Chapter 6: eighth on the villain list!
“This is ownerless land; please make yourselves at home.”
Finally, a clear, cold voice came from inside the temple.
“Then we thank this friend.”
The Weiyuan Escort Agency group then entered the dilapidated temple.
Chief Escort Han Jin’s gaze swept across the temple, and he saw a man wearing a white robe and a hooded cloak.
Perhaps from traveling in the mountains for too long, the man’s white robe had turned a dirty gray, covered in stains.
Behind the man was a backpack.
A girl about six or seven years old was sitting in the backpack, peeking out her head, her lively eyes curiously looking at the escort agency members.
Han Jin walked towards the white-robed man.
He noticed the man suddenly gripped his saber hilt, so he immediately stopped, maintaining a certain distance from the man, and cupped his fists, saying, “I am Han Jin, Chief Escort of the Weiyuan Escort Agency. We apologize for the disturbance today; please forgive us, brother.”
“Stay at this distance; do not come closer!”
Ji Qing did not even lift his head, but instead drew a line on the ground with charcoal.
Han Jin glanced at the line at his feet, nodded, and said, “We naturally understand the rules of the martial world; I will not disturb you further.”
Han Jin turned and left.
The escort agency members cleared an open space on the other side of the dilapidated temple and then began to build a fire and cook.
Among the crowd was a slender woman in a white dress and a long skirt, wearing a veiled hat to conceal her face, accompanied by a maid. She did not look like someone from the escort agency who traveled the martial world.
Han Jin called the woman to a corner and whispered, “That person should be a traveler of the martial world, also resting in the temple. He is not here for us, Miss Lin, so you can rest assured.”
“With Chief Escort overseeing things, I am naturally at ease. This trip is all thanks to Chief Escort, but the closer we get to Lincheng, the more uncertain I feel. My third uncle is ruthless and should not let me return so easily.”
“Miss Lin, rest assured. Since I, Han, accepted this escort mission, I will naturally deliver Miss Lin safely into Lincheng! We are very close to Lincheng now, only two or three days’ journey away. Miss Lin, please go eat and rest early; we must depart early tomorrow morning.”
Miss Lin nodded.
After the escort agency members finished their meal, everyone gradually fell asleep, except for the escorts who were taking turns on night watch and remained vigilant.
Who knows how much time passed.
The ground of the temple began to vibrate slightly.
“Swish.”
Han Jin was immediately startled awake.
He immediately gripped his saber hilt and asked the night watch escort, “What’s happening?”
“Chief Escort, a cavalry team has arrived. The commotion sounds significant, and I estimate there are quite a few people.”
The escort reported.
“Cavalry team? Quickly wake everyone up!”
Han Jin’s heart jolted.
Everyone in the dilapidated temple was woken up one after another.
“Brother, there’s a cavalry team outside. Please be careful, brother.”
Han Jin kindly reminded Ji Qing.
“Thank you, Escort Han.”
Ji Qing also responded aloud.
With such a large commotion from the cavalry team outside, he had actually been awake for a while.
He had even discerned the number of horses in the team.
There should be eighteen swift horses.
The cavalry team arrived very quickly.
Eighteen horses, eighteen black-clad figures, stood silently in front of the dilapidated temple, exuding an invisible aura of killing intent!
The previously noisy sounds suddenly fell silent.
“By order of Third Master, we have specially come to invite Miss Lin into the city!”
One of the black-clad figures shouted loudly.
Miss Lin’s heart sank upon hearing this.
Her third uncle, after all, could not hold back.
“Go back and tell Third Uncle that I am being escorted by escorts from the Weiyuan Escort Agency, so I will not trouble Third Uncle.”
As soon as Miss Lin finished speaking, Han Jin and many other escorts immediately blocked the entrance of the dilapidated temple, staring intently at the eighteen black-clad figures.
“Third Master said, if Miss Lin does not cooperate, then do not blame us for being impolite!”
“Swish.”
The eighteen black-clad figures simultaneously drew the curved sabers from their hands.
The gleaming curved sabers, illuminated by the torches, exuded a sharp aura.
“Protect the escort!”
Han Jin roared.
The “escort” that the Weiyuan Escort Agency was transporting this time was actually Miss Lin.
This was a “live escort” mission.
Under normal circumstances, the Weiyuan Escort Agency did not take on live escort missions.
But because Miss Lin’s father had shown great kindness to the Weiyuan Escort Agency, Han Jin could only brace himself and undertake a “live escort” mission this one time.
He knew there would definitely be trouble this trip, and now it seemed, what was destined to come had finally arrived!
“Aside from Miss Lin, kill everyone else without mercy!”
The eighteen black-clad figures instantly charged towards the dilapidated temple.
Han Jin was a third-rate martial artist and the strongest among the Weiyuan Escort Agency.
Therefore, he drew his saber and rushed out of the dilapidated temple, immediately engaging in battle with one of the black-clad figures.
“Bang.”
The two clashed hard, and Han Jin’s body trembled.
“Such powerful internal energy, and this is just one person?”
Han Jin was very shocked.
Each person was a third-rate martial artist.
There were eighteen black-clad figures on the other side; how could they resist?
After all, the entire escort agency only had three third-rate martial artists; the disparity was too great.
Sure enough, as the battle unfolded, the escort agency members were easily defeated.
After a few rounds, the escort agency suffered heavy casualties.
Even Han Jin was injured; he had a saber cut on his hand, but fortunately, the injury was not serious.
“I remember now, you are the Desert Eighteen Riders!”
Han Jin’s gaze swept over the eighteen black-clad figures one by one.
The weapons of these black-clad figures were too unique.
They were not the common long sabers of the martial world.
They were curved sabers!
It was rare for anyone in the martial world to use curved sabers.
Coupled with the eighteen individuals’ skilled horsemanship, it perfectly matched the Desert Eighteen Riders that Han Jin knew of.
“Heh heh, I didn’t expect there to be someone in the martial world who recognizes us. Since you know we are the Desert Eighteen Riders, then you should know the consequences of fighting us.”
The leader of the black-clad figures sneered.
Han Jin’s heart sank, and he gripped the long saber in his hand.
The Desert Eighteen Riders were actually eighteen horse bandits who roamed the desert.
These eighteen horse bandits committed numerous atrocities, specializing in robbing and killing merchant caravans or raiding villages.
Once they acted, they often massacred entire villages, leaving no one alive, committing countless crimes in the desert.
Later, the Desert Eighteen Riders were wanted by the authorities and could no longer survive, so they fled into the martial world. He did not expect them to be taken in by “Third Master Lin.”
“It seems our Weiyuan Escort Agency is in grave danger today…”
Han Jin retreated into the temple, and the escorts who could still move also gathered together.
Although they knew they were no match, not a single escort flinched.
The rules of the escort agency were: the escort lives if the cargo lives, the escort dies if the cargo is destroyed!
Miss Lin was the “live escort”; to take Miss Lin, they would have to step over their corpses!
“Brother, I’m scared…”
At this moment, a timid voice sounded in the temple.
“Swish.”
Everyone’s gaze turned towards the little girl who had spoken.
Ji Qing gently stroked the girl’s head and calmly said, “Yao’er, don’t be afraid, Big Brother is here.”
Although Ji Qing offered comfort, Ji Yao was only six years old, and the scene before her was still too bloody for a six-year-old girl.
Ji Qing raised his head and looked at the night sky outside the dilapidated temple.
“How much longer will you three watch the show?”
His voice was soft, but it clearly reached everyone’s ears.
Both the Desert Eighteen Riders and the Weiyuan Escort Agency members were startled.
Besides them, were there other people here?
But they looked around, and in the dark night, where were there any other people?
“Hahaha, as expected of the newly appointed eighth on the evil person list!, the emotionless and ruthless demon, to have discovered us three so early?”
A hearty laugh echoed in everyone’s ears, coming from far away and drawing closer.
By the time they came to their senses, they found that three short, strangely-featured martial artists were standing outside the dilapidated temple, having appeared at some unknown time.