The Rosewood Box

"Where's that brat, you useless bastards!"

As night fell, Li Ziye, who had received a thorough thrashing from the Sword Maniac, went into the Qilian Mountains seething with anger to vent it on the bandits there.

And so, the mountain woods grew lively once more.

After opening his Divine Repository, True Qi surged through the single meridian Li Ziye had cleared, considerably enhancing both his speed and strength as he moved.

"Chief, he ran west!"

In front of the stronghold, a bandit hurried forward and reported urgently.

"What are you standing around for? Get after him!"

The bandit chief roared in fury.

"Yes!"

This time, apart from a handful left to guard the stronghold, the others all surged after him in a dark mass.

In the woods, Li Ziye led a whole pack of bandits on a winding chase. Over four hours, he covered almost half the Qilian Mountains.

"Chief, what's this brat trying to do? Doesn't he get tired?"

Beside the bandit chief, a sharp-faced, monkey-cheeked bandit stared at the youth about to vanish from sight and spoke between gasps.

"Whatever he's up to, catch him alive! I'm going to skin him alive!"

The bandit chief spat the words furiously, then led his men onward in pursuit.

Deep in the woods, after leading the bandits around for half the night, Li Ziye circled back to their camp without anyone noticing.

"Who goes there?"

Only a dozen or so men remained to guard the stronghold now, and their expressions changed in alarm at the sight of the newcomer.

"The wheel of fortune turns. Let's see how cocky you can be now."

Li Ziye looked at the dozen or so bandits inside the stronghold and gave a malicious grin. "Drop your weapons. I've surrounded you. Surrender and you'll live!"

"Brothers, he's alone! Kill him!"

Seeing that no one stood behind Li Ziye, one of the bandits in the stronghold relaxed a little and shouted.

"Kill!"

At this, the other bandits plucked up their courage as well and charged with their sabers.

"You refuse the courtesy wine, only to drink the punishment wine."

Li Ziye grinned, stamped his foot, and charged with his sword in hand.

The bandits were vicious, but only against ordinary people too weak to truss a chicken.

Li Ziye was a freak even more vicious than the bandits.

Under cover of night, Li Ziye wielded Azure Frost, slashing again and again like a madman. Before long, he had cut down all dozen or so men.

Li Ziye had opened his Divine Repository and could more or less be considered a martial artist now. He was no longer what he had been, and how could the bandits' sabers compare with Azure Frost, the Plum Blossom Sword Immortal's personal sword?

And so, Li Ziye finally fulfilled his dream from his previous life: cutting down a whole crowd.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing every bandit fall, Li Ziye stood there and laughed with wild arrogance.

A bunch of weaklings.

"Chief, he's over there!"

Before Li Ziye could gloat for long, however, a sharp-eyed bandit on a distant rise spotted him and cried urgently, "He went to our stronghold!"

"Damn it, he lured the tiger away from its mountain! Come back with me!"

The bandit chief was stunned and immediately led his men back the way they had come.

Inside the bandit camp, Li Ziye kicked open a door. He casually rummaged through the treasures stored within, but soon lost interest.

Nothing but gold, silver, and jewels. How vulgar!

These bandits were far too poor. They didn't even have any decent treasures.

"Hm?"

Looking around, Li Ziye noticed the bandit chief's tiger-skin chair and walked over.

After searching for a while and finding nothing, Li Ziye thought for a moment, raised his sword, and chopped down.

Boom!

With a tremendous crash, the tiger-skin chair split in two beneath his blade.

"Haha! I knew it! How could there be no treasures at all?"

Li Ziye gazed at the rosewood box beneath the tiger-skin chair, his face lighting with excitement, and picked it up.

"Brat, you're courting death! Put that thing down!"

Just then, the bandit chief returned with his men. Seeing the youth in front of the tiger-skin chair, his expression changed at once, and he shouted in alarm and fury.

"Want it? Come catch me!"

Li Ziye waved the wooden box, then pushed off the ground, smashed through a window, and escaped.

"After him! Get that box back, no matter what!"

The bandit chief roared furiously.

"Yes!"

Behind him, the bandits gave chase once more.

In the woods, Li Ziye fled for his life with the rosewood box, not daring to stop for even a moment.

Behind him, the dark mass of bandits chased madly. At their head, the bandit chief's eyes nearly split with rage, and he longed to hack the thief ahead to death.

That thing must never fall into anyone else's hands!

The night deepened. Li Ziye had no idea how long he had been fleeing. In any case, fewer and fewer bandits remained behind him, and scarcely any could still keep up.

Yet the bandit chief remained hot on his heels, never falling even half a step behind.

And so, Li Ziye clutched the rosewood box even tighter.

He knew that anything the bandit chief cared about this much had to be extraordinary.

After another hour of pursuit, only the two of them could still run through the woods. Even they were panting with exhaustion now and had to stop to catch their breath.

Supporting himself against a large tree, the bandit chief panted heavily and called out between gasps, "Brat, hand over that box, and we'll wipe the slate clean. I can let you leave alive."

"Heh, dream on. Catch me if you can."

Li Ziye was so exhausted he could barely straighten his back, but his mouth still refused to concede.

"How about this? Hand over the box, and you can take anything you like from my stronghold. Gold, silver, treasures-all yours." The bandit chief's expression shifted. Forcing down his anger, he spoke as pleasantly as he could.

"Save your breath. I might lack all sorts of things, but silver isn't one of them. Are you still chasing me? If not, I'm leaving."

With that, Li Ziye forced himself upright and continued fleeing.

"Brat, don't let me catch you, or I'll make you wish you were dead!"

The bandit chief's face darkened. He, too, forced himself upright and staggered after him.

A pale fish-belly white appeared in the east. Dawn was approaching.

The way out of the woods was just ahead. Li Ziye looked back for the bandit chief, only to freeze.

Where was he?

Had he lost him?

"Die, brat!"

Just then, a figure burst out nearby, his fist roaring as it tore through the air.

The punch came without warning, seemingly powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone. Even the air crackled with explosive reports.

There was no time to dodge the sudden ambush. Li Ziye's face darkened slightly, and he brought Azure Frost across to block the heavy punch.

Boom!

With an earth-shaking crash, Li Ziye was sent flying straight into a large tree behind him.

"Pfft!"

As the immense force of the punch struck him, Li Ziye felt sweetness rise in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Brat, you refused the courtesy wine, only to drink the punishment wine. Hand over the box!"

The bandit chief advanced step by step, his expression grim.

"In your dreams!"

Li Ziye forcibly suppressed his injuries, silently counting the distance between them. Once the bandit chief came within three steps, he sprang up and thrust his sword.

The bandit chief's pupils contracted. He had not expected the youth to have any strength left. Caught off guard, he failed to dodge, and the sword pierced his chest.

Rip!

The blade pierced flesh, drawing gushes of glaring blood. The bandit chief grunted and stumbled back several steps.

"You want to catch me? Do you have what it takes?"

Li Ziye pulled out his sword. Severely wounded, he had no intention of lingering to fight and staggered toward the edge of the woods with his sword in hand.

Behind him, the bandit chief tried to pursue, but stumbled and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Brat!"

The bandit chief watched the youth disappear beyond the woods, murderous intent blazing in his eyes.

Outside Yuzhou City, a horse came galloping up. A youth lay slumped on its back, seemingly unconscious.

The soldiers guarding the gate stopped the horse and immediately recognized the youth on its back.

"Isn't this the Li Residence's third young master? How did he get so badly hurt?" one soldier asked in shock.

"Never mind that. Hurry and take him back to the Li Residence."

Another soldier spoke gravely. The Li Residence was one of the foremost powers in Yuzhou City. Even the city's lord treated its patriarch with the utmost courtesy. If anything happened to this third young master, all of Yuzhou City would likely feel the tremors.

When Li Ziye was brought back to the rear courtyard of the Li Residence, the entire household descended into chaos.

Li Baiwan rushed back. Seeing Li Ziye unconscious and gravely wounded, his heart ached so badly that he nearly wept.

"Fairy, what happened to Ziye?" Li Baiwan asked urgently, looking at the Plum Blossom Fairy beside the bed.

"A few broken ribs. Nothing serious."

Having examined Li Ziye's injuries, Qin Enuo said gravely, "Take him to the medicine room."

With that, Qin Enuo rose and walked outside.

By the lakeshore, Zhang Lata watched the chaotic rear courtyard and silently took a sip of wine, without going over to add to the confusion.

The brat must have run straight into that bandit chief.

Qin Enuo had said that the bandit chief had already cultivated to the Middle Stage of the First Divine Treasure. The brat had only just opened his Divine Repository before facing him. Making it back alive was already no easy feat.

Still far too weak!

This was only a bandit chief. His real opponent was Huo Liner, one of the world's four great prodigies. Without finding some other way, he would never catch up in this lifetime.

In the medicine room, Li Ziye was lowered into a tub of medicinal liquid. Qin Enuo stepped forward, her expression turning solemn. True Essence surged around her as she pressed two fingers together and touched them to his body.

The next moment, steam billowed from the tub. Before long, mist filled the entire medicine room.

"Ugh!"

Unconscious, Li Ziye let out a muffled groan of pain, and his body began trembling.

As medicinal power and True Qi flowed ceaselessly into him, the injuries to Li Ziye's chest began to mend at a speed visible to the naked eye, a sight that would have shocked the world.

Over an hour later, Qin Enuo emerged from the medicine room, her face weary. She looked utterly exhausted.

"How is he?"

Zhang Lata asked.

"He's fine now."

Qin Enuo answered wearily.

"The brat was lucky to survive."

Zhang Lata inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "What did he do? Judging by that palm strike to his chest, the bandit chief was clearly mad with rage and determined to kill him."

"Perhaps it had something to do with this."

Qin Enuo tossed him the rosewood box as she spoke.

Zhang Lata caught the rosewood box and opened it with a puzzled expression. The next instant, his expression changed abruptly.