Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!

Chapter 275 - 267: No Chance of Victory

He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply with sincerity, "I am Yang Fan, a martial arts instructor, temporarily leading this team. I am very grateful for Miss Cheng’s aid."

"We are all citizens of Tianqi, it’s only right to help and support each other."

Yang Fan contemplated for a moment, organizing his thoughts before speaking, "Miss Cheng, you are magnanimous and righteous, our great benefactor. We should treat you generously, but... the place is simple, I’m afraid it might wrong you and the warriors."

Yang Fan originally thought Miss Cheng would be modest, as she included in her previous words that as citizens of Tianqi, mutual assistance and support are a matter of principle.

Unexpectedly, the young girl’s tone changed, "Indeed, I am magnanimous and righteous, worthy of your generous treatment."

Yang Feng’s expression froze, unsure of how to respond to her words.

He stared directly at Cheng Xiaoxiao’s face, trying to detect any hint of teasing or jest, but there was none. The young girl was calm and composed.

Seeing the thunderstruck expression on Yang Fan’s face, the system chuckled, "Host, this guy named Yang Fan thought you were a selfless heroine."

"There’s no such thing as a free lunch. I’m not a good person."

Yang Fan forced a small smile, "It is only right. Miss Cheng, your martial arts are formidable. To have led your team through challenges, I’m sure your tactics and strategies are impressive. With your skills, you don’t need to join anyone’s team. Yang is willing to form an alliance with you, Miss Cheng."

"That’s great! We were just worried about not having a place to settle." Cheng Xiaoxiao nodded in satisfaction. She was just testing the other’s character and confidence, with no intention of joining anyone’s team.

"Yang welcomes you wholeheartedly and will make arrangements for you, whatever you need, just say the word."

Looking at the weary travelers, their days on the run must have been tough.

Seeing that their numbers weren’t many, if everyone was frugal, they could manage to scrape together some food.

After all, were it not for the timely intervention of the girl, they might have all perished under the knife. Surrendering all their food wouldn’t be too much. Even if they had to eat snow, dig dirt, or gnaw on tree bark, they’d still be alive, wouldn’t they?

With his mind made up, Yang Fan stopped dwelling on it. The other party was strong, a bit of arrogance was expected.

He turned and instructed the squad leaders to clean up the aftermath.

Then, he looked across the river at the battlefield, somewhat at a loss for words.

For them, the soldiers were extremely fierce and brutal, but now, they were being taken down easily like chopping vegetables.

Yang Fan felt a sense of unreality. Could it be that the people under the girl’s command were all this powerful? With this strong ally, could they have a chance to survive?

His heart began to thrill with excitement, and the dark night couldn’t overshadow the light and hope arising in his heart.

What he didn’t know was that those people had been drugged with hallucinogens, their minds unclear, so they were easy to cut down.

"Not good, Host, their reinforcements have arrived."

The soldiers on the battlefield numbered three to four thousand, creating such pressure on Yang Fan’s group.

To charge into their ranks now was truly risky. Relying solely on frontal confrontation, with her few people, they were certainly not opponents.

She could only rely on hallucinogenic drugs to carve out a bloody path.

People on both riverbanks gave up attacking Yang Fan’s group and gradually gathered towards the center. The number of drugged people in the middle was decreasing. Once these people fell, those on the sides who weren’t affected wouldn’t be so easy to cut down. It seemed her people needed to break through quickly, or else they’d soon be surrounded by incoming reinforcements.

She turned her head and solemnly said to Yang Fan, "Brother Yang, could you lend your men to move the ladders from the riverbanks to the middle, to facilitate my people’s retreat?"

"No problem, I’ll arrange it right away," Yang Fan readily replied.

The stunned young man, who hadn’t spoken a word while observing the entire time, snapped out of his shock at being saved by a girl about his age before Yang Fan even had a chance to speak, and he hurriedly called his partners to work.

This lad is quite clever.

Cheng Xiaoxiao turned, dashed across the riverbank, and rejoined the battle.

By now, all the small teams had converged here. While dealing with the surrounding foes, she shouted loudly, "Team One cover, Teams Three and Four retreat, Team Two bring up the rear."

With the order given, everyone swiftly adjusted their formations, starting to withdraw towards the riverbank.

Yang Fan, with seven or eight men skilled in martial arts, came to assist and arranged personnel to receive them on the other side of the bridge.

The quick-thinking young man noticed the other side had several horse-drawn carts, promptly dismantling several large planks to serve as barriers. The group then cooperatively set up a wooden plank bridge across the three adjacent ladders for the carts to pass.

While fighting and retreating, they finally managed to cross the river before the reinforcements arrived.

Once across the river, the attacking ceased.

The reinforcements were led personally by Captain Yuan, who was now glaring viciously at the people across the river.

It seemed like he was caught by the enemy’s strategem to lure him away. Had it not been for the fire at the mansion and him taking away part of his men, these reckless commoners would’ve been captured already.

Damn it!

Looking at the ground littered with corpses, many of which were his soldiers, how could he swallow this anger?

The deputy general, who had previously vowed to capture the enemy’s leader, was now standing injured not far away, head lowered, stiff with silence.

"Useless, a mere mob, and you still haven’t captured them. When we return, go accept your punishment." If it weren’t for the fact that he needed manpower right now, he wouldn’t let this slide.

"Understood!" The deputy general didn’t dare say more, only bowed in silence.

Yuan Xiao originally didn’t take these pests seriously, never expecting that while he, You Sheng, and Sikong Yinlong were locked in intense battle, these people would sneakily raid his granary, carrying away a lot of grain.

In response, the three sides reached an agreement to pause their fighting and eliminate this mob.

Sima Yinlong, the old fox, since he didn’t suffer, was reluctant to act, leaving him to take the lead with You Sheng’s backup, launching a frenzied attack on these people.

What seemed like a sure thing didn’t go as planned, running into unexpected changes one after another, catching him off guard. Against the two other major forces, he’d never suffered such a loss, provoking intense anger and resentment.

Even with added manpower, what did it matter? These mere few thousand people—their demise is certain tonight!

Seeing their side preparing another assault, Yang Fan’s face was clouded with worry. Earlier, Captain Yuan hadn’t entered the fray, leaving the deputy general in command. Now, with significantly more reinforcements and Captain Yuan himself directing, even with Miss Cheng’s group assisting, the chances in this battle looked grim.

Just then, the sound of hooves grew louder and nearer.

Looking to the opposite street, a long line of fire, held by a well-ordered column of men running towards them, appeared.

Once Yang Fan recognized the faces of the approaching troops, his heart sank, "It’s over, even You Changshi came personally leading this time. We’re finished."

"Not necessarily...," Cheng Xiaoxiao cryptically replied, her voice calm.