Interrogating the Horse Bandit Leader

Interrogating the Horse Bandit Leader

"Kill them! Don't let a single one of these horse bandits escape!"

Zhou Shan took the lead, charging at the very front.

The Black Scale Horse beneath him stood over two meters tall, nearly two and a half meters in height. Black scales covered its entire body like a layer of heavy armor, and it charged with astonishing speed.

Bang bang bang bang—

Faced with the Black Armored Army's charge, the horse bandits were like ordinary people standing before a speeding carriage, utterly incapable of resisting. Some who had yet to react were sent flying at once.

Even those horse bandits who had already mounted their horses were smashed into a chaotic heap of men and mounts.

Horse bandits lay scattered across the ground, letting out miserable wails. Their bones were broken, their tendons torn, and blood poured from their mouths.

Moreover, before the Crimson Flame Horses ridden by the Black Armored Army and Zhou Shan's Black Scale Horse, these ordinary warhorses trembled from the depths of their souls. One after another, they collapsed to the ground, too terrified to move.

Even the Crimson Flame Horses ridden by the Black Armored Army possessed Demonic Beast bloodlines.

Before Demonic Beasts, these ordinary warhorses were like mice seeing cats. It was a natural suppression of soul and bloodline, a fear carved into their very bones.

As they charged, the Black Armored Army drew their weapons.

Some wielded spears, some twin swords, some long sabers... They stabbed and hacked at the horse bandits around them. Before the disciplined Black Armored Army, these bandits had not the slightest ability to resist and could only stretch out their necks to be slaughtered.

In a single charge, half of the several hundred horse bandits were dead or wounded.

"Aaah!"

"No!"

"Save me..."

One horse bandit after another screamed miserably.

"Run!"

Seeing this, the horse bandit leader immediately abandoned his men and fled alone.

Though he was a First-class Martial Artist, the dreadful momentum of the Black Armored Army's charge had robbed him of any courage to keep fighting. Besides, he recognized the Black Scale Horse beneath Zhou Shan.

Only captains in the Black Armored Army were qualified to ride Black Scale Horses.

Though they were both First-class Martial Artists, Black Armored Army captains were generally peak First-class Martial Artists.

"Sir of the Black Armored Army, the horse bandit leader is running!"

Seeing the horse bandit leader flee, Young Master Zhang did not dare pursue him, but he shouted loudly.

"Trying to run?"

Zhou Shan snorted coldly and immediately gave chase.

Seeing Zhou Shan pursue him, the horse bandit leader immediately veered away from the main road and ran into the dense forest.

On the main road, unless a First-class Martial Artist had cultivated a movement technique, there was no way he could outrun a Black Scale Horse. Only by entering the forest and using its thick vegetation could he find a sliver of hope.

Once Zhou Shan rode into the forest, his speed was indeed greatly affected.

"You can't escape!"

Zhou Shan planted one foot on the horse's back and used the force to launch himself toward the fleeing horse bandit leader.

Eagle Pounces on Rabbit!

At that moment, Zhou Shan was like a soaring eagle swooping down upon prey on the ground, incomparably swift.

"Die!"

Seeing that he could not evade, the horse bandit leader drew his long saber. A dazzling blade flashed through the air as he slashed at the oncoming Zhou Shan.

Clang—

Zhou Shan caught the long saber with five fingers, producing the sound of metal striking metal. With a burst of strength from his fingers, he shattered the saber into pieces.

At the same time, his body landed on the ground.

Whoosh—

Just then, the horse bandit leader raised his left hand, and a series of concealed arrows immediately shot from his sleeve.

At such close range, even Zhou Shan had no way to dodge.

Golden Bell Shield!

Zhou Shan circulated the Golden Bell Shield with all his strength. Vast Internal Force surged from his body, condensing into a golden bell around his surface.

Clang clang clang clang clang—

Five concealed arrows shot out in succession, but all were blocked by the protective golden bell.

Furthermore, the protective golden bell unleashed a force of rebound, sending all five arrows flying away.

Stone Shattering Fist!

The horse bandit leader immediately threw away the saber hilt in his hand, then pushed his cultivation to its utmost limit. The muscles across his body knotted and bulged, his eyes widened in fury, and his fists smashed toward Zhou Shan like iron hammers.

Zhou Shan's expression did not change as he faced the horse bandit leader's attack. The golden bell protected his body; when the other man's fists struck him, a clang rang out, and a terrifying rebounding force immediately sent the man stumbling backward again and again.

Then Zhou Shan lunged forward in a single stride and viciously slammed his palm into the horse bandit leader's chest.

Boom—

The horse bandit leader was immediately blasted backward, crashing into a large tree behind him and shaking down countless leaves.

"Pfft!"

The horse bandit leader fell to the ground, blood continually gushing from his mouth.

Zhou Shan stepped forward, grabbed the horse bandit leader, and lifted him up. He asked coldly, "I have a few questions for you. If you don't want to suffer, answer them truthfully, and I can give you a quick death."

"Otherwise, I'll make you endure every punishment in this world."

"W-what... questions?"

the horse bandit leader asked weakly.

"Every time, you know exactly when and which routes the merchant caravans of Ye County take when leaving the county seat, allowing you to ambush them along the road. Is someone in Ye County feeding you information?"

Zhou Shan asked.

"Yes!"

The horse bandit leader did not deny it.

"Who?"

Zhou Shan continued.

"The Iron Palm Gang of Ye County."

the horse bandit leader answered.

"The Iron Palm Gang?"

Hearing this, Zhou Shan's brows furrowed slightly.

He knew a little about Ye County as well.

Qingyang Commandery had twenty-five counties: six large counties and nineteen small ones.

Ye County was one of the nineteen small counties. Aside from the three great families—the Ye Family, Zhang Family, and Liu Family—the Iron Palm Gang was the strongest force there, with First-class Martial Artists stationed within it.

"Why would the Iron Palm Gang feed you information?"

Zhou Shan asked in a deep voice.

"Cough, cough, cough... This began half a month ago..."

The horse bandit leader seemed to know that death was unavoidable, so there was no need to conceal anything. Even if he died, he could drag a few others down with him. Thus, he truthfully explained the whole matter.

After hearing the horse bandit leader's account, Zhou Shan roughly understood what had happened.

Half a month ago, horse bandits who had drifted into Ye County from elsewhere encountered the Iron Palm Gang's leader, who had disguised himself as a mountain bandit to rob wealthy merchants in the towns and villages. The horse bandits had wanted to rob the robbers, and a conflict broke out between them.

In the end, the horse bandit leader was no match for the Iron Palm Gang's leader.

However, the Iron Palm Gang's leader had not killed him. Instead, he used poison to control him and made him rob merchant caravans from Ye County.

With the Iron Palm Gang passing them information, these horse bandits had been able to carry out precise ambushes along the routes of those merchant caravans.

"So that's how it was!"

Zhou Shan nodded, understanding the situation.

Although the Iron Palm Gang had First-class Martial Artists and was the strongest force in Ye County after the three great families, the three families had been rooted in Ye County for many years and each possessed its own industries. The Iron Palm Gang, meanwhile, had risen only a little over a decade ago. In terms of foundation, it could not compare to Ye County's three great families at all.

The various trades of Ye County—restaurants, gambling houses, brothels, cloth shops, jewelry stores, escort agencies, martial halls, and the like—were essentially occupied by the three great families. The Iron Palm Gang could only rely mainly on collecting protection fees, or take on dirty and exhausting work such as lending money and collecting debts.

Thus, the Iron Palm Gang had conceived crooked intentions and disguised themselves as mountain bandits to rob wealthy merchants in towns and villages.

After gaining control of this group of horse bandits, the Iron Palm Gang had gone even further, making them rob every merchant caravan in Ye County. Even the caravans of the three great families were not spared; they robbed them all the same.