Outside Fengzhou, there was a long pavilion every ten miles and a short pavilion every five miles. Standby Guards, Song Zaitian, and Wei Changfeng all came from distinguished families. Although they had conflicts in the Little Bamboo Hill before, except Wei Changfeng and Duanmu Wuyou, they all reconciled during the banquet. They walked slowly together and talked cheerfully and humorously. They pa.s.sed by two long pavilions without notice. All the way to the third long pavilion, Gu Yiran and Song Zaitian stopped their horses and asked the people of the Wei Family to stay.

When it was almost thirty miles away from the countryside, Wei Changfeng ordered people to set up a banquet in the long pavilion to bid farewell to everyone and ordered the family performers and musicians to dance and play music. In the capacity of the host, he then, in turn, toasted and greeted each guest. So it took another more an hour more to complete this set of farewell ceremonies inherited from the ancient rituals of the distinguished families.

And Wei Changying also put on a curtained hat, got down from Song Zaishui carriage, and watched everyone away with Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan.

Seeing that the dust on the official road gradually subsided and the men and horses were gone, Wei Changying said to his two brothers with a sense of loss, “Let's go back, too.”

Wei Changfeng nodded, and someone brought the empty carriage that had been following them and asked Wei Changying to get on the carriage. Others brought the horses of Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan to serve the two men onto the horse.

When they bid farewell to the guests, in order to show their reluctance to the leaving of guests, they traveled slowly. When they went back, there was no need to slow down because the guests have already left. It was just that although the horses of Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan were fair, they had to take care of the fact that Wei Changying was riding the carriage. So the journey was only a little faster than they set off the guests.

Because of this, when the second pavilion they pa.s.sed by before was already in sight, the tripping horse rope suddenly pulled up on the road tripped only the first two guards of the line. Although the guards at the back were shocked, they were able to avoid the outcome of being tripped by a tripping horse rope because their horses did not run as fast as they could so that they either let go or strangled the horses at that critical moment.

“Who is so bold!” In addition to the surprise and anger, someone among the guards subconsciously roared. But before the man's voice fell, suddenly a loud shout sounded, “Be on your guard! Someone wants to harm the young masters and the Miss!”

As if to prove this saying, on both sides of the official road, suddenly bowstring sound arose! Then the arrows fell like rain, one after another to the guards who had not yet been able to fully respond.

“Protect the young masters!” Jiang Zheng, who shouted loudly before reminded the crowds with loud voice.

Wei Qing's face was livid, and his reaction was quick. As soon as Jiang Zheng shouted, he realized the situation. So at the moment of the first sound of the string, he jumped out immediately from the horse and threw Wei Changfeng under the horse in the air. At that moment, the two happened to hide behind the mount to block the rain of arrows. Listening to a stream of swis.h.i.+ng sound from the forest, the young brothers, who suddenly confronted with life and death, had the joy and fear of being the survivors of a disaster.

However, this mood only lasted for several seconds, and it was broken up by the chaotic scene of horse hissing and people yelling. The two dared not to stand up at the moment. Wei Qing was about to order all the guards nearby to get off their horses to protect Wei Changfeng but saw that although the guards of Wei Gaochuan had been around him all the time, they did not know to get off their horses to hide. They were still wielding knives to block the arrows that were shooting towards Wei Gaochuan. They seemed to be trying to escape from this situation by riding, and Wei Qing hurriedly reminded, “Fourth Young Master, get off the horse quickly!”

But he heard Wei Gaochuan crying, “Why… why are a.s.sa.s.sins here?! This is an official road!”

It was not only on the official road but was also only 20 miles away from the city of Fengzhou. In such a place, the clans of the Wei Family in Fengzhou were ambushed. One would only need to think a bit to understand the meaning of this. This was not as simple as being revenged by bandits in Fengqi mountain. It must be a big conspiracy!

Wei Gaochuan was from the Wei Family. And Wei Changfeng was not only the only lineal grandson of Wei Huan but also the one with absolutely outstanding talent among the grandchildren of Wei Huan. If there was no accident, he must be the next Family Head of Ruiyu Hall. Under the broad daylight, these people ambushed the next Family Head of the Wei Family outside Fengzhou. They must have determined to confront the Wei Family till their death!

Even the royal family would not dare to do this!

Wei Qing quickly thought about the origin of the a.s.sa.s.sins, and he ordered the guard who also rolled off the horse and came to protect Wei Changfeng, “You go and shout from far away to promise to give them money and official ranks. As long as they don't hurt the young masters and the Miss, everything will be easy to negotiate! And in front of the Family Head later, I will bear all the consequences!”

The guard understood and went downhill while the people were in a panic. Wei Qing turned to Wei Changfeng and said solemnly, “The bandits may not be trusted. Young Master, we must leave the official road, which is unsheltered. Now we can still use horses to avoid the arrows. But once the horses are all dead, it is bound to be….”

Wei Changfeng was pale and his arm trembled, but he interrupted and asked, “Where's my eldest sister? Go find my eldest sister!” As he snapped, he tried to get up and look out at Wei Changying's carriage.

“At this moment, the rain of arrows has not stopped, so we would be hurt by arrows if we stand up rashly.” Wei Qing hurriedly held him down and said angrily, “First Miss's carriage is made of fine paulownia wood and is very st.u.r.dy. As long as you hide in the corner, you will be all right. Moreover, First Miss has been practicing martial arts since she was a child, and today Jiang Zheng accompanies by the side of the carriage. Jiang Zheng was an armed escort in his early years, so he has a lot of Jianghu experience. Now I guess he has already protected the First Miss and retreated to a concealed place by the side of the road!”

Wei Qing's words were reasonable. Thinking of his daring sister, who had always been in trouble and played with spears and sticks and practiced bows and arrows since childhood, Wei Changfeng calmed down. He believed that she would not be so weak like Song Zaishui that might become a burden on today's occasion. He also thought of Jiang Zheng: it was said that the reason why Guard Jiang was able to become the teacher of Wei Changying was totally his outstanding martial arts among a group of guards.

And Jiang Zheng not only had martial arts, but he was also from a family with a history of generations of being the armed escort. As Wei Qing said, his Jianghu experience was incomparably rich.

With such a person on Wei Changying's side and her own agility and vigor, Wei Changfeng secretly relieved. When he was about to speak, he glimpsed that Wei Gaochuan was dangling on the horse and then fell off!

He was stunned and subconsciously said, “Fourth Brother!”

“Young Master, be silent!” When Wei Qing saw that Wei Changfeng still wanted to run to the place where Wei Gaochuan fell to check his cousin's condition, his face changed. He pulled him back with a backhand and lowered his voice. “It's impossible for the bandits to come for the guards. They definitely come for the two young masters! The fourth young master refused to get off the horse just now due to his fear. I'm afraid that he has been seen by the bandits for a long time. If you go towards the fourth young master, don't you just hand yourself to the bandits? Moreover, the fourth young master just fell off his horse, and the guards around him also got off the horse to check his conditions. His life would not be necessarily in danger. If you go towards them and get hurt, you will enc.u.mber them instead!”

Before he had finished his words, he heard a scream not far away, which heightened the hearts of Wei Qing and Wei Changfeng. This was the voice of the guards who had been ordered by Wei Qing to try to conduct peace negotiations.

It seemed that these people were determined to kill them all!

There were not many people and horses that were able to stand around in such a situation. Originally, on their return journey today, the only carriage was Wei Changying's, and the rest of the people rode horses. The official road was s.p.a.cious, and Fengzhou had been in peace for a long time. Therefore, no one ever thought that Wei Changfeng and the others would meet an ambush on the official road which was only 20 miles outside the provincial city. Thus, while the tripping rope tripped only two guards, the guards did not immediately disperse after seeing their companions tripped over. They still gathered together, and some even jumped off their horses and tried to help the companions who were pinned down by their horses to get up.

This formation led to the result that after the first wave of arrow rain, although only a small number of people were hit the arrows and died, most of the horses were hurt!

Only one or two of these horses were shot by arrows at vital parts of the body and died immediately, but most of them were frightened and jumped up regardless of the restraint of their masters!

However, most of the guards had not got off the horses yet. The chaotic result could be imagined with the disordered horses!

Had it not been for the witness, either Wei Qing or Wei Changfeng could not have believed that the well-selected and neat guards in the Wei Family would be so weak in front of the attacks!

But now, it was not the time to reflect on this. Wei Qing understood that if they couldn't retreat into the roadside forest before losing the shelters, the bandits could kill everyone on the road as long as they kept shooting arrows!

What's more, under that situation, even if they were all dead, they still would not be able to see any bandits to show up!

Although the bandits were now hiding in the woods on both sides, as long as the people from the Wei Family went into the woods as well, the bandits' bows and arrows would not be a big deal. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, Wei Qing still had the ability to fight them! The people from the Wei Family didn't bring bows and arrows with them as they were only here to farewell the guests. However, even if they brought bows and arrows with them, the official road was unsheltered. How could they fight the bandits who shot arrows behind the trees? After all, although it was mid-autumn now, the weather in Fengzhou was warm, and the vegetation in the forest was still luxuriant. If they were lucky enough, they might even get rid of these bandits after entering the forest.

As Wei Qing looked around quickly and tried to find a hidden way to retreat to the side of the road from the corpses all over the ground, he heard a sharp whistle coming from the left of the forest. His heart sank. As he expected, from the legs of a horse that was arrowed all over its body but was still struggling not to fall, he saw a group of masked men in black rush out with a sword in their hands from the forest. Their leader was carrying a golden nine-ring knife. “Brothers!” he said, “Most of the Wei Family's guards have been killed or injured, and there is nothing to be afraid of the rest of the people. Kill them!”

Wei Changfeng also saw this scene. He took a deep breath, but the instinctive shudder of the young man due to confronting the fight and blood for the first time stopped. He told Wei Qing in a low voice, “The bandits had planned this for a long time, but now we don't have enough hands to resist… You don't need to protect me anymore! Quickly escape back to the city alone and tell grandfather what happened today! Avenge us!”

Wei Qing was surprised that with the fifth young master's young age, he was still able to be so determined in panic. He was somewhat impressed by Wei Changfeng, but he shook his head and said, “The state city is only twenty miles away, and this is the official road, but did we see any pedestrian on our way back today? These people dare to ambush and kill young maters and misses. I'm afraid they have been prepared for this! First of all, let's not say whether I can escape by myself. That year, Family Head ordered me to follow you. If you're alive, I may not be alive. However, if you're going to die, I must die first!”

“Stupid!” Wei Changfeng almost fainted when he saw that Wei Qing was still expressing his loyalty at this time, “If you don't go now, who will be able to send a message to my grandfather?”

“With such a big thing taking place on the official line, do you think that Family Head will not be able to find out the truth in the future?” Wei Qing sighed. This matter could never be hidden due to the location, the timing, and the ident.i.ty of the people who were ambushed. Under such circ.u.mstances, these people still brazenly took their move. Obviously, they were certain that they were able to deal with the crazy revenge from Wei Huan and Old Madam Song afterwards!

Who was the person behind this?

Wei Changfeng also thought of this question, but now he had no time to think about it. After the leader's order, the masked man had begun to check the whole site one by one that every dead or injured horse had been removed to see if anyone was hiding under it. Not only that, seeing the ones who were covered with blood and fell to the ground, they would also stab them few times on the vital points of their necks and chests to prevent the possibility of fake death.

Moreover, when they moved forward, there were archers still hiding in the woods. When guards tried to fight with them, an arrow would come and nailed into the guards' throat!

This was a trap that aimed to kill them all one-hundred percent!

Wei Changfeng thought of grandparents, parents, and his sisters at that moment. His more than ten years of life stories flashed before his eyes. Thinking of his ambitions since his childhood was coming to an end before they began, the young man could not tell whether he was in fear, or sorrow, or unwillingness. He watched the masked leader order someone to push away a dead horse in front of him. He clenched his fist hard, but raised his head even higher!

Seeing the young man who was protected by Wei Qing wore magnificent clothes which were so different from the guards', the leader's eyes lit up and laughed, “The n.o.ble young master of the Wei Family is not dead yet. Are you the fourth or the fifth young master?!”

As he spoke, a sharp blade was pointed to his throat! Obviously, this leader didn't care whether it was Wei Changfeng or Wei Gaochuan at all. His aim was to slaughter this party of people from the Wei Family!

Wei Changfeng looked at him coldly, neither answering nor begging for mercy, but let the sharp blade cut to the neck. However, the masked leader's laugh stopped halfway abruptly, and the sharp blade, which was about to cut the throat of Wei Changfeng, also fell to the ground after a pause!

This sudden change surprised everyone. Wei Changfeng looked bewildered at the long sword that suddenly appeared on the forehead of the masked leader. This sword completely went into the leader's eyebrow, pierced the whole head, and came out from the back of his head that red and white blood and brains were carried out!

In the silence, Wei Changfeng heard a familiar and crisp voice sounded behind him, “Changfeng! Why don't you leave now!”

It was Wei Changying!