If You Dare Attack, I'll Make You Flee in Crushing Defeat

As the Local Militia received their orders and began eating in preparation for action, the Mountain Stronghold also noticed the enemy's movements.

At the center of the Mountain Stronghold stood a crude Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

A Mountain Bandit clad in rattan armor and wielding a saber rushed inside. Excitedly, he said, "Great King, those farmhands are preparing to attack."

Hun Yuan Pi Li Wei Da Wang, the leader of the bandits, raised his brows and said with a smile, "See? What did I say? There's no need to take the initiative. Those farmhands will come and throw their lives away themselves. Once we beat them until they're scared, we can make them bow their heads and pay tribute."

"Then everyone can eat meat, drink wine, and play with the prettiest women."

Three days earlier, Lin Lin had organized the Local Militia and entered Lianyun Mountain for a large-scale search, intending to find the Mountain Bandits' trail.

Half a day after the search began, this group of Mountain Bandits discovered the Local Militia searching the mountain.

The moment they saw so many enemies closing in, the bandits' legs trembled, and they nearly fled at once.

Their bandit group numbered only a little over a thousand. They had traveled through many places to gather their current numbers, Armor and Weapons. The largest battles they had experienced before were merely raids on wealthy households hiding inside watchtowers.

Even though their Mighty King had trained them for some time, they had absolutely no confidence in facing enemies several times their number head-on.

Besides, even if they could fight and win, how many of their own men would die?

They had become outlaws to eat well and live in luxury, not to throw away their lives. Naturally, few of them wanted to fight.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the Mighty King, their leader, remained somewhat composed and comforted them. "There is no need to panic, everyone. Although the enemy has greater numbers, they have neither weapons nor armor, and they have no Military Formation training. Their combat strength is low. We can rely on the stronghold to defend ourselves."

"If those farmhands dare attack, I'll make them flee in crushing defeat!"

Once they heard that, everyone realized it made sense.

When they had once roamed about as Roving Bandits, robbing everywhere, even when they held an advantage of several times—or even ten times—their enemies' numbers, they had been unable to take down those who defended with the advantage of terrain. They could only return in crushing defeat.

This showed just how important terrain was.

Now, they were the side holding the advantage of terrain. As long as they held their ground and waited for a chance to counterattack, it would make no difference even if the enemy had several times their numbers.

After steadying his subordinates' confidence, the Mighty King began making arrangements.

First, he ordered the captured laborers to repair and reinforce several weak points around the Mountain Stronghold's perimeter. Then he began preparing large quantities of defensive supplies, such as rolling stones, logs, and arrows.

The farmhands outside surrounded the stronghold without attacking, which suited the Mountain Bandits perfectly. Thus, they had no intention of launching a surprise raid and simply continued their preparations at leisure.

By today, their preparations had long since been completed. After a long period of rest and recuperation, the Mountain Bandits were at the peak of their fighting strength.

Yet they had not expected those farmhands to attack at this moment. They truly did not know death from life!

The Mighty King led his subordinates onto the stronghold walls and looked down at the movements of Hui Ping Town's Local Militia. He saw that, led by a young man in azure robes on horseback, those farmhands were charging toward the walls in a disorderly mass.

To the Mighty King, this did not look like an attack on the Mountain Stronghold at all. It looked more like they were coming to die.

"Prepare to fire!"

With a raise of the Mighty King's hand, more than five hundred Mountain Bandits atop the walls took out the bows and arrows slung across their backs, waiting only for the enemy to enter range before drawing and firing.

These Mountain Bandits were all veteran thieves who had survived countless raids. Their fighting strength was formidable.

One volley of arrows would cause hundreds of casualties. Several volleys would be enough to scatter those farmhands charging at the front.

Then the remaining bandits waiting in formation beneath the walls could open the gates and charge out with the momentum, scattering and capturing all the gathered Local Militia. At that point, Hun Yuan Mountain Fortress's prestige and position in the surrounding region would be firmly established.

Just as the Mighty King was happily indulging in this fantasy, something happened that made his eyes widen abruptly.

The young man in azure robes leading the charge suddenly rose from horseback. Then, with a tap of his toe against the saddle, his entire body shot more than thirty zhang into the air like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Then the Mighty King saw several cold gleams appear before his eyes.

When he looked closely, he realized that countless Flying Daggers were hurtling toward them, dense enough to blot out the sky.

The Mighty King instinctively tried to dodge, but it was already too late. He could only raise his hand and gather his energy before his face. In the next instant, sharp pain shot through his fingers and palm.

Even clad in scale armor, his fingers, palm, and face guard were pierced by the Flying Daggers, leaving a deep bloody gash across his face.

A dense chorus of screams also rang out around the Mighty King.

He did not even need to look. From the sounds alone, he knew that several of the other highly skilled brothers beside him had also been badly wounded.

Through the remaining vision blurred by blood, the Mighty King saw the youth who had leaped into the air and scattered countless Hidden Weapons stomp heavily through empty space. It was as though he had used some solid substance as a foothold, and his body sprang forward, crossing dozens of zhang in an instant.

By the time everyone reacted, he had already fallen from the air onto the stronghold wall.

The next moment, the youth who had just been fixed in everyone's sight vanished once more. Countless sword shadows blossomed from the void, reflecting a biting chill beneath the sunlight.

Sshk!

The soft sounds of swords entering flesh rang out one after another, then faded away.

No screams sounded. There were only hoarse, rasping noises from severed windpipes.

Heavy bodies struck the ground one after another. The Mountain Bandits guarding the walls with bows drawn, ready to fire, now fell in succession like wheat being cut down.

The Mountain Bandits farther away saw the horrifying scene unfolding there.

The youth, whose figure flickered in and out as he moved through the field, was as terrifying as a ghost or god. Every time he appeared and vanished, great sprays of blood followed.

The morale of these Mountain Bandits, never particularly firm to begin with, collapsed completely.

"Ghost!"

"There's a ghost!"

Heart-rending screams echoed over the Mountain Stronghold. The remaining archers on the walls descended into chaos, constantly shoving one another as they tried to flee. No one paid any more attention to the farmhands outside, whom they had previously looked down upon, still charging toward them.

The bandits guarding the stronghold gates, who had been waiting to charge out once the archers had achieved results, heard the terrified cries from above.

They were all somewhat confused.

A ghost?

Where would a ghost come from in broad daylight?

Even jokes had to be made at the right time.

No one answered their questions. In the next instant, they encountered a terror beyond imagining.

A youth in azure robes appeared soundlessly among the crowd. Within an extremely short time, the cold gleams of Flying Daggers and flying needles spread out alongside a skyful of sword shadows.

Brief screams rang out as the gathered Mountain Bandits followed in the footsteps of their companions atop the walls.