Desperate Counterattack!

The mist drifted past and gradually dispersed, and visibility rapidly increased.

Qin Ming shielded Li Shengnan behind him. In the distance, a few dying screams could faintly be heard.

The bandits of Clearwind Stronghold had laid deadly traps all around, and most of those who fled had died beneath a flurry of blades.

"Little Junior Brother! Go, quickly! You still have a chance to escape with your life. Don't worry about me!"

Li Shengnan was panting heavily, her vision a blur. She knew that if Qin Ming brought a burden like her along, their last sliver of hope for escape would be gone.

"Escape? Where can you escape to?"

The bandits of Clearwind Stronghold swiftly closed in, a dark mass of bodies.

"Kill this brat, and hand the woman over to the boss. That'll be a major contribution!"

Two saber-wielding bandits exchanged a glance, then slashed fiercely at the back of Qin Ming's head.

Slice—

Without even turning his head, Qin Ming flashed his pig-slaying saber. Two heads rolled to the ground.

Another ten points!

"This brat's saber is fast! Everyone except the Martial Artists, fall back!"

Someone among the bandits shouted.

"Quick, loose the arrows! Shoot him dead!"

"No, we might kill the woman by mistake! Use poison powder!"

Powders of every color came raining down on Qin Ming's head and face.

Others flung out ropes and iron chains, with their other ends tied to horses' tails. They meant to snare Qin Ming's limbs and tear him apart with five horses.

These bandits had spent years licking blood from the edge of a blade and had long since worked out ways to wear Martial Artists down and kill them. Their methods were especially effective against Skin Refining Realm Martial Artists.

Once a Martial Artist reached the Flesh Refining Realm, even a dozen or so people hacking at him with sabers would have trouble wounding his body.

Qin Ming turned the pig-slaying saber in his hand, and a flash of steel swept past, severing every rope.

The bandits had already seen how formidable Qin Ming's pig-slaying saber was, so they did not dare approach rashly.

Suddenly, Qin Ming's head swam. His limbs went weak and heavy, and he could muster no strength.

He had been poisoned!

But he had clearly been holding his breath.

"Hahaha, the brat's been hit! Everyone, get him!"

A dozen or so cleavers hacked viciously down at Qin Ming's head, the whistle of blades cutting through the air clear in his ears.

If they landed, even a Martial Artist like Qin Ming would not be able to withstand more than a few blows.

"Junior Brother!"

Li Shengnan dimly sensed that Qin Ming was in danger and reached about wildly with both hands.

Just as the bandits thought Qin Ming was certain to die, he abruptly raised his head, a trace of a cruel smile on his lips.

"You've fallen for it!"

Slice—

The pig-slaying saber in Qin Ming's hand became death's scythe, reaping four lives in an instant.

Boom—

Qin Ming's whole body jolted. A mysterious force surged from his dantian and coursed through his body, and he could clearly feel his strength increase by a considerable amount!

[Life-Bound Martial Art: Pig-Slaying Saber Technique (1/1000), major mastery]

[Pig-Slaying Saber Technique bonus: while wielding a pig-slaying saber, attack speed increased by 30%, force deflection by 20%, Fire Poison damage by 10%]

Judging from the panel alone, the Pig-Slaying Saber Technique's breakthrough to major mastery seemed to have added only another 10% to his attack speed. Yet Qin Ming could clearly feel that his body had undergone some unknown change.

Before, he could only make out the fascia of living creatures as a blur. Now they were incomparably clear. When he focused his attention, the fascia on these men in black had nowhere to hide from his eyes, and countless experiences of slaughtering pigs flooded into his mind. Qin Ming felt as though he had been slaughtering pigs for decades, and the pig-slaying saber in his hand had become a part of his body, inseparable from him.

At that moment, the pig-slaying saber moved in his hand as readily as his own arm, and became even more eerie and unpredictable.

As the blade flashed and turned, a dozen or so bandits around him clutched their necks, blood gushing wildly as their bodies fell in a row.

Qin Ming's face was expressionless.

The Pig-Slaying Saber Technique's major mastery had extinguished the last trace of pity he held for humanity. In his eyes, these people were now no different from hogs. Each rise and fall of his saber sent severed limbs and mangled bodies flying, blood pouring like a fountain.

"Loose the arrows! Quick, loose the arrows!"

The remaining bandits were both shocked and terrified, and threw Bloodhand's instructions to the back of their minds. Their only thought now was to kill Qin Ming and stay alive.

"Die!"

Qin Ming took the offensive. He stamped off the ground and shot forward like a cannonball, the earth beneath his feet exploding with a boom.

A dozen or so arrows flew through the mist, accidentally wounding several bandits, yet none so much as touched the hem of Qin Ming's clothes.

Using the thick fog to conceal himself, Qin Ming swept through like a gale. Bandits fell in swaths wherever he passed, each killed with a single stroke.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, most of the surrounding bandits had been killed.

Only the last two Late Skin-Refining Realm bandits remained.

But even they were no match for Qin Ming's Pig-Slaying Saber Technique at major mastery. A few breaths later, they were on their knees, clutching their necks.

"Little Junior Brother! Little Junior Brother, are you all right?"

Hearing the surroundings fall quiet, Li Shengnan called out at once.

"I'm all right, Senior Sister."

Qin Ming slung Li Shengnan over his shoulder and carried her to the luxurious carriage transporting the goods.

The chest containing the goods had already been opened. Inside were two things.

A martial arts manual and a Blood Ginseng half a foot long and blood-red from end to end!

"It really is a spirit herb!"

Qin Ming suppressed his excitement and tucked the Blood Ginseng into his robes. Then he picked up the martial arts manual and opened it.

"Swimming Dragon Step."

It was actually a movement technique manual!

Qin Ming's heart jolted.

Movement techniques were even scarcer than body-tempering martial arts, at least as rare if not more so. Mastering a martial technique merely increased one's combat strength, but a movement technique could be used to advance and attack or retreat and flee. Movement techniques rarely appeared on the market, and even incomplete ones were worth a great deal!

Just the name of this manual, "Swimming Dragon Step," sounded extraordinary!

Qin Ming immediately stuffed the manual into his robes. The danger had not yet passed, and there was no time to read it.

"Senior Sister, I'll get you out of here first!"

"Hyah!"

Qin Ming lashed the horse's back hard and drove it into a headlong flight. He also kicked the empty chest off the carriage.

"Little bastard!"

Not far away, Bloodhand saw the scene and his eyes nearly split with fury.

Not only had all the men he brought been killed, but Qin Ming had also taken the spirit herb, the martial arts manual, and Li Shengnan.

He had lost his wife and his soldiers too!

Li Kui burst into loud laughter, coughing up blood all the while. "Bloodhand, so your day has come too!"

"Viper, I'll leave him to you. I'm going after that brat!"

Bloodhand said through gritted teeth.

"He's been struck by my snake venom. He won't live much longer. Go!"

Viper nodded.

Li Kui's face had turned ashen; clearly, the poison had already penetrated deep into his lungs and internal organs.

As they spoke, Bloodhand mounted a horse and rode after Qin Ming.

"Little bastard, stop right there!"

"Hyah!"

One chased and the other fled, and they soon burst out of the dense forest.

The thick fog dispersed and the official road opened up. The horse carrying Qin Ming and Li Shengnan was still pulling the carriage, so it was slower than Bloodhand's. The distance between them began to shrink rapidly.

"Little bastard, looks like you can't escape!"

Bloodhand laughed wildly. He swore that once he caught Qin Ming, he would hack the hateful brat into eight pieces to vent the hatred in his heart!

"Senior Sister, hold tight!"

Qin Ming took a deep breath and moved Li Shengnan behind him, then cut the carriage traces with a single stroke.

Without the carriage, the two of them picked up considerable speed, but the distance between them and Bloodhand continued to shrink slowly. Qin Ming took out his greatbow and reached into his quiver for a bamboo arrow.

He turned and drew the bow.

"Whoosh!"

The bamboo arrow flew over Bloodhand's head.

That brat's archery is incredibly accurate!

Bloodhand was alarmed.

An ordinary Mid-Stage Skin-Refining Realm Martial Artist would never have been able to dodge that arrow!

Seeing Bloodhand evade it, Qin Ming fired several more arrows in succession, but all of them missed.

Qin Ming thought it a pity. If Bloodhand had been hit by an arrow, even if it only grazed him, then once the centipede poison spread, he and Senior Sister might have had a chance to escape.

The two of them were now racing toward Qingshan Town, but they could not reach it in a short time. It would take at least until daybreak.

We'll be safe once we reach Qingshan Town. The magistrate's office and Master are both there. Bloodhand definitely won't dare enter the town!

"Hyah!"

One chased and the other fled. Whenever Bloodhand drew close, Qin Ming would shoot an arrow and force him to slow down.

After this happened several times, Bloodhand grew increasingly irritable.

"Little bastard, do you really think I'm afraid of those lousy arrows?"

Bloodhand squeezed his legs hard. The horse beneath him strained and let out a mournful whinny as its speed suddenly increased.

Twenty zhang, ten zhang, five zhang!

As the distance closed, Bloodhand abruptly rose and stomped hard on the horse's head. With a bang, its head exploded, spraying countless scraps of flesh across the ground. Bloodhand himself leaped into the air and swooped down like a hunting eagle, straight at Qin Ming and Li Shengnan!

Propelled by that stomp, Bloodhand's speed increased greatly. His palms turned blood-red and, bearing a thick killing aura of Blood Sha, struck straight at the back of Qin Ming's head. Fierce wind swept along their path, sending dead leaves flying on both sides of the road.

At that critical moment, Qin Ming abruptly turned around, three arrows already poised to fly from his greatbow.

Twang—

With a soft hum, the bowstring trembled, and all three arrows shot forth at once.