Uncommon Bandits

Your group of several dozen people entered the mountain forest, and soon triggered a skirmish. Twenty bandits, having entered the forest earlier and familiar with the terrain, ambushed and killed two of your party on the spot.

You sensed something during their ambush, your vital energy deflecting a flying dagger. The blade was a shimmering blue—not stained by your energy, but coated with poison.

Thud, thud. The Third-rate Martial Artists who were struck but not yet dead collapsed one after another within a dozen seconds. Even two Second-rate Martial Artists sat down cross-legged, channeling their inner energy at full force to expel the poison.

But a poison that could disable a Third-rate Martial Artist in a dozen seconds—you judged you couldn't withstand it either. As for those two Second-rate Martial Artists, they were merely buying themselves a little more time.

Though the bandits succeeded in their ambush, taking out seven of your people first, they never expected a First-rate Expert among your ranks. With you and another First-rate Martial Artist—He Yi of the Heart-Observing Spear—taking action, within a hundred breaths, nineteen of the twenty bandits lay dead, leaving only one alive.

A Second-rate Martial Artist teammate named Fang Chi volunteered, claiming some skill in interrogation. You and He Yi decided to let him try.

Sure enough, within three minutes, he extracted a wealth of information about the bandit group. Just as you and He Yi were about to act, Fang Chi raised a hand: "This is false. Let me interrogate him again."

Sure enough, after no more than ten minutes of harsh torture, the surviving bandit changed his story, spitting out completely different information. The first batch of intel was fake—following it would have led straight into a trap the bandits had set in advance.

"Hold on. This is also a lie. Let me interrogate him once more." Fang Chi cut in. You exchanged a glance with He Yi and decided to trust the professional's judgment.

Sure enough, the bandits were truly cunning—they had set up a double trap! You and He Yi ground your teeth.

After the third round of torture, the bandit didn't change his story, stubbornly sticking to the second version.

Fang Chi sneered: "Tough mouth, huh? But I've got plenty more tricks waiting for you!"

After the fourth round of torture, the bandit wept bitterly, begging them to kill him quickly and grant him a swift death.

Fang Chi's eyes lit up: "Push him a little more, and he'll spill the truth!"

Halfway through the fifth round of torture, the bandit's head lolled to the side. He was dead.

Fang Chi: "..."

"I didn't expect him to be so weak. He told the truth after just the second round." Fang Chi laughed dryly, trying to cover his embarrassment.

You paid no mind to his shady little hobby and began advancing toward the bandits' lair.

Soon, you discovered that these bandits had only moved in less than two months ago, yet they had already built the rough outline of a stronghold—fences, wooden huts, a main hall...

They hadn't done it themselves. You saw a group of men and women, ragged and worse off than beggars, mechanically constructing wooden structures, with a few bandits standing guard nearby.

In one corner of the stronghold stood a prison cage like a pigsty. Hanging directly above it were a pile of mutilated corpses and severed heads...

You also noticed a half-built watchtower and thought to yourselves, good thing you came early—otherwise, you'd have been spotted today.

After dealing with the dozen or so bandits patrolling outside the stronghold, those inside were alerted. They poured out in force, sixty or seventy of them arrayed in a line, all bristling with menace.

You were plunged into chaotic battle. The bandits had greater numbers, but fewer Second-rate Martial Artists—only six or seven—and just a single First-rate Martial Artist.

When numbers are roughly equal, the weight of experts becomes terrifying. The difficulty of this bandit suppression lay in one fact: the Big Boss, that First-rate Martial Artist, had stats that were far too high!

His blood energy surged like a tidal wave, as if you were facing a giant beast. Only by working together with He Yi could you hold him off and barely gain the upper hand.

You suspected he had already reached Bone-Reinforcing Vital Energy. For a bandit around forty years old to have such Martial Cultivation, he must have been a martial prodigy in his youth.

The First-rate Experts were locked in a stalemate, but among the Second-rate Martial Artists, you outnumbered them two to one. While keeping watch for the bandits' poisoned weapons—of which they only had a few—you gradually gained the upper hand.

The tide turned in your favor. Seeing the situation grow increasingly dire, the Bandit Chief suddenly turned and fled, abandoning his underlings.

You and He Yi couldn't catch up in time, so you turned back and slaughtered the remaining bandits who still resisted one by one.

The bandit suppression ended less than perfectly—the biggest fish had slipped away. But East Forest City said: Even letting one escape is still impressive. (Thumbs up.jpg)

A single bandit can't amount to much. Without his underlings, he'd surely leave East Forest City soon and go elsewhere. No need to worry.

Half a month later, you were practicing the Combat Technique you'd won in the first tournament—Heart-Piercing Strike—in your courtyard. Suddenly, the streets erupted in chaos. Patrols and soldiers flooded the roads, and every household barred their doors.

You almost thought the Wu Kingdom had attacked. After asking around, you learned that the City Lord had been chopped in half with a single blade stroke in his own manor, right in front of everyone!

The strongest guards present were only two Second-rate Martial Artists. And according to the description of the killer that later spread, it was the "no need to worry" Bandit Chief.

You: "..." Damn it!

The killer hadn't left the city yet. Based on reports from various sources, he was still on the run within East Forest City. As a First-rate Martial Artist, he could vault over walls with a single step and leap onto buildings with one jump. Without someone of equal rank to suppress him, he was practically unstoppable in the city—until his stamina and vital energy ran out!

One man against an entire city!

You also went out, activating the Lightness Skill that accompanied the Flowing River Technique. With every step, pure blue light scattered from the soles of your feet, and your speed shot up from the First-rate Martial Artist's normal full sprint of thirty meters per second to fifty meters per second!

In two seconds, you crossed a hundred meters!

You headed straight for He Yi's residence. That Bandit Chief had dared to assassinate the City Lord in his own manor—his thirst for revenge was clear. You feared you might be next.

From a distance, you could already see the compound He Yi had rented in the city. As you closed in to a few dozen meters, the door opened.

The Bandit Chief was holding He Yi's head, staring at you as you sprinted toward him.

You turned and ran. But just a few breaths later, you sensed something wrong. Whipping your head around, you saw the Bandit Chief's back, growing ever more distant.

"His vital energy is nearly spent!" Realizing this, you immediately turned and began chasing the Bandit Chief.

One chased, one fled. You crossed several streets, and along the way, you called for the soldiers to block him, but the results were less than ideal.

"Useless soldiers. Waste of my energy shouting."

The bandit's horse—no, the bandit's Lightness Skill wasn't as good as yours. So even though he was stronger, the distance between you didn't widen; instead, it steadily shrank.

Finally, in a wealthy residential district, the Bandit Chief stopped atop the overhanging gable roof of a rich man's mansion. He stared at you from afar, his eyes blazing with the light of a fight to the death.

You knew his vital energy was only enough for one last battle. If he kept running, once caught, he'd have no strength left to fight back. This was a life-or-death struggle!

Can you win?