"Don't worry, Senior Brother Tan. I'll arrange it right away. Please have a seat." Zhang Yu immediately gave his assurance, then left the training room.
He found Han Feng and passed on the order.
"Han Feng, Senior Brother Tan needs twenty outer courtyard disciples to help guard Shopkeeper Tang's herb garden. Go find some people-the disobedient ones. Remember, make sure you bring Lin Fan," he instructed.
"Yes, Senior Brother Zhang." Han Feng left to carry out the order.
Zhang Yu stood where he was, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking, cruel smile.
"Lin Fan, oh, Lin Fan, the game has only just begun. If you manage to escape with your life, we'll keep playing." His chilling words drifted away on the wind.
Bang, bang, bang...
Lin Fan, who had been immersed in cultivation, was interrupted by the knocking. He focused his gaze on the door, unsure who would come looking for him.
"Lin Fan, open up! There's a mission for you!" Han Feng's voice came through the door.
A mission? Lin Fan was even more puzzled, but he knew it certainly wouldn't be anything good. Good things never fell into his lap.
He opened the door, and Han Feng's punchable face came into view.
"Lin Fan, pack your clothes immediately and assemble in the outer courtyard. The inner courtyard has assigned a mission!" Han Feng left after delivering that single sentence.
Lin Fan watched his retreating figure coldly, but he knew he had no right to refuse.
When he finished packing his bundle and reached the ground floor, he found more than a dozen senior brothers carrying bundles just like him, heading toward the outer courtyard.
In the outer courtyard's main yard, Lin Fan and the others, twenty outer courtyard disciples in all, stood in two rows, with Senior Brother Tan and Zhang Yu in front of them.
Zhang Yu cast Lin Fan a sidelong glance, his eyes filled with contempt and mockery.
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, a flash of killing intent passing deep within them. Clearly, Zhang Yu had deliberately summoned him. This mission was anything but simple, and when Senior Brother Tan spoke, his suspicions were confirmed.
"For this mission, you will accompany the ten of us inner courtyard disciples to guard Shopkeeper Tang's herb garden against raids by the Greenwood bandits. Go to the dining hall and eat now. We leave immediately after the meal."
Senior Brother Tan left after speaking, leaving the outer courtyard disciples with drastically changed expressions.
"What? They want us to risk our lives fighting those reckless bandits? Isn't that just sending us to our deaths?"
"There are plenty of martial artists among those bandits. Even the county office can't handle them. Wouldn't we be like mantises trying to stop a chariot?"
"Fuck this! We're dead for sure!"
The outer courtyard disciples erupted into an uproar, their words filled with fear and anger.
Lin Fan's heart also grew heavy. Naturally, he knew of the Greenwood bandits. They had perpetrated numerous massacres in Qingshan County, and the many towns under its jurisdiction had suffered terribly at their hands. There had even been cases of entire towns being slaughtered.
Even Qingshan County's seat had been raided. Their most outrageous act had been storming straight into the county office, cutting off the county magistrate's head, and hanging it above the city gates. Their arrogance knew no bounds.
The imperial court had been furious that time and dispatched troops from the commandery into the Qingshan Mountain Range to encircle and wipe out the bandits. Instead, the bandits routed them, sending them fleeing without their helmets and armor, and even quite a few martial arts experts were lost. That alone showed how terrifying the Qingshan Greenwood was.
Rumor had it that a sect stood behind the Qingshan Greenwood. Though there was no proof, wind did not blow from an empty cave for no reason; it might well be true.
And now, insignificant martial apprentices like them actually had to face such powerful bandits. How could they not be afraid?
"Silence!"
Zhang Yu's bellow silenced everyone.
His eyes widened in a furious glare, anger surging through him. "Look at you, clinging to life and terrified of death! You think you're fit to practice martial arts? Go home and suckle instead!"
The more Zhang Yu spoke, the louder and angrier he became. "How many resources has the martial arts hall wasted keeping you all this time? Now that we need you to carry out a mission, you make one excuse after another. Anyone who doesn't want to go can get the hell out of the hall right now!"
Everyone except Lin Fan lowered their heads. Zhang Yu swept a cold glance over Lin Fan, then, seeing that no one spoke or left, flicked his sleeves and departed.
Once he was far away, low curses began rising one after another.
"Fuck him! That bastard Zhang Yu is utterly shameless. Isn't he sending us to our deaths just because we didn't pay him a tael of silver every month?"
"Fuck his granny! His mouth is full of righteousness, but behind everyone's backs, it's all business. That scumbag!"
"The Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall is rotten to the core!"
"..."
Lin Fan picked up quite a bit of information. He hadn't expected Zhang Yu's appetite to be so great. Embezzling their medicinal meals wasn't enough; he had to collect monthly payments too.
But however dissatisfied they were, no one left. The martial arts hall was their only path to climbing to another level. They had no choice.
After the meal, the twenty outer courtyard disciples set out with the ten inner courtyard disciples. Shopkeeper Tang had already arranged for horses to wait at the entrance. Each mounted a horse, and they rode swiftly toward the city gates.
Shopkeeper Tang's herb fields were in a town outside the city, which was why the bandits had set their sights on them.
After leaving the city, they traveled some fifty or sixty li before reaching their destination, the entrance to an estate.
By then, the sun had already sunk in the west, leaving only a streak of fish-belly white on the horizon.
The horses of this world were extraordinarily hardy. Even after running dozens of li, they were still spirited.
Looking at the unbroken mountain ranges nearby, everyone's hearts grew heavy.
Those mountains were the Qingshan Mountain Range, the bandits' main stronghold. They were less than twenty li away, and it was as though they could already see hordes of bandits bearing down on them menacingly.
Even the inner courtyard senior brothers, who were already martial artists, wore grave expressions.
"The distinguished disciples of the Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall! You've finally arrived. Please, come in."
An old man hurried out of the estate to welcome them, an ingratiating look on his face.
"Steward Cheng, have your men assign them to start patrolling the herb fields," Senior Brother Tan said, pointing at Lin Fan and the other outer courtyard disciples.
The old man looked hesitant. "Won't you have some hot tea first?"
"No need. The mission comes first," Senior Brother Tan decided.
The outer courtyard disciples dared to feel angry but not to speak. Were they not fucking people too? They couldn't even have a sip of hot tea?
But facing Senior Brother Tan, already an eighth-grade martial artist, they had no choice but to submit.
Soon, twenty household guards each led one of Lin Fan's group off to patrol the herb fields.
Lin Fan followed his household guard to a small hill. The herb fields were on its slopes. Many medicinal herbs could only be grown in the mountains, and that was the case with the herbs here.
"Senior Brother, the two of us are responsible for this slope in front of us. If anything happens, set off the signal, then just run for your life." The household guard feigned a relaxed manner, but his voice was tense.
If they really encountered bandits, it would be a miracle if his paltry skills let him escape alive.
Lin Fan tucked the signal flare the household guard had given him into his robe. This world also had fireworks, and fireworks served as signals.
"We'll definitely be safe." Lin Fan offered a word of comfort, though he didn't know whether he was comforting the household guard or himself.
The household guard nodded. "We definitely will."
Then the two fell silent, patrolling the herb fields by the bright moonlight. The moon in this world was always very bright, draping the world in a veil of silver.
Reality always ran counter to beautiful wishes.
Neither Lin Fan nor the household guard noticed that two arrows gleaming coldly were already aimed at their backs, right behind their hearts.
Whoosh, whoosh...
A piercing shriek rang out as the air was punctured, and two streaks of silver light reached the backs of Lin Fan and the household guard in an instant, right behind their hearts.
Pfft...
Flowers of blood bloomed...