Chapter 91: The Battle Led by Yan Lao’er

Uncle An was momentarily stunned when he heard that the Third Boss had taken his men to block the road down the mountain.

Then, he quickly realized that the bandits hadn’t believed his words.

If their group were really caught by the bandits, Yan Lao’er and the others would be in danger. As for him, the one who had tried to cover for them with lies, he wouldn’t end up any better. Worse yet, the entire village might be implicated.

Unlike Qi Si, who had come to his own conclusions, Qi Wu had repeated Yan Lao’er’s words almost exactly.

Uncle An thought: If they don’t catch anyone, they’ll definitely come back.

And when they see them packing up to escape, what will the bandits do?

They absolutely won’t let them leave alive!

The cruelty of the Cloud-Piercing Stronghold bandits was no joke.

The later their escape was discovered, the better for them.

They had to strike first… Strike first!

Uncle An steadied himself.

At this point, they had no choice but to fight!

He quickly called for the village men to gather.

They held wooden sticks just like before, but this time, their demeanor was completely different from when they had blocked the road.

The bandits were like an oppressive mountain pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe.

They were being forced to abandon their homes, the land their ancestors had cultivated for generations.

Did they want to leave?

No! They didn’t!

But if they didn’t leave, the only option left was to join the Cloud-Piercing Stronghold, to become ruthless bandits who committed countless atrocities?

Even their ancestors would rise from their graves in protest!

Uncle An said, “Yan Lao’er and the others have gone back to report. Soon, their village people will come to help. But they’re outsiders—they don’t know how vicious the bandits are. I’m not worried about anything else, but I fear they’ll let the bandits escape and bring even more trouble down on us!”

“Uncle An, what do you think we should do?”

“We’re already running. There’s no need to fear offending them anymore. Tell me, do you dare to take them down?!”

“We dare! We dare!”

“We’ve wanted to do this for a long time!”

“If they set foot on our mountain, they’re not leaving!”

Uncle An raised a torch, illuminating everyone’s faces.

“They haven’t lit torches, so we won’t either. We’ll sneak up and surround them—don’t let them escape!”

The old-timers who had lived long knew how to work together, like Village Chief Luo and Uncle An.

…

“Third Boss, we can’t just lie here all night, can we?”

The bandits’ patience was wearing thin.

“What’s the rush? Wait a little longer.

This canyon path is remote, but easy to defend and hard to attack. The Boss has his eyes on this place, and these mountain people are useful. Let them come down on their own—no need to scare them off and ruin the Boss’s plans.”

“Third Boss, do you think those other mountain villages will just obey us? What if they double-cross us and find their own buyers? We don’t have as many people as they do.”

The Third Boss sneered. “Ha! They’d have to find a buyer first. This isn’t an easy market to get into. In a famine year, the least valuable thing is people. But even the cheapest goods need a market, and we have the connections to sell them for silver. If they don’t listen, they can get lost—plenty of others would jump at the chance to join in.

Refugees are everywhere along the main roads. We can grab some supplies for ourselves, then capture people and resell them. A business with no costs.

For such easy profits, they just need to provide some manpower. If we had enough people, we wouldn’t even need them! They wouldn’t even get the scraps!”

“There are plenty of people on this mountain. Just not sure if they’re useful.”

“If they obey, we can use them one way. If they don’t, we use them another way.” The Third Boss, in rare high spirits, continued, “The Boss is willing to use them for two reasons. First, they know the mountains well. But more importantly, they don’t exist in government records. They’re blacklisted. Even if they wanted to report us, they wouldn’t even get through the yamen’s gates.

If they don’t obey, we’ll just take their families hostage—let’s see who dares to resist.

Once they’re on our mountain, once they’ve tasted blood-stained bread, they’ll naturally come around.

Do you think the other mountain villages joined us willingly?”

Only the Cloud-Piercing Stronghold bandits were wanted criminals who had come here to hide. The other groups? Most of them had been kidnapped and forced to join.

That’s why, in this entire region, the Cloud-Piercing Stronghold was the most feared—no one dared to provoke them.

“There’s movement!”

The bandits all stood up, first facing the direction of the mountain. But a second later, they all turned around in unison.

Why was the movement coming from downhill?

The Third Boss suddenly crouched, pressing his ear to the ground to listen carefully.

“No, something’s wrong!” His brow furrowed deeply. “There are a lot of them coming.”

At this time of night, where could so many people be coming from?

“Third Boss, could it be another mountain group? Coming to steal our haul?”

To pull off this big job, Cloud-Piercing Stronghold had gathered all the mountain factions in the area.

If anyone wanted to maximize profits, the easiest way was to take over the local mountain people.

If they could think of it, so could others.

The Third Boss thought for a moment and said, “No matter which group it is, don’t fight them. Right now, we’re all eating from the same pot. No point in getting into a bloody conflict before we’ve even made any money.”

The bandits nodded in agreement.

The approaching group was fast.

It sounded like dozens of people running.

The Third Boss felt more and more uneasy.

Then—

A crowd of people burst into view!

The bandits were dumbfounded.

Strangers!

They didn’t recognize any of them!

Yan Lao’er, who had built up his stamina well, had not only kept up but was actually leading the charge.

His breathing was ragged, his face twisted from exertion.

“It’s them!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Shoot! Shoot!”

His voice cracked from excitement!

The bandits were, in fact, highly trained professionals.

Their reactions were quick.

As soon as they realized this group wasn’t from the mountains, they immediately tightened their grips on their weapons and huddled together.

Seeing that they were outnumbered, their hearts sank, but their expressions turned ruthless.

When warriors meet on a narrow path, the braver one wins.

For bandits, survival was carved by the blade.

They had to fight their way out!

But their mistake was in misunderstanding Yan Lao’er’s shout.

They misheard “shoot” as—snake!

Their instincts kicked in—they glanced around warily, and some even swung their clubs into the air.

They had scattered snake-repellent powder, so if there were snakes, they’d probably be in the trees.

But no snakes came.

Instead—

Arrows flew!

Bamboo arrows weren’t the strongest, but it depended on how they were shot.

When fired from bamboo crossbows, the closer the range, the more lethal they became.

The first volley of arrows didn’t even unleash the full power of the crossbows.

One, because Yan Lao’er shouted too fast. Two, because those behind had their view blocked and had to reposition for a clear shot.

But while the damage was limited, the shock factor was immense.

What the hell was this?!

A wave of arrows came straight at them!

Swords couldn’t block them in time—they were too fast. The arrows embedded in their bodies, some barely piercing the skin, others falling off shakily.

The pain was bearable, and there wasn’t much blood.

But the sheer number was terrifying.

And these people—each of them had one of these weapons.

Even the half-grown kids were red-faced, aiming right at them.