Zhang Dashan felt uneasy as he carried the two heads to the front to hang from the carriage.
Shopkeeper Li's face was grim beside him, his heart filled with both tension and fear.
Ning Chuan said to Shopkeeper Li again,
"Arrange a few men to collect thumb-sized stones for me. Pack them into bags and keep them by my side. The more stones, the better!"
"Yes, please rest assured, my lord. I will definitely see it done!"
Shopkeeper Li hurriedly agreed.
He had already vaguely heard of Ning Chuan's formidable skill with hidden weapons, and his heart settled slightly.
Shopkeeper Li arranged for several attendants to gather stones. In only half an hour, they had collected more than ten bags.
He had another carriage loaded with them and placed behind Ning Chuan's carriage, which pleased Ning Chuan greatly.
Just after noon, the caravan arrived at Windwatch Slope.
It was a hillside with a broad view. Ning Chuan got down from the carriage and surveyed the terrain before ordering the caravan to halt.
He summoned Zhang Dashan and said,
"Pass down the order. We'll spend the night here?"
Zhang Dashan looked around, his heart full of concern, then bowed and said,
"My lord, this place is far too open, without any cover at all. If we camp here and the horse bandits charge with cavalry, I fear we won't be able to hold them off?"
"I have my own plans. You only need to carry out the arrangements!"
Ning Chuan immediately had Zhang Dashan direct the caravan members to pull the wagons to the top of the slope, unhitching them and forming them into a circle.
The horses were tied up and protected in the center. Cheval de frise were erected around the foot of the slope, bristling with long spikes.
Several rings of trenches, each deeper than a man's height, were dug outside the barricades, with sharpened wooden stakes planted within them.
Although the men of the Joint Defense Camp were not ranked martial artists, their physical strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, making such work quite easy for them.
The atmosphere in the camp gradually grew tense. Everyone rushed to help, working with exceptional vigor.
Throughout the entire caravan, only Big Dog and Xiao Hua remained carefree, still playing with stones inside the carriage. Everyone else felt suffocated by the pressure.
Ning Chuan stood atop the carriage loaded with stones and swept his gaze around. The view was excellent, and everything within several hundred meters lay in full view.
Several hundred meters away stood a small grove, where two scouts were poking their heads out to observe this side.
This time, they hid and skulked about, not daring to be as brazen as before.
"Very good!"
With his hands behind his back, Ning Chuan spun a pebble in his hand. Like an old man next door doing his morning exercises, he looked utterly leisurely, without the slightest trace of tension.
With a flick of his fingers, he used Meteor Chasing Moon to fire two stones.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two sprays of blood burst within the grove. He gained another two Attribute Points—better than nothing.
While the caravan set up camp, built defenses, and made tense preparations for battle,
Three figures stood silently atop a small hill not far away, observing the caravan's situation.
The leader was none other than Straw Bag Strategist, the County Yamen strategist who had fled Hanshan Town in panic.
The other two were Long Da, First Boss of Second Dragon Mountain, and Long Er, Second Boss.
Second Dragon Mountain was the closest horse bandit force to Hanshan Town, and Straw Bag Strategist had sought them out first.
When Long Da saw Straw Bag Strategist's bedraggled state, he was greatly shocked. After learning the reason, wild delight rose in his heart.
He had been worrying over how to find an opportunity to curry favor with the County Magistrate. Hadn't this opportunity delivered itself right to his door?
Without another word, he wanted to lead the brothers of Second Dragon Mountain to kill Ning Chuan and avenge the Strategist.
Straw Bag Strategist feared Ning Chuan's strength and thought Long Da and Long Er might not be his match. How could he dare go along? Naturally, he tried every means to stop them.
However, Long Da was a man of the wilds and extremely arrogant. With one sentence—"Strategist, are you looking down on me?"—he shoved Straw Bag Strategist's words right back down his throat.
Unable to dissuade Long Da and Long Er, Straw Bag Strategist still agreed to let Long Da fight.
At this moment, Straw Bag Strategist had regained his former confidence.
He waved his folding fan and gazed at the distant caravan, filled with the bold spirit of plotting strategies from behind the curtain.
"Neither of you bosses must be careless. Green Wolf and Black Tiger were both eighth-rank martial artists, yet they still fell at Ning Chuan's hands. In this battle, we must rely on superior numbers and throw everything into it. We must kill him in one strike!"
Straw Bag Strategist could not help reminding Long Da and Long Er once more.
"Rest assured, Strategist. Long Da and Long Er never fight battles we aren't sure of winning. Besides, my brother stepped into the peak of the eighth rank half a year ago. How can Green Wolf and Black Tiger, that sort of trash, compare?"
"Ning Chuan is just a brat with yellow hair, not worth mentioning. Tonight, I'll cut off his head and present it to the Strategist as a chamber pot!"
Long Da slapped his chest until it rang with loud smacks.
Long Er stood beside him with his arms crossed, the corners of his lips curled upward, his face full of arrogance.
Seeing how unconcerned and dismissive they were, Straw Bag Strategist recalled how Ning Chuan had casually crushed Green Wolf and Black Tiger to death, and a thread of worry rose in his heart.
These two, Long Da and Long Er, have lofty ambitions but scant talent, wild and unruly. They may not be Ning Chuan's match.
No, I still need to find another way!
Though he thought so inwardly, what he said aloud was something else entirely.
"You two bosses have worked hard. Once this matter is done, I will report your merits to the County Magistrate. The County Magistrate will surely reward you handsomely!"
"Thank you, Strategist. To serve the County Magistrate is the honor of the brothers of Second Dragon Mountain!"
Long Da and Long Er bowed to thank the Strategist, their attitude quite humble.
The golden crow sank in the west, the jade rabbit rose in the east, and darkness shrouded the earth.
Rumble...
A violent wind howled, lightning split the sky, and heavenly thunder echoed. The mountain rain was about to come, and the wind filled the tower.
Everyone in the Bluestone Caravan armed themselves and slept in their clothes against the backs of the wagons. From time to time, they looked nervously into the distance, their hearts uneasy and sleep nowhere to be found.
Behind the barricades, bonfires rose one after another, illuminating everything within a hundred meters as brightly as day.
Zhang Dashan patrolled back and forth behind the barricades. Half of the fifty men from the Joint Defense Camp stood watch here, while the other half rested among the caravan.
Ning Chuan sat inside the carriage. Not only did the darkness not hinder his vision in the slightest, it was even more advantageous to him.
By midnight, the caravan was already weary and exhausted, while those on watch yawned one after another.
Just then, Zhang Dashan let out a roar,
"Everyone, be on guard! The horse bandits are here!"
Everyone's hearts clenched, and all sleepiness vanished at once. They grabbed their weapons and went on alert nervously.
The fifty burly men of the Joint Defense Camp quickly took their positions, holding long spears as they stood ready behind the barricades.
After a brief bout of chaos in the rear, Shopkeeper Li managed to calm the caravan down.
Ning Chuan's eyes flashed like lightning. At the front and rear of the camp, a force of bandit cavalry carrying torches rapidly approached, the rumble of hooves drifting from afar.
The leaders were none other than Long Da, First Boss of Second Dragon Mountain, and Long Er, Second Boss.
When the cavalry came within roughly five hundred meters of the camp, they suddenly scattered in all directions, forming an encirclement around the camp. Then the circle gradually tightened.
"The bandits are here! Get your spirits up! With Lord Ning here, what the hell are you afraid of?!"
Zhang Dashan shouted, forcing himself to be brave, though his voice trembled.
"Damn it, let's fight! These fucking bandits!"
The fifty hemp-clad men of the Joint Defense Camp gripped their long spears, their eyes red as they roared in grief and fury!
"Ning Chuan, brat, come out and die!"
"Kill! Leave none alive!"
"Kill!"
Amid the thunderous rumble of hooves and earth-shaking battle cries, Long Da and Long Er took the lead, charging toward the camp on horseback.
The bandit cavalry behind them held high their torches and shouted in unison as they launched an assault from all directions.
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