The Valiant Use Martial Force to Break the Law

"Five..."

Chu Mu silently repeated that number in his heart.

How many Patrol Inspectors had been killed or wounded was still unclear.

But where that Thousand Household stood, the five heads piled up there were perfectly clear.

Obviously, in that wave of ambush just now, the Patrol Inspectors' results had not been as pitifully few as Chu Mu had previously seen.

At the very least, they had cut off five heads.

Of course, the battle-loss ratio definitely did not look pretty.

Chu Mu swept his gaze around, but his thoughts could not help returning once more to that storm-like barrage of attacks just now.

Across his past and present lives, this was undoubtedly the first time he had crossed blades with another person.

Though it had only been eight slashes!

But...

Name: Chu Mu.

Skill: Basic Blade Technique (Initial Understanding) 103/500

Spirit Radiance Value: 59.3%

Chu Mu looked at the Light Screen Panel in his field of vision, his eyes shifting slightly, plainly surprised.

If he remembered correctly, just last night, his blade technique proficiency had only been twenty. This morning, after practicing martial arts for over half an hour, it had risen by three points.

And now... one hundred and three.

In other words, just now, on the verge of life and death, after withstanding that young man's eight slashes, his blade technique proficiency had risen by eighty points!

"Was it a burst of potential between life and death?"

Chu Mu once again recalled the scene of that exchange just now. Very soon, Chu Mu rejected that guess.

Chu Mu slowly raised his blade, trying to place himself back into that fight just now. Gradually, Chu Mu seemed to perceive something.

"Actual combat!"

Placing himself in it again, Chu Mu was certain that he could face that young man's attacks better.

This was not to say his blade technique had improved by some great degree. Rather, after this brief yet extremely dangerous real battle, his state of mind had improved greatly—one could even say it had transformed.

People feared death. That was human instinct.

When people faced weapons that could threaten their lives, they would also instinctively be afraid. Fear of pain, fear of death—these were all instincts.

After this real battle, perhaps he had still not thoroughly overcome these instincts, but... when facing real combat, facing the threat of life and death, he would absolutely have a better state of mind.

"The tempering of actual combat, the improvement of mindset..."

Chu Mu murmured to himself.

Without actual combat, relying on imagination alone, he would never know what kind of threat it was to face a blade chopping toward him, nor what kind of fear it would bring him.

Most, most importantly, he did not know what kind of instinctive reaction he would have under such threat and fear, nor did he know whether he could overcome those instinctive reactions.

Without having experienced this point, everything was just empty imagining.

Even if he shut himself away and practiced his blade technique to an extremely profound realm, so long as he had not experienced true, solid combat, he would probably find it hard to bring out even one or two tenths of it.

Chu Mu swung the long blade. With the transformation of his mindset, the blade techniques seemed smoother, and a little more free and effortless.

"The Thousand Household has orders! Maintain vigilance and continue moving out!"

Chu Mu raised his head and swept his gaze around the Patrol Inspectors who were already preparing to set off, then looked toward Xu Yuan and the others beside him.

"Let's go."

Chu Mu let out a long breath. When he looked into the Dense Forest, there was clearly a bit more eagerness in his gaze.

The group set out once more. After traveling only one or two li through the Dense Forest, they were ambushed again.

However, this time, for the Patrol Inspectors entering the mountain, after experiencing several successive attacks, they undoubtedly had gained quite a bit of experience. Facing a sudden assault, they were no longer as panicked and helpless as before.

In this manner, although the results did not look especially good, the attackers likewise paid no small price.

There were nine attackers in total. In the end, only three escaped.

As for that young man who had nearly cost Chu Mu his little life, under the encirclement and assault of Li Gang and several other Patrol Inspectors with rather decent skills, he was severely wounded. It was just that in the end, his companions rescued him and carried him away.

This time, Chu Mu did not manage to take part, but because he stood outside the affair, he saw it all quite clearly.

The several squad leaders and Squad Leaders mostly had some ability to rely on. The few brawny men following beside the Thousand Household all possessed extraordinary skill.

As for that Hundred Household, He Ping, Chu Mu had not seen him make a move, so he did not know what his true capabilities were like.

Clearly, among the Patrol Inspectors, not everyone was just muddling through their days. There were also quite a few who truly had ability.

As for the journey that followed, it was, without a doubt, calm winds and still waves.

Aside from a few unlucky bastards who were injured by traps, the others smoothly arrived outside Qili Village.

Night had already fallen, and even with the torchlight flickering, it was hard to make out the village shrouded in darkness.

Under the shouted orders, the Patrol Inspectors stepped into the village one after another.

"Mu Ge'er, why do I feel like everyone in this village has already run off?"

Xu Yuan sidled up beside Chu Mu and scratched his head as he spoke.

"It's not a feeling. What did you think those people attacking us like their lives depended on it up the mountain just now were doing? Weren't they just stalling for time?"

"If they didn't run, were they supposed to stay behind and fight us to the death?"

Though he said that, Chu Mu did not let down his guard. By the flickering light of the torches, he looked around on all sides.

Just as he had seen in the geographical records, Qili Village really was not large. The village had been built along the mountain terrain, forming an overall slope.

A few dozen houses were scattered in twos and threes across the hillside. If one found a spot with a good view, one could take in the rough outline of the entire village.

And the wide-open doors of the houses by the road, the odds and ends strewn across the ground, all unmistakably showed that the people in this village had left in a great hurry! "Search every house!"

"Don't you dare leave even the latrines unchecked!"

Chu Mu glanced at He Ping, who stood at the village entrance shouting orders, then turned his gaze to the courtyard before him.

An earthen wall enclosed the whole courtyard. The Courtyard Gate woven from bamboo strips stood wide open, and from the entrance, by the flickering firelight, he could see the courtyard scene in broad strokes.

With just one glance, Chu Mu could not help the jolt in his heart. Immediately, he strode into the courtyard.

The furnishings in the courtyard were very simple. On one side stood a mulberry tree, and beneath it was a reclining chair, with a small stone table beside it.

On the other side of the courtyard stood a row of Wooden Dummies and a Sandbag Array. In the corner were piled stone blocks of different sizes, clearly used for tempering strength.

The ground throughout the courtyard was full of pits and hollows. At a glance, they were clearly the marks left behind by years upon years of martial practice.

Such a scene was undoubtedly very unusual in this little mountain village.

Subconsciously, a scene in the courtyard formed in Chu Mu's mind.

Someone lounged leisurely beneath the mulberry tree, drinking tea and savoring wine.

A group of youths, meanwhile, tempered their strength on this side, bitterly training their martial skills.

All of this seemed to match reality.

In the several ambushes they had encountered just now, most of the attackers had been quite skilled, and they had not been very old either.

In such a tiny mountain village, where could so many skilled fighters have sprung from? If all hunters were that formidable, Qili Village would not have been a small mountain village with no more than a few dozen households.

It was obvious that someone had taught the village youths martial skills.

Just like the scene Chu Mu had simulated a moment ago.

The chivalrous used martial force to break the law! With no small amount of ability of their own, how could they allow others to manipulate them at will?

That was why this violent resistance to the levy had happened, why Patrol Inspectors had been killed...

Only... in this little mountain village, where had such a capable person come from?