Upon learning that He Qi was a man from Shadow Hall, Liu Chengfeng merely flickered his gaze and said in a low voice to Li Haitao:
"If I remember correctly, He Qi was recommended for the position of captain by Qin Feng, wasn't he?"
Hearing this, Li Haitao looked at Liu Chengfeng in disbelief.
"Second Brother? Big Brother, what do you mean...?"
Liu Chengfeng raised a hand to stop Li Haitao from speaking further, then simply took a deep breath.
"I was merely speaking idly, don't read too much into it. I believe Second Brother may have simply misjudged the man for a moment."
Although usually somewhat cynical, Li Haitao was quick-witted. He nodded and asked no more, though deep down he knew Liu Chengfeng had begun to suspect the second chieftain, Qin Feng.
Just as he was pondering, the woods on both sides of the road suddenly rustled loudly.
Before Li Haitao could react, Liu Chengfeng let out a great shout:
"Watch out! Expert attackers are coming! Form up the escort into a defensive stance!"
Liu Chengfeng put his internal Gang qi into that loud shout, enabling almost everyone in the entire escort to hear it instantly.
At once, the entire caravan reined in their horses to a halt, and all the members of Chengfeng Escort Agency drew their weapons, vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
The carriage where An Fan was located was no exception. Eunuch Xiao had already sensed someone approaching and was now staring forward with eyes like lightning.
As for Ma San, he had drawn a soft sword at some point, jumped off the carriage shaft, and guarded the side of the carriage.
An Fan grew nervous as well, looking around himself helplessly and at a loss.
Inside the carriage, Ning Suqin lifted the curtain and called out in a low voice:
"An Fan, come inside the carriage and hide for a moment."
Knowing the situation was urgent, An Fan did not decline as he usually would have, and nimbly slipped into the carriage.
Both Ning Suqin and Qiu Yuyan inside the carriage wore expressions of tension.
At this moment, Qiu Yuyan looked as though she had just been startled awake, and she was not wearing her veil. As An Fan scrambled into the carriage, their eyes met directly, and for a moment he found himself somewhat dazed.
"I never expected the Princess to be so pretty!"
Seeing An Fan enter, Qiu Yuyan smiled and nodded. From the bottom of her heart, she felt deeply grateful to this savior of hers.
Recovering his wits, An Fan immediately bowed.
"Uh, it was presumptuous of me, An Fan."
Over these past few days, Ning Suqin had grown accustomed to An Fan strictly observing etiquette. She merely shook her head slightly to signal that he need not be overly constrained, then listened with a tense expression to the commotion outside.
Atop the treetops at that moment, two figures were hurtling at high speed toward Liu Chengfeng.
With a solemn expression, Liu Chengfeng muttered to himself:
"I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly. Judging by this aura, there should be two Xiantian Grandmasters."
Hearing this, Li Haitao beside him turned pale with fright.
"What? Two Xiantian Grandmasters? Big Brother, what are we going to do?"
Without a word, Liu Chengfeng narrowed his eyes, stepped on his stirrup, and instantly flew up to the treetops.
The two approaching figures had also halted their momentum, standing atop the treetops as lightly as willow catkins.
Both men were white-haired elders, appearing to be around sixty years of age. One was dressed in white robes, while the other wore green robes.
Seeing Liu Chengfeng also standing atop the tree canopy, the green-robed elder stroked his beard and spoke:
"Who would have thought that a man in his early forties like Your Excellency could also break through to the Xiantian realm? Truly, the younger generation is formidable! Leave behind the remnants of Yan Country, and I will take it upon myself to spare your life."
Standing with his hands behind his back atop the tree canopy, Liu Chengfeng spoke in a resonant and firm tone:
"I appreciate the senior's kind intentions, but how could I, the Chengfeng Escort Agency, ever abandon our cargo halfway?"
At this, the white-robed elder gave a cold snort.
"Arrogant wretch, you are courting death!"
With that, his entire body was wreathed in Gang qi. The next moment, he suddenly soared into the air, lunged fiercely at Liu Chengfeng, and unleashed a vicious palm strike as he closed the distance.
Seeing this, Liu Chengfeng did not dare to be careless. He likewise enveloped his entire body in Xiantian Gang qi, throwing a punch to meet the attack while flying backward.
"Bang!"
As fist and palm collided, a visible shockwave rippled outward, and the caravan on the road below was seemingly struck by a sudden gale, kicking up a storm of flying sand and stones.
The green-robed elder, who had not yet made a move, wore a look of surprise.
"I never imagined this Liu Chengfeng's internal energy would run so deep. I rather underestimated him."
With that, he flicked the hem of his robe and shouted:
"Junior Brother, I am coming to aid you. Let us finish this quickly."
The white-robed elder had also realized by now that Liu Chengfeng's combat prowess was astonishing, but as a Xiantian Grandmaster, he could not afford to lose face, so he replied coldly:
"Senior Brother had better go find that remnant of the Yan Country royal family instead. Leave this fellow to me to deal with."
Having said that, he lashed out with another kick at Liu Chengfeng.
Liu Chengfeng let out a roar, immediately blocking with one arm while throwing a punch with his other hand straight at the white-robed elder's Gang qi barrier.
Stunned, the white-robed elder found his Gang qi barrier momentarily shattered by Liu Chengfeng's punch; shaken, he struck back with another palm.
For a time, the two of them exchanged blows with fists and feet atop the treetops, fighting to a standstill amidst the frequent crackle of sonic booms.
The green-robed elder, who had intended to assist, paused his movements, immediately swooped down toward the caravan below, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Those who don't want to die, hand over the remnants of Yan Country immediately!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Before the green-robed elder even touched the ground, three streaks of silver light came hurtling toward his face. It was Li Haitao who had made his move.
"Such petty tricks, and you dare display them before an expert?"
The green-robed elder let out a disdainful cold snort, then flicked his sleeve, easily deflecting the three flying daggers heading straight for him.
Seeing this, Li Haitao leaped down from his horse instantly. At the same time, with a slight shake of his hands, three more flying daggers materialized in each of his palms.
Without a moment's hesitation, he unleashed a flurry of throws at the green-robed elder.
Like cold stars, the flying daggers successively tore six sonic trails through the night air, targeting the elder's upper and lower body respectively.
An ordinary person naturally would have no way to dodge these six flying daggers, but the elder was a Xiantian expert possessing Xiantian Gang qi.
With a light tap of his right foot on the ground, a layer of Xiantian Gang qi instantly enveloped his entire body.
Faced with the six incoming flying daggers once more, the green-robed elder did not even bother to block; he simply charged at high speed straight toward Li Haitao, head-on against the daggers.
Upon touching the green-robed elder's Xiantian Gang qi, the six flying daggers struck as if hitting an iron plate, losing all their momentum and dropping completely to the ground in an instant.
Shocked, Li Haitao reached into his bosom and pulled out three more flying daggers. But before he could throw them, the elder plowed into Li Haitao's space like an aggressive bull.
With no other choice, Li Haitao could only slash fiercely at the elder with his flying daggers, but the green-robed elder, protected by his Xiantian Gang qi, felt no fear whatsoever and instead kicked Li Haitao squarely in the stomach.
Though Li Haitao was already retreating, the moment that kick landed, he felt a pain as if his internal organs had shifted, and his entire body was sent flying backward.
The green-robed elder shifted his stance, preparing to press his advantage and pursue Li Haitao, but a chorus of whistling sounds erupted from behind him.
The green-robed elder whipped his head around to see dozens of escort members behind him firing a volley of crossbow bolts.
Though he had his Xiantian Gang qi for protection, if he were continuously hit by so many crossbow bolts, his Gang qi would be pierced through sooner or later.
Left with no alternative, the green-robed elder had to temporarily let Li Haitao go. He stamped hard on the ground to leap into mid-air, then channeled his internal energy and lashed out with a palm strike toward the dozens of crossbow-wielding members.
"Boom!"
A wave of air rolled outward; those dozens of escort members had no time to dodge and were struck by the palm force, resulting in heavy casualties.
Even so, the green-robed elder did not stop. He unleashed yet another thunderous palm strike, and in an instant, over half the caravan was thrown into utter chaos with horses overturned and people spilling out.
The carriage carrying An Fan was also jolted upward, though fortunately Ma San used his hands to press down hard on the carriage.
Up in the treetops, Liu Chengfeng was filled with burning anger and cursed furiously:
"Shameless and despicable old man!"
With that, he channeled all his cultivation power and threw a punch directly at the white-robed elder locked in combat with him.
This punch utilized nearly ten percent of Liu Chengfeng's full strength, and his protective Gang qi vanished the instant he threw it.
Simultaneously, the white-robed elder delivered a solid palm strike to Liu Chengfeng's shoulder.
Liu Chengfeng did not dodge in the least, taking the palm strike head-on, but the very next moment, the elder's protective Gang qi was shattered by Liu Chengfeng's punch.
Not only that, this punch caved in the white-robed elder's right chest, and his entire body instantly plummeted from the treetops.
Clenching his teeth, Liu Chengfeng once again circulated his energy to project his Gang qi outward, charging directly at the green-robed elder, who was still attacking the caravan.
Liu Chengfeng was already injured by this point, and upon seeing him approach, the green-robed elder immediately struck out with his palm to meet him.
Liu Chengfeng countered with a punch of his own, but this time the force behind it was far too weak.
His protective Gang qi was shattered by a single palm strike from the green-robed elder.
"To think you could actually injure my Junior Brother—you really do have some skill!"
Seeing the white-robed elder lying severely injured in the distance, the green-robed elder fixed him with a gaze full of cold malice.
"Too bad your internal energy is completely exhausted now. Let's see what methods you have left to stop me."
As he spoke, he threw yet another palm strike toward Liu Chengfeng, who now lacked any Gang qi protection.
Seeing this, Liu Chengfeng had no choice but to fly toward the ground to evade it. The moment he reached the ground, he prepared to force his internal energy to block the palm strike.
However, the force of the palm did not descend as he had anticipated. Puzzled, Liu Chengfeng looked upward.
He saw that the green-robed elder's arm had been severed at some point, while a small flying green sword hovered nearby.
Coming to his senses, the green-robed elder wore an expression of sheer terror.
"What? A cultivator?"