Seeing her innocent and naive appearance, the burly man couldn't help but say, "How about you pass first?"
With that, he took two steps back, clearing the way on the bloodstained and corpse-strewn official road.
The Quzhao soldiers watched Jiang Jin with high vigilance.
This woman walking at the front must be the leader. Although she didn't look threatening, the troops behind her were clearly not to be trifled with.
Suddenly, the Quzhao general's pupils shrank. "Y-you... are you the Jinyang Army?"
He had spotted the Dragon Feather Crossbows in the hands of the Dragon Shadow Guards.
Even though he hadn't participated in the siege of Gefeng, the reputation of the Jinyang Army thundered in the ears of everyone in Quzhao.
The repeating crossbows used by the Jinyang Army were rumored to be miraculous, and their design had been roughly described by soldiers who had seen them.
Jiang Jin smiled. "Spot on, but there's no prize."
The general's heart turned cold. He took a step back. "Our Quzhao and your Gefeng have a treaty. We are not to attack each other and must coexist peacefully."
"I-I hope Gefeng will honor the agreement and avoid causing unnecessary conflict between our two armies."
The burly man frowned slightly. He hadn't heard of the Jinyang Army, but he knew of Gefeng.
It was said that Gefeng was now controlled by the Han people. As long as the people in the city worked, they would have food, and enough to be full.
He didn't believe it. In these times of war and drought, how could there be such a paradise where work guaranteed food?
Could it be some grand conspiracy to trick people into the city just to slaughter and eat them?
Such atrocities were all too common nowadays.
However, he looked at the Quzhao soldiers who had just been fighting them so fiercely and fearlessly. Now, facing a mere few dozen cavalrymen, they were visibly cowering.
They were a force of over eight hundred men, yet the Quzhao soldiers had charged at them with bloodthirsty roars. How could they now be terrified of just a few dozen people?
Jiang Jin acted as if she didn't notice the Quzhao soldiers' cowardice. With a friendly demeanor, she made small talk. "Are you transporting grain? Where is it headed?"
She sighed. "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since you've traveled on Gefeng's official roads. We are friendly neighbors, yet you act like strangers."
The general gritted his teeth. Did she really have no idea why they avoided Gefeng?
Had they ever made it out alive when passing through Gefeng?
People died, carts were destroyed, and goods were lost.
He seriously suspected that even a mosquito flying through Gefeng would have to leave behind three pounds of blood and a leg.
Let alone Gefeng, they didn't even dare to travel near it. The blood of the five thousand soldiers at Mount Yuqiu hadn't even dried yet.
The Quzhao general forced an awkward but polite smile. "Don't you have business to attend to? We won't disturb you. Please, go ahead."
With a wave of his hand, all the Quzhao soldiers took several steps back, almost retreating into the grass by the side of the road.
A dozen or so Quzhao soldiers even consciously dragged the corpses to the side, clearing a sufficiently wide path for her.
Jiang Jin pursed her lips. The other party's accommodating attitude made it hard for her to bully them; after all, her Gefeng was a state of etiquette.
She turned to the bandits and asked, "Who are you?"
The burly man now fully scrutinized the woman before him. The Quzhao soldiers' attitude toward her was too strange; they looked as if they were terrified of her.
"I am Nan Wen of Papa Mountain," he announced, giving his name and stronghold.
Jiang Jin's eyes narrowed slightly. She had heard of Papa Mountain. It was said that the bandits there were highly principled and only robbed the Quzhao barbarians.
Rumor had it that they even supported quite a few commoners on their mountain.
However, this place was not close to Papa Mountain. Logically, they shouldn't have been raiding this far out.
"You're quite far from your territory, aren't you? How did you end up raiding all the way over here?"
The burly man, Nan Wen, choked on his words. After a long pause, he said, "We came out for a walk to digest our food. We kept walking and ended up here. We just happened to see some grain, so..."
Did she think he wanted to travel this far?
They had set up an ambush near Papa Mountain, waiting for the Quzhao people to arrive.
Who would have thought the Quzhao people had wised up and taken a different route? It caused them to wait for ages, and by the time they realized something was wrong, the Quzhao grain carts were already far away.
They couldn't bear to give up this grain. Their mountain stronghold was practically out of food, and with starvation looming, they had no choice but to take the risk and chase them all the way here.
Jiang Jin let out an "Oh," as if she completely believed his nonsense.
She looked at the bandits, then at the Quzhao soldiers, and said, "You're all fighting over this batch of grain, right?"
She shook her head. "This is bad. Very bad. We are all part of Fengzhou and should contribute to its peace."
"Since this grain has become the chief culprit of your discord, I will reluctantly confiscate this source of evil. You don't have to thank me. Now, disperse."
Quzhao soldiers: "..." What did they just hear? Did it mean what they thought it meant?
Wait, they hadn't even passed through Gefeng, so why did it feel like they were still doomed?
Han bandits: "..." Holy crap, you can do that?
Honestly, compared to this woman, these bandits who only knew how to hack and slash to rob people seemed like naive children. They were incredibly weak.
This level of shamelessness was absolutely unmatched!
The Quzhao general couldn't bear it any longer. "Don't go too far, Gefeng! Do you really think our Quzhao is afraid of you?"
Because of the drought this year, even though they had forced Han slaves to farm a massive amount of land, the yield was pitifully low—less than twenty percent of previous years.
The batch of grain they were transporting today wasn't huge, but it was enough to feed the garrison of an ordinary small city for a long time.
Nan Wen also felt a knot of frustration in his chest. They had fought tooth and nail, losing over a dozen brothers, and now she wanted to take the grain just by flapping her lips? What kind of sweet dream was she having?
Unaware that she had been labeled as shameless and a daydreamer, Jiang Jin smiled at the Quzhao soldiers. "So, you're saying you won't hand it over?"
Yun Chengxuan flared up. "If you dare refuse, we'll beat the crap out of you."
The Quzhao general was also furious. "Is Gefeng trying to provoke a war between our two armies?"
Jiang Jin shook her head. "It won't come to that. After all, you probably won't be going back."
Nan Wen gasped. Wouldn't a woman who talked like this get beaten to death?
The Quzhao soldiers took two steps back, horrified. "No, you can't do this, you..."
Before he could finish, Jiang Jin slightly raised her hand.
Swish, swish, swish...
While Jiang Jin had been talking to them earlier, the Dragon Shadow Guards had quietly shifted their formation, creating a semi-encirclement around both the Quzhao soldiers and the bandits.
Upon receiving Jiang Jin's command, the Dragon Shadow Guards instantly fired their arrows. They were as fast as lightning, and every shot hit its mark. At this distance, almost every arrow claimed a life.
