Bone Severing

It certainly wasn't guaranteed.

Fierce Tiger Stronghold was notorious throughout Sheng County. So far, they only knew it was somewhere on Dog Tail Mountain; no one knew the exact location.

The Sheng County Office had sent men to suppress them before, but though Dog Tail Mountain looked like a small hill, its paths were rugged and steep. Finding their location was far too difficult.

They had found it before, but it had been an empty stronghold.

As the saying went, a cunning rabbit had three burrows. Fierce Tiger Stronghold had more than one hideout as well.

This led to repeated fruitless returns.

Anyone captured by Fierce Tiger Stronghold had never been seen returning alive.

Yet Fierce Tiger Stronghold always managed to make a killing.

Just like now—people feared death. Even with the slightest hope, they wanted to live.

The letters still had to be written.

After tossing the items onto the ground, the bandit stood at the door with his long blade in hand.

The others did not react, but Xu Bai's eyes lit up.

This was exactly what he wanted.

He had originally planned to call someone in, claim that he had wealthy relatives at home, and trick the bandits into bringing paper and a brush.

Unexpectedly, things had fallen into place by sheer luck. He did not even need to rack his brains.

"Big Brother, I'll write!" Xu Bai raised his hand, the iron chains around it clattering.

The bandit said nothing, only sneered.

"But Big Brother, look, I'm tied up like this. The handwriting won't look like mine." Xu Bai shook the chains.

The escorts around him raised their heads, unable to understand what Xu Bai was planning.

"What trick are you trying to pull?" The bandit carried his long blade on his shoulder and smiled sinisterly.

"Big Brother, hear me out. Look, we're after money, right? If it doesn't look like my handwriting, my family won't recognize it. You two can untie me first, then tie me back up after I finish writing. We're no match for you anyway." Xu Bai pointed around him.

The bandit considered it carefully. What Xu Bai said did make sense.

Everyone here was tied up.

There were two of them now. Letting one person loose, then tying him up again after he finished writing, seemed harmless enough.

They were only after money. After thinking it over, the bandit sheathed his long blade.

"Don't you dare trip me up!"

"Rest assured, Big Brother. I only want to live. If it doesn't look like I wrote it, my family won't acknowledge it, and my life will be over too." Xu Bai put on the appearance of an honest man.

The bandit said no more. He pulled Xu Bai's chains over and lowered his head to unlock them.

Xu Bai's gaze fell upon the long blade at the bandit's waist.

Because the cell was dark, the bandit unlocked the chains very slowly.

The chains were ice-cold, but Xu Bai's heart was even calmer.

He watched as the bandit opened the shackles step by step. The moment the chains slid off, he suddenly pressed his hand down onto the blade's hilt.

It happened too fast. The bandit had no time to react.

Xu Bai retreated two steps, and the long blade was already drawn.

"Bone Severing Blade Technique!"

He shifted one step to the left, sweeping the long blade diagonally from lower right to upper left.

True Qi surged within him. The long blade swung broad and wide, its momentum unleashed to the fullest.

A deep wound appeared across the bandit's chest and abdomen. Blood sprayed as he crashed to the ground.

"How dare you!"

Seeing this, the other bandit drew his long blade and slashed at Xu Bai.

Xu Bai retreated, exerting force through his arm. Blade met blade, True Qi flowing from his right hand through the weapon.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out. The bandit's long blade flew from his hand and landed on the ground.

Xu Bai pressed his advantage and drove his blade into the man's chest.

"Urgh! Urgh!"

With the blade through his chest, his lungs were wounded. The bandit could not make a sound, only froth blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Shk!"

Xu Bai pulled out the long blade and planted it against the ground.

"Thud!"

The bandit lost his support and fell heavily to the floor.

The whole process took less than two breaths.

The escorts around them were dumbstruck.

That blade technique was vicious to the extreme. The murderous aura rushing at them made it hard to breathe.

Its swings were broad and forceful, yet every strike was fatal.

This... was really their fellow escort?

One of the escorts shuddered.

Xu Bai had no idea what they were thinking. Carrying the long blade, he walked over.

For some reason, despite killing someone for the first time, he did not feel sick at all.

Perhaps it was the original owner's influence, he thought.

One escort saw him approaching and, catching sight of the blood on the blade, unconsciously backed away.

"Listen. If you want to live, don't make a sound. Otherwise, none of us will survive." Xu Bai wiped the blood from the blade.

The escorts nodded repeatedly, like chicks pecking at grain.

Xu Bai took the keys from the bandits, then stripped one bandit's clothes and changed into them.

He chose the set with the least blood on it, but he still could not avoid smelling the stench of blood.

"Listen carefully. In a moment, I'll lure them inside. You take the blades and strike from within and without." Xu Bai unlocked the chains around the escorts' hands and tossed one of the blades onto the ground.

One escort gathered his courage and picked up the blade. Before he could say anything, Xu Bai had already opened the door and gone out.

"Pretend your hands are still tied," Xu Bai said before leaving.

Outside the cell was a damp corridor, with scattered oil lamps along the walls.

The exit was not far away. It was daytime now, and pale light shone in from outside.

Xu Bai reached the exit, poked his head out for a look, and frowned.

Outside the cell was an open space surrounded by crude houses. In the middle of that open space stood a carriage.

Xu Bai recognized the carriage well. It was the escort shipment from this trip.

The wheels had sunk into the ground, proving that there was still cargo inside.

Xu Bai felt that something was very wrong.

Logically speaking, after these bandits had seized the carriage, they should have unloaded the goods inside. Why had there been no movement at all?

They had stolen the goods but were in no hurry to move them—this was not the bandits' style.

But this was not the time to think about that. Xu Bai looked at a bandit some distance away and called out.

"Brother, come here."

He called softly. The other bandits were posted far apart, so they could not hear him.

The bandit who had been called looked curiously toward the cell. He saw one of his fellows waving at him, apparently beckoning him over.

Because they were some distance apart, that fellow had called to him once and immediately ducked back into the cell. The bandit had not seen him clearly.

"What is it? You need to call me over for such a trivial matter?" The bandit cursed as he walked inside.

The moment he reached the door, Xu Bai grabbed him and pulled him into the prison corridor.

The corridor was very dark, and the bandit could not see Xu Bai's face clearly. He was slightly displeased.

"What are you doing?"

"There's a big fish." Xu Bai lowered his voice. "The other brother is watching it inside."

He did not spell it out. Saying too much would make it easy to give himself away.

The bandit's eyes lit up at those words, and he hurriedly urged Xu Bai onward.

In their line of work, who was not greedy?

Hearing Xu Bai say this, he even forgot to ask what kind of big fish it was.

Xu Bai said no more. Hooking an arm around the bandit's shoulder, he led him to the cell inside.

Inside the cell, the escorts had returned to their previous states.

The bandit looked in from outside and found nothing wrong. He opened the cell and walked in.

The instant one foot crossed the threshold, alarm rose in his heart.

Something was wrong! There should have been two men inside. Why was there only one now?

Where was the other one?

The bandit turned around, and a blade was pressed to his neck.

Behind him, an escort held a long blade, copying Xu Bai's stance from behind as he held the weapon against the bandit.

"Take off your clothes," Xu Bai said flatly.

The blade in his hand was steady.