Bandits, no matter how greedy, must value their lives first, right?

Henry Smith recalled how Brian Walker had just mistaken him for someone “sent by another,” and was startled—could it be that these three weren’t bandits at all, but were actually the ones “sent by another” to hunt down Brian Walker?

Henry Smith couldn’t help but want to slap his forehead, thinking that if he hadn’t stumbled upon this today, Brian Walker would be lying dead at the foot of Eagle’s Beak Cliff, and to others, wouldn’t it just look like he’d been killed by bandits?

If that fragment of text memory that popped into his mind was actually history’s record of today’s events, wouldn’t that make perfect sense?

Henry Smith was both shocked and regretful, thinking to himself that people calling him a fool wasn’t wrong at all—how had he gotten himself mixed up in such a mess as if he were possessed?

What should he do now? Tell those three guys behind him, “Go ahead and do whatever you need to do, I’m just passing by and saying hello, don’t mind me while you assassinate Brian Walker”?

At this moment, Henry Smith regretted not covering his face with clothing; he didn’t know if, from a hundred or two hundred paces away, those three assassins had gotten a good look at his face.

If the assassins had seen his face, after killing Brian Walker and his attendants, would they come after him to silence him?

A flurry of thoughts raced through Henry Smith’s mind as he hesitated about escaping down the back of the cliff, but there was also a faint, indescribable feeling in his heart that stopped him from doing so.

After a while, Henry Smith finally raised his voice and shouted down the cliff:

“Elder Wang, you must have misunderstood. My elder brother admires your character, and upon hearing that you were exiled to Tangzhou, he worried that the roads in Tongbai Mountain were not entirely safe, and that a few foolish thieves might try to harm you. He specifically sent me here to wait for you. Elder Wang, please continue on your way—I’ll deal with these three petty thieves. I doubt they have the guts to storm Eagle’s Beak!”

The rocks of Eagle’s Beak Cliff towered high. Henry Smith looked around and saw plenty of scrubby trees, thinking that as long as he was careful, he shouldn’t fear the assassins’ bows and arrows.

Moreover, with the sheer cliffs on all sides of Eagle’s Beak, Henry Smith believed the three assassins might not dare to attack head-on. Even if Uncle Seventeen and Andrew Smith didn’t come looking for him, he could hold out until nightfall and then find a way to escape.

……

……

Friend or foe?

The scholar in the blue robe stared up at the cliff, filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

“We don’t know what’s ahead, but those behind are definitely assassins sent by Cai Ting…” The coachman narrowed his eyes, sizing up Henry Smith for a moment, then spoke in a low voice to the scholar.

Given the current situation, they had no choice but to press forward.

The coachman didn’t ask who this youth or his “elder brother” behind him really were, so as not to let the assassins overhear.

Seeing the scholar give a slight nod, the coachman cupped his hands toward the cliff and said, “Thank you, righteous hero, for your help. If you ever need anything in the future, Luke Lewis will gladly risk his life for you!” With that, he snapped his whip with a loud “crack” on the horse’s plump rump, and the carriage slowly began to move.

Past Eagle’s Beak was a downhill stretch, and there were no other travelers at this time.

The woods on both sides were sparse and the slopes gentle, with nothing to block the view, and it didn’t look like there was any ambush.

At the far end of their sight, they could see the dense clusters of buildings in Huaiyuan Town.

The coachman urged the horses on, heading quickly toward Huaiyuan Town.

After such an incident, the girl hiding in the carriage clung to her wet nurse in terror, nearly suffocating from fright. But hearing the commotion outside, she couldn’t help but lift the curtain and look toward the cliff, where she saw the youth half-crouched among the scrubby trees, his tattered collar fluttering in the wind…

Chapter Three: Doubt Within and Without the Dream

The three assassins, having failed, of course would not leave so easily.

In their haste, they couldn’t tell if there was an ambush behind Eagle’s Beak, and dared not pursue Brian Walker. For now, they held their longbows across their chests and slowly urged their horses toward the cliff.

Whether or not they had seen his face earlier, Henry Smith now tore off a piece of his shirt to cover his face. But just as he reached behind his head to tie it, a sharp arrow whistled straight at his face.

Instinctively, Henry Smith jerked his neck to the side by several inches, feeling a gust of wind brush past his cheek. Then he heard a “thunk” as the arrow struck a pine tree behind him, the shaft still vibrating with a “buzz.”

“What a fast arrow!”

Henry Smith broke out in a cold sweat.

He had practiced martial arts since childhood, but before his mind had cleared, he was always a bit clumsy in everything he did. Aside from his great strength, he could never master complex boxing or sword techniques, and his riding and archery skills were mediocre.

Even after regaining his wits, those deeply buried, unfamiliar memories didn’t instantly transform his skills. But besides being sharper and more perceptive, his eyesight was now far keener than before.

Just now, as he quickly tore off a piece of his shirt to cover his face, his eyes had remained fixed on the assassins. Even if he was a bit distracted, it was only for a split second, yet the lead assassin seized the chance to shoot.

Such astonishing speed and accuracy—Uncle Seventeen himself might not be able to match it.

Henry Smith dared not relax any further and gripped the hatchet at his waist.

He didn’t draw the hatchet immediately, as that would make him appear timid in front of the assassins.

Henry Smith then raised his foot and kicked down a boulder the size of a washbasin, which tumbled noisily down the cliff.

Apart from the gap in the middle, which was just over ten feet wide, the southern ridge of Eagle’s Beak was so steep it was hard to cross even on foot, let alone on horseback; and not far to the north was a gorge nearly thirty yards deep, with the Huai River flowing through it.