That group must have been Wei Zhongxian's men.
Suddenly, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a violent storm descended.
Knock knock knock...
Undeterred by wind or rain, Li Yao rode his horse at breakneck speed, his target the troop ahead.
"Assassin! Everyone on alert!"
The line ahead was alerted.
The troops immediately stopped, and some well-trained crossbowmen picked up their crossbows and pointed them at Li Yao.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The arrows, sharp as shuttles, pierced the air and whistled towards Li Yao.
Li Yao squeezed his legs tightly around the horse's belly, stretched out his right hand, and a thought crossed his mind.
The Embroidered Spring Blade suddenly appeared in his right hand.
Clang!
He drew his embroidered spring knife and swung it with lightning speed.
Instantly, the shadows of the blades wove into an impenetrable net, blocking his way.
Ta-da!
One after another, the sharp arrows were shot down and fell on both sides of the official road.
The archers were stunned by Li Yao's formidable strength.
"Shoot the horse! Shoot the horse before shooting the man!"
The only woman in the group shot out two cold glints in her eyes and ruthlessly gave the order.
She was Wei Ting, the adopted daughter of Wei Zhongxian.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
One after another, sharp arrows shot towards the horse beneath Li Yao.
Li Yao's expression hardened. He flung his feet out of the stirrups, placed his left hand on the saddle, and with a sudden burst of strength, leaped off the horse, his right hand still brandishing the Embroidered Spring Blade.
Puff puff puff...
Several arrows pierced the horse's body, and the horse let out a few miserable neighs.
With a thud, the horse collapsed forward to the ground.
Li Yao, who was descending, used the horse's body as a stepping stone and his feet to gain leverage, and landed steadily on the ground.
At this moment, the archers had run out of arrows. They looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting that Li Yao had so easily deflected their fierce rain of arrows.
With a clang, Wei Ting drew his rapier, pointed it at Li Yao, and said with a mocking smile, "Where did you get the idea to be so reckless as to come here and cause trouble?"
Li Yao stared at a heavily guarded carriage, smiled coldly, and asked in a deep voice, "Is Wei Yan here?"
Wei Ting's face darkened, and he coldly ordered, "Kill him!"
The guards around Wei Ting had already seen the embroidered spring knife in Li Yao's hand, and couldn't help but say fearfully, "He is a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
These guards were all martial arts masters recruited by Wei Zhongxian from the Jianghu at great expense.
However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was notorious, and even martial arts masters in the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world) turned pale at the mention of it.
Wei Ting sneered and said disdainfully, "Only one. Kill him and reward him with ten taels of gold."
A generous reward will surely attract brave men!
Upon hearing that there was a reward of ten taels of gold, the guards' eyes gleamed with greed.
At this moment, in their eyes, Li Yao was like ten taels of gold.
Just as Wei Ting said, there is only one, so why should they be afraid?
So they rushed forward, brandishing their swords and knives, swarming towards Li Yao.
Li Yao's expression was solemn, his steps were steady, and he swung his knife without hesitation.
The Qi family's swordsmanship is rough, violent, and direct, relying on physical strength to slash and overwhelm the enemy in terms of power and speed.
Perfect.
Whether it's strength or speed, Li Yao is far superior to ordinary people.
The Qi family's swordsmanship was perfectly suited to Li Yao's style.
Under Li Yao's command, the Qi Family Knife Technique reached its maximum power.
The attack was fierce and direct, with sweeping and slashing movements executed in one fluid motion.
One second everything was calm, the next blood was splattered everywhere!
Wherever Li Yao went, he left behind gruesome corpses on the ground.
In a short while, only Wei Ting and the guards protecting the carriage remained.
The remaining guards looked at each other in dismay; they had never encountered such a formidable opponent.
Wei Ting was also startled.
Her gaze swept over the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground, and the rapier in her hand trembled involuntarily.
She suddenly shouted "Ah!" and swung her rapier, quickly attacking Li Yao.
At the same time, she shouted, "Take your godfather away quickly, I'll hold him off."
The guards surrounding the carriage finally realized what was happening and hurriedly drove the carriage away towards Fucheng County.
Li Yao stared coldly at Wei Ting as if he were a corpse, and said, "You're courting death."
Immediately, Li Yao became one with his sword and charged towards Wei Ting with lightning speed.
Ta-da!
Swords clashed, sparks flew.
Wei Ting's swordsmanship was superb, and he often attacked Li Yao from extremely tricky angles.
Unfortunately, she was, after all, a woman, and was far inferior to Li Yao in both strength and agility.
Moreover, her rapier skills were still inferior to Li Yao's.
Li Yao's Embroidered Spring Blade was both heavy and broad; when he swung it, it created a powerful, swift wind.
Wei Ting's rapier was both light and narrow, and she dared not easily touch Li Yao's embroidered spring knife.
Because every time her rapier clashed with the embroidered spring knife, her arm would feel a tingling numbness from the impact.
At this moment, Li Yao noticed that Wei Zhongxian's carriage was getting further and further away, and was about to disappear.
He frowned, his movements quickened, and his strength increased.
Suddenly, he roared, "It's time to end this!"
when!
A sword cleaved down from the sky.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Wei Ting's rapier was split in two from the tip.
Wei Ting's eyes were vacant, and there was a gruesome bloodstain running from his face to his chest and abdomen.
Li Yao didn't even glance at Wei Ting. He quickly scanned the ground and picked up all the attribute orbs scattered on it.
"Ding! Successfully acquired the 'Physique' attribute, Physique +6!"
"Ding! Successfully collected 'Luck Point', Luck +11!"
...
As soon as he heard the system's continuous boosting sound, Li Yao suddenly gained a large number of attributes.
Immediately, he moved with lightning speed, chasing after Wei Zhongxian's carriage.
Just as Li Yao turned to chase after him, a thud was heard behind him, and Wei Ting fell straight to the ground.
Now, Li Yao's agility is many times that of an ordinary person; once he starts running, he's like a hurricane.
Soon, Li Yao caught up with Wei Zhongxian's carriage.
The remaining guards were terrified and exclaimed, "What? He's actually catching up! Run!"
Li Yao raised his knife and brought it down.
With a few sharp, swift movements, he beheaded the guards with his embroidered spring blade.
Li Yao's gaze fell on the trembling carriage.
Suddenly, the knife was swung.
With a snap, the carriage was split in two.
Chapter 24 Taking the lead and creating a diversion
Click!
Li Yao swung his sword and cleaved Wei Zhongxian's carriage in two.
There, a white-haired old man and a trembling pageboy stared at Li Yao with terrified expressions.
Presumably, this old geezer is Wei Zhongxian.
Suddenly, the pageboy pulled out a gleaming dagger and stabbed it into Wei Zhongxian's chest.
Bang!
Li Yao kicked out, sending the pageboy flying two or three zhang away.
Li Yao's face darkened, and he shouted sternly at the page, "Go back and tell your master Zhao Jingzhong that Wei the eunuch is in my hands."