This was an extremely subtle feeling, as if something was approaching.

Closer and closer!

This tension was noticed even by the drowsy Pei Xiao.

“Huangqi, what’s happen…?”

Before finishing, Li Buyan, Zhu Qing, and Huangqi almost simultaneously drew their swords and simultaneously shouted hoarsely.

“Master, careful!”

“Miss, careful!”

“My lord, careful!”

As their voices fell, seven or eight black-clothed figures descended from above, all wielding bright blades.

Xie Zhifei leaped up, pupils contracting.

San Pang remained calm-faced. “Don’t panic—just some petty thieves.”

Petty thieves?

Xie Zhifei sneered coldly, thinking: In all my years alive, I’ve never seen petty thieves with such agile movements.

“Protect my lord, protect Miss!”

He shouted and fearlessly engaged.

Lord Pei’s face went deathly pale. Seeing Yan Sanhe still standing dazed, he quickly reached out and pulled her behind him.

Just then, Li Buyan and Zhu Qing had already engaged the black-clothed figures.

Seeing Huangqi hadn’t moved, Pei Xiao angrily kicked at him.

“Go help!”

“I listen to Third Master—protect my lord and Miss.”

“Whose guard are you? If Third Master has any mishap, I’ll kill you! Now go!”

Huangqi gritted his teeth and shot toward Xie Zhifei like an arrow.

Even so, Pei Xiao still urgently shouted: “Xie Fifty, you better be careful or I’ll kill you!”

Yan Sanhe looked at Pei Xiao’s back, her mind racing.

How could there be black-clothed figures?

Who were they?

No one knew who they were, but everyone knew—

These black-clothed figures’ skills were truly extraordinary!

Li Buyan hadn’t encountered such opponents in a long time. Her blood rushed straight to her head.

Come on, let this auntie meet you!

Zhu Qing faced two opponents, all emotions hidden beneath his expressionless face.

Huangqi’s eyes and ears were everywhere, having to watch Third Master while stealing glances at Pei Xiao and Yan Sanhe.

The moment Xie Zhifei engaged the black-clothed figure, his heart sank heavily.

His martial skills were above average but below the best. Yet under the opponent’s blade pressure, his arm felt heavy as a thousand jun.

Seeing Brother Xie struggling, San Pang and the others—thinking of the promised drinking party and Magistrate Zhou’s instructions—shouted loudly.

“Brothers, attack!”

At the leader’s command, the guards quickly raised blades to fight.

Drinking was secondary. Lord Pei was a capital official—if something happened to him, none would have good outcomes. They might even lose their heads.

The guards’ skills were mediocre, but they had numbers. Several surrounding one—for a time they actually gained the upper hand.

Yan Sanhe pushed Pei Xiao aside, watching the battle unfold without blinking.

These black-clothed figures weren’t tall, their frames even somewhat lean.

They all wielded blades—not long or wide, very handy.

Their techniques…

“Auntie, stop watching. Get behind me quickly. Blades have no eyes—what if…”

“Can you shut up!”

Yan Sanhe really wanted to gag Lord Pei’s mouth. So noisy!

“Fine.”

Pei Xiao stepped forward, again blocking her front, standing with his back straight.

“…”

Yan Sanhe silently exhaled. Before she could say anything, the situation changed again.

Xie Zhifei—whether facing too strong an opponent—could no longer hold on. He rolled aside, barely avoiding a heavy strike.

The black-clothed figure pursued, raising the blade to strike.

“Huangqi!” Pei Xiao jumped anxiously, shouting.

Huangqi forced back his opponent with one sword strike, leaped to Xie Zhifei’s side, and lightly flicked his long sword between them.

“Third Master, I’ve got this!”

Xie Zhifei seized the moment to catch his breath. Just about to curse, suddenly all the black-clothed figures moved their feet rapidly, almost instantly changing formation.

Xie Zhifei’s heart began racing wildly.

This was battlefield formation.

These people…

Actually knew formations??

Xie Zhifei felt indescribable emotions. He spat out bloody saliva and raised his sword to engage again.

Since they knew formations, this meant certain death. Besides fighting to the bitter end, there was no second path.

Just as his determination to fight to the death arose, he heard a whooshing sound. A cold arrow flew horizontally, heading straight for Pei Xiao.

Xie Zhifei’s eyes nearly split.

“Mingting, watch out!”

Before Pei Mingting realized what was happening, he felt someone heavily tackle him from behind.

His center of gravity unstable, he fell headfirst.

As his body hit the ground, a young woman’s unique fragrance entered his nose. Just as he was about to struggle, warm breath fell by his ear.

“Danger—don’t move!”

Lord Pei was instantly bewildered.

Everyone else has heroes saving beauties—why when it comes to me, it’s beauty saving hero!

Ahhhhh!

Archers still hiding in the forest?

This reality shocked everyone, even the usually calm Zhu Qing’s expression changed.

What no one expected was that after that arrow, the black-clothed figures all unleashed killing moves, forcing them to retreat half a step.

In that half-step interval, the black-clothed figures leaped up and in the blink of an eye, disappeared into the dense forest.

“Miss?”

“Master!”

Li Buyan and Huangqi rushed over from front and back.

Yan Sanhe braced herself on Pei Xiao’s back to rise, then kicked him with her foot.

“Are you alright?”

The person was fine.

The heart was wounded.

Lord Pei lay on the ground motionless, thinking: Where does this put Lord Pei’s face?

Huangqi helped his master up.

Just then, everyone rushed over. San Pang panted: “Lord Pei, are you injured?”

Pei Xiao shook his head, his gaze falling on Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei blinked lightly, indicating he was fine.

Only then did Pei Xiao wipe the nervous sweat from his face and roar at Yan Sanhe behind him: “What are you standing there for? Get in the carriage—do you want to die?”

This anger wasn’t directed at Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe meekly complied once, taking mincing steps toward the carriage.

Li Buyan quickly followed, supporting her arm and saying quietly: “Miss…”

“Get in the carriage first.”

Here, the master and servant boarded the carriage. There, Lord Pei’s expression was extremely serious:

“Search everywhere for me. See if those black-clothed figures left any clues. Daring to assassinate a court official—the Great Qi Kingdom people have such audacity.”

San Pang and the others were terrified beyond measure. How could they dare search everywhere?

What if those black-clothed figures hadn’t all left and were still lying in ambush somewhere? Wasn’t that asking for death?

Xie Zhifei pressed down on Pei Xiao’s shoulder. “My lord, the brothers just narrowly escaped death. Let them catch their breath.”

Pei Xiao said urgently: “Catching breath here, what if…”

Xie Zhifei looked at the dense forest all around and said calmly: “Brother San Pang, how about we find an open area to rest?”

“This…” San Pang deliberately drew out his response.

Xie Zhifei clearly knew what he was hesitating about. “My lord and I need to discuss whether to continue to the Great Qi Kingdom.”

Good brother, you’re the one who gets it!

We absolutely can’t go forward anymore—we might not even keep our lives!

San Pang gave his fellow guards a command: “Hurry up, everyone back to the official road.”