When no one answered, Zhang Kuangfeng did not get angry.
He tilted his head slightly and said to a man beside him, skinny as a bamboo pole with a cold, sinister smile on his face.
"Wang Er."
"Your subordinate is here." Wang Er bowed in response.
"Flay that old thing alive for me."
"Do it one cut at a time. Don't let him die too quickly."
A curve lifted at the corner of Zhang Kuangfeng's mouth. "If he can hold out until the end, I'll let these people go."
"Ha ha ha!"
"The Great Leader is merciful!"
The surrounding bandits erupted into boisterous laughter, their voices brimming with cruelty and mockery.
Everyone knew that no one had ever survived more than ten cuts beneath Wang Er's blade.
Elder Bai's heart sank to the bottom.
He looked at Bai Fengling beside him, terrified out of his wits, then at Shen Che, whose face remained expressionless.
His mission was to escort the young master home safely.
He could not let the young master come to harm.
Elder Bai trembled as he took two steps forward and cupped his hands toward Zhang Kuangfeng.
"Great Leader, the person... was killed by this old man."
He straightened his back. His voice was not loud, but it carried a fierce resolve.
"One man bears responsibility for his own deeds. I ask that the Great Leader show mercy and not implicate the innocent."
"Grandfather!" Bai Fengling cried out, wanting to step forward.
Without turning his head, Elder Bai merely stopped him with a gesture.
He had already prepared himself for sacrifice. Cold sweat poured from his brow, and his legs trembled, yet he did not retreat a single step.
"Oh?"
Zhang Kuangfeng raised his scarred eyebrow, seemingly somewhat surprised by the answer.
Wang Er beside him was already grinning viciously as he flipped off his horse, drew a cicada-wing-thin dagger from his waist, and spun it around his fingertips in a flourish.
"Old thing, your bones are pretty hard."
Wang Er advanced step by step, the dagger's cold gleam dancing in Elder Bai's cloudy eyes.
Just as Wang Er raised his dagger, preparing to carve the first cut across Elder Bai's face.
A calm voice rang out.
"Wait."
Everyone froze, including Zhang Kuangfeng, who had been ready to enjoy the show.
Shen Che leaped down from the camel and walked in front of Elder Bai.
"I killed him."
He openly admitted it to Zhang Kuangfeng.
Elder Bai whipped around, his face full of shock and anxiety.
"Young Master Shen, you..."
Shen Che ignored him and merely looked at Wang Er, who held the dagger.
"The one you want to flay is me."
Wang Er was stunned for a moment, then the smile on his face became even more twisted.
"Fine, you've got guts!"
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish first!"
Before his words had even faded, he moved. The dagger in his hand turned into a streak of cold light and shot straight toward Shen Che's shoulder.
He had not used his full strength in this strike. He wanted to slowly torment this young man who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.
However.
The dagger struck Shen Che.
Yet it made no sound at all.
It did not even tear a single hole in Shen Che's black martial attire.
The smile on Wang Er's face froze.
His dagger felt as though it had stabbed into an iron plate wrapped in cotton.
"Fuck!"
Wang Er cursed furiously, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He took a step back, roused every ounce of strength in his body, poured his inner force into the dagger, and viciously thrust it toward Shen Che's chest!
This strike contained all his strength, determined to pierce straight through Shen Che's heart!
A crisp clang of metal rang out.
Under the deathly silent gaze of thousands.
The iron-cutting dagger in Wang Er's hand snapped in two the instant it touched Shen Che's chest.
Half the blade dropped limply onto the sand.
Wang Er held the broken hilt, completely dumbfounded. He stared at Shen Che's completely unharmed chest—not even his skin had been broken.
Was this even a fucking human?
What kind of monster was this? He was a martial artist at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm!
The surrounding bandits' laughter also stopped abruptly, like ducks with their throats seized.
In the distance, Zhang Kuangfeng's pupils suddenly contracted.
He finally sat upright.
To withstand a full-force blow from a martial artist at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm with one's flesh alone, even shattering the weapon.
This man was absolutely not in the True Meridian Realm.
The Primordial Qi Realm!
Only a martial artist in the Primordial Qi Realm, protected by true qi and possessing such a powerful body, could possibly achieve this.
"Can we talk now?"
Shen Che's voice broke the deathly silence.
He took a step forward, and Wang Er scrambled backward as though he had seen a ghost.
Shen Che did not look at him again. Instead, he faced Zhang Kuangfeng directly.
He revealed his trump card.
"I am Shen Che, a Demon Queller Envoy of the Demon Suppression Division in Cangyun City, Great Jing Dynasty."
"Your men provoked us first in yesterday's matter. I killed them for a reason."
"Let this matter end here. What do you say?"
The Demon Suppression Division.
Zhang Kuangfeng leaned back against his saddle again, a faintly mocking smile even appearing on his face.
"The Demon Suppression Division?"
"What an impressive title."
He said slowly, "In Great Jing, your Demon Suppression Division indeed cuts an imposing figure in all directions. No one dares provoke you."
"But what a pity, young man."
Zhang Kuangfeng pointed at the yellow sand beneath his feet, then at the sky above his head.
"This is the Forgotten Sand Sea."
"A lawless desert where no one holds sway."
"Here, the name of your Demon Suppression Division is useless."
"Here, my rules are the rules."
Zhang Kuangfeng's smile vanished abruptly, and the fierce air on his face turned into chilling killing intent.
He raised one hand, his voice carrying across the entire sea of sand.
"Brothers of the Gale Bandit Group, heed my command!"
"The brat before you does not know the immensity of heaven and earth. He killed our men, then dared to swagger before this Great Leader."
"Cut him once, and you'll be rewarded a thousand taels of silver!"
"Take his head, and you'll be rewarded ten thousand taels of silver and promoted three ranks!"
Ten thousand taels of silver!
Those four words were like a bucket of boiling oil thrown onto a blazing fire.
The breathing of the thousands of bandits instantly grew heavy.
When they looked at Shen Che, they no longer saw a person, but a moving mountain of gold.
Fear?
Before ten thousand taels of silver, what the fuck was fear!
"Kill!!!"
No one knew who shouted first.
The next moment, a tide of war cries surged like mountains collapsing and seas roaring, shaking the very earth.
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