This humble girl is Shen Qingyi

The moment the bow reached his hands, that familiar feeling returned.

Though it was a shoddy bow, in his hands now, it was nothing short of a divine weapon!

Before his heels had even settled, he nocked an arrow, drew, and aimed, completing all three movements in a flash of lightning. The bowstring thrummed.

The arrow flew straight at the wide-open chest of the bandit wielding the club!

Thwack! The arrow sank into flesh, and the bandit staggered backward with a scream.

"He's a tough one! Get him together!"

The bandit leader was a scar-faced man with a vicious, fleshy face. The sight filled him with shock and fury.

Brandishing a rust-speckled saber, he charged with the remaining three men, trying to force a close-quarters melee.

Li Xuan fought as he retreated, his footwork nimble as a fox's, always slipping away from their slashes by a hair's breadth.

The Hunting Bow in his hands alternately blocked like a short staff and sent an arrow flashing out whenever an opening appeared.

Another bandit took an arrow in the thigh and stumbled to the ground.

Li Zhong and Wang hid behind a distant rock, watching with pounding hearts and ice-cold limbs.

Yet seeing Li Xuan truly hold his own against so many opponents, they felt a faint glimmer of hope amid their astonishment.

"Forget that bloody scourge! Grab those two in the back first!"

Finding Li Xuan difficult to deal with, the scar-faced leader turned his gaze toward the couple's hiding place, his eyes gleaming with malice.

Li Xuan's gaze turned cold. He knew he could not drag this out any longer.

He suddenly planted the Hunting Bow in the ground, bent down, and grabbed two more stones.

With both hands, he hurled them hard, relying on his astonishing strength and accuracy!

One knocked down the bandit charging toward Li Zhong. The other forced the scar-faced leader to block with his saber, producing a metallic clang.

Seizing that opening, Li Xuan picked up his bow and nocked another arrow. This time, he aimed at the bandit farther away who had been trying to harass him with a sling-the greatest threat of all.

The bow curved like a full moon; the arrow shot forth like a falling star!

Whoosh-thwack!

The arrow sank precisely into the bandit's throat. Clutching his neck, he collapsed with a choking gurgle.

In the blink of an eye, four of the six bandits had fallen, leaving only the scar-faced leader and a bandit with an injured arm.

Li Xuan's ferocity and accuracy had shattered their nerve. The sight of their companion with an arrow through his throat, in particular, had drained away every last bit of their fighting spirit.

"Too hot! Run!" The scar-faced leader feinted with his saber, then turned to flee deeper into the woods.

"Trying to leave now? Too late!"

Li Xuan's voice was icy. He knew all too well how fiercely bandits in these troubled times held grudges. Letting this tiger return to the mountains would bring endless trouble.

Besides, the faint cries of children and screams of women he had heard earlier meant these bandits had robbed others as well. Their crimes were all the more unforgivable.

He drew a deep breath, pushed his dexterity attribute to its limit, and raced after them, steadily nocking his final arrow.

Even as he ran, his body remained steady as a mountain, his gaze locked on the scar-faced leader's stumbling, fleeing back.

The bowstring rang again!

The arrow pierced through his back, its tip protruding slightly from his chest. The scar-faced leader pitched forward, twitched twice, and went still.

The last wounded bandit was scared out of his wits. He dropped to his knees, repeatedly banging his head against the ground as he begged for mercy.

Li Xuan approached and looked down at him expressionlessly. Tears and snot streamed down the bandit's face.

"Spare me, good sir! Please, spare me! We were forced into this too! We've never killed anyone, only stolen a little food..."

Unmoved, Li Xuan pulled his arrow from the scar-faced leader's body and wiped off the blood.

In troubled times, mercy toward highway robbers like these was cruelty toward himself and his family.

He glanced at the woodcutting blade the bandit had discarded. In the end, instead of using another arrow, he picked up the blade and gave the man a quick death.

When it was all done, his breathing was slightly uneven, but his gaze remained sharp.

He quickly surveyed the battlefield, recovered the usable arrows, and searched the bandits' bodies. All he found were a dozen or so copper coins and half a coarse-grain flatbread hard enough to hurt his teeth.

Clearly, these bandits were destitute beyond measure. Yet the more desperate such men became, the more savage their actions tended to be.

Just as he was about to leave, something suddenly happened!

[Mountain bandit killed. Special trait dropped.]

[Your muscles are so beautiful (white): Slightly increases strength and explosive power.]

[Mountain Dweller (white): Slightly increases speed and dexterity when traveling through mountains and forests.]

I can actually get traits from killing people!

Li Xuan was stunned.

Getting traits from killing prey had already been an incredible surprise.

He had never imagined killing people would work too!

Moreover, the traits he had obtained before had all corresponded to abilities the animals possessed in life.

These traits... are related to the bandits' characteristics too!

Doesn't that mean killing different people could give me different special traits?

Suddenly, Li Xuan's imagination ran wild.

What if I killed the emperor?! Would he drop traits like [True Dragon Son of Heaven] or [Ruler of a Nation]?

Still, these bandits were clearly all ordinary people, so their traits were only white quality.

But there were exceptions, such as the final trait!

[Killing intent (blue): A special aura formed through excessive killing. When equipped, grants a small chance of reducing an opponent's attribute values!]

Holy crap, a blue trait that can even lower an opponent's attributes?

That seemed... pretty damn awesome!

But once his excitement faded, Li Xuan realized the trait might not be all that impressive.

If they're weaker than me, they can't beat me even without having their attributes reduced. If they're stronger, this trait probably won't activate. It's only a small chance, after all...

Fine. It's still something.

Immediately afterward, a system notification appeared.

[Equipped traits approaching current limit: 4/5.]

[Note: Equipped traits may be freely switched. Excess traits may be converted into points.]

So that's how it works...

Li Xuan had originally wanted to equip all three traits... He could not help feeling a little disappointed.

Don't tell me I'll only ever be able to equip five? That's far too few!

[Spending a certain number of points will increase the equipped trait limit.]

...Uh, forget it. Quality matters more than quantity anyway. If I can get higher-quality traits later, that should actually be enough.

After some thought, he ultimately equipped [Killing intent]. Whether it proved useful or not, the sight of a blue trait was pleasing enough.

As for the others... I'll dismantle them when I need points later.

Once he had finished examining everything, he returned to his brother and sister-in-law's hiding place.

Li Zhong and Wang were pale. Looking at the bandit corpses scattered across the ground, then at their younger brother, whose calm expression carried an air of deadly resolve, they were so shaken and astonished that neither could speak.

"Brother, sister-in-law, it's all right now."

Li Xuan spoke gently, breaking the silence.

"We couldn't leave these bandits alive, or there'd be no end of trouble. Wait here. I'll look up ahead. There seem to be other people they robbed."

Gripping his bow, he cautiously made his way toward the place beyond the bend where the cries had come from.

A carriage with a blue canopy stood in a woodland clearing, its plodding horse stamping its hooves uneasily.

Beside the carriage shaft, an old driver lay slumped on the ground, his forehead bloody and his body unconscious.

A middle-aged man who looked like a steward stood guarding the carriage, his face deathly pale. His respectable clothing was covered in mud and dust, his arm was injured, and he clutched a broken carriage shaft as he trembled.

One corner of the carriage curtain had been lifted, revealing a young girl's face, pale yet still possessed of an extraordinary, delicate beauty.

She was about fifteen or sixteen, her dark hair cloudlike, held up with only a simple jade hairpin. A few strands had fallen beside her cheeks amid the panic.

With features like a painting, a fine nose, and cherry lips, she trembled slightly in fear. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her tears not yet dry, lending her an added fragility that stirred the heart to pity.

She wore a pale apricot embroidered padded jacket beneath a lotus-blue cloak. Though the fabric had become disheveled and creased from jolting and struggling, one glance was enough to tell that these were not the clothes of an ordinary household.

Seeing Li Xuan approach with a bow in hand and blood still on his body, the steward recoiled a step. Even so, he forced himself to remain in front of the carriage, his voice trembling.

"G-good sir... Take whatever valuables you wish. I only beg you to spare our young lady and young master's lives!"

The girl also stared at Li Xuan in terror, tightening her arms around her younger brother, her eyes filled with despair.

Li Xuan stopped and lowered his bow to show that he meant no harm, making his voice as calm as possible.

"Don't be afraid, sir. I'm not a bandit. I've dealt with the robbers up ahead. Are you travelers passing through? Is anyone hurt?"

The steward and the girl both froze at his words. Then wild joy at surviving the disaster flooded their hearts.

The steward studied Li Xuan's clothing and expression, then noticed Li Zhong and Wang following behind him, their faces likewise still shaken with fright. Only then did he believe most of what he had heard.

His legs went weak, and he nearly sank to the ground. Hastily, he bowed with clasped hands, his voice choked with emotion.

"Thank you, brave sir! Thank you for saving our lives! My name is Chen An. I was escorting our young lady to visit her maternal grandparents. Since it was nearby, and our young lady has never liked bringing guards... We never imagined we would suffer such a calamity here!"

They could hardly be blamed for being careless.

There had never been any mountain bandits in this area.

Besides, they were just outside town. By all rights, there should not have been any danger.

"Old Zhou, our driver, was knocked unconscious, and I suffered a slight injury myself. Fortunately, our young lady and young master are unharmed..."

The girl also composed herself and offered Li Xuan a graceful curtsy from inside the carriage. Though her voice still trembled, it was clear and moving, like an oriole emerging from a valley.

"This humble girl is Shen Qingyi. Thank you, benefactor, for coming to our rescue."

She lifted her eyes and gave Li Xuan a quick glance. Though his clothes were plain and stained with blood, he stood tall and straight, with a natural composure in his bearing.

He was utterly unlike those fiendish bandits from before. Her heart eased a little, and her gratitude grew all the more sincere.

Shen Qingyi... Li Xuan repeated the name silently, then nodded.

"It was no trouble. Don't dwell on it. We shouldn't linger here. The bandits are dead, but there's no telling whether they had accomplices. Can your driver still drive the carriage?"