Take Care

As Chu Qing watched, the tall woman swung the short one at Chu Fan.

There was no way for Chu Fan to dodge that move. He could only take it head-on.

The veins stood out on his hands. Without a moment's thought, he unleashed Tai Yi Divine Palm.

There was a loud BANG!

The tall woman, still holding the short one, shuddered slightly.

Chu Fan, however, staggered back three or five steps, his face turning ashen.

The tall woman burst out laughing.

"Do you give up?"

Chu Fan's face darkened. He gritted his teeth.

"Again!!"

"Good!"

At Chu Fan's words, the tall woman's face lit up with excitement.

"If you can't beat us, you'll kowtow and call us big brother!"

Chu Fan's expression grew even uglier, but he said nothing.

It was clear he wasn't at all sure he could win.

For a moment, Chu Qing could only marvel.

Chu Fan was a man of extraordinary strength, to say nothing of how remarkable his sect was.

Its founder was a legendary figure of the martial world: Ancestor Tai Yi.

His talent was peerless. He could learn any martial art at a glance, master it in an instant, and even infer new techniques from what he had learned. He therefore believed that the martial arts of the world were nothing special—that they were all too easy.

That was how he came to call himself Tai Yi.

He had roamed the martial world for half his life under the name Layman Tai Yi. Not only had he avoided being killed, he had also founded the Taiyi Sect. That alone showed just how extraordinary his martial arts had been.

Under Ancestor Tai Yi's leadership, the Taiyi Sect had stood at the pinnacle of the martial world.

After Ancestor Tai Yi passed away, the sect never regained its former glory. Still, through three hundred years of ups and downs, it had remained standing.

That was largely thanks to the three scrolls of the Book of Unchanging Heaven left behind by Ancestor Tai Yi.

They were said to contain peerless martial arts.

The Tai Yi Divine Palm and Tai Yi Divine Fist Chu Fan used both came from the Human Scroll of the Book of Unchanging Heaven.

In fact, no one had seen the martial arts of the Earth Scroll for nearly a century.

Yet the skills in the Human Scroll alone were enough to make even the greatest martial artists hesitate to cause trouble at the Taiyi Sect's doorstep.

Though the sect now kept to its own corner of the world, far from its former stature, no one was willing to provoke it.

With Chu Fan's talent and peerless skills at his disposal, how had he wound up at a disadvantage against two women?

Wasn't that bizarre?

"There really is always a higher mountain."

Chu Qing glanced around.

"Where did Chu Fan's junior sister run off to?"

He remembered how she had appeared beside him without a sound at the teahouse. He didn't dare underestimate her. If she were here, surely his second brother wouldn't be getting bullied by two women.

And with things as they were, could he catch the other two Iron Horse Seven Bandits off guard and assassinate them?

After watching for a moment, Chu Qing shook his head slightly.

"They're too alert. I need an opening. Otherwise, even if I kill one, there'll be too many complications when I go after the other.

"And judging by how these two are acting, why do they look ready to run at any moment?"

The two Iron Horse Seven Bandits weren't taking part in the fight itself. They were circling at the edge, exchanging glances now and then and retreating at the slightest sign of danger.

They looked ready to flee at any moment.

Chu Qing considered the situation. An opening wouldn't be hard to find.

As he saw it, there were two possibilities.

First, the head of the Iron Horse Seven Bandit he'd just killed. If the horse brought it back, it would surely disrupt the situation.

Second, the junior sister who had disappeared. She could be an opening, too.

If she appeared and joined Chu Fan against the two women, keeping them occupied, Chu Qing might be able to make his move and land a kill.

The horse should have returned by now...

Sure enough, it wasn't long before hoofbeats sounded in the distance, just as Chu Fan and the two women had traded two or three more blows.

The two Iron Horse Seven Bandits immediately perked up.

"Fifth Brother's here!!"

They both turned toward the sound of hooves. Even Chu Fan couldn't help being distracted by it.

The tall woman laughed.

"Someone else is coming? This is getting interesting!"

Then the short woman said, "Don't get carried away."

"I know."

Their exchange left Chu Qing bewildered.

After all that, they didn't even know who the Iron Horse Seven Bandits were?

Then why were they fighting Chu Fan?

Chu Qing had assumed the two women were an ambush set up by the Iron Horse Seven Bandits.

But now... could it have been a coincidence? Had Chu Fan just been unlucky enough to run into a pair of lunatics?

No wonder the two Iron Horse Seven Bandits seemed so eager to flee. They didn't know the women at all.

Under everyone's expectant gaze, a horse soon came galloping toward them.

There was someone on it... a woman.

She wasn't very old, and her clothes were much like Chu Fan's. She wore no expression, as if everyone in the world owed her money.

"Junior Sister Wen, help me!!"

Chu Fan was overjoyed when he saw her.

He didn't even stop to wonder why his junior sister was riding one of the Iron Horse Seven Bandits' horses. He simply called out to her.

Junior Sister Wen didn't hesitate. She pushed off with one foot and leaped into the air, but first she flung something at the Iron Horse Seven Bandits.

She moved too quickly for the remaining two to risk catching it barehanded.

The Great Thief leading them swung his battle-axe and brought it down in a sudden chop.

With a sharp SPLIT!, the object was cleaved in two. Red and white matter scattered everywhere.

For a moment, everyone present was stunned, and their movements faltered.

Chu Fan asked without thinking, "Junior Sister Wen, what was that?"

"A head."

Junior Sister Wen answered in the same flat voice, without a hint of emotion.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Found it."

Brief and to the point, without a single wasted word.

As soon as she finished, the tall woman read aloud from a strip of cloth in her hand.

"'The Iron Horse Seven Bandits have slaughtered countless people. Their crimes deserve death.' Night Emperor... who's the Night Emperor?"

She asked without the slightest hesitation, but no one could answer her.

The short woman, however, spoke coldly.

"The Iron Horse Seven Bandits deserve death?"

At that, the leader of the Iron Horse Seven Bandits, who had just been standing there in stunned silence, suddenly pointed at Chu Fan and Junior Sister Wen and shouted, "That's right! They're the Iron Horse Seven Bandits!"

Chu Fan was furious.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Who's an Iron Horse Seven Bandit?"

"Obviously, you are!"

The leader of the Iron Horse Seven Bandits replied as if it were self-evident.

"Look at the Divine Steed your junior sister's riding! If you're not the Iron Horse Seven Bandits, then who is? Two heroines, these Iron Horse Seven Bandits have chased us until there's no way up to heaven or down into the earth. Please, take our side and save us!"

"Good, good, good! I love fighting—oh, I mean, I love saving people most of all.

"Iron Horse Seven Bandits, take this!!"

The tall woman cheered and charged at Chu Fan.

Chu Fan had a thousand things he wanted to say, but the woman was impossible to reason with. He could only hurry to meet her attack.

Junior Sister Wen could have explained, but her temperament was odd. She said nothing, simply joining Chu Fan and fighting the two women alongside him.

The two remaining Iron Horse Seven Bandits exchanged a glance and leaped onto the horse. The leader gave a whistle, and two more swift horses came galloping over. They raced away with the bandits following behind.

As they left, the leader called out, "Our martial arts are too weak to help you two heroines. We'll be off first. Take care!"

By this point, even a fool would have realized something was wrong.

Yet the tall woman hadn't noticed a thing. Instead, she waved at them.

"Take care!"