If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Su Mingyue stood at one side of the cave entrance, her long sword held horizontally in front of her, quickly issuing new commands:

"Retract into formation, form a semi-circle for defense, and protect the entrance! Young masters and ladies, enter the cave first, servants follow, and guards cover the rear."

Her voice remained cold and sharp, devoid of any extra emotion, yet steady and precise, like a stabilizing force amidst the chaos.

Young masters and young ladies from various families, supported by their maids and servants, filed into the cave entrance one after another.

After all the young masters and ladies had entered the cave, Su Mingyue did not move.

She stood in front of the cave entrance, and a semi-circular defensive formation spread out to both sides with her as the center, with the guards blocking the last few steps of open space leading to the cave entrance with their bodies.

She slightly raised the longsword in her hand, the tip of which was stained with a streak of crimson blood, the blood of some masked man, it was unknown.

The mountain breeze ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead, revealing her pair of clear, bright eyes, cold as if they had been soaked in an icy spring.

"Those who have already evacuated, move further in and don't block the entrance."

Without turning her head, she gave an order into the cave, then said to the captain of the guards:

"Hold the cave entrance and don't let anyone break through."

After saying that, she showed no intention of retreating into the cave.

Outside the cave, Zhou Ming stood just a step away from the entrance, one foot already on the stone edge of the entrance, the other foot rooted to the spot.

To go in, or not to go in?

Safety was just a step away. As long as he turned around, bent down, and crawled through, those scenes of flashing swords and flying blood would be none of his concern.

But Su Mingyue was still standing outside the cave entrance, with her four head maids holding short swords beside her, and her moon-white jacket splattered with countless bloodstains.

And he was still standing there, behind everyone, between a hole he could easily hide in.

He stood frozen in place, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat, the broken planks in his hands creaking and cracking.

Zhou Ming stood frozen in place, one foot inside the hole and the other outside, his posture as awkward as a crab whose shell was stuck.

The cave was just a step behind him; if he took another half step back, he could shrink himself inside and be safe.

But his feet felt like they were made of lead, nailed to the stone edge, and he couldn't move them no matter what he did.

The battle cries were deafening.

The guards tightened their formation and, taking advantage of the narrow terrain on both sides of the mountain wall, finally blocked the black-clad, masked men who were coming to attack.

The open space in front of the cave entrance was only a few feet wide. The masked men's numerical advantage was greatly reduced by the terrain. They couldn't break through, but they fought to the death.

The sparks from the clashing swords were particularly dazzling, and each collision was accompanied by roars and muffled groans.

Su Mingyue stood there quietly.

She stood in the very center of the semi-circular defensive line, her feet resting on a slightly protruding rock, which was half a head higher than the surrounding rocks.

The moon-white jacket was stained with some dirt, and there was a tear in the cuff, revealing a section of white undergarment.

But her back remained ramrod straight, as if an iron bar had pierced through her spine.

Her lips moved occasionally, and instructions came out of her mouth one after another, concise, accurate, and without any superfluous emotion.

As Zhou Ming watched her retreating figure, he suddenly felt that this young lady was not directing a life-or-death breakout, but rather instructing the steward to arrange cleaning and tidying in the mansion.

The same tone, the same expression, but the difference was that blood was still dripping from the tip of her sword.

Four head maids stood guard at the four corners, surrounding Su Mingyue in the middle.

Dongmei's grip on the short sword was different from the other three maids.

Her sword tip drooped slightly, her wrist relaxed, seemingly unconcerned. Yet, whenever a stray arrow or a piece of gravel flew by, her sword was always the first to be thrust out, silently clearing away the debris.

The guards took turns.

When the person in the front row couldn't hold on any longer, someone grabbed him from behind by the back of his collar and dragged him backward, and the guards in the second row immediately stepped in to fill the gap.

Without any orders or commands, the rhythm of the rotation was as practiced as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times.

Zhou Ming observed this and silently noted it down. These guards usually stood guard and patrolled the Marquis's residence, and looked like ordinary martial arts practitioners.

But on the battlefield, the discipline, teamwork, and superb combat skills they displayed were far beyond what ordinary servants and guards could possess.

The Yongning Marquis's residence is indeed not as simple as it appears on the surface.

Strangely, the sporadic arrows that had been fired earlier had now completely disappeared.

Zhou Ming did not see another arrow shot towards the position. He did not know whether the enemy archers had been dealt with or were hiding somewhere waiting for a better opportunity.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe an incense stick's time, maybe an hour.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the mountain road.

It wasn't the scattered hoofbeats of the masked men that had surrounded them from all sides before, but rather a uniform, heavy sound of hooves, like the beat of drums, rolling up the mountain path from below.

From among the masked men in black, someone shouted hoarsely, "Retreat!"

The order came suddenly, but was executed extremely quickly.

The masked men retreated hastily in unison, their movements so synchronized that they didn't seem like a disorganized mob.

They retreated with great discipline, with the front line covering the rear and the rear line withdrawing first, their swords still facing outwards, showing no signs of disarray.

How could Su Mingyue let them leave like that?

She turned around abruptly, her gaze sweeping across the cave entrance.

She ordered the guards to stand guard at the cave entrance, and at that very moment, she saw Zhou Ming.

He was standing at the cave entrance, holding the broken piece of wood to his chest, his eyes nervously scanning his surroundings, his whole body stiff as a bamboo pole.

The sight was truly comical; he was clinging to a broken wooden plank as a shield, too afraid to fully hide inside, yet too afraid to rush out, stuck at the entrance of the cave, caught in a dilemma.

Su Mingyue's lips curled up slightly.

The curve was so shallow it was almost invisible, but Zhou Ming could see it.

Before he could even decipher its meaning, Su Mingyue had already turned around, facing the guards, and her voice suddenly rose:

"Keep them occupied! Don't let a single one escape!"

After saying that, she picked up her long sword and rushed in the direction the man in black had retreated.

Zhou Ming's heart jumped into his throat.

He gripped the broken piece of wood tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white, his lips trembling, as he desperately chanted in his mind:

Miss, please don't let anything happen to you, please don't let anything happen to you, if something happens to you...

We will all be buried with you; none of us will survive.

They don't care if we're innocent or not, you absolutely have to live!

The more he read, the more flustered he became, and the faster he read.

The men in black originally retreated to the western side of the mountain path, a shortcut down the mountain, which was densely wooded and difficult to find once inside.

But they had only gone back a few dozen steps when they all stopped abruptly.

Below the mountain path, a brightly armored team was charging towards them.

Those were reinforcements from the foot of the mountain, fresh troops who had come from the Marquis's residence and other prefectures. Although they were not many in number, they were very well equipped, and their swords and armor reflected a chilling glint in the dim light of the day.