Encountering Fierce Bandits in the Mountains, the Tiger Pounces, Killing with One Strike!

Three strong, burly men with black cloths covering their faces walked in.

Then, the three removed their black cloths.

The three seemed to be arguing about something. Then, a bundle fell to the ground.

Clatter.

A pile of silver ingots rolled out of the bundle, along with some jewelry.

Lu Changsheng's eyes widened.

Clearly, he had guessed their identities.

They were probably not decent men—most likely bandits.

The gold, silver, and jewels were most likely stolen goods as well.

At the sight of the valuables in the bundle, two of them exchanged a glance before drawing their broadswords.

Splat.

One man fell into a pool of blood. The two had joined forces to kill their companion.

The man picked up the bundle from the ground and sneered. "Hmph, Liu San, you brought this upon yourself. Don't blame us. You were simply too greedy."

"Big Brother, why waste so many words? With Liu San gone, we'll get a bigger share of the gold and silver this time."

Greed flickered in both men's eyes.

With so much gold and silver, they planned to lie low for a while after this.

The two walked deeper inside, preparing to hide the bundle.

Suddenly, one of their noses twitched slightly, as though he had caught a scent.

"Who's there? Come out!"

His gaze kept sweeping across the surroundings before finally settling on a corner.

Have I been discovered?

Lu Changsheng's heart jolted, but in such a cramped place, once he had been discovered, there was no way he could keep hiding.

So Lu Changsheng stepped out directly, looked straight at the two men, and said calmly, "I'm a herb gatherer. I came into the mountains to gather herbs."

Lu Changsheng still had a basket on his back.

The two bandits looked inside and saw that it was indeed filled with medicinal herbs.

"What happened between you has nothing to do with me."

"Just pretend I was never here, and I never saw either of you. How about it?"

Lu Changsheng spoke steadily.

The two exchanged a look, then tightened their grips on their blades and sneered. "Blame your bad luck. You found the cave where we were hiding, and you saw our faces."

The two advanced on him with their blades.

"Wait. I didn't come into the mountains alone to gather herbs. I have companions."

"My companions must be searching everywhere for me right now. If you kill me, you'll be in serious trouble."

Lu Changsheng retreated step by step.

"You have companions? Then we can't stay here. Kill him, and we'll head down the mountain immediately!"

A vicious gleam flashed through their eyes as they continued closing in with their broadswords.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Lu Changsheng had already backed up against the cave wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.

I only have one chance.

I must kill with one strike!

Lu Changsheng's gaze hardened.

He knew full well that his body had not yet fully developed. In every physical aspect, he was inferior to these two fierce bandits.

Even though he had practiced martial arts, his blood and qi had only just grown a little stronger. What did that amount to?

If it had been any other Apprentice, encountering these two bandits would likely have meant certain death.

But Lu Changsheng still had a sliver of hope.

Because he had practiced the Tiger Pounce Hand! And it was a Tiger Pounce Hand at Major Accomplishment!

The Tiger Pounce Hand imitated a fierce tiger pouncing upon a person, emphasizing a single fatal strike.

As long as he could take down one bandit first, Lu Changsheng would have a chance to deal with the remaining one.

Lu Changsheng crouched slightly, remaining perfectly still.

He was gathering momentum, like a true tiger observing its prey.

Once it found an opening, the tiger would kill in a single strike.

The two bandits clearly did not take Lu Changsheng, a boy barely in his teens, seriously.

One of the bandits took three steps as two and charged straight at Lu Changsheng.

The instant the man raised his broadsword, a sharp glint flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes.

Now!

Lu Changsheng bent his knees slightly and lowered his body, then kicked off with all his might like a true tiger.

Whoosh.

Lu Changsheng's pounce was swift as lightning and brimming with force.

The bandit even vaguely felt that he was not facing a boy, but a savage beast.

The speed was so fast that the bandit had no time to react before Lu Changsheng crashed into him and knocked him to the ground.

Bang.

After bringing the bandit down, Lu Changsheng grabbed the stone he had broken off the cave wall earlier and smashed it brutally into the bandit's head.

Once, twice, three times...

In just three or five blows, the bandit's head was a mangled mass of blood and flesh, and he stopped breathing.

"Ah..."

Only then did the other bandit react. His eyes widened, turning bloodshot.

"Second Brother..."

The bandit brought his blade down toward Lu Changsheng in a vicious slash.

Lu Changsheng rolled across the ground, dodging the blow, then assumed the stance of a tiger pouncing once more and lunged fiercely at the bandit.

This pounce knocked the bandit down as well.

Lu Changsheng repeated the same method, picking up a stone and brutally smashing it into the man's head.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After several blows, the bandit's head had been smashed to pulp. He lay motionless on the ground.

Tiger Pounce Hand perfected. Comprehension +2.

A line of small text appeared before Lu Changsheng's eyes.

"What? The Tiger Pounce Hand has reached perfection?"

Lu Changsheng's spirits lifted.

Ever since he had comprehended Tiger's Intent, practicing the Tiger Pounce Hand had been as smooth as a flowing river, and his progress had been rapid.

He had not expected that after using the Tiger Pounce Hand to kill two bandits in the space between life and death, it would directly reach perfection.

However, he was far too exhausted now to check the Attribute Panel.

"Huff..."

Lu Changsheng collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Those two attacks had actually drained all his strength.

Thinking back on the battle, those two bandits had been strong and sturdy, yet they seemingly knew no martial arts and had actually lost to Lu Changsheng, a mere youth.

Lu Changsheng had only just begun practicing martial arts.

If he practiced longer and his blood and qi grew stronger, those two men would no longer pose any threat to him.

After resting for a while and recovering some of his strength, Lu Changsheng immediately counted the contents of the bandits' bundle.

By rough estimate, the gold, silver, and jewels were worth around five hundred taels.

After searching the three bandits, he also found some Silver Notes worth more than three hundred taels.

Altogether, it came to over eight hundred taels.

What did over eight hundred taels mean?

In Nanyang City, even a small two-courtyard home cost only thirty to fifty taels of silver.

His eight hundred-plus taels were undoubtedly a huge fortune.

No wonder the two bandits had said earlier that after dividing the money, they could rest for several years.

"I need to rejoin the Apprentices. I can't carry the silver on me, and I can't even carry the Silver Notes. It'll be troublesome if I get searched."

Lu Changsheng was very cautious.

He glanced at the three corpses, dragged them into the Valley, and hastily buried them.

Then he cleaned the cave, making sure there was no bloody smell that might attract wild beasts.

He also processed and stored the herbs he had gathered, leaving them in the cave for the time being.

He kept only some of the gathered herbs in his basket, enough to ensure he would not be punished.

After doing all this, Lu Changsheng left the Valley, leaving some concealed markers along the way so that he could find the Valley again the next time he entered the mountains.

It was nearly noon when Lu Changsheng finally reunited with the many Apprentices from Miraculous Garden.

"Lu Changsheng, how was your haul today?"

One Apprentice looked at the dusty, sweat-soaked Lu Changsheng and asked.

In truth, the other boy wanted to show off.

After all, his basket was crammed full of medicinal herbs.

Lu Changsheng shook his head and feigned disappointment. "My luck was average today. I only found this much. Forget it, I need to hurry and try to find more herbs."

Lu Changsheng hurried back into the mountains to gather herbs.

But in reality, after gaining that unexpected windfall, Lu Changsheng no longer cared about Miraculous Garden's meager reward.

Everything he did now was merely for show.

Soon, the sky gradually darkened.

Miraculous Garden gathered the Apprentices once again.

One Apprentice had been particularly unlucky. He had accidentally fallen from a cliff while gathering herbs and died, and even his body could not be found.

Another three Apprentices had accidentally stepped on animal traps left in the mountains by hunters and were injured.

The remaining Apprentices were unharmed.

One Apprentice named Ruan Jin had gained a great deal. Whether in quantity or quality, the medicinal herbs he had gathered ranked first.

Thus, Miraculous Garden publicly rewarded Ruan Jin with five taels of silver.

This was a generous reward, and many Apprentices were envious.

However, this herb-gathering trip had already ended. No one knew when the next one would be.

Some rejoiced while others worried.

The Apprentices quickly left Woniu Mountain.