Chapter 121: Everyone, Grab Your Weapons
Gu Fei whispered, "Uncle Ma is probably just following the code of the worldly society."
"And don’t be a fool. There’s no telling how many people are lying in ambush on the roadside. You think it’s just the one?"
Gu Sanlang quickly looked around, but Gu Fei said softly, "Don’t look. You won’t be able to see them."
"Keep a firm grip on your knife. I have a feeling Uncle Ma’s negotiations are going to fail."
Sure enough, the bearded man at the front shook his head. "Shopkeeper, don’t make things difficult for us. We have over a hundred mouths to feed."
Uncle Ma glanced back at the crowd. They were all just farmers; only a handful of them had any real fighting ability.
He cupped his fists. "Two bags of grain. How about you let us pass, Chief?"
The bearded man’s voice was heavy. "Leave all the grain, and we’ll let you go!"
The village chief grew extremely anxious when he heard this. His family had a tradition passed down from their ancestors: every autumn, after the harvest, they would store enough grain to last the entire year, replacing the old with the new. On this trip, he had brought every last bit of grain from his family’s cellar, and it was a considerable amount.
He couldn’t stop himself from shouting, "Absolutely not! If we give it all to you, what will we eat?"
Before Uncle Ma could stop him, he saw the bearded man sneer. "Then there’s nothing more to talk about!"
The bearded man stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.
Suddenly, a rustling sound rose from the mountain paths on both sides. Gu Fei quickly backed away, pulling Gu Sanlang to press tightly against the carriage.
A panicked Uncle Ma shouted, "Form a wheel-head! Grab your weapons!"
He’d forgotten that the group wasn’t made up of dart masters; they couldn’t understand his worldly society slang.
"Form a wheel-head" was an order to arrange the mule carts into a defensive circle.
The crowd at least understood the "grab your weapons" part, and everyone tightened their grip on their machetes, sickles, and axes.
Uncle Ma then shouted again, "Women and children, get under the carts and don’t move!"
The mountain bandits were after wealth. They generally wouldn’t kill women and children, only the able-bodied men.
In an instant, dozens of mountain bandits charged down from both sides, brandishing large choppers and hacking wildly as they advanced.
Gu Fei already had her gun in hand. The moment she caught sight of the bandits, she raised the weapon and fired without hesitation.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Three shots rang out in quick succession, and the three bandits charging toward Gu Fei fell instantly.
These mountain bandits were a tough lot. Seeing their men fall, they didn’t retreat, but instead charged forward with even more ferocity, fearing nothing.
Su Chen’s carriage was behind the Gu Family’s cart. He tightened his grip on his dagger, lifting a corner of the window curtain to peer outside.
He saw Chen Hu and Zhang Ze, swords in hand, locked in a fierce exchange with the bandits.
He was worried about whether the little lass could handle herself, and he couldn’t resist craning his neck out a bit farther to get a better look ahead.
He saw Gu Fei holding some unknown object. Before the mountain bandits could even get near her, they would drop to the ground with a loud BANG.
After Gu Fei took down seven or eight in a row, a clear-zone formed around her.
All the bandits were now down from the mountain, and those nearby were pairing off to fight, so no one else was heading her way.
Gu Fei quickly switched to a fresh gun and gave Gu Erlang and Gu Sanlang a single order: "Stay here and don’t move." Then, she shot out from her position.
She first darted to the front, where her father and eldest brother’s cart was. The two of them were fighting several bandits, swinging their choppers with no technique whatsoever. It was a chaotic and perilous scene.
With one shot per man, Gu Fei took out two bandits, then proceeded to clear out the few remaining ones in the area.
She then ran back toward Su Chen’s carriage. She saw Chen Hu and Zhang Ze surrounded by several bandits. Just then, a bandit in the distance shouted, "Kill that little lass first! She has some kind of powerful hidden weapon! She’s already killed a ton of our brothers!"
"The lass is over here! Everyone, get over here now!"
"If we don’t kill her, we’re all dead!"