Highwaymen

"Hold it! This road was built by me, this tree was planted by me! If you want to pass through here, leave behind your toll!"

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Wang Jingyuan picked his nose. "Can't you people come up with something new? So, Alipay or WeChat? And stop hiding. All your health bars are showing."

"What treasure?" Accompanied by rustling sounds, the people hiding in the woods on both sides of the official road finally emerged from the bushes.

There were five highwaymen. One of them was tall and fat, wielding a massive axe. He had probably been responsible for the fallen tree. The brawny brute did not look particularly bright; he stared fixedly at Yue Lingshan, who had caught up from behind, drooling.

"Boss, there's a woman. A pretty woman."

"Shut up!"

The middle-aged man called boss was indeed far more alert than that fool. He noticed the longswords in Wang Jingyuan's and Yue Lingshan's hands. Anyone who spent time in the martial world knew that swords had always been much harder to forge than sabers. They were not something poor bastards could afford.

Besides, swordsmanship had never been the comfort zone of the martial world's bottom rung. The crude techniques taught at martial arts schools were usually saber and staff techniques.

Among those roaming the martial world, a saber wielder would already lose three parts of his confidence when facing a swordsman. Of course, that was not absolute. If one had mastered the saber to the point of distinction, this unspoken rule could be ignored.

Naturally, the five petty highwaymen did not fall into that category.

The leader took two steps forward and clasped his fists. "We are the Huayin Five Heroes. May I ask which sect you two esteemed disciples belong to?"

Wang Jingyuan pointed at Yue Lingshan behind him. "Her name is Yue Lingshan. Her father is Yue Buqun."

Huayin City was only twenty li from Huashan. How could anyone making a living in this area possibly not have heard Yue Buqun's great name? Moreover, everyone knew that Yue Buqun truly had a daughter.

As for whether Wang Jingyuan was lying, the leader did not doubt him in the slightest. Judging others by himself, he thought that with Yue Buqun's status as the head of a sect, anyone who dared impersonate his daughter would surely be cut into a thousand pieces and die without a burial place.

Wang Jingyuan glanced above the man's head and stepped forward. "It isn't easy for anyone out here making a living. We may belong to the Mount Hua Sect, but proper rules still have to be observed.

"You gentlemen have worked hard here. I have a few taels of loose silver; consider it a treat for drinks."

The leader was deeply moved upon hearing this. As expected of a disciple from a famous righteous sect—so approachable, and such pleasant words. Yet for some reason, this esteemed Mount Hua Sect disciple glanced above his head again before jogging toward him in a slight panic.

The leader was puzzled. Was there something on top of his head?

Before he could look up, a flash of cold light streaked toward his throat. Fortunately, he had learned a few crude saber techniques and had practiced them diligently for years, never letting up.

Those few saber moves had earned him a name in the outskirts of Huayin City. Now, his tireless training through wind and rain paid off. The instant he saw the sword light, he twisted his wrist and skillfully flicked out a blossom of saber light, knocking Wang Jingyuan's sword aside.

Though he avoided having his throat pierced, Wang Jingyuan's blade still penetrated his lung. Such was the gap between people. Even the newly learned Mount Hua Basic Sword Technique was superior to crude saber moves he had practiced for half his life.

"Tsk, your stance really isn't firm enough. If I'd been a little slower, your health bar would've turned green."

Wang Jingyuan did not pause. He yanked out his sword, circled around the man, and charged at the four behind him. The leader used his final breath to shout, "Brother, run!"

Though Wang Jingyuan did not know which one was his brother, all four remaining men turned and ran. Wang Jingyuan used his lightness skill to pursue them. If they had rushed him together, they might have caused him trouble. Turning to flee was simply courting death.

His second strike went unblocked, and Wang Jingyuan smoothly slit one man's throat.

[Mount Hua Sword Technique Proficiency +1]

Hearing the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground behind them, one man gritted his teeth. "At this rate, none of us will escape! Third Brother, you and I will carve out a path for Fifth Brother!"

"Fine! Fifth Brother, keep running! Don't look back, and don't stop!"

The two fleeing men suddenly turned around and lunged at Wang Jingyuan. With both attacking at once, Wang Jingyuan did not seek to kill them. He unleashed Boundless Falling Leaves, and his longsword suddenly burst forth with a spray of sword light. In the blink of an eye, it punctured their torsos with numerous bloody holes.

They were not dead, but they had lost any ability to resist. Wounding ten fingers rather than severing one was merely a military maxim. In a real encounter, spending time and effort to kill one person was less worthwhile than using the same resources to severely wound several.

Only one remained now. The fat brute with the axe, the so-called Fifth Brother, heard the two men screaming behind him and immediately threw down his axe, running even faster.

Wang Jingyuan had intended to continue the pursuit, but the two men he had turned into bloody sieves suddenly lunged at him as they collapsed, clinging tightly to his waist and legs.

Wang Jingyuan had never learned any hidden weapon techniques, so he could only watch as Fifth Brother vanished into the bushes. He casually reversed his sword and pierced both men through the necks. Once their grip slackened, he easily freed himself from their hold.

[Mount Hua Sword Technique Proficiency +2]

Yue Lingshan watched Wang Jingyuan return covered in blood and felt that he was a stranger to her. There was nothing wrong with acting chivalrously after encountering highwaymen.

Yet Yue Lingshan saw no unusual expression on Wang Jingyuan's face. It was just like when he had still been at Huashan, going to the dining hall every day, gnawing on a steamed bun while staring blankly into space.

It was as though, to him, killing people was no different from eating steamed buns.

Wang Jingyuan walked toward the leader lying on the ground. Seeing him approach, the leader resignedly closed his eyes. Yet the release he expected never came.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Wang Jingyuan had noticed a medicinal herb nearby. He squatted beside it, took out a small shovel, and began digging it up. The herb was not particularly valuable, but it increased his proficiency.

[Gathering Skill Proficiency +1]

Wang Jingyuan put away the herb, casually wiped the blood off his sword on his clothes, then began taking off his clothes beneath the leader's terrified gaze.

"Junior Disciple Brother, what are you doing?!" Yue Lingshan finally stopped him.

Wang Jingyuan tossed his outer robe aside and began inspecting his inner garment. "My clothes got covered in blood, and their cleanliness dropped badly. I left Little Monkey at Huashan, and I'm too lazy to wash them, so I might as well throw them away. I brought plenty of spare clothes when I came down the mountain anyway."

Finding bloodstains on his inner garment as well, Wang Jingyuan continued stripping, revealing lean, pale muscles. Yue Lingshan hurriedly covered her eyes with her hands in shock, though the gaps between her fingers were rather wide.

Only after Wang Jingyuan somehow produced and put on a fresh inner garment did Yue Lingshan lower her hands with some reluctance. But soon afterward, Wang Jingyuan took the inner garment off again.

There was only one reason: a fat figure had come charging back.

The leader lying on the ground saw him too and weakly cried, "Fifth Brother, leave! Don't come back!"

Soon, he realized that his voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz and the fat brute could not hear him. He turned to beg Wang Jingyuan instead. "Hero, please show mercy! Please spare my foolish little brother! He doesn't know anything!"

Wang Jingyuan acted as if he had heard nothing and even began taking off his trousers. When he started removing his underpants, Yue Lingshan no longer dared peek through her fingers. With a scream, she turned around.

Completely naked, Wang Jingyuan carried his longsword toward the fat brute. Though the brute did not understand why Wang Jingyuan had taken off his clothes, he still picked up the axe he had discarded earlier.

"Let... let my big brother go, and I'll..."

Before he could finish, Wang Jingyuan stepped close and slit his throat.

[Mount Hua Sword Technique Proficiency +1]

Just as expected, blood had splashed onto him again. Taking off his clothes before fighting really was the right approach.

Ignoring the leader lying on the ground and howling himself hoarse with grief, Wang Jingyuan wiped the blood from his body with his dirty clothes, then changed into a clean set. He patted Yue Lingshan's back. "I'm done."