Traveling through the mountain ravine with a carriage was never particularly convenient to begin with, and because of the Ninth Prince’s carriage, the entire convoy’s pace had been dragged down.

If the convoy could make it back to the open ground at the ravine entrance and away from the mountain peaks on either side, those mountain bandits would lose every advantage they held.

However, at the carriage’s current speed, it looked as though seizing the entrance position ahead of them would be no easy feat.

Yet what was the Ninth Prince’s station? He was supremely lofty, of boundless distinction — if it came out that, to evade these petty scoundrels, he had even abandoned his carriage, the Ninth Prince’s reputation would be utterly ruined.

Feng Jiu’er would absolutely never allow the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s prestige and reputation to suffer even the faintest harm!

The Ninth Imperial Uncle’s dignity and renown mattered more to her than her own life.

“Huo Yan — take ten brothers and press ahead, seize the position!” Feng Jiu’er made the decision in an instant and issued the order in a firm, low voice.

“Yes!” Huo Yan received the command and immediately brought ten men from the vanguard racing at full speed toward the open ground at the ravine entrance.

The dark figures on the mountainside simultaneously quickened their own pace, attempting to get there first.

Yet compared to Huo Yan and his riders on horseback, the mountain bandits’ speed was invariably just a hair slower.

It was by just this slender margin that the ten men Huo Yan led had already seized the position on the open ground ahead.

In a moment such as this, for the mountain bandits to descend from the mountainside and attempt to surround the Ninth Prince and his group from the rear was impossible.

Because Huo Yan and his dozen-odd men were now positioned directly at their rear.

Among the black-clad figures pursuing from behind, one of them moved across the massive boulders of the mountain, her bearing vigorous and her steps light and nimble, her lightness skill visibly superior to all the rest by a considerable margin.

But upon seeing Huo Yan’s men seize the advantageous ground first, her expression also darkened. This move by the opposing side had come somewhat outside her expectations.

The two opposing forces were at a critical flash point, the tension stretched to the breaking limit, with every moment precious.

In that one brief instant of hesitation on her part, Feng Jiu’er had already driven the carriage forward and merged with Huo Yan’s group.

“Hold formation!” At Huo Yan’s command, over twenty men of the new army immediately locked their positions and spread into formation.

Though everyone was still not entirely practiced in shifting from scattered movement to a standing position, the fact that their speed could reach this level was already remarkable.

They were, after all, only new recruits — they had not yet undergone proper military training, and these formation positions were nothing more than what Huo Yan had hastily drummed into them as a last-minute measure.

Yet as things stood now, the new Longqi Army had advanced even more swiftly than Jiu’er herself had anticipated!

The dozens of dark figures from the rear descended from the mountain, completely blocking the path forward.

As for the mountainside above, by Feng Jiu’er’s reckoning, there were at least a hundred more.

One figure drifted lightly to the front of the convoy, and with a long spear set down in hand — a resounding clang — the butt of the spear drove straight into the ground, sending a thunderous crash echoing through the mountain ravine.

The inner energy behind it was of extraordinary depth!

“Who goes there ahead?” Huo Yan urged his horse forward, positioning himself at the front of the convoy and meeting the other party’s gaze directly.

Only upon drawing closer did he see that the one who had planted the long spear was actually a woman!

In the darkness of night, the woman’s features were indistinct, yet her figure was tall and graceful — at least half a head taller than an ordinary woman.

Feng Jiu’er’s gaze passed through the brothers ahead of her and settled on the woman. That bold and dashing bearing of hers made Feng Jiu’er unable to suppress a flash of admiration.

Even so — the other party was a mountain bandit, their enemy right now, so that admiration would have to be set aside for the time being.

Huo Yan called out again: “Who in the world are you, and how dare you bar the path of the Longqi Army!”

The woman did not even glance in his direction. Her gaze fell straight and undeviating on the curtain of the carriage, and her voice carried an ease and brightness that was quite indescribable: “Ninth Prince, I have been waiting here for you a long while — will you not come out and meet me?”