The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

The leaves rustled softly in the woods, and countless figures rose up from the shadows all around.

A quick glance revealed at least two or three hundred people. The front row of sixty or seventy men had drawn their bows and nocked their arrows, the arrowheads gleaming coldly in the shadows of the trees, all aimed at the crowd.

Shangguan Ya's pupils contracted, and Su Wanniang beside him also gripped the short sword at her waist. The guards from the Money Gang and the Black Iris Merchant Guild behind them all changed color and subconsciously huddled together back to back.

"President Su, what a generous gesture!" Shangguan Ya's voice was deep as he glanced sideways at the woman beside him.

"You actually had so many people hidden outside?"

Su Wanniang frowned and said coldly, "Gang Leader Shangguan is joking. All the men from my Black Iris Gang are here. Aren't these your Money Gang's backup plan?"

As soon as they finished speaking, the two looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

He's not one of hers.

They're not one of his people either.

The result was obvious: this was a third force!

Shangguan Ya's face instantly darkened.

He had clearly already sent his trusted men to lure away the surrounding forces. According to the plan, there shouldn't be any large-scale forces around this mountain. These two or three hundred people seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Just then, the crowd parted, and a man clad in black armor and wielding a long iron spear slowly walked out.

A white falcon with outstretched wings is cast on the chest of the armor, the pattern clearly visible under the bright moonlight.

Su Wanniang's gaze fell on the falcon-shaped mark, and her heart sank: "Hong Kingdom military armor...you are people of Hong Kingdom!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a core member of the Money Gang behind Shangguan Ya suddenly moved, running out from between the two groups of people. Under the surprised gazes of everyone, he went straight to the man with the gun, knelt down on one knee, and said respectfully, "Commander Wei, I have completed the task as you requested."

"Very well, take this money and leave."

Wei Han nodded, took out a money bag and tossed it to the other man. The man didn't dare waste any time and immediately ran out of the woods after receiving the money.

"You bastard."

This scene turned Shangguan Ya's face ashen, and his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.

He stared intently at the departing member of the Money Gang, a surge of malevolence rising within him, as if he wanted nothing more than to crush the man's head.

His trusted subordinates had somehow been bribed by the people of Hongguo!

No wonder he sent people to lure away the outsiders, yet this group was still able to appear silently. It turns out there was an undercover agent who betrayed them, and the other party had been following them all along!

"The Money Gang, the Black Iris Trading Company."

Wei Han leaned on his spear, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his tone authoritative and unyielding: "I don't want to waste my energy, so I'll only say this once: if you don't want to die, get out of here now with your men. The auspicious white deer inside is mine, Hongguo's."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Ya laughed in anger, and Su Wan Niang's face also turned cold.

They spent money and time to get here, and discovered the auspicious white deer. How could they give up just because of someone else's words?

Without needing to say much, the two exchanged a glance and reached a tacit understanding—to join forces and repel the people from Hongguo first, and then settle the matter of Bailu's ownership later.

Seeing the expressions on Shangguan Ya's and Su Wanniang's faces, Wei Han didn't waste any words and raised his hand to strike.

"Release the arrows!"

hum-

With the bowstrings twanging, dozens of arrows pierced the air. The members of the Money Gang and the Black Iris Merchant Guild hastily drew their swords to parry, but faced with dozens of arrows, the ordinary guards in the front row were no match for them and fell to the ground after being hit by arrows in just a few moments.

With the arrival of the second wave of arrows, the Money Gang and the Black Iris Merchant Guild were completely overwhelmed and at a significant disadvantage.

"Go into the cave!"

Shangguan Ya roared and, along with Su Wanniang, charged towards the cave entrance, braving the rain of arrows.

With their guards fighting desperately to cover their retreat, the two leaped into the cave and immediately saw the white deer sleeping on the stone platform.

Beneath its glossy white fur, a faint halo seemed to flow along its skin texture, giving the skin a subtle glow that startled both of them.

Such an unusual phenomenon truly resembles the appearance of an auspicious beast.

Despite the deafening sounds of battle outside the cave, the white deer kept its eyes closed, showing no signs of waking up.

The situation was critical, and there was no time to think things through.

The two immediately selected several strong and sturdy men to work together to lift the white deer.

Four strong men used their waist strength to lift the sleeping Qi Ji steadily up and rush him out of the cave.

The battle outside the cave had already turned in one direction.

Wei Han led his armored soldiers in a relentless advance, and the Money Gang and Black Iris men were forced to retreat in disarray, leaving a trail of corpses in front of the cave entrance.

As he passed by Dijin's body, he stopped, bent down, and pulled a thick stack of silver notes from the man's bosom. He twirled them between his fingers; they amounted to two thousand taels.

Wei Han sneered, stuffing the silver note into his pocket, his tone disdainful: "What a greedy fool. If you had only sold the information to my Hong Kingdom, you wouldn't have ended up like this. You only have yourself to blame for being too greedy and overestimating yourself."

Unbeknownst to Shangguan Ya and Su Wanniang, the Hong Kingdom forces led by Wei Han were the third-party forces that Di Jin had been waiting for. They had arrived in Blackstone Town half a day ago, but had not yet shown themselves.

Unsure if the news of the auspicious white deer was true, Wei Han bribed a member of the Money Gang to secretly follow them.

Just then, a figure moved at the cave entrance, and four strong men carried a white deer out.

Wei Han's eyes lit up, and he immediately raised his hand: "Archers, stop! Don't hurt the white deer!"

The rain of arrows suddenly stopped.

He pointed his spear forward and shouted sharply, "Infantry, advance! Intercept and kill the Money Gang and the Black Iris Merchant Guild, and seize the auspicious beast!"

Armored melee soldiers swarmed forward, and a flurry of swords and spears instantly erupted into a chaotic melee.

Shangguan Ya and Su Wanniang followed behind and ran out of the cave. Seeing the heavy casualties among their men, their eyes widened in fury. They both drew their weapons and personally charged into the battle.

Without the suppression of arrows, both sides, relying on sheer grit, managed to hold off the offensive for the time being.

However, this also drew the four strong men carrying the white deer into the battle. They were forced to put down Qi Ji, draw their swords, and fight back. Before long, two of them had fallen into a pool of blood.

The sleeping Qi Ji was left alone on the edge of the battlefield, ignored by everyone.

No one noticed that the warm, luminous sheen on Qi Ji's fur was visibly dimming and receding, like the tide retreating back into his body, until it almost disappeared completely.

next moment.

The deer-like eyes, which had been tightly closed, slowly opened.

Feeling his limbs being bound by something, Qi Ji instinctively exerted his strength, and the thick hemp rope binding his limbs snapped with a "bang".

At the same time, a surge of vitality burst forth from within him, causing Qi Ji to unconsciously let out a deer's cry.

"Yo—"

The cry of the deer suddenly resounded through the forest, and the antlers on Qi Ji's head also glowed with a golden-green light. A strange energy wave spread out in all directions from Qi Ji as the center, like ripples on water.

"!"

The people fighting on the field all froze, turning their heads in astonishment.

No one expected that this auspicious white deer, which had been sleeping and being manipulated by people the whole time, would wake up at this moment.

And what shocked them even more was what followed.

The towering trees in the forest seemed to come alive, their thick branches swaying and stretching slowly, while the weeds and vines on the ground trembled and surged together, and the vegetation of the entire mountain forest came to life at this moment.