Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

These guards were the elite of the Jin Dynasty; how could they allow an ordinary mountain bandit to get close to them?

"Insolence! You're courting death!"

As he spoke, a beam of light slashed toward the neck of the astigmatic leader. Wu Mao, who was standing nearby, was shocked to see this.

"Get away!"

Wu Mao's curved blade collided with the light, and the sound of metal clashing echoed through the valley. Although Wu Mao deflected the attack, the web of his hand was cracked, and his entire arm was trembling.

The guard who had just made the move was also shocked, never expecting to encounter someone whose strength was comparable to his in this desolate wilderness.

The bandits in front, being far away, were unaware of what was happening. Seeing their leader make a move, they assumed he was going to capture Wanyan Ping's men, so they all brandished their weapons and charged forward. At this moment, the more than three hundred bandits, wanting to demonstrate their loyalty and bravery, also ran out from their hiding places.

Seeing this, Wu Mao's head throbbed again. All this was bad; the other side didn't even need to lift a finger, he'd already exposed his strength. Oh well, it's come to this anyway, might as well do it.

Seeing the bandits, who looked like beggars, charging towards them, the guards drew their weapons and began hacking and slashing at them. Although the bandits outnumbered the guards, they were no match for the guards' formidable fighting power, and within a dozen breaths, more than twenty people lay dead in pools of blood.

Wanyan Ping, the person involved, did not make a move. Instead, he calmly watched the battle from his horse, as if what happened around him had nothing to do with him.

Seeing that his men had suffered heavy casualties, Wu Mao shouted at the bandits, "Don't surround them! Pick up stones and smash them to death from the outside!"

These words were a wake-up call. Several hundred people ganged up on seven or eight people, while most others could only watch from the sidelines. Now, hundreds of stones rained down on Wanyan Ping and his men, even Wanyan Ping, who had been watching the spectacle, was hit on the forehead by a stone.

Seeing that the guards were rendered incapable of fighting under the attack of stones, the bandits fought even more fiercely. There were plenty of stones in the valley; they could just pick them up.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the captain of the guards immediately took out a strange whistle from his pocket, used one hand to shield himself from the flying stones, and blew it hard.

Seeing this, Wu Mao immediately sensed something was wrong. He shouted for a retreat, but the bandits' clamor drowned out his voice. The astigmatic leader, seeing Wu Mao shouting at them, thought it was encouraging them, so he threw stones even harder.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

Countless crossbow bolts flew out of the dense forest. These arrows seemed to have eyes, and all the fallen bandits were struck in the throat. This sudden attack immediately shattered the bandits' previous arrogance. They immediately abandoned Wanyan Ping and the others, and tried to retreat into the forest.

Just then, several hundred armored soldiers emerged from the dense forest where they had been hiding. Some were firing crossbows, while others were wielding long swords, reaping the heads of the bandits. This army of several hundred men seemed to appear out of nowhere, leaving the bandits momentarily disoriented and unsure of where to run.

Seeing this, Wu Mao shouted, "Don't panic, everyone! Gather together and break through towards the mountain pass! Run!"

With a target in mind, things became easier. The remaining two hundred bandits swarmed towards the mountain pass, gripped by fear, knowing that whoever ran the fastest would survive.

Just as they were about to reach the mountain pass, they heard the ground seem to shake. Some of the bandits began to wonder: Why is it shaking so violently? Could it be that the earth has turned upside down?

While others might not know, Wu Mao knew it was the sound of a large-scale cavalry charge. He couldn't care less about the bandits at this point, because he knew that leading everyone would be impossible. The target would be too great; his own safety was paramount.

The Jurchen cavalry was already formidable, let alone these Golden Feather Guard cavalry. After a single charge, fewer than fifty bandits remained alive on the mountain path; the ground was littered with corpses. Following this brutal battle, over two hundred of the original three hundred bandits had been killed or wounded. The remaining forty or fifty had completely lost their will to fight; they threw down their weapons, raised their hands, and knelt to beg for mercy.

Wu Mao, who had already run into the dense forest, was now accompanied only by one bandit, the one with astigmatism whom he looked down upon. Although the bandit's eyesight was poor, his speed was extremely fast, even faster than Wu Mao's.

Wu Mao sighed softly, "Sigh! Let's go, let's go to Tangyin County first and see if we can find a way to make a living there."

At this moment, Wanyan Ping glanced at the remaining bandits in the valley and said to the captain of the guard, "Hurry up and deal with them, we still need to continue our journey."

After saying this, he rode off on his horse, leaving only the agonizing screams echoing behind him. Apart from the few guards injured by the falling stones at the beginning of the battle, not a single Golden Feather Guard was wounded; their fighting prowess was truly astonishing.

At a checkpoint outside Anyang City, a platoon leader from Li's army was patrolling the crowds trying to enter the city. Unlike before, after Li Zhen took over, there were no fees for entering or leaving Anyang City, but identity verification and the purpose of arrival were required. Those with government-issued ID cards were exempt from inspection, while outsiders had to be registered and searched to prevent harassment by enemy spies.

Wanyan Ping dismounted from his horse and followed the group while waiting for his identity to be registered.

The soldier asked, "Name, where you're from, and what you're doing here. Do you know anyone who can vouch for you? If not, your temporary pass will only be valid for one day; if you do, it will be valid for three days."

When Wanyan Ping arrived, a Jin merchant who had been waiting nearby for a long time walked over with a big smile on his face.

"Sir, please do us a favor. This is our young manager. He came from Zhongdu specifically to inspect our shop's operations. When you're done with your business, please bring your men to my tavern for a rest."

The platoon leader recognized the Jin merchant; he was a major client of Cui Dake, transporting large quantities of wine and grain from Anyang Prefecture every month. With him vouching for it, it couldn't be wrong.

The platoon leader glanced at Wanyan Ping and then said to the merchant, "Then you should vouch for him. His temporary pass is only valid for three days. He can exchange it at the government office in the city when the time comes. Here's a form; please fill it out for him."

After everything was settled, the Jin merchant led Wanyan Ping into the city.

Wanyan Ping looked at the shops lining both sides of the road, which were filled with a dazzling array of goods, and the streets were bustling with people coming and going.

Wanyan Ping couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "How come this place is even more prosperous than Shangjing and Zhongdu? How did Li Zhen manage to do that?"

The Jin merchant whispered, "Young Prince, this is only Anyang City. Tomorrow, I will take you to the Anyang Commercial City in the west. That's where the real prosperity is. Not to mention the merchants coming and going from the north and south, I can't even recognize all the different kinds of goods there."

Seeing this, Wanyan Ping became even more determined to invite Li Zhen to come out of seclusion.