...

Dusk.

Amidst a sparse willow forest.

The escort leader, a scarred old soldier, grimly reigning in his horse, solemnly reported to a carriage:

"Master, the willow forest is difficult to traverse, and night is falling."

"We won't make it into the city in time; let's camp here."

The carriage curtain lifted a corner, revealing a shrewd-looking, rotund face from within; the owner nodded slightly:

"Old Qi, make the arrangements, ensure everything is in order!"

"Understood!"

Old Qi dismounted, his voice booming like thunder:

"Stop the carriage! Unload the goods to form a circle!

"Light the fires! Send out the scouts!"

Old Qi, a seasoned veteran of many battles, led with calm authority.

The wheels were quickly locked and circled to form the first line of defense, with leather-armored guards in groups of three forming a tight, outward-facing circular formation with their blades and spears.

The men cooperated.

Efficiently setting up makeshift tents within the circle.

Soon enough.

Smoke curled up in tendrils against the twilight sky.

Beside a campfire.

Chen Sheng gathered with seven or eight porters who had joined halfway.

After traveling together for over a month, enduring bloodshed.

These men now considered Chen Sheng as their backbone.

Everyone worked together to set up a shelter.

Then gathered around the campfire, drinking and boasting.

A bearded man, with lingering fear, patted Chen Sheng on the shoulder, his voice gruff:

"Brother Chen's martial skills are truly formidable."

"Last time, if it hadn't been for Brother Chen saving us, charging through dozens of bandits alone, Old Huang would have been long dead."

"As they say in the storybooks, a hero who can face ten thousand enemies single-handedly!"

Another chimed in excitedly:

"Brother Chen, your archery skills are unmatched too. From two hundred paces, you shot out that red-turbaned bandit's eye."

A tall, lanky man envisioned aloud:

"If you ask me, Brother Chen should join the military."

"Might even earn distinction to bring wealth and honor to his family."

Chen Sheng donned a hearty smile, casually replying:

"Brothers, you're too kind!"

"Just making a living, nothing to brag about?"

"We've fought together, we're practically family now, no need for false flattery?"

Amidst the laughter.

Grains roasting over the fire sizzled.

Though they called each other brothers openly, Chen Sheng remained highly 'alert' internally.

Came up with a casual excuse.

Politely declined Old Huang's offer of the wine gourd.

This entire journey.

Chen Sheng never drank wine from others.

His own water skin was with him at all times.

Regarding food, he only ate the hard biscuits he brought, mixed with minced meat and salt.

After several rounds of drinks.

Weariness and laxity began to set in.

Their banter grew louder, mixed with longing for the courtesans of Willow Leaf City.

...

"Swoosh---!"

Suddenly.

A piercing, wrenching bone whistle sounded without warning from deep within the willow forest.

Whistles echoed from all directions!

Snap!

The earthenware bowl in Chen Sheng's hand shattered in his grip.

His sharp gaze, knife-like, swept toward the source of the sound.

Chen Sheng shouted hoarsely:

"It's the rally whistle bandits commonly use!"

"We're surrounded!"

The men, seasoned veterans themselves,

Upon hearing this, felt as if drenched in cold water.

The shock sobered them instantly!

Old Huang's wine jug crashed into the fire, sending a foot-high blue flame leaping up.

He cursed furiously:

"What were the sentries doing!"

"Damn it!"

...

Almost simultaneously.

Escort leader Old Qi bellowed loudly.

"Grab your weapons!"

"Prepare to fight--!"

However.

Everything happened too quickly.

From the originally silent willows lining the road.

In the blink of an eye.

Countless shadows emerged densely.

The bandits dressed in tattered clothes.

Barely covering their bodies.

Gripping blood-stained machetes, rusty pitchforks, pointed wooden sticks...

Their eyes red with hunger.

Like wolves, fixated on the convoy's goods, horses, and food.

...

Elsewhere.

Chen Sheng quickly shielded the porters before him.

He swiftly mounted his horse,

The height giving him significant advantage.

Chen Sheng's view was broader.

In all directions, as far as the eye could see.

A sea of black figures.

The willow forest was nearly consumed by this surging tide of people.

Bandits as far as the eye could see.

Several porters followed suit, mounting to look around.

Their hands visibly shaking:

"Oh gods, how many of them are there!"

"So many, and we didn't notice; what were the sentries doing?"

"Damn idiots!"

They cursed wildly.

Feeling overwhelmed by the swelling crowd from all sides.

Endless and unending!

They were deeply ensnared in a siege.

Chen Sheng was equally tense to the extreme.

Inwardly cursing:

"Just trying to travel, and ended up surrounded by an army!"

"In all my lifetimes, this has to be the unluckiest."

"Almost drowned at first."

"Now likely to die midst a chaotic army."

Chen Sheng unconsciously gripped his long spear tightly.

He exhaled quickly.

Forcing himself to calm down.

Only by staying calm.

Could he find a chance of survival.

Chen Sheng observed closely.

There were too many people; he couldn't tell how many.

Ten thousand?

Maybe even more!

This group of bandits not only had numerous enslaved citizens.

But were evidently more elite.

Chen Sheng gazed slowly around.

Those with various colored headscarves, fierce gazes, wielding all kinds of iron weapons, strong old bandits.

No less than two thousand, they formed an encircling formation, clearly the main encircling force.

It's highly probable that these old bandits cleared out the scout posts on the perimeter, led the encirclement, set the Heaven and Earth Net, and then released the refugees to charge.

Chen Sheng gritted his teeth:

"Could they be using us for training?"

"Playing the siege with captives trick!"

"Damn it!"

...

"Leave your goods, women!"

"And we'll grant you a whole corpse!"

A bandit leader with a dark red headscarf shouted loudly.

His voice hoarse like a worn-out gong.

"Kill!"

"Kill them all!"

"Food's on the carts!"

"Women are in the tents!"

Another yellow-scarfed leader brandished a curved saber.

Bellowing like a beast.

"Charge--!"

The frenzied, greedy mob fully erupted.

Instantly charging toward the beleaguered convoy.

At the center of the convoy.

The curtains of a carriage were suddenly dropped.

The owner's shrill cry, laced with tears, emanated from within:

"Old Qi! Block... block them!"

Yet Old Qi was already ensnared by the surging mob.

Despite his fierce slashing.

And constant shouting to direct the formation.

The edges of the group.

Already torn open by the numerous refugees.

Chaos!

Total chaos!

The formation of the carriage convoy collapsed.

The guards could hardly look after themselves, divided and surrounded.

Countless refugees faced the guards' swords and spears.

Climbing onto the wagons.

Crying, screaming, the clash of weapons, and the sound of flesh being torn reached its peak!

Chen Sheng watched the scene, his eyes cold, making a quick decision in his heart:

"It's hopeless!"

"The only way to survive is to break through!"

He quickly scanned the enemy formation.

The height advantage on horseback allowed him to see everything.

At this moment.

Chen Sheng's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's.

Quickly sweeping across the chaotic battlefield.

Soon.

His gaze paused.

Southwest corner!

The bandits there were crowded together, their steps unsteady, weapons disorganized.

The ranks were even more loose and thin.

Obviously, they were temporarily coerced starving people.

Boosting their momentum under the command of a few lackeys.

And behind them.

Was a vast thicket of thorny bushes.

Chen Sheng took down his bow and arrow, growling to the few beside him:

"Follow me!"

"Charge the southwest corner!"

"If you want to survive, keep up, this is your only chance!"

At the same time.

He had already drawn his bowstring tight, firing multiple arrows in succession!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows like shooting stars, very fast, extremely powerful.

Three black streaks flew like lightning.

Piercing the throats of three old thieves waving signal flags in the distant southwest corner.

The powerful force even pinned one of them to the tree trunk behind

The arrow tails still buzzing!

This precise and ruthless decapitation strategy instantly caused a panic among the bandits in that area.

This is the moment.

Chen Sheng seized the opportunity.

"Charge—!"

Chen Sheng clamped the horse's belly fiercely.

Hee-yah!

The horse beneath him shot forward like an unleashed arrow, its four hooves driving towards the chaotic southwest corner.

Chen Sheng let out a long cry, charging ahead with the long spear, as if a Poison Dragon emerging from its cave.

"Follow me to the southwest corner!"

"If you don't want to die, keep up!"

The roar exploded.

Suppressing part of the chaos.

Seven or eight riders spurred their horses to follow closely.

Over a dozen guards who heard the call amidst the chaos.

Also instinctively closed in on this area.

They followed behind Chen Sheng.

More than twenty riders!

Barely forming an irregular wedge.

Charging forward into thousands!

...

Chen Sheng charged at the front!

The spear shaking, flickering cold stars.

The bandits blocking the way.

Whether it's an old thief wielding a sharp blade.

Or an apathetic starving person.

In the face of absolute power, like paper mache.

Thud!

A spearhead pierced through an old thief's chest!

Crack!

A slanting spear shaft smashed into the big knife of another assailant, the momentum not waning, directly breaking their neck!

Whoosh!

The waist knife was unsheathed!

Creating a splattered crescent of blood!

Severing two incoming long spears!

People wailed, horses neighed, blood and flesh flew!

Wherever Chen Sheng went.

A shocking blood alley was left behind!

He was like an untiring killing machine.

Precisely and efficiently tearing apart all obstacles.

In the formation.

Chen Sheng broke open a gap

The others followed suit.

Expanding this gap.

Their blades slashing everywhere.

Mixed with the bandits' screams.

"Keep up! Don't fall behind!"

Chen Sheng shouted loudly.

The wedge-shaped formation's tip relentlessly pushed forward.

But continuously eroded by bandits surging from both sides.

Along the way, some fell into the enemy ranks, instantly trampled and devoured, bones and flesh ground to mud.

Painful screams!

But Chen Sheng's heart was like iron.

He plunged into a weak corner.

Repeatedly cutting down obstacles, quickly charging through the ranks.

Charge!

He didn't protect everyone behind him.

He had already led the charge, what else could be done?

Turn back to rescue?

Finally!

The group fought their way out, covered in blood, breaking through the formation.

The thorny bushes were right in front of them.

The bandits here were fewer, and even more hesitant.

"Break!"

Chen Sheng roared, swinging his spear shaft.

Forcing open the last few lackeys trying to block the way.

His legs clamped fiercely on the horse's belly!

"Hya!"

The horse leaped high!

The stubborn bushes were forcibly opened by the horse and the few riders behind.

Sharp thorns cut into the horse's skin and flesh.

Also wounding the riders' legs and feet.

But not a single person stopped!

The thorn-covered thicket.

Became the only way to survival.

When the yellow horse beneath Chen Sheng broke through the thicket, his vision suddenly opened up.

Behind.

The sounds of battle were muffled by the dense vegetation.

Chen Sheng still dared not stop.

Sprinting desperately for over twenty miles.

Until there was no sound behind.

Chen Sheng finally reined in on a low hill with a wide view.

At this moment.

Of the more than twenty riders who charged together.

Only six remained.

The surviving six people, and six horses, all breathed heavily.

Everyone was wounded.

Blood soaked their tattered clothes.

Their dirty faces showed only the confusion of narrowly escaping death.

And the weakness of being completely exhausted.

"We... we made it..."

Old Huang's voice was raspy.

He trembled as he reached for his waist, wanting to drink water.

Only to find his waterskin long gone.

Of the seven or eight riders.

Only Old Huang survived.

The rest were guards of the caravan.

These guards had organized formation.

Their survival rate significantly increased.

As the spearhead, Chen Sheng was also covered in blood, his chest heaving continuously.

His eyes revealed exhaustion.

This time was truly thrilling to the extreme.

Charging through thousands with twenty riders!

Truly a near-death experience!

Chen Sheng turned his head.

Looking at the exhausted companions behind him.

And then gazed afar at the willow grove.

Faintly able to see the blaze reaching the sky.

Chen Sheng steadied his breathing, turned his horse's head.

He clasped his fists to the five still in shock, the movement crisp and decisive:

"Gentlemen, until we meet again!"

Before the words were finished.

He had already spurred his horse, galloping straight towards the Yan Region.

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