Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1079 Force Majeure

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a powerful force surge towards him, causing him to fly backward off the ground.

Xu Qi fell onto his butt in the thatched shed, right in front of the eldest brother, Song Chen.

Seven or eight bandits stood around the thatched hut. Upon seeing this, they simultaneously drew their sabers and glared warily at the two men in front of the hut.

Song Chen's heart skipped a beat; he knew something bad was about to happen.

These two guys arrived silently, and with so many people watching, they could still move in as if no one was there. You can tell they're not good people.

Song Chen raised both hands, signaling his brothers to calm down, as taking action would not be a good thing.

"Gentlemen, please forgive my poor eyesight, but I don't know which path you belong to?"

Two men in gray, their hands empty, remained calm and unconcerned about the gleaming sabers around them.

"You came all the way from the Yongding River, running quite fast. Did you take something you shouldn't have?"

Upon hearing the accent of the man in front of him, Song Chen immediately knew that this man was not a member of a large clan, but a pirate.

Although Da Zong spoke fluently, his delivery was slightly stiff.

Song Chen stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "Please tell me what we have taken."

The two men glanced around.

"With your abilities, you actually managed to evade the encirclement of thousands of men. You do have some skill."

Another man stepped forward and began to wander around the thatched hut.

"How many men do you have in total?"

His tone was very impatient, as if these people in front of him were his subordinates.

Xu Qi was very unhappy when he heard this, having long forgotten that he had just been covered in dirt on his buttocks and almost split his backside in two.

"Hey kid, you haven't said who you are yet, what are you acting all high and mighty in front of the Thirteen Caravans..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was airborne again.

This time the fall was even worse; it flew out of the thatched shed and lay sprawled on the ground, unable to get up for a while.

"We have limited time, so answer the questions honestly, otherwise, it won't be as simple as just falling down."

Song Chen felt that the two pirates hadn't gone too far, so they must have wanted something from him, and it wouldn't have been necessary for them to kill him.

"Our Thirteen Horse Caravan consists of seventy-three riders in total. May I ask who you are...?"

Before he could finish speaking, a man in gray took out a scroll from his pocket, unfolded it, and held it upright.

Have you ever seen this person?

Song Chen took a closer look, and his heart skipped a beat.

Although the drawing isn't very accurate, it's still easily recognizable, and the portrait bears a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to Mu Chuan.

He sighed inwardly, realizing he couldn't escape it after all; someone had come knocking on his door, implicating him.

"This one looks familiar, but I can't quite place it..."

The man in gray stared at him menacingly.

"Think it over before you speak. You only have one chance to live."

Song Chen glanced at him. The man's dim yellow eyes seemed to possess some kind of magic, as if they could see right through his heart.

"We met once before."

"Where?"

"On the banks of the Yongding River."

Where is this person now?

"I really don't know..."

Before Song Chen could finish speaking, he felt as if a giant hammer had struck his chest, and his body, like Xu Qi's, was sent flying into the air.

With a thud, he fell to the ground outside the thatched shed.

Song Chen's two guards were furious. They swung their sabers forward and slashed.

To everyone's surprise, the man was sent flying before the saber had even cut halfway down.

Unlike Song Chen and Xu Qi, these two guards fell out of the thatched shed and were already lifeless when they hit the ground.

Song Chen clutched his chest, feeling a wave of nausea and a metallic taste. He opened his mouth and vomited a mouthful of blood, his expression immediately becoming listless.

The gray-clad man kicked him in the chest, and despite his martial arts skills, he didn't even have time to react.

"You think I'm easy to fool without seeing some bloodshed?"

The Thirteen Horse Gang members were all tough, street-smart men. Seeing their leader suffer a loss, the brothers around them immediately surrounded him with knives.

Fifty or sixty men, their sabers gleaming coldly in the sunlight, instantly exuded an imposing aura.

The two men in gray, who were inside the encirclement, remained calm and oblivious, glancing indifferently at Song Chen, who was lying on the ground with a deathly pale face.

Xu Qi struggled to get up and waved his hand.

"Brothers, chop them to pieces!"

Song Chen roared, "Get back, all of you!"

Fifty or sixty men were at a loss, facing two unarmed men, what should they do?

Xu Qi frowned and called out, "Boss."

"Shut up."

Song Chen took a deep breath, struggled to his feet, dusted himself off, and stood tall.

"Gentlemen, this person did follow us to the west of Luocheng, and left about thirty li from Banliji without saying goodbye. As for where he went, I really don't know."

Faced with life and death, saving face is a small matter; Song Chen was well aware of the danger.

These two are far beyond their ability to defeat.

After all, Mu Chuan was no ordinary person. The people he could attract were all formidable opponents, far inferior to his own caravan brothers.

The man in gray seemed to be able to tell whether what he said was true or false, so he didn't make another move.

"You, take us to find someone."

Song Chen hesitated for a moment.

Whether it's the man in front of me or Mu Chuan, killing him would be no different than killing an ant. I've really provoked a powerful figure.

Song Chen was disheartened. He had studied and practiced diligently, and his father had even spent a lot of money to hire a master. After mastering his martial arts, he thought he could make a name for himself, but in the eyes of these people, he became a joke.

"Xu Qi, you, Lao Wan, and Suo Lao San, take the brothers across the river to Yanxin Prefecture and wait for me to return."

He turned to Xu Qi and gave him instructions.

Xu Qi shook his head: "Old Wan and Suo Laosan will take them away. I have to go with the eldest brother so that we can look after each other."

"You're no good at taking care of anything, get out of here."

Song Chen scolded and turned to walk towards the man in gray.

Suo Laosan moved his lips in the crowd, but didn't say anything.

The two men in gray glanced at the bandits and followed Song Chen out of the crowd.

Seeing that his brothers with knives around him didn't move, Song Chen cursed again.

"Get out of my way, you're blocking my way."

The bandits all understood their leader's meaning: he didn't want them to die. Faced with an overwhelming enemy, they could only watch helplessly as Song Chen led his men away into the distance, filled with sorrow but unable to do anything about it.

After walking a few dozen steps, the two men in gray turned back and looked at each other strangely.

They saw that Xu Qi was still following them at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Song Chen seemed to sense something and also turned around to look.

"Xu Qi, so you're not listening to me anymore?"

He suppressed the tightness in his chest and shouted loudly.

Xu Qi stubbornly refused to stop.

"Boss, you need someone to deliver the message. In case anything happens, Xu Qi is quick on his feet."

Song Chen stopped talking, only nodded silently, and turned to continue walking.

Seeing that he wasn't being chased away, Xu Qi quickly turned around and shouted.

"Hey, bring a few horses over here. How can you expect people to walk? Don't you have any common sense?"

The bandits immediately led four warhorses forward at a trot.

The two men in gray did not refuse. They themselves did not need them, but taking Song Chen and Xu Qi along would make traveling less convenient, so it was better to ride horses.

The brothers of the thirteen caravans watched from afar as the four warhorses galloped further and further away amidst billowing dust.

The two men in gray were Kuroda Shi, a disciple of Tsuruta Gen, and Kaiji Keizo, a disciple of the Munenryu school who had come from Toryu Island.

Keizo Kairo had met Hayashi Feng, but the portrait was not a photograph. Although there was some resemblance, the man's name was actually Kikawa.