Chapter 3: The First Meeting with the Knight

  After walking for about ten miles, the sun had risen high in the sky, sweeping away the gloom of the previous rainy days and radiating unparalleled power. The scorching sun evaporated the rainwater on the ground, making the forest unbearably hot. Even breathing became somewhat difficult.

  "I can't walk anymore!" Oola exclaimed, disregarding the wet and slippery stones at the edge of the path, plopping herself down with a thud.

  Ye Feng looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He had thought that these two pampered people would not be able to hold on for long, but unexpectedly they were still going strong.

  He turned his head and saw Nia's pitiful gaze, nodded and said: "Okay, let's take a break."

  Nia heard this and felt like she had been greatly pardoned. She walked to Oola's side, squeezed him, and sat down on the stone as well. Almost pushed him off.

  Oola brandished her fist at her, but seeing Nia glare back, she quickly withdrew it and hastily put on a flattering smile.

  Nia let out a pleased hum. She took the water skin from Ye Feng, thought for a moment, and then handed it back to Oola's hand. Seeing him raise the water skin, tilt his head back and drink painfully, a faint smile appeared on his face.

  She turned her head and found that Ye Feng had cut off a few thin branches with his dagger, and then, like magic, he transformed the thin branches into a sun hat in the blink of an eye.

  "Wow, you're quite skilled!" Nia picked up the hat he had made and felt it with her hand. She found that the hat was surprisingly light and convenient to wear. When she put it on her head, the cool, damp leaves stuck to her forehead, making her feel like the temperature had dropped significantly. She immediately put it on Oola's head.

  Seeing Ye Feng start weaving his second hat, she hesitated for a moment and asked: "I wonder what your plans are from now on?"

  Ye Feng shrugged and said, "Never mind, let's take it one step at a time, we'll see how things go first."

  Niya recalled his performance yesterday, and asked tentatively, "I wonder what kind of job you plan to find? In order to repay you, I believe we can provide some help for you."

  "Don't bother." Ye Feng handed over the hat he had just finished making, patted the crossbow on his back and said nonchalantly, "As long as when the time comes, you can tell me where the bank is, that's all."

  "Bank? What's that?" Nia played with the hat in her hand, surprised to find that Ye Feng had thoughtfully woven a few small flowers into the middle of it.

  "No bank, okay." Ye Feng was taken aback, then said: "Although it's not great, but there's no way. Can you tell me, who is the richest person in your place?"

  Nia thought for a moment, and finally understood what he wanted to do. She smiled wryly and said: "It seems like our family is the richest one. But have you ever thought of finding a decent job?"

  Ye Feng looked at her with disdain and said: "A proper job? A bakery owner? Or a cook?"

  Nia stopped for a moment.

  Oola wiped the water droplets from the corner of her mouth and squeezed over to say: "I saw your skills yesterday, how about being my teacher?"

  "Oh, how much salary will you give?" Ye Feng thought carefully and asked. At this moment, the sound of horseshoes echoed from afar. Looking up, a cloud of dust was rising high in the distance and rushing towards them quickly.

  He hastily pulled the two of them into the woods. A moment later, a group of knights in leather armor appeared in their line of sight, carrying flags with a black eagle embroidered on them, its wings spread wide and looking ferocious.

  "It's one of our own people." Oola cheered and jumped out. Niya also rushed out to welcome her.

  Seeing their figures, the leading knight waved the flag in his hand, and the entire cavalry immediately slowed down and stopped at a distance of ten or so steps from them. The knight jumped off his war horse, came to Nia's front, knelt on one knee, and said: "Finally received you, Miss Nia."

  Niya hastily pulled the man up, speaking to him in a low voice and briefly recounting what had happened the day before. The man raised his head, looking through the almost sealed helmet at Ye Feng who had just walked out of the forest, with a flash of sharp light in his eyes. Apparently, he didn't believe that Ye Feng could single-handedly rescue the two from the thieves.

  That man strode to Ye Feng's front, his long sword swung in a wide arc, bringing with it a shrill whistling sound as it chopped down. The knights behind him drew their long swords one after another, loudly shouting to assist.

  Ye Feng coldly laughed and instead of retreating, he advanced. He deceived his opponent by suddenly moving forward, and the dagger somehow appeared in his hand, slashing upwards horizontally.

  "With a 'ding' sound, the dagger was blocking the long sword at its weakest point near the hilt. In the next instant, the fine steel long sword was cut into two pieces by the dagger. At the same time, Ye Feng's right knee had already risen."

  "Don't!" Niya had witnessed Ye Feng's unpredictable movements before, and seeing the two of them fighting, she was afraid something would go wrong, so she couldn't help but let out a sharp cry.

  Ye Feng's footwork slowed down, and he lightly landed a hit on that person. Even so, he had enough confidence to temporarily disable his opponent and make them unable to get up. Unexpectedly, that person only stumbled for a moment, and in their surprised eyes, a thin layer of misty smoke quickly rose, then slowly turned into a flush of shame. They wildly swung the half-length long sword in their hand like a mad tiger towards Ye Feng.

  Ye Feng saw that his moves were all life-or-death struggles, and he couldn't help but retreat repeatedly.

  Niya rushed over at this time, standing between the two of them and separating them. She blocked Ye Feng in front of her, intercepting the angry knight, and asked with concern: "What's wrong?"

  That man pointed at Ye Feng and scolded loudly: "Shameless, despicable, vile......" His voice became somewhat shrill due to his anger.

  He saw that he couldn't hit Ye Feng, so he took off his helmet and threw it at him with force. Ye Feng lightly dodged to the side. All that could be seen was that the man's fiery red long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, setting off the man's bright red face, making him look even more delicate and charming.

  Ye Feng was taken aback, a... woman?!?! And a very beautiful one at that. Only then did he notice that the person had a pair of slender and well-proportioned long legs, and an exceptionally soft and delicate waist, with a figure completely different from a man's.

  Looking around at the warriors, they rode on tall horses, their upper bodies wrapped in armor, Ye Feng smiled wryly, from the outside it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

  Those people's eyes revealed a playful expression, apparently they had seen every move that had just happened from their superior position. However, no one intended to step forward and seek justice for the leader.

  Ye Feng looked at the woman who was raging like thunder with a disdainful gaze, thinking that this was what kind of soldier she was, without any sense of honor. If they were his subordinates, they would have already jumped out to duel the opponent one on one - of course, they were a group ganging up on one person.

  Nia saw her angry look and hastily changed the subject, asking: "How did you come here?"

  As expected, the man took a deep breath and tried to calm down his anger when he heard about the matter at hand. He said: "Reporting back to Miss, we received news that someone was planning to hijack you, so we immediately set out. Fortunately, thanks to God's blessing, you are safe and sound."

  She looked at the three of them and asked: "Where are the others?"

  Niya's face turned gloomy as she said, "Everyone else was killed in battle. If it weren't for Mr. Ye Feng drawing his sword to help us, we would have already been captured by the Black Wind Bandits."

  That man looked up and glanced at Ye Feng, his eyes revealing a resentful gaze once again.

  Nia asked hastily as soon as she saw him: "Is everything all right in the city?"

  That man suppressed his anger, lowered his head and tried not to look at Ye Feng, saying: "It's okay, it's just that the Duke has opened a few more gatherings, and this month's finances have exceeded again. If this continues, by the end of the year, the soldiers' wages will be in trouble again. But we don't have the qualifications to advise, can only be anxious, and there is no way. And..."

  "And what? Don't be hesitant, speak quickly." Nia asked.

  The man raised his head, staring into her eyes and said: "And there's intelligence that the pirates plan to attack our city in the near future. As soon as the Duke received the intelligence, he took his friends to go hunting in the countryside."

  Niya stamped her foot, gritted her teeth and said angrily: "I knew that old scoundrel would get into trouble as soon as no one was watching. What hunting trip, you could have just said running away directly. Don't you see what time it is? Those rascals in the capital are staring at him with eager eyes, waiting for him to make a mistake. Hurry up, let's go."

  Ye Feng looked at her in surprise, she actually called her own father an old scoundrel, and that scoundrel was a duke. But looking at the calm expressions of others, it seemed like they were already used to it. Only then did he realize that he had saved a big shot, and his heart felt some regret for missing out on a good deal.

  At this time, someone led two horses to their front. Niya jumped onto one of them and pulled the reins. Turning her head to Ye Feng, she said: "If Xiniya is brutally attacked by pirates, the innocent civilians in the city will inevitably be slaughtered and looted without mercy, and life will be precarious. In this critical moment, I hope you can help me with your strength."

  Ye Feng looked at the tall war horse in front of him and found that there was no stirrup on the saddle, only a high protruding handle at the front of the saddle, which could be held by hand to maintain balance, and he couldn't help but shake his head.

  No wonder they wore light armor, but wrapped their heads so tightly. Such a saddle can easily throw the rider off the horse and knock them to the ground with a concussion.

  Niya looked down in disappointment, biting her lip and said: "You won't agree? That's right, this is our war, it has nothing to do with you."

  The female knight next to her let out a cold laugh and said loudly, "Miss, what do you have to say to this despicable, cowardly scoundrel?"

  Ye Feng then realized that he had been misunderstood. He smiled and said: "I just saw that your saddles were not quite right."

  The female knight grasped the hilt of her sword, coldly smiling: "Open your eyes and take a good look. The Siniya cavalry is the most finely equipped in the entire empire. Everyone is proud to have a genuine set of Siniya equipment. You actually say that the saddle is somewhat off."

  Ye Feng gave her a cold glance, the female knight was startled by his gaze as if it were tangible, and couldn't say a word. But she still let out a cold, mocking "heh heh" from her mouth.

  Ye Feng looked around and asked: "Excuse me, who has a rope?"

  A knight beside her saw Nia nod slightly, picked up a rope and threw it over, shouting loudly: "Catch it, brave warrior."

  "Thank you!" Ye Feng took the rope and tied both ends together, forming a loop. Then he tied the middle of the rope to the handle of the saddle, with the two ends hanging down, just right to form a most primitive stirrup, allowing him to put his foot in.

  He pulled hard, then stepped into the stirrup and flipped onto the horseback. The warhorse may have sensed that the rider was a bit unfamiliar, let out a long neigh, and stood up on its hind legs. Ye Feng's feet were in the stirrups, sitting steadily on the horse as if he had taken root.

  Everyone who saw this couldn't help but burst into an uproar. Perhaps outsiders wouldn't understand, but as riders, they were crystal clear that without that so-called rope circle, even the most skilled rider would fall off the horse's back, and although they might not necessarily break their necks, they would definitely lose face.

  In fact, they led that fierce horse in front of Ye Feng, which was to make him lose face and avenge the female knight.

  Yefeng stroked the horse's neck with a gentle touch, and the horse slowly calmed down. He looked up to see the crowd's astonished gaze, then lowered his head to look at himself, asking: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

  The female knight jumped onto the war horse, looked at him with disdain and said: "What kind of knight are you, still relying on ropes to sit properly? You might as well learn from the barbarians of the North, tie yourself to the horse. That way, when you fall off the horse, you won't be dragged to death by the galloping war horse because your feet are tangled in the rope."

  Ye Feng couldn't help but smile wryly and rub his nose, having to admit that her eyes were extremely sharp, spotting the flaw in Ma Deng's words at a glance. Many brave warriors had indeed encountered such situations and been dragged to death by runaway warhorses.

  However, seeing the female knight's robust and slender legs tightly clamped on the horse's belly, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his heart. He hastily lowered his head and recited the "Eight Honors and Eight Shames" three times before suppressing that extremely ** thought.

  At this time, the knight who threw the rope to him came before Ye Feng on horseback. He said in a low voice with a smile: "Congratulations, congratulations."

  Ye Feng was adjusting the length of the rope, trying to make himself more comfortable on the horseback. Hearing him say that, he couldn't help but pause and ask: "What's there to be happy about?"

  "That man said in a low voice: 'Our Captain Diana once vowed that she would not marry for the rest of her life unless someone could defeat her. It seems that the unlucky devil who can rescue the brothers from the female violent dragon is none other than you.'"

  Leaves rustled uncontrollably, and he stared with his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.

  The female knight's eyes flashed like ice and snow, and she swept over, scaring the knight into suddenly shutting his mouth.

  She snorted, without saying a word, turned her horse's head around and vented her anger by fiercely whipping the horse's buttocks. The warhorse let out a long whinny, then shot out like an arrow. The others shouted in unison, hastily urging their horses to follow. The hooves trampled heavily on the ground, stirring up clouds of dust everywhere.

  The smoke and dust rolled westward all the way.