Jian Yi’s men had already gone in. Since the Yin hour had not yet ended, there was still not the faintest stir from that direction.

Of course, there was also the possibility that Jian Yi and the two brothers with him had met with misfortune.

However, Feng Jiu’er had made it clear — unless two signal arrows were fired simultaneously, they were not to advance.

The convoy halted on the open ground before the mountain ravine and waited in silence as time crept past.

No one could say how long it had been before, all of a sudden, signal arrows blazed to life ahead — two swift whistles, and two signal arrows fired at the same instant, igniting in the air above.

“General, by the look of it, there should be no trouble ahead.” Huo Yan was aware of Feng Jiu’er’s instructions to Jian Yi.

General Feng’s order had indeed been a sound one. If Jian Yi and his men had been captured or met with misfortune, an enemy who was none the wiser would most likely fire only one signal arrow to lure them forward.

With both arrows fired simultaneously, it was naturally Jian Yi’s own men sending the signal.

Feng Jiu’er gave a nod, raised her hand, and the convoy set off at once.

Entering the mountain ravine, the mountain ranges on either side did indeed carry a few degrees of eerie and foreboding presence. Looking upward, it felt as though countless great mountains were pressing down upon them from above, giving one a sensation of suffocation.

No wonder Jian Yi had said this place was easy to defend and hard to attack — it was exactly as he described!

The deeper they pushed inward, the heavier that sense of oppression grew.

Again, no one could say how much time had passed before Feng Jiu’er suddenly raised her hand. Huo Yan immediately called out: “Halt!”

The convoy stopped. Everyone shifted into a state of alert at once.

Huo Yan rode his horse to Feng Jiu’er’s side and asked in a low voice, “General, what are your orders?”

“Something is wrong.” Feng Jiu’er’s gaze swept across the dim and murky mountainscape all around.

She could not quite say where the wrongness lay, but the feeling of something being off would not leave her.

The mountain peak up ahead in particular — she could faintly detect a thin, tenuous thread of dangerous intent in the air, though the distance was too great for her to make it out with any clarity.

“General…” Huo Yan could not yet sense anything himself. Most critically, Jian Yi’s two signal arrows had been fired simultaneously — that ought to mean there was no problem.

“Could it be that the General suspects… that Jian Yi has betrayed us?”

Huo Yan’s voice was pressed so low it could scarcely be heard by anyone but the two of them.

Xiao Yingtao had been walking alongside the carriage all this while. She had now unmistakably become the Ninth Prince’s personal guard, doubling also as an armed handmaiden in service to His Highness.

Catching their exchange, Xiao Yingtao started in shock. “Nin— General Feng, Jian Yi is not that kind of person.”

Jian Yi had always been the most honest and straightforward of them all — how could he possibly betray them? It was absolutely impossible!

Feng Jiu’er gave a nod, fell into thought for a brief moment, then suddenly said: “Retreat!”

Without any hesitation, the convoy wheeled their horses around immediately and turned back the way they had come.

Though many harbored doubt in their hearts, military orders were absolute!

Huo Yan took the lead, bringing the brothers of the convoy racing toward the ravine entrance.

The mountain ranges behind them had been perfectly still a moment before, yet in the very instant they turned to retreat, they suddenly erupted into a surging storm of wind and movement!

Dozens of figures wove through the darkness of the night, bearing down on them at swift speed!

There truly was an ambush! But just moments ago, no one had detected it — how had General Feng perceived it?

Such ability — one could not help but be full of admiration!

Those figures threaded their way through the stone crags of the mountain ravine, their steps light and swift, traversing the terrain as easily as flat ground. It was plain to see that they habitually moved through mountain ravines as a matter of course.

“It seems we have encountered mountain bandits.” Feng Jiu’er’s expression grew grim and taut, and she called out loudly: “Withdraw at speed!”