Once everyone had reined in their horses, Yilaikesi asked,
"Lucy! What's going on? Where's the enemy?"
Lucy wasted no words and got straight to the point.
"Quick, get me a horse! I'll lead you there. Be ready to fight. There are a lot of them! I'll explain on the way."
After hearing this, Yilaikesi had one of the hunters in the group dismount and hand his horse over to Lucy.
After taking the reins, Lucy entrusted Jerry to the hunter.
"Sorry for the trouble, but could you look after Jerei Turner for now?"
"Don't worry! I'll take good care of the little guy."
Lucy then mounted the horse and led the group toward Li Xing.
While they had been stopped, Alex and his group had caught up from behind. The two groups headed in the same direction, one after the other.
Meanwhile, Li Xing stood on the carriage with his sword in hand, watching the pursuing bandits behind them.
"Aniekra, faster! Try to put some distance between us and them."
As he spoke, Li Xing swung his sword and cut an incoming arrow in two.
"Brother Li Xing, this is as fast as we can go. This horse is a nag; it can't keep this speed up for long!"
Aniekra shouted as she flicked the reins.
"Then keep this speed as long as you can. Even if those bandits catch up, we need to wear them out as much as possible."
He swung his sword again, knocking aside another two arrows that came flying at them.
Just as the bandits were about to catch up, Li Xing heard the sound of hoofbeats behind him.
He turned and saw Lucy and Yilaikesi riding at the front.
Lucy felt instantly relieved when she saw Aniekra driving the carriage. She pointed at the burly men in black standing behind the carriage and shouted,
"Everyone ahead in black is a bandit. Kill!"
The command quickly passed from the front of the mounted group all the way to the rear of Alex's group.
The hunters split into two groups, clearing a path down the middle for Li Xing's carriage.
Then Yilaikesi and Alex led their respective groups toward the bandits, who stood in the middle of the road, stunned with fright, and attacked.
After passing through the mounted hunters, Aniekra brought the carriage to a stop.
Lucy hurried over to the carriage as well.
She dismounted, climbed aboard, and held Aniekra tightly.
Like Lucy, Aniekra wrapped her arms tightly around Lucy's thin body and began to sob.
"Lucy! Lucy! I thought I'd never see you again..."
"We made it in time! We made it in time! You're safe now! Aniekra, you're safe~~"
Beside them, Li Xing noticed that as Lucy comforted Aniekra, her arms trembled slightly around her.
After the two had held each other tightly for a while,
Lucy seemed to realize something. Ignoring Li Xing's presence, she began checking Aniekra's body.
After several embarrassing examinations and questions, Lucy finally confirmed that Li Xing had kept his promise to her.
Ignoring Aniekra, who was covering her blushing face beside her, Lucy turned and embraced Li Xing, trembling as she spoke.
"Thank you, Li Xing! Thank you so much!
Thank you for keeping your word and bringing Aniekra back to me safe and sound, without anything happening to her.
Really!
Thank you!"
Feeling Lucy's excitement, Li Xing guided her down onto a carriage seat.
He stood up and said, "Lucy, relax! I promised you, didn't I? How could I go back on my word?"
Hearing this, Lucy looked up and saw Li Xing standing there with a longsword in hand. She exclaimed,
"You really are much stronger than I imagined."
As far as Lucy had known,
to think Li Xing could save Aniekra at such a critical moment of danger had already been the greatest overestimation of his strength.
But Lucy hadn't expected Li Xing to kill so many people by the river without getting a single speck of blood on himself.
Clearly, Li Xing's swordsmanship had reached a masterful realm, and he might even have surpassed everyone she knew.
A person who possessed such great strength yet remained unknown
made Lucy curious about Li Xing's identity again.
Was Li Xing strong?
In the eyes of Lucy and the other Hunter Town residents, he certainly was!
But if Li Xing himself had to say it, he was nothing but trash!
Especially when he thought about the so-called Orcish Horde, the demon legion, the Burning Legion, and the heavily localized Scourge that would come later.
Before those hostile forces, Li Xing knew that his current combat strength was merely that of an ordinary peasant in a game.
He wasn't even as strong as the experienced peasants and militia who had spent years on the battlefield.
As for why there wasn't a single speck of blood on him?
Of course, all the blood had flown onto his clones! ︿(￣︶￣)︿
When Aniekra heard Lucy praising Li Xing's strength, she, as the person he had rescued, excitedly chimed in.
"Yes! Brother Li Xing is amazing!
Thanks to Brother Li Xing running those scumbags around in circles, we managed to escape the encirclement. If Brother Li Xing hadn't appeared at the critical moment and saved me, I..."
At that point, Aniekra's mood suddenly sank.
She stepped forward, took Li Xing's arm, and raised her tear-streaked face.
With warmth in her eyes, she said to Li Xing beside her,
"Thank you, Brother Li Xing!"
Lucy: ...
Lucy watched the two gazing at each other, her emotions complicated. Leaving aside whether Aniekra's eyes were full of affection, the way she addressed Li Xing alone made Lucy realize something might happen.
Could Aniekra have fallen for Li Xing!?
As the Hunter Town riders charged,
Yilaikesi and Alex killed the burly men in black one by one without the slightest effort!
Watching the hunters begin to clean up the battlefield, Li Xing stood beside the carriage and muttered inwardly, Cavalry really is impressive! Maybe I should...
The moment the thought occurred to him, he thought of the disasters he would face in the future and how they compared with his current strength.
Forget it. I'd better stay alive first!
And so Li Xing stood to one side, watching the Hunter Town cavalry clean up after the battle, just as he had watched excavators at work before transmigrating.
After Yilaikesi and Alex had assigned tasks to their respective groups, they noticed Li Xing watching them and headed over to the carriage to ask what had happened.
"How are you, Li Xing? You look to be in good spirits! Are you interested in the hunter cavalry?"
As Alex spoke, he rode up beside the carriage, leaned down, and whispered in Li Xing's ear.
"Well? There's still a deputy captain's position open in the hunter team I lead.
Come work with me! The deputy captain's position will be yours.
What do you say? Think about it!"
Yilaikesi, who had just arrived, noticed Alex whispering.
"Alex! Dream on.
Everyone can see how strong Li Xing is!
Never mind whether Li Xing would agree. Even if he did, would you dare let him join your team?"
Yilaikesi then gave Alex a light kick and advised Li Xing,
"Don't listen to this kid's boasting. Li Xing, just being Uncle Turner's apprentice is enough for you to get by in Hunter Town.
And with your strength, even being a captain in the town militia would be beneath you. There's no need to listen to Alex's bad idea!"
Li Xing watched the two talk to him from horseback while also teasing each other about their strength.
"All right! I've heard what you both said. With so many people here, there must be another reason the two of you came over, right?
Let's get it said quickly so we can head back sooner."
The two men on horseback exchanged a glance, then began asking Li Xing about how the whole affair had unfolded and its details.
Li Xing then led everyone back to the river and told the hunters present, one by one, what he remembered and the details of his clones' earlier battle.
In short, Li Xing concealed the fact that he had used his clone skill. In recounting the events, he only emphasized how he had used Gale Swordsmanship to swiftly kill the enemies by himself.
After a designated member of the hunter group recorded everything,
all the hunters present revised their assessment of Li Xing's strength once again!
On the way back, one of the hunters drove the carriage while Yilaikesi and Alex listened to Li Xing's detailed account of the battle before the carriage set off, as well as his own ideas about fighting.
The hunters riding guard around them all sucked in a breath of cold air!
To think so calmly in such a dangerous situation, where did this killing god come from! Luckily, he's a member of Hunter Town. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare imagine the consequences.
That was what those curious about Li Xing's strength were thinking.
But for the hunters nearby who were fond of Aniekra, today brought heartbreaking news.
Whenever the hunters passed the carriage, they could see Aniekra sitting close beside Li Xing, her eyes full of love as she looked at him!
As Aniekra's family and friend, Lucy watched and checked for a long time before finally confirming her suspicion.
Aniekra has fallen for Li Xing!