Enemy Attack

"You mean the gang that specifically collects tolls on the roads connecting Yellow Snake County's outer districts to other villages, right?" Ren Yun tapped his fingers against his cane. "This is a newly emerged gang.

"It has some ties to certain forces in the inner city. And since it was able to defeat the Clear Snake Gang, that means it has at least two Bright Force experts!"

Duan Xuan understood. There truly were not many gangs that dared commit crimes on the official roads. Over all these years, there had only been the Flower Snake Gang and the Clear Snake Gang.

If they had no connection to those grand masters in the inner city, they would never dare be so bold.

Duan Xuan also caught another piece of information.

At most, those two gangs had an interest-based relationship with the inner city's important figures. Otherwise, a matter as major as replacing one gang with another would not have escalated into an entire gang being wiped out without causing the slightest ripple.

"Two Bright Force experts? That is rather troublesome..." As Duan Xuan pondered this, he cupped his hands toward Ren Yun. "Thank you, Young Master Ren."

Ren Yun did not ask what it was about. After Duan Xuan left, he merely beckoned Zhou Wei over. "Zhou Wei.

"That kid is probably about to stir up trouble again. But taking on an entire gang is not something he can do recklessly.

"Have Ren Yu and the other two retainers follow him in secret. If necessary, act in time!"

Zhou Wei nodded gladly.

After learning everything, Duan Xuan returned to the herb garden.

After checking on the herbs' growth, he walked to the open ground where he usually practiced martial arts and assumed his stance.

No one knew how many times the ground beneath his feet had been filled and leveled, yet a large arc could still be clearly seen, jutting up abruptly from the earth.

Duan Xuan took a deep breath and linked the first move of the Broken Mountain Fist all the way through to the third form of the third move in one continuous flow.

At the same time, he did not neglect to practice the Crouching Wolf Hide and Frost Wolf Vanishing-Step of Azure Wolf Stealth Hunt.

Before long, a day had passed.

The explosions of air in the herb garden gradually ceased. Duan Xuan sat atop a mound of dirt, holding an even more refined little Trap in his hand.

"Last time, Auntie and the others frightened those mountain bandits away with the name of the Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall.

"But they will soon find out who I really am. Maybe today, maybe three days from now, or perhaps ten-odd days later.

"In any case, they will definitely come harass Auntie again.

"It is hard to predict what kind of trouble that will bring.

"You cannot scare off these bastards merely by announcing a name every time.

"This trouble must be dealt with." Duan Xuan had already investigated the Flower Snake Gang's location and its composition.

The gang currently had thirty-eight members. In total, there was one martial artist in the middle-to-late stage of Bright Force and one in the initial stage of Bright Force. The two were father and son.

The remaining lackeys all came from ordinary backgrounds.

What was strange about this gang was that it had only been established for a month.

That perfectly confirmed that a new gang capable of replacing an old-established gang within a month must have had an important figure backing it.

But what did that matter?

After finishing the last Trap, Duan Xuan made more than a dozen brand-new animal traps during the evening.

These things were easy to carry and only as large as a sole. Yet compared to the previous ones, they were more refined and sharper.

Likewise, he did not make long wooden arrows.

Because if he were to strike that gang, he definitely could not draw the battlefield into his own mountain forest, his home ground.

So he made palm-sized wooden arrows and whistle arrows instead. They could be hidden around the gang's grounds and would be difficult to notice.

Besides those, Duan Xuan also made six or seven dirt pellets, stuffing extremely fine sand and soil into cloth balls woven from hemp rope.

When the time came, he only needed to hang them in designated places or carry them in hand. One hard strike would shatter them and scatter the sand and soil, blinding the enemy.

"Finished!"

Duan Xuan sank his consciousness into his mind.

[Human effort is rewarded; Heaven's way makes amends]

[Trap: Mastery (180／300)]

[Hunting: Mastery (52／300)]

[Broken Mountain Stake Method: Minor Accomplishment (300/1000)]

[Broken Mountain Fist: Entry Level (299/300)]

[Azure Wolf Stealth Hunt: Entry Level (75/300)]

"Just a little more progress in the Broken Mountain Fist, and it will reach Minor Accomplishment. I'll use you dog bastards as whetstones!"

The night was dark and the wind was high, as a sinister gale howled.

There was no moon tonight. Outside a small temple standing beside the ancestral hall of Flower Snake Village, a black figure leaped down from high in a tree.

Duan Xuan had crouched in the tree and observed for a full two hours.

He discovered that this gang was a little too arrogant. In order to control everyone in Flower Snake Village,

they had built their stronghold beside the villagers' ancestral hall. Whenever displeased, they would enter the hall and smash things up, forcing the villagers to obediently hand over their silver.

That was how it was in the old days. Villagers regarded the things in their ancestral halls as more important than their own lives.

It could be said that this method was even more vicious than Wolf Stronghold's means of extorting wealth through Mountain Lord incense offerings and mountain god sacrifices!

After laying Traps all around, Duan Xuan held his breath and concentrated.

He finally waited until the sentries and thugs changed shifts. While the four men were chatting idly,

Duan Xuan used Frost Wolf Vanishing-Step.

His figure vanished completely into the darkness. Even when he stepped on branches, he made not the slightest sound.

"The boss has spoken. That Duan Family girl truly is a peerless treasure. Tomorrow or the day after, us brothers will head straight to Duan Family Shop!"

"What about the Golden Leopard Gang? Those bastards seem to have something wrong with their heads. They will not let us pass even if we give them money."

"Hmph, who cares about them!

"No matter how powerful the Golden Leopard Gang is, would they dare touch us?

"The First Boss and Second Boss are both Bright Force experts. If they dare provoke us, we'll march into their Golden Leopard Gang and slaughter everyone!"

"Good, good, good. We really followed the right people.

"As long as those grand masters in the county keep funding us, our Clear Snake Gang will soon become the number one gang in the outer districts.

"When that time comes, I'll get to taste every kind of woman!

"Besides the Duan Family's third girl, I also want to get my hands on those two sister flowers from the Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall..."

"For now, we need to capture that little daughter of the Duan Family. Looking at how lively and spirited she is, I truly cannot imagine how..."

Whoosh!

Before the thug taking over the shift could finish speaking, a sleeve arrow tore through the air.

Its straight trajectory and fierce edge gave these martial artists, who had not even attained Bright Force, no chance to notice it. One of them was killed on the spot!

Seeing blood spill from their companion's mouth, the other three had yet to understand what had happened when two more sleeve arrows shot viciously from the same direction.

One nailed itself into the forehead of a man who was somewhat drunk, while the other pierced straight through another man's throat.

"Enemy—"

Bang!

Duan Xuan drove a straight punch hard into the man's chest. At the same time, his right claw seized him, preventing him from flying backward and creating any extra noise.

All three sleeve arrows had been used, and one punch had dealt with four thugs.

Keeping an eye on the movement in the distance, Duan Xuan hid two corpses. He placed the other corpses on a platform slightly higher than the gate, arranging them as if they were standing guard.

At the same time, he pulled out two lines and tied them to the two bodies, attaching four wooden arrows to the lines.

When facing a stronghold of this limited size, Duan Xuan's first thought had been to burn it down. But the common folk's ancestral hall stood beside it.

One fire would indeed consume the stronghold at the fastest speed, but that ancestral hall would be left with scarcely one part in ten.

But Duan Xuan had long prepared a response. He took out the dozen or so small animal traps hanging at his waist and buried them in the soil under cover of night.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Duan Xuan ignored him and silently buried the last animal trap, connecting it to three trigger lines that would set off the nearby wooden arrows.

"I'm fucking talking to you. Didn't you hear me?" The man cursed as he walked over, about to slap Duan Xuan.

But in the next instant, seemingly harmless Duan Xuan abruptly raised his head. His pair of dark green eyes frightened the man into retreating two steps.

His body went limp, his legs went weak, and he did not know what to do.

Duan Xuan showed no courtesy. His sharp claws shot out, as though drawing five silver streaks, and directly tore a hole through the man's heart.

After doing all this, Duan Xuan drew a deep breath toward the two lit rooms. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"