Chapter 184 - Sudden Attack

'Should I return back or sneak back and destroy it?'

*rustle*

When Wei Liuying was still contemplating, she heard the sound of something moving. Instinctively, her body moved as she raised her head. She readied a defensive position to make sure that she was ready to face any sudden danger.

But the one who came was only Shan Yi. 

"Liu…" Shan Yi was about to call Wei Liuying out when he saw her glare. He shut his mouth for good as he recalled that she would not want to be called with her real name here. He quickly changed his way to call her.

"Soldier Ying."

"Is there anything I can help, Leader Shan?" Wei Liuying asked in cheerful and curious tone. Her action looked like a new soldier who was very unfamiliar with how battlefield worked and only came here to have fun.

If one didn't know better, they might think she was a stupid soldier. 

"There's some commotion there," Shan Yi said as he walked to the courtyard. His mind was constantly reminding himself to be careful around Wei Liuying. No matter how harmless she looked like, he knew that he would lose miserably if he was not prepared.

Wei Liuying raised her head. "Is it because of the wine?"

"Yes."

"What happened to the wine?"

"The Abbot was angry and kicked it. He didn't like having wine in the temple," Shan Yi replied. Internally, he was lamenting that it was too bad that such a good wine has to be thrown away because of the location.

Wei Liuying smiled lightly. "It's good that it's taken care of."

"Where did you find the wine?"

"Don't tell me you want to steal it."

"Rather than leaving it to rot in this place, I better take it with me when we descend later." Shan Yi licked his lips. Wine was one of the few delicacies that he and his men loved a lot. They always spent a long time to drink wine because it was hard to get even a barrel with their occupation.

Besides, the only time they were allowed to drink was when they were celebrating something. it could only come rarely, so if they could get an additional barrel of wine for free, that would be good.

"There's a storage room that's used to store the barrels. I guess there are a lot of naughty students here," Wei Liuying replied.

"You have to show me!"

"I'll do it when we're about to descend. We can't possibly have you get drunk in the temple and destroy everything, right?"

Shan Yi scratched his head, didn't know what else he could say to refute. When he was drunk, he would not care for anything else. In the end, he would surely destroy everything in his surroundings without a care in the slightest bit.

But he could hold back and made sure that he didn't drink at all. He looked at Wei Liuying with hopeful gaze, hoping that Wei Liuying would change her decision.

"No."

"But…"

"I'm not taking any chance."

Shan Yi felt that Wei Liuying didn't trust him that much. He believed that he had good self-control. Though, if Shi Lu Wen heard him said that, she would have rebuked him harshly and called him a liar.

Facing Wei Liuying's decision, Shan Yi had no other choice but to obey. "Fine."

"Good."

Shan Yi stretched his body lazily. "What do you want to do now?"

"Now? Nothing in particular," Wei Liuying replied. She was looking to a distant location as her eyes narrowed. The air just gotten tenser as if she had returned back to the frontline where battles were very common. Her dark eyes narrowed as she tried to see pass the layer of darkness around her.

The night was quiet, so even the slight sound could be heard from a distance away. Those who had high martial arts were even more so as they had keener senses. Right now, the two of them realized that there was definitely something wrong.

"Would you like to have a walk, Leader Shan?" Wei Liuying asked in solemn tone. She didn't know who were there or if it were animals. One thing for sure, the atmosphere was getting tense real fast.

Whatever it was, they were approaching at rapid speed.

Not only her, Shan Yi's body also tensed up. He was very keen of danger because his life had been revolving around dangers and danger again all the time. Looking to a distant location, there was a sense of trepidation in his heart.

"I'm afraid we're not only going for a walk tonight but something more," Shan Yi replied. He turned his body around and called out, "MEN!"

"Yes?"

The bandits all came out from their place while Wei Liuying headed to Gao Ling and Shi Lu Wen's room. Just as she reached there, several arrows were shot to their location.

Clang! Clang!

The arrows were cut with her swords. Wei Liuying looked to the distance and noticed that a small army was going to their location. Even though it was still categorized as small, their number was at least three or four times their own number.

Wei Liuying's eyes habitually swept over the soldiers who came here. She needed to estimate their formation and number in order to prepare for the defense and counterattack. If she was not wrong, the layout of the temple should have been good for her to create square formation here. 

"DU MIN!"

"I'm here," Du Min replied and shot towards the army that was approaching them.

"Fend them off. Ask the soldiers to start moving. Those from Gao City should go to the right and the rest go to the left. All you need to do is to form a defense line and make sure they can't come close. I'll leave the rest to you, Leader Shan."

This was the first time Shan Yi ever received order from someone else aside from Prince Ji Sheng and Yang Xian. However, the clear and concise order made it easy even for someone like Shan Yi to understand. 

'So she's truly a proper strategist.'

"Men! You heard him! Go!" Shan Yi gave his order as he rushed forward. A cruel smile formed on the corner of his lips. Those who dared to come here and try to harm his girl should die!

Swish!

Seeing the soldiers began to move, Wei Liuying completely ignored everything else. Even though her identity should be confidential, this would be the best option to make. If she delayed, there might be more lives losses in the process.

She didn't want to increase the number of death people. 

Wei Liuying glanced into the room and noticed that Gao Ling had woken up from the movements inside. Even though Gao Ling was drunk, it didn't hinder her sense of danger in the slightest bit.

"Lady Gao!"

"Ying?"

"Take out your bow and prepare for battle. We're going to fight."

As if returning back to the battlefield, Gao Ling quickly replied, "Yes."

Gao Ling picked up her bow. Because of her dizziness, she hadn't changed her clothing, so she was still wearing the dress used to go out. She could feel that her vision was a bit blurry, but Gao Ling tightened her grip on her bow. 

She couldn't back down now. Their lives would depend on their performance.

"Sister Gao?" Shi Lu Wen called out in a timid tone. She woke up because of the commotion and now felt afraid. Different from others, she didn't engage in battle as much as them. Even if she had learned how to protect herself, she was too afraid to even make a move.

Gao Ling shifted her gaze and saw Shi Lu Wen's trembling hand. She knew that having the skill alone was never enough. They needed the courage to step forward. When she first stepped onto the battlefield and faced danger for the first time, she had nearly lost her life.

All because she was not brave enough.

"Go and hide under the bed. Try to cover yourself with the blanket to prevent yourself form getting hurt."

"Yes!"

When Gao Ling opened the door, she could see the temple was flooded with people from different places. Based on their clothes, Gao Ling could guess that they must be one of the tribes at the north.

But how in the world they reach here?

She couldn't understand.

Slash!

A man died not far from her. She could see Wei Liuying was already fighting bitterly with her sword. There was traces of worry within her eyes when Wei Liuying looked at Gao Ling. Wei Liuying had already arranged the soldiers to make perimeter around them along with the bandits, but the overwhelming number would put them in disadvantages.

Even though the attack was sudden, Wei Liuying's reaction was very swift as if she had already predicted that this would happen. Which was impossible, so she must have calculated everything in that very short moment.

They needed reinforcement as fast as possible.

"Lady Gao, can you fight?"

Fight?

Gao Ling tightened her grip on her bow. "Yes!"