After Transmigration, I Traded a Coin for a Peerless Wife and Conquered the Chaotic World - Chapter 23:

Chapter 23: Bandits Raid the Village!

As the siege intensified, the battle reached a fever pitch. On the west, south, and north walls, many enemy troops had already climbed the walls using cloud ladders and were locked in fierce combat with the defenders of Yan Pass. Only the eastern wall, where Lin Feng was stationed, remained relatively secure, as most of the enemy ladders had been destroyed. The Blood Wolf Army’s initial frenzied assault had weakened as more of their ordinary troops fell. The eastern wall’s situation was vastly different from the others—so much so that it was unusual.

Soon, some enemies began to notice Lin Feng, the deadly archer. What followed was shocking. The once-fearless Blood Wolf Army soldiers now cowered like turtles behind their shields, not daring to show their heads for fear of becoming the next target under Lin Feng’s arrows.

“Brother Feng, you’re amazing!” Jiang Yi shouted in excitement.

Lin Feng’s archery had naturally caught the attention of Decurion Wang Erhu. His eyes locked onto Lin Feng’s confident figure in the distance, his heart filled with suspicion. “When did this kid become so powerful?”

Wang Erhu knew he couldn’t do that. Maybe he could shoot three men with one arrow by sheer luck, but doing it consistently? Not even a Centurion could manage that. Not even Garrison General Pan Feng could! And judging by how effortlessly Lin Feng nocked and drew the bow, he must at least be a 2nd grade martial artist.

Suddenly, he recalled the disappearance of Song Chun and the others. The more he thought about it, the more he was certain Lin Feng had something to do with it.

Lin Feng, of course, had no idea that Wang Erhu had begun to suspect him. He was too immersed in the thrill of the kill.

In the central command area, Pan Feng also noticed Lin Feng’s extraordinary performance and immediately turned to Deputy General Xu Chong beside him, asking, “Do you know that soldier’s name?”

Xu Chong had also been captivated by Lin Feng’s archery. Upon hearing the question, he shook his head and said, “I’m not sure, General. But with such skill, he shouldn’t be unknown in the ranks.”

Outside Yan Pass, flames rose high into the night sky. Thanks to Lin Feng’s pinpoint accuracy, the morale of the frontier army had soared. After suffering heavy losses, the Blood Wolf Army’s frontline faltered. Among them, a flag officer waved his command flag, and the elite troops quickly changed formation into a snake-like line to reduce casualties. Their offensive intensity also dropped significantly.

Seeing this, Jiang Yi laughed and shouted toward Lin Feng, “Brother Feng, those barbarians are scared! Haha!”

Lin Feng fired another triple kill without pause and replied, “Scared? Their formation shift and reduced assault might seem that way, but did you see them retreat?”

“The real battle’s just beginning.”

…

Back in the village, He Caiwei paced anxiously outside the courtyard. The distant sounds of battle made it impossible for her to sleep. She clasped her hands and looked up at the moon, praying softly, “Husband, you must come back safely…”

Suddenly, the pounding of hooves interrupted her thoughts. A group of seven or eight men, holding torches and riding lame horses, charged into the village.

“Have the Northern Barbarians broken through the city?” He Caiwei immediately hid, her heart pounding in panic. If that was true, and something happened to her husband, she wouldn’t want to live either.

But as a woman from a noble family, He Caiwei quickly calmed down. Her eyes scanned the men.

They wore no armor, only carried rusty machetes, and had no formation. Their figures were scrawny, lacking the fierce presence of Northern Barbarian soldiers.

The leader was a scar-faced man in coarse linen, a wine gourd at his waist. He clearly wasn’t from any military background and didn’t have a trace of martial energy about him.

It was clear—this was a gang of mountain bandits, taking advantage of the chaos to loot the village.

“Damn it, they all ran away! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come out to rob tonight!” the scar-faced man cursed as he sat on his poor steed, looking around the empty village, clearly furious.

A few of his men ran over looking disappointed.

“Boss, there’s nothing left! The villagers took everything when they fled!”

“Boss, I found half a jin of cornmeal, and on the way I picked two liang of wild hawthorn and dug a bag of wild vegetables. With this, we can finally have a good meal tonight!”

At the mention of cornmeal, the hungry, dizzy bandits’ eyes lit up.

Hiding in the corner, He Caiwei nearly laughed aloud. If mountain bandits had come to this, they’d be better off farming honestly!

Hearing his men’s report, the scar-faced man—Liu Mazi—flared with rage. He kicked over the underling in front of him, spilling the cornmeal across the ground.

“You useless trash! We’re robbers! Bandits! Not beggars!”

Unable to vent his anger, Liu Mazi pointed at the nearby houses.

“Burn them all!”

“Since they won’t let me rob, I’ll burn the whole place down! Let them see what Liu Mazi is made of!”

This time, He Caiwei couldn’t just stay hidden.

With her current strength, these few bandits were no threat at all.

She didn’t want to hurt them. If they failed to loot and left, that would be the end of it. But now they wanted to burn her and her husband’s home?

Absolutely not!

“Stop right there!” she shouted.

The scar-faced man froze when he heard a woman’s voice.

The torchlight lit up He Caiwei’s figure. Under the pale moonlight, her beauty was even more striking.

“I, Liu Mazi, have roamed the land for years, and I’ve never seen such a stunning beauty.”

“And a heterochromia too? Interesting!”

The other bandits all stared with lecherous grins. They’d come to loot during wartime, not expecting such an unexpected prize.

These men were so poor they couldn’t even afford brothels. Now, seeing such a beauty, they nearly drooled on the spot.

“Hey there, pretty girl. Everyone in the village’s run off. Why are you still here? Waiting for me?”

As he spoke, Liu Mazi reached out to grope her.

With a simple sidestep, He Caiwei easily dodged, drew her sword, and said coldly, “I stayed to wait for my husband. I have no intention of hurting you. If you value your life, leave.”

Liu Mazi hadn’t expected a delicate woman to talk back to him like this.

That only made him more excited. “Pretty girl, I’m your husband now. Come with me to my mountain stronghold. I’ll make sure you live in luxury!”

He Caiwei sneered. These guys couldn’t even afford steamed buns and still dared to dream?

One bandit stepped forward with a rusty blade, sneering, “Didn’t you hear what my boss said? You think you can act tough just because you’re a woman? Think we’re scared of you?”

“I’ll burn this shabby thatched hut of yours first! Let’s see how you wait for your husband then!”