Intervening to Save

"What? You want us to enter the canyon first and attract the Blood Feather Eagles!"

Xu Shixiong's indifferent voice was overheard by some people near the caravan, and their expressions immediately changed, causing a commotion.

They never dreamed that the Xu family, with such a powerful lineup, would not only refuse to let them benefit in any way but, to save time, would cross Crimson Flame Valley in broad daylight and use them as bait and cannon fodder!

People began to quietly retreat.

If they entered the valley at night, they would still need to find companions.

Who would dare to enter the valley in broad daylight?

But as soon as people started to retreat, the Great Martial Master leading them waved his hand. Except for one Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master who remained mounted by the carriage, unmoving, all other guards drew their sabers and rode out, forming a fan-shaped encirclement, forcing everyone attempting to retreat back to the valley entrance.

"If you don't want to die now, then enter Crimson Flame Valley!" The Great Martial Master, with half-white temples, swept his gaze over everyone like a falcon, his voice cold and expressionless.

"Senior, please take pity on this humble one! I am only a Second-Rank Minor Martial Master, and I have my elderly parents and young children. Entering Crimson Flame Valley in broad daylight is surely courting disaster!" A man, appearing to be in his thirties, bowed repeatedly and kowtowed to the Great Martial Master, his body hunched over.

"So you choose to die now?" the Great Martial Master said coldly.

A guard had already drawn his saber and spurred his horse forward.

"No, no, this humble one is willing to enter Crimson Flame Valley." The man, terrified, quickly retreated back into the crowd.

"Senior, I am from the Situ Family. I beg you to show mercy and let me go." A young man stepped forward and cupped his hands.

"The Situ Family of Flowing Cloud Workshop in Li City?" The Great Martial Master's brow twitched slightly as he asked.

"Yes, yes," the young man replied quickly, a hint of pride appearing on his face, as if being singled out by the Great Martial Master in public was quite an honor.

Seeing this, a few people in the crowd also quickly stepped forward.

"Are you a descendant of Situ Zhongliang?" the Great Martial Master asked coldly.

Situ Zhongliang, the head of the Situ Family of Flowing Cloud Workshop in Li City, was a Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master.

The young man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "No, but I am..."

"If not, why are you invoking the name of the Situ Family? Get back!" The Great Martial Master's face darkened.

The young man tried to speak again, but a guard had already pointed his saber at him, as if he would be cut down if he said another word.

Seeing this, the young man's face turned pale, and he quickly retreated back into the crowd.

"Do the rest of you want to state your origins?" The Great Martial Master's gaze swept over the several people who had come forward, now standing frozen in place, their faces pale.

"No, no," everyone shook their heads repeatedly and hastily retreated.

"Sister, we're doomed this time!" the young man with the pockmarked face said to the beautiful young woman, his face pale.

"It's useless to be afraid now. Later, you don't need to worry about me. If you get a chance, charge out," the beautiful young woman said.

"Sister, you are the only family I have in this world. No matter what, I will never leave your side," the young man with the pockmarked face said.

The beautiful young woman looked at him, a look of comfort and emotion in her eyes.

"Alright, you can set off now. Remember, you can only go forward, not retreat! Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!" The Great Martial Master's gaze swept over everyone with cold ruthlessness and said sternly.

A powerful killing intent erupted from him, making the surrounding temperature seem to drop instantly.

Everyone's faces turned pale, and then they took out whatever could be used as a weapon. They moved forward in groups, cautiously entering the valley.

Xia Daoming glanced back at the caravan and the Two-Winged Black Tiger Clan emblem on the carriage. Killing intent flickered in the depths of his eyes.

"Xu Shixiong, you son of a bitch, I've got your name!"

Xia Daoming thought fiercely, but his steps ultimately followed the crowd into Crimson Flame Valley.

The other side had two Fifth-Rank Great Martial Masters, more than ten Third and Fourth-Rank Martial Masters, and one Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master. Even with Xia Daoming's confidence in his own strength, he would rather face the Blood Feather Eagles now than such a powerful and terrifying enemy.

After all, Blood Feather Eagles were demonic beasts without intelligence, and from what people were saying, it was not difficult to infer that Blood Feather Eagles were only low-level demonic beasts, with a killing power estimated to be around that of a Fourth-Rank Martial Master.

With his strength, as long as he wasn't too unlucky, he should be able to protect himself.

But if he defied the Xu family's orders, his chances of survival would be extremely slim.

Most of the Blood Feather Eagles nested in the middle section of the valley.

That was the real forbidden zone.

Everyone advanced cautiously, not daring to breathe loudly, occasionally looking up at the sky.

The closer they got to the middle section of the canyon, the more nervous and careful people became.

"Remember, we are about to enter the forbidden zone. Try not to make any noise, and definitely don't run."

The Fourth-Rank Martial Master with the small, beady eyes whispered, his previous flippancy gone, replaced by an extremely solemn expression. Large beads of sweat occasionally rolled down his cheeks, and the veins on his hand gripping the saber bulged.

The Xu family's caravan followed at a leisurely pace about a hundred meters behind.

The carriage curtain was rolled up again.

Revealing that handsome face.

The owner of this handsome face looked at the people cautiously moving forward a hundred meters away, his gaze filled with cold ruthlessness and a hint of playful mockery.

It was as if the people a hundred meters ahead were not advancing at the risk of their lives, but were performing in a play, and he was the audience enjoying the show.

"Screech!"

Suddenly, the piercing shriek of an eagle, like metal tearing through stone, echoed from the sky.

Then, several blood-red streaks, like lightning, tore through the sky and dove towards the people in the valley.

The Blood Feather Eagles flapped their enormous wings, stirring up gusts of fierce wind.

"Swish!"

Loose stones from the cliff face were swept up and began to fall.

"Ah! The Blood Feather Eagles are here!"

Panic erupted in the crowd. One timid man, terrified, bolted towards the southern exit.

But before he could run more than a few steps, a shadow fell over him.

Before he could even react, the Blood Feather Eagle's sharp talons had already sunk deep into his back, and it soared back into the sky.

Blood flowed from his back, splashing across the sky.

"Bang!"

The Blood Feather Eagle suddenly threw the man down from the sky.

Blood and brains splattered everywhere.

"Ah! Ah!"

Witnessing such a brutal and horrifying scene, many in the crowd were utterly terrified and immediately turned to flee back the way they came.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

But before those people could run more than a few steps, arrows shot towards them like lightning.

One person was immediately pierced through the chest by a sharp arrow and fell to the ground, dead.

More arrows landed on the ground, their fletching quivering slightly in the sun-dappled valley, a silent warning to those attempting to flee.

"Ah!" The fleeing people stopped in their tracks.

"Everyone, don't panic! Form up and defend yourselves!" a seasoned Martial Master roared.

The Martial Master's shout had a calming effect.

In their panic, the people began to group up in threes and fives.

But the smell of blood in the air stimulated the Blood Feather Eagles, and more of them began to dive down.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Some Martial Masters drew their sabers and clashed with the Blood Feather Eagles' talons, producing sounds like metal striking metal.

"Ah! Ah!"

"Bang! Bang!"

People were continuously caught by the Blood Feather Eagles' talons, carried into the sky, and then dropped like sandbags.

The grouped people were quickly scattered by the Blood Feather Eagles, each person only concerned with their own escape.

"Sister, save me!" The pockmarked man was knocked to the ground by a Blood Feather Eagle's massive wing. As the sharp, hooked beak was about to peck at his head, he screamed in terror.

A beautiful figure instantly flew over without hesitation, her sharp sword thrusting fiercely towards the Blood Feather Eagle's head.

It was the alluring young woman.

"Bang!"

The Blood Feather Eagle flapped its wings and struck.

The alluring young woman, along with her sword, was sent flying and crashed into the pockmarked man.

Just then, a gust of wind swept through, and a shadow loomed.

A Blood Feather Eagle, at some unknown time, had swooped down towards the pockmarked man with lightning speed, its sharp talons glinting coldly.

The pockmarked man's hair stood on end in terror. Without a second thought, he violently shoved the alluring young woman beside him towards the Blood Feather Eagle.

"Liu Zhong, you..." The alluring young woman's eyes were filled with shock and grief, she even forgot that the talons would fall in an instant.

"Clang!"

Just as the talons were about to touch the alluring young woman's hair, a cold glint flashed.

"Screech!" The Blood Feather Eagle let out a sharp cry and shot up into the sky, a few drops of blood falling from its talons.

But the alluring young woman seemed stunned, her gaze blankly fixed on the familiar retreating figure rapidly disappearing, two crystal tears silently rolling down her fair cheeks.

"Aren't you leaving? Do you want to die here?" A voice, sounding eerily familiar, boomed in the alluring young woman's ears like thunder.

The alluring young woman jolted, her gaze shifting from the familiar receding figure to the young, ordinary face before her, her heart filled with a mix of emotions.

The owner of this face had refused her invitation not long ago, and now he had saved her life. Meanwhile, her cousin, who had sworn to never leave her side, had pushed her towards the Blood Feather Eagle's talons!

"Thank you..." the alluring young woman began.

"Hurry and escape!" Xia Daoming interrupted the alluring young woman, tapping his foot on the ground and quickly sprinting towards the southern valley entrance.

Along the way, he casually saved a few more people.

However, he didn't dare to draw too much attention, only revealing twenty to thirty percent of his strength.

The reason the Seventh Young Master dared to drive everyone forward as cannon fodder was that, in his eyes, even if these people escaped alive, they would never dare to seek revenge against the Xu family. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble.

Xia Daoming knew very well that if he unleashed his full power, displaying strength even greater than a Fifth-Rank Martial Master, the Xu family's Seventh Young Master would surely become wary and kill him to nip the danger in the bud.

Even so, as Xia Daoming fled, he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill crawl up his spine, as if a pair of venomous snakes hidden in the shadows were watching him.

Just then, a Blood Feather Eagle swooped down towards him.

Its massive wings flapped as it attacked.

Xia Daoming's heart stirred. Feigning an inability to dodge, he was swept by the wing, staggering and nearly falling.

Taking advantage of his stumble, Xia Daoming glanced in the direction of his earlier sensation with his peripheral vision.

In that direction, the luxurious carriage, protected by numerous guards, brushed past the crowd engaged in a fierce battle with the Blood Feather Eagle.

The carriage curtain was fluttering.

The handsome face was turned towards the direction he had just been.

Xia Daoming's heart grew solemn.

Damn it, I was this cautious, and this bastard still noticed me?

Cursing inwardly, Xia Daoming scrambled into a clumsy, rolling dodge, narrowly avoiding the sharp beak of the Blood Feather Eagle.

As he rolled, Xia Daoming's peripheral vision caught sight of the carriage curtain being lowered.

"I should have fooled him!" Xia Daoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Xia Daoming was secretly relieved, a Blood Feather Eagle with wings spanning twenty feet suddenly dove towards the carriage.

PS: During the public release period, if you enjoy it, please help promote it and leave comments. Thank you!

As requested by readers, I will try to update twice in the morning, without spacing them out, so it reads more smoothly. Two updates have been completed today.

Also, thanks to yesterday's readers Li Gongzi 2019, Lang Zhi Yue 1, Qiu Zhi Shen Guang, Xiao He 005, and others for their rewards.