Chapter 56: Ambushed on the Way

  Rein continued to wield the large iron hammer with his full attention, constantly pounding the red-hot iron bar, unaffected by the outside world. The other companions were all frightened and hiding behind him not far away, secretly measuring the dozens of Imperial soldiers in front of the blacksmith's shop.

  The man riding a black high-headed horse, wearing black armor and a full beard, stared intently at the young fellow who continued to hammer away as if nothing was amiss.

  After hammering for more than a hundred times again, a smile appeared on Laine's face. He chuckled and put down the large iron hammer, then picked up the iron pliers to clamp the iron bar that had been hammered hundreds of times and placed it in the clear water beside him.

  "Zzz... zzz... " The clear water began to churn violently, emitting bursts of white mist, until Lain clamped down the iron bar again.

  "Hahaha……" He burst out laughing, his joy uncontainable. His companions looked at him in confusion, momentarily forgetting their earlier fear, and gathered around, staring at the square iron bar clamped in Rein's tongs.

  "Ran?" A sudden excited cry came from the ranks of the Imperial soldiers, followed by a flurry of dismounting sounds, and then a towering figure pushed aside several companions beside Ran, standing in front of him with an agitated expression.

  With a "clang", the iron pliers and iron bars fell to the ground, and Rain looked at the fully armed soldier in front of him, his lips moving slightly, unable to speak due to excitement.

  "Renn, it's really you! I didn't think we'd meet again, brother! I'm Russ, Russ!" A bearded Russ exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Renn's shoulders with both hands, staring at him with wide eyes, and shaking his shoulders vigorously.

  "Russ..." Rayn finally spoke up, his eyes welling up with tears, his voice choked.

  "Ah, Rain! My good brother!" Russ exclaimed excitedly.

  "Captain Rynn..." Two more soldiers came running up, loudly calling out Rynn's name as they rushed over.

  "Rades, Chubby!" Reyn shouted their names, excitedly rushing over.

  Rains temporary residence is now bustling with excitement as Rains chats enthusiastically with these brothers who have been through thick and thin together.

  "Rennes, you'd better go back. If it weren't for General Robert's guarantee, you... Ah, never mind!" Ruse suddenly changed his tone and said so after a while.

  The lively scene just now instantly disappeared, and Rayn's face sank. It was only then that he realized the true intention of Rus's visit. It turned out that he had been ordered to come and find Rayn again in General Robert's mansion in Xia Hai Guan.

  Laddie and Little Fatso looked at each other, glanced at Rayn, then at Russ, before quietly leaving, closing the door behind them.

  Only Ruse and Rain were left in the room. At this time, Rain was standing by the window, looking at the bamboo forest outside, with a heavy heart and sighing from time to time.

  Lus sat in front of the square table, holding a cup of water, drinking it all at once, looking at Lain who was somewhat stunned, and couldn't help but sigh. At this time, the room was extremely quiet, even the sound of their heartbeat could be heard.

  "Raine brothers, what are you thinking in your heart?" Russ broke the silence and slowly came to Raine's side, looking out of the window with a somewhat helpless tone.

  "Rus big brother, actually many things you don't know about, you can't understand the difficulties of brothers. Alas, do you know Laya? That is... " Rayn began to say slowly.

  "What? Ah! Rain brothers, Julia doesn't care about you, what are you worried about? And this news was told to you by her. Julia is a heroine among women, you should understand her feelings for you very clearly, if it wasn't for her, we brothers would have died on the border long ago, you...you..." After Rain finished speaking, Rus's anger was burning with rage, his face sternly scolding Rain.

  "Rus big brother, don't say anymore!" Suddenly, Rain interrupted his words, turned around and came to the table, 'bang' a loud slap on the table with his right hand.

  "Rhein, Julia's wedding is approaching, you came here alone, what do you mean? Do you know Leila's whereabouts? Are you willing to be a blacksmith for the rest of your life? Besides, I can find you, don't you believe in General Robert and General Somat's abilities? Or don't you believe in Cardore and Bado's abilities? You even want to implicate Uncle Jester, do you still want..." Rus shouted loudly.

  "That's enough, that's enough, don't say any more!" Rain roared loudly, Rus's words were reasonable and made him unable to refute.

  "Bang..." The table and chairs were also affected, and the water cups were smashed to pieces.

  With a loud "bang", the door was kicked open, and Lades and Xiao Pangzi rushed in with anxious faces. The room was too noisy, they couldn't just sit outside and do nothing.

  "Captain Rains, Big Brother Rus, you two calm down, whatever it is, let's sit down and talk about it properly. Don't take it out on the furniture, if you really want to vent..." Lades was trying to mediate, his eyes fixed intently on Little Fatty, who just chuckled to himself.

  "He's got thick skin, so you'll just have to make do!" Rades dragged the still-dazed little fatty over and pushed him in front of Rain and Russ.

  The little fatty glared at Ladds, who was laughing and joking, his eyes filled with anger, his fists clenched, ready to fight him to the death. But when he saw Ladds occasionally winking at him, he grinned and chuckled.

  "You little scamp, you're too cunning! Every time you push Xiao Pangzi out, haha...". Lu Si chuckled and quickly reached out to pinch Lades' neck, then gently tapped his head as punishment.

  The atmosphere on the scene became lively again, and Rayn's face also fell out with a smile. With Lades and Xiao Pang, the two treasures, Rayn and Rus began to have a normal conversation, and Lades and Xiao Pang occasionally inserted a few words, and the room was filled with laughter from time to time.

  When Rayne replied back to return to the city of Gorge Sea, Robert General's mansion, Rus and the three of them finally let out a sigh of relief.

  After bidding farewell to Uncle Jester and others, including Lisya, Rayn reluctantly left the blacksmith's shop where he had lived for over a month. Under the escort of Rus and others, the group set off in a grand manner from Cardy Town, heading straight towards the Strait of Haiguo.

  Along the way, Rayn and Russ walked side by side, as if they had endless words to say between them. Ladds and Xiao Pang followed behind, vigilantly looking around.

  Lus performed well in the Battle of Bian Guan, and is now a captain of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 5th Legion of Xiang Hai Guan, commanding 300 men. Among them are Ladis and Xiao Pangzi, who both followed Lus and are also squad leaders, as well as Dako Te and Luo Si...

  Through the conversation with Tong Lu, Rayn learned that most of his former sworn brothers had been promoted, and he felt deeply comforted. Thinking of his own experiences, he was filled with emotions.

  In the blacksmith's shop, Rus didn't bring up the situation with his brothers, fearing it would touch on Rain's painful past. However, on their way back to Kyokai, as they conversed, he inadvertently told Rain everything. It wasn't until he saw Rain's expression change that Rus realized his mistake and felt deeply remorseful.

  "Renn, are you okay?" Russ asked suddenly when he saw Renn had been silent for half a day without saying a word.

  "It's nothing, it's nothing!" Rane said somewhat awkwardly.

  "By the way, Rain, I've got some good news for you. General Robert is working hard on your case, regarding your Imperial Guard identity, he..." At this point, Rus whispered in Rain's ear.

  "Ruse? How did you know? Did you..." Rane's eyes widened in surprise.

  "Shh, this is information that Laddes accidentally found out. You know Laddes, he's a thief by origin, and finding out information is...". Russ whispered.

  "Oh!" Laine lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

  Suddenly a whistling sound came out of nowhere, followed by a scream and then the sound of rapid footsteps.

  "Assassins! Maintain defensive formation!" Russ swiftly drew his sword from his waist and shielded the stunned Rain, shouting orders.

  Dozens of soldiers stepped forward quickly, picked up shields and surrounded Rus and Rain with a circular formation, vigilantly looking around.

  "Rades, Rades......" Reyn, who had just come to his senses, knelt on the ground and called out urgently to Rades, who was lying silently on the ground with a black crossbow bolt stuck in his back. The mournful cry earlier was from him, and the target of the crossbow bolt was actually Reyn.

  "La de si..." The little fatty cried and fell onto his body, shouting.

  "Ow!" Ladis cried out in pain and then pushed Little Fatty.

  "Little fatty, you're crushing me! Get up quickly!" He continued to say breathlessly.

  "Rades, are you alright?" The little fatty stared at Rades in surprise, who had an arrow stuck on his back.

  "Little fatty, what do you mean? Do you want me to get into trouble?" Ladis brushed off the dust from his body, untied the blue cloth strip on his chest, took down the shield from behind him, and then forcefully pulled out the black crossbow bolt, panting heavily as he threw it onto the ground.

  "La De Si, you..." Little fatty was so angry that he couldn't speak.

  "Thanks, Laddie!" Reyn exclaimed gratefully. If it hadn't been for Laddie throwing himself in front of Reyn, that crossbow bolt...

  "Captain Rains, heh heh, I..." Lades smiled foolishly.

  "Keep quiet, xxx, what kind of person has such a big nerve, so arrogant, and dares to attack the Emperor's team in broad daylight? He xxx......" Rus was scolding and fuming with rage, and quickly rushed towards the direction where the crossbow arrow was shot earlier.