Facing the Enemy Head-On!

Inside the Xingfeng Sect.

The Xingfeng Sect only discovered the Jiang Household's martial artists when they appeared at the foot of the mountain.

Although Liu Qian had sent many informants to Liuyang Town, not one of them had sent back any news.

The Jiang Household had dealt with those informants at the first opportunity.

As a result, the Xingfeng Sect received no word that the Jiang Household had mobilized.

At this moment, the Xingfeng Sect's martial artists were gathered at the entrance to its headquarters, numbering a little over three hundred.

All of them had originally been bandits from the Black Wind Stronghold, and they all looked somewhat panicked.

After all, the Jiang Household, a major household in Liuyang Town, had come knocking at their door. How could they not panic?

"Elder, Steward, we've finished scouting. The entire Hengduan Mountain is surrounded by the Jiang Household's people. A group of about a hundred of them is almost at the sect's entrance."

A martial artist reported to Wang Hu and Liu Qian.

At those words, the martial artists present began whispering among themselves, clearly even more panicked.

Liu Qian asked Wang Hu:

"Brother Wang Hu, is the sect master still in seclusion?"

Seeing no sign of Chen Feng, Liu Qian was also somewhat anxious. He didn't know that Chen Feng was away from the Xingfeng Sect; he only knew that Chen Feng was in seclusion.

But Wang Hu knew that Chen Feng was not in the Xingfeng Sect. He had left on business.

"The sect master is in seclusion. Everyone, stand with me against the enemy. Once the sect master comes out of seclusion, he'll surely be able to drive the Jiang Household back!"

Wang Hu held a submachine gun in his hands, and the dozen or so people standing beside him also carried submachine guns.

In the entire Xingfeng Sect, only they seemed relatively calm.

For the past two days, Wang Hu had been practicing marksmanship with them. Although their shooting still wasn't very good,

They had become familiar with using firearms.

The firearms had given them great confidence.

Besides, Chen Feng was practically an immortal. What was a mere Jiang Household?

But when Wang Hu finished speaking, only the dozen or so inner sect martial artists beside him responded. The rest continued whispering among themselves.

Clearly, Wang Hu's words had failed to convince them. No matter how strong their sect master was, he was only a Xiantian expert.

The Jiang Household had several Xiantian experts and had mobilized a full thousand men. How could they possibly win?

Seeing their attitude, Wang Hu snorted coldly:

"You bunch of trash! You take the sect's money day after day, but when it matters, you turn into cowards. A single Jiang Household has scared you into this state!"

At Wang Hu's angry scolding, one of the Xingfeng Sect's martial artists mustered the courage to retort:

"Elder, how could we possibly hold off the Jiang Household? They have far more people than we do, and several Xiantian experts. We should surrender!"

"That's right, Elder! Let's surrender."

"The Jiang Household is a major household. They surely won't kill all of us. As long as the sect master surrenders to them, everything will be fine."

Several martial artists openly proposed surrendering. They had never felt much loyalty to the Xingfeng Sect in the first place.

They had originally belonged to the Black Wind Stronghold. If they had been loyal men, they would never have joined the Xingfeng Sect back then.

The sight of them made Wang Hu laugh in anger. He turned to Liu Qian. "Steward Liu, do you want to surrender too?"

Meeting Wang Hu's gaze, Liu Qian felt, for some reason, that he was facing the most important decision of his life.

Given his cautious nature, he would surely have led his men to surrender to the Jiang Household, just as he had surrendered to the Xingfeng Sect back then.

But he thought of Chen Feng's many mysteries, and the natural confidence he carried.

At that moment, Liu Qian was torn.

Wang Hu ignored the others and spoke to the dozen or so people beside him:

"Let's go!"

He had nothing more to say to these people who feared death. If he and his men weren't going out to meet the enemy and needed someone to guard the sect, he wouldn't have wasted his breath on them.

The Xingfeng Sect had more than just martial artists. It also had over a thousand mortal miners, all living near the mines.

If attackers broke into the sect, both the mortal miners and the mines would be lost.

The dozen or so people beside Wang Hu didn't hesitate in the slightest. Guns in hand, they followed him out of the sect.

"Wait!" Liu Qian called out to Wang Hu.

Wang Hu stopped in his tracks. Liu Qian then turned to the others in the Xingfeng Sect and said:

"Everyone, the Jiang Household certainly won't let us go. If they were willing to accept our surrender, they would have told us to surrender beforehand."

"Why else would they send so many people straight at us? They clearly intend to wipe us out. If we don't resist, all that awaits us is a dead end!"

Liu Qian was clever. Unlike Wang Hu, he wasn't so blunt. Instead, with a few words, he shut down any thought of surrender.

At this moment, Liu Qian had also made up his mind to take a gamble: that Chen Feng could drive back the Jiang Household.

Everyone fell silent upon hearing Liu Qian's words.

Clearly, they trusted what Liu Qian said. After all, they had followed him when he surrendered to the Xingfeng Sect in the first place.

"The strategist is right! The Jiang Household won't let us go. Surrender isn't an option!"

"Since they want us dead, we might as well fight!"

"Fight!"

Everyone's attitude changed at once. When they felt certain death might await them, they would all band together.

Liu Qian then said to Wang Hu:

"Brother Wang Hu, take your men to the main gate and deal with the first group from the Jiang Household. I'll lead the others in defending the Xingfeng Sect. If you're defeated, I'll have no choice but to lead everyone in the sect in a breakout!"

Wang Hu glanced at Liu Qian, then smiled.

"Don't worry, Steward. A mere Jiang Household can't wipe out our Xingfeng Sect. Guard the sect headquarters well and leave them to me!"

Wang Hu strode off toward the main gate with his men.

Liu Qian was astonished by the confident looks on their faces.

He had no idea where Wang Hu's confidence came from, nor did he know what the gun in Wang Hu's hands was.

Wang Hu and his men had practiced shooting far from the Xingfeng Sect, so not many people knew about it.

Near the entrance to the Xingfeng Sect.

Jiang Chen arrived with a group of Jiang Household martial artists.

Two Xiantian experts accompanied him, both elders of the Jiang Household at Mid Xiantian.

"Young Master, someone's coming!"

One of the elders called out a warning.

Jiang Chen immediately looked toward the Xingfeng Sect's main gate. A dozen or so people came out and stopped several dozen meters away from them.

Seeing that there were only a dozen or so of them, and that the highest cultivation among them was merely the Ninth Layer of the Acquired Realm, Jiang Chen's face filled with disdain.

"Just this handful of people, and you dare come courting death!"

Jiang Chen strode forward and shouted to Wang Hu, "Where's Chen Feng? Tell him to get the hell out here!"

But Wang Hu paid Jiang Chen no attention. He raised the submachine gun in his hands and opened fire at once.

The dozen or so martial artists beside him raised their guns and opened fire at the same time.

Rat-a-tat-tat! A dense barrage of bullets rained down on the Jiang Household's people.

"Young Master, watch out!"

The two Xiantian experts beside Jiang Chen immediately sensed the danger and stepped in front of him. Pale yellow Gang Qi appeared around them.

The submachine gun bullets struck the Gang Qi, throwing off showers of sparks.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The sounds rang out incessantly!

The two Xiantian martial artists shielded Jiang Chen as they retreated again and again.

The Jiang Household's other martial artists had no Xiantian Gang Qi to protect them. Once the submachine gun bullets swept over them, they were riddled like hornets' nests.

After all, how could mortal flesh and blood withstand bullets?

In just over ten seconds, more than half of the hundred martial artists who had come with Jiang Chen were dead.

That was only because they had been standing relatively far apart. If they had been clustered together, every last one of them might have died.

After emptying a magazine, Wang Hu immediately shouted, "Spread out and reload!"

The dozen or so people beside Wang Hu spread out and changed magazines. Before long, their guns were loaded again.

This time, Wang Hu had prepared six magazines for each person.

They had brought nearly all the submachine gun ammunition with them.

Chen Feng had given them only two boxes of bullets, and that was their entire stock.