The moment Zhao Jiutou led his men out of the ditch, Song Qiming, who was crouching on the distant hillside, immediately raised his hand. The others instantly raised their bows and arrows, taking aim.
Song Jinzhao quickly emerged from the carriage. Seeing that the number of bandits had reached her expectations, she decisively waved her Lingyun spear to signal Song Qiming.
"Defend!" Her clear voice reached everyone's ears.
At the command, the guards who had been riding on horseback immediately jumped down, pulled back the tarps on the carts, and raised shields over their heads.
At the same time, Song Qiming roared, clenching his fist and swinging it down forcefully.
"Loose the arrows!"
Zhao Jiutou paused for a moment, mistakenly thinking the shields were meant to block their charge, and shouted again, "Kill them! Leave no one alive except the women!"
Every time the Qingfeng Stronghold bandits raided, they would spare the female family members and kidnap them for their own amusement.
To them, women were spoils of war. Once they grew tired of violating them, they could be sold for money; killing them outright was a waste.
Just as all the bandits charged toward Song Jinzhao and her group like hungry wolves eyeing a piece of fat meat, a dark, dense cloud of arrows rained down on them from the sky.
The first bandit to notice looked up at the sky in terror and screamed, "Arrows! Everyone, dodge!"
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
By the time the bandits looked up, the arrows were already upon them.
Caught completely off guard, many were unable to dodge in time and were struck down.
Zhao Jiutou turned pale with shock. It was an ambush!
He slashed away the incoming arrows with his saber while advancing toward Song Jinzhao.
It was obvious this woman was the leader; he had to capture her first.
After the volley of arrows ended, Song Qiming took the lead, raising his weapon and charging down the hillside, with the others closely following.
Qu Ya and Guan Nianshan were faster than the rest. They killed everyone in their path, like fierce wolves bursting into a flock of sheep.
When Gu Jinghong and his group arrived, the scene was completely different from what they had imagined.
At a glance, the ground was covered with bandits who had fallen to arrows, a dense mass that looked like the work of professional archers.
On the chaotic official road, two groups of people were clearly engaged in fierce combat.
Among them were quite a few women who appeared highly trained, not at all like ordinary commoners.
Gu Baozhu's eyes shone brightly. She stared at Song Jinzhao, who was fighting Zhao Jiutou, with uncontrollable excitement.
"Jinghong, look, that woman is amazing!"
She wielded her long spear with fierce, wind-whipping power; her opponent was no match for her at all.
Gu Jinghong frowned in confusion.
"Something isn't right. These people don't look like the guards an ordinary merchant would bring."
Gu Baozhu stroked her chin thoughtfully, her amazement growing as she watched the battle unfold.
"They look a bit like a well-trained army. Could they be official troops sent to wipe out the bandits?"
Gu Jinghong shook his head. "If they were official troops, there wouldn't be so many women."
As the two spoke, Song Jinzhao thrust her spear into Zhao Jiutou's chest and swept him into the air.
His body slammed heavily against a tree trunk before crashing to the ground. A wave of agonizing pain radiated from his chest to his stomach, feeling as if he had been shattered.
To think a woman's martial arts could be this formidable, her strength even greater than his own. He had miscalculated this time.
Lying on the ground, Zhao Jiutou was filled with regret. He could not care less about Wang Er's deception; right now, he only wanted to escape.
Seeing their boss injured and outmatched by Song Jinzhao, Zhao Mang lost all lustful thoughts toward her. Raising his blade, he and Brother Hu charged at Song Jinzhao together.
Zhao Jiutou struggled to roll over and crawl to the side. Just as his right hand touched the grass, a sharp longsword pierced right through his palm.
Gu Jinghong immediately ordered his subordinates to tie him up. "Trying to run? Not a chance."
Zhao Jiutou was the chief of the Qingfeng Stronghold. With him captured, his father would have absolutely nothing to complain about.
With the intervention of a third party, the bandits, seeing that they were facing a dead end, dropped their weapons and crouched down in surrender. Soon, the fighting came to a complete halt.
