The rules of the martial world are to be followed by everyone. Disregarding them leads to scorn, and negotiation before a fight serves this purpose – to avoid animosity. While not explicitly stated, it's a principle generally adhered to by all.
Qin Xiaogao immediately initiated negotiations, being familiar with the process from his frequent business dealings with caravans.
Qin Xiaogao thought to himself, "These people are definitely here for the grain. A fight might break out. I must find a good place to hide. Anyway, we have esper support if a fight starts."
In normal circumstances, seeing his three thousand men facing over four thousand of the enemy, he would have backed down immediately. But at this moment, Qin Xiaogao knew there were espers within their caravan, four of them in fact, which gave him a surge of confidence.
When Qin Xiaogao brought up Yuzhou, the bandits finally showed a flicker of hesitation. They had all heard of Yuzhou's deeds. If Shen Feng hadn't led many people into the mountains to hunt mutated beasts back then, the number of mutated beasts in Wuling Mountain would likely have become unmanageable for them.
Most importantly, Shen Feng's reputation was known to the bandits in the mountains. Even without seeing reports on newspapers or television, they had heard many rumors and knew Shen Feng as a powerful protector of Yuzhou. Yuzhou was now one of the safest places in the world.
What would be the severe consequences of trying to seize grain from such a powerful individual?
However, at this very moment, a resonant voice echoed from the mountain, "My brothers are a bit tight on funds right now and need grain to get by. We don't care where the grain comes from; as long as it's here, it's ours."
Qin Xiaogao, hearing this unsurprising reply, felt it was a difficult situation. It was clear the enemy was after the grain and would not let them pass.
After much thought, Qin Xiaogao still preferred to avoid conflict. He shouted again, "Esteemed heroes, how about this: I will personally offer one cart of grain as a gift to you. You let us pass. Remember, we also have three thousand soldiers. A fight would not be beneficial for either side!"
Qin Xiaogao understood the importance of the grain. Giving away a cart, which was over sixty tons, would surely cause him trouble later. But the most crucial thing now was time. The sooner the grain was brought back to Yuzhou, the more timely it would be. He believed the City Lord would understand his decision.
However, after Qin Xiaogao revealed his bottom line, arrogant words came from the mountain: "Your caravan has over a hundred large trucks, and you're only leaving us one cart of grain? Aren't you being too stingy? I'm telling you now, we want all the grain!"
With that, gunshots immediately rang out from the mountain. To seize the grain, the bandits were clearly desperate. Bullets and arrows rained down from above.
Seeing the situation, Qin Xiaogao immediately ran back. Fortunately, the accuracy of shooting downwards from the mountain was not very good, and Qin Xiaogao managed to save his life.
Yu Muhe loudly shouted to the surrounding soldiers, "Brothers, charge! Kill these mountain bandits!"
The caravan was currently in a mountain valley. As the saying goes, "He who occupies the high ground has the advantage."
As bullets and arrows continuously poured down from the mountain, mercenaries in the valley began to suffer casualties. Even rocks thrown from the mountain could kill people, so they had to proceed with caution.
However, as the gunshots echoed, screams also came from the mountain one after another. It turned out Xu Xing had already stealthily made her way up the mountain.
Cao Fu Lie, after a brief consideration of the situation, said to Luo Qing, "You stay here and protect the grain. Lin Yue and I will go fight. We aim to finish the enemy within an hour."
Before Luo Qing could react, Cao Fu Lie and Lin Yue had already charged out, their faces filled with excitement.
Although the mountain was covered in trees and weeds, seemingly devoid of plastic, there was actually a lot of trash along the sides of the road, especially plastic bags. It was said that plastic bags take seventy years to degrade, which is equivalent to an ordinary human lifespan. After Cao Fu Lie activated his esper ability, countless pieces of plastic flew out from the sides of the road.
Luo Qing actually wanted to join the fight, but the caravan needed someone to protect it, so he could only remain in place.
The bandits on both sides of the valley were continuously firing and shooting arrows, while the mercenaries in the valley could hardly find cover. They were attacked from both sides, and even hiding under the trucks offered insufficient space.
Seeing this, Luo Qing immediately climbed onto a truck roof and began to direct, "Staying here is just waiting to die. Let's take the initiative, and we will surely win. Who will lead the charge?"
Before his words had even finished, a scorching bullet flew out from the forest, heading straight for Luo Qing.
"Swoosh..." As the bullet approached Luo Qing's head, it emitted a piercing sound. The bullet traced an arc in the air and finally stopped in front of Luo Qing. It was evident that there were intelligent individuals among the bandits who knew to kill the commander. This shot was aimed directly at Luo Qing's head.
Fortunately, Luo Qing's esper ability was the control of aerosols. Although there seemed to be nothing in the air, aerosols had already gathered in front of him, and the bullet finally stopped. Bullets continued to be fired from the mountain, and Luo Qing was practically a sitting duck, easily targeted while standing on the truck.
However, bullets from all directions came at him but could not penetrate the defense around Luo Qing. Aerosol is a new type of material. Small pieces of aerosol can even be placed on flower stamens without crushing them, yet their defensive capabilities are exceptionally strong. Some countries were already experimenting with using aerosol to create bulletproof vests.
After Luo Qing's command was issued, the leaders of the three mercenary groups quickly reacted. Being attacked from all sides in the valley like this would result in heavy losses. Only by taking the initiative and moving the battlefield to the mountain could they have a chance of victory.
However, before the leaders of the three mercenary groups could make a decision, Yu Muhe charged out with his men, shouting, "Brothers, follow me! Kill these bandits and earn military merit!"
After saying these words, Yu Muhe charged out, leading the way, not caring whether those behind him could keep up.
The other soldiers were also motivated by Yu Muhe's actions and followed him out.
Seeing the enemy charge forward without a word, the mountain bandits were stunned. Normally, after surrounding merchants, the resistance would significantly decrease. But now, a group of mercenaries was counter-charging. This was something ordinary people would not do.
Cang Ying also sensed something was wrong. Even mercenaries, with a numerical disadvantage, shouldn't be this fierce. More than half of the bandits in Wuling Mountain had been gathered by him. If they couldn't win, they might as well give up robbing.
"Attack! Attack quickly! What are you all standing around for? Everyone, attack! Don't just stare!" Cang Ying frantically shouted.
The sounds of shouting and killing echoed through the valley. Both sides engaged in battle for the grain. While it was possible to grow grain in the mountains, the yield was too low. Moreover, Wuling Mountain was not a major thoroughfare, making it difficult to prey on passing travelers. Therefore, grain in the mountains had always been scarce. Now, with a large amount of grain passing through, the bandits had gone mad, wanting to take the grain back to the mountains.
At this time, Qin Xiaogao had taken cover under a truck. Although he worked specifically for Shen Feng, he was never very skilled in combat. Fortunately, Yu Muhe had been assigned here, so Qin Xiaogao simply handed over his subordinates to Yu Muhe's command.
Hiding under the truck, Qin Xiaogao still didn't feel secure. After all, if they lost the battle, he would still be captured. Even though they had espers on their side, accidents could still happen.
So, Qin Xiaogao immediately took out his communicator and called Yuzhou. Fortunately, they were not too far from Yuzhou, so making a call was possible.
"City Lord, it's me, Qin Xiaogao. Our caravan is surrounded in Wuling Mountain by a group of mountain bandits. I don't know how many there are, but there are definitely more than us. Mr. Cao and Mr. Lin have already gone out to fight. I think we need reinforcements." After making the call, Qin Xiaogao immediately said to Shen Feng.
When Shen Feng heard that someone was targeting the grain, he was immediately enraged and said, "You wait there, I'm bringing people over right away!"
After Qin Xiaogao hung up the phone, he finally felt at ease, thinking, "Now that the City Lord knows about this, it should be fine, right?"
As long as they could get the City Lord's support, there would be no problem. The City Lord had also said he would bring people over, so their strength would definitely increase.
However, just as Qin Xiaogao hung up the phone, the sounds of battle outside changed. The shouting from the mountain gradually disappeared, and the mercenary side's gunfire became intense, suppressing the mountain's sounds at this moment.
Qin Xiaogao poked his head out to look and saw that most of the soldiers in the valley had already rushed up the mountain. A small number remained, firing continuously. There were many bodies on the ground, all casualties from the bandits' first wave of attack.
"Huh, is it ending?" Qin Xiaogao was a bit bewildered.
Yu Muhe and the leaders of the other three mercenary groups had already charged up the mountainsides, each targeting a direction of the enemy. Although mercenaries worked for money, they lived a life on the edge of a blade. They understood the principle that in a narrow path, the brave would win.
The mountain bandits were completely dumbfounded. They had never expected the mercenaries to possess such formidable combat power, charging forward under a hail of bullets as if they had no regard for their lives.
What was most critical was that Xu Xing had already infiltrated deep behind enemy lines. Having become an esper, Xu Xing finally obtained the combat opportunity she had longed for. She held a samurai sword in her hand, reaping the lives of the mountain bandits. With one strike, an enemy was cut in half, yet the blade remained as sharp as ever, not a drop of blood staining it after killing.
It wasn't that the samurai sword in Xu Xing's hand was a divine weapon, but rather Xu Xing's own abilities achieved this.
As the samurai sword cut through the enemy's body, Xu Xing would activate her esper ability, causing the blade to vibrate intensely and emit a "buzzing" sound, shaking off blood and flesh, thus preventing any blood from staining the blade.
As Xu Xing charged into the center of the bandits, she began a massacre. With just one exchange, she could kill an enemy with a single strike. During this process, her eyes gradually turned blood-red, clearly indicating extreme excitement.
"A bunch of harmful creatures, all of you die!" Xu Xing shouted excitedly.
The samurai sword in Xu Xing's hand seemed to transform into a streak of light. Wherever it passed, people fell, as if they were harvested wheat. The blade remained incredibly sharp. It was unclear if it was due to her esper ability, but the samurai sword emitted a series of chirps, the "buzzing" sound seeming to confirm its excitement.
"Clang!" At this moment, the samurai sword could not withstand the intense vibration and suffered stress fracture, breaking in the middle. Xu Xing couldn't help but freeze. Her beloved samurai sword had broken. How could this have happened?