"!? "
"Who's over there?"
"Come out!"
Just as Yue Buqun faced off against the bandits by the reed marsh from aboard the ship, Linghu Chong encountered trouble on the dockside walkway.
As soon as he shouted, several masked bandits wielding swords unexpectedly emerged, leaped out, or flashed into view from behind the wooden crates and barrels in the dock's storage area, as well as from the river on both sides of the walkway—seven or eight of them in total.
"!!"
Although the smell of alcohol still clung to him, Linghu Chong was startled when so many bandits suddenly appeared. The night wind, carrying moisture from the river, blew against his face and dispelled most of his drunkenness. His eyes gradually cleared.
"..."
Clang—!
Realizing he had been careless, he thought for a moment, then immediately drew his longsword and held it diagonally toward the wooden planks of the walkway, remaining on guard as he focused and shouted:
"Who are you?"
"Speak!"
"Why are you lying in ambush here? And why are you trying to launch a night raid on our Huashan Sect?!"
As he shouted, he narrowed his eyes slightly. His right hand tightened around the hilt.
At a time like this, he certainly could not turn and flee. For one thing, that would expose his fear. For another, it would be extremely unwise to turn his back on the enemy.
"Hey!"
One of the masked men let out a strange laugh. Instead of answering, they all slowly pressed forward with unfriendly gazes, the blades in their hands repeatedly flashing cold light beneath the moon.
Then the one who had laughed, seemingly their leader, finally asked in a voice slightly muffled and hoarse because of his face covering:
"Then who are you?"
It was obvious that after hearing Linghu