Beggar Child

The bandits who dared to rob naturally possessed some martial skills; otherwise, how would they dare to roam the jianghu?

Li Qing had anticipated this. He watched the approaching bandit on horseback, a flicker of mockery in his eyes, which was then replaced by a cold sharpness.

"Eat my blade!"

The bandit spurred his horse and leaped, his sabre descending with immense force, carrying a thick killing intent, directly towards Li Qing.

Having just emerged from the Eternal Night World, Li Qing hadn't brought the Peerless Hammer with him. He was unarmed.

He calmly watched the bandit's descending blade, his body remaining motionless.

The bandit thought Li Qing was stunned by fear. He smiled cruelly, already picturing Li Qing being cleaved in two.

However, in the next moment, in less than the blink of an eye, the ground violently shook from an immense force.

Bang!

Li Qing moved. His right leg surged with Outer Strength, unleashing a tremendous power, and he instantly vanished from his original spot.

The bandit's strike landed on empty air. Pulled by inertia, he stumbled on his horse, nearly falling off.

Meanwhile, Li Qing had already flashed to the other side of the horse. He leaped high, his hands forming tiger claws.

"Die!"

Fierce Tiger Pounce!

He thrust out his hands, yanking the stumbling bandit down, slamming him heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

This wasn't the end. A crisp sound of qi coursing through his fingertips, Li Qing dislocated the bandit's shoulder without a word.

Crack!

The entire sequence was fluid and seamless, completed in mere breaths. The ferocious bandit was now half-crippled.

The other bandits, witnessing this, wore expressions of shock and uncertainty. Everything had happened too quickly for them to react.

"Damn it, this kid is actually a martial artist!"

"Hiss! He's an Outer Strength martial cultivator. Let's go!"

"Report back to the stronghold, we can't fight this!"

The remaining three bandits exclaimed in alarm. They immediately pulled on their reins, preparing to turn and flee.

But Li Qing, having decided to deal with them, wasn't about to let them escape.

He crouched slightly, his body shooting out like an arrow, his burst of speed momentarily surpassing that of a horse.

Of course, this was also because the bandits from the stronghold weren't skilled riders, and they were riding inferior horses, not warhorses.

In a flash, Li Qing caught up to a bandit who was attempting to ride away.

Using both fist and palm, he unleashed a terrifying force, blasting the man off his horse and onto the ground.

With two left, Li Qing didn't stop. Since he had started, he didn't intend to let any of them go.

He casually grabbed a handful of scattered rubble from the ground and hurled them forward.

Bang!

The bandit on horseback felt as if struck by lightning. Before he could ride far, he was knocked to the ground.

The same happened to the other. The bandits, now dismounted, writhed and struggled on the ground, gasping for air.

In less than a few minutes, the four ferocious bandits who had been driving away a large group of refugees were all subdued by Li Qing alone, without exception.

This was the overwhelming power of a martial artist who had cultivated Outer Strength against ordinary people, leaving no room for suspense.

"Young hero, spare me! Young hero, spare me!" one of the bandits pleaded, clutching his knees, sweat pouring down his face.

Li Qing sneered as he walked up to the begging bandit and slowly crouched down. "You want to live? No problem. You answer whatever I ask. If you dare to conceal anything, I'll take your head."

The bandit, whose leg was broken from the fall, nodded his head furiously, like a pecking chick, showing no sign of defiance.

"Is your Golden Mountain Village near Wangyuan City?" Li Qing asked, wiping sweat from his brow and breathing heavily.

"Yes, about seventy li to the east," the bandit replied readily.

"It's desolate and uninhabited nearby, with only a few villages close to Wangyuan City. Otherwise, it's mostly desert," Li Qing continued, narrowing his eyes. "And now, during wartime, your Golden Mountain Village shouldn't be able to rob much grain. So where does your grain come from?"

"We occasionally disguise ourselves as merchant caravans to enter the city and buy grain. We use the gold and silver we've plundered. But now, during wartime, the money we have can't buy much grain," the bandit explained.

Hearing this, Li Qing finally smiled. "It's wartime now, and the city gates are closed. Tell me how you get into the city."

At these words, the bandit's face turned pale.

"Young hero, spare my life! The ones who usually disguise themselves as merchants to buy supplies are trusted confidants of our village chief. They would never let us go. I don't know how to get into the city either!" the bandit wailed.

Li Qing's brow furrowed, and his tone suddenly turned icy.

"If you don't tell me, you die."

"I really don't know! Usually, the person who meets us from the city is a guard. After we exchange the secret signal, they let us in."

Crack!

With this confession, Li Qing basically understood the relationship between the Golden Mountain Village bandits and the soldiers in Wangyuan City.

He snapped the opponent's head off without hesitation, completely extinguishing his life force.

The others, seeing this, showed expressions of terror.

They had initially thought Li Qing was just a young master, fresh out of the gate with some martial arts skills, who was out doing chivalrous deeds because he had nothing better to do.

They never expected that at this moment, Li Qing would transform into a living Yama, and the way he unhesitatingly broke necks sent chills down the spines of the remaining three bandits.

Next, Li Qing walked up to each of them, still asking how to get into the city.

However, they genuinely didn't know. By the time they had all been killed, Li Qing still hadn't gotten any information out of them. It seemed they truly didn't know how to sneak into the city during wartime.

"What bad luck. These Golden Mountain Village people probably have a cooperative relationship with the city guards. No wonder they were so kind as to help drive away the refugees outside the city." Li Qing clapped his hands, having pretty much figured out the relationship between Golden Mountain Village and the guards in Wangyuan City.

Refugees pushed to the brink of starvation, once they gathered in large numbers, would become a terrifying disaster. At that point, the consequences could very well be more dreadful than those brought by the Liang Kingdom's army.

Just as Li Qing was sighing slightly, troubled by his inability to enter the city, a weak voice suddenly came from within the crowd of refugees.

"I... I have a way to get into the city."

Hearing this, Li Qing's eyes lit up. His gaze locked onto a thin young boy in the crowd, who looked no older than twelve or thirteen.

"Kid, come here!" Li Qing beckoned.

The boy, who looked like a Beggar Child, walked out with a slightly nervous expression.

"Tell me, what is your method for entering the city? Also, why do you know how to get in, but aren't going in yourself, instead staying outside as a refugee?" Li Qing asked comprehensively. He then patted the horse brought by the bandits, continuing, "If what you say is useful to me, I'll reward you with this horse."