Eagle Beak Ravine got its name from the cliffs on either side, which resembled an eagle's beak.
A dirt road about three zhang wide ran through the middle, serving as a major route for nearby villagers and merchant caravans.
At that moment, the bandit group was slowly making its way toward the ravine entrance.
"Stop." Ghost Blade Zhang Kui suddenly raised a hand from atop his horse.
The group halted at once.
"Second Brother, what is it?" Twin Halberds Hou San reined in his horse and asked in confusion.
Zhang Kui narrowed his one eye and swept his gaze across the steep cliffs on both sides. "This place... is far too suitable for an ambush."
"Are you being overly cautious, Second Brother?" Hou San said dismissively. "Other than our Black Wind Stronghold, who around here would dare rob us? The Gray Wolf Gang is more than thirty li away."
"Better safe than sorry." Zhang Kui's voice was low and stern. "Old Six, take two men up there and have a look."
"Yes!" A scrawny bandit answered, picked two men, and began climbing the cliff on the left.
At the cliff top, Lin Er and Lin San lay behind a thicket, holding their breaths.
"They're suspicious." Lin Er reported through the Consciousness Link.
"I saw them." Lin Mo's voice rang out in the minds of all the Clones. "Act according to the plan. If they really come up... deal with them on the spot. Don't make too much noise."
"Understood."
The three bandits struggled up to the cliff top. They had barely steadied themselves and had yet to see their surroundings clearly when six figures suddenly burst out of the thickets on both sides!
Cover the mouth, slit the throat, drag them into the grass.
The whole process flowed seamlessly.
It took less than five seconds, and not even a single scream escaped.
[Killed bandits ×3, gained 90 Experience Points]
Below, Zhang Kui waited for about half an incense stick. When no one came back down, his brows furrowed even more deeply.
"Something's wrong." He tightened his grip on the Ghost Head Great Saber. "Old Six and the others..."
Before he could finish!
Rumble--!
Dozens of millstone-sized rocks and thick logs rolled down from both cliff tops at once!
"It's an ambush!" Hou San paled in shock and yanked hard on the reins.
The horses panicked and reared up!
The bandit group instantly fell into chaos!
Rocks and logs crashed into the crowd. Five or six bandits had their bones shattered and tendons broken on the spot, and screams rang out in one continuous cacophony.
"Spread out! All of you, spread out!" Zhang Kui roared, cleaving apart a rock flying toward him with a single stroke.
But amid the chaos, his order could no longer be relayed.
Just then, more than thirty figures appeared simultaneously atop the cliffs on both sides!
They held crude bows, hastily made from branches and vines, while their arrows were sharpened bamboo poles.
"Loose!"
Lin Yi's command was transmitted through the Consciousness Link in unison.
Sssht, sssht, sssht--!
More than thirty bamboo arrows shot out together!
Their accuracy was poor and their range short, but there were simply too many of them, and they covered a wide area.
Another seven or eight bandits were struck by arrows.
The bamboo arrows themselves had limited killing power, but... their tips had been smeared with diluted poisonous blood.
"Ah! My arm!"
"These arrows are poisoned!"
"Help!"
The wounded bandits watched in terror as their wounds rapidly turned black and festered. The agonizing pain robbed them of their fighting strength.
"Damn it! Poison!" Hou San's eyes reddened. "Second Brother, are they people from the Five Poisons Cult?!"
"Whoever they are, kill our way out first!" Zhang Kui cut down a bamboo arrow flying toward him, then tugged the reins and charged forward.
Several underlings who could still move charged after him.
But at the exit ahead, Lin San led ten men in a tight defensive formation.
"Loose!"
Ten crude bamboo bows fired at once!
Their accuracy was poor, but the distance was short and the area covered was wide.
The two underlings at the front were struck by arrows and fell to the ground. The diluted poisonous blood smeared on the arrowheads took effect rapidly, causing their wounds to fester as they screamed without end.
"You cowards! Die!" The tall, thin leader's eyes reddened as he leaped from his horse.
His Twin Halberds blurred into a sheet of silver light, knocking away several bamboo arrows aimed at him!
"He's a professional!" Lin San's pupils contracted. "Spread out! Don't fight him head-on!"
The ten Clones quickly scattered, but the tall, thin leader moved with incredible speed, darting into the crowd like a ghost!
Sssht! Sssht!
He thrust both halberds, piercing the chests of two Clones with pinpoint accuracy!
[Clones dead ×2]
Black poisonous blood sprayed out, and several drops splashed onto the tall, thin leader's hand.
"Hiss--" He sucked in a cold breath as he watched the skin on his hand rapidly turn black and fester. "This blood is poisonous?!"
But what terrified him even more was that the two Clones whose chests had been pierced did not collapse immediately. Instead, they grinned and reached out to lock both his arms in a death grip!
"Looking for death!" The tall, thin leader flew into a rage. He shook both arms, forcibly flinging the two Clones away.
But in that brief delay, the other Clones had already surrounded him. Seven or eight blades and spears attacked him at once!
The tall, thin leader wielded his Twin Halberds in a seamless whirlwind, blocking most of the attacks with a clanging barrage. Even so, several blades still tore through his Leather Armor, leaving shallow wounds across his body.
The wounds were not deep, but... that was enough.
Black poisonous blood seeped in through them, and the tall, thin leader felt his body begin to go numb. His vision blurred.
"Second Brother! Save me!" he shouted hoarsely.
Behind him, the scar-faced man had also been cut off from retreat by Lin Xi and the others.
He was even fiercer than the tall, thin leader. He swung the Ghost Head Great Saber in wide arcs, every strike heavy and powerful. Three Clones had already been hacked to the ground by him.
[Clones dead ×3] [Clones critically wounded ×2]
But the Clones' poisonous blood had splashed onto him as well. The flesh of his right palm had already rotted down to the bone, and numbness had begun spreading across half his body.
"Old Third!" When the scar-faced man saw the tall, thin leader trapped in the encirclement, his eyes turned blood-red. He abruptly pulled a small porcelain bottle from his robes, poured out a red pill, and shoved it into his mouth.
He swallowed it with a gulp.
The next second, the muscles throughout his body swelled, his veins bulged, and his eyes filled with blood vessels!
"Roar--!"
With a bestial howl, the scar-faced man charged forward like a tiger. His Ghost Head Great Saber swept horizontally, slicing the two Clones blocking his path in half at the waist!
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