Several dozen carriages started moving again. Though the escorts were nervous, they still urged their horses onward. There was only this one road into the capital of the Gaza Kingdom. Beyond these high mountains stretched dense forests teeming with wild beasts, with no roads at all. All they could pray for was that the bandits had either drunk too much, robbed enough already, or seen that the convoy had enough escorts to make them unwilling to come down the mountain and rob them.
Unfortunately, these escorts had used up all their luck gambling with Xiao Jian a few days ago. They had traveled along the mountain road for barely an hour before joy turned to sorrow.
A chaotic clamor of gongs rang out. From the ridges beside the mountain road, several hundred bandits in all manner of attire poured forth from ahead, behind, left, and right, wrapping the convoy of dozens of carriages up like dumplings. Even if the escorts wanted to flee, they had no path of retreat!
"Ha ha ha..." While everyone else's expression changed drastically, Xiao Jian nearly covered his mouth as he laughed. Indeed, he possessed nothing now, and his Yuan Stones had long since been scattered away. He alone had nothing to fear from mere mountain bandits.
"Hey!" A roar came from the convoy's front left. A yellow dappled horse turned out from the mountain ridge, carrying a man over twelve feet tall. Holding a long saber, he shouted, "This road was opened by me..."
Then another roar, even louder than the first, rang out. A mount resembling a yellow ox emerged from behind the carriages. A similarly brawny and vicious-looking man sat atop it and yelled, "This tree was planted by me..."
The man then fell silent. Only some nearby underlings pounded their gongs