Hou's warning didn't give them much time to make arrangements but it was enough to ensure that both Xiong Dahuo and Su Xiang had a weapon handy and for Wu Ling to take a position alongside Yue at the point he felt like the approaching men were most likely to emerge from the forest. While he considered making more overt defensive arrangements, ultimately he abandoned the notions as too likely to fail, or worse, to further escalate tensions.
While Wu Ling had no intention of allowing their group to be bullied if he could prevent it, he was deeply aware of how many of them were still recovering from injuries. If they needed to fight their way out, he'd create the best conditions possible, but he hoped that it wouldn't be necessary.
