Their clothes had been altered from military uniforms, their daggers were standard-issue, and there was no need to mention the crossbows—these three were deserters.
"Stop! Don't come any closer!"
The leader aimed his crossbow in Su Li's direction, his voice trembling.
The other two raised their crossbows as well, but the hands gripping them shook.
Su Li lowered his head and glanced at the dagger in his hand.
The forge patterns on the blade gave off a faint silver-gray gleam in the night. He coated the blade in a layer of second-tier ether, making the sheen more pronounced; even the blade's edge was ringed with a dark silver arc of light.
All three deserters saw that glow at once.
The crossbow of the man on the far right immediately drooped.
"Is that... an enchanted weapon?"
What did an enchanted weapon mean in the Orenda Kingdom? An ordinary soldier could go his whole life without ever touching one. Anyone who traveled with an enchanted weapon was either a high-ranking knight or a noble with powerful backing.
The leader swallowed, and the muzzle of his crossbow tilted aside with it.
"Big brother, we... we just wanted to beg for something to eat. We didn't mean anything else—"
Su Li ignored him.
He took a step forward.
All three men took a step back.
He took another step.
They retreated another step.
Su Li stopped.
"Put down the crossbows."
The three looked at one another.
The leader gritted his teeth and thrust his crossbow forward.
"You're alone. There are three of us—"
Su Li moved.
With the speed of a second-tier knight, ordinary people did not even have time to react within ten meters.
Blade light flashed in succession.
Before the leader could even pull the trigger, his windpipe was severed. The crossbow