153. The Banner

What terrible luck! Everyone could not help but sigh inwardly. Traveling early and hurrying along was meant to let the escort agency reach its destination faster. Who wouldn't want a smooth and steady journey? Yet, they had still run into this pack of baleful stars.

Although the guards of the escort agency were not afraid of these bandits, a fierce tiger cannot withstand a pack of wolves. Aside from a few first-rate martial arts experts like Ma Linlang, the average guards simply could not cope with these "hungry wolves." Fearless as they were, the disparity in strength was vast, leaving everyone trembling with anxiety.

"What are we to do? When we charged out just now, we couldn't see Head Li and the others at all." Under Qi Fei's deliberate protection, Ma Qingshan had it much easier than Wang Daoling, and he could still manage to speak a few words now and then.

Even so, after a frantic, full-strength battle lasting the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, his face was almost entirely covered in blood, stripping away his original appearance. Coupled with the sweat flowing from his all-out exertion, his entire face looked like a painted jester's. Qi Fei naturally knew this could not go on. Hearing their words, he immediately forced back the man directly in front of him, cocked his head to listen intently, and said, "Charge with me toward the front left! Some of our men are still surviving over there!"

Everyone had long since tacitly accepted him as the leader, so they immediately turned back together in the direction he indicated. After another hard-fought advance of some thirty paces, although the front was still a sea of people where details were unclear, everyone easily noticed that there was an open space ahead.

To Qi Fei's delight, he even clearly heard Zhang Lang's loud shouting: "We cannot be trapped here any longer! We must find a way to break through, or we will all die without a burial place!"

"It's that punk Zhang Lang! Brother Ma, let's charge over there quickly!"

The group continued to charge forward for a while. Ma Qingshan also heard Zhang Lang's shout and his face lit up with joy. After urgently suggesting this to Qi Fei, it was as if he had regained his strength upon receiving news of his companions. He swung his saber and launched his attacks with a few parts more ferocity. Having people meant having opportunities, and a few more shreds of hope for survival. For Ma Qingshan and the others, this was undoubtedly very good news.

Seeing this situation, no one needed cheering on. The remaining few each exerted themselves a bit more fiercely, striving to charge toward Zhang Lang's location. Fearing that arriving too late would lead to mishap for Zhang Lang, Qi Fei pushed his strength to the peak of the first-rate realm. With almost one sweep of his hand for each, he batted away the bandit thugs blocking his path, suddenly thrusting forward several paces.

Ma Qingshan could hear Zhang Lang's voice, and his voice was naturally heard by Zhang Lang as well. Despite the mountain-like wall of people separating them, upon hearing the voice from this side, Zhang Lang called out from afar with a voice clearly laden with joy: "Is that Brother Qingshan coming from over there? Hurry and come help me beat back these petty thieves!" As soon as his voice fell, he holstered encouragement to his companions nearby: "Reinforcements have arrived! Everyone put in some extra effort. Once we regroup and hold our ground, these bandit scoundrels will never again pose a threat to our lives. Charge!"

Although Zhang Lang's martial prowess was nothing special, his skill at agitating people was formidable. As soon as he finished shouting, Qi Fei heard a burst of cheers erupt from over there, and immediately afterward, that battle formation seemed to charge toward them.

Even though they could not yet see how far away the others were, from the faint signs of weapons flying and blood splashing ahead, Qi Fei could tell that their speed of movement toward this side was no less than that of his own small team.

"Heh, this scumbag still seems to have quite a few people around him." Qi Fei smiled slightly at this, and he too intensified his offensive and moved forward. After paying the price of four more men—leaving only five people besides Wang Daoling and Ma Qingshan—Qi Fei suddenly felt the shadows of blades before his eyes vanish entirely. Lifting his gaze, he saw Zhang Lang wiping the blood beads from his face, grinning broadly as he smiled at him and said, "Brother Qi actually came along too! Wonderful! In that case, with our two forces united, we will surely be able to reach Head Li and the others."

"Do you know where Head Li is?" Taking advantage of the lull while the bandits rearranged their formation, Ma Qingshan caught his breath and hastily asked Zhang Lang. Obviously, his question was also what everyone cared about most.

As the surrounding people focused their gazes on him, Zhang Lang smiled gently and said, "Of course I know. I was the one who went to report the bandits' attack to him; naturally, I know very well where he is. I was originally worried that without any experts around, we wouldn't be able to fight our way through, but now that Brother Qi and Brother Cui have come, I suppose this problem is no longer a problem." Having said this, he called out behind him, summoning a person: "Quickly bring the banner and let my Brother Ma take charge of it."

"The banner? Why is it with you?" Qi Fei took the folded silk cloth and flagstaff, fiddled with them for a moment, and directly unfurled the flag. A banner was the signboard and facade of the entire escort agency, so when Qi Fei stretched it out, he instantly discovered that the flagstaff was about a zhang in height, and the flag face itself was a large object nearly a zhang long and about three chi wide.

Qi Fei looked up at the tall banner, and a thought immediately arose in his mind. Shaking his head, he returned the entire flag to the previous man and stated his idea: "You must prop this banner up. With something this tall erected, it can be seen from far away. If there are any brothers scattered in other places who see it, it will give them a target to aim for amidst this chaotic battlefield, and who knows, it might even add some assistance to us."

Zhang Lang slapped his thigh and immediately agreed happily, "Right! That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of it earlier?" Indeed, in this sea of bobbing heads, everyone could mostly only see enemies before their eyes and remained clueless about the situation ahead.

Erecting such a tall banner would undoubtedly allow the escort agency's people to find a rendezvous point, thereby avoiding individual fights and being swallowed up by the enemy. However, good as this method was, Wang Daoling raised a different objection: "This... while raising our banner will indeed allow the scattered brothers to gather to a certain extent, it will likewise provide the scattered bandits with a target for harassment. If we do this, the pressure these thirty-five people will have to bear is likely to be unimaginably huge." His words thoroughly laid out the drawbacks of raising the banner, instantly leaving quite a few people stunned.

Yet next, Zhang Lang spat angrily and shouted, "What is there to fear? When you die, you face the sky; if you don't die, you live ten thousand years. We are already completely surrounded by the bandit scoundrels anyway. What does it matter if we risk it all? We might as well raise the banner and pull in more people; perhaps we can still snatch a sliver of survival. But if just the few of us try to break through, it won't be long before we are overwhelmed by sheer numbers, leading to the terrifying consequence of total annihilation. There is only one path, and that is to kill!"

"Right, follow me—kill!" Qi Fei nodded, sealing the conclusion to Zhang Lang's words.

Since matters had reached this point, if one lacked the courage to face reality, they might as well commit suicide on the spot. Yet right now, apart from Qi Fei, it was unlikely that anyone else in this crowd could survive. After all, several first-rate martial arts experts had already appeared among the bandits; once their main force truly annihilated Head Li and the others and turned back around, guaranteed none of the people here would have the slightest power to parry. The outcome could easily be imagined.

Most people present were sharp-witted and adept at thinking, so after a brief consideration, they immediately responded to Qi Fei's call to charge. Twenty-three people—this could already be considered a fairly large group. Especially with the addition of those who had not yet fallen, this already constituted nearly half the strength of the entire escort agency. Coupled with Qi Fei as a powerful arrow-head figure, their speed of movement became flying-fast as they charged once more.

Before long, they had surged onto a small hill. Ascending to high ground, they took in the general scene of the battlefield at a glance. To the rear right, led by some unknown person, a small team was still engaged in a fierce, unyielding battle with the bandits. However, looking at the posture from afar, one could see that there were probably only around a dozen people left in this group, and because they were very far away from Qi Fei's side, they could practically be written off as abandoned pieces. Meanwhile, on another hill about sixty paces ahead, a large force was stationed.

According to Zhang Lang, that was where Head Qi was leading Head Li, Zhang Long, Zhou Hu, and a dozen escort guards along with some hired martial artists; they had quickly retreated there as soon as they received news of the bandit attack. Because that peak was quite precipitous, relying on the favorable terrain to hold high ground, although they faced endless attacks from the bandits, that area still remained stoutly defended, and there was no possibility of it being captured anytime soon.

Qi Fei observed the situation on the field, turned around, and asked Zhang Lang beside him, "How many people do we have left now?"

"Thirty-two. During the charge earlier, three First-Heaven martial artists were lost." Zhang Lang's expression did not fluctuate much; when reporting the casualty figures, he seemed completely unconcerned about the reduction in manpower.

And indeed, that was the case. First-Heaven martial artists were originally dispensable roles in such a battle; losing them now not only brought no harm, but actually relieved the team of a few burdens.