Auntie's Up to No Good

"Something's wrong. There are other experts in the stronghold. Minjun, look after your junior brothers and sisters."

Without waiting for Ding Minjun to respond, Miejue drew a breath of True Qi and leaped into the air. Like a wild goose, she soared toward the distant stronghold.

After a few rises and falls, she vanished from sight, nowhere to be seen.

As they watched Miejue leave, the dozens of bandits remaining nearby let out long sighs of relief.

It felt as though the blade hanging over their heads had finally been taken away.

Once they had calmed down, the bandits looked at Ding Minjun, Gu Shaoan, and Zhou Zhiruo in the middle of the clearing, their faces full of uncertainty.

They wanted to go forward and finish off Gu Shaoan and the others, but they remembered the strength Gu Shaoan and Ding Minjun had shown earlier. And with Miejue's whereabouts unknown, they were wary.

For a moment, they couldn't decide whether to keep fighting or flee for their lives.

Meanwhile, Gu Shaoan had already moved to Zhou Zhiruo's side, so Ding Minjun could protect them both later.

But when Gu Shaoan looked up at Ding Minjun, he happened to meet her thoughtful gaze.

Seeing the cold curve of her lips, Gu Shaoan's heart sank.

Something's wrong. That woman's up to no good.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed Gu Shaoan's mind, Ding Minjun seemed to reach a decision.

She immediately called out, "Junior brothers and sisters, bandits deserve to die. Not one of these bandits can be allowed to leave alive today."

With that, Ding Minjun strode forward and leaped toward a group of bandits. Their screams rang out at once.

Watching Ding Minjun swing her sword and cut down the bandits around her, they recalled what she had just said.

The bandits who had still been hesitating over whether to flee or stay began to harden their resolve.

One by one, they glared viciously at Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo.

Gu Shaoan's thoughts turned, and he immediately understood Ding Minjun's intentions.

She was driving the dogs into a dead end, forcing the bandits to fight to the death.

Her aim was not only to wipe out the bandits, but also to use them to eliminate him and Zhou Zhiruo.

After cursing her inwardly, Gu Shaoan sheathed his sword and said to Zhou Zhiruo, who was still bewildered beside him, "Senior Sister, stay close to me."

Zhou Zhiruo looked confused, unsure why Gu Shaoan's expression had suddenly grown so grave.

But she could clearly feel the bandits' hostile stares from nearby.

She immediately nodded in response and gripped the wooden sword in her hand tightly.

Just as the two of them were ready, the bandits finally lost patience. Seeing Ding Minjun continue to slaughter those around her, they charged at Gu Shaoan.

Gu Shaoan watched the bandits approach, his gaze deep and steady. His left hand gripped the scabbard, while his right curled around the hilt. The True Qi in his body flowed without pause.

A few breaths later, the first two bandits reached Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo. They swung their broadswords, bringing them down together on Gu Shaoan.

Their blades howled through the air, showing no hesitation merely because their target was a child.

As the two men swung, Gu Shaoan pressed his hand against the hilt and clenched his fingers around it.

Clang—

A clear sword ring echoed as the long sword shot from its sheath like a bolt of lightning.

In the firelight, a flash of swordlight suddenly appeared in the two bandits' eyes.

It was as dazzling as a rainbow after rain, yet vanished in an instant like a shooting star at the edge of the sky.

"Pfft, pfft."

The sharp blade sliced through the legs of the two bandits before him as easily as a knife through tofu. Two muffled sounds rang out as steel cut into flesh.

The blade sank an inch and a fraction, cutting skin and tendon but leaving the bone untouched.

The two bandits felt a surge of pain in their injured legs. The agony threw them off balance, and they fell to the ground, screaming.

Having wounded two bandits with one strike, Gu Shaoan's sword had not yet run its course.

Instead, he used the terrifying initial speed of his draw and the force of his turn to unleash the third move of the Sunset Swordplay: Molten Gold Boiling Sea.

The sword swept sideways in one fluid motion. Its rosy swordlight scattered like sunset clouds, gentle yet deadly as it skimmed across the outer sides of the knees of the three bandits following close behind.

It cut an inch into the flesh, severing the patellar tendons beneath their kneecaps—the very tendons tapped to test the knee-jerk reflex.

"Ugh!"

Three muffled cries of pain rang out. The three bandits felt as though heavy hammers had smashed their knees. The pain drilled through them; they couldn't even think of attacking. Their weapons slipped from their hands, and they clutched their knees, howling.

From the moment he drew his sword and wounded his foes to the instant he spun and sliced their knees, the entire sequence passed in the blink of an eye.

As the five bandits fell before him, Gu Shaoan had already sheathed his sword. He pulled Zhou Zhiruo back several paces, opening a small but vital gap between them and the bandits charging up behind.

But after only a few steps, more bandits rushed past the wounded men on the ground and reached Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo.

Gu Shaoan stood firm, unmoving as a reef.

Whenever a bandit entered the dangerous range he had set, the sword in his sheath shot out like a venomous snake striking. Each blow was precise, either jabbing at the wrist holding a weapon, sweeping across an ankle or calf, or slashing diagonally at the tendons behind a knee.

His swordlight never strayed above the lower body.

Yet every time he struck, several bandits fell, screaming in agony.

Zhou Zhiruo watched blood spray and enemies fall with cries of pain. Though frightened and shocked, she forced herself to remain calm, gripping her wooden sword and staying close to Gu Shaoan.

There were too many bandits. If he had been at full strength, Gu Shaoan might have relied on his lightness skills and footwork to wear them down and pick them off one by one.

But the problem was that he had already fought several battles in a row. He had expended much of his strength and was beginning to feel exhausted.

And beside him was Zhou Zhiruo, who was just as drained, with almost no inner power left.

They were outnumbered, and the narrow space limited their movements. If he kept fighting head-on, he would have to dodge and weave constantly to find a chance for a fatal strike.

After killing a few, the little strength he had left would soon be exhausted, leaving him at a disadvantage.

It was better to do as he was now: wound but don't kill, target the bandits' legs to restrict their movement while conserving his strength. When the enemy advanced, he would retreat, avoiding being surrounded.

Screams rang out one after another.

In just a short while, another seven or eight bandits had fallen a few feet in front of Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo, clutching their legs and feet as they howled.

The sight of the men writhing on the ground, screaming in pain, finally frightened the handful of bandits still standing. They immediately hesitated to advance.

But a few others were roused to fury by Gu Shaoan's actions. Having lost all reason, they rushed at him as he began to pant heavily.

In the distance, Ding Minjun was hacking at another group of bandits. She caught sight of the scene by Gu Shaoan from the corner of her eye, and her brow furrowed sharply.

His unrelenting, precise series of quick-draw strikes, and his composure and command of the pace in the face of danger, had far surpassed her expectations.

"How can his sword be so fast?"