CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 64: ROBBING THE ESCORT (PART 1)

However, facing Xu Xi’s pressure, Lou Yi remained calm.

"Big brother, how could I have any issues with you? I’m doing this for the foundation of our Sunset Mountain!" Lou Yi spewed words even he didn’t believe, "Only by making the distribution fair can the brothers have one heart."

While speaking, Lou Yi casually tugged at his collar, revealing the corner of the axe in his bosom, causing Xu Xi’s pupils to involuntarily contract.

He remembered that a few hours ago, the other party had used this very axe to finish off the seasoned Martial Artist Hu Yifei in just a few moves.

Plus, now half of the brothers around supported Lou Yi, and if a fight broke out, he might not have the advantage in numbers...

Xu Xi’s thoughts raced, and he suddenly laughed heartily, "Old Fourth is right, let’s do as he says."

"Big brother!" Wu Yiping wanted to object but was stopped by Xu Xi’s stern gaze.

"Big brother is wise!" Lou Yi timely offered a flattering remark, making Xu Xi’s face look much better.

"Chief is wise!"

"Chief is mighty!"

"Fourth Leader is wise!"

However, when he heard quite a few brothers calling out Lou Yi’s name, his face turned dark again.

Very soon, all items except food were forcibly collected.

The collected bandits cursed and swore, but under the pressure of several leaders, they could only reluctantly hand over their gains.

Xu Xi was cautious, saying that all the goods would be distributed once they got up the mountain.

Lou Yi didn’t mind; his goal had already been achieved.

Seeing the gratitude in the eyes of Lu Yang, Liu Yuan, and others, the awe in the eyes of many unruly elders, and the annoyance in those whose interests were harmed,

Lou Yi knew that his prestige had risen significantly.

In contrast, Xu Xi’s prestige was rapidly declining.

Presumably, the other party would soon make a move against him.

Lou Yi harbored murderous intent, and why not?

With enough strength, there was no need to endure any longer.

It’s just uncertain whether the Breathing Technique in Xu Xi’s hands is complete.

...

At night, Sunset Mountain.

Inside one of the rare courtyards with flying eaves, red tiles, and blue bricks, the flickering candlelight cast several shadows on the paper windows, fluctuating in size.

A deep voice rose inside the room.

"We must get rid of this kid as soon as possible, or it will become a prolonged nightmare!"

"Big brother, how about you lead us straight over and kill him?"

"Absolutely not! Lou Yi now holds high prestige on the mountain, and with that rebellious Third Leader supporting him and many followers, we can only take him down with wisdom, not force!"

"Then, Second Leader, you make the decision!"

Wu Yiping wore a blue Daoist hat and a white Daoist Robe, looking the part, but spoke sinisterly: "Big brother, that person will arrive in just a few days.

The person in the city gave a death order; he must be killed here and cannot be allowed to return to her family."

"Every day we act as their knife, I’m afraid one day they will burn the bridge after crossing it!"

"Big brother, what’s the point of thinking so much? If it weren’t for that person secretly holding back, we at Sunset Mountain would have been wiped out long ago, still bouncing around now?"

"What do you say we do...?" Xu Xi was convinced.

"That person’s status is honorable, and there must be experts around her. Why not let Lou Yi’s kid go up first and exhaust her a bit.

The battle of two tigers will result in both being seriously injured. By then, we can easily capture both with no effort!" Wu Yiping’s eyes widened, his moustache bristled, making a head-cutting gesture, full of murderous intent.

"How exactly do we go about it?"

"Have Lou Yi intercept at the West River Shore; there’s a Red Stone Slope not far south from there..."

"Good strategy!"

Everyone in the room was extremely excited, not noticing a shadow quietly leaving from the courtyard wall.

The shadow was, of course, Lou Yi.

He relied on his newly learned Light Body Technique, silently infiltrating near Xu Xi’s residence, intending to study the layout, knowing that it’s crucial to know both yourself and the enemy for a hundred battles without defeat.

Unexpectedly, he happened to eavesdrop on their conspiracy.

Is someone behind Sunset Mountain?

No wonder they’ve held the mountain with just a Second Blood for so long without anyone coming to manage it.

Returning to his own room, Lou Yi called Zhu Darui over to inquire about related matters.

"Red Stone Slope? That’s indeed a great place to set an ambush, with high terrain, good view, plenty of vegetation, and hard to detect."

Hearing this, Lou Yi understood Wu Yiping and Xu Xi’s plan.

They intended to watch the battle from Red Stone Slope.

Whether he or the target wins, they would both be at their limits, and encountering the fresh troops rushing down from the ambush would surely lead to grim outcomes.

The plan is simple, but often the simpler and more direct it is, the easier it is to succeed.

He glanced at Zhu Darui and found that the other’s eyes were dim, seemingly distracted.

"Darui, what are you thinking?"

"The Red Stone Slope is quite hidden; we used to ambush others there before.

But few know about it; it’s one of big brother’s trump cards and wouldn’t be easily told to others." Zhu Darui wasn’t foolish.

With Lou Yi’s questioning, he realized it was related to the Chief.

"I overheard it. They are plotting against me." Lou Yi stated straightforwardly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Darui couldn’t help but sigh.

"Who do you stand with?" Lou Yi asked gravely.

"I owe big brother nothing now, but I still owe you a life." After thinking for a moment, Zhu Darui said slowly.

Hearing Zhu Darui’s stance, Lou Yi finally smiled.

Several days later, in the Hall of Unity.

Xu Xi told everyone that a convoy was coming from the Jiang City direction, carrying at least three thousand taels of gold.

This news prompted excited cheers from the crowd, shouting about robbing the convoy.

As Lou Yi expected, Xu Xi assigned the task of robbing the convoy to him and sent his trusted Wang Mazi to oversee.

...

The winding river seemed endless, covered in dense red algae, dyeing the entire river blood-red.

Along the long river bank, a large convoy of about forty or fifty people was steadily progressing.

Surrounding the convoy were men each wearing straw hats and red round-neck robes, with knives strapped to their waists or sticks on their backs, their expressions indifferent.

The leading man, dressed in white, rode on horseback.

He was about thirty years old, with fair skin, bright eyes, and long black hair tied high, with a long sword hanging beside the saddle, exuding a handsome and elegant demeanor.

However, his eyes frequently glanced backwards.

There was a luxurious long sedan chair.

Made entirely of red textured wood, with intricate and elegant designs on the window frames.

The front curtain was made of high-grade silk, thin but tight-knit, only revealing three figures inside in silhouette - two large and one small.

Two yellow old horses pulled the sedan chair, while a prominently ugly old man in coarse clothes sat on the horse to its left, holding the reins of the two horses.

It’s unknown what method he used to make the horses walk more smoothly than mules.

At one moment, the old man in coarse clothes suddenly turned his head and shouted, "Be careful!"

’Whoosh!’

Only then did the piercing sound of something cutting through the air reach everyone’s ears.

They heard a scream as a poor fellow was hit in the leg, collapsing on the ground in agony.

"Enemy attack!"

The man in white drew his sword with a ’swish’, glaring ahead with sharp eyes.

There, about seventy or eighty men with red bands tied around their heads, dressed in black cloth shirts and holding sabers, appeared.

"Mountain bandits from the area!"

Short weapons clashed as both sides quickly engaged in combat.

Even though Sunset Mountain had the advantage of numbers.

The team led by the man in white remained calm despite the surprise, forming a circular formation with well-organized defenses.

Soon, the man in white noticed something amiss.

The mountain bandits seemed to be putting on a show.

Although their sabers seemed to be swinging aggressively, it was all just for show, being more focused on self-preservation rather than aggressive attacks.

Whenever he attempted to kill the bandits, a tall and robust young man would charge forward and push him back.

He had been a Martial Artist for many years, yet found it impossible to gain any advantage in exchanges with this person.

He couldn’t sense any Secret Blood in the opponent, suggesting they were likely not a Martial Artist.

"What is this?" The man in white felt confused, unsure what the other party intended.

He tried to break through with the team, but whenever he did, the opposite side would cling to him like a leech, making it impossible.

As both sides were locked in combat, someone suddenly shouted, "There’s a fire, there’s a fire!"

The man in white whipped his head around, staring southward.

There, a patch of red rapidly expanded, with thick smoke billowing up into the sky.

...