Pirates

Although Ren Yuan had been mentally prepared, his voice still tightened.

"I... I smell blood."

The two constables stayed at the back. Old Zhao and Little Zhao protected Ming Shu. They left the horses and supplies where they were, took up their respective weapons, and moved closer to Ren Yuan.

Ren Yuan and Chong Li had already followed the hillside forward, using the trees for cover as they scouted the way ahead.

When they rounded the bend, they saw a patch of firelight.

"Pirates."

Ahead lay a small village of a dozen or so households.

The walls they had built around their courtyards were utterly incapable of holding back these pirates. The traps nearby had all been dealt with roughly.

A dozen or more pirates were shouting and hollering, accompanied by waves of frog cries.

The sounds rose and fell one after another. It was quite a lively scene.

Chong Li grabbed Ren Yuan and turned to look at Ming Shu. They were now in his territory, and she was ready to see what decision he would make.

This was also Sky-Toppling Observatory's test for Ming Shu.

"Save the people! Everyone, be careful." Ming Shu surveyed the scene. There were only a dozen or so pirates. They could bully ordinary mortals, but everyone on his side could count as combat-capable.

Ren Yuan charged out first. He immediately kicked a pirate who had been keeping watch in a tree, sending him flying.

Ming Shu and the others charged out after him as well. Staying behind would only leave them isolated, and even the two constables had no choice but to run forward with them.

Chong Li cast a spell on them. Each person gained a one-quarter-hour movement-speed enhancement.

After casting the spell, Chong Li stayed at the rear and slowly walked alongside the two constables. She rested as she went, while preparing to deal with any sudden developments.

Ming Shu sent Old Zhao to help Ren Yuan. He and Little Zhao worked together, focusing only on protecting themselves.

By the time Ming Shu and Little Zhao drew close to the village, Ren Yuan had already killed his way into the pirates. Aside from seriously injuring one of them with his first move, the pirates had immediately formed groups of three to defend themselves.

This deprived Ren Yuan of any chance to inflict further casualties.

However, it also delayed their killing and looting. By the time Old Zhao joined the battle, he had rescued the few villagers who were still alive.

Once Ming Shu drew close to the pirates, the Life Book inside his body finally reacted.

[Demon Spirits: Still Water Frog, Ice Fire Frog, Water Moon Frog, Shadow Moon Frog, Illusion Moon Frog, Chiming Tide Frog, Moon Gazing Frog, Snow Frog, Poison Smoke Frog, Fire Moon Frog, Snow Moon Frog, Moonlight Snow Frog, Water Ghost Frog.]

Good heavens. Every one of these dozen or so pirates had a demonic spirit on him. Although he had not seen the spirits' actual bodies, they were probably small enough to be hidden somewhere on their persons—or perhaps stored in some kind of Storage Bag.

These demonic spirits could fight on their own, though judging by their names, they probably were not very strong individually. That left possessing their hosts and providing them with some demonic arts.

Sure enough, at the very moment Ming Shu was reading the information, the [Demonic Spirit: Fire Moon Frog] on one pirate possessed him and joined the battle. Facing Ren Yuan head-on, the pirate suddenly launched a flame attack, followed immediately by a slash of his blade.

The demonic spirit power within Ren Yuan had not even been activated. He met the flames with an iron fist, fearless of the fire, shattering the blade and knocking it away.

That pirate had the honor of becoming the second person to suffer serious injuries.

Relying on their superior numbers, they still held the advantage. They picked on the weaker target, and two groups of six immediately launched a fierce assault on Old Zhao. Little Zhao and Ming Shu hurried over to help, while Chong Li and the other two followed behind them.

Their primary goal was to save people. Ming Shu had only said to save people—that was the objective. Killing the pirates was merely incidental.

Ming Shu was in no hurry to deal with the pirates.

He did not know whether they had reinforcements nearby. Likewise, the pirates did not know his identity or whether he had more men behind him.

Besides, Ren Yuan had already severely wounded two of them, while Old Zhao's skill and performance in battle were also extremely formidable, placing immense pressure on them.

Anyone who could disregard the abilities of demonic spirits was no ordinary martial-world expert.

If they had official backing, the pirates would be even more afraid.

For the moment, the two sides reached a stalemate.

Some already wanted to withdraw. Others could not swallow their anger—two of their brothers had been seriously wounded.

Then Chong Li and the two constables arrived as well. The pirates finally saw the uniforms on the constables.

They grew even more hesitant.

Previously, when they had plundered this area, they had maintained a certain distance from the local powers, along with a high degree of tacit understanding.

Now that constables had appeared, they did not know whether someone had deliberately sold them out.

They became even more eager to retreat.

Several of their brothers were lying in ambush behind them, yet had not given any warning. This was not a large army attacking from the front. But even if there were only these few people before them, killing them all would still require paying a heavy price.

It was a bad bargain. They did not do bad bargains.

"Go!"

"Don't hesitate."

The men entangling Ren Yuan were retreating step by step. After those attacking Old Zhao reached a unanimous decision, they immediately sent out the signal to withdraw.

All the demonic spirits possessed their hosts, and several different demonic arts burst forth at once.

Their power was not great—for Ren Yuan, that was. His skin was thick and his flesh tough. Even Old Zhao, whose Martial Dao realm was two levels higher than Ren Yuan's, had no choice but to dodge the attacks.

This allowed the pirates to escape smoothly.

It would be too dangerous if Ren Yuan pursued them alone.

Ming Shu and Chong Li immediately shouted for Ren Yuan not to chase them.

The pirates were extremely decisive. They took only their wounded and, according to plan, swiftly plunged into the woods in another direction.

Ming Shu ran over to call Ren Yuan, and in doing so left the range of Old Zhao and Little Zhao.

Chong Li had no choice but to run out after them.

The moment the three of them charged out of the village, before they had even reached the woods, three ice arrows shot toward them.

[Demonic Spirit: Rock Ice Turtle, Ice Turtle, Ice Fire Turtle.]

They had collected information on three more demonic spirits.

Ren Yuan shattered one of the ice arrows with an iron fist.

Chong Li spun around in a graceful flourish, effortlessly avoiding another ice arrow.

Ming Shu activated [Demonic Spirit: Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King]'s skill, [Pagoda Guard]! He too successfully blocked an ice arrow.

Cursing and grumbling, Ren Yuan returned and shielded Ming Shu as they withdrew into the village.

Putting out the fire was already impossible. The group helped the villagers salvage whatever useful supplies they could, treated their wounds, and then took turns resting.

By the time dawn arrived, the fire had nearly gone out.

Ming Shu did not say that he was the new master of this region. During these ten barren years, this area had not been completely deserted.

Some people who could no longer survive elsewhere would secretly come here to reclaim the wasteland. Supporting themselves through their own labor was, of course, a beautiful ideal.

Reality, however, was another matter: natural disasters, man-made calamities, and pirates who came to plunder frequently.

With good luck, one lost only some possessions. With bad luck, one could not even keep one's life.

It was not only the area around Bai Family Village that suffered this way. The other territories with owners also frequently endured pirate raids.

Their Village Lords or village chiefs would gather everyone's strength and build their own fortified strongholds. As long as they could be the first to run back, they basically had nothing to fear from a pirate assault.

These pirates cherished their own lives very much. They simply did not consider ordinary people's lives worth anything.

Whenever they encountered a slightly tougher opponent, they changed locations.

Donghai Prefecture had not known peace in all these years. It was not only the coastal villages and towns—even farther inland, near the county seat, there were traces of them.

The pirates who had fired concealed arrows from the woods just now had set up an early ambush to cover their retreat.

It was hard to say whether they could be considered well-trained, but at the very least, they knew how to advance and retreat in good order.

For some time to come, Ming Shu's main opponents would probably be these fellows. The struggle for supremacy across the world was still far too distant from him. For now, he had to survive first.