Dusk gradually deepened.
The red sun sank in the west.
Hengzhou City was desolate in the evening.
There was scarcely anyone left to be seen on the streets.
As soon as evening came, everyone stayed indoors, not daring to go out.
Jiang Dao spurred his horse into a wild gallop and quickly reached the south gate.
"Who goes there? No one is permitted to leave the city now!"
A constable on the city wall shouted sternly.
"I am Jiang Dao. I have urgent business outside the city. Brother Zhang, please make an exception for me!"
Jiang Dao reined in his horse and cupped his hands as he called out.
"Jiang Dao?"
A middle-aged constable atop the wall frowned, his gaze turning cold.
He had already received instructions from the magistrate: several members of the Jiang Family would be leaving the city, and when the time came, he was to make things convenient for them, open the side gate, and let them out. Someone outside the city would naturally kill them.
He would receive several thousand taels from the spoils afterward.
With that in mind, the middle-aged constable shouted sharply, "Open the side gate, quickly!"
"Many thanks, Brother Zhang!"
Jiang Dao called out, immediately riding out of the city, while his five younger brothers hurried after him.
The middle-aged constable sneered as he watched Jiang Dao's departing back. "Want to leave? Don't you know that leaving Hengzhou means certain death? At least if you stay in Hengzhou City, there may still be a sliver of hope. Once you leave the city, heh heh, the Malevolent Spirits may not kill you, but the magistrate wants you dead..."
"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!"
Hooves thundered as they raced onward, raising dust behind them.
Before long, Jiang Dao had charged seven or eight li beyond the city.
Seeing that the sky had completely darkened, Jiang Dao looked around and said, "There seems to be a ruined temple ahead. We'll rest there for the night."
"Big Brother is right!"
"We'll listen to Big Brother in everything."
His useless younger brothers nodded and laughed repeatedly.
They rode onward and soon spotted the hazy outline of a ruined temple in the darkness.
Just as they dismounted and began tying up their horses—
Suddenly!
Jiang Dao frowned, sensing something. He abruptly turned around.
Clap, clap, clap, clap...
A burst of applause rang out.
More than a dozen dark figures suddenly sprang out from within the ruined temple, holding torches aloft. Smiling, with steel sabers and spears in hand, they surrounded the area.
"Heh heh, another batch!"
A shadow laughed. "Making money this fast really feels good... Magistrate Wang truly deserves to be called a scholar. He sure knows how to come up with ideas, hahahaha..."
"Bandits!"
"Big Brother, there are bandits!"
The useless younger brothers immediately panicked, hastily backing away in terror.
"Little brat, what are you screaming for? Scream one more time and I'll slice off your basket, believe it or not?"
A masked shadow grinned viciously, licking the steel saber in his hand as he stared at them. When he saw Jiang Ruyan, his eyes suddenly lit up. "There's even a young maiden here. Brothers, we're in luck!"
"Hoo hoo!"
"Heh heh!"
"Hahaha..."
The group of black-clad men all let out strange laughter.
Jiang Ruyan's face turned deathly pale with fear. She clutched Jiang Dao's clothes tightly.
Jiang Dao's heart sank. He narrowed his eyes, and a cold glint surfaced within them.
Magistrate Wang?
That shadow just mentioned Magistrate Wang?
Could Magistrate Wang have deliberately let them out, then sent people to kill them and strip them of their money?
"Were you sent by Magistrate Wang?"
Jiang Dao asked.
"Little brat, you're quite calm, aren't you?"
The shadow from before laughed strangely. "Unfortunately, I won't say a thing. If you have someone to blame, blame your rotten luck. You escaped the strange happenings within the city, only to die at our hands, hahaha..."
"Big Brother, let's do it!"
Someone beside him laughed.
"Mm. Kill all the men. Leave the girl behind. We've never tasted what a daughter raised by a rich family is like..."
The leader said with a grin.
Three shadows rushed forward at lightning speed, swinging their steel sabers.
Several of the younger brothers were terrified out of their wits, their legs going weak.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three muffled impacts rang out in quick succession, clothes exploding into tatters in a gruesome sight.
The charging shadows were each struck squarely in the face by Jiang Dao's fists. Their corpses flew violently sideways, dead beyond doubt.
Jiang Dao stood tall and powerfully built, his expression cold as his clothes fluttered in the wind.
Too weak!
The three bandits were as weak as paper figures.
They could not withstand a single blow!
"What?"
"You..."
The remaining bandits all widened their eyes, staring at Jiang Dao in horror, hardly daring to believe what they were seeing.
What kind of monster was this brat?
"Big Brother, there's an expert here!"
One black-clad man cried out in shock and fury.
"Damn it, attack together! Kill that brat and hack him into a thousand pieces!"
The bandit leader roared.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The remaining black-clad men all brandished their weapons and charged at Jiang Dao together.
They were all well-known experts in the area, each trained in different martial arts and wielding different weapons. Magistrate Wang had secretly recruited them to handle matters that could not bear the light of day.
Yet as they charged at him, Jiang Dao's expression remained cold. He suddenly strode forward, transforming into a soaring eagle. His five fingers curled like hooks, swift as lightning, and in an instant he seized one man by the neck.
With a crack, he snapped the man's neck. He casually flung the corpse away like trash, smashing it into the distance to die a miserable death.
Then he suddenly threw a punch. With a bang, another bandit flew backward, his clothes bursting apart and his chest caving in as he died on the spot.
Then Jiang Dao reached out again. His five fingers were like iron rods as they raked across one man's face, drawing a shrill scream before the man died a miserable death.
Just like that, Jiang Dao struck again and again.
Every time his Eagle Claw Art lashed out, someone died on the spot.
These formidable black-clad men were like cloth dolls in his hands, utterly unable to resist. One even swung a steel saber in a sneak attack from behind, only for Jiang Dao to seize it with a backhanded grab and crush the entire blade to pieces. His five fingers pierced the man's forehead like lightning, and with a casual sweep, he hurled the corpse away, where it smashed headfirst to death.
At last, the black-clad leader was thoroughly terrified.
"You... what kind of monster are you?"
His eyes widened in terror as he suddenly turned and fled.
More than a dozen companions had been slaughtered cleanly by this youth in the blink of an eye.
He could crush weapons barehanded?
What level of strength was that?
He had never seen such an expert before.
"Trying to run?"
Jiang Dao's voice was cold as his body instantly shot after him.
The black-clad man's hair stood on end. He hurriedly turned back, his palm becoming pitch-black as he struck swiftly at Jiang Dao.
Bang!
Jiang Dao threw a punch, sending the bandit flying backward while vomiting blood. He crashed heavily into the distance.
Behind him, the five useless younger brothers were all left dumbstruck and trembling.
His little sister, Jiang Ruyan, had also collapsed to the ground. Dizzy and dazed, she looked at the corpses strewn everywhere, and nausea suddenly rose in her chest as she began to retch.
"Speak. Did Magistrate Wang order you to act?"
Jiang Dao looked down at the bandit leader and asked coldly.
Jiang Dao's punch had shattered every bone in the black-clad man's arm. His face twisted in pain, and his body trembled. "Don't kill me. I'll tell you everything. Please, don't kill me..."
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