The Jianghu Was More Than High Spirits and Fine Clothes on Swift Horses

At the sight of this, all the black-clad men who had come with the man were struck dumb with fear.

"Chieftain!"

"Master Chieftain!"

Amid the cries of grief, their attacks inevitably slowed.

The escort hands, who had been beaten back step by step, finally gained a moment to catch their breath.

At the same time, Zhao Ya charged over with his saber in hand.

The Gale Saber Technique erupted at once, its blade light sweeping toward the black-clad men like a flowing ribbon.

They tried to fight back, but the gap in both their strength and their weapons was simply too great.

In a single exchange, three black-clad men fell beneath Zhao Ya's blade.

"Things are bad, run!"

Seeing that the situation was lost, the rest turned and fled.

Naturally, Zhao Ya would not let them go.

With a tap of his toes against the ground, Zhao Ya unleashed the Swallow Three Skims the Water movement technique. In the blink of an eye, he was behind one of the black-clad men. With a flick of his wrist, the Meteoric Iron Saber slashed straight through.

Without even sparing the man a glance, Zhao Ya accelerated again and chased after the black-clad men who had already fled into the woods.

The black-clad man took another two steps before a bloody line suddenly appeared across his neck, and then his head flew off.

The sight left the escort hands shocked as well.

They all knew Zhao Ya was quite skilled, but they had never expected his saber technique to be so formidable.

Just how fast did a blade have to be for someone to die without even realizing it, run two more steps, and only then have head and body separate?

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Ya returned from the woods, the blood on his body still warm.

"How is the situation?" Zhao Ya asked in a low voice.

"Reporting to Escort Master Zhao, three brothers were injured. One is seriously wounded, but there were no losses to the cargo," an escort hand hurriedly reported, his face full of reverence.

Zhao Ya nodded and quickly walked over to the three injured men.

Two of them had only superficial wounds and were not seriously hurt. Only one had been pierced in the stomach by a spear tip. Through the wound, Zhao Ya could even see his intestines writhing inside.

Zhao Ya's heart grew heavy.

He knew that in this world, where medicine and supplies were scarce, such a wound was tantamount to a death sentence.

But as the escort master leading the group, he had to pull himself together at a time like this.

So he immediately ordered someone to bring the wound medicine, hemostatic ointment, and other supplies they carried with them, then treated all three injured men.

Then he had a spot cleared on one of the escort carts and placed the seriously injured escort hand there.

Whether the man could survive or not, Zhao Ya had to bring him back.

Then Zhao Ya instructed the others to hurry and clean up the escort carts while he dealt with the corpses.

The arrows lodged in the carts had to be removed, and the dead mules and other draft animals had to be dealt with as well.

Most importantly, there were the bodies.

Zhao Ya dragged all the black-clad men's corpses into the woods by the roadside, then began searching them one by one.

Naturally, the first one he searched was the man known as the chieftain.

Zhao Ya first pulled out the crossbow bolt lodged in his neck and put it away, then began searching the body.

But after searching him, Zhao Ya could not help feeling greatly disappointed.

He had found only a waist token on the man. There was nothing else of value at all.

"Pah, what a poor bastard."

Zhao Ya spat. Just as he was about to rise, he suddenly noticed something odd about the man's collar. The left side was clearly thicker than the right.

Zhao Ya immediately tore open the left side of the collar.

Sure enough.

A sheet of paper was hidden inside.

When Zhao Ya unfolded it, his heart leaped with joy.

It was actually a prescription called Blood-Replenishing Powder, a medicine used to nourish one's qi and blood.

And it was exactly what Zhao Ya desperately needed right now.

Without showing any reaction, he tucked the paper into his robes and searched the others as well.

The gains from these men were even more meager. Aside from a few bits of loose silver, there was nothing else.

So Zhao Ya piled their bodies together, doused them with lamp oil, and set them ablaze.

Raging flames rose up, and before long, the bodies had been reduced to charred remains.

Once he was certain no one could find any clues about him from the corpses, Zhao Ya turned and left the woods.

By then, the battlefield had been cleaned up and the escort carts had been repaired.

But without any draft animals to pull them, continuing onward had become a problem.

"Apart from the three injured men, everyone else will split into two teams, four men per team. Take turns pulling the carts. We need to leave this place as quickly as possible," Zhao Ya said.

In truth, there was no need for him to emphasize it. Everyone understood the stakes, so none of them objected to Zhao Ya's decision.

Soon, they split into two groups as Zhao Ya had instructed, pulled the escort carts, and hurried toward Dancing Elephant City.

"Escort Master Zhao, let me pull the cart in your place. You fought those bandits for so long, so you must be tired. You should rest," an escort hand stepped forward and said.

"That's right. Leave the cart-pulling to us," someone beside him echoed.

Zhao Ya shook his head. "No need. I'm fine. Hurry and eat something to regain your strength. You can take another shift later."

The escort hands were all deeply moved.

What had happened today had utterly won them over.

After all, if Zhao Ya had not stepped in and wiped out those bandits, they would have been dead long ago.

If their respect for Zhao Ya before this had come only from his strength and status,

then now, that respect came entirely from the depths of their hearts.

Although they were pulling the carts by hand, these escort hands were all martial artists who had reached Bone Tempering completion. Coupled with the day's events stirring them on, they reached the inn where they usually stayed just as the sun set.

The innkeeper was startled when he saw them and hurried out to receive them.

Zhao Ya ordered him to quickly prepare rooms and food, as well as an extra clean room for the injured man to recuperate in.

The innkeeper hastily went to make the arrangements.

Zhao Ya walked over to the escort cart and saw that the escort hand lying atop it was pale as paper. Although the wound on his abdomen had been wrapped with cotton cloth, blood was still continuously seeping through.

Zhao Ya's heart sank. He knew the man most likely would not make it through the night.

"Zhao... Brother Zhao!" Seeing Zhao Ya approach, the escort hand called out weakly.

Zhao Ya leaned closer. "Wang He, if you have something to say, say it."

The escort hand gave a miserable smile.

"It's nothing. I only want to ask you to tell my fiancée after you return that she shouldn't wait for me. Tell her to find a good man and marry him."

Zhao Ya fell silent.

Not long after joining the escort agency, he had heard that Wang He was engaged and had originally planned to marry this year. He had never expected that Wang He would never get the chance.

"All right. Rest and recover. You might still hold on until we get back."

Wang He smiled, closed his eyes, and said nothing more.

Unfortunately, no miracle occurred. Not long after dinner, Wang He succumbed to his wounds.

All the escort hands wept.

Tan Dong, in particular, cried the loudest.

This escort mission had ruthlessly shattered all his fantasies about the jianghu.

He finally understood that the jianghu was not like the high-spirited, finely dressed riders on swift horses described by storytellers in teahouses.

The jianghu held far more dangerous slaughter and unheralded deaths.