Qiao Wuwang (Thanks to Alliance Leader Golden Little Flop for the reward)

Only then did he realize there had been an Alliance Leader reward.

This was Taizun's first Alliance Leader. Thanks to Golden Little Flop—big boss, you spent too much.

The uproar came quickly and went quickly.

Yang Yi helped Yang Yong to his feet and brought him back inside.

Frightened out of their wits, Uncle and Aunt were at a complete loss. Yang Ya had cried herself into a tear-streaked mess.

The bloody corpse outside only made the family more frightened and uneasy.

"Uncle, Aunt, lock the doors. I'll deal with the corpse." After saying that, Yang Yi did not wait for a response. He walked out on his own, lifted the bandit's corpse with one hand, and headed outside.

Dealing with the corpse was just a pretext. His true aim was to track down those thieves from Black Wind Stronghold.

Iron Eagle had led men here today, only for the matter to be interrupted before it could be resolved. If they survived, they would surely return.

So no matter what, Iron Eagle and the others could not be allowed to live.

Aunt Yang stared blankly at Yang Yi as he carried away the corpse as easily as if it were a chick.

Yang Yi was incredibly strong now. A corpse felt weightless in his hand. Once outside the village, he tossed it aside, intending to deal with it later.

He followed the direction Iron Eagle's group had gone, racing along with the wind beneath his feet. He ran six or seven li without finding anything.

That shouldn't be possible. He was extremely fast now; there was no reason Iron Eagle and the others could have run faster than him.

He stopped, steadied his breathing, and listened intently.

Vaguely, he heard some movement.

He hurried in that direction. As he drew closer, the sounds grew clearer—people were fighting.

Before long, he reached a tree. Using its cover, he looked ahead and indeed spotted Iron Eagle's group.

At that moment, Iron Eagle was shouting nonstop as he led the bandits in surrounding and attacking someone.

The moon was bright and the stars sparse. Yang Yi could see clearly that the surrounded man was a young man dressed in snow-white robes, wielding a longsword as he fought the bandits fiercely.

That young man had to be Qiao Wuwang.

Who knew how long they had been fighting? Two bandit corpses lay on the ground. Qiao Wuwang's strength seemed quite impressive; otherwise, he could not have taken lives while outnumbered.

But he was clearly injured. Several patches of red were glaringly conspicuous on his snow-white clothes.

"Qiao Wuwang, surrender without resistance. You can't escape." Iron Eagle withdrew from the fray, panting as he shouted.

He was both resentful and excited. Resentful because, in this godforsaken place where not even birds took a shit, he had run into this brat from the Qiao Household.

This clearly was no coincidence.

Qiao Wuwang must have had his eye on their group for some time.

Black Wind Stronghold and Qiao Family Fort had a blood feud. This third son of the Qiao Household had tempered his body since childhood and begun cultivating two years ago. Rumor had it that he was nearing the Mistblood Realm.

Now that he saw it for himself, the rumors were true. Otherwise, the boy would not have been so difficult to deal with.

The worst part was that this brat hated evil as bitterly as if it were his mortal enemy and loved playing the hero. Running into him today was truly bloody bad luck.

But he was excited too. If he could capture this brat, it would be a tremendous merit.

The treasure had gone missing, and several stronghold chiefs were furious. If he could not recover it before the deadline, his life would be forfeit.

Capturing Qiao Wuwang would be enough to atone for his failure.

As he spoke, he saw an opening when Qiao Wuwang shifted positions. Iron Eagle was about to rush forward when a vicious wind suddenly swept in from behind.

He turned around in haste and saw a fist smashing straight toward his face.

He never imagined someone would ambush him at such a moment. Unable to react in time, he took the punch squarely. His skull caved in, and he flew backward, landing on the ground. After twitching a few times, he lay still.

Behind the spot where Iron Eagle had stood, Yang Yi held his fist out, still in the posture of having thrown the punch. He frowned slightly.

So weak!

He had been confident he could deal with this man, but he had not expected it to be so easy.

When he had encountered this man ten days ago, the other's ferocious appearance had left him unable to even think of resisting. Today, one punch had settled everything.

So... I've already become very strong!

With that thought, Yang Yi did not pause. He lunged forward, arrived behind another bandit, and threw a punch while the man was unprepared!

He could have waited a little longer before showing himself, but from what he had observed, Qiao Wuwang was already running out of steam. He likely could not hold on much longer.

Yang Yi had charged in amid the chaos and killed Iron Eagle with a punch. When he threw the second punch, no one had time to react.

Not until the second bandit took a punch, his back caving in as he spat out blood mixed with fragments of organs and flew high into the air, did everyone finally realize what had happened.

"Who's there?"

"Ah? The boss is dead!"

The surviving bandits cried out in alarm.

The bandit closest to Yang Yi had panic written all over his face. Almost instinctively, he swung his blade at him.

Yang Yi was tense to the extreme. Though his strength had greatly increased, he still had a body of flesh and blood. If he were struck, he would definitely be injured.

His blood and qi surged through his body. In that lightning-flash instant, Yang Yi felt a slight heat in his eyes, and the bandit's slashing motion seemed to slow considerably.

He seized the opponent's blade-wielding wrist and exerted force. The bandit's wrist snapped, and he dropped to his knees with a scream.

Yang Yi raised his knee and drove it into the bandit's face. The sound of bones shattering rang out again.

By the time he seized the bandit's longsword and looked up, he saw Qiao Wuwang pierce another bandit through the chest with a single thrust.

Yang Yi's arrival had thrown the situation into turmoil. The bandits were panicked, their formation in complete disarray, and Qiao Wuwang had finally found an opening.

Iron Eagle's party had consisted of seven or eight men. One had fallen at Yang Family Hollow, two had been killed by Qiao Wuwang before Yang Yi arrived, and three had died at Yang Yi's hands. Now, only one remained, desperately clinging to life.

Seeing that things had gone badly, the bandit did not dare linger. He turned and tried to flee.

But Qiao Wuwang easily caught up to him and took his life with several sword strikes!

Yang Yi stood there holding his blade, killing intent rolling off him, looking somewhat lost.

"Ha... ha..." Qiao Wuwang collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, filled with the relief of having survived a disaster.

If Yang Yi had not intervened just now, he truly would have been doomed today.

Once he, the third son of the Qiao Household, fell into Black Wind Stronghold's hands, Qiao Family Fort would be finished.

Only now did he have time to examine Yang Yi.

"Eh... you are..." His eyes filled with surprise.

Yang Yi looked at him expressionlessly, sighing inwardly as he slowly removed the rag covering his face.

Before coming here, he had torn a piece from the clothes of a dead bandit and used it to cover his face.

But Qiao Wuwang had secretly seen him back at Yang Family Hollow. It had only been a short while, and he had not even changed clothes. With his tall, sturdy build, Qiao Wuwang would have to be blind not to recognize him.

"Who would have thought that a true dragon could emerge from such a tiny pond!" Qiao Wuwang was even more astonished. He had never imagined that the village youth from before was the one who had fought beside him and pulled him from the fire and water.

After saying that, his expression changed. "No! You came with your face covered, so you clearly didn't want your identity exposed. Now that I've seen through you, you're not about to kill me to silence me, are you?"

"Not a bad suggestion." Yang Yi nodded.

Qiao Wuwang pulled a long face. "I was just saying..."

After saying that, he reached a hand toward Yang Yi. "Little brother, sorry for the trouble, but could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

Qiao Wuwang lay flat on the ground. "I have medicine for my wounds. Sorry for the trouble, but help me treat them. I really have no strength left."

His utterly sprawled-out posture left Yang Yi stunned.

After a moment of silence, he still walked over, took out the medicine, and treated Qiao Wuwang's wounds under his guidance.

"Not worried I'll kill you to silence you anymore?" Yang Yi asked.

Qiao Wuwang smiled. "If you truly had that intention, you shouldn't have shown yourself so early. Wouldn't it have been better to appear after I died?" Then he added, "Of course, I'm even more certain now that you wouldn't do that."

Otherwise, with the ability Yang Yi had displayed just now, he would have had no power to fight back. Why would Yang Yi help treat his injuries?

Even so, Qiao Wuwang still felt a lingering fear. These were hard times, and human hearts were treacherous. He had met a good person today—but what about next time?

He still had to be careful at every turn.