CHAPTER 684: CHAPTER 547 AMBUSH_2

This plain is the main farming area of the Southern Border Town, with fertile land and abundant water sources, boasting a large number of paddy fields.

However, just as they were about to leave the Yunwu Mountain, Yang Zhenshan suddenly reined his horse to a halt.

"Stop!"

"What’s the matter?" Ai Benhou asked in confusion.

Yang Zhenshan looked up towards the front, where the official road had become quite flat. However, there were two mountain ridges on both sides of the road, densely covered with lush vegetation.

"There’s an ambush," Yang Zhenshan said.

"Ambush?" Ai Benhou was stunned for a moment, "How could there be an ambush here?"

This road was in the hinterland of the Southern Border Town; to the north lay the endless Yunwu Mountain, and many forts of the Southern Border Town were located on the road. To the south was Nanhua City—who would lie in ambush here, and for whom?

Yang Zhenshan pointed to the woods on both sides and said, "At least two hundred people are hidden in the forest!"

Ai Benhou did not doubt the truth of Yang Zhenshan’s words as there was no need for Yang Zhenshan to feign mystery here.

Moreover, Yang Zhenshan was an Innate Martial Artist, so it was not surprising that he could detect things that Ai Benhou could not.

"Could it be assassins from the Jinlong Dynasty?" Ai Benhou looked somewhat uneasy.

The Yang family’s visit to the Southern Border Town this time was to form a marital alliance with Duke Xing Mansion; if they were to be ambushed on their way there, the consequences—

He could hardly bear to think of it.

However, soon he relaxed, because with Yang Zhenshan at his side, he had no need to worry.

"It looks like the Marquis might need to take action! Alas, it really dampens the spirit," Ai Benhou said somewhat helplessly.

The ones hiding in the forest were precisely the man with black patterns painted on his face and his followers.

This man was from the Jinlong Dynasty and a member of the royal family, named Li Xiangju.

Beside Li Xiangju stood a man of short stature—this was Ruan Hongjin, whom they had mentioned earlier.

"Milord, they have stopped," Ruan Hongjin said softly.

"It seems they have discovered us," Li Xiangju said with an indifferent expression.

Ruan Hongjin’s eyes shifted as he said, "Should we still attack?"

He actually did not wish to attack the Yang family’s convoy, because he was a spy dispatched by the Jinlong Dynasty to the Southern Border Town to collect intelligence, and most of his men were also undercover agents.

However, their loyalty was not to the Jinlong royal family, but to the Ning family, a powerful faction within the Jinlong Dynasty.

Over the past thirty years, due to Qu Changkong, the royal family had suffered heavy losses, having lost an Innate Warrior to Qu Changkong, weakening their influence significantly. Meanwhile, the Ning family had risen to power within the Jinlong Dynasty.

Although the royal court was still in the hands of the Li family, in reality, the Ning family had already taken control of most of the military power of the Jinlong Dynasty.

However, the Ning family had not rebelled or usurped power; they were still subjects of the Jinlong King.

"What? Thinking of deserting in the face of the enemy?" Li Xiangju gave Ruan Hongjin a cold stare, as if he would cut him down at any moment.

Ruan Hongjin chuckled awkwardly, "Of course not, I was just afraid that the loss would be too great and affect Lord Ning Jue’s plan."

"Shut up." Li Xiangju despised Ning Jue, regarding him as a traitor to the Jinlong Dynasty.

"Since the ambush has failed, let’s attack head-on!"

Li Xiangju drew the curved knife from his waist and shouted, "Charge!"

Ruan Hongjin, having no choice, ordered his followers, "Charge!"

"Attack!"

The next moment, over two hundred martial artists charged towards the Yang family’s convoy.

Yang Zhenshan watched these people narrow his eyes slightly—they were not many, but they seemed rather formidable.

"Form up!" Seeing the bandits appear, Ai Benhou quickly ordered the soldiers beside him.

His soldiers were his personal followers and also the elite of the Southern Border Town. However, they were merely escorting the Yang family’s convoy to Nanhua City. To say they were escorting was perhaps too formal; it would be more accurate to say they were accompanying.

Therefore, they were not wearing Iron Armor but light leather armor instead.

Two hundred personal followers facing off against over two hundred covert agents of the Jinlong Dynasty— it’s hard to say who was stronger.

Moreover, the Yang family side did not bring many guards either. Yang Zhenshan’s personal followers numbered only ten, and the Yang family’s guards were merely twenty-four, with the rest being servants.

They were there to escort a bride, not to fight a war, so naturally they wouldn’t bring too many hands.

And these guards and servants were picked one by one, consisting of both old and young, selected specially by Yu Qingyi as part of Yang Wanqing’s dowry.

"Dad!" Yang Mingcheng came running from behind with his spear in hand.

Yang Zhenshan said calmly, "Go help General Ai! There are a few bandit leaders among them with strong prowess!"

Yang Mingcheng’s eyes lit up, "Yes!"

Without another word, he spurred his horse forward, charging ahead of General Ai’s soldiers and personal followers, and directly broke through their military formation.

General Ai was stunned for a moment and hurriedly called out a warning, "Mr. Yang, be careful!"

But Yang Mingcheng didn’t care at all and yelled at a group of bandits blocking the way: "You scoundrels, come and meet your death!"

Yang Zhenshan’s hand, which was stroking his beard, suddenly paused; whose foolish son is this, just go and fight, why shout about it!

Yang Mingcheng was also pent up; over the years his cultivation had been soaring, yet he barely had a chance to take action, at most he would spar with the family guards, even being careful not to hurt them.

Even when sparring with Wu Zhan and Wu Zheng, he couldn’t fully express his martial arts.

Now that he finally had a chance to take action, he naturally got a bit overexcited.

However, Ming Cheng wasn’t the only one in the Yang family bubbling with anticipation, there was another who was feeling even more stifled.

Just after chastising his foolish son, Yang Zhenshan suddenly looked up, only to see a figure leaping through the air, and in the next moment, a series of sword shadows appeared before them.

Dressed in a flowing robe, with light gauze dancing around, and sword radiance bursting forth, a string of blood droplets were flung into the air.

In an instant, over a dozen bandits blocking the road fell to the ground.

Yang Zhenshan’s mouth twitched slightly; wife, could we be a bit more restrained!

You’re going to make your husband feel embarrassed.

"Kill the bandits!"

Suddenly another shout rang out next to Yang Zhenshan, and he quickly grabbed Yang Mingzhao who was rushing his horse forward.

"What are you trying to do, young man?"

"Son wants to help mother kill the bandits! Dad, let go of me!" Yang Mingzhao urged in panic.

Yang Zhenshan was speechless, "You’re not even fully-grown, thinking of killing bandits? Don’t go and add to the chaos!"

"Dad!" Yang Mingzhao looked at Yang Zhenshan dissatisfiedly.

Yang Zhenshan carried him across the horse’s back and slapped his bottom, "You’re not even a Martial Artist yet, are you trying to rush to your death?"

When Yang Mingzhao heard this, his spirits deflated, "Dad, when can I become a Martial Artist?"

"When you turn fifteen, you can become a Martial Artist!" said Yang Zhenshan irritably.

"That’s still three years away!" Yang Mingzhao looked at the battle ahead, his eyes showing longing.

Yang Chengye rode over, laughing, "Little Uncle, don’t be impatient, three years will pass quickly!"

"Why don’t you join in?" said Yang Mingzhao to Yang Chengye.

"My martial arts are limited; I shouldn’t add to the chaos!" Yang Chengye looked at the soldiers ahead and then at the still startled General Ai.

At this moment, General Ai was quite bewildered; it was one thing for Yang Mingcheng to charge in, but even Yu Qingyi had rushed in.

The cultivation level that Yu Qingyi displayed seemed to be of the Innate Realm!

"The Marchioness is an Innate Martial Artist?"

General Ai’s mind was struggling to make sense of it.

He had seen Yu Qingyi in the last couple of days, and in his eyes, Yu Qingyi was just a noble lady full of grace, though with an air of briskness in her gestures, but she did not seem like a martial artist.

He didn’t know that Yu Qingyi herself was originally from the Jianghu Martial Artists, and in fact, most people in the noble circle in the Capital City had already forgotten about her background.

Given a position, one cultivates its mannerism; over the years Yu Qingyi had been living a secluded life in the inner house, and not only others but also she almost forgot about the worldly society, she had grown accustomed to the status of Marchioness and adapted to the life of the elite.

Of course, while a state can change, nature is hard to alter; despite the radical change in appearance, deep within Yu Qingyi was still the same Jianghu woman of bold passions.

Yu Qingyi and Yang Mingcheng, one an Innate Martial Artist and the other a Half-step Innate, had taken action and in a moment decimated more than half the bandits.