Miejue had apparently not expected Gu Shao'an's train of thought to be so bizarre, nor his reaction to be so quick. He had immediately realized that she had been secretly listening when he and Zhou Zhiruo spoke of killing beneath the night sky that day.
Both amused and annoyed, Miejue lightly smacked Gu Shao'an on the head.
"Just a coincidence. How was that eavesdropping?"
After replying to Gu Shao'an, Miejue stepped up to the stronghold gate. True energy surged within her as she suddenly thrust out her palm, blasting apart the gate made of thick wooden stakes and sending dust flying everywhere.
Though the gate had been destroyed, Miejue remained perfectly calm. With one hand behind her back, she turned toward Ding Minjun.
After handing her sword to Zhou Zhiruo, Ding Minjun untied the sheepskin waterskin at her waist. She then took a burning stick from the brazier used to light the entrance and walked into the stronghold.
Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo, who was standing on tiptoe, watched as Ding Minjun poured the liquid from the waterskin onto a house near the gate and touched it with the burning stick. The building immediately erupted into roaring flames.
Only then did Zhou Zhiruo realize that the waterskin contained no water at all. It was clearly tung oil for starting fires.
Watching Ding Minjun set the fire, Zhou Zhiruo nudged Gu Shao'an with her elbow and whispered, "Junior Brother, aren't we here to wipe out bandits? Why are we setting fires?"
Gu Shao'an explained, "Master probably wants to use the fire to draw out the bandits in the stronghold and their three martial-arts-skilled leaders. At the same time, she's using the flames to signal the other shijie and Martial Uncles waiting in secret."
"I see!"
Understanding dawned on Zhou Zhiruo's face as she looked at Gu Shao'an. "Junior Brother, you're so smart. Master and Second Senior Sister didn't even say anything, yet you understood their purpose."
Gu Shao'an smiled. "Shijie simply lacks experience. Once you've gone through more things, you'll understand these matters too."
As they spoke, Ding Minjun returned to Miejue and the others.
Every building in this stronghold was made of wood.
Fed by the tung oil, the blaze quickly grew fierce. Savage tongues of fire greedily licked at the connected wooden houses, illuminating the area around the gate as brightly as day.
Thick smoke billowed upward, carrying sparks into the air and carving savage, twisted trails beneath the pitch-black sky.
"Fire! There's a fire!"
"Put it out!"
Chaotic cries, like cold water thrown into boiling oil, instantly shattered the night's silence over the mountain stronghold!
Shadows rushed in from every corner, charging toward the gate.
Most of the Mountain Bandits were half-dressed. Some were even bare-chested, their faces lit by the flames and filled with astonishment.
After snapping back to their senses, they hurriedly cried out as they searched for anything that could hold water.
Like a nest of hornets that had been disturbed, they buzzed and surged toward the brightest flames.
Yet when they rushed close and saw the few figures standing imposingly before the shattered gate, their fierce momentum could not help but falter.
Those capable of becoming Mountain Bandits might not have been especially clever, but they certainly were not fools.
Today's fire had come far too strangely, and several figures had suddenly appeared outside the stronghold.
Ding Minjun, Gu Shao'an, and Zhou Zhiruo were all armed.
Anyone could see that these two adults and two children had not merely wandered to the stronghold after getting lost late at night.
Without saying a word to the bandits, Miejue leaped into the air like an eagle and charged straight into their midst.
Ding Minjun drew her sword and followed close behind.
Miejue's inner force had already transformed into true energy, and she had steeped herself in Emei martial arts for thirty years. Her strength was self-evident.
As Miejue rushed into the bandit crowd, her movement technique flowed like a swimming dragon. Her palms danced, creating a sky full of palm shadows.
Her opening move was Immortal Caresses My Crown, the most lethal technique of Golden Summit Cotton Palm.
In a single exchange, seven Mountain Bandits were struck by Miejue's palms, their skulls smashed to pieces.
Though these Mountain Bandits were usually vicious, that was only when dealing with ordinary people.
When had they ever encountered an expert like Miejue, so bloodthirsty and ruthless in her attacks?
One sharper-witted bandit called over three others beside him. They skirted around Miejue and instead charged toward Gu Shao'an.
They had indeed set their sights on Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo, the two who looked weak, helpless, and pitiful by the stronghold gate.
Yet as the four bandits charged toward Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo, Miejue merely swept them a glance from the corner of her eye and called out, "Shao'an, protect Zhiruo."
"Got it!"
Gu Shao'an answered casually.
"Shijie, keep up!" His voice was short and sharp. Zhou Zhiruo's heart tightened. Taking a deep breath, she gripped her wooden sword and hurried after him!
At the same moment, Gu Shao'an circulated his inner force through the route of Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon. With a tap of his foot, he shot forward.
Though he was only a child, he was several times faster than those bandits.
Seeing Gu Shao'an move, Zhou Zhiruo felt a flicker of fear, but she still gripped her wooden sword and stepped forward.
Seeing Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo charge at them rather than retreat, the four bandits revealed vicious grins.
The leader even raised his saber and slashed at Gu Shao'an.
The blade howled through the air! Gu Shao'an's expression remained calm as his speed increased rather than slowed.
At the critical instant, his waist twisted strangely like a nimble snake, and his sword rose with the motion.
The sword in his hand suddenly became a cold flash of light that skimmed low across the ground—precise and swift.
Sshk!
The icy blade viciously stabbed into the exposed area beneath the man's right ribs, revealed as he swung his saber.
Gu Shao'an flicked his wrist, turning the blade embedded in the bandit's body once before violently pulling it free.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed in an instant!
The bandit's vicious grin froze, becoming agony and bewilderment.
Before the bandit could howl in pain, however, a glint of cold light suddenly swept across his neck.
Congratulations, player, for killing a mountain bandit. Achievement Points +5.
After slitting his throat, Gu Shao'an did not even spare a glance for the notification that had appeared before him.
Inner force flooded his feet. He stomped down, and his entire body became a whirlwind charging in reverse, pouncing toward the three bandits rushing at Zhou Zhiruo from the left!
Seeing Gu Shao'an kill a man in an instant before rushing at them like a ghost, the three were terrified out of their wits.
One instinctively raised his saber to block, while another tried to retreat.
Yet it was precisely these actions that exposed countless openings between them.
Having already rushed before the two men, Gu Shao'an stood as steady as a mountain. His sword suddenly pressed downward, and in the flickering firelight, the sword in his hand split into several rays of sword light, like overlapping mountain shadows.
It was Thousand Peaks Receive Sunlight, a move from Sunset Swordplay that specifically targeted an enemy's knees and feet.
The two bandits felt their vision blur, followed by piercing pain in their knees.
Their bodies jolted with pain, and both fell to the side.
Just as the two hit the ground, two flashes of sword light streaked past their throats in succession. The blades sank an inch into their flesh, wounds appearing at once as blood gushed forth like springs.
Congratulations, player, for killing a mountain bandit. Achievement Points +5. Congratulations, player, for killing a mountain bandit. Achievement Points +5.
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