Kill as You Please

Jiang Ding glanced at the swarm of arrows flying toward him.

They had not reached the speed of sound, so they could be dodged. Moreover, these bandits' movements had been far too obvious, giving him ample time to predict them in advance.

With a tap of his foot, his inner force coursed through his body in a specific, intricate pattern. His figure swept past like a shadow, evading most of the crossbow bolts.

Step Sword Style!

The remaining few could not be avoided. Jiang Ding drew his sword, and a flash of sword light swept out. Amid the sword shadows, the crossbow bolts snapped into several pieces.

"Shoot! Keep shooting!"

A chill ran down Zhou Kun's spine, and he shouted repeatedly.

That kind of speed.

It far surpassed every opponent he had encountered over the years. It was utterly unheard of. If they faced each other alone, he would not even have the chance to react!

The bandits hurriedly loaded their crossbows, but it was already too late.

Jiang Ding charged straight into the dense formation. In an instant, seven or eight long spears stabbed swiftly toward him, while several capable bandits trained in rolling-ground saber techniques rolled along the ground, their gleaming blades slashing hard at his legs.

"Those who block me, die!"

Jiang Ding spoke softly, yet his voice rang clearly in every ear around him.

With one sweep of his sword, seven or eight spear shafts broke and flew away. He took a step back, then swung his sword again.

Pfft!

Four heads of men rolling on the ground flew up. Blood sprayed several inches high, staining the earth red.

Before the bandits behind them could react, Jiang Ding surged forward again. His blade, flecked with pale light, danced through the air. Seven or eight spear-wielding bandits felt a chill at their throats and collapsed limply.

Too fast!

In merely two breaths, one retreat and one advance, eleven or twelve formidable bandits had died, reducing their numbers by one-sixth.

The remaining bandits halted, staring fearfully at the youth in blue before them and the sword shadows behind him that faded one after another.

Jiang Ding paid them no heed. He simply plunged into their ranks with his sword. Sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, his figure was ghostly and unpredictable. Sword light danced among them, and strings of bloody blossoms burst forth from time to time.

Fresh lives withered away.

No matter how those leaders encircled or flanked him, they could never surround him from all sides. They could only watch helplessly as that streak of sword light harvested lives.

"This isn't human!"

"A ghost! The ghosts of those children have come back for revenge..."

Many bandits lost their nerve and retreated again and again. The soaring morale built from grief and rage rapidly crumbled, and the dense formation began to fall into disorder.

"Follow me!"

Knowing he could not allow this to continue, Zhou Kun shouted low. Gripping a pair of heavy octagonal copper hammers, he charged out beneath the cover of the surrounding forest of spears, unleashing a chain of dual hammer strikes.

Eight Cloak Hammers!

Jiang Ding severed seven or eight long spears with a single stroke. Just as he was about to draw the sword tip across their throats, he saw two pairs of watermelon-sized octagonal copper hammers descend, blocking his blade with remarkable precision.

Clang!

As sword and hammer collided, Jiang Ding borrowed the force to retreat. Yet the pair of copper hammers pursued him relentlessly, forcing him to raise his sword in defense and retreat step after step.

"The Second Chief is mighty!"

The surrounding bandits' morale soared at the sight. They desperately thrust out swathes of long spears to obstruct him and cover the flanks, while the two Inner Qi Realm chiefs occasionally launched sudden attacks as well.

Jiang Ding was forced back without pause and soon reached the edge of the cliff.

"Kill him! Avenge the Chief!"

Zhou Kun roared excitedly. The Eight Cloak Hammers crashed down in an unbroken chain, one hammer following another, growing ever more fierce and exhilarating. Under the pressure of such a formidable enemy, his hammer technique, long trapped at a bottleneck, seemed faintly on the verge of a breakthrough.

Jiang Ding frowned.

If it were only Zhou Kun's pair of copper hammers, he could have delayed just slightly and taken his life with one sword strike. His body was full of openings.

But with the dozens of nearby bandits continuously thrusting their spears, along with the occasional support from the two chiefs, every opening vanished. Together, they became an opponent far more terrifying than Lu Jingtian and Yang Dongsheng combined.

Jiang Ding stepped into empty air as he retreated.

"Kill!"

A brilliant light burst from Zhou Kun's eyes. With a wild roar, all his inner force and blood qi gathered in his twin hammers. The hammer radiance upon them nearly solidified as they smashed down upon that handsome head like Mount Tai bearing down from above!

The other chiefs and bandits shouted at the same time. Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds all swung forth with their strongest attacks.

Yet the distortion and pause in his movements that they had expected after stepping into empty air never came.

Jiang Ding shifted his footwork lightly, nimble as a flying bird, and drifted down the cliff. The copper hammers and other weapons all struck empty air.

"Shoot arrows!"

Zhou Kun and the two chiefs' faces changed drastically.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

More than a dozen bandit leaders simultaneously ordered the bow-wielding bandits to fire. Arrows swarmed forth like flying locusts.

Yet the Youth in Green Robes tapped his toes repeatedly. The sheer cliff face seemed like level ground beneath him as he stepped upon cypress branches and jutting rocks. His figure flashed several times, evading most of the arrows, while the rest were easily knocked aside.

After several more breaths, he rounded a bend in the cliff and vanished from sight.

The bandits nocked their arrows and fired again, but they could only shoot into a patch of tangled brush.

"Useless trash!"

Zhou Kun was beside himself with rage. His pair of copper hammers smashed viciously into a rock, sending sparks flying. A massive boulder over ten feet wide shattered and rolled down the mountain cliff. His eyes reddened slightly. "Having let this thief escape, how will I have the face to meet Uncle Lu in the underworld?"

"That thief was far too cunning, Second Chief. You need not blame yourself too much..."

Descending Tiger Lang Yi and Scorpion Tail Tiger Xu Erniang hurriedly consoled him.

"Ah!"

A scream cut off their conversation.

The three abruptly turned around and saw a spear-wielding bandit pierced through the chest by an arrow. His face was filled with terror as he collapsed helplessly, blood soaking into the ground.

"Ah!"

"Save me!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows kept shooting toward them. Those bandits below the Inner Qi Realm had no power to resist at all, and screams rose and fell one after another.

At a bend in the cliff, Jiang Ding calmly drew his bow and loosed an arrow.

His aim was not very accurate. He had clearly aimed at one person, yet the arrow veered more than several meters away. This was only a short distance of sixty or seventy meters; if he brought this into a school class, he would be laughed to death.

There was no helping it. Cold weapons were already niche enough, and no one had any interest in archery at all.

Fortunately, that did not affect his ability to hit someone.

These bandits stood in a dense formation, such a huge clump that it was difficult even to miss.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Every arrow that flew out killed a bandit. Some leaders skilled in archery led a counterattack, only to discover in despair that the other side merely had to shrink against the cliff wall to evade every arrow.

Even when they occasionally hit him, he could casually knock the arrows away with a sweep of his sword.

The feeling of being able only to take blows without any power to strike back was despairing, and their morale collapsed rapidly.

"Don't panic! Raise your shields! Get behind me!"

Zhou Kun knocked away an arrow flying toward him with one hammer strike. A trace of fear appeared on his face as he shouted.

His words had some effect. The bandits gathered behind the saber-and-shield men. Round shields rose one after another, forming a shield wall before them.

Jiang Ding remained calm as he changed positions and drew his bow to the full moon.

Whoosh!

An arrow much faster than before crashed into the shield wall, piercing through a round shield and pinning a saber-and-shield bandit behind it dead.

The formation fell silent for a moment.

"Run!"

"If we stay, we'll all die!"

The dense formation collapsed with a crash. The bandits fled madly in all directions. Zhou Kun and the other two chiefs cut down several men in succession, but it was utterly useless. Before long, only a few lonely figures remained.

The expressions of Zhou Kun and the other two suddenly changed. They hurried toward the direction with the most people and blended into the crowd.

After only a few steps, they stopped, despair appearing on their faces.

"Don't..."

A Youth in Green Robes had appeared among the fleeing crowd at some unknown moment. Walking against the flow of people with a long sword in hand, he approached them.