Lu Xin yanked the reins, and the fine horse pulling the carriage stopped at once, halting more than ten meters from the bandit. He jumped down from the carriage and pulled a longsword from beneath the driver's seat, standing guard.
Jiang Hao and Lu Zhi, who had been talking inside the carriage, were both startled by the shout. Another robbery? Jiang Hao immediately said, "Zhi'er, stay in the carriage. Don't get down."
Lu Zhi promptly took a dagger from a cabinet beside the carriage compartment and held it in her hand. With a stern little face, she said, "Go on, my lord. Zhi'er will protect herself."
Jiang Hao looked at Lady White Snake, who was coiled nearby, and said, "Little White, protect Zhi'er."
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
The white snake hissed in acknowledgment.
After settling matters on this side, Jiang Hao immediately jumped down from the carriage. Only a few seconds had passed. Once he was on the ground, he saw the tall, sturdy man standing in the middle of the road. But Jiang Hao was slightly stunned upon seeing this bandit. The man looked rather miserable.
The bandit appeared to be in his twenties and stood around six feet tall. He had a face covered in short stubble and wore the yellowish-brown, narrow-sleeved short tunic of a wandering swordsman. A longsword rested in his hand, but his chest had been cut open by a blade, blood seeping through the wound. His shoulder was even more of a bloody mess, with half his body stained red. He had clearly been seriously injured.
Though the man wore a fierce expression, his face was pale and his lips cracked. Jiang Hao could tell that he was forcing himself to hold on.
When the bandit saw a Young Master in a long robe step