We agreed on a famine year, so how come your family has enough rice and wheat flour?

Just as Lin Feng was about to find a few rooms to stay in, Chen Youtian suddenly returned in a disheveled state, dragging his fourth concubine and Mei Yan along.

"It's bad! Bandits have entered the village, and the chief himself is leading the way!" Chen Youtian said urgently.

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng immediately frowned, not expecting Sun Li to have caught on so quickly.

Soon, a group of bandits rushed in from outside.

"Brother Feng, you guys retreat first, I'll hold them off!"

Without saying a word, Song Shun drew his bow and shot an arrow, killing one of the bandits.

The bandits were so frightened that they dared not take any risks and hid behind pillars to retaliate with arrows.

"Wife, Liu Mei, you two hide with Chen Youtian."

Lin Feng took a deep breath, took out his steel knife, and said to Liu Yu.

"Husband, I won't leave, I want to stay with you." Liu Yu's face was pale, and she clung tightly to Lin Feng's sleeve.

Lin Feng knocked Liu Yu unconscious with a single chop to the neck.

"Liu Mei, take care of my wife for me." Lin Feng handed Liu Yu over to Liu Mei.

Liu Mei bit her lip and nodded emphatically, "Feng-ge'er, don't worry, no one can hurt Sister Yu'er!"

Without hesitation, Liu Mei followed Chen Youtian and fled the hall, hiding in the Chen family's underground passage.

"There are only two of them, both of you, charge!"

A bandit leader glanced furtively into the hall and, finding only two people there, immediately gave the order.

The next moment, the leader was shot in the head by an arrow, fell to the ground with a thud, twitched twice, and then became still.

But the death of the minor leader did not deter the surrounding bandits; instead, they continued to shoot arrows at the hall.

Lin Feng and Song Shun hid in the shadows, waiting for their chance.

Although these bandits were not particularly skilled archers, often only able to outline human figures, their sheer numbers made them too intimidating to dare to show themselves easily when a barrage of arrows covered their heads.

"Stop shooting! Grab your knives and kill them!"

Seeing that the dozen or so bandits were unable to subdue Lin Feng, Sun Li, standing outside the gate, turned grim and gave the order to attack.

Thinking they had Lin Feng under control, the dozen or so bandits pressed forward into the hall without hesitation.

Just as they entered the hall, two men suddenly rushed out from the left and right, wielding steel knives, and attacked them.

Blood splattered.

Screams echoed from the hall to the outside.

As he watched the bandits inside die one after another in a gruesome manner, Sun Li's face grew increasingly grim, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

The hall was filled with severed hands and feet, but Lin Feng and Song Shun's arms and legs were nowhere to be seen.

"Brother, let us go!" A guard wearing rattan armor volunteered.

There were eleven other people wearing rattan armor like him.

These men were Sun Li's personal guards, the best equipped, and the ones he was least willing to use under normal circumstances.

They usually held the line behind a large group of ordinary mountain bandits.

"Alright, you guys go, try to leave him alive, I'm going to torture him to death slowly!"

When Sun Li saw that all the bandits in the hall were dead, his face contorted with rage, and he completely lost his patience, so he mobilized his personal guards.

"kill!"

One of the guards roared and drew a scimitar.

Suddenly, with a whoosh!

A crossbow bolt pierced the guard's neck.

The sudden turn of events left Sun Li in disbelief.

Because the arrow didn't come from inside the house.

"Big brother, watch out!"

"Unidentified crossbowmen have appeared to the east! Form ranks immediately!"

The head of the guards shouted, and the guards around him quickly took out a rattan shield and moved closer to Sun Li. Amid the clanging of the rattan armor, a defensive formation was quickly formed.

Seven men held shields, two drew bows, and one held a sword and commanded the troops; the formation was tight.

Although Sun Li was the leader of a mountain bandit group, he knew a little about military formations.

shhhhhh!

Arrows struck the shield, making the man holding it numb.

"Brother, the current situation is not looking good for us!"

Through the gap, the head of the guards saw a group of unidentified crossbowmen to the east. Although there were only five of them, they were well-trained and each carried a light crossbow. If this continued, they would be wiped out sooner or later.

Sun Li knew this all too well, but he never expected such a group of people to suddenly appear.

He recalled the incident a few days ago where a grain transport team of about twenty bandits was murdered; it was possible that these were the ones who did it.

Sun Li dared not underestimate that group of people.

"Walk!"

Sun Li acted decisively, ordering the remaining ordinary bandits to block the way in front, while he and his eleven personal guards quickly fled the village.

Ordinary mountain bandits were nothing more than moving targets in front of those crossbowmen, and were shot dead in no time.

At this moment, Lin Feng heard the commotion outside and heard Sun Li give the order to retreat, so he took Song Shun and went out.

Then they saw five men dressed in tattered mandarin duck battle robes and carrying standard light crossbows.

This attire clearly indicates they are border troops.

"Brother Feng, what's going on? Why are border troops here in our Dongshan Village?"

Song Shun looked at the group of men, completely bewildered.

Lin Feng thought to himself that the nearest town, Heishi Border Town, was at least two hundred miles away. It was impossible for them to come all the way to this place to help the Qingyang County government troops suppress bandits for the sake of a few mountain bandits.

"Let's wait and see!"

Although Lin Feng didn't know the purpose of these border troops, he knew they weren't coming for them, so he relaxed a little.

blah blah blah!

A crisp, rhythmic sound of horses' hooves approached, unhurried yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.

Lin Feng looked behind the group of crossbowmen and saw a jet-black warhorse appear.

A heavily armored general sat upright on horseback.

female?

Lin Feng was slightly taken aback when he saw the man's handsome face with its heroic air.

"Brother Feng, how come she's a female general?" Song Shun also noticed that the person on horseback was a woman.

The female general rode her horse and led her entourage to the front of the Chen family's house.

She sat upright on horseback, clad in iron armor, her cloak fluttering in the wind. A few strands of her tied-up black hair cascaded down from under her helmet. Her hands rested on the pair of mandarin duck swords, the copper studs on their scabbards already polished to a shine.

The warhorse snorted and exhaled white vapor.

Her phoenix eyes were fixed on Lin Feng, and beneath her armor was her slender yet upright spine.

Lin Feng sensed a chilling aura emanating from the female general, clearly honed through numerous battlefield experiences.

"Holding the military tally in his sleeves, why must a general be a man?" Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh.

"What a beautiful poem!"

"I never expected that a hunter from a mountain village like you would know how to write poetry."

"I knew I hadn't underestimated you!"

The woman dismounted, tossed the reins to a soldier beside her, and looked at Lin Feng with admiration.

This poem perfectly captures her feelings!

Lin Feng bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for your help today, General!"

"May I ask which border army you command, General? I will bring men and provisions another day to thank you for your help."

The female general did not answer Lin Feng's question. Instead, she looked him over, then slightly raised the corner of her lips and asked a question that made Lin Feng break out in a cold sweat.

"I've observed you many times. Why didn't you use any explosive weapons this time?"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this passive and predicament today."

"After all, in yesterday's battle at the Land God Temple on Douzi Ridge, your victory of four against thirty-three with no casualties truly astonished this general!"

"Such terrifying weapons exist in the world!"

Lin Feng's heart sank. Hearing the female general's words, her meaning was clear: she was targeting his thunderous thunderbolt.