After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

It was at this moment.

"Whoosh!"

A chilling arrow whistling sound rang out.

Xu Tianji felt a chill run down his spine, but fortunately, he reacted extremely quickly, stopping in his tracks instantly and kicking up a cloud of sand.

"Clang!"

An arrow suddenly stuck into the sand in front of him!

The arrow has penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the ground, and the shaft continues to tremble!

"That archer!"

Xu Tianji was startled, realizing that the archer who fired the arrow must be the one who killed Wang Zhuohu and his companion, and his eyes filled with resentment.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. He glanced at the arrow on the ground and felt relieved. The archer was probably exhausted. The arrow had some power, but its accuracy was not very good.

"Buzz!"

The sound of bowing strings rang out again.

Xu Tianji's back tensed as he looked back.

But the blood-covered giant had no arrows on his bow. It seemed he could no longer hold the bow. He only plucked the bowstring once, and Feng Yu and his men, who had been mounting their horses one after another, rushed towards the giant and attacked him.

Xu Tianji felt relieved; the other party had only played an empty string.

At the same time, he was also somewhat surprised.

Unexpectedly, even with twenty elite cavalrymen charging at him, this big man still managed to escape alive!

"Feed".

In total, they were only delayed by that big man for a single breath.

A soft call rang out from opposite Xu Tianji.

He turned his head back.

A dark hole was facing him, and a flickering light could be seen in his eyes.

Xu Tianji's pupils contracted.

"Bang!"

Ning Nan pulled the trigger.

The serpentine rod was pressed down, and the fuse ignited the medicine box.

After a violent explosion.

A lead bullet was fired, piercing the air, and with a loud "bang," it ruthlessly pierced through Xu Tianji's thigh!

"Ahhhhh—"

The young man wielding the ring-pommel sword broke out in a cold sweat in the blink of an eye, screaming in pain!

Blood bloomed on his thigh, and he suddenly knelt down on one knee, his features contorted and terrifying.

"Ning! Bai! Xuan!" Xu Tianji gritted his teeth and looked at the figure holding a musket in front of him.

"Xu Laosan!"

"Brother Xu!"

"Damn it! Kill! Charge in!"

The thieves cried out in alarm.

Du Guiwang and Xiao were carrying Erlai up the mountain.

The remaining two servants, armed with spears, stood guard in front of Ning Nan.

The riders, whose attention had been diverted by the big black dog, were shocked by this sudden turn of events and shouted in alarm. They all turned their horses around, intending to charge towards Ningnan.

Ning Nan put the slightly hot musket back into the leather bag behind him.

He drew out another musket.

This was also the last musket in the leather bag.

Seeing that only two of the original three muskets remained, he knew that Dahei and his men had probably encountered a powerful enemy, which forced Dahei to use the muskets to escape.

Ning Nan raised his musket, aimed it at Xu Tianji, and shouted, "Anyone who comes near, I'll kill them!"

"You'll kill me!" shouted a burly man riding up on horseback.

Ning Nan ignored him, pointed the gun at Xu Tianji's head, and took a step forward.

The burly man shouted and immediately reined in his horse.

Feng Yu rushed towards Xu Tianji, jumped off his horse, and stood protectively in front of the pale-faced Xu Tianji, looking at Ning Nan with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty in his eyes.

Ning Nan held the gun with both hands and laughed, "Brother Feng, you can't protect a musket like this."

He tilted the gun at an angle and said, "I can still kill him."

Feng Yu's eyes were filled with resentment.

Of the three previous altar masters, Old Man Peng remained at Xiaobai River, and it's unknown whether he's still alive. Shen Shou suffered a broken leg and was in so much pain that he was almost fainting. Of the three altar masters who could make decisions, only two remain.

Now, Xu Tianji, the third disciple of the Right Protector, has had his thigh pierced by this man's spear.

Xu Tianji was the only one who knew the location of the Right Protector. If the other party died, even if they captured Ning Baixuan, it would be useless. Judging from the archers' pursuit, the Brave Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards had probably already surrounded them. The opportunity was fleeting.

This man, holding a second musket, stared intently at Xu Tianji, as if he intended to kill Xu Tianji no matter who stepped forward.

There were also armed guards protecting the other party.

Feng Yu was pale. Even though he was usually decisive, he didn't know what to do at this moment.

Big Black rode his horse around the area.

The remaining members of the Heavenly Principle Sect, both mindful of the horse's strength and intimidated by the man's powerful bow, abandoned Dahei and rode over one after another. Together with the few people in the field, the enemy had only ten men and eight horses left. Someone stuffed a wooden stick into Shen Shou's mouth, broke his bones, and then put him on a horse, with the two of them sharing one horse.

Upon seeing the arrival of the crowd, Feng Yu angrily said, "Ning Baixuan, you have nowhere to escape! Take my advice: put down your muskets, and I guarantee I won't harm these heroes who came to your rescue, nor will I maim you. I'll just have to ask Brother Ning to come and see my Right Protector!"

Feng Yu raised his longsword, gritting his teeth, and said, "I swear to Heaven! I will risk my life to persuade the Right Protector to spare your life!"

Ning Nan glanced at Feng Yu, who had a serious expression, and smiled. "Brother Feng is really joking."

Feng Yu was taken aback, while the other members of the Heavenly Principle Cult roared in anger: "You dog! Put down your musket!" and "You can only kill one person with one gun. If you dare to hurt Xu Laosan, we'll tear you to pieces!"

Ning Nan was secretly worried, but on the surface he continued to aim his musket at Xu Tianji and laughed, "No matter who comes, I will only kill Xu Tianji." The crowd gritted their teeth in hatred.

With Xu Laosan dead, not only will we fail to complete our appointments within the sect and ruin the Right Protector's important mission, but we'll also likely be trapped here tonight.

Ning Nan ignored them, sweat beading on his forehead, and led two servants to slowly retreat towards Niu'er Tangshan behind them, covering Du Gui and the others.

At this time.

A loud shout of battle came from the distant west.

Ning Nan's mind raced, and he immediately shouted, "Big Black! How many men did Fan Shiwei bring?"

Fan Shiwei?!

Feng Yu and the others' pupils contracted.

Big Black was hit in the back by a spear. Fortunately, the white horse was fast, otherwise it would have been stabbed to death. Its right arm and both thighs were also pierced by several spears. It was already at its last gasp.

It was only with the desperate help of several servants, Zheng Ming, and the Imperial Guard named Lü Jin that he had a chance to fire a shot at the leading general. However, the general reacted extremely quickly and only hit the general's arm.

Zheng Ming and Lü Jin told him to ride over quickly, otherwise Er Lai and his surprise attack force, which had circled the mountain to block the enemy, would not only be doomed but would also have achieved nothing.

Big Black gritted his teeth and rode over at full speed despite his injuries.

Upon hearing the older brother's question...

Dahei immediately understood and shouted, "Brother, don't worry! Fan Shiwei has led thirty riders as the vanguard! They'll be here shortly after they break through their lines!"

Ning Nan knew that Da Hei didn't know that "Fan Shiwei" was the commander-in-chief of the Yongwei Battalion, otherwise he would have been called "Commander-in-Chief Fan". However, he was very clever and knew to go along with him and say the name directly.

Feng Yu and the others were taken aback.

"Fan Shiwei?! He's here in person!"

Madam Huang gritted her teeth, brandishing two axes from horseback, and shouted, "Forget about Xu Laosan! Quickly capture Ning Baixuan!"

Ning Nan roared, "Come on!" and aimed his musket at Xu Tianji.

The horses on the horses' hooves thudded again. They weren't afraid of death; if Ning Baixuan had pointed his gun at them, they would have charged in with their weapons. But the man had pointed his gun at Xu Laosan! This was very troublesome.

Xu Tianji, kneeling on one knee, felt a sharp pain in his thigh and glared at Ning Baixuan with hatred.

The situation is currently at a standstill.

The members of the Heavenly Principle Sect are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of messing up important matters within the sect, so no one dares to make a decision.

Xu Tianji gritted his teeth. He glanced at Feng Yu's back and knew that although the scholar seemed to be full of wisdom, he was not responsible when it mattered.