Fang Shan's subordinates, together with Ma Gui and Michiko Kato, stepped out of the gate of the Guerrilla General's Mansion and hurried towards Toad Ridge to the south.

The weather was not beautiful, and when the group was halfway there, it suddenly rained heavily. The already potholed mountain road has become even more muddy at the moment.

Fang Handle didn't say a word, braving the pouring rain, leading his subordinates behind him to rush forward. At this moment, he knew very well in his heart that for Ruan Naito, time was life. A moment of hesitation and delay may make Naito Ru'an die. Once such a result occurs, it is difficult for me to make a difference.

Since Fang Shan's refuge in Dongchang, relying on his own efforts, he has gradually been valued by Zhang Qinwei, the governor of Dongchang. This time to meet and protect the envoys of the Japanese state is an important task assigned by Mingshenzong to Dongchang. After Zhang Qinwei accepted the trust of the Holy Lord, he almost did not hesitate to hand over this important task to Fang Shan.

After receiving the task, Fang Handle immediately ordered 200 capable soldiers and set off.

Before leaving, Zhang Qinwei, the governor of Dongchang, conveyed the holy edict to Fang Shan: Anyone who endangers the safety of the peace envoy will be killed!

The shrewd handle sensitively sensed the danger and importance of this trip from the Holy Lord's message. He vaguely felt that there was a clear discussion of peace, and someone wanted to interfere with it.

Fang Shantou led his troops to travel thousands of miles from the capital. Unexpectedly, it was still a step late. Only a few hours later, Naito Ruan was robbed.

Toad Ridge is a small mountain in the southern part of Shanhaiguan, named because it resembles a prone toad.

When Fang Shan's subordinates arrived at the northern foot of Toad Ridge, the rain finally stopped.

"My lord, there is Toad Ridge in front of you." Ma Gui panted and reported to Fang Shan.

"Do you know where the bandits' lair is located in the mountains?" Fang Shant glanced at the Toad Ridge shrouded in rain and mist in front of him, and asked Ma Gui eagerly.

"It should be on the high platform at the southernmost end of the mountain."

"How many of them are there?"

"I don't know much about that."

"Lead the way ahead and go straight to the bandits' lair."

"Yes."

Ma Gui actually only knew that the bandits lived in Toad Ridge, and as for whether the bandits' lair was on the high slope he said, he wasn't sure. Under the pressure of Fang Shan, he had to answer based on judgment.

Toad Ridge is not big, and the mountain road is not too rugged. The group climbed along the weed-covered hillside to the south.

Beyond a forest, an open field appeared in front of me.

Fang Shant led everyone to just step into the open field, only to hear a noise of people and horses from the black pine forest south of the open area in front of them. Immediately afterward, out of the black pine forest, about fifty tall horses drove out, all dressed in black and masked.

"Hidden." Square Handle commanded in a low voice.

The Dongchang soldiers at the scene immediately withdrew to the woods.

In the blink of an eye, the caravan came to a halt on the west side of the open field, and then the men on the horses turned their heads and lined up to face east, as if waiting for someone to arrive.

He looked closely behind a boulder, and found that all the horsemen were carrying stiff bows diagonally, and quivers and goose feathers were hanging diagonally from their waists. They didn't say anything, but stood in line, looking quietly at the valley to the east.

"Mongols? Jurchens? Or ......" Judging from the Yanling knife hanging from the waist of the other party's personnel, these people should not be bandits, but most likely samurai of a certain ethnic minority in the north.

Just as Fang Shant was quickly thinking about his next move, he saw a group of men and horses rushing towards him in the valley east of the open area in front of him.

It was a team of about 100 people, and one person in front of it rode a chestnut horse with a water-splitting ghost head knife in his hand.

The team behind him, in terms of the weapons they wore and the weapons they used, were a ragtag team.

The ragtag army huddled back and forth and came to the group of men in black.

"Line up!" With a loud shout from the man on horseback, the motley soldiers stood in several rows.

"That's them." Seeing the arrival of the miscellaneous army, Ma Gui recognized at a glance that the person on the horse was the bandit leader who visited the door a few days ago.

"Are you sure?" The square handle is further confirmed.

"Can't be wrong, it's them." Ma Gui's tone was firm.

Just as Ma Gui and Fang Handle were talking, the two teams in front of them also started a conversation. I saw that the bandit leader Ce Ma, who was holding a ghost-headed knife, stepped forward and said loudly to the man in black: "It's really early enough!" ”

"How can the agreement between the two armies be broken? We are trustworthy. The man in black, who was in the middle of the front row, said loudly. He should be the leader of the men in black.

"Well, did you bring the gold and my son?" The bandit leader asked.

"Brought. What about you? ”

"My son is in your hands, how dare I break the appointment. Bring it on. ”

With the bandit leader's order, from the group behind him, two minions escorted one to the front of the team.

"Naito Ruan!" Ma Gui in the woods recognized Naito Ruan at a glance who was pressed up by the bandits.

"The Envoys of the Imperial Council?" Fang Handle asked Ma Gui.

"Yes, that's him."

Fang Shant glanced at the two teams in front of him and waved his men to prepare for battle.

Michiko Kato's eyes were like torches, and she gently pulled out the ninja knife behind her.

Fang Shant was about to give the order to attack, only to hear the leader of the man in black say in a loud voice to the bandit leader opposite, "Didn't you ask you to bring his dead body here?" How do you bring a big living person? ”

"Hey, hey. You think I'm stupid. He is dead, will my son still live? Without further ado, let's exchange on the spot today. Give me my son and the promised gold, and I will give you this little one. Let's settle it out. Since then, they have not known each other. ”

"It's okay, if you don't kill him, it's okay for us to kill him."

Although Naito Ruan, who was tied with his hands tied, couldn't understand the conversation between the two teams, he was already frightened at this time, and he knelt down in front of the bandit leader's horse, and begged with tears in his eyes: "A good man spare his life!" Heroes spare their lives! ”

The bandit leader naturally couldn't understand Naito Ruan's words, and he scolded impatiently: "What kind of bird language do you say?" Get out of the way. ”

The two minions stepped forward and dragged Naito Ayan aside.

"Hehe, why did the Japanese people choose such an egg to be the peace envoy? What a shame! The leader of the men in black looked at Naito Ruan's nest and couldn't help but smile.

Michiko Kato, who was in the woods, looked at everything that was happening in front of her, and her face turned blue with anger.

"Alright, stop talking nonsense, let me see my son first." The bandit leader shouted to the other side.

"Okay. Lift it up. ”

With the order of the leader of the men in black, the two men in black carried down two large wooden boxes from their horses and placed them in front of the team.

"These two boxes contain your son and your honorarium, so come and have a look." The leader of the men in black pointed to the wooden box and shouted to the bandit leader.

"Watch him, I'll go and see." The bandit leader instructed his subordinates.

"Don't worry, King, he can't run." The two minions in charge of guarding Naito Ruan said.

"Drive." The bandit leader strikes his horse forward.

Seeing the bandit leader coming to him, the two men in black who were guarding the box opened a box.

The leader of the bandits leaned out on his horse to look, and saw that the chest was full of golden gold.

I couldn't help but smile on my face, "Well, okay." He then took a half-step forward from his mount and looked at another chest.

The two men in black opened another box.

At the moment when the bandit leader was watching from his horse, a person flew up from the box, and this person held a sharp blade and stabbed straight at the bandit leader who was watching.

"Oh no, it's a trick!" The bandit leader screamed in shock, and when he saw a cold light piercing his throat, he instinctively tilted his head.

The flying man's blade "poofed" and plunged into the right shoulder blade of the bandit leader.

"Ahh The bandit leader screamed in pain and swung his sword to cut off the assassin in front of him. Then, he pulled out the sharp blade that had pierced his body, gritted his teeth and shouted, "You guys...... Breach of credibility. What about my son? ”

"Hahaha, your son? We would have sent him to the west a long time ago. You don't want to think about it, how can we leave a living room for such an errand. Today is the death date for you and your shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Kill! The leader of the men in black shouted on his horse and led his men forward.

"Your grandmother's, return my son's life!" The bandit leader endured the severe pain and swung his knife to slash at the leader of the men in black who rushed in front of him.

"Brothers, avenge the eldest brother's son by killing this bunch of dogs." The deputy leader of the bandits roared, led his brothers, and rushed towards the man in black.

The two sides were immediately entangled.

Naito Ruan saw that there was no one to take care of him, so he saw an opportunity and ran away.

"Brothers, don't let the envoy run away, kill him first." The leader of the men in black slashed and killed the two bandits besieging him, and then rode his horse and swung his knife to chase Naito Ruan.

"Start taking action to protect the envoys of the Japanese state." Fang Shank in the forest roared, and led his subordinates to rush out of the forest and run towards Naito Ruan.

Ma Gui and Michiko Kato were not far behind, and rushed over with the Dongchang officials.

"Mom, help!" Seeing the leader of the men in black riding a horse and swinging a knife gradually approaching him, Naito Ruan was so frightened that his legs were sifted through chaff and he collapsed on the ground.

"Where to run? Take your life! The leader of the men in black came to Naito Ru'an, shouted, waved the Yanling knife in his hand, and slashed at Naito Ru'an.

At the moment when the long knife in the leader of the man in black was about to fall, the square handle, which was not far away, jumped up, and two arrow arrows shot out of his sleeve, heading straight for the back of the leader of the man in black.

The man in black couldn't dodge, and was shot in the back of the chest by two sleeve arrows.

"Ahh The leader of the men in black screamed and fell off his horse.

Fang Handle led his men to quickly escort Naito Ruan.

"Master Ma...... Michiko, is that you? Ouch, it scared the hell out of me. When Naito Ruan saw Ma Gui and Michiko Kato in the team, he immediately cried like a frightened child seeing his father.

"Humph!" Michiko Kato looked at Naito's nest like a bag, snorted angrily, and twisted her head to the side in disgust.

Some of the black-clothed people in the fight saw the leader fall off their horses and wanted to rush over to rescue them, but they were helpless, surrounded by the red-eyed bandits who had already been killed, and it was difficult to get out.

Unexpectedly, the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom turned out to be such a spineless guy, which made Fang Handle a little disappointed, and he said to Naito Ru'an who was paralyzed on the ground in a cold tone: "With our Dongchang guard, you are safe." But as soon as his words came out, he immediately realized that the other party might not be able to understand his words, so he turned to Michiko Kato and said, "Look at him carefully." ”

"Yes, leave it to me. Thank you for saving Naito-kun. Michiko Kato bowed deeply to the square handle.

Fang Handle ignored Michiko Kato, he glanced at the two sides who were killing each other not far away, and ordered the men who surrounded him: "Let them fight for a while." ”