On the carriage.
Because Aniekra had resisted, the bandit leader had been forced to tie her hands to a post on the carriage.
With her hands bound, Aniekra pleaded in despair.
"Please, don't do this."
The beauty lay on the carriage, tears in her eyes as she pleaded with him.
For a moment, the bandit leader's sense of conquest was greatly satisfied. But for a scumbag like him, that satisfaction was merely an appetizer before he enjoyed the "delicacy."
"Don't worry, beauty. I'll take good care of you."
As he spoke, he climbed on top of Aniekra, ready to enjoy the rare beauty before him.
Seeing that the bandit leader was about to rape her, Aniekra began to struggle fiercely.
But to the bandits watching, her feeble resistance was both enticing and laughable.
Am I going to lose my virginity?
The question suddenly surfaced in her mind.
But when the girl thought of how she had yet to experience the beauty of love, she became even more determined to resist.
"Don't! Don't!
Don't do this.
Lucy, save me!
Lucy!
Li Xing!
Jerry!
Save me!
Someone save me!
I'm here,
please, hurry and save me!"
Aniekra's desperate cries rang through the entire forest.
Meanwhile, the bandit leader looked at the enticing body beneath him and tried to tear away Aniekra's troublesome clothes.
He pulled hard!
"Huh? What kind of fabric is this? It's so tough!"
As the bandit puzzled over it, a figure dropped from the sky and landed squarely on the carriage.
That figure was none other than one of the people the woman had called for—Li Xing!
As soon as Li Xing landed, he swung his blade and cut the ropes binding Aniekra's wrists.
Then he spun around and kicked!
He sent the bandit leader flying off the carriage, then quickly gathered Aniekra into his arms and comforted her softly.
"I'm here, Aniekra."
Only when she heard Li Xing's voice and caught the familiar milky scent on his body did Aniekra hurriedly hold him tight. At that moment, the tears welling in her eyes finally spilled uncontrollably down her face.
The sudden upheaval left Aniekra unable to compose herself.
The bandits watching nearby were dumbfounded.
Like little kids, their minds were full of question marks.
What happened? Where did this guy come from? How did the boss end up lying over there?
It couldn't be helped. Everything had happened far too quickly!
One second, the black-clad bandits had been watching their boss "tease" her, eagerly fantasizing about what they would do when their own turns came.
The next, they saw a blur drop down, and their boss, who had been so excited a moment ago, was sent flying by a kick and lay motionless.
The sudden turn of events left the bandits wanting to say something, but not knowing where to begin.
Only when one of the black-clad bandits noticed that the leader who had fallen from the carriage had been decapitated did he shout:
"The boss is dead!? Look, the boss is dead!"
Only then did the black-clad bandits look at their leader lying beneath the carriage.
They saw their boss looking at them with a puzzled expression, while blood spurted from the severed stump of his neck toward his head as his body twitched from time to time. His head and body had indeed been separated.
At the sight, the bandits all drew sharp breaths.
Li Xing ignored the shock of the bandits around him.
As he comforted Aniekra in his arms, he noticed a signal firework visible inside Lucy's bag in the corner of the carriage.
Without hesitation, Li Xing picked up the firework, pulled the cord, and sent it into the sky!
"Sister Lucy, look!"
The two had swum across the river but found no sign of Li Xing. The clearing on the riverbank held only a few bodies left behind by the bandits.
Suddenly, a signal firework shot straight up from the forest and burst in the sky before them.
Seeing it, Lucy assessed Li Xing's current situation.
Realizing something, Lucy hurriedly led Jerry along the river toward the main road.
"Hurry, Jerry.
What your big brother Li Xing needs right now isn't the two of us, but help from the hunter patrols in town.
Let's hurry to town and bring them over!
Every second sooner they arrive is a second sooner he and Aniekra can escape danger!"
At that moment!
The residents near the western side of Hunter Town also saw the firework emblazoned across the sky outside town.
Then the militiamen keeping watch from the heights rang the town's alarm bell.
The signal firework's explosion sent all of Hunter Town swiftly preparing for battle!
Drawn by the bell, Yilaikesi and many other hunters rushed out of the tavern.
The hunters arrived at the town's west gate, not far from the tavern.
They asked, "What's going on? Tell me, who's on duty?"
The hunter leading the guards there hurriedly explained.
"Someone fired one of the town's signal fireworks a short distance west of the bridge. We figured they'd run into enemies, so we rang the alarm bell first, as planned!"
Hearing that the town wasn't under attack, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
But Yilaikesi asked the people on duty,
"Who left town earlier and still hasn't come back? Quickly, tell me!"
In response, the hunter on duty, who had a deep impression of Hunter Town's "Twin Blossoms," told them that Li Xing's group had yet to return!
When the hunters heard that Lucy and Aniekra might have come to harm, the relief they had just felt vanished in an instant!
"Alex! Keep your squad stationed here. I'll take mine to see what's going on first!"
With that, Yilaikesi led his squad toward their horses.
"Wait, Yilaikesi. No, I'm going too."
Alex followed close behind, leading his own squad toward where their horses were kept.
As for the others, some went to report to Uncle Turner, while others ran to their posts as planned.
In short, Hunter Town was thoroughly busy now!
As the bells of Hunter Town grew louder, their sound carried across the river and through the forest to the carriage.
The ringing made Li Xing breathe a sigh of relief, and it also brought Aniekra out of her daze in his arms.
She felt the rapid beating of Li Xing's heart in his chest beside her ear.
Aniekra understood that Li Xing had only just saved her; she was not yet out of danger.
Li Xing noticed Aniekra's breathing gradually slow in his arms.
He whispered in her ear, "Stay behind me. Don't stray too far!"
Then Li Xing stood up and shouted at the black-clad bandits.
"I'll say it again.
Anyone who steps forward dies!"
By now, after Li Xing's arrival, their leader's death, the signal firework, the ringing alarm bell, and his final warning,
the bandits finally came to their senses!
One of them recognized Li Xing.
"Brat! It's you?"
As he spoke, he made the same taunting beheading gesture at Li Xing that he had used before.
But Li Xing ignored him.
He simply pointed his sword at the headless corpse on the ground.
Without saying a word, he dealt a heavy blow to the bandits' morale.
Suddenly, Li Xing endured a few pangs of discomfort and quickly regained his calm expression.
Li Xing realized that his clone had just died.
It had been killed by an arrow.
Enduring the pain transmitted from his clone,
Li Xing shouted again, "I'll say it one more time. Anyone who steps forward dies!"
The bandits surrounding them looked at their leader beneath the carriage, and their hearts trembled.