The one called the boss was a thin, small man. His eyes were fixed on Luo Yunshi's carriage, and he licked his lips, "This carriage is quite nice!"
"Boss, what do we do?"
"Tell them, as long as they leave everything behind, we'll let them go. Otherwise, hmph, don't blame us for not letting them go." The man sat on his horse with an arrogant air, a glint in his eyes.
Luo Yunshi watched everything from inside the carriage with her divine sense. She frowned, feeling that something was off about these people.
Her mind raced, and suddenly she understood.
These were not bandits at all, but soldiers. And these soldiers were very likely King Qi's men.
Soldiers disguised as bandits to rob fleeing civilians on the road. This way, they could obtain more supplies and would not be infamy.
If any civilians resisted, they might be beaten and captured, leading everyone to believe that the rebels were captured by bandits, when in reality, they were conscripted for the battlefield as cannon fodder.
Luo Yunshi could figure it out, and her experienced parents, Luo Da and Luo Ma, naturally could too.
Luo Da nocked an arrow and shot it quickly towards the leading man, then immediately, along with the guards and the strong men from the village, struck first, chopping at people and horse legs.
These seventy or eighty people never expected that these villagers not only wouldn't fear bandits but would dare to attack them first.
"Boss!"
Everyone cried out in alarm when they saw Luo Da shoot an arrow.
The leading man reacted quickly, drawing his saber from his waist to block.
*Clang!*
The saber collided with the arrow, producing a crisp sound.
The man's heart was greatly shocked, and his expression instantly became solemn. This arrow had shattered his saber but only deflected the arrow slightly from his chest.
"Audacious." The word "villain" was swallowed back, and the man glared at Luo Da, gritting his teeth.
"Kill him." As soon as the man spoke, the two sides quickly engaged in battle.
The man grew more and more alarmed as he fought.
These were hardly defenseless civilians; these village men all knew some martial arts. Especially the archer and the young woman beside him, who wielded sabers with great force, like two demons. The surrounding people were likely their guards. In his understanding, ordinary guards knowing a bit of martial arts was already good; they were far from the elite soldiers under the king. Yet, their strength was not much inferior to his own men.
The fifty or sixty strong men from the village, plus these guards, and this fearsome couple, could basically fight them to a draw.
Just then, Luo Yunshi also stepped out of the carriage with her sword, joining the fight with Da Li.
"It's you, you're that young lady who opened that gourmet food shop." The man recognized Luo Yunshi at first glance, and his heart was both surprised and delighted.
The people sent out to search for Miss Luo everywhere seemed to have run in vain.
If he had known this young lady was here, he would have had the king send all his men here.
Luo Yunshi narrowed her eyes slightly. "You know me?"
The man chuckled, "Know you? Not only do I know you, but you are also a distinguished guest our boss wants to invite."
"Your boss?" Luo Yunshi raised an eyebrow, a guess already forming in her mind.
As expected, the next moment, the man confirmed her thoughts. "Miss Luo can make many kinds of unprecedented foods, some of which can even be preserved for a long time. Such ability is unmatched. Our boss has always wanted to meet you and invite you to his mansion for a gathering. It's a pity that when we arrived at Miss Luo's shop, it was already deserted. Miss Luo has made us search far and wide."
After hearing the man's words, Luo Yunshi was certain that these fake bandits were the king's subordinates.
"Indeed, you are not bandits."
"Shu-" Luo Da almost blurted out "Xiao Shi" in his urgency, but quickly corrected himself. "Xiao Shi, these people cannot be spared. These bandits who rob passing civilians are not good people. If we let them go, they will surely continue to rob others. Releasing tigers to the mountains will bring endless trouble."
"I know."
Letting them go would not be good for her, nor for the fleeing civilians on the road.
Luo Yunshi stopped talking nonsense, replied to her father, and then attacked the man with her long sword.
When the man saw her make a move, he knew she had some martial arts. He immediately shed his condescending attitude, met Luo Yunshi with his saber, and shouted, "Brothers, kill them all! Capture this woman alive, and it will be a great merit when we return!"
His subordinate, perhaps, could use this great merit to become a favored subordinate of King Qi, thus giving him the opportunity for more rewards and making his hardship in the mountains worthwhile.
The others who heard this immediately became invigorated, and their shouts of killing grew louder.
"Charge!"
Since coming to this world, Luo Yunshi had discovered that this world seemed to have no spiritual energy at all. Her daily cultivation relied on the spiritual spring water from the "O-Pao Guonai" given by the system and the spiritual-infused food she had stored.
Under everyone's gaze, she had no intention of using magic. However, even without using magic, the physical state of a Nascent Soul cultivator was beyond ordinary people's capabilities. Luo Yunshi, now serious, could handle the man with ease. Moreover, the man's intention to capture her alive made him somewhat distracted.
Luo Yunshi's thrust entered his shoulder, and blood flowed down the hilt of her sword.
"You..."
The man cried out in pain and tried to kick Luo Yunshi. However, as soon as he moved, Luo Da appeared before him and brought his saber down heavily.
"Ah!"
The man screamed and then breathed his last.
After dealing with the other survivors, Luo Da quickly disposed of the bodies. Luo Ma led the village women to bandage the wounds of the injured villagers. The older children were instructed to replace the carts in their homes with horses.
Before long, the large group quickly departed from this place of trouble.
The civilians following the villagers of Qingshan Village were further convinced of their decision to follow them.
See? The people of this village were extraordinary; they could even defeat bandits. Some had minor injuries, but no one died. They were even more formidable than bandits.
Of course, these people were not to be trifled with either.
After another half a month, hundreds of people finally arrived at their destination, Yunlai City.
Luo Da, along with the village chief, arrived at the city gate.
A line of soldiers stood guard at the city gate. Seeing Luo Da and his group approach, they immediately stepped forward to stop them.
Luo Da and the village chief spoke a few words to the gate official and handed him a purse. The gate official glanced at the villagers and nodded.
After a while, the villagers were led forward to be registered, pay money, and have new household registrations processed one by one.