He walked over to Feng Kui’s corpse, crouched down, and rummaged inside his robes for a moment.
A few silver banknotes, a small pouch of loose silver, and a bottle of Elixir.
Lin Yan glanced at the label on the bottle: Bone Tempering Pill.
He uncorked it and took a sniff. Unfortunately, its main ingredient was leopard bone. ’This pill... I have no use for it now.’
He wouldn’t take it himself, but he could still sell it to an apothecary.
He unceremoniously tucked it into his own robes. Lin Yan then walked over to Ma Xiong’s corpse and repeated the process.
Ma Xiong had a few more silver banknotes on him than Feng Kui, totaling over five hundred taels. In addition, a thin booklet lay on a long table to one side.
Lin Yan stepped forward, picked it up, and began to flip through its pages. His eyes grew brighter the more he read. The booklet wasn’t large, but it was densely packed with information on the major families and factions of Qing State. It was also filled with numerous annotations. Though the handwriting was ugly, it was neat, showing that a great deal of effort had gone into collecting this intelligence.
’Good stuff.’
Lin Yan tucked the booklet into his robes. This would be a great help for understanding the situation in Qing State.
Done searching the corpses, Lin Yan stood up. Just as he was about to head toward the back of Juyi Hall to look for other valuables, a sudden burst of frantic footsteps echoed from the entrance.
"Village Chief, what’s happened?"
A dozen or so bandits brandishing blades and spears charged in. A brutish, fleshy-faced man led the charge, rushing ahead of the others.
Then, he saw the two corpses on the floor.
His steps came to a sudden halt. The anxiety on his face froze, replaced by utter disbelief. His pupils dilated, his lips trembled, and a guttural sound gurgled in his throat, but he couldn’t speak a single word.
The bandits behind him caught up, crowding the doorway and the hall. Dozens of pairs of eyes fell in unison upon the two corpses on the floor.
In Juyi Hall, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The Great Village Chief was dead.
The Second Village Chief was dead, too.
The two Village Chiefs, both at the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, lay there in pools of their own blood. One had his throat slit, the other had his chest pierced. Their eyes remained wide open, unable to rest in peace.
Lin Yan stood between the two corpses, his longsword hanging at his side, the blood on its tip still wet.
He raised his head, his calm gaze sweeping over the bandits at the door.
"Vil... Village Chief..."
It was unclear who spoke first. The voice was trembling, as if forced from their throat.
The brutish man in the lead finally snapped back to his senses. His face flushed crimson as he glared at Lin Yan, his grip on his long saber tightening with an audible creak.
’I was just trying to show my loyalty, so I charged in first. Now this man in white has his eyes on me. He’ll probably come for me first.’
’Besides, even if I wanted to turn and run, I can’t. My brothers are all behind me, blocking any chance of retreat.’
Unable to flee, the brutish man swallowed hard. His only option was to fight. He abruptly raised his saber and roared to the bandits behind him:
"Brothers! This man killed the Great Village Chief and the Second Village Chief! There are so many of us! Let’s attack together and avenge them! When we’re done, the treasures in the stronghold’s vault will be all ours!"
His words were like a needle, piercing the frozen atmosphere in the hall.
The dozen or so bandits exchanged glances. Some tightened their grips on their weapons, while others shuffled back half a step. But most were swayed by the promise of "attack together" and "vault."
They were facing just one man, and Juyi Hall wasn’t that big. If they all attacked at once, he would have nowhere to run.
Two fists are no match for four hands; even a great warrior can be overwhelmed by a crowd.
"Charge!"
"Avenge the Chiefs!"
A few of the bolder bandits were the first to charge, their blades flashing as they rushed straight for Lin Yan.
Lin Yan moved.
He unleashed the Smoke-Stepping Technique, his form becoming as ephemeral as a wisp of smoke, weaving between the glinting blades.
His longsword left its sheath. The flash of the blade was like a silk thread, its trajectory almost too fast to see.
One strike.
The man at the head of the charge faltered. He looked down at the blood blooming on his chest as his eyes quickly lost focus, and then he collapsed to the ground.
With the second strike, the third bandit to charge forward fell, clutching his throat as blood gushed between his fingers.
The third strike, the fourth...
In just a few breaths, five more corpses lay on the ground.
None could stand before the flash of his blade.
The remaining bandits were utterly terrified.
"Run!"
It’s unclear who screamed it first, but the cry jolted the rest of the men from their stupor. They turned to flee, dropping their weapons as they pushed, shoved, and scrambled over one another in a desperate race for the gate.
Lin Yan didn’t stop.
He raised his sword and gave chase.
’Since I’ve made my move, I can’t leave any loose ends.’
’These mountain bandits spend their days burning, killing, and pillaging. They’ve committed countless evil deeds. There’s no injustice in them dying by my hand.’
Soon, screams echoed through the mountains, one after another, gradually fading into the distance.

Comments

Loading...