Chapter 3 Response

  "What swift swordsmanship, what a fierce attack!!"

  At the same time Wang Guanlan cut open the monkey, Tian Cheng and Tian Ning stopped, silently praising in their hearts.

  Wang Guanlan's knife just now was extremely fast and powerful, easily ending the battle. Although it was unexpected that the monkey, who had just dodged two people with an unbelievable body technique, died so easily under Wang Guanlan's knife, thinking about it, since Wang Guanlan could discover the monkey's existence one step ahead of them, having such a violent knife technique wasn't too surprising after all.

  They didn't know that Wang Guanlan had also triggered the power of his divine soul at the moment he drew his sword, transforming it into an invisible shockwave that suddenly rushed towards the monkey. The monkey was a cultivator in the condensation period, far from reaching the realm of understanding the power of the divine soul. Suddenly, his divine soul was attacked and had no way to resist, losing control of his body at that moment. This allowed Wang Guanlan to cut him down with one swift stroke. It wasn't because Wang Guanlan's sword light was too fast for him to resist!

  "This guy isn't alone!" Wang Guanlan walked up to the corpse that had been cut in two, and lightly kicked it with his foot. The monkey's hand, which had been inserted into its chest, slipped out from inside, and in its stiff hand, it tightly grasped a bamboo tube.

  "Believe in the arrow!!"

  Upon seeing the bamboo tube, Tian Cheng and Tian Ning's expressions both changed. They recognized this bamboo tube, which was commonly used by people in the jianghu to send secret messages. Once opened, it would release a signal arrow that not only made a sharp noise but also emitted a strong smoky smell. On this dark night, its effects could be seen clearly within tens of miles around.

  It's like a single arrow piercing through the clouds, bringing together thousands of troops and horses; that's roughly the function of this thing.

  The sound in the courtyard did not startle the black-clad men outside the relay station at first, but it startled two other Hu Liang guards, both from the same courtyard. The brief fight earlier was enough to make these two mid-stage Qi condensation warriors vigilant, and now, when they saw the arrow letter, their expressions all turned solemn.

  "Since he has reached out to take the arrow, it means his accomplices are nearby. Tian Cheng, Tian Ning, Tian Ming, you three escort Young Master away secretly, I'll take the arrow and lure them away!" Tian Bao said with narrowed eyes.

  "What?! The three Huā Lí Wèi were all shocked, "How can this be?!"

  "What's wrong?!" Tianbao glared at the three of them and said, "Our mission as Hu Li Wei is to protect Young Master's safety. Since these guys dare to attack us, they must have made thorough preparations. With just the four of us, we can't possibly keep Young Master safe. In that case, our only option is to take Young Master away from here. It's less than a day's journey to Yi City. I'll try to stall them as much as possible. You three should take Young Master and gallop quickly, there might be a chance for you to escape."

  "But——!"

  "Don't hesitate, this is an order. I'm in charge of the escort this time, you just need to listen to me! Tian Bao shouted loudly, picking up the arrow letter from the ground. "Time is urgent now, I'll go attract their attention, you protect the young master and leave immediately."

  "Heh heh, Tianbao, don't be in a rush. Although you're the leader of those three, don't forget that I'm the one who's really in charge here!" Looking at Tianbao's serious face, Wang Guanlan chuckled and said, "Things might not be as severe as you think!"

  "Master, this is not the time to be arrogant. In these three southwestern states, those who dare to defy you are either madmen or have absolute confidence. These people don't seem like madmen!"

  "I know they're not crazy, but do I look like someone who's looking to die?!" Wang Guanlan glanced at Tianbao, "Tianbao, you've seen a lot, take a look at this person and guess what their background is!"

  He furrowed his brow, almost losing his temper. Given the urgency and obviousness of the situation, this young master was still calmly trying to figure out the other person's background. Looking at Wang Guanlan's calm face, he suppressed the urge to curse and bent down to examine him.

  "Huh? Flip Sky Monkey, he's the Flip Sky Monkey of the Eighteen Mountain Bandits, it's actually him?! Just as he removed the black cloth from the monkey's face, he was stunned, "He's actually dead here!" As they spoke, his gaze towards Wang Guanlan also became strange, but soon, he seemed to have thought of something and suddenly stood up, revealing a resolute expression on his face. "It's the Eighteen Mountain Bandits, it's actually them! Young Master, let's hurry and leave, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold them off for much longer!"

  "Eighteen Mountain Bandits, were they eighteen people in total?!"

  "Normally, the number of people may not be complete, but today they dare to attack Young Master's carriage, after the success, they will definitely leave the three states in the southwest, so this time the people must come together. Except for Fan Tianhu, the other seventeen people are also there, and they are just outside the post station!" Tian Bao said.

  "It's actually the Eighteen Mountain Bandits!" The other three people suddenly changed color, it was clear that the Eighteen Mountain Bandits were still quite famous in the southwestern three states, otherwise they wouldn't have startled the three Hu Liang Guards like this.

  "Master, let's leave quickly! Among the eighteen mountain bandits, at least eight are mid-stage Qi condensation experts. Their leader, Qing Xiao, is even a late-stage Qi condensation cultivator. We can't be their match. If we don't go now, it'll be too late!" Tian Cheng urged.

  "It's too late to leave now!" Wang Guanlan said coldly, "Seventeen people are enough to seal off all the exits of this station, do you think we can escape?!"

  "What's going on?!"

  "What else can we do? Let's fight!" Wang Guanlan smiled and said, "Since we can't run away, let's go to war!"

  Although it was only a few sentences, Wang Guanlan had already roughly figured out the strength of this group of assassins. It was absolutely not something that people in their line of work could withstand. It seemed that his own speculation was correct, and the opponent had indeed adopted the tactic of "lion pouncing on a rabbit", a one-hit kill approach that left him with no room for resistance whatsoever.

  But even so, Wang Guanlan still had confidence in preserving his own life under such circumstances. As a master of the later stage of Qi condensation, he was indeed unable to resist, unless he used all his tricks, and could also counterattack for a while. However, that would put himself in danger, not worth it. Moreover, among the eighteen mountain bandits, there were not only one or two masters of the middle stage of Qi condensation, so Wang Guanlan had no hope of competing with them head-on. Being unable to compete head-on did not mean he didn't have a way to escape, even if all seventeen bandits attacked him at the same time, he was confident that he could escape. This An Tun Inn was close to Duan Yun Mountain, as long as he drilled into Duan Yun Mountain, it wouldn't be easy for them to find him in a short period of time!

  The combat strength of the eighteen mountain thieves may be sufficient, but they do not have enough ability to block the news of Antun Inn. The whereabouts of this group of people cannot be concealed from those who are determined to find out. As long as they do not leave Antun Inn tomorrow, the news will definitely spread, and the Ning Wang Fu will absolutely react in the first time. By then, it will not be the eighteen mountain thieves chasing him, but all the forces of the southwestern three states, both good and evil, joining hands to chase the eighteen mountain thieves. Even if the eighteen mountain thieves have great skills, they cannot escape. Therefore, if he is the leader of the eighteen mountain thieves, he will absolutely give up the pursuit at the moment he enters the Duan Yun Mountain and leave the southwestern three states in the shortest time.

  In other words, as long as he can escape into the Duan Yun Mountain, it will be fine, and to achieve this, it is not difficult for him.

  This is also the reason why he is so confident now, of course, this reason is not good to be made public.

  "It's not like there's no way at all!" Suddenly spoke up Wei Tianming, a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator who had been silent until now. Besides us, there were three merchant teams in the relay station, and the guards among them wouldn't be too few either. There weren't any late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, but there were over ten early- and mid-stage martial artists, which was also a force to be reckoned with. Adding up the Qi Refining stage martial artists, they exceeded a hundred people. They only had seventeen people, although their target was indeed Young Master. However, if we exposed their identities and let everyone in the relay station know about them, they would definitely try to silence us by killing us all in order to escape safely. With so many people, it wouldn't be easy to wipe them out!

  "Ah!!" Wang Guanlan took a deep breath in, this method was sinister and vicious, but it couldn't be denied that it was extremely effective.

  As long as the whereabouts of the eighteen mountain bandits are exposed, and everyone in the post station knows their origins, the eighteen mountain bandits will only choose to silence them. Seventeen people want to kill more than a hundred people, including many guards, which is not an easy task. Moreover, Fan Tianhou is now dead, and there is no internal response, they simply cannot grasp the details inside the post station. Seventeen people want to kill everyone in the post station, it's absolutely a very difficult thing to do. Once things develop to this point, the burden will all be on the eighteen mountain bandits.

  Tian Bao and the other two nodded after a moment's thought, "This plan is not bad. The more chaotic things are, the better it will be for us. I'll take the arrow letter to a remote place to attract their attention. At dawn, you go stir up the water, Tian Cheng and Tian Ning, you two protect the young master. When the eighteen mountain bandits enter, set fire to the station and burn it down. The more commotion there is, the more cautious the eighteen mountain bandits will be, and our chances will increase. Do you understand?"

  "Yes!" This time, before Wang Guanlan could even open his mouth, Tianbao rushed out, and the others also took action according to Tianbao's instructions.

  "Master, let's hurry and find a secluded place to lay low for now!" Tian Cheng Tian Ning said, looking at Wang Guanlan with an odd expression.

  "Alright!" Wang Guanlan smiled and followed behind the two of them obediently.

  After a few gasps, a sharp whistling sound came from the courtyard on the side, accompanied by a thick white smoke. Outside the station, the remaining seventeen mountain bandits who had been waiting anxiously suddenly flashed and rushed towards the courtyard.

  "Run quickly! The eighteen mountain bandits have killed Ning Wang fourteen times, hurry and leave this place!"

  "The eighteen mountain bandits have arrived!"

  "Someone has assassinated the 14th son of Ning Wang Fu, quickly leave An Tun Inn!"

  "The eighteen mountain bandits are guilty of a heinous crime, having assassinated fourteen young masters of the Ning Wang Fu!"

  …………

  …………

  Before the seventeen black shadows had fully rushed into the station, a loud noise was heard in the ears, and the lights in the station also lit up one after another. The whole station was in an uproar!!

  The boss of the eighteen mountain bandits, Qinghui, almost fell to the ground, and shouted in a hurry, "Damn it, what's going on?!"