Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

"Everyone, squat down! Don't move!"

As soon as Li Mao finished speaking, a series of chaotic footsteps came from the darkness.

A group of fierce-looking men, armed with long knives and short swords, surged out from the nooks and crannies near the camp. They wore black headscarves, and the leader, a one-eyed man, was greedily scanning the caravan.

"Are you merchants from Chang'an? Hand over everything on your carts and horses, and I might spare your lives!" The one-eyed bandit leader's voice was hoarse, and the threat in his tone was all too clear.

The little girl was startled awake by the sudden noise.

Upon seeing the one-eyed bandit group, a deafening cry erupted.

Li Mao went up to her, and she clung tightly to his arm, sobbing incessantly, "Father... I'm scared!"

Li Mao's actions naturally made him the target of public criticism.

The one-eyed pirate pointed his long sword at Li Mao and said viciously, "How dare you! I told you not to move, and you still dare to run around. If you dare to move again, I'll chop you down with this sword!"

Upon seeing this, Guo Ziyi's expression immediately turned cold.

As a brave general personally trained by Li Mao, he was utterly loyal to Li Mao and couldn't bear to see anyone say a harsh word to him. Moreover, this one-eyed bandit was no longer just saying harsh words; he wanted Li Mao dead.

This was intolerable! Guo Ziyi wanted to take action on the spot.

But when his gaze fell on Li Mao, he saw Li Mao gesturing for him to calm down. Li Mao mouthed, "Ziyi, don't be impulsive. They just want to rob us. Let's assess the situation first."

Since His Highness has given the order, let's spare the lives of these bandits for now.

Guo Ziyi nodded, then gave the soldiers a coded signal, indicating that they should hold their positions. The soldiers cooperated by feigning panic, as if they were truly a group of unsuspecting merchants.

Seeing that the merchants remained obediently in place and showed no intention of resisting, the bandits became even more arrogant. They circled the carriage and, finding it filled with cloth, gold, silver, and various other valuables, were overjoyed.

—These were all purchased by Li Mao from Xianyang City to make the performance more convincing.

There was only a thin layer on the surface; underneath were all sorts of weapons and armor, as well as some dangerous firearms. However, the bandits didn't climb over to that layer yet, their eyes only dazzled by the goods on the first layer.

"Hey, what a stroke of luck today! The car's full of good stuff!" The one-eyed robber smugly declared, as if he'd drunk two kilograms of liquor and felt smug.

After inspecting the goods, some of the robbers stepped forward and asked, "Boss, should we 'kill' these people?"

"Hmm..." The bandit leader thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Forget it. We just pulled off a big heist a while ago, so let's just let it go this time. We shouldn't anger the government, or they'll send troops to suppress the bandits, which would be terrible. I think these guys are pretty honest, so we can just scare them a little and that's it."

Hearing that they had "just pulled off a big heist," Li Mao felt a pang of anxiety.

Could it be that these bandits robbed and killed Li Longji and his entourage?

His heart pounded with fear, and he knew he had to follow these people's trail and head straight for their hideout to see what was going on. If Li Longji and his men had really been killed by these guys, that would be truly...

Thinking this, One-Eyed ordered a few of his men to drive the horses, intending to transport the entire cart and its cargo away. However, strangely enough, the horses seemed to possess a spirit, refusing to obey their commands and stubbornly refusing to move.

"Drive! Drive!"

No matter how they tried to urge it, the horse wouldn't budge an inch; it was as if it were nailed to the spot.

The bandit, already a scumbag, was eager to escape, but his horse wouldn't obey him. One-Eyed, enraged, raised his hand, his long sword pointing directly at the horse's head, and roared, "Disobedient, huh? Then I'll just kill you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his long sword high, ready to slash at the horse's neck.

At this point, most of the soldiers could no longer sit still.

The horses they traveled with were all warhorses from the army, each one exceptionally brave and powerful. They were not only their mounts but also their comrades-in-arms. It was precisely because of their unwavering loyalty that they would not obey the commands of others.

But then he remembered that Guo Ziyi had just ordered them to hold their positions...

The soldiers all cast pleading glances at Guo Ziyi and Li Mao.

At this moment, a cold glint flashed in Li Mao's eyes, and he said softly to Guo Ziyi beside him, "Ziyi, don't be in a hurry, watch me."

Guo Ziyi understood, silently tightening his grip on his sword, ready to strike. If Li Mao were in danger, he would have no choice but to disobey His Highness's orders and directly behead the one-eyed dragon!

At the same time, Li Mao slowly stepped forward and said, "Brothers, why are you so angry? Although we don't have any martial arts skills, we can offer up everything in the carriage. We only ask that you brothers be merciful and spare these horses."

Upon hearing this, the bandits burst into wild laughter. One of them said disdainfully, "You think you can just release him like that? Who do you think you are! We're already being lenient by sparing your life, and you're still pleading for Ma? Don't you know you were lucky to survive?"

Li Mao smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying.

He continued, “Brothers, you may not know this, but these horses are descendants of warhorses from Chang’an. They have excellent bloodlines and are very precious. It is precisely because they are well-trained that they only obey their master’s commands. If we hadn’t driven the carriage ourselves, these horses probably wouldn’t have moved at all. They are rare animals after all, and it would be a real pity to kill them like this.”

Upon hearing this, some of the bandits looked disdainful, while others showed some interest.

Seeing that the one-eyed bandit leader was interested, Li Mao pressed his advantage: "If you gentlemen don't believe me, you can try it. As long as we horse trainers are still here, these horses will naturally not disobey our commands. How about this, let me and my companions accompany you into the mountains to ensure that the horses don't cause trouble, what do you say? Anyway, you have no use for the horses, you can just let us drive them out later."

The one-eyed bandit squinted and sized Li Mao up and down.

He was clearly impressed by the proposal.

—Of course, he wasn't so kind as to spare the horse's life and allow the merchants to bring it out of the mountains. Once inside the mountains, neither the people nor the horse would be easily released.

Judging from the fact that these people can afford the offspring of warhorses, they must be extremely wealthy families from Chang'an. If they were captured and taken to the mountains, they could get a lot of ransom!

However, One-Eyed still squinted and asked, "What if you have ulterior motives and tricked me into leading you into the mountains, but in reality it's detrimental to my stronghold?"

Li Mao smiled calmly, spread his hands, and said, "We are just ordinary merchants, unarmed, what kind of conspiracy could we possibly have? All we want is a way to survive."

The one-eyed bandit pondered for a moment, then finally nodded: "Alright, let's go then!"