The Journey North 7

His shout had clearly startled the Second Ducal Prince, who seemed to miss a step in the midst of his charge. But he killed off the man clad in Barbarian furs in front of him, and rushed back, as the pair of Bodyguards covered his back.

"What do you mean?" he shouted at Qin Feng, the moment that he was close enough to speak without shouting.

Qin Feng, naturally, did not waste any time sharing what he thought about the enemy, and the whole situation:

"They are clearly not Barbarians! Their garments are too clean, too uniform. And there aren't any of those totems that we saw on those that we had fought before. And their weapons ... Their weapons are all the same!"

Li Changhai turned his head, and an unconscious grunt issued from his throat as soon as he saw that Qin Feng was not lying. Then the younger man's eyes caught onto another difference, prompting him to add oil to the fire.

"And look at their shoes! Their boots! Those aren't the sort of fur wrappings that we had seen on the Barbarians in the South! Clearly, these are not real Barbarians!"

Qin Feng pointed at the row of corpses around himself as he growled back. Which was enough to surprise Li Changhai again. And make him turn his head to study the bodies of the dead 'Barbarians' a little more closely. The hard expression that showed up on the Second Ducal Prince's face a short while later was more than sufficient to tell him that Li Changhai had already been convinced.

"Back to the wagons!" the Prince ordered quickly, and turned to sprint towards the lieutenant and his men.

But Qin Feng lagged behind the trio, as he scowled at the fighting that was already taking place among the rest spots that the soldiers had picked out earlier. There were only thirty to fifty of these impostors that he could see. Which was enough to make him pause, and wonder where the rest of the enemy were.

These fake Barbarians weren't entirely inept but surely they were not expecting to be able to hold off a hundred men, were they?

The former disciple from the Heaven Sword School whirled and rushed to join the Second Ducal Prince and his Bodyguards then. The Prince, who had slowed down, as though waiting for Qin Feng to catch up to him, nodded at the younger man when he did so. "You have sharper eyes than most. I didn't notice that at all! This is a trap, yes? That was what you called out earlier?"

"That is a guess. I don't know for certain," he admitted with a nod back.

"And I think it isn't over yet. There are too few of them here, and they can't be expecting to overwhelm your people like that. Look out for a second group. A second trick!"

"A guess? A second group?"

The Prince looked startled then, and both of his Bodyguards started to peer about themselves quickly, even as all four of them inched towards the wagons. There were more people there, and the scouts were mostly archers. Which would be more effective, if there were more impostors like Qin Feng warned.

What else could it be? Why would anyone dress a whole band of soldiers like Barbarians and send them against Li Changhai's small little band? Clearly this was an action that was targeted at the Prince. After all, what else could prompt the enemy to put in such an effort?

Qin Feng turned back to Li Changhai and nodded again. "This attack is different from the way that the Barbarians do things. This means there must be someone else behind it. And you are the most likely target," he warned, as he motioned at the pair of Bodyguards on either side of the the Prince.

"You are a little too visible, even if you are wearing regular soldier's clothes. Having two large bodyguards beside you also makes you stand out. We need to get back to the wagons so that Lieutenant Wei and his people can help keep you out of danger. If we are lucky ..."

He didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying, when he heard a loud shout from ahead, on the other side of the trail. It was enough to catch Lieutenant Wei and the scouts at the wagons by surprise, and Qin Feng barely caught a glimpse of a band of six men tear through the archer-scouts that had been trying to cover the Prince's retreat.

The six men were dressed like the rest of the so-called Barbarians. But the martial arts that they displayed as they slaughtered the scouts and the other soldiers that got in their way was definitely not something that the Barbarians were capable of. Qin Feng was about to point that out, when he heard Li Changhai give out a harsh curse beside him:

"Iron Fire Mountain! They are from Iron Fire Mountain!"

Which didn't tell Qin Feng anything at all. But from the way that the Second Ducal Prince and his Bodyguards were readying their own weapons, he could see that they were wary of this band of newcomers. Which was enough to put him on alert, and raise his own sword against them.

"Li Changhai! Leave your life behind!"

One of the sextet charged forward even as he shouted those words, and the Prince was quick to raise his glaive, as though he was prepared to fight the fellow on his own. And the pair of Bodyguards charged at once, to place themselves between their charge and his attacker.

Leaving Qin Feng to curse as he moved to block off the rest of the assault team that seemed to be waiting for their own chance to make a move!

* * *