But the young man didn’t care about any of this; instead, he looked eagerly towards Zhao Ya and the others.
"You must be from the Changlong Escort Agency. I suppose you’ve all seen Jingxue. Do you know where she went?"
As soon as he said this, before anyone else could reply, Hu Tie was already furious. He grabbed the cups and plates from the table and threw them at the young man.
"Get out, you disgrace! Aren’t you ashamed enough?"
The young man didn’t dodge, letting the cups and plates hit him, and continued to speak.
"Father, Jingxue and I are truly in love. Why must you be like this?"
Hu Tie’s face turned with anger, ready to explode.
Several servants rushed in, hurriedly grabbed the young man, and forcibly dragged him away.
As he was being taken away, the young man kept shouting, "What did you do to Jingxue? Why is there no...?"
His voice was abruptly cut off, clearly having his mouth covered by someone.
After the young man was dragged away, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward.
No one knew what was going on.
At this moment, Hu Tie sighed heavily and then apologized, "I’m really sorry, that was my son, Hu Yan. He’s always been reckless and rude, making a fool of himself in front of everyone."
"No need for that, Manor Master Hu. It’s just that your son seems to still be obsessed with that witch?" Meng Lei asked.
"Not just obsessed! It’s like he’s been poisoned by her. Do you know why I hate Cheng Jingxue so much?"
"Why?"
"Because that woman ruined my son’s great future in martial arts," Hu Tie said through gritted teeth.
Through Hu Tie’s account, everyone finally understood what had happened.
It turned out that the Hu family had a secret martial arts skill, similar to the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt, which when mastered offered incredible defenses.
It was particularly efficient when advancing to the Skin Grinding Realm, progressing much faster than other martial arts.
As Hu Tie’s only son, Hu Yan naturally inherited this skill.
His robust physique and exceptional talent allowed him to advance quickly.
At seventeen, he had already reached the Second Realm as a Martial Artist.
As long as he advanced to the Third Realm before he turned twenty, he had a good chance of succeeding in Skin Grinding before thirty, becoming a Fourth Realm Martial Artist.
Everything was going smoothly until Cheng Jingxue appeared. With sweet words, she tricked Hu Yan and then took his Primordial Yang.
The Hu family’s skill didn’t require lifelong celibacy like the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt, but one’s Primordial Yang had to be preserved until the Third Realm.
Without it, Hu Yan couldn’t advance to the Third Realm before twenty.
An unknown witch ruined all his painstaking efforts, needless to say, how enraged Hu Tie was upon learning of this.
Compared to that, the Meteorite Iron Saber seemed unimportant.
If it weren’t for Hu Yan’s desperate pleas, even threatening with his own life, Hu Tie would have personally taken to Jianghu to hunt down Cheng Jingxue.
After hearing Hu Tie’s account, Zhao Ya’s doubts were resolved.
But then he felt something was amiss.
If Cheng Jingxue simply intended to steal the saber, why ruin Hu Yan’s Primordial Yang?
That would surely offend a Fourth Realm Martial Artist.
Could she have another purpose?
But Zhao Ya soon dismissed these doubts.
Even if there was another plan, it had nothing to do with him.
Especially now that Cheng Jingxue was dead, pondering it further was pointless.
After the meal, accommodations were arranged for Zhao Ya and his team. Zhao Ya did a simple practice of the Eight Vajra Skills in his room before going to bed early.
The next day, the goods began to be loaded.
Sharp weapons wrapped in oiled cloth were packed into the darts box, sealed, loaded onto the escort vehicle, and tied securely with cowhide ropes.
Due to the large workload, even Zhao Ya, Lin Sheng, and others helped, finally loading all the goods for escort by the afternoon.
After confirming everything was in order, and exchanging the delivery list, the group spent another night at Iron Forging Manor, preparing to depart early the next morning.
Manor Master Hu personally escorted the group to the manor gate, exchanged a few words with Meng Lei, and then returned.
As soon as the escort team left the influence circle of Iron Forging Manor, everyone’s nerves were on edge.
The visit to Iron Forging Manor went smoothly, but the real test was the return journey.
So Meng Lei repeatedly urged everyone to stay highly vigilant.
Zhao Ya’s eyes continually scanned for any unusual signs.
Luckily, the whole day passed without incident.
Due to the heavy load, they only covered a little over forty miles.
That night, they set up camp, dividing into four teams for night watch as before.
Zhao Ya was responsible for the "Chou" time, from 1 to 3 AM.
It’s the coldest part of the day and when people are drowsiest.
Unaffected by the elements, Zhao Ya still put on the thick clothes Zui’Er had prepared for him and patrolled the camp.
The chosen camp location was carefully considered, with no cover nearby to prevent any sneak attacks.
After a thorough check confirming no abnormalities, Zhao Ya returned to the camp.
"Zhao, have some wine to warm up!" Tan Dong offered a wine gourd.
Zhao Ya removed the stopper, took a few sips, and seeing Tan Dong shivering, said, "Why don’t you rest in the tent for a while? I’ll keep watch."
Tan Dong shook his head vigorously.
"No way, the brothers are all keeping watch outside, I can’t just run back to the tent to rest."
Saying this, Tan Dong wiped his nose, "Damn, this weather turns cold so fast, wearing just a shirt a few days ago."
Zhao Ya chuckled and didn’t press further.
Then, suddenly, he heard a faint sound of something cutting through the air.
The sound of arrows.
Heart racing, Zhao Ya immediately shouted, "Enemy attack!"
He kicked out the campfire in front of him, avoiding becoming a target in the dark.
Meanwhile, with Zhao Ya’s shout, the group, though surprised, didn’t panic. They quickly hid behind the escort vehicles as practiced.
The escort vehicles were reinforced, able to withstand most crossbow attacks.
Zhao Ya also hid behind a vehicle, secretly observing.
The sound of arrows flying continuously broke the night, and the dull thud of arrowheads hitting wood resonated.
Thanks to Zhao Ya’s timely warning, no one got injured.
Meanwhile, those sleeping in tents, led by Chief Escort Meng Lei, promptly crawled over to Zhao Ya.
"What’s the situation?"
"Uncertain, but it seems like there’s a lot of them, and they are well-equipped. This barrage must be at least hundreds of arrows," Zhao Ya said gravely.
Meng Lei’s face was equally grim.
He hadn’t expected an attack on their first day out of Iron Forging Manor.
The enemy must have been watching them.
Just then, the sound of footsteps in the distance; a squad rapidly approached.
As they neared, the leader suddenly shouted out.
"Cyan Bamboo Ridge on business, surrender if you don’t wish to die, or face no mercy!"