Andrew's heart tightened. He was still far too weak to protect his family against Matthews and his group.
I'll have to be twice as careful from now on, so they don't get an opening. Right, Dad won't believe me, but I can try telling Mom.
That night, after Ling'er and Howard had fallen asleep, Andrew quietly told Janice everything. To his surprise, Janice actually believed him.
"Ten years ago, I already knew what kind of man Matthews was. I warned your father, too, but he wouldn't believe me. This time, when I saw Matthews come back, I had a bad feeling," Janice explained.
Andrew was both pleased and worried: pleased that Janice believed him, but worried that there really was something wrong with Matthews.
"Mom, we have to warn Dad. There are seven people in Matthews's group: three sixth-level warriors and four fifth-level warriors. If they get an opening, our whole family will be in danger."
Janice looked worried. "Howard trusts Matthews too much. Even if I tell him, he won't believe me."
Andrew was frantic. "We can't keep guarding against thieves forever. No, we have to make the first move."
"Andrew, don't do anything rash!" Janice was alarmed, terrified that something would happen to him.
Andrew gestured for her not to worry. "Here's what I'm thinking. There's another sixth-level warrior in town, and several fifth-level warriors, too, so Matthews's group would never dare attack us openly. But our family had better stay home for now. I'll leave Dad to you. As it happens, I got a secret battle-qi manual that Dad can cultivate from. If he can become a high-ranking warrior, Matthews and the others won't be anything to worry about."
Janice nodded repeatedly as she listened, agreeing with his plan. "That works, too. Our savings will last us two or three years."
The next day, Janice did indeed persuade Howard to stay home. Howard was delighted to receive the secret battle-qi manual and suspected nothing else. Andrew stopped going outside town to train and cultivated in the courtyard instead. Only Ling'er was unhappy; she wanted Andrew to take her out to play.
Their life continued like this for three months.
Over those three months, Howard finally cultivated battle-qi. Unfortunately, given his sixth-level strength, first-level battle-qi was of little use.
Andrew progressed at an incredible pace, his strength increasing enormously. As a warrior, he had already reached the fifth level and cultivated fifth-level battle-qi. Unlike Howard's situation, becoming a sixth-level warrior through physical strength was very different from becoming one through battle-qi. Generally, a sixth-level warrior had a strength of five thousand jin, whether they relied on their body or battle-qi. Even if Howard cultivated sixth-level battle-qi, his strength would still be five thousand jin; that would not change. His combat ability, however, would improve greatly.
Andrew was now a fifth-level warrior who cultivated both his body and battle-qi. In terms of combat ability, his techniques and the special moves in the secret manual allowed him to stand against a sixth-level warrior who cultivated only his body!
His magic had also broken through, and he could now cast fourth-level spells!
A fourth-level mage under nine years old-that made him an even greater genius than a fifth-level warrior!
Taken together, his cultivation of both magic and martial arts meant that his strength now definitely surpassed Howard's!
Andrew was delighted with such tremendous progress. He quietly told Janice about it, and she was happy for him, too. Seeing how capable her son was made her proud as a mother.
A day later, their excitement vanished.
"Matthews, welcome to my home!" At noon that day, Matthews suddenly came to visit with two companions, and Howard greeted them happily.
"Howard, I really envy you. You have Janice as your wife and two adorable children." Matthews spoke with a longing expression.
Howard laughed heartily a few times, and Janice joined in, though her smile was very forced.
Andrew quietly hid to one side, watching to see what the three men wanted.
"Howard, I won't be staying long on this visit to Maple Forest Town. I'll be leaving soon. But before I go, I'd like to ask you a favor. Please help me for the sake of our many years of friendship!" After exchanging pleasantries, Matthews made his request directly. Janice and Andrew inwardly dreaded what was coming.
Before they could stop him, Howard readily agreed.
"Of course. Whatever it is, I'll do it!"
Andrew's expression changed, and he secretly called Janice outside.
"Mom, Matthews definitely has bad intentions in asking for this favor. Dad doesn't know what's going on, so he'll certainly fall for their scheme. We can't just sit and wait to die. We have to make the first move. Stay home and entertain them, and make sure you keep them here. I'll go outside town and kill the other four," Andrew said calmly.
"You're going to kill people? No, Andrew, you can't!" Janice looked at him. His young face was so cold that she felt as though she no longer knew him.
Andrew said firmly, "We have no other choice. No matter what, I can't let anything happen to you. Mom, think of Ling'er. He's still little. The three of us have some strength and could escape, but what about Ling'er?"
Hearing this, Janice hesitated.
Andrew pressed his advantage. "Besides, the other four are all fifth-level warriors who haven't cultivated battle-qi. They won't be on guard against a child like me. With my strength, and with me prepared while they're not, my chances of winning are over ninety percent. You don't need to worry. All right, hurry back. I'm leaving, too!"
Before Janice could object, Andrew went out through the back door, leaving only the deeply worried Janice outside the wall.
In truth, Andrew was not nearly so confident. In terms of strength, he might surpass the four fifth-level warriors, but when it came to experience in deadly combat and mental fortitude, he fell far short. Since they had ventured out into the world, they could hardly have no blood on their hands; they might even have killed countless people. Andrew, on the other hand, had never even seen a corpse in either of his two lives!
I have to stay calm. I have to stay calm! There's no turning back. For my family, I have to succeed! On his way there, Andrew kept repeating these words to himself.
On this visit, Matthews had not stayed in town, but had built a wooden cabin near the woods as a temporary residence. Andrew knew where it was.
All four of them are here. Excellent! If I face all four head-on, I probably won't stand a chance. I'll have to rely on a surprise attack! With my strength, seriously wounding one with my long saber shouldn't be a problem. Then I'll ambush another with magic. Once that succeeds, I should have no problem facing two fifth-level warriors!
The closer Andrew came to the cabin, the calmer he grew. In a very short time, he settled on a battle plan. Having made up his mind, he relaxed as much as possible to make himself look a little more harmless. Smiling, Andrew walked into the cabin.
"Uncle Black Tiger, Uncle Eagle, Uncle Matthews sent me to invite you to our house!" Andrew kept his voice steady and spoke naturally.
Black Tiger was a burly, dark-faced, bald man. As soon as Andrew approached him, he sensed such an intense, vicious aura that goosebumps rose over his skin.
"The boss sent you? Great! Do you have any wine at home? I haven't had a drink in days!" Although Black Tiger was fierce, he was straightforward and did not doubt Andrew's words.
Eagle was undoubtedly much more cunning. "The boss sent you? Before he left, he told the four of us not to leave this place. Why has he changed his mind? Even if he wanted to invite us, shouldn't he have sent Bell with you?" Bell was the sixth-level warrior accompanying Matthews.
Andrew's expression did not change as he slowly approached Eagle. "Uncle Matthews told me to tell you in secret..."
Hearing this, Eagle and Black Tiger instinctively leaned closer.
"He said you should go wait for him in the Netherworld!"
Taking advantage of their lack of vigilance, Andrew slashed his saber at Black Tiger's waist. At the same time, a fire arrow shot toward Eagle-the fourth-level spell, Fire Arrow Technique.
Neither man had expected a child to suddenly strike to kill, and both were caught off guard and hit. At that critical moment, however, their wealth of experience saved them. Black Tiger's keen perception allowed him to retreat half a meter at the last second, avoiding being cut in half at the waist. Eagle forced himself half a step aside, preventing the fire arrow from piercing his heart. Even so, both were gravely wounded and fell to the side.
"An enemy!" Amid his shock, Eagle, who had fallen to the ground, let out a roar to alert the other two.
Andrew ignored him. His saber swept around and slashed at Black Tiger. In his eyes, Black Tiger was considerably stronger than Eagle. Black Tiger's large frame inevitably made his movements somewhat less agile, and after Andrew's surprise attack, he failed to dodge this slash. His huge head was severed, and blood spurted from his neck, staining the ground red.
"I killed someone!"
Andrew murmured. The sight left him somewhat dazed, and his movements stopped!
During that pause, the two fifth-level warriors from the next room burst in, and he lost his chance to kill Eagle.
"Leopard, Wild Wolf, be careful! This kid is pretty strong, and he can use magic!" Eagle retreated to one side under their protection, not forgetting to warn them.
"You vicious little bastard! You actually killed Tiger!" the thin man named Leopard shouted. His sword flashed straight toward Andrew's head. Andrew came out of his daze at that moment, and his discomfort over killing someone temporarily receded.
"If you miss him that much, I'll send you to see him!"
Andrew raised his large saber and blocked the other man's longsword. At the same time, he pointed with his left hand, and flames sprang up on the ground. It was the second-level spell, Sea of Flames. In an instant, the entire cabin caught fire.
"Kill him, quickly!" Eagle shouted anxiously. Wild Wolf joined the fight, attacking Andrew together with Leopard.