Return Without Success

Chapter 8: Returning Empty-Handed

Lin Maoxian didn't pay the slightest attention to the iron blade swinging toward him. He had no intention of dodging, choosing instead to punch straight ahead.

"Clang! Clang!" Because of the nature of the weapons, Huang Liu's iron blade struck Lin Maoxian first, emitting a metallic ringing sound.

"Adventurer has taken damage from target character, Yellow Turban Army Decurion Huang Liu. Lost [22-(15+10%)] = 5.5 HP."

"Bang!" Simultaneously, Lin Maoxian's fist landed on Huang Liu's body. The force sent Huang Liu stumbling back several steps, and Lin Maoxian received a system notification: "Adventurer has dealt a strength-based crushing blow to target character, Yellow Turban Army Decurion Huang Liu. Total damage: (31-19)*3+10% = 39.6 HP."

Lin Maoxian glanced at the notification, which matched his estimates. After mentally blocking the system prompts, he prepared to charge toward Huang Liu.

Just then, the four Yellow Turban Soldiers trailing behind Huang Liu launched their own attacks. Seeing them strike, Lin Maoxian didn't bother to evade. Realizing these four were blocking his path to Huang Liu, he knew that if he didn't dispose of them first, it would waste too much time trying to bypass them.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"

The four soldiers' attacks landed on him one after another. Perhaps due to their low strength, Lin Maoxian barely felt any pain. He threw a punch at each of the two closest soldiers; before they could even react, both men toppled backward and lay motionless.

"Run!" Seeing this, the remaining two soldiers dared not challenge this god of slaughter. They fled in opposite directions, desperate to get as far away as possible. Unfortunately for them, they were no match for Lin Maoxian's speed. Within a few steps, he caught up to them and finished them off with a single punch each.

With the soldiers dealt with, Lin Maoxian didn't hesitate for a second and turned to pursue Huang Liu. He had noticed earlier that Huang Liu had no intention of fighting; after being knocked back, the man had clutched his chest and fled toward the small path, completely abandoning his subordinates.

Lin Maoxian certainly wasn't going to let a cooked duck fly away. His agility was higher than Huang Liu's, and the distance between them wasn't great. He caught up to the Decurion before he had run very far. This time, Lin Maoxian didn't punch him; while that would have dealt more damage, it would have also propelled Huang Liu forward, helping him escape further.

Instead, Lin Maoxian used all his strength to grab Huang Liu and hurled him backward like a sack of grain.

With a loud "thud," Huang Liu's body slammed into the ground. Lin Maoxian walked back to where he had landed, looked down at his pained, groaning form, and muttered, "Running? Do you really think you can get away? A perfectly good cooked duck trying to fly off—how naive."

Huang Liu felt as if every bone in his body were about to shatter. Clutching his chest in agony, he looked up at the man standing over him. "Why... why are you killing us?"

Lin Maoxian never wasted words on enemies. He picked up the iron blade Huang Liu had dropped, raised it, and with one swift motion, decapitated him. Watching the head roll away, Lin Maoxian grumbled, "So many questions. I have my reasons for killing you. Instead of worrying about how to survive, you're asking all these questions—truly clueless."

Re-enabling his system notifications, Lin Maoxian scrolled past the wall of damage logs until he found the final entry: "Adventurer has killed Yellow Turban Army Decurion Huang Liu. Reward: 500 Source Points."

Seeing this, Lin Maoxian felt relieved. He hadn't received such a notification for the previous kills, leading him to worry that killing plot characters wouldn't yield Source Points. It seemed those others were simply too insignificant or weak. A Decurion, however, possessed decent strength—an average adventurer would likely struggle to kill him, hence the reward.

Lin Maoxian noticed a faint white light rising from Huang Liu's body. With a thought, he stored it in his Storage Space. He checked the other four corpses, but finding no such light, he gave up. Only then did he call out to the surroundings, "Kid, you can come out now. It's safe."

Xiao Zhang emerged, trembling. Though not much time had passed, he had been terrified while hiding. Even after Lin Maoxian called him out, he hadn't fully recovered.

Looking at Xiao Zhang's pathetic state, Lin Maoxian wondered how long he would last on a real battlefield. "Kid, if you keep acting like this, I'll send you to join them. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Xiao Zhang immediately straightened up; he had no desire to die so pointlessly.

Seeing that Xiao Zhang had pulled himself together, Lin Maoxian said, "Go search their bodies. See if there's anything valuable. If you find anything worth money, keep it. Your future life of comfort starts here."

Xiao Zhang's eyes lit up, and he hurried toward the corpses with newfound energy. He wasn't happy about a "future life of comfort," but rather because he was being allowed to scavenge valuables. He realized his life was likely safe; if this man wanted him dead, he wouldn't bother with these instructions.

Lin Maoxian watched Xiao Zhang work before turning his attention to the gear in his own hands. It was only common-grade equipment, but it could still fetch some Source Points back in the space. However, when he checked the item attributes, he shook his head in silence. It had an added tag: (Cannot be removed from this world). This meant the gear was useless outside this realm. He knew the armor would be the same.

"Kid, take this blade and the armor. Keep them for self-defense," Lin Maoxian said, tossing the weapon to the ground. The blade had decent stats, adding 5 points of damage, but he didn't know how to use it properly; his fists were far more effective.

Lin Maoxian found a spot to rest while waiting for Xiao Zhang. He wasn't worried about more Yellow Turban soldiers appearing; given their strength, he could kill as many as came, provided they didn't swarm him. And if things got too hairy, he could always run.

Before long, Xiao Zhang finished. He stood before Lin Maoxian, wearing the armor, holding the iron blade, and carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle.

"Kid," Lin Maoxian asked, "is there any more ambush ahead? Will we run into trouble if we keep going down?"

"My Lord, there are no more ambushes," Xiao Zhang replied honestly. "But the main force is camped at the valley entrance. There's no cover there, so anyone who enters is spotted immediately, and the Centurion and his guards will wipe them out."

"Centurion? Guards?" Lin Maoxian muttered to himself. "What's the troop situation inside? Are the Centurion's guards stronger than the Decurions?"

Xiao Zhang gathered his thoughts. "There are ninety-six men inside. Nine Decurions, each with nine soldiers, and the remaining six are the Centurion and his personal guard. The guards are chosen from Decurions who win in martial competitions, so they are definitely stronger."

Lin Maoxian pondered this. The soldiers and Decurions were already a handful, not to mention the stronger Centurion. A frontal assault was out of the question. He needed to find a way to pick them off one by one. "Is there any other way to sneak in undetected? And do the soldiers ever leave the valley?"

Xiao Zhang pointed to the path. "There is no other way in. As for the soldiers, aside from the guard detail, everyone must stay inside the valley."

Lin Maoxian felt a pang of frustration. If he couldn't get in now, they would surely realize the ten men were missing. The defenses would only tighten. Without help, he had no chance.

"Let's go. Back to Pingyang County." Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to head back with Xiao Zhang.

After walking for a while, Lin Maoxian instructed, "Listen, with the Yellow Turbans about to attack the city, the gates will be heavily guarded. If they ask, say you're heading to the city to join the army, and that you were saved by me after running into Yellow Turban bandits on the road. Got it?"

"Got it," Xiao Zhang replied obediently.

Lin Maoxian barked, "If you got it, then throw away that yellow headscarf! Who wouldn't know you're a bandit wearing that?"

Xiao Zhang finally realized, quickly tearing the scarf off his head and tossing it to the ground.

(PS: Thanks to 'D, Luo' for the support. It's my first time receiving a tip, and I'm quite excited. I can't promise this book will be a masterpiece, but I can guarantee an average of two chapters a day. I hope for your continued support! Thanks again, 'D, Luo'!)