Chapter 87: Guarding the Post Station

Night fell!
The crescent moon hanging high in the night sky was gradually obscured by drifting clouds. Outside the brightly lit post station, darkness swiftly covered the land, enveloping the carriages parked outside.

Four men assigned by the Murong family sat or stood at the four corners of the carriages, dutifully taking turns resting and protecting the goods belonging to the Murong family. In the martial world, NPCs lose much of their combat effectiveness at night and must rest, which left the group led by Kai Xin somewhat frustrated, forcing them to stop and spend the night at the post station.

However, Kai Xin and his companions weren’t idle. They brought out the horses prepared by the Murong family. Ignoring the disturbance at night, they mounted their horses one after another and started riding around inside the post station’s walls.

Since they were ordinary trained horses, the group quickly got familiar with their respective mounts, at least understanding how to make them move forward, stop, or turn—enjoying the process immensely.

Kai Xin once again became the odd one out in the group… Whether it was holding the reins, mounting the horse, or using simple commands to control it, he was exceptionally skilled and efficient, acting like an experienced rider who could easily keep his horse still while watching the others train in the courtyard.

“Senior brother, where did you learn horseback riding? It looks so easy and comfortable,” Xiao Fu said, awkwardly mounting her horse and approaching Kai Xin. Her arms were stiff, and her eyes were fixed tightly on her horse, not daring to relax even slightly.

“Hmm, I rode in the north for a while back then.”

“No wonder.”

Biting her lip, Xiao Fu carefully controlled her horse and took some time before approaching Kai Xin. Up close, the scent of her perfume filled the air. With the help of the light, one could see the rosy skin on her cheeks and neck, along with beads of sweat.

Seizing that Kai Xin was staring at her intently and that their distance was too close, Xiao Fu blushed, quickly lowered her head, and instinctively spurred her horse, saying, “Go!” as she rode away to take cover.

Just as Kai Xin realized he shouldn’t stare, he suddenly turned his head eastward. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a vague dark figure lightly disappearing into the shadows behind the post station.

“Guard the goods!”

Shouting loudly, Kai Xin without hesitation slapped his horse, which leaped into the air. He then used his agile movements to land on the roof of the post station, gaining a clear view of everything inside and outside the courtyard walls.

“Whoa!”

He Shiyi was not slow either. Almost the moment Kaixin soared over the rooftops, he leaped up from his horse and landed beside her, scanning the surroundings warily as he grasped a wooden bow in his hand.
At this point, the few guards assigned by the Murong family finally woke up, drawing their swords and standing guard at all four sides of the carriage, looking around in panic.
Gui Jianchou, Xu Lang, Lan Yan, and Xiao Fu, on the other hand, seemed at a loss. Holding their horses, they didn’t know whether to charge at the enemy or abandon their horses and fight like Kaixin and He Shiyi.
Before the four could react in time, Kaixin and He Shiyi had already spotted the enemies on the rooftops—several dark figures crouched in a shadowy corner of the inn, barely noticeable. As soon as they saw the carriage disturbed, rows of torches appeared outside the courtyard wall, and waves of figures rushed in from outside!
“Kill them!”
“Not a single one of the Murong family shall survive!”
“Brothers! Charge!”
The invaders were the gang of strongmen who had been lurking outside the inn—over thirty in number, each skilled in combat, living by robbing small caravans and merchants.
He Shiyi had noticed them long ago, but their scouts were highly alert and rode away from afar, ending their duel before it could proceed.
These bandits were clever too—they waited until night, when the caravans were stationed and less vigilant, to attack an official inn guarded by just two soldiers…
But!
Their surprise attack had clearly failed. Kaixin’s exceptional vigilance not only allowed the four guards to react but also prompted the two soldiers guarding the entrance to rush in from outside.
“How bold!”
Though of low rank, the soldiers were full of righteousness. With a fierce shout, they charged at the bandits who had climbed over the wall, spears in hand…
Almost at the same time, the six heard the system’s clear prompt:
“Ding!”
“Station guard mission activated!”
“While protecting the carriage, assist the inn soldiers in guarding the station and preventing officials from being killed. Completing the first step allows you to proceed to the capital to carry out subsequent escort missions; completing the second step earns the favor of the imperial court; completing the third step gains the favor of the inn soldiers and officials…”
“Attack!”
By the time the system’s prompt ended, the two inn soldiers were already engaged with the bandits who had climbed in and were quickly surrounded, in extreme danger. Kaixin moved swiftly—her willow leaf daggers turned into two streams of light, knocking down the two black-clad men closest to the soldiers, temporarily relieving their crisis…

With his wooden bow in hand, He Shiyi drew the bowstring, and three arrows flew in different directions among the crowd at even greater speed. Three muffled groans came from the crowd as the arrows pierced the bodies of three men in black, forcing them to stagger back out of the fight. Yet after glancing at them, He Shiyi frowned. Though his accuracy was decent, compared to Kai Xin’s flying knives that had taken out two men outright, his arrows only reduced the combat effectiveness of the three men in black—highlighting the stark difference between the two. Kai Xin, however, paid no attention to this. In his view, there were three tasks triggered by this incident, and the more perfectly they were completed, the higher the difficulty and the greater the reward. So, at all costs, the soldiers at the posthouse must not be harmed! Drawing two willow-leaf flying knives, he quickly grasped the Jade Silkworm Hand. “Cover me!” With his hands behind his back, Kai Xin dashed off the roof, soaring into the air and descending among the group of men in black surrounding the soldiers. “Lan Yan, Xiao Fu, protect the convoy! Xu Lang! Let’s go!” Seeing Kai Xin charging alone into the bandits, Gui Jianchou finally reacted. He slapped his horse’s back, leaped high, and swiftly drew a half-foot-wide black sword from behind him. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! From above, He Shiyi aimed effortlessly at the men in black, quickly firing all his arrows. Unfortunately, after the first round of attacks, his accuracy dropped from 100% to 50%. Still, with He Shiyi’s aerial fire support, Kai Xin successfully landed beside the soldiers at the posthouse. As he touched the ground, he nimbly dodged the swords and knives flying around. Amidst the clashing of metals, he clenched the Jade Silkworm Hand into a fist at his waist. “Get lost!” With a decisive punch and a deep roar like a tiger, he struck the two nearest men in black in a brutal and direct manner. Bang! The men hit by his punch were sent flying like they’d been hit by a train, disrupting the orderly formation behind them.