Chapter 699: Chapter 496, Gold Queen_1
At night, as the autumn wind whistled.
Deep within the ancient mountains and forests, a hundred-person team urged their horse carriage along a small path overgrown with weeds.
Fang Hao sat on the back of a giant lizard, looking at the map in his hand, occasionally raising his head to look at the somewhat gloomy night sky.
“Li Rong, how long until we reach our destination?”
Li Rong glanced at her own map, “We’ll probably arrive in about three or four hours.”
“Good, everyone speed up. The sooner we return, the sooner we can rest.”
Everyone responded in unison, picking up their pace.
The journey from the watering hole to Li Rong’s territory was not a straight path, and they needed to cross mountains and navigate winding roads, covering several times the direct distance.
Just as they were about to return, their spoils of adventure were significant.
The soldiers had more energy and the journey proceeded at a good pace.
Li Rong rode a horse alongside the giant lizard.
After lighting a cigarette, she said, “Listen, Big Brother Fang Hao, I don’t usually lock my door at night. Don’t take advantage of that to do anything mischievous. After all, it’ll just be the two of us in the whole building. Even if I call for help, no one will hear…”
After spending the past two days together and sharing an adventure in the underground palace.
The two of them had become quite familiar with each other.
Opinions about Fang Hao were diverse in their communication channel.
However, after her own interactions with him, Li Rong found Fang Hao to be a powerful and easygoing person.
She didn’t feel any oppressive air of superiority from him.
He was always game to joke around or even engage in some bawdy banter.
“What are you talking about Li, I’m an upright person.”
Seeing that Fang Hao didn’t understand her implication, Li Rong exhaled a cloud of smoke and continued, “Isn’t it popular among young people to seduce older women? Don’t you want to give it a try?”
Li Rong was tall and attractive, but she was positively past her prime.
She was definitely in the ‘aunty’ category now.
“Forget it, I wouldn’t be able to handle it!”
Li Rong took a long drag of her cigarette and said with a smirk, “You’re still too young, you don’t understand the enticing allure of a mature woman. You’ll have regrets.”
Fang Hao didn’t respond, he continued looking into the Book of Lords.
Whether he fancied older women or not.
Mainly, he already had an even more ‘mature’ woman at home that he hadn’t even managed to handle yet.
Thus they chatted casually.
Soon the group had emerged from the narrow area and the road ahead became somewhat wider.
Traveling could be monotonous, especially during the tiring night march.
Li Rong was a talkative person and she became even more so as they grew more familiar.
Before long, they were discussing her commercial plans.
She said that when she was ready to open a store in Lyss City, Fang Hao should look out for her.
In return, she said, whenever he felt like experiencing the charms of an older woman, he was welcome to visit her.
As they strolled along,
Suddenly, Lorrey at the front made a silence gesture.
The signal was quickly passed back through the ranks.
Everyone instantly fell silent. Holding their breaths and reaching for their weapons, they remained alert.
There was absolute silence all around.
In the thick woods, there was not a single sound, the quietness was eerie.
Fang Hao drew his weapon as well.
Without needing to ask, a soldier came running from up ahead.
In a low voice, he reported, “My Lord, Lorrey says there’s an ambush in the woods up ahead. He’s unsure of the number of enemies.”
Hearing the soldier’s words, Fang Hao also sensed something was off.
Even though their numbers would deter most beasts, the forest should’ve been teeming with insects and birds.
Why did all noise cease as soon as they reached this spot?
This situation indicated some lurking danger in the woods that had scared away all the insects and birds.
“Prepare for battle.”
Clatter! Everyone immediately reformed their ranks, readying themselves for combat.
Just as they were preparing,
A dull thud was heard from the front.
A large tree crashed down blocking the road ahead.
Immediately after, the rustling noises came from the trees all around.
Since the team had not advanced towards the ambush point,
The arrows only flew out from the woods diagonally ahead.
Everyone quickly took cover behind the horse carriages.
The Lionheart Knights began raising their guns, retaliating.
The silent night suddenly became tumultuous.
A shootout began between both forces.
Bows strained and guns fired, filling the entire forest with noise.
Ahead, a few people in cloaks crouched in the dark woods.
One of them curiously asked, “What’s going on? How did they discover our ambush? None of them even came close.”
“I don’t know, they must have some special scouting methods. But it doesn’t matter, we’ve got plenty of men this time. There’s no danger in killing them.”
The shaggy man, bearing resemblance to a beggar, glanced at the shootout position again.
He tersely said, “We can’t afford to drag this on. If we attract a patrol, we’re done for. Tell the guys to charge. We need to finish this quickly and clear the battlefield. No traces must be left.”
“Sure.” One of them got up and relayed the message to their troops.
Suddenly, cries of war sounded from all around, as mercenary soldiers of varying appearances charged out from the forest on both sides.
They roared as they charged towards Fang Hao and his team.
Fang Hao was already pondering who could be ambushing them.
He even considered distancing himself from Li Rong, in case she had gotten into trouble somehow.
Seeing these people charge headlong,
He estimated their numbers near three to four hundred, which put him more at ease.
Taking care of these men should not pose much of a problem.