Before he had finished speaking, a sharp whistle cut through the air from the hillside.
Seven or eight arrows shot out from behind the bushes, their tips gleaming coldly as they flew straight toward the mule carts in the middle of the convoy.
Xing Lieshan reacted extremely quickly. His nine-ring saber flashed from its sheath and traced an arc through the air. The iron rings along its spine knocked three arrows away in a shower of sparks.
The other veteran escorts also drew their sabers to block, but one arrow still slipped through a gap and struck a convoy hand in the shoulder.
The convoy hand fell to the ground with a muffled groan.
Immediately afterward, battle cries rose from the hillside, and more than twenty bandits armed with sabers and spears charged out from behind the bushes.
One of their leaders held a long spear and wore leather armor.
The other wielded twin sabers. He was lean and astonishingly fast. Both had clearly trained in martial arts, and judging by their bearing, they were probably An Jin martial artists.
"Protect the cargo carts!"
Xing Lieshan bellowed and swung his nine-ring saber as he charged toward the spear-wielding bandit.
Saber and spear collided with a piercing clang of metal, shaking leaves loose from the surrounding trees.
With Xing Lieshan occupied, the remaining bandits seized the opening to rush toward the middle of the convoy.
Although the convoy hands were numerous, most were ordinary martial artists at early Ming Jin, or had not even entered Ming Jin.
Facing these clearly well-trained bandits, some were wounded as soon as the fighting began. Screams and the clash of weapons rose one after another.
Jiang Fa did not move.
He stood in the middle of the convoy, his ghost-head saber angled toward the ground, his gaze fixed on the bandit leader wielding twin sabers.
"Move aside!"
Liu Ying was also watching that man intently. Seeing that he was about to join the battle, she gave a low shout and headed straight toward him.
Twin sabers met twin sabers. Their figures crossed as their blades collided in a series of crisp metallic clashes.
Liu Ying's saber technique was fierce, every move pressing the attack. Her pair of willow-leaf short sabers danced up and down in her hands, her offensive as relentless as a raging storm.
The twin-saber leader was forced back again and again, his footwork growing somewhat disordered.
Jiang Fa narrowed his eyes slightly.
This woman's saber technique was indeed good, and her footwork was quite exquisite. She lived up to her training as a martial hall disciple.
The only blemish was that she was too impatient.
She was eager to suppress her opponent, trying to seize the initiative through sheer momentum.
The twin-saber leader clearly had abundant experience in actual combat. Though she was suppressing him, his steps had never truly fallen into disarray.
Several times, he seemed to hang by a thread, but he was deliberately showing weakness, waiting for the moment when she fully committed to a move.
Sure enough, the instant Liu Ying's diagonal slash missed, a sharp gleam flashed in the twin-saber leader's eyes. His left short saber abruptly caught her weapon, while his right swept upward in a reverse slash straight toward her ribs.
The strike was fast and vicious, its angle exceedingly treacherous.
Liu Ying's expression changed drastically. It was already too late to bring her saber back to block.
She could only watch helplessly as the blade slashed toward her.
Just as despair appeared in her eyes,
a dark figure suddenly cut in from the side.
Clang!
A broad, thick ghost-head saber swept in and firmly caught the twin-saber leader's rising strike. The blades collided, throwing out a string of dazzling sparks.
Liu Ying felt a tremendous impact surge in from the side, jolting her two stumbling steps sideways.
She steadied herself and looked up. The youth who had been following in the middle of the convoy had appeared before her at some point.
A ghost-head saber taller than she was lay across his front, firmly blocking that fatal strike.
"You..."
Before she could finish,
Jiang Fa turned his wrist, pressing the ghost-head saber down and forcing the twin-saber leader's short blade lower. Then his blade turned and swept diagonally upward.
The change came extremely quickly, without the slightest flourish, yet it cut through the twin-saber leader's defense with unerring precision.
The twin-saber leader hastily retreated, but the blade still left a shallow bloody line across his chest.
His expression changed dramatically, and a trace of shock flashed through his eyes.
He realized that this seemingly unremarkable youth was far more formidable than the woman he had just fought.
Liu Ying was stunned as well.
Having just fought the twin-saber leader, she knew how vicious his saber technique was. She had nearly suffered terribly at his hands.
Yet the person before her had forced him back and wounded him with just one strike.
"Get back."
Jiang Fa spoke without turning his head, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
Liu Ying bit her lip, wanting to say something, but ultimately held back. Holding her twin sabers, she withdrew behind him.
"Then be careful..."
Jiang Fa ignored her. His gaze remained fixed on the twin-saber leader, the ghost-head saber slowly turning in his hands as he gathered momentum, ready to strike.
The twin-saber leader licked his lips, a trace of wariness flashing through his eyes.
He could tell that the person before him would be extremely difficult to deal with.
But he had no way back now.
He drew a deep breath and crossed his sabers before his chest. His footwork changed, and his entire body spun like a top, his twin sabers tracing silvery arcs through the air as he whirled toward Jiang Fa to cut him down.
Jiang Fa did not retreat.
He stood where he was and cleaved upward with his ghost-head saber.
There were no flashy feints in this strike, only a simple vertical cleave.
But after reaching major accomplishment in the Cloak Saber Technique, Jiang Fa's saber movements had begun to carry a hint of returning to the unadorned truth. Where his blade passed, it split the air with a sharp, explosive crack.
Clang!
A deafening clash of metal exploded through the woods.
The twin-saber leader's blades collided head-on with the ghost-head saber. He felt an overwhelming, irresistible force surge through his weapons.
How is this possible? How can he be so strong...?
His eyes flew wide, his face filled with disbelief.
The webs of his hands split open instantly, blood running down the hilts.
More terrifying still, that force penetrated the blades and traveled straight into the bones of his arms. Under that single cleave, fine fractures split the bones of both arms.
He let out a shrill scream. Both sabers flew from his hands, and the strike drove him to his knees.
His knees slammed into the ground.
Jiang Fa gave him no chance to catch his breath.
The ghost-head saber swept sideways, its edge turning into a streak of dark light as it passed across his neck.
Squelch.
One stroke took his head.
Blood spurted from his severed neck, splashing across the official road.
From drawing his saber to killing him, only two breaths had passed.
The surrounding convoy hands stared, dumbstruck.
Liu Ying's eyes were even wider, her face filled with disbelief.
Having just fought the twin-saber leader, she knew how formidable he was. His fighting strength had probably already approached middle An Jin, and she had nearly fallen at his hands.
Yet this youth, who looked even a little younger than her, had hacked that bandit leader to death in just a few strikes.
She tightened her grip on her willow-leaf short sabers, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
Ever since entering the Flying Swallow Martial Hall, she had always stood out among her peers and had always been proud and haughty.
She had thought accompanying Xing Lieshan on this escort job would be easy, never expecting such a turn of events.
"What are you still standing around for?!"
Jiang Fa barked coldly and charged toward the other bandit leader, saber in hand.
His shout instantly snapped Liu Ying out of her daze. She gritted her teeth, tightened her grip on her twin sabers, and followed him.