My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 74 Brothers unite
Li Mi was currently running frantically through the dense forest.

His weapon had been discarded.

When facing an enemy that outnumbers you, is already on horseback, and can shoot from a distance, the crossbow becomes less important.

The samurai around him were also fleeing for their lives.

Li Mi only felt bitter!
From the roar he had just heard, he understood the origins of the enemy.

Yet another son of the Duke of Tang!

It was supposed to be a very easy job: the people leading them would find the lawbreakers, they would get a reward or something, quietly escape, and wait for Li Yuan to come and claim the credit. That would be the end of it.

I originally thought it was just a matter of fooling a few kids and some country bumpkins, not a direct confrontation with Li Yuan, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

But he never expected things to turn out this way.

The fact that the warriors carrying crossbows were exposed was already a huge disaster. If they were captured and fell into Li Yuan's hands, Li Mi couldn't even imagine what would happen.

If my lord's important matter is exposed because of this, wouldn't I become a sinner to the world?
He gripped the dagger in his hand tightly.

If all else fails, then I can only repay my lord's kindness with my death; I must not ruin this great undertaking!

The warriors he brought were already starting to dwindle in number, and this other son of the Duke of Tang was no better!

The men he brought were all skilled in mounted archery!
Is this how Tang Guogong usually trains his children?
Is he even human?!
If it weren't for this dense forest, they would have been captured long ago. But even with this forest, they don't know how much longer they can run. The terrain here is really bad; it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, and this forest isn't that big. Further ahead is flat land. Although they have horses that they've arranged there, can they really escape?
Li Shimin was now enraged. His warhorse kept ramming through the branches in front of him, and he lowered his body, continuously firing arrows from his hand.

His arrows shot incredibly fast, and he had already hit two enemies in quick succession.

The terrain here is too restrictive; we need a more open area.

Li Xuanba remained in his original position, watching his second brother lead his men into the dense forest. The people around him were also at a loss, as too many things had happened in a row, and they didn't know what to do.

"My lord, do you need our help?"

Zhang Du hurriedly asked.

Li Xuanba glanced at the local militia around him, then at the dense forest in the distance, and simply shook his head.

Most of his men were scholars, and only a few were skilled in riding and archery. Most were still in the stage of traveling on horseback. The terrain of the dense forest was not good, and if they were to ride into the dense forest, he feared that he would cause a lot of casualties.

Just as he was about to speak, a group of people suddenly appeared from the left, which was a location surrounded by mountains on three sides.

There were quite a few of them, and they came out with surprise and doubt, looking around.

That's right, they were the same group of 'valley thieves' that Li Xuanba and the others had just observed.

Such a commotion outside naturally attracted the attention of these people, who hurriedly came out to investigate.

Upon appearing, they immediately saw Li Xuanba and his men lined up in battle formation.

Those 'thieves' looked extremely flustered.

"who?!"

Someone questioned why several people had fled in different directions. They were probably trying to notify those behind them and seek help.

This group of people were Zheng's personal guards.

The coal mine in Sandang Valley was one of the Zheng family's most important secrets. In reality, there was nothing wrong with the coal mine itself, and there was nothing wrong with secretly setting up a coal mine. In the past, there had been people who had been caught for secretly setting up coal mines, but they were simply extorted for a huge sum of money.

However, this Sandang Valley is truly different.

Because the people inside the Zheng family only knew that this was their own coal mine, which brought them huge profits every year. What they didn't know was that the coal mine was just a cover, and inside there was a copper mine, although it was very small.

Copper ore, iron ore, and coal ore are different.

Setting up private iron and coal mines only resulted in fines if connections were used. However, copper mining was strictly prohibited, with violators facing execution. Even paying taxes did not preclude mining, let alone operating secretly. This was ten times more serious than mining iron and coal mines because the profits were too great and it involved the most important aspect: currency.

At that moment, Zheng Qilin, who was in charge of patrolling the perimeter, had just heard the commotion and came out to check.

Seeing the group led by Li Xuanba in front of him, he panicked and turned pale. He didn't know how these people had gotten here. Because of the special terrain of Sandang Valley, in order to protect this place, they had set up special guards at the only entrances on both sides and set up hidden sentries on high places in the distance. According to their deployment, it was impossible for anyone to come here silently!

Where are the people you arranged yourself?

Who are these people?

With just one glance, he could tell that the other party was definitely not some wandering bandit.

The people around Li Xuanba quickly prepared for battle again; the group of thieves had been alerted after all!
Zheng Qilin had never imagined he would encounter such a situation; his mind went blank, and his whole body felt ice-cold.

And the people around him started asking him what to do.

Zheng Qilin first sent someone to inform the rear, and then sent someone to inform several elders of the Zheng family. Then, he gritted his teeth and fell into deep thought.

Li Xuanba quickly gave Zhang Du an instruction.

Zhang Du stepped forward and shouted, "We are local militia!! Who are you?!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qilin dared not hesitate any longer. He gritted his teeth and made his decision.

"Take down these people first!"

"Find out who they are from! We cannot let a single one escape!"

"superior!!"

These people quickly rushed towards Li Xuanba and his group.

Liu Chounu hurriedly said, "Third Master! You run first! We'll hold them off!"

Li Xuanba frowned. "It was my fault for not being careful enough. How could I abandon you and run away after what happened?"

"If we retreat, they will catch up with us sooner or later!"

"We might as well fight to the death. If we die here, our fathers and brothers will avenge us. What is there to fear?"

"rush!!!"

Li Xuanba dropped the iron ruler in his hand, drew Liu Chounu's waist knife, and instead of retreating, charged towards the other side.

The morale of the crowd soared. Liu Chounu and Zhang Du flanked Li Xuanba from the left and right. Without even riding horses, they immediately began their direct confrontation.

At that moment, Li Shimin, who had already chased Li Mi for quite a distance, heard shouts of battle coming from behind again. He was greatly surprised and hurriedly called out to the remaining knights, "Stop chasing! Let's go back! Let's go back!"

Li Shimin quickly led his men back.

As early as when Li Xuanba went out to organize local militias, Li Shimin already had the idea of ​​organizing his own. While Li Xuanba was busy dealing with the affairs of Changwu, Li Shimin had already gone to other villages.

He knew many chivalrous heroes in the city. He didn't want to use them before because he felt they weren't from respectable families and weren't very reliable. However, seeing that his younger brother's business had already taken off, he couldn't care less about that anymore. He specially recruited a large number of skilled riders and archers and also built his own armed force.

His horses and weapons were all provided by wealthy families in the countryside. He was responsible for protecting the villagers, while the villagers were responsible for ensuring his logistics.

Unlike his third brother, Li Shimin was not so simple-minded as to use his own money to do things for others. Just then, Li Xuanba was working in Changwu, and many thieves had gone to other places. Those places were rife with thieves and needed protection. That's how Li Shimin started his own armed force.

Today, he heard from a friend that his younger brother had done something remarkable in the city. He was curious and felt that the time was ripe to talk to his brother about cooperation and expanding the patrol area. On the way, he met Li Yuanji, who told him that his third brother was blocking a large group of bandits, numbering in the hundreds. Li Yuanji always delivered messages in the most exaggerated way.

Li Shimin then rushed over to provide support.

When he led his knights back, Li Xuanba had already engaged in battle with his opponent. They were fighting fiercely, and the scene was extremely chaotic.

Li Xuanba was still not very good at close combat, but this time, he no longer only attacked his own people.

The soldiers from both sides were in high spirits. With him at the core, they charged forward with a roar. As soon as they met, the enemy was already struggling to hold on. Li Xuanba slashed left and right, and actually hit someone!

"kill!!"

Li Shimin charged again with his bow.

(End of this chapter)