The camp routinely kept women with some measure of beauty in its rear quarters, both to make them wash clothes, clean, and cook, and to let the bailiffs, militia, and lesser cultivators vent their beastly lusts on them.
That way, most of the wages paid to the militia and bailiffs circled right back into the authorities' hands. It killed several birds with one stone.
Tonight, dark clouds hid the moon, and a woman's low cries drifted from the dim guardhouse...
A militiaman pulling up his trousers spat and grumbled to his yawning companion, "Damn it, we finally spotted a young, pretty one, and those Immortal Sect lapdogs took her away... If she survives till tomorrow, she'll probably be a loose, wrecked cart. Those bastards will have knocked even her wheels out of true!"
"Those sons of bitches... Not a decent one among them!"
Lü Bufan stood quietly in the shadows, watching the two guards at the mine entrance while keeping wary of the night patrol and the martial warrior still brutalizing a woman inside the guardhouse...
There were nine men altogether, and another middle-aged martial warrior had arrived afterward. Gang Qi coursed around him, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was clearly a disciple of a Martial Dao school with an established lineage.
Lü Bufan knew that his cultivation, which barely reached the Third Realm, would leave him struggling against even one of them. Two... would probably tie him down, and that would be a road straight to death!
Four or five militiamen and bailiffs shouted inside. The woman's cries slowly became screams... then faded into low, agonized moans. Clearly, she could no longer endure their abuse.
Growing angrier by the moment, Lü Bufan gritted his teeth and slowly approached the wooden guardhouse's rear wall...
"Hahaha, all of you, get out of the way! It's your granddaddy's turn to give this little bitch something rough... Hahaha..."
"Of course, of course! You always like to deliver the final thrust, sir. One thrust, one kill-mighty and invincible!"
The twisted Squad Leader Qian tore off his clothes, revealing a body of hard, powerful muscle, and walked with a savage grin toward the pitiful woman lying limp and covered in wounds on the table...
Lü Bufan clenched his teeth as he listened to the woman's piercing screams, the creaking and shaking of a table on the verge of collapse, and the cheers of the beasts watching beside it...
The martial warrior who had arrived later stepped out of the guardhouse, scanned the area around the mine, then walked away, cursing.
Lü Bufan listened carefully to the warrior's retreating footsteps, slowly raised the Short Sword in his hand, and drew a deep breath...
Suddenly, there was a crash, followed by several screams...
The bailiffs and militiamen at the guardhouse entrance fell to the ground howling, clutching their chests and throats. Squad Leader Qian, who was ravaging the dying woman, reacted swiftly enough to lift his hand and fling her out from beneath him!
A bloodstained short saber smashed through the wooden door and swept toward Squad Leader Qian in a flash of cold light!
A low cry sounded in midair... The blade veered around the wretched, naked woman, flashing left and right. Several naked militiamen watching nearby fell dead amid sprays of blood and flesh.
Squad Leader Qian seized the chance to leap aside. Paying no heed to his nakedness, he snatched up a militiaman's regulation saber from the corner and looked closely...
A short, slender martial warrior dressed in black and masked turned to lay the dying woman aside, then fixed him with bright eyes blazing with fury...
"You damned bastard! A beast who bullies others with borrowed power..."
One careful look told Squad Leader Qian that these rebels had probably set their sights on his territory tonight!
His first priority now was saving his own hide...
Squad Leader Qian knew there was no chance of begging for mercy or reasoning with lunatics who dared defy the court and the Immortal Sect. This one must have lost patience and attacked him ahead of time. While this attacker was still alone, he had to fight his way out and hide. That was his only path to survival!
If the attacker's companions arrived, he would probably never get away...
Squad Leader Qian roared and hurled himself forward, sweeping his saber horizontally. Its edge shimmered with a martial warrior's Gang Qi as it raced toward the black-clad attacker's chest!
The figure in black ducked, raised her head, and slashed her short saber diagonally upward!
Suddenly, in the light of the flames inside, embarrassment and avoidance flickered through the black-clad attacker's eyes. Squad Leader Qian's naked crotch was directly in front of her face...
Squad Leader Qian caught that slight change instantly. He knocked her weapon aside with his long saber, then brought a foot crashing down!
"Hahaha... So you're a little she-wolf? What, never seen a man as magnificently endowed as your granddaddy?"
Though his mouth spewed obscenities, Squad Leader Qian's attacks grew fiercer with every blow...
Blades flashed, their repeated clashes ringing sharply and sending sparks flying!
The black-clad woman's face had flushed crimson with shame and anger. Her movements became constrained, and she began to lose the initiative...
"Shameless scum! You dare call yourself a martial warrior? Die!"
Gritting his teeth, Squad Leader Qian attacked desperately. Several heavy, powerful chops forced the black-clad woman back, and he hurled himself toward the wooden wall on one side, intending to smash through it and flee!
Crash... Squish... "Aah..."
The instant Squad Leader Qian broke through the wooden wall, a dull blade appeared on its other side!
Despite his considerable fighting experience and desperate twist of his body, the blade still pierced his right abdomen...
Splinters and blood flew as Squad Leader Qian swung an iron-hard elbow at the figure who had ambushed him!
His strike successful, Lü Bufan immediately dodged.
Their elbows collided in midair, and Lü Bufan knew at once that he had misjudged Squad Leader Qian... The man was a Third Realm martial warrior!
Enduring the intense pain, Squad Leader Qian rolled and came up on one knee. As he caught his breath, he glanced at his right abdomen...
A huge wound gaped there, faintly revealing organs shattered by Gang Qi and the sword's edge!
He spat out a mouthful of blood and understood... He probably would not escape.
The dying savagery of a Fierce Beast rose within him. With a furious roar, Squad Leader Qian desperately forced his final reserve of Gang Qi into motion and lunged straight at the man who had ambushed him...
Lü Bufan understood... A man struggling in his death throes was the most terrifying of all. He flicked his hand, launching a pebble, then turned and fled!
With a crack, the pebble smashed one of the frenzied Squad Leader Qian's eyes. Ignoring the injury entirely, he continued roaring and chopped at Lü Bufan's back...
Left with no choice, Lü Bufan swung his blade to block. Squad Leader Qian drove his knee straight toward Lü Bufan's lower abdomen!
Inside the wooden guardhouse, the black-clad woman pulled over a militiaman's garment and covered the unconscious woman. Then she hurriedly kicked aside the broken boards and rushed toward Lü Bufan, who was locked in a fight to the death...
Suddenly, a hand clamped firmly around the black-clad woman's wrist...
"Second Senior Brother! Hurry, save him! That young martial warrior just ambushed that bastard official..."
A tall masked man held her wrist and said quietly, "Reckless fool! Why did you strike early and stir the grass to startle the snake?"
The woman hurriedly replied, "Those beasts were brutalizing that poor woman to death... A little longer, and they would have killed her..."
"Which matters more, the great undertaking our school has set in motion, or one common woman's life? Utterly reckless!"
Seeing his junior sister's reddening eyes, Second Senior Brother continued, "Before matters of great right and wrong, even our own lives can be cast aside. How could we ruin Master's grand plan over a moment's outrage?"
The black-clad girl fell silent, then nodded. "Second Senior Brother, I know I was wrong... Ah! Let's hurry and save that young martial hero!"
Watching the youth parry this way and block that way, at a disadvantage but still largely unhurt, Second Senior Brother said quietly, "Let's watch a little longer! We must be cautious with people whose backgrounds we don't know..."
Gripping her short saber, the woman said anxiously, "That bastard official is fighting desperately in his death throes! I'm afraid the fellow who came to help will suffer for it..."
Lü Bufan had already noticed someone approaching. Seeing that the man seemed to be with the young girl, he felt puzzled... then sighed inwardly.
Squad Leader Qian's blood had already splattered across the ground. His crimson eyes gradually dimmed, and his breathing grew increasingly labored...
Unable to restrain herself, the girl broke free of Second Senior Brother's arm and charged, swinging her short saber at Squad Leader Qian's back!
Squad Leader Qian instinctively swung his saber to block while sweeping a leg toward Lü Bufan's head... Lü Bufan dodged aside and was just about to lunge back into the fight when he saw the tall man, who had been watching, swoop through the air like a night owl!
"Beast! Die!"
A gleaming long saber cleaved downward, severing Squad Leader Qian's ordinary weapon with a soft snap!
Squelch!
Squad Leader Qian desperately leaned backward to evade it, but the blow still sliced open half his face! Blood sprayed skyward...
Squad Leader Qian hurled his broken saber at Second Senior Brother and staggered a step, still trying to flee. The girl slid close to the ground with an uncanny movement technique and easily severed both his shinbones with her short saber...
Lü Bufan caught his breath, seized the opening, and lunged in with a thrust!
But Second Senior Brother descended from above, blocking his advance, and reversed his long saber to stab backward like lightning...
"Urgh..."
With a thud, Squad Leader Qian dropped to his knees on his broken legs... His horrifying face was a bloody ruin, and one hand still reached toward the nearby girl! A blade tip protruded quietly from his chest at the heart...
Lü Bufan forcibly halted his steps. The man before him had one hand raised in a sword-finger gesture, pointing directly between his brows! An inscrutable smile rested on his face...
"Young brother, thank you for lending a righteous hand..."
Suddenly, several screams of battle rang out in the distance... Two masked old men in gray robes descended from above. One glared fiercely at the girl, who was still panting nearby. "Reckless fool... Why did you disregard orders and act on your own whims?"
"Father... That... That woman was so pitiful... I..."
"Which of those oppressed by the authorities and the court isn't pitiful? You must keep a calm mind when great matters are at stake! Is saving one person more important, or saving millions? If your rash actions drive everyone into a hopeless predicament, how will you answer to them?"
The black-clad woman froze for a moment, then lowered her head in tearful silence...
The other old man studied the youth opposite him, dressed in plain cloth and straw sandals, and asked, "Young friend, may I ask where you come from? Why did you intervene here?"
Lü Bufan bowed respectfully. "I was merely passing through. I saw several poor villagers fleeing their homes being abused by the militia. I couldn't swallow my anger, so I followed them here to see whether I could save a few..."
The old man nodded. "Since it is inconvenient to speak here, I won't inquire further about your school, young friend... We will wipe out these beasts who prey on the common people and free the innocents here as well! You can rest easy..."
Lü Bufan glanced at Second Senior Brother's somewhat stern expression, then cupped his hands. "In that case, I'll continue on my way... Take care, honored seniors!"
With that, Lü Bufan put away the Short Sword, backed up several steps, and disappeared into the night.