Direct Approach

Lu Changfeng had not left the martial arts hall for a long time.

Lu Changfeng knew very clearly how dangerous this world was.

He basically stayed in the martial arts hall every day to train, not wasting the talent for bone structure he had copied.

This time, he followed Zhang Desheng out of the martial arts hall.

Lu Changfeng discovered that there were even more gaunt Vagrants on the streets of the Outer City.

The way these Vagrants looked at others was full of probing and desire.

From time to time, someone on the street would be swarmed by Vagrants and robbed of their belongings.

There was no County Yamen or Constables in the Outer City to maintain order. Once robbed, there was nowhere to even report it.

Wherever Lu Changfeng and his Master went, the Vagrants fled far away.

One of them was absurdly burly, while the other was built like a small mountain. At a glance, they were clearly martial artists. With their skin-and-bones bodies, those starving Vagrants might go straight to see the King of Hell if they were merely brushed against. How would they dare come looking for death?

It was now the height of summer.

In some streets and alleys, corpses rotted and gave off an unbearably foul stench.

With a glance from the corner of his eye, Lu Changfeng saw a putrid ditch where a decayed corpse was covered in crawling bugs.

Even Zhang Desheng, who had seen much of the world, could not help sighing. At the end of a dynasty, with troubled times ruling the land, such a thing was something seen only once in several centuries.

Yunyang Prefecture, where Fengcheng was located, was still relatively peaceful for the time being.

He had heard that in neighboring Qingshan Prefecture, Sect Forces had already seized control of many cities. The Prefecture Soldiers were powerless, and Warlord Chaos raged without end.

Refugees constantly fled into Yunyang Prefecture. As one of the border points between Yunyang Prefecture and Qingshan Prefecture, Fengcheng was also continuously flooded with Refugees and Rebel Army troops.

One task Zhang Desheng had personally been hired for this time had been jointly commissioned by several Merchant Houses in the Inner City.

Their goods had recently been repeatedly plundered by a group of Rebel Army troops lingering outside Fengcheng.

After much consideration, they decided to pay eight hundred taels of silver to hire Zhang Desheng to act and wipe out this Rebel Army force.

The Merchant Houses had already investigated the Rebel Army's situation thoroughly.

This Rebel Army force should have been a small squad under a Sect Force that had failed in its attempt to seize a city in Qingshan Prefecture.

There were around fifty of them in total.

Their leader was a Martial Artist at the Blood Tempering Fifth Level.

Under him were two more Blood Tempering Realm Martial Artists, his Right-hand Men. The remaining Rebel Army troops were all ordinary people.

Along the way, Zhang Desheng explained the situation to Lu Changfeng.

At the end, he said, "The main purpose this time is to let you see blood. I'll deal with the three Blood Tempering Martial Artists myself. Those ordinary Rebel Army troops will be left to you."

"Kill as many as you can."

"Do not hold back. These Rebel Army troops fled all the way to the vicinity of Fengcheng, burning, killing, plundering, and committing every evil along the way. No one knows how many lives their hands have been stained with."

"Killing them is doing a good deed."

Lu Changfeng nodded slightly.

Zhang Desheng then took out a set of Soft Armor for Lu Changfeng to put on.

The Soft Armor could protect Lu Changfeng's torso.

After putting on the Soft Armor, Lu Changfeng held his sword and tested it. It did not hinder his movements at all.

Zhang Desheng himself walked empty-handed, carrying no weapon.

Master and disciple traveled on foot and soon reached the edge of the Outer City.

The Outer City's wall was merely a symbolic Earth Wall a little over three meters high, and there were no county soldiers guarding the entrances or exits.

After leaving the city, Master and disciple headed straight for their destination.

Martial artists traveled extremely quickly.

A little over half an hour later, Master and disciple arrived at the location recorded by the Intelligence Office.

It was within a Small Valley.

This valley was only thirty li from Fengcheng.

It was extremely convenient for watching the Merchant Caravans entering and leaving Fengcheng. No wonder their raids had always been so timely.

However, this Rebel Army force did not understand Fengcheng's situation. Fengcheng did not only have the Wang Family in the Inner City. Even the several forces in the Outer City that had been squeezed out of the Inner City by the Wang Family were not to be underestimated.

So close to Fengcheng, even if Zhang Desheng had not acted, sooner or later someone else would have wiped out this Rebel Army force.

Outside the valley, Master and disciple had already confirmed the Rebel Army's location.

"Master, how should we attack?"

"How should we attack? Of course, with a Direct Approach!"

"Follow behind me."

Zhang Desheng strode into the valley as though no one was there.

"Who goes there?!"

"Someone actually came to deliver themselves to death!"

"Ah!!"

Zhang Desheng struck a Rebel Army trooper approaching him in the chest with one palm, sending him flying.

The Rebel Army trooper flew seven or eight meters through the air, toppling three or four more Rebel Army troops along the way.

"Kill them!" With an order from the Soldier Leader, all the Rebel Army troops surged toward Master and disciple.

Yet he had clearly recognized Zhang Desheng's strength. After giving the order, he took his two Subordinates and fled directly toward another exit of the valley!

"Hmph."

How could Zhang Desheng allow the Bandit Leader to escape?

Zhang Desheng repeatedly sent out palm strikes with both hands. As his exquisite palm technique unfolded, the surrounding troops scattered like falling feathers.

Zhang Desheng circulated his Internal Energy, his body shooting after the Soldier Leader like lightning.

As Zhang Desheng left, Lu Changfeng also met his first enemy.

A Deserter Trooper brandished a long spear and thrust it at Lu Changfeng.

Lu Changfeng drew the long sword at his waist, sidestepped past it, and struck after yet arrived before. His sword pierced straight through the center of the trooper's forehead.

He pulled out his sword, and the trooper crashed to the ground.

Before he had time to experience the feeling of killing someone for the first time,

several more troopers came slashing at him with long spears in hand.

For troops to quickly form fighting strength, their weapons were often long spears.

This was because long spears were sufficiently long, required less iron, and were cheap to make. They only needed a spearhead fitted onto a Wooden Pole.

Under these circumstances, the power of the perfected Gale Sword Technique revealed itself.

A response swiftly formed in Lu Changfeng's mind.

As his body shifted and he drew his sword, he accurately and swiftly severed the Spearhead Joints of several troopers' spears.

While the troopers stood at a loss, he followed with the ultimate move, Fierce Wind Storm.

The long sword thrust several times in rapid succession, every strike hitting the vital points of the several troopers before him.

The troopers fell almost simultaneously.

These few Sword Moves caused the troopers around him, who had wanted to besiege Lu Changfeng, to hesitate slightly.

Instead, Lu Changfeng took the initiative and attacked!

In Lu Changfeng's hands, a Bintie Longsword danced into streak after streak of Sword Shadow.

The surrounding troopers were cut down one after another.

Lu Changfeng killed more than a dozen troopers in succession. Ordinary troopers posed no threat at all to Lu Changfeng, who was at the second level of the Blood Tempering Realm and had mastered his swordsmanship, unless they held an absolute advantage in numbers.

Seeing Lu Changfeng's ferocity, the surrounding troopers began to flee in all directions.

Lu Changfeng pursued them for a while and killed another seven or eight Deserter Troopers. Only when the troopers had fled far away did he stop the pursuit.

When he came back to his senses and looked at the blood splattered all over him, Lu Changfeng finally felt his heart tremble.

Yet perhaps Lu Changfeng was naturally the type with strong endurance. Even after killing dozens of Rebel Army troops, he remained fairly calm.

He did not vomit or suffer any similar reaction.

"Not bad."

A figure leaped over.

It was Zhang Desheng, carrying the Bandit Leader's Head.

A mere Blood Tempering Fifth Level Martial Artist naturally could not escape the pursuit of Zhang Desheng, who was in the Muscle Tendon Realm.

Zhang Desheng killed the Bandit Leader in one stroke and cut off his head as proof for collecting the reward.

Moreover, Zhang Desheng had given Lu Changfeng ample opportunity to gain experience. Only after Lu Changfeng had defeated the Rebel Army did he reveal himself from the side.

"Master, those Rebel Army troops who escaped..."

Zhang Desheng waved his hand. "It's fine. The Bandit Leader has already been killed by us. Those few troops have been scared out of their wits. They can't stir up any waves."