Is this how your Zhao family treats your guests!

Re-verifying the small sabre in the black-robed woman's hand, Li Yuanjing felt every hair on his body stand on end once again!

Xingcai!

It was actually Xingcai!

Who could have imagined...

Xingcai was merely a young girl of twelve or thirteen, yet she possessed such profound scheming and such terrifying capability.

However.

Even though Li Yuanjing carried quite a few grenades with him at this moment, wore padded armor beneath his garments, and was fully equipped with sabres and daggers—having more than just one—he understood the terrifying lethality of a repeating crossbow on a much deeper level!

Within this range of a dozen or so paces, unless he, Li Yuanjing, possessed a flintlock pistol to fire instantly and deal a fatal blow to Xingcai right away,

otherwise,

it would be impossible to outpace Xingcai's crossbow!

Especially since Li Yuanjing's formidable intuition had been constantly warning him.

Xingcai was evidently hiding her strength to an extreme degree. If he dared to rush out and fight her to the death at this moment, nine times out of ten, he would fall victim to her schemes!

In fact, the very reason she had revealed herself right now was to lure him into taking the bait!

As the saying goes, "There is no royal road to learning; mastery comes to those with dedication."

At such a critical moment,

how could Li Yuanjing risk his precious life?

As an adult man—and a weathered adult man at that—swallowing one's pride and enduring humiliation was no big deal at all, let alone in a place where no one else could see.

Seeing that Xingcai had already taken a few steps forward and, like a ghost of the night, was meticulously searching for his traces,

Li Yuanjing hurriedly covered his mouth even more tightly, ensuring he did not make the slightest sound as he remained completely motionless.

His current position was right behind a flat-bed cart used for pulling camp tents.

Earlier, a fire arrow had landed on this flat-bed cart, but there were no flammable materials left on it, so the cart had not caught fire at all.

Meanwhile, several flammable spots around them had been ignited, producing fierce flames.

As a result, this location had ironically become the darkest spot right beneath the lamp.

A little over a meter behind Li Yuanjing was a small stream.

If Xingcai truly discovered him a moment later, Li Yuanjing was confident he could use the cover of the flat-bed cart to roll straight into the stream at the very first instance, and then roll across to the opposite bank.

"Oh no!"

"Protect the gentleman! Hurry, go and protect the gentleman!!!"

Just as countless thoughts raced through Li Yuanjing's mind as he figured out how to deal with Xingcai, Zhao Zengjin not far away had already noticed that something was amiss over here. His eyes instantly turned red, and he howled like a wolf.

"Bang!"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Soon,

Mao Xiaocao and five or six matchlock musketeers, under the cover of several swordsmen and shield-bearers, charged desperately toward this direction.

No matter how fierce a repeating crossbow was, it ultimately could not match the destructive power of firearms.

Seeing that her first strike had failed and that she had stirred up a hornet's nest, Xingcai dared not linger in battle. She hurriedly used her repeating crossbow to suppress them from a distance, blew a bizarre whistle, and retreated while fighting.

"Don't let that assassin escape!!!"

Seeing that Xingcai had climbed up an ancient tree in the blink of an eye and was about to make a successful escape,

Zhao Zengjin felt his lungs were about to burst with rage. He grabbed a long spear and used it like a javelin, hurling it fiercely straight at Xingcai.

"Clang!"

However,

Xingcai's movements were far more agile than Zhao Zengjin had imagined!

When the spear violently pierced through the branches of the ancient tree, almost snapping off one of its main boughs, it only shook down a few remaining fallen leaves, leaving no trace of Xingcai whatsoever.

Yet Li Yuanjing, standing beside the flat-bed cart, saw it clearly!

Wines had been strung up in this tree beforehand.

The moment Xingcai rushed up the ancient tree, she utilized the height difference between it and the adjacent hillside to slide directly into the forest on the opposite side.

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, Li Yuanjing shouted with a gloomy face:

"Fire into the forest! They went that way!"

How could Mao Xiaocao and the others dare to delay?

They opened fire one after another toward the direction of the forest pointed out by Li Yuanjing, suddenly kicking up a cloud of gunpowder smoke.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Zhao Zengjin, Dong Peng, and the others rushed to Li Yuanjing's side at this moment, anxiously checking on his safety.

Li Yuanjing's face was so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. He shouted in a cold voice:

"I am fine. Where is Zhao Yunlu?!"

"Eldest Miss Zhao is on the east side, seemingly entangled with the assassins!"

One of Dong Peng's Yi barbarian cavalrymen was very sharp and hurriedly reported to Li Yuanjing.

Li Yuanjing quickly looked toward the east.

Indeed.

Zhao Yunlu and her men were being besieged by a group of men in black, and the battle seemed extremely fierce.

Li Yuanjing pressed his lips tightly together, his mind spinning at high speed.

At this point,

how could Li Yuanjing possibly believe that Zhao Yunlu was innocent?

After all,

if Zhao Yunlu's people hadn't sent over samples earlier, how could Li Yuanjing have been so excited that he forgot to carefully survey the terrain before setting up camp in this mountain ravine?

Yet!

He had come to seek cooperation with the Zhao family and bring them wealth; why would the Zhao family do such a thing?

Even with Li Yuanjing's acumen, he was truly baffled for a moment.

With matters having reached this stage, however, Li Yuanjing had no time to ponder too much.

After a moment of contemplation, he resolutely commanded:

"Go! Rescue Zhao Yunlu first!"

"Yes!"

Soon,

Li Yuanjing personally led dozens of elite soldiers and quickly charged toward Zhao Yunlu's position.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

As the crisp cracking of matchlock muskets sounded once again, five or six men in black miserably collapsed into pools of blood.

"Ah-Dong, Uncle Kui—"

"Eldest Miss, stop trying to hold me back!! Li Yuanjing, I'm going to butcher you, wah————!"

However,

just as Zhao Zengjin, Dong Peng, and the others were about to bring the situation under control,

among the black-robed assassins on Zhao Yunlu's side, a short figure suddenly let out a heart-rending roar and recklessly charged straight toward Li Yuanjing, who was guarded by the crowd!

"No!"

"Xingcai, no, no, wah..."

The next instant,

Zhao Yunlu felt as though her soul had been frightened out of her body, and she let out a despairing, piercing scream!

At the same time, Li Yuanjing also caught sight of the eyes of this short figure. He suddenly jolted, feeling the hairs on his entire body stand on end once again.

He hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Take her down! Don't hurt her!"

Zhao Zengjin's already-swung Lord Guan sabre, Dong Peng's throwing axe that was about to leave his hand, and the hidden weapons about to be unleashed by numerous muscular men nearby all abruptly deviated from their targets at this very moment.

And at this critical juncture,

the potency of battle instincts forged through baptism in blood became even more evident.

Dong Peng was still the first to react.

With a side-step forward—before the others could even register what had happened—he had already brought the short figure crashing to the ground and pinned her down firmly.

Zhao Zengjin immediately rushed forward and ripped the black cloth off the short figure's face.

Who else could it be but Xingcai?

"Let me go!"

"Hurry up and let me go!!!"

"Li, you bastard! Even if this young lady becomes a ghost, I will never let you go! Wah! Ah-Dong, Uncle Kui, you died such a miserable, miserable death..."

Though subdued, Xingcai struggled desperately, wailing in agonizing pain like a cuckoo crying blood!

Yet Li Yuanjing had no intention of arguing with Xingcai at this moment; he merely felt an uncontrollable chill spreading down his spine!

By now,

how could Li Yuanjing still fail to understand what was going on?!

Someone had thoroughly figured out Xingcai's personality and bluntly used this foolish young girl as a living target and a scapegoat!

At this moment,

seeing that the situation around them had gradually been brought under control and that the genuine assassins had already retreated, disappearing without a trace, Zhao Yunlu stood paralyzed on the opposite side, utterly despairing and trembling all over, wanting to say something yet having no idea how to articulate it.

Li Yuanjing finally calmed down somewhat, staring coldly and piercingly at Zhao Yunlu as he sneered:

"Eldest Miss Zhao!"

"Today, I, Li Yuanjing, have truly opened my eyes! Is this how the Ten Brothers of the Boshan Gang—how the Zhao family—treat their guests?!"