However, the peaceful journey proved fleeting.
That day, the convoy made its way slowly along a winding mountain road. Dense forests surrounded them, their branches intertwining, while sunlight filtered through the leaves to cast patches of dappled light and shadow.
Just as everyone settled into this seemingly tranquil atmosphere, disaster struck without warning.
Several sharp whistles tore through the silence as more than a dozen dark figures sprang like phantoms from the dense woods on either side.
The bandits were all knotted with muscle, the flesh on their faces twitching. The steel sabers in their hands gleamed coldly beneath the midday sun.
Their leader, a one-eyed brute, held a nine-ring saber. The nine brass rings along its spine clanged as his voice boomed like a great bell:
"Hand over every last piece of cargo on those carts, or today will be the day you die!"
The atmosphere on the mountain road froze.
Wang Tieshan raised a hand to halt the convoy, then rode forward three paces alone.
Though the chief escort of the Might-Defending Escort Agency was already past fifty, his back remained ramrod straight. The muscles of his arms stood out as he cupped his fists. "I am Wang Tieshan of the Might-Defending Escort Agency. Friends in the trade do me the honor of calling me the 'Iron-Handed Judge.'
"May I ask where you brave fellows hail from?"
The one-eyed brute slung his nine-ring saber over his shoulder, making the brass rings clatter. "Spare me the sweet talk! I'm Zhou Ba, the 'One-Eyed Dragon.' All the brothers of the Seventy-Two Strongholds on Wild Goose Gate Mountain answer to me!"
The bandits behind him roared in unison, their force intimidating.
Wang Tieshan surveyed their formation without betraying any emotion. Noticing government-issue quivers hanging at several bandits' waists, he immediately understood.