Jun Jiuling

The hoots in the valley continued to echo.

"Three in front, four behind, five to the left, and eight to the right," Zhu Zan shouted.

This was the formation he put everyone in every time he sensed something unsettling on the road. By now, the guards were already very familiar with it.

Although everyone was slightly panicked, they subconsciously moved on his orders. The group became strict and organized, and the anxious atmosphere settled down.

Fang Chengyu looked at the people who appeared in the valley.

"They are finally here," he said.

Although he was trying to keep calm, his voice still wavered.

Miss Jun took his hand.

"Don't be afraid. They were always going to come," she said.

Fang Chengyu's fingers tightened around her hand. He nodded.

"I'm not afraid," he said. "We were waiting for this moment."

Waiting for this moment.

'It turned out we were bait,' thought Lei Zhonglian. There was no feeling in his heart.

With great difficulty, they had cured the only young master of the Fang Family, the last of his bloodline. Yet not only was he not protected closely, he was even pushed into harm's way to bait the hidden enemies into the open.

But what else could they have done? To remove weeds , one must pull them out with the roots.

Someone wanted to remove the roots of the Fang Family. If the Fang Family wanted to keep its roots, it had to remove the enemy's roots.

Weed removal was never an easy task.

This was the reason why the Fang Family had suffered, <anno data-annotation-id="727d4f09-3b04-4861-384e-2c5f29c950f5">breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boat.</anno> F<anno data-annotation-id="669860c7-c029-4f17-e802-6f2d8076fdb9">They placed themselves on the field of death; they had to fight to live.</anno>

Human life is difficult and tragic.

"Uncle Lei, do you think these people seem familiar?" Miss Jun asked from behind.

Lei Zhonglian looked around.

"Familiar," he said, his voice stiff and hoarse.

It had been fifteen years since the last time, and of course these people were not the ones from the fifteen years ago.

"It was this kind of person," he said. "I can finally see them again."

He was excited and enraged. He grabbed the stick next to him and straightened up.

This wooden stick he had always used as a cane. It was like a branch that had been cut down many years ago and was now dry and ugly.

Lei Zhonglian had two of these.

But this wooden stick of his was different from the wooden sticks held by guards nowadays. Its tip was blunt, like it had been chopped off.

Seeing these people again, encountering this scene again, he was no longer the him of the past.

A waste could only die a passionate death here.

This was better than dying from old age at the stables.

It would be the same as dying with his brothers, like raising up the name of the Escort Lei, to complete that mission from fifteen years ago.

"Uncle Lei, you were not prepared then. You lost because of surprise. Do you want to try again this time?" Miss Jun said.

Lei Zhonglian squatted down.

What did this mean?

He turned to look at Miss Jun.

"Uncle Lei's kung fu is very fierce, yes?" asked Miss Jun. "This time, I want you to help protect Chengyu."

His kung fu was once very powerful. Although he despised that Ling Jiu's narcissistic self-confidence, but the him of the past had boasted about his kung fu narcissistically, too.

But that was in the past.

Lei Zhonglian looked down at his right hand.

"I can make your right hand recover temporarily," Miss Jun said, also looking at his hand.

What?

Lei Zhonglian's raised his head in incredulity.

Recover?

How could that be?

After he was injured, he saw a lot of doctors…

Fang Chengyu also saw many doctors who said he couldn't be cured, but…

Lei Zhonglian was suddenly excited, so much so he could not say a word.

Impossible, impossible.

"I, Jun Jiuling, was not boasting when I said my medicine can cure all ills, and my skills can bring back spring. If I won't be able to do it, you may smash my sign." Miss Jun looked at him with a small smile, then immediately became serious. "However, it is only temporary. After this temporary period, your right hand will truly be a waste. Unlike before, when you just couldn't hold a weapon, you will then not be able to close your hand; it will lose all function."

Lei Zhonglian suddenly smiled, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Don't call it a waste." He looked over the valley, at the men behind the trees,on the rocks, on the slope. He pointed his wooden stick at them. "If I can fight them again, I will die without regret."

"Well then, Uncle Lei, come in. I will give you acupuncture," said Miss Jun.

After she said this, Fang Chengyu reached out and removed the needle box from the shelf.

Lei Zhonglian placed one foot on the carriage and stopped again when he was about to enter the carriage.

"Young Lady, did you let me be the carriage driver to fulfill my wish?" he asked.

Miss Jun smiled.

"I can't say that. I just thought someone who refused to give up on his tale for fifteen years must be a very reliable person," she said. "At that time, I really couldn't find someone who I could truly believe in."

Lei Zhonglian wanted to smile; his eyes felt hot.

"You believed what I said. You didn't think I was just relying on the Fang Family for sustenance?" he asked

Miss Jun smiled again.

"I didn't believe you, either. I just believe that Heaven is fair," she said.

Heaven is fair?

Lei Zhonglian had never believed it before. He was always cursing that Old Heavenly Father had no eyes. But now he looked at Miss Jun and nodded.

"Then thank you for your trouble, Young Lady," he said and went into the carriage without hesitation.

The curtain was put down.

Manager Gao looked at the solemn team and sighed.

"You should not be afraid, Young Lady, Young Master… Old Lei, you…" He turned to the three people in the carriage to soothe them, but he saw that the curtain had been put down and Lei Zhonglian could not be seen..

That person, he was actually hiding in the carriage.

Truly, a waste.

However, he had heard that some people were left with trauma after experiencing something frightening. It was terrifying to see something similar again.

What's more, Lei Zhonglian with an injured hand was no longer the same as the old Lei Zhonglian.

Manager Gao looked helpless.

"Then you, watch the carriage, prevent the horse from being startled," Zhu Zan shouted at him. "You are not needed otherwise."

Why did he say the last sentence? Manager Gao was silent. 'Everyone knows it, but did you have to expose me like that?'

"I have to negotiate with these people first," said Manager Gao.

There were a lot of bandits, but not all of them demanded your death.

He walked outwards and stood in front of the guards without fear. He spread his hands before the mountain bandits.

"Good sirs, please let us use this road."

Several bandits on the rocks heard this and laughed.

Obviously, these people were the leaders, and one of them, who was wooly like a bear in the summer, slapped his leg.

"Good words, good words" He laughed. "But you don't want to borrow it. If you have to borrow it, you must return it. Really troublesome. You should buy it."

Manager Gao also laughed loudly.

"Good man speaks true," he said. "It seems that you are bold, sir. I like it. It's always enjoyable to discuss business."

The mountain bandits laughed loudly again. The atmosphere felt light.

The head bandit moved forward.

"Then this master, you give a number," he said.

"You seek wealth, we seek our lives. Life is precious. Thirty thousand taels," Manager Gao said happily, "What does this good sir think?"

Thirty thousand stirred up bandits. They laughed even louder.

The head bandit had to stop everyone.

"Noblemen are really straightforward," he said to Manager Gao again, patting his fuzzy black chest. He raised his eyebrows. "But I think…"

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a bang, but his people had not moved. An arrow had pierced his throat.

He only had time to chuckle twice, then he fell headfirst, with a smile still on his face.

It had happened too quickly. The people on both sides could not react. The atmosphere was frozen.

"Well done."

The smile remained frozen on Manager Gao's face. He heard a shout from behind him, and then there was a hand grabbing his shoulder and throwing him backwards.

"You can go watch the carriage now."

Well done? How was this well done?

He didn't finish discussing, and it had already begun?

And there was no warning at all! This was a bit too…

"I said to Uncle, the soldier's path is in shamelessness," Zhu Zan said, once again raising his bow. "Take your bows and fire."

The guards who were now familiar with his commands uncovered the cloths on their horses' backs, untied the bows hanging there, and pulled back the bowstrings.

Arrows flew in all directions, all aiming for the bandits.

The bandits who hadn't yet recovered from the shock of losing their leader were plunged into great confusion.

The exposed ones on the slope fell and rolled down like rubble. The valley filled with shouts once again, but these were full of confusion and pain rather than the cheer from before. 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺

<annotations style="display: none;"><li>to cut off all means of retreat</li><li>From Sun Tzu's Art of War</li></annotations>