With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

In the darkness, the sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, eventually coalescing into a deep, rumbling roar. The caravan stopped about a hundred meters away.

Tian Han took a deep breath, stepped forward, and called out loudly, "Friends ahead, please stop! We are disciples of the Qingyuan Sword Sect, resting in this temple. Please go elsewhere!"

In the darkness, the figures of the three leaders were vaguely visible, and behind them followed two burly men, each nearly two meters tall and wearing cloaks, their faces indistinguishable. Further back were more than twenty scattered riders.

"Friends, don't misunderstand!" The hoarse voice of the leader of the group came from afar. "We are from a caravan. It's freezing cold outside, and we'd like to ask to stay at the temple for a while. We're traveling, so please do us a favor."

"They're definitely not a caravan. Caravans don't all ride horses and carry goods. Besides, if a caravan sees so many of us, they'll definitely stay far away from us," Li Liang kindly reminded Lin Ye, worried that he was young and inexperienced.

He then raised his voice and shouted to the horse team, "Friends, the dilapidated temple is too small to accommodate too many people. There is a small village about two miles ahead. If you hurry on your way, you can stay there."

"Brother, they're from the Qingyuan Sword Sect!" someone in the horse team whispered.

"Qingyuan Sword Sect?" The leader lowered his voice, his tone greedy. "Looks like a greenhorn steward who just came down from the mountain. Those carriages must be supplies from the sect! This job will give us enough to live comfortably for a while!"

"Brothers, charge!" The rest of the group, who had been holding back for a long time, immediately rode their horses toward Lin Ye and the others.

"It's bandits! Prepare for battle!" Lin Ye shouted as he saw the horses begin to accelerate and charge towards them.

The distance of nearly a hundred meters was covered in an instant by the horses' full-force sprint. Only then could the two sides truly see each other's faces.

The three bandits lined up in front of them: the one in the lead was a burly man with a full beard and a hideous scar on his face, holding a broadsword and with a fierce look in his eyes.

Beside him stood a scholar-like man, wielding a three-foot-long sword; finally, a farmer-looking man carried a spiked club, exuding a fierce and valiant air.

As they rushed closer, the burly man with the thick beard suddenly noticed the three Taoist soldiers and rock toad guards lying on the ground, blocked by the carriage. "These are tough targets. Second brother, third brother, let's take down the first two together and let the Taoist soldiers deal with the three frogs."

It was only then that Lin Ye realized that the two burly men, each two meters tall and wearing cloaks, were top-tier, third-rate Dao soldiers known as "Wilderness Wolf Shields".

They are stocky but not bulky, with a more streamlined and powerful physique than wolves, with thick arms, large hands, and covered with thick animal hides and hardened keratin.

The tips of its fingers are sharp bony claws, which can be used for grasping and tearing at close range. Its legs are short but extremely powerful, with broad, bear-like paws and thick pads and keratin on the soles.

Lin Ye immediately ordered the three Rock Toad Guards to use the "Spring of Water" technique when the cavalry approached, spewing out streams of water to interrupt the cavalry's charge and prevent the bandits from reaching the caravan's defenses.

"Senior Brother Li, let's go!" Lin Ye said, and together with Li Liang, they jumped out of the car formation and headed towards the three bandit leaders.

At the same time, the three Rock Toad Guards let out a low gurgling sound from deep in their throats, and suddenly opened their mouths to spew out bursts of high-pressure water arrows, which shot directly at the two Wasteland Wolf Shields that were trying to flank them!

After spraying water jets, it hopped and used its strong body to ram into them.

Tian Han and other outer disciples had already mounted their horses, brandishing their weapons and charging towards the chaotic bandit ranks. Meanwhile, the menial disciples quickly climbed onto the roofs of the carriages, drew their bows, and fired arrows at the bandit formation.

Lin Ye gripped the partially mastered Shadow Piercing Spear and fought alone against the second and third leaders.

With marksmanship honed to this level, his shots are fast and cunning, able to find openings in the enemy's defenses to strike vital points. However, he is no match for two opponents.

He swung his knife on the left to force back the spear tip, while the spiked club swept in from the right. He had to keep moving and changing his moves. Although the spear shadows were dense, he could only barely hold off the attacks, and sweat was already beading on his forehead.

On the other side, the battle between Li Liang and the burly man with the thick beard had reached a fever pitch. Seeing that Lin Ye was entangled by the second and third brothers, and that he himself was being tightly restrained by Li Liang, the burly man with the thick beard became anxious and his sword strikes became increasingly ferocious, each move a desperate attempt to save his life.

"Boy, prepare to die!" he roared, slashing out with his sword. The wind howled as he poured all his strength into the strike, attempting to crush Li Liang with overwhelming power.

Faced with this powerful and heavy slash, Li Liang did not take it head-on. Instead, he spun his sword and used the move "Clear Spring Reflecting the Moon". The tip of his sword drew a beautiful arc and accurately struck the side third of the blade - precisely where the heavy sword was weak!

With a crisp "clang!", sparks flew. The bearded man felt a subtle force travel along the blade, causing a sharp pain in his hand. His seemingly certain strike was effortlessly deflected.

"What?!" The bearded man was both shocked and furious.

Li Liang pressed his advantage relentlessly, unleashing a continuous sword strike. With a move called "Flowing Water Piercing Stone," the sword light cascaded down the back of the broadsword like mercury, aiming straight for the wrist.

The bearded man was terrified and hurriedly drew his sword to save himself, but it was too late. Li Liang's sword tip slashed his wrist, drawing blood.

"The Qingfeng Sword Technique truly lives up to its reputation!" The bearded man was both surprised and furious.

Only now did he realize that this seemingly weak sect disciple's swordsmanship was actually at the upper-grade third-rate level! Far superior to his own! He had been fighting him for so long, but not only had he not gained the slightest advantage, he was also constantly restrained and could only parry!

Li Liang seized the opportunity, and his swordplay suddenly became fierce, no longer focusing solely on defense.

His movements were like a swimming dragon, his sword light like a woven net, enveloping his bushy beard. "Waves surge a thousandfold," "Stones churn clear streams," "Flying springs rinse jade"... one exquisite sword technique after another emerged, each strike aimed at the bushy beard's vital points.

The bearded man was beaten back step by step, and several more wounds appeared on his body, with blood staining half of his body red.

In despair, he let out a roar like a trapped beast, and recklessly gathered all his remaining strength into the blade, unleashing a desperate move that would take everyone down with him—"Mountain-Splitting Slash"!

However, Li Liang's eyes narrowed, and instead of retreating, he advanced, thrusting his long sword out at an incredible angle. It was the ultimate technique of the Clear Spring Swordplay that restrains fierceness—"Water Dripping Through Stone"!

The sword tip pierced through the gap in the "Mountain-Splitting Slash" with unparalleled precision, like a needle puncturing a balloon, instantly penetrating the bearded man's throat!

"Uh..." The burly man with the thick beard stared in disbelief as his massive body crashed to the ground, the broadsword in his hand clattering and kicking up a cloud of dust. Thus ended the life of a notorious bandit.

Just as the chief had breathed his last, the two wasteland wolf shields behind him suddenly cracked, and fine cracks appeared on his animal hides and in the cracks of the rocks. Then, with a crash, his massive body collapsed into pieces all over the ground, and he was completely dead.

These two Dao soldiers must have been contracted by him. When their master dies, the Dao soldiers will also perish, which is why there aren't many Dao soldiers in the world.

After all, everyone dies eventually.

Meanwhile, the three Rock Toad Guardians, who had been slightly injured and struggling to hold on, felt the pressure suddenly decrease and immediately let out a low roar.

They took heavy steps, no longer holding their positions in the chariot formation, but instead charging towards the bandits who were entangled in battle with Tian Han and other outer disciples.

It opened its mouth wide and spewed out a powerful jet of water, while simultaneously ramming its body, instantly turning the tide of the battle and throwing the bandits into chaos.

"Junior Brother Lin!" After killing the leader, Li Liang felt the destruction of the Wilderness Wolf Shield and the counterattack of the Rock Toad Guard. Without hesitation, he moved like a breeze, crossing the battlefield in a few leaps and came to Lin Ye's side.

"Senior Brother Li!" Lin Ye felt much less stressed and his spirits lifted when he saw Li Liang arrive.

At this moment, the second-in-command, dressed as a scholar, and the third-in-command, who looked like an old farmer, were terrified when they saw their leader die tragically and their two bodyguards were also destroyed. They had no will to fight and tried to slip away while brandishing their weapons.

"Where do you think you're going!" Li Liang shouted, forming a pincer movement with Lin Ye.

Lin Ye knew he couldn't miss this opportunity, so he pushed his Shadow Piercing Spear Technique to its limit, the spear tip transforming into a blur of shadows that rained down on the second-in-command like a storm. Li Liang, meanwhile, moved with his sword, its light as sharp as a bolt of lightning, blocking all of the third-in-command's escape routes.

"No—!" The second-in-command was horrified to find that he had been locked onto by a gun. No matter which direction he dodged, it was as if an invisible gun tip was pointing at his vitals.

He desperately swung his sword to parry, but he was no match for Lin Ye's ultimate technique, which was imbued with the pressure of life and death, and was pierced through the chest by a spear.

Almost simultaneously, Li Liang's sword, like a persistent leech, struck the third leader's shoulder and neck, a vital spot. The third leader screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing that their three leaders and the soldiers were gone, the remaining bandits dared not fight any longer. They turned their horses around and fled into the darkness, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ye was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, and his eyes were still somewhat glazed over, clearly not yet recovered from the shock of killing someone for the first time.

In fact, with his minor mastery of the Shadow Spear, he shouldn't have been so overwhelmed by those two.

The second and third leaders were just ordinary third-rate martial artists who had not received systematic training and were far behind the disciples of the sect.

He was starting to feel the strain, mostly due to the panic of his first real combat experience, coupled with the fact that although the two opponents were poorly coordinated, they had managed to entangle his gunfire.

Seeing Lin Ye standing there in a daze, no one disturbed him and instead began to slowly clean up the battlefield.

The wounded brothers were carefully carried into the dilapidated temple, where Tian Han and his sister skillfully applied herbal medicine. Outside the temple, the servants had already set up a bonfire and carefully cremated the bodies of the two servants who had died in battle.

Several others, following Li Liang's instructions, rummaged through the bandits' corpses and discarded items for spoils. Everything was done methodically, revealing a seasoned composure.

After a long while, Lin Ye finally came to his senses. Looking at Li Liang's retreating figure, he solemnly cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Li! If it weren't for you accompanying me, I'm afraid I would have been in grave danger if we had encountered this band of bandits."

Li Liang turned his head and smiled, then pulled him to sit down on the ground. Looking at the busy figures of everyone, he said, "Junior brother, you're too kind. When you're traveling, you should look after each other."

If I had to thank someone, it would be you—if you hadn't held those two back so firmly, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the boss so smoothly.

He paused, his brows slowly furrowing.

"But this is a bit strange. Three third-rate experts could make a living anywhere, they shouldn't have to become outlaws."

What's even stranger are those two Wilderness Wolf Shields—they're the same type of Daoist soldier, indicating they might have a Daoist soldier's lair. Having a lair would allow them to request official titles from the imperial court or sect, securing a stable position as a county princess; why would they become bandits?

Lin Ye stroked his chin and interjected, "Could it be the Northern Xiongnu's doing? The lair of the Wilderness Wolf Shield mainly comes from the Northern Xiongnu. Although there are some in the Northern Han, they are very few."

You mentioned earlier that you received a message from home saying that there have been more bandits recently. Perhaps they are secretly supported by the Northern Xiongnu, causing trouble within the territory of the Northern Han—firstly, to worsen the lives of the people in Gongchang Prefecture, and secondly, to restrain the power of the imperial court and sects, paving the way for the next invasion.”

"Damn those Northern Xiongnu!" Li Liang spat fiercely, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "After a few more years of training, I'm definitely going to enlist and fight them for real!"