Shen Yangge had been sheltered in his arms the whole time. Chu Xuanzhen turned several times with him in his embrace, and sometimes the Mountain Bandits' blades came close to shearing off his hair. He ducked his head and obediently stayed close to Chu Xuanzhen.
"I thought this bastard Crown Prince was heading to Lingnan to die, but now that I see he's got such a powerful guard, maybe not."
The bandit chief gave a shout, raised his broadsword, and swung again at the two men surrounded by his bandits.
"Today, this bastard Crown Prince can join our second-in-command in death!"
"Watch out, Chief! That guard who impersonated the second-in-command is formidable!"
Chu Xuanzhen: ?
Shen Yangge felt a little awkward, but this had nothing to do with him. He had simply been forced to take the blame.
As the fighting grew fiercer, a troop hurried up. The sight of them threw Yong'an's Mountain Bandits into a panic. The elderly, women, and children no longer dared to watch, and they all fled into their houses and locked their doors.
The chief's expression changed. "Impossible! How did they get up here? Why didn't the men guarding the foot of the mountain come back to report? Could they already be..."
"Protect our lord!"
A group of black-clad guards charged over with longswords in hand. Yong'an's Mountain Bandits had never seen anything like it. Frightened, they threw their own formation into disarray and kept casting glances at their chief.
It was as though they were asking him what they should do.
The chief was just as bewildered. He had thought he had rounded up the entire group, never expecting them to overrun his own hideout instead.
Seeing the situation turn around, Shen Yangge quickly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been dodging