"Don't panic, everyone!"
One of the escorts outside the carriage called out, then pulled the arrow from the ground.
He then tied a small cloth pouch to the arrow.
The pouch bore the embroidered emblem of the Huaiyang Escort Agency.
Seeing the raised outline on the pouch, Su Que knew it contained broken silver.
The escort then took out a bow, nocked the arrow with the cloth pouch tied to it, drew the string, and suddenly released it.
With a sharp whoosh, the arrow carrying the pouch flew toward the nearby mountain and embedded itself in a tree upon it.
Lowering his bow, the escort called loudly, "Friends on the mountain, you've worked hard. Our chief escort sends his greetings to your chief!"
Having said that, the escort returned to the convoy.
"What's going on?" Lu Qixiu poked his head out of the carriage and asked the escort.
The escort replied, "This mountain is called Guyuan Mountain. Three months ago, a court military officer who had committed crimes in the Central Plains fled here and became a bandit."
"I heard that this court officer is a Four-Blood Warrior, quite formidable."
"After our chief escort learned of this, he brought men to visit him."
"He proposed that whenever a Huaiyang Escort Agency convoy passed through in the future, we would pay tolls, provided they did not rob the goods and supplies of our escort convoy."
"The court officer also asked some of the men he had recruited here and learned of the Huaiyang Escort Agency's strength."
"Since he could gain a steady income without fighting and killing, he naturally accepted."
"So that's how it is."
Having figured out what was happening, Lu Qixiu recovered considerably from his fright just now. He no longer closed his eyes to rest, but immediately began