Chapter Thirty-Five: Resolution
Luo Hao awoke from his dreams and sat upright in the carriage. The very first thing he did upon rising was to take up the long blade at his side and begin to polish it meticulously with a handkerchief.
“Zhang San? Zhang San?”
After wiping the blade for a while, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss outside—the silence felt unnatural. He called out for his guard.
There was no reply for some time. Gripping his blade tightly, Luo Hao stepped out of the carriage with a wary expression.
The sight that greeted him sent his blood pressure soaring.
By the campfire, the corpses of every guard and servant in his caravan had been stacked neatly. All the carriages belonging to his caravan, save for his own, had vanished without a trace.
Not only were the wagons laden with goods gone, but so too was the one his daughter had resided in.
Luo Hao approached the campfire and found a line of words scrawled on the ground:
“Thank you for your hospitality and generosity. We’re borrowing your carriages for a while, but rest assured, we won’t be returning them. We also took your daughter—hope you don’t mind. If fate allows, may we never meet again.”
“……”
Luo Hao stared wordlessly at the message before him.
“You won’t get away with this…” he growled through clenched teeth.
……
“Brother, what are you planning to do with Luo Yun?”
As Li Ju drove the carriage onward, Li Yan came up beside him, casting a glance at Luo Yun, who lay unconscious in the back, and asked her brother in a low voice.
“What do you think we should do?” Li Ju replied, his gaze fixed ahead.
“No need to worry about my opinion,” Li Yan said, shaking her head resolutely as she looked at her former playmate. After everything that had happened recently, innocence had long since left her. Family mattered most now, and the fact that Luo Yun’s father had tried to poison them was more than enough for Li Yan to cast aside any lingering affection.
Besides, they had only just become playmates; there was never any deep bond between them.
“When we reach Shimen County, we’ll just drop her off somewhere,” Li Ju said offhandedly.
Since Luo Hao had shown himself to be ruthless and schemed against him, Li Ju felt no compunction about returning the favor. The night before, he’d taken every valuable item from Luo Hao’s caravan, discarded the worthless cargo elsewhere, and had even knocked out Luo Hao’s daughter and taken her with him.
In short, he hadn’t left Luo Hao a single thing.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
Suddenly, the sound of horses’ hooves echoed from afar, growing steadily closer.
“More bandits. Father, you and Yan take the reins. I’ll handle them and be right back.”
Li Ju saw a sizeable group of mounted bandits charging from a distance. Without hesitation, he leapt from the carriage and ran toward them.
After he left, Li Yan and the old carpenter took over driving the carriage, showing no sign of worry.
During their time traversing the wilderness, every bandit they’d encountered had been effortlessly beaten or slaughtered by Li Ju. Without exception. They knew now that Li Ju’s martial skill had reached a level where he regarded such bandits as nothing. They no longer fretted when he faced them, confident he would return victorious as always.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
As the bandits charged, Li Ju plunged straight into their midst. With a single palm strike, several bandits were sent flying from their horses, crashing to the ground.
Swish!
Suddenly, a spear thrust toward him from the side.
Flowing Water Blade Technique!
Bang!
Li Ju drew his long blade from his waist and struck the shaft of the spear, knocking it aside.
“An external-style master?” Li Ju looked with mild surprise at the bandit wielding the spear. Even among the wild plains, such martial experts were rare.
This spear-wielding bandit was only the second external-style master he’d encountered outside of the chief of Liumu Village.
“Sir, the target is engaged with a member of the Gray-Clad Bandits.”
“What’s the situation?”
“He’s in a deadlock with an external-style expert from the Gray-Clad Bandits.”
“All units, move out. The moment he shows a single weakness—kill him!”
Clang! The blade and spear clashed again, sparks flying.
Li Ju, seizing the thrill of combat, refrained from using his supreme Ghost Bat Technique, content to test his newly acquired Flowing Water Blade Technique against the bandit’s spear.
He had no desire to kill, only to try out this technique on a worthy opponent.
After trading dozens of blows, Li Ju stood unscathed, while the bandit bore several fresh wounds.
With a slight smile, Li Ju said, “Enough, I won’t waste any more time on you. I need to reach Shimen County soon.”
With his opponent watching warily, Li Ju casually planted his blade in the earth.
“Now, with this next move…”
He stretched his arms.
Whoosh!!!
Suddenly, several arrows whistled toward Li Ju from the left.
Bang!!!
To his right, three figures burst from the ground.
Swish!!!
Behind him, a man with a long blade charged at blinding speed, aiming a lethal thrust at Li Ju’s heart.
But Li Ju’s figure shimmered and vanished, leaving only an afterimage as the arrows pierced the spot where he’d just stood.
Bang!!!
Splat!!!
Li Ju reappeared behind one of the attackers and, with a single palm strike, shattered the man’s chest. He crumpled to the ground.
“Three external-style experts, one at the peak. And that attire… You’re from Yangyuan County, aren’t you…”
“You people are truly like ghosts that won’t rest.”
Casting a cold look at the black-clad men—his mortal enemies—Li Ju’s eyes turned icy. These were the only ones he truly could not tolerate; they had to be exterminated.
“Retreat,” the leader of the black-clad men commanded, shaken to the core after seeing Li Ju kill a fellow master with a single blow.
This was no ordinary external-style expert as the reports had claimed. Not even those at the pinnacle could kill so easily. This man was at least invincible in the external styles!
“Think you can escape…?” Li Ju sneered at their attempted retreat.
His Ghost Bat Technique was unmatched in speed.
Splat!!!
Blood sprayed high into the air. Minutes later, Li Ju had finished off all the black-clad men. Wiping the blood from his face, he smiled at the spear-wielding bandit, who was staring at him in terror.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll make it quick for you…”
Clang.
The long spear fell to the ground.
The bandit raised his hands high in surrender.