Tense Nerves

Luo Ning had considered many possibilities on the road to Mountain Forest Town, but even the wisest can make a mistake.

Without sufficient intelligence, there were some things Luo Ning simply couldn't account for.

Thinking about it now, since Baron Leysen had decided to take the risky step of eliminating Luo Ning, he would ensure it was foolproof.

Perhaps in his eyes, Prinster and the others were enough to deal with Luo Ning and his guards.

But to prevent any accidents, Baron Leysen had Knight Phileton bring men to attack from behind, ensuring Luo Ning had no escape route.

Imagine if Luo Ning couldn't defeat Prinster and chose to flee, he would inevitably be caught in a pincer attack, with nowhere to run or hide.

This was Baron Leysen's complete plan to kill Luo Ning.

Luo Ning's mind was in turmoil. Mountain Forest Town was within reach, but he didn't know whether to advance or retreat.

Advancing meant entering a town whose situation he knew nothing about, and he couldn't gather enough men to fight Baron Sain;

Retreating meant his escape route was blocked, leaving him with no good path to fall back on.

"What should I do?"

He had to come up with a solution quickly, otherwise, if he delayed and the enemy surrounded him from behind, his situation would become even more perilous.

Luo Ning looked up, gazing at the mountains stretching along both sides of the road. Perhaps escaping into the forest with Macken and the others could save their lives.

But choosing that path meant he definitely couldn't take all twenty-nine guards with him.

Although this group of people were ordinary, Luo Ning had invested a lot in them, and he also hoped that more young men with the potential to awaken Battle Qi Seeds, like David, would emerge from this group.

He was unwilling to just abandon them.

Moreover, even if he survived in the forest, he could only return to Wushan Castle. At that time, could he use the reason that Sain Territory wanted to kill him to get Wushan Castle to send troops?

It would likely be very difficult.

It wasn't that Wushan Castle wouldn't care about his life, but even if he made an accusation, it would take a long time, and he might not even be able to bring down Baron Leysen.

After all, at that time, he would still be someone who had nothing, had been stripped of his inheritance rights, and was merely a Baron of Mountain Forest Town in name. The other party was a Baron who actually controlled a Knight Squad, had been operating for decades, and had connections.

What could Luo Ning rely on?

Could he just rely on the Wushan family Bloodline to accuse a noble, and then Wushan Castle would go and kill that noble?

This was clearly unlikely.

It was estimated that in the end, at most, Sain Territory would be ordered to compensate for the years of embezzled taxes from Mountain Forest Town.

But at that time, if Luo Ning still had to come to Mountain Forest Town and continue to serve as its lord, he would face a situation basically similar to the present.

The other party would not give up this territory they considered their own.

"I need to quickly establish a foothold in Mountain Forest Town!"

Luo Ning's expression was tense, his brows furrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

He needed to come up with a way that would neither require him to escape into the forest nor delay the conflict with Sain Territory.

But just then, Elrond approached Luo Ning and whispered, "My lord, I hear the sound of hooves in the distance."

As he spoke, Elrond pointed to the road they had come from.

Luo Ning's heart leaped, and his face became even more grim, "They're here so fast?"

"Heh heh, from Sain Territory to Mountain Forest Town, a full gallop for four hours is more than enough!"

Prinster's voice was full of schadenfreude, "From the moment I saw you, you've been very calm, but now I finally see fear on your face, hahaha!"

He began to become arrogant, as if he had already shed his identity as a prisoner.

"Now, you can only hand us over to Knight Phileton, that's the only way you might have a chance to survive."

"Is that so?"

Luo Ning's voice was cold. He glanced at Macken, "Slap his mouth raw, knock out his teeth. I don't want to hear him speak a complete sentence again!"

"Understood, my lord!"

Macken went up and delivered a kick, then followed with two punches to Prinster's mouth, knocking out all his teeth. Bloody foam mixed with saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth.

Luo Ning looked up at the road they had come from. Even he could hear the sound of hooves now.

"What to do!"

The more tense and critical the moment, the calmer Luo Ning suddenly became.

Facing Phileton, he had to ensure he was calm enough, calm enough to make the other party dare not act rashly, if possible.

Fear is an emotion everyone has. I might be afraid, but Baron Leysen will be afraid too!

Luo Ning's mind raced. What would Baron Leysen be afraid of?

Nothing more than two things.

First, the other party was afraid that the matter of embezzling Mountain Forest Town's taxes would be known to Wushan Castle;

Second, the other party feared that the matter of murdering Luo Ning would be known to Wushan Castle.

Embezzling resources might be covered up with an excuse and compensated for with reparations;

However, for a vassal of Wushan Castle to turn around and kill someone of Wushan Castle's bloodline is not something that can be simply resolved with a fine and compensation.

Currently, Wushan Castle's deterrence is weakening, but it hasn't disappeared entirely. The old Marquis is only seriously ill, not dead.

To uphold Wushan Castle's dignity, both Rulans and Wiggins will dispatch troops to Sain Territory under the pretense of avenging Luo Ning to deter those who are restless.

I believe the Hyde Family will not obstruct this matter either.

Therefore, compared to the first point, Baron Leysen is more afraid of the second.

Thus, as long as there is even a slight possibility of not being able to take down Luo Ning, the opponent will retract their revealed killing intent.

Luo Ning only needs to deter the opponent, make them misjudge the strength of both sides, and make them believe that even if they act, they cannot completely annihilate everyone with Luo Ning.

As long as there is a risk of information being transmitted, the opponent will be hesitant.

For Luo Ning to achieve "deterrence," he must put on a show to make the opponent misjudge his strength.

The most crucial part of this show is to completely silence Prinster and the others, so the opponent has no way of knowing their true strength.

"Everyone, listen up!"

Having finished his thoughts, Luo Ning shouted loudly, "Kill all the prisoners!"

The Guards were stunned for a moment. They had thought the few infantrymen who were lucky enough to survive would be pardoned by the Lord, but they didn't expect to still meet their end.

It was only a moment of stunned silence, then the Guards raised their swords and ended the lives of the prisoners.

Luo Ning looked at Prinster, whose eyes were wide, completely not expecting Luo Ning to make such a choice.

"I see fear on your face."

Luo Ning repeated the words the other party had just said, then gave Macken a look.

Macken gave Prinster almost no time to react, directly swinging his sword and cutting off the other party's head!

"You... you guys!"

Dyson, who was nearby, was stunned. His companion, Kate, had just woken up and fainted again upon seeing this scene.

In the instant they were shocked, Macken and David ended the lives of the two men.

From then on, ninety-nine percent of all the men Prinster had brought out were killed in battle, leaving only the last person.

Luo Ning looked at Malt.

Malt met Luo Ning's cold, seemingly emotionless gaze, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat, falling to his knees in fear.

"My lord, please believe in my loyalty! Even if you order me to challenge Phileton, I will not hesitate!"

Malt was truly scared. He didn't expect such a young Baron to kill prisoners just like that.

Luo Ning narrowed his eyes, but ultimately did not deliver the killing blow, "You should be glad you have value in staying alive."

"Malt is grateful for my lord's mercy in sparing my life!!"

The sound of hooves became clearer and clearer. Luo Ning took a deep breath.

In fact, when Elrond informed him, he no longer had time to escape.

From that moment on, Luo Ning had no choice; he could only go all out.

"Now, lie on the ground and pretend to be a corpse."

Luo Ning commanded, "Remember to make it look convincing. If it doesn't look convincing, then I'll make you look convincing."

"Okay, okay..."

Malt nervously lay on the ground. Perhaps thinking that pretending to be dead like this wasn't convincing enough, he quickly got up and smeared the blood from the ground on his neck and body, then lay back down.

Perhaps thinking it still wasn't convincing enough, Malt hardened his heart and picked up a sword, making two cuts on his left arm. Immediately, his clothes tore open, and blood flowed out.

After doing this, he lay face down on the ground and didn't move again.

Luo Ning couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This guy was pretending quite convincingly, and thankfully the wound on his arm wasn't deep, otherwise he would bleed to death.

However, better safe than sorry, "David, you stand next to Malt later. If he makes any movement, you know what to do."

"David understands!"

Luo Ning raised his longsword. He shouted loudly, "Everyone, show your spirit, form ranks, and meet the enemy!"