Chapter Thirty-Four: First Victory

  Those flowers seem to be fewer than before.

  Please go ahead and provide the text you'd like me to translate. I'll return the translation in English.

  "Sally?" Rain exclaimed in great surprise.

  "Captain Raine, the bandits... they're attacking from the rear mountain! There are over two thousand of them, our men can't hold on much longer, please... request reinforcements!" Sally said, panting heavily, her golden hair stuck to her cheek and she didn't even bother to tidy it up, barefoot, and didn't even notice that her boots had fallen off.

  "What?" Rain exclaimed, the terrain behind the village of Luoxia was treacherous, and if one wanted to climb up from the precipitous cliff-like rocks, they would have to face the villagers' bows, arrows, rocks, and rolling logs, making it a very difficult task. This was also why the villagers were armed and guarding the back mountain, while they were in charge of the small paths between the mountains outside the village.

  "These robbers' weapons are all very strange, I've never seen them before, they can shoot arrows, but the range is quite far. Ah, yes, it seems to be this!" Sally said excitedly, pointing at the crossbows in the soldiers' hands, her eyes shining brightly.

  "Crossbow? How is this possible?" Rayne's face turned pale once again, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

  "Brothers, go all out to support the rear mountain!" Then Rayn let out a loud roar, waving his hand and beckoning the soldiers to rush towards the rear mountain.

  The soldiers had just left when they heard a rumbling sound in the distance, and waves of rock dust rose into the air, forming clusters of white fog.

  The only road connecting Luoxia Village to the outside world was completely sealed off. In order to resist the invasion of bandits, it had to be done this way.

  More than 4,000 bandits called out to pretend to attack, just to cover up those bandits who attacked from the back mountain. Since the passage was blocked, they could only rush frantically towards the mountain, and Lu Xia Village was about to face a fierce battle.

  Lou Xia Village Rear Mountain Stronghold

  The villagers were all fighting hard, simple catapults, bows and arrows swooshing down to attack the cliff. The soldiers who came to support joined the battle under the command of Rustadakot and others.

  "Emily, how's the battle going?" Rayne hastily came to Emily's side, who was commanding the fight, and asked anxiously.

  "The robbers' arrows were too fierce, you also saw that their bows and arrows could even reach the cliff, but we... Ah, it's all my fault, I was careless for a moment, our villagers suffered heavy casualties!" Emily blamed herself.

  "The only passage leading out has been sealed off, alas!" Reyn said with a hint of regret.

  "Oh, I see! Never mind, once we've repelled the bandits' invasion, we can reopen it anyway! Hehe" A smile fell on Emily's face, but it was a bit stiff.

  "Emily, what does 'any request' mean?" Rain asked, taking the opportunity to ask, expressing his inner doubts, and actually testing her sincerity.

  "Huh? Did I say anything?" Emily said with a hint of a smile as she gazed at him.

  "Oh, maybe I remembered it wrong!" Lain's expression was awkward, and after saying that, he quickly walked towards the front of the formation.

  When Rayne arrived at the front of the simple fortifications on the cliff, those attacking bandits had already begun to retreat. The imperial soldiers' crossbow arrows attacked like a stormy rain, their range was unimaginable for those bandits, and the terrifying penetration force made these bandits flee in disarray, leaving behind piles of corpses, frantically retreating.

  The back mountain of Luoxia Village is located between two towering peaks, with a flat terrain and only 50 meters away from the lowest point at the foot of the mountain. Then there is an open grassland and a dense forest swamp area. Luoxia Village is surrounded by mountains on all sides. If you want to attack Luoxia Village by crossing the towering clouds, it's not easy at all. This is also why the bandits chose this place as the main breakthrough for attacking Luoxia Village.

  Unfortunately, the robbers' plan did not succeed. Without the support of the crossbowmen, the hundreds of robbers who were climbing on the cliff were completely exposed outside the rocks. Although they had strong iron shields to protect themselves, the giant stones and logs falling from the sky were unstoppable for them. The cries, wails, and even pleas for mercy merged into one, their ending was extremely miserable.

  Due to the bandits' crossbow shooting, the villagers were unable to approach and throw giant stones and logs. Now they finally had the opportunity, and the giant stones and logs easily brought those bandits who were climbing on the cliff edge to the ground. Then there was a crazy rain of arrows, and finally, the foot of the cliff returned to calmness. The villagers and soldiers at the foot of the cliff cheered loudly, celebrating the victory of this battle to defend the village.

  Emily finally had a smile on her face, looking gratefully at Rain who was standing in front of the cliff. Just as she turned around to look at him, their eyes met, and she blushed, shyly lowering her head.

  "Aunt, we won! Why aren't you happy? What's with the long face? You're all red, are you sick?" Just then Sally quickly came to Emily's side, showing a strange expression, and embracing her arm, looked up at Aunt and asked anxiously.

  "I...I'm fine," Emily explained, her composure regained as she hugged Sally and gently stroked her golden locks.

  At this time, Lain was walking towards their location with a smile, followed by Rus and Rades. Among them, Rades was clever and agile, about the same age as Lain, and deeply appreciated by Lain.

  "Emily, it's okay. The bandits have retreated to the forest area three miles away. You lead the villagers back, we'll take care of guarding here!" Rayn said.

  "Captain Renn, thank you!" Emily said gratefully. Sally smiled at Renn and waved goodbye before hurrying away.

  "It is the duty of an imperial soldier to protect the people of the empire, it is our mission, and it is what we should do!" Lades said in a tone similar to Rain's.

  "Rades, you bastard, when did it become your turn to speak? Get out of here!" Russ glared at Rades and dragged him away.

  "Ah, ah, Rus bro, I haven't finished yet! I..." Ladis struggled, unwillingly being dragged back by Rus.

  Ran and Emily exchanged a smile, then simultaneously lowered their heads in silence. At this time, several personal guards standing beside Emily also tactfully left.

  "You..." Ren fell silent for half a day, then raised his head and gazed at Emily, having just spoken one word, when suddenly a hurried footsteps came, interrupting his next words.

  "Captain, captain..." Lades, who had just left, ran back again, looking flustered and panting, still calling out all the way.

  "Rades, what is it this time?" Reyn said with a hint of impatience.

  "Captain, the bandits are retreating into the nearby mountains, their troop of over a thousand people has dispersed, they..." Radus said, pointing to the towering peaks on either side that pierced the clouds.

  "What? Do they want to climb over these two great mountains? Alas, what can be done?" Emily said worriedly.

  The robbers dispersed into the forest on the mountain peaks, and it seems that their goal this time is to massacre Luoxia Village.

  Ran's mission this time is to investigate the situation of the robbers on Luo Feng Mountain and to carry out the task of eliminating the bandits. If these robbers have entered the depths of the mountain, infiltrated Luoxia Village, it would be difficult to deal with the thousands of remaining robbers.

  "Emily, I'll lead the soldiers to surround those bandits, you take care of things here." After some deliberation, Rain decided to climb down and ambush the bandits.

  "Captain Laine, you're not familiar with the terrain of the swampy forest, it's better not to take risks, or..." Emily said worriedly, before she could finish.

  "Village chief Emily..." A person rushed over from the direction of the village, shouting loudly.

  "What's wrong? What's happened?" Emily hurried forward to support the stumbling Bert, asking anxiously.

  "The bandits have launched an attack on the mountain, their numbers are too great, they're all over the mountainside, our brothers up there can't hold them off, please... request reinforcements!" Batu said, pointing to a nearby village at the foot of the mountain.

  "Why are you reporting this now, you..." Emily's face was red with anger as she said this, at which point Bart had already been helped up by several village elder female bodyguards who had rushed over.

  "The fighting here is also very intense, so..." Bate explained, his face pale and his clothes soaked with sweat.

  Bart's false war report, Emily was furious and resentful, but now is not the time to pursue responsibility.

  "Emily, are there any defensive geographical features in the village?" Rayn asked.

  "Defensive terrain? Let me think!" Emily pondered.