Junling Mountain Range, a series of towering mountains crisscrossed, forming a grand mountain range located near the official road of Qingyun County.
This official road traversing the Junling Mountain Range is an important route leading to Qingyun County,
and the only official road where carriages can travel smoothly, surrounded and enclosed by towering mountains on all sides.
The sun was blazing high, scorching the peaks and land all around.
Not far from this section of the official road, many people gathered under a large tree, avoiding the scorching sun, hiding and laying in ambush.
At this moment, a voice sounded, and a man spoke to the big man in the middle of the crowd.
"Brother Tiger, do you think anyone will pass by today? We haven't had any business for several days."
"Those few masters are waiting for our harvest. If we don't get anything today, then we will…"
The Brother Tiger he mentioned was a tall and majestic man, his upper body covered only by a small piece of yellow leather with distinct layers of pattern.
The black pattern on the leather, embedded in the yellow and white fur, was a tiger skin.
Brother Tiger's eyes widened angrily, glaring fiercely at the man who spoke.
The man's whole body trembled involuntarily, unsure whether he was afraid of Brother Tiger in front of him, or of the few masters he just mentioned.
Being questioned like this, Brother Tiger was a little scared too, but he didn't show it. Instead, he put on a fierce face and spoke nonchalantly.
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me, I already know."
Then, Brother Tiger glared fiercely at the distant official road.
Finding it as deserted as usual, anxiety began to gnaw at him.
He swore internally, damn it, if there's no harvest today, he's going to be in trouble.
Thinking of those few figures that struck fear in his heart, Brother Tiger instantly broke out into a cold sweat.
Originally, these people were refugees, from Lanshan County, the county closest to Qingyun County.
Unexpectedly, along the way, they encountered three strangers of unknown origin, who without any reason attacked them to establish dominance.
Then these strangers took them in and used them as subordinates, occupying this mountain area, robbing those who passed through.
Among them, no one dared to defy the orders of those few fierce individuals, because those who defied were all dead, with grass three meters high on their graves.
He had seen with his own eyes how those fierce individuals mercilessly tortured dozens who resisted them to death.
So those who remained understood that those three weren't joking, and all pledged allegiance to them, risking their lives for them.
Recently, it was because of their banditry that they caught the attention of Qingyun County, dispatching a large number of soldiers to patrol the mountains and eliminate bandits.
This reduced their original number of nearly two hundred to fewer than one hundred.
At this moment, a man came running down from a distant mountain, hurrying towards them.
"Brother Tiger, people are heading this way, it seems there are a few carriages."
"Oh! Really? Good, good, good!"
Upon hearing this, Brother Tiger's face lit up with joy, praising loudly: "Brothers, did you hear that? Someone's coming, everyone brace yourselves."
Finally, someone came, damn it, if no one came today, those few masters would almost have eaten up all the grain stored on the mountain.
"Brother Tiger, but there are quite a few people coming, should we send someone back to notify those masters?"
The man who had just run over spoke again, relaying the situation he saw to Brother Tiger.
"Many people?"
Brother Tiger stretched out his large hand, grabbing the informant, a fierce glint in his eyes.
"Then why are you still standing here? Hurry back to the mountain and notify those masters."
"Yes, yes, yes, Brother Tiger, I'll go notify the masters immediately."
The man, fearful and stuttering, said, then rolled and crawled away.
Shortly after, a clatter of hooves was heard in the distance, as several carriages gradually drew near.
Around the carriages were many horses, accompanied by what looked like guards.
As they came closer, Brother Tiger could clearly make out everyone on the opposite side.
After seeing the people around the last carriage, his previously excited face fell, like an eggplant hit by frost.
What was he seeing?
How could there be government officials, seemingly the county's yamen runners?
Indeed, what Brother Tiger saw were Liang Cheng and his men, as well as Lu Xuan, sitting inside one of the carriages.
As for those carriages in front, they were just a merchant caravan that happened to pass by on their way back to Qingyun County.
The caravan leader was a well-known figure in the county, with a martial arts realm reaching the Bone Refining Realm, a top martial artist in the county.
Damn it, no matter if there are government officials, we'll still do it.
Brother Tiger thought of the grain running out on the mountain, barely enough to feed the people for a day or two.
Wasting no time, Brother Tiger decisively drew his knife and said fiercely, "Brothers, there's no turning back now, let's go!"
On the official road, Lu Xuan, sitting inside the carriage, his ears twitched slightly, hearing a sound from afar on the road.
Lu Xuan lifted the white curtain on the carriage window, looking expressionlessly at the distance, then turned to Liang Cheng, riding beside him, and said.
"Liang Cheng, stop first, be careful ahead, there are people lying in ambush."
The chaotic noise of hooves did nothing to drown out Lu Xuan's voice.
Upon hearing Lu Xuan's voice, Liang Cheng immediately reacted, unhesitatingly shouting loudly, "Everyone stop!"
Liang Cheng's voice was loud enough for even the caravan ahead to hear.
In an instant, with Liang Cheng's command, not only did the yamen runners around him stop, but the caravan ahead also halted.
"There's an ambush ahead, be careful everyone!"
Liang Cheng did not explain much, straightforwardly stating the reason.
In Liang Cheng's mind, Lu Xuan was never wrong.
"An ambush?"
The leading caravan guard, a middle-aged man in his forties, scanned the surroundings suspiciously.
Before he could react, many figures appeared in the distance, rushing over, each holding tattered weapons.
"Bandits!"
"Prepare immediately!"
Seeing the figures appear in the distance, the leading guard quickly realized, hastily shouting to the dozens of guards behind him.
Seeing this, Liang Cheng also drew his weapon from his waist, cautiously watching the bandits rushing fiercely from afar.
Bandits?