As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

The sound of the bandits' horses' hooves completely disappeared into the depths of the wind and snow, leaving only the howling north wind and the rustling sound of falling snow in the world.

Yan Shuangying put away his two guns, brushed the snow off his trench coat, and strode towards Qi Fan.

Despite the excruciating pain in his shoulder, Xi Shun scrambled to his feet and grabbed the Mauser pistol that had fallen to the ground. The other two surviving soldiers reacted instantly, pointing their guns at Yan Shuangying's chest.

The three men's eyes were taut, their breathing rapid. This man's combat power was terrifying; he had single-handedly swept through dozens of bandits, and was no ordinary person.

However, they still do not know the other party's background, let alone his purpose. Now that this person is approaching the young marshal, they must not be careless.

"Stop! What do you want to do?!" Blood mixed with cold sweat streamed down Xi Shun's forehead as the gun barrel was locked tightly against Yan Shuangying's brow.

"State your true origins! Otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite!"

Yan Shuangying did not stop walking until he was three steps away from Xishun before slowly coming to a stop.

His expression was calm as his gaze swept over the three gun barrels pointed at him, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"I advise you to put the gun down."

"You dare threaten me?" happy Shun was furious and tightened his grip on the trigger.

"It's not a threat." Yan Shuangying slowly raised his eyes, looked directly at Xishun, and said, word by word.

"I bet your gun is empty."

These words were like a thorn, piercing deeply into Xishun's heart.

The gun was in his own hands, and he loaded the bullets himself. How dare the other party be so disrespectful!

happy Shun felt a surge of anger rush to his head and roared, "Arrogant! I'll kill you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger!

"Click!"

A crisp, clear sound pierced the wind and snow.

The firing pin fell, but failed to fire the bullet; the gun actually jammed!

happy Shun's pupils suddenly contracted, and he froze completely.

In that split second, Yan Shuangying made his move!

He moved closer like a ghost, and with a flick of his wrist, he struck Xi Shun's wrist, which was holding the gun, with perfect precision.

happy Shun felt a numbness in his wrist, and the pistol clattered to the ground in the snow.

Immediately afterwards, he caught a glimpse of two afterimages flashing by, and the guns of the other two soldiers were also instantly disarmed and fell into the snow.

In the blink of an eye, three armed soldiers were disarmed by their bare hands.

happy Shun was both shocked and furious. Just as he was about to pounce on him, he saw Yan Shuangying turn around and kneel down on one knee in front of Qi Fan with a "plop," his posture extremely respectful.

"Young Master, I'm late! Please punish me!"

Yan Shuangying's voice was low and earnest, his head slightly lowered, awaiting his fate.

"!!!"

Startled by this sudden turn of events, Qi Fan trembled, shrank back slightly, then quickly stepped forward to help Yan Shuangying up: "Brother Yan! What are you doing? Get up!"

The moment his fingertips touched Yan Shuangying's arm, he keenly felt two burning gazes fall upon him.

Turning around, happy Shun and Zhang Shoufang stared wide-eyed, their mouths slightly agape, their expressions filled with disbelief and astonishment.

Xi Shun's heart was filled with shock: Young Master?! This peerless master actually calls the Young Marshal "Young Master"? Could it be that the Young Marshal already knows him? Is he a bodyguard secretly arranged by the Young Marshal? No wonder the Young Marshal seemed flustered when facing the bandits earlier, but was able to quickly and cleverly extract information from them. It turns out he had a backup plan!

Zhang Shoufang was completely bewildered, only finding it strange that the formidable uncle in black was being so overly respectful to her younger brother.

Qi Fan felt uncomfortable being stared at by the two men, so he quickly pulled Yan Shuangying up and whispered something.

"Brother Yan, please don't do that again, it's too frightening. Just call me Hanqing, don't call me Young Master anymore."

He said this simply because he felt the title "Young Master" was too formal and carried a childlike restraint.

After all, "Hanqing" is Zhang Xueliang's courtesy name, and most outsiders address him as such, which is both appropriate and intimate. He only remembered this in his haste.

Upon hearing this, Yan Shuangying's eyes flickered, and he instantly understood the "deeper meaning." The young master had asked him to change his address to "Hanqing" instead of "young master," and he had deliberately lowered his voice, which must be because he was worried about his identity being exposed!

There are still outsiders (such as Xi Shun) present, so the young master wants to hide the relationship between the two and act more secretly!

He nodded immediately, then lowered his voice and leaned close to Qi Fan's ear, his tone respectful yet carrying a hint of tacit understanding.

"Yes, I understand. Young Master is worried about the need to keep his identity a secret, and I understand."

Qi Fan: "?"

Just as he was about to say, "That's not what I meant," Yan Shuangying straightened up, deliberately raised her voice, and spoke to him in a natural and earnest tone.

"Hanqing, we shouldn't linger here. Although the bandits have fled, there's no guarantee they won't return. There's an official post station not far ahead. I'll escort you back to Fengtian; it'll be good to have someone to look after you on the way. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Xi Shun's last remaining doubts vanished. It was indeed the young marshal's arrangement!

This brave man Yan deliberately pretended to meet him by chance, and now he is staying by the young marshal's side under the guise of "escorting" him, so that he can protect him in secret without revealing his identity.

Despite his young age, the young marshal is incredibly meticulous, even having planned his escape route!

happy Shun quickly picked up the gun from the ground, enduring the sharp pain in his shoulder, and bowed to Qi Fan.

"Sixth son, what Warrior Yan said is absolutely right! This place is dangerous, and we should indeed set off back to Fengtian as soon as possible. With Warrior Yan escorting us, we will surely be safe!"

Qi Fan looked at Yan Shuangying, who had a "I understand you" look on his face, and then at Xi Shun, who was full of admiration. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he swallowed his words back.

Oh well, Yan Shuangying is here to help me anyway, so escorting him back to Fengtian will be safe.

As for why they think so much... maybe the adult world is too complicated?

He nodded like a little adult, and took Zhang Shoufang's hand: "Then let's hurry up and leave, so we don't run into any more bad people."

On the snow-covered wilderness, a few surviving bandits spurred their warhorses to gallop wildly until the figure of the man in black was completely out of sight. Only then did they dare to rein in their horses and stop behind a sheltered earthen slope.

The group dismounted, panting heavily. Their cotton robes were soaked through by the wind and snow, and they shivered from the cold. The fear of being chased by Yan Shuangying still lingered on their faces.

The bandit leader was the first to tear off his black mask, revealing a face full of fleshy muscles, with snow and dust still clinging to his forehead, and his eyes filled with ruthlessness.

He spat into his palm, rubbed his frozen face vigorously, and was about to catch his breath when his henchman hurriedly came over.

"Boss! What do we do? We failed to complete the task assigned by Fourth Madam, and several brothers were killed... We're definitely going to be severely punished when we get back!"

The other bandits also gathered around, their faces full of anxiety.

They knew the Fourth Madam's methods better than anyone else. If they didn't handle things well, they would lose their hands or feet at best, and their lives at worst.

The bandit leader glared at him fiercely, gritting his teeth and cursing, "What are you panicking for! Do you think I don't know?"

He paused, his eyes turning sinister as he looked in the direction of the attack. "I didn't expect such a ruthless character to suddenly appear out of nowhere. His marksmanship is uncanny; we were no match for him."

"Then...then shall we go back and apologize now?" another henchman asked cautiously.

"Go back? We can't go back now!"

"Why? If we don't go back, where can we hide?"

"Our identities may have been exposed!"

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the surrounding bandits instantly erupted in chaos, their eyes widening in disbelief.

"That's impossible, boss! We wore masks the whole time, how could we have been exposed?"

"Have you forgotten what that brat Zhang Xueliang asked me just now?" The bandit leader frowned, recalling Qi Fan's question, and a chill ran down his spine.

"He asked me if the gun was German-made, and where I got it from."

He paused, his tone growing increasingly serious: "Use your brains! What ordinary bandit group is equipped entirely with German-made weapons? This isn't something we should have! The fact that that kid noticed this means he already sensed something was wrong. Covering our faces won't help; this kid already suspects we're not real bandits!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water, chilling everyone to the bone.

The younger brother standing to the side was stunned for a long time before exclaiming in astonishment, "My goodness... I didn't expect this kid to be so observant at only ten years old! Even that old fox Xi Shun didn't notice the problem with our guns, but this little kid saw it right away?"

"That's right!" The bandit leader gritted his teeth, his tone full of fear.

"Zhang Xueliang is far more complex than he appears. Our defeat at his hands today wasn't unjust. If we go back now, and Fourth Madam questions us and exposes this brat's deeds, we'll be in even worse shape!"

The bandits looked at each other, at a loss, and could only follow their leader's instructions, huddling in the cold wind and calculating their next escape route.

They had no idea that Qi Fan, whom they now regarded as "meticulous and insightful," was just making things up in a moment of desperation. He had no idea what a German gun was.

It was just an excuse he used to stall for time, something he'd seen mentioned in TV dramas about how powerful "Made in Germany" was. He couldn't even identify all the gun models from that era; it was pure luck that he fooled the group of scheming bandits.