There is a happy inn in the capital.

Chapter 407 Fighting Back Against the Robbers

Li Shuchen grinned: "I'm good at this!"

She quickly left a mess of footprints in the muddy ground at the bridgehead, and deliberately tore off a piece of her clothing and hung it on a wooden post, making it look like it had been caught while she was rushing across the bridge.

"Ziying," Liang Yuying already understood the plan, "you mean..."

"Please enter the bridge," Gu Ziying smiled, a sly glint in her eyes, looking somewhat like Li Shuchen plotting something mischievous.

"Ziying, you're a good girl, don't follow my bad example," Li Shuchen said with a smile.

"I know what I'm doing," Gu Ziying nodded and smiled, remaining elegant and dignified.

"This bridge needs some reinforcement. Bingli, you're the most meticulous, see if there's anything usable nearby."

Ye Bingli looked around, her gaze settling on a few plants on the edge of the cliff.

"That's...Buddleja officinalis? Its pollen can cause itchy skin and sneezing."

She pointed to another spot, "And there are wild chili peppers; the juice will burn your eyes if it gets in them."

Li Shuchen had already taken action: "Understood. I'll prepare some 'bridging gifts' for the bandit henchmen, hehe~"

She quickly collected pollen from the butterfly bush, mixed it with soil, and rolled it into small balls.

Then, crush the wild chili peppers to extract the juice, and soak the juice in the torn strips of cloth.

Ye Bingli's side is also finished.

The rope bridge may look precarious, but it can actually support the weight of several people.

“Setting a trap takes time,” Liang Yuying said, listening to the approaching sounds of pursuers. “Someone needs to distract them for a while.”

"I'll go," Princess Changning said casually.

"No!" everyone said in unison.

"I am a princess; even if they capture me, they won't kill me immediately."

Princess Changning had already taken off her cloak. "My physique is much better than before; I'll definitely run faster than them. I've also memorized the terrain. You all hurry up and make the arrangements; I'll be back after one lap."

Before anyone could object, she turned and rushed into the fog, deliberately making a loud noise: "This way, come with me!"

The bandits' shouts immediately came from afar: "Over there! Chase them!"

Taking advantage of this precious time, everyone quickly made arrangements.

Li Shuchen stuffed the mud balls made of drunken fish grass into the cracks in the stone slabs at the bridgehead, Gu Ziying tied a strip of cloth soaked in chili juice to an inconspicuous spot on the vine rope, and Liang Yuying used a dagger to carve several "warning cracks" on the ground at the bridgehead.

Just as the arrangements were finished, Princess Changning emerged from the woods on the other side, her breathing slightly erratic but her smile radiant.

"Alright, they'll be here soon. Let's hide and watch the show."

The group quickly hid behind a boulder at the edge of the cliff.

Just as they hid, more than eighty bandits rushed to the edge of the cliff, led by the one-eyed man they had seen at the foot of the mountain.

"Boss, the bridge's here," one of the henchmen shouted, "but it looks like it's about to collapse."

The one-eyed man walked to the bridgehead, looked down at the messy footprints and the hem of his clothes on the ground, then glanced at the hazy mist across the way, and sneered.

"They just crossed; the bridge can still hold. Go after them."

"But boss, this bridge..."

"What are you afraid of?" The one-eyed man stepped onto the bridge. "Those who dare not cross, stay here."

He went up the bridge first, followed by several of his trusted confidants.

The bridge indeed shook violently, emitting a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

This isn't an act; the bridge was inherently unstable.

Just as the twentieth bandit crossed the bridge, Li Shuchen flicked a small pebble from his hiding place, hitting a loose stone slab at the bridgehead with pinpoint accuracy.

With a "crack," the stone slab shifted, crushing the drunken fish grass mud balls hidden beneath, and the pollen drifted away on the mountain breeze.

Achoo, achoo!

The bandits on the bridge suddenly started sneezing incessantly, their eyes turning red.

"What the hell?" The one-eyed man rubbed his eyes, losing his footing, and grabbed the vine rope.

It landed right on the chili strip that Gu Ziying had set up.

"Ah, my hand!" he cried out, instinctively pulling his hand away and losing his balance.

At this moment, Liang Yuying peeked out from behind the rock, her dagger flashing coldly as she severed a secondary securing vine on one side of the rope bridge.

It wasn't primarily supported by heavy vines, but it was enough to cause the bridge to tilt.

"The bridge is collapsing! Get back quickly!" the bandits behind cried out.

The people on the bridge were now in a dilemma.

The one-eyed man tried to steady himself, but his foot struck a rotten plank, and his entire leg sank into it.

He struggled to pull his leg out, which only made the bridge shake even more violently.

"Boss, hurry up!"

"Hold on tight my ass! This bridge..."

Before the words were finished, one of the main supporting vines finally succumbed to the continuous shaking.

"Snapped"

Breaking in response

The entire bridge tilted to one side in an instant, and the twenty people on it screamed and tumbled into the abyss.

Below wasn't a cliff, but a slope shrouded in thick fog. The screams echoed into the distance, gradually fading into the distance.

The bandits on this side of the shore were terrified.

"Boss, the eldest brother fell down..."

"This bridge is a trap; they did it on purpose."

Suddenly someone shouted, "There's a ghost! There's a ghost in these mountains!"

The remaining dozen or so people panicked and turned to run, only to find that their path was blocked by several rolled-down rocks.

It was Liang Yuying who pushed it down in the chaos.

"Don't panic," a bandit who appeared to be a minor leader tried to remain calm. "What are we afraid of with so many of us?"

His words caught in his throat as the sound of a piano suddenly drifted through the fog.

It is Ye Bingli

She was sitting on a high rock at some point, with a jade zither resting on her lap.

The zither music was clear and ethereal, echoing through the misty valley with an indescribable eeriness.

"Where did this music come from in this desolate wilderness?"

"It's a mountain spirit! It must be a mountain spirit!"

The bandits were completely devastated and scattered in all directions.

Some people panicked and stepped into the mud, some tripped over vines and tumbled down the hillside, and two people even collided with each other and passed out.

"Up"

Liang Yuying gave the order

The Imperial Guards and the Mulan Army used the vines to climb up, their swords and spears showing no mercy.

In less than fifteen minutes, eighty bandits were either wounded or killed.

团灭

Li Shuchen put away the wooden stick, and looking at this comical scene, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Is this the end?"

Gu Ziying elegantly straightened her sleeves. Those who caused Shu Chen distress, and their accomplices, must die.

Princess Changning emerged from her hiding place, raising an eyebrow: "Bandits? Nothing special."

His arrogant expression was very smug.

Liang Yuying glanced at Ye Bingli, who was still playing the piano, a hint of surprise and admiration flashing in her eyes.

"Bingli's music can not only heal, but also harm."

"This is the first time I've ever seen this either," Li Shuchen exclaimed.

The music gradually stopped, and Ye Bingli put away her instrument and stood up, her expression still aloof: "The fog is clearing; it's time to go."

Only then did everyone realize that, without them noticing, the thick fog had indeed begun to dissipate.

Sunlight filters through the gaps, and the misty mountain reveals its true appearance.

It remains treacherous, but no longer so sinister and terrifying.

"Let's go," Liang Yuying said, turning around.

"Wait," Li Shuchen called out, stopping the conversation.

"We don't have enough food. Why don't Yuying take the main force and go first? I'll go with a few Mulan Army girls to buy food."

"We're running low on funds, so we'll hunt for food as we go," Liang Yuying said.

"There are wild animals on this mountain. How can I be sure there are still wild animals on the next mountain, and the mountain after that? It's safer for me to go and buy food, which will also save me time hunting."

She was mainly afraid of the pressure from those officials and guards.

After speaking, Li Shuchen led the girls he had chosen down the mountain.