After searching around for a while, Su Chen looked a little disappointed. Aside from a dozen or so silver notes, he hadn't found any Martial Arts manuals on the man.
To be honest, he'd been rather envious of the Third Head's Martial Arts.
After all, this was the first Practice Force Warrior he'd ever encountered. One could imagine the value of the Martial Arts he carried.
Unwilling to give up, he searched again. This time, he stripped the man of every stitch of clothing, but still found nothing.
Su Chen gave up, stood, and walked over to the bandits under the awed gazes of the crowd.
"Hand over the money on you, and I'll let you go."
Su Chen spoke calmly, hoping to make up for the loss of not finding any Martial Arts manuals by taking money from these men.
Hearing they could live, the bandits weren't willing, but still handed over the money on them with pained expressions.
Su Chen gathered another few dozen taels here and there and tucked them into his clothes. Ignoring everyone's stares, he picked up the Third Head's broken saber.
Just as he was about to leave, a bandit timidly asked, "Didn't you say you'd let us go?"
At that, Su Chen looked back at him and left them with one final remark: "I let you go. Now they're the ones who won't let you go."
The bandits: "..."
Watching Su Chen leave, Yan Que immediately said, "Many thanks for your help, sir. I'm Yan Que of the Broken Saber Sect. If you ever need anything, you can come find me at the Broken Saber Sect..."
After speaking, Yan Que turned his gaze toward the bandits.
"Please, don't kill us!"
The bandits wanted to cry but had no tears. They'd escaped the wolf's den only to fall into the tiger's lair.
No, they'd been in a den of wolves and tigers all along.
"Where are our people and goods?" Yan Que asked in a deep voice.
"In the woods. We can take you there, as long as you spare us," one bandit said.
Yan Que didn't answer. Instead, he had everyone start taking count.
"By the way, where's Junior Brother Su Chen?"
Fang Rou suddenly cried out, looking worried. But soon, she spotted Su Chen in the crowd and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness Su Chen was all right. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to explain things to Master Hong.
Before long, they finished counting. Aside from a few Fang Family guards being injured, the rest had suffered almost no harm.
Except for their leader, the Third Head, the bandits were inferior to the Fang Family in both numbers and strength. Naturally, they hadn't been able to inflict much damage.
Then, guided by the bandits, Yan Que and the others quickly found the people from the Fang Family who'd been abducted, along with a batch of goods.
Yan Que also learned from the bandits that they'd originally planned to take the money and release the captives. But the Third Head had insisted on extorting them for another payment, which was what had led to the events just now.
"Master Yan, what should we do with these bandits?" one of the accompanying warriors asked after the Fang Family caravan had been rescued.
At this, all the bandits grew tense. They hurriedly knelt and begged for mercy, coming up with all sorts of reasons.
But Yan Que remained unmoved. At his command, the bandits' lives came to an end.
He didn't think Lianyun Stronghold would let them off just because one of its Third Heads had died.
Since they'd made a deadly enemy of Lianyun Stronghold, there was no reason to let these men live.
In the end, Yan Que personally executed the bandits one by one.
Worried that the people of Lianyun Stronghold would hear what had happened, Yan Que and the others left immediately after dealing with the bandits.
Not long after Su Chen and the others left, deep in Lianyun Mountain, at a stronghold.
"Reporting, Second Head! Something terrible has happened!"
A burly man was drilling bandits in an open field. When he saw a man running over in a panic, he roared, "What are you yelling for? Can't you see I'm training?"
With that, he rushed over and slapped the man, leaving him dizzy and sending him plopping onto the ground.
After a long while, the burly man asked in a deep voice, "Speak! What happened?"
The man came to his senses and clutched his cheek, his expression suddenly turning panicked. "Something terrible happened! The Third Head was killed!"
"What did you say?" The burly man grabbed him by the collar, his tiger-like eyes brimming with Killing Intent.
"It's—it's true. The Third Head's body is right at the stronghold gate," the man gasped.
At that, the burly man forgot his anger and rushed straight for the gate.
As soon as he arrived, he saw a lean man. He went up and asked, "Big Brother, Third Brother, he...?"
The First Head said nothing, only looking at the body covered by a white cloth. Seeing this, the Second Head felt a chill in his heart.
He walked over and lifted the cloth. His eyes instantly bulged with fury. "Third Brother!"
Then, his eyes bloodshot, he demanded, "Big Brother, who did this? The Fang Family? Was it the Fang Family?"
Hearing this, all the grief on the First Head's face turned into towering rage.
"Fang Family! Fang Youwei! You killed my Third Brother and humiliated him like this. The day Lianyun Stronghold breaches the city will be the day the entire Fang Family is wiped out!"
At dusk, as brilliant rosy light spread across the land, Yan Que and the others appeared outside White Stone City.
After leaving Lianyun Mountain, they hadn't dared waste even a moment. They'd ridden hard all the way and finally made it back to White Stone City before nightfall.
At last, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Their faces were bright with the joy of having survived a catastrophe. After paying the entry fee, they went into the city.
"Master Yan, Miss Fang, we won't be going any farther with you," someone said in farewell.
Yan Que nodded. "You've all worked hard this time!"
The warriors clasped their fists in turn and said their goodbyes to Yan Que and the others.
"Take care, Junior Brother Su Chen!"
Fang Rou said goodbye to Su Chen. Yan Que, standing nearby, noticed and his gaze shifted slightly, but he said nothing.
Soon, everyone else had left, leaving only the Fang Family members.
Yan Que looked at Fang Rou and smiled. "Come on, let's head back too."
Fang Rou nodded.
When they returned to the Fang Family, Yan Que told Fang Youwei what had happened on Lianyun Mountain. Fang Youwei was nearly scared out of his wits.
Thankfully, Yan Que and Fang Rou had both returned safely, which finally put his mind at ease.
"Brother-in-law, we owe you so much this time. Without you, the consequences would have been unthinkable," Fang Youwei said gratefully.
Yan Que waved his hand. "We're family, Big Brother. There's no need to thank me. Besides, we have that One-Armed warrior to thank."
"That man was able to kill a Practice Force Warrior. His strength is no small matter. Someone like him shouldn't be unknown. Could he be from outside White Stone City?"
Fang Youwei knew just about every Practice Force Warrior near White Stone City, but he'd never heard of the One-Armed warrior.
"No." Yan Que shook his head. "He should be from White Stone City."
"What makes you say that?"
"I heard some constables mention that an One-Armed man had once brought in the head of the wanted criminal Liu Tong..."
After parting ways with Fang Rou and the others, Su Chen didn't go straight home.
Instead, he made a detour to the Money Shop, exchanged the silver he'd gotten for gold, and only then headed home.
By the time he got back, darkness had fully settled in. He entered his room and laid out what he'd gained on the table.
A broken long saber, ten taels of gold, and sixty taels of silver.
As he looked at them, Su Chen suddenly shuddered. A flush of blood rose to his cheeks. He clutched his chest and coughed several times.
"I wonder if the Turtle Shell Skill, pushed to its limit, can heal the injuries caused by that remnant strand of force inside me!"
Before you continue