After the meal, Yang Kuan found Lin Fan and handed him a bundle. "Junior Brother Lin, there's some silver and a few letters in here. The silver is yours. Sorry for the trouble, but please deliver the letters to my master. He'll pass them on to my parents."
Lin Fan accepted the bundle. It weighed only a few pounds, yet now it felt as heavy as a thousand. Inside lay the weight of trust and responsibility.
"Senior Brother Yang, rest assured. If I make it back to the martial arts hall safely, I'll deliver this bundle into your master's hands," Lin Fan solemnly promised.
Yang Kuan patted Lin Fan's shoulder and pressed his lips together. "Leave through the south gate after nightfall. It's the opposite direction from the county town, so your chances of surviving will be better." With that, he turned and left.
Clutching the bundle, Lin Fan silently made up his mind. Senior Brother Yang, you should take this bundle back yourself.
The last ray of light between heaven and earth vanished at the horizon, and night fell. Having changed into night clothes, Lin Fan dashed out through the manor's south gate.
At the same time, outer disciples left together through several other gates. Whether they survived would depend on heaven's will.
Lin Fan did not move fast, keeping roughly the pace of someone with minor attainment in the Iron Cloth Shirt. He did not want to attract the attention of powerful bandits lurking in the shadows.
Lin Fan did not fear the other bandits, but he was deeply wary of that protector who might be seventh rank. He did not believe his current self could escape pursuit by a seventh-rank expert.
Lin Fan avoided the main roads, choosing narrow alleys instead and heading south the entire time. His plan was to leave the town from the south, find somewhere to lie low, cultivate the Body Tempering Art to perfection, and then take a roundabout route back.
For this purpose, Lin Fan had packed a large jar filled to the brim with medicinal food in his bundle. He had made ample preparations. As long as that protector did not intercept him, he believed he could escape with his life.
Lin Fan crept through an alley, then suddenly stopped, his heart sinking to rock bottom.
Someone had appeared ahead, waiting at ease and watching him mockingly.
Lin Fan looked back and discovered another person behind him. Both ends were blocked, yet his sunken heart rose again.
Two of them meant it was not that protector. As for the other bandits, he was confident he could break through.
"Heh..." The bandit ahead chuckled. "Small fry from the Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall. Did you really think you could escape alive?"
"Stop wasting time on this small fry. Kill him so we can go back and collect our reward from the young chief," the bandit behind him said impatiently, charging at Lin Fan with his saber.
The bandit ahead did the same, bearing down menacingly with a cleaver in hand.
Lin Fan swept his gaze over the two bandits. Their unsteady steps and sluggish speed all told him that neither was even a martial artist.
"Damn you, you gave me a fright!" Lin Fan cursed.
The two bandits closed in, their cleavers slashing straight toward Lin Fan's neck. Their expressions were savage. They liked watching blood spurt from other people's necks.
Lin Fan unhurriedly reached out with both hands to grab the cleavers. Mockery appeared on the two bandits' faces.
"You're courting death."
"What a fool."
His hands collided with the blades. The spray of blood the bandits had expected never appeared. Instead, dazzling sparks burst forth, and they felt as though they had struck an iron plate.
"What?"
Both were horrified. They had never imagined the small fry in their eyes would turn out to be a great shark.
"Don't come out and scare people in your next life." Lin Fan's indifferent words were like a verdict from the King of Hell.
Lin Fan snatched away both cleavers, then slashed fiercely across the bandits' necks. Blood splattered, and the two died with their eyes wide open.
Lin Fan swiftly grabbed their money pouches and left. This time, he moved at full speed. Wind howled past his ears, and he felt as though he could fly.
Treading on Gang Qi, he covered a hundred meters with each step. Lin Fan did not know how fast eighth-rank martial artists were, but he was confident he was no slower.
Buildings raced backward behind him. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lin Fan left the town and entered the hills. He slipped into the woods, immediately sat cross-legged, and began circulating his Qi and blood to cultivate the Body Tempering Art.
His progress in the Body Tempering Art began increasing rapidly. All the while, Lin Fan kept watching the town. If anyone came out, he would flee at once.
His eyesight had now improved greatly. Even at night, he could see more than a hundred meters away.
Heaven did not grant his wishes. Before Lin Fan had cultivated for long, he saw two figures racing in his direction, one behind the other. They were much faster than Senior Brother Yang Kuan, though slower than him.
Two eighth-ranks!
Lin Fan's heart leaped into his throat. They had actually sent two eighth-ranks to hunt him down. They certainly thought highly of him.
He immediately rose to flee, unwilling to face two eighth-ranks.
Just then, a furious shout stopped him in his tracks.
"Tan Lin, you can't escape! Come back obediently and serve as a trial opponent for our young chief, and I can still leave your corpse intact. Did you think your little trick of disguising yourself as an outer courtyard disciple to escape could fool me?"
Lin Fan looked back, studying the man in front carefully by the moonlight. His build did indeed look very much like Tan Lin's.
"That damned bastard. No wonder he agreed to Senior Brother Yang's suggestion to let us outer courtyard disciples flee first. So he was planning to flee along with us all along, leaving Senior Brother Yang there to wait for death!" Lin Fan cursed under his breath, killing intent boiling in his heart.
Tan Lin had to die tonight!
Boom!
Qi and blood collided with a thunderous roar. Tan Lin had already been caught and could only turn to meet the bandit's attack head-on.
Waves of fist force smashed out from Tan Lin's fists. His Gang-Breaking Fist had not reached the Gang Qi realm, but an eighth-rank martial artist's Qi and blood could extend beyond the body and condense into fist imprints. Of course, these were far inferior to Gang Qi.
However, his fist imprints were rapidly annihilated beneath streaks of snake-shaped force. The bandit was far stronger than him and had already reached major attainment in Bone Forging.
Bang!
The snake-shaped force broke through Tan Lin's defenses and slammed into him, sending him flying and leaving a trail of blood.
"Stubborn fool. You still want to fight me? Wait until your Gang-Breaking Fist reaches the Gang Qi realm," the bandit said contemptuously.
"If I attained Gang Qi, killing you would be like slaughtering a chicken!" Tan Lin roared as he stood up. Though he was not dead, he could barely even steady himself. His injuries were severe.
"Tch..." The bandit sneered. "Unfortunately, you haven't. Are you going to come back obediently and continue the trial, or should I strike you dead right now?"
"I'll go back with you." Tan Lin lowered his head, his face filled with dejection.
Dragging his legs, he approached the bandit, then hurled the thing secretly held in his right hand at him before turning to flee.
"Hehehe... I knew you were up to something. What? Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles!"
The bandit had been brimming with confidence, but when he saw silver needles filling the sky as they shot toward him, he panicked.
The Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles were among the Tang Sect's most famous hidden weapons, designed specifically to pierce Qi and blood and carrying deadly poison.
Unable to spare any attention for Tan Lin, he raised a Qi and blood barrier at full strength to block the silver needles. But the prepared had caught the unprepared: some needles pierced the barrier and struck his body.
The flesh around the silver needles rapidly turned black. Horrified, the bandit circulated his Qi and blood with all his strength to force the poison out of his body, able only to watch helplessly as Tan Lin rushed into the woods.
Within the woods, a pair of eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Tan Lin, today is the day you die."