bandits so far away from Tanyang," the butler turned pale in the carriage.

"Now! Hand over all your valuable things! Or..." the leader of the bandits threatened with a ferocious smile, pointing a sharp blade at Guard Wang.

"Including this carriage and horses." The bandits were so greedy that they didn't even plan to pass the carriage and horses.

Although Guard Wang and the others were all with grim faces, there was no panic in their eyes. The bandits were rampant in the area around Tanyang, so they had seen this a lot. But what they didn't expect was that bandits dared to blatantly rob on the road near the capital. More importantly, they were outnumbered.

It was not far from the Liantang Town. So it wouldn't take them long to get there even if they gave the carriage and horses to these bandits. But were these bandits so simple to get rid of?

"Butler, what should we do?" Stone was so nervous that his hands began to sweat. He even dared not to breathe.

The butler turned a dark face. He took the envelope out of the bag and stuffed it into his bosom through collar, then repackaged the bag and carried it on his shoulder. "We may have to run for our lives, you should carry your bag on your shoulder well."

"What are you waiting! Do you want to try the power of my big knife? Open the curtain first and let me see who is sitting in the carriage!" The bandits outside were already shouting impatiently.

Guard Wang leaned close to the window of the carriage and whispered to the people inside, "There are dozens of bandits holding weapons in their hands. And it seems that they are quite experienced. We are no match for them. Uncle Li, you and Stone should come down first, and we will clear a path for you. You should run forward along this road and don't stop. We will follow up later!"

"Okay, young man, you should be careful!" the butler said.

Then the butler lifted the curtain of the carriage and got off with Stone.

Those bandits saw two men coming down the carriage and suddenly showed a disappointing look. "Pooh! How can it be two men, really bad luck!"

"Dear Masters, do us a favor please. We will give you both the money and the carriage. Let us go, please." The butler bent down slightly as he pleaded.

"Cut the crap! Hand in all your bags! If you guys dillydally anymore, we will kill you right away," the bandits threatened.

The butler tipped a wink to Guard Wang. He pretended to hand the parcel to the bandits and walked towards them with Stone.

The bandits all began to be very complacent when they found that this man behaved so clever. They looked disdainfully at the butler and the other people with malice.

"Hurry up!"

The butler and Stone approached the bandits gradually. Just as the bandits were getting carried away, Guard Wang and the other three guards suddenly rushed at them from behind the butler and Stone.

Lao Liu, the coachman, with a long stick in his hand, followed the guards and ran quickly to the butler and Stone, shouting as he passed the two, "Run!"

Guard Wang and the other three guards attacked suddenly while the bandits were unprepared. They deliberately stabbed the horse's ass with their knives. The horses, out of pain, rushed at the bandits with a long cry at the moment of being stung.

Guard Wang and the other guards really cleared a way for them to escape. The butler grabbed Stone and hurried away

"Don't let them go!"

"What the fuck! Kill them!"

The bandits kept cursing. At the moment a man pulled the cheval-de-frise up and tripped the horse to the ground. Stone was stumbled unexpectedly, too. He unconsciously grasped the butler tighter, which brought the butler down to the ground too. Seeing this, Guard Wang and the other guards couldn't help crying out in their heart. The chance to escape was missed for a brief moment. The butler and Stone tried to get up and rush out again, but there was no chance for that.

The only one who took the chance to escape was Lao Liu, who was holding a stick in his hand and running as fast as he could without even looking back. There were two bandits trying to catch up with him, but they failed and returned back disappointed.

"Nowhere for you guys to run! Kill them all!" The leader of the bandits looked at them combatively with an angry face.

Although Guard Wang and the others rushed to the butler and Stone immediately, Stone was still cut on the shoulder in the confusion.

The four of them were outnumbered, not to mention protecting two people who didn't know Kung Fu.

The situation at that moment was getting worse.

Just when they were getting desperate, a group of people rushed out from the other side of the mountain path. Never had they expected that there would be another living soul traveling in such a terrible weather. They heard the tramp of hooves, rapid but orderly.

There must be a lot of people coming.

Guard Wang and the others looked back in surprise.

In the growing rain, a team of horses rushed from the other side of the road. The men on the horse were all dressed in gray and black suits, looking very imposing.

"Help!"

Stone's voice was so sharp that it cut through the heavy curtain of the rain, disclosing what was happening in the mountain path to the cavalry.

The man in lead raised his head, shooting sharp glance from beneath his bamboo hat like two sharp knives piercing through the rain into the hearts of all. The momentum was just too overwhelming.

"Who are you!" the bandits' face changed drastically.

But no one ever responded, and the whole cavalry was in silence. They broke through the rain and approached with a stern momentum.

"Stop, or we'll kill you!" The leader of the bandits raged.

The cavalry didn't stop, and the leading guy's eyes were so indifferent and sharp that he paid no attention to the bandit leader at all.

"Damn it! Brethren, take up your weapons and here come some hard nuts to crack!" The bandit leader cursed and ordered loudly.

Then the number of bandits attacking Guard Wang suddenly reduced, which made the guard and his companions feel relieved. They could be saved!

"Uncle Li, take the opportunity to hide in the carriage with Stone hurriedly later on, and we'll handle the rest", guard Wang spoke to the butler.

"All right," the butler answered.

At the moment, some bandits had pulled up the cheval-de-frise again, waiting for the cavalry to run over.

Seeing that the cavalry didn't stop yet, the guard frowned, "What's wrong with those guys? They didn't notice the cheval-de-frise?"

Just when Guard Wang was worrying, the cavalry had drawn very near, just about ten meters away from them.

"Neigh..." a clear and melodious whinny rang out. The leading guy pulled the reins to stop the horse, and the front hoofs of the horse kicked up high and then dropped down.

It turned out that he had noticed. Guard Wang got relieved. While dealing with a few bandits who were still pestering them, the guard kept paying attention to the cavalry.

The man in the lead raised his head to look at them, showing his appearance under the bamboo hat. It was a handsome face with outstanding features as if they had been well-carved by a knife. His long eyebrows stretched to his sideburns, and he got a pair of long and narrow sharp eyes, sweeping everyone keenly.

"Kill him!" Pointing his knife to the guy on the horse, the bandit leader yelled ferociously.

Casting an indifferent glance at the bandit leader, the guy on the horse opened his mouth for the first time, "Don't feel pity for these murderous bandits, and kill them all."

"Yes!" All of the men behind him shouted in chorus as if they had practiced for numerous times.

These men who had been silent a moment ago unleashed strong homicidal intent suddenly like a sharp sword unsheathed.

They got off their horses in unison, and without any hesitation, rushed at the bandits.

Guard Wang and his companions got shocked by the following scene, and it would take a long time for them to forget it.

In front of the cavalry who appeared suddenly, those bandits who had been difficult to deal with a moment ago collapsed at the first blow as if a crowd of kids were shaking their fists before adults.

Every cut got to bones, and blood splashed. These people cooperated perfectly, and their brows didn't even move a bit while killing the bandits.

Several bandits who were still fighting with the guards saw this, and their faces turned pale and their hands began to tremble. Guard Wang and his men took the opportunity to knock them down.

The ground was full of dead bodies, and all those bandits had been killed. The dilemma was solved in a flash.

However, the butler and Guard Wang looked grave, realizing the team before them was not an ordinary cavalry. They had been so well-coordinated and well-disciplined, and they came from the military.

Stone was the only one who hadn't realized it yet. Just now, a streak of blood splashed from the knives of those guys, and stuck to the face of Stone, which directly made him faint after rolling his eyes.

The butler exchanged a look with Guard Wang before he stood out, bending down deeply to give a salute. "Your Honor, thank you for saving our lives."