Peng Tianlang finally spoke. "We lost three brothers too. We took a huge loss this time!"
He raised his head, sweeping his gaze over the faces of his men, some weary, others unwilling to accept defeat.
Everyone looked at him.
"Big brother, whatever you say goes!"
"Right! Even if we have to fight our way back, none of us brothers will object!"
"..."
Peng Tianlang bared his yellowed teeth in a grin. "They're gathering heroes over at Mount Liang. Heroes from all across Jiannan Circuit are heading there. If we can't get the rest of the silver this time, we can go take a look."
"Mount Liang sounds good! With so many heroes gathered there, we could pull off a big job!"
"Big brother, we'll follow your lead!"
The prospect of going to Mount Liang excited them all.
The scar on Peng Tianlang's face twitched several times as he said viciously, "But before we go, we can't let our fearsome reputation be tarnished. Mo Zhengxing is hiding at home and doesn't dare come out, so we'll kill a few other members of the Mo family. And those constables in the city-we'll find a chance to kill a few of them too!"
"We have to let everyone know that anyone who lays a hand on my brothers will pay in blood!"
His words were like a dose of potent medicine, transforming the gloomy mood in the temple. Bloodshot eyes filled with murderous hostility as the already ferocious bandits involuntarily tightened their grips on the hilts of their weapons.
Peng Tianlang took in every expression and was pleased. He was just about to plan their next move.
"Wheee-!"
A piercing whistle sounded without warning from somewhere in the mountain woods outside the temple, tearing through the silence.
Everyone inside the temple went pale in an instant!
It was a warning sounded by one of the hidden lookouts they had stationed on the perimeter.
"Charge out!"
Peng Tianlang reacted with astonishing speed. With a low roar, he sprang up like a startled leopard, snatching up the thick-backed mountain-cleaving saber leaning against the statue's pedestal.
The other bandits leaped up as well. Amid a clatter of steel, they drew their weapons and strung their bows and crossbows. Bits of straw flew through the temple, and the wind their movement stirred up snuffed out the bonfire.
Peng Tianlang led the charge out of the temple gate.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Almost the instant he emerged beyond the gate, several sharp whistles tore through the air from a patch of waist-high wild grass ahead!
Peng Tianlang heard the wind and moved at once. His thick-backed saber whirled into a blur of gray light, precisely deflecting the incoming arrows. One arrow grazed the leather armor beneath his ribs, trailing sparks and the faint sound of tearing leather.
"Kill-!!!"
Battle cries rang out from every direction.
"Follow me!"
A savage presence radiated from Peng Tianlang as he picked a direction and charged.
The other bandits followed behind him.
Elsewhere, Wu Shuangren stayed beside Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong, his saber already drawn and his face full of excitement.
Before approaching the mountain god's temple, Liao Yu and Mo Zhengshang had sent men around to form an encirclement, but they had alerted the bandits keeping watch on the perimeter.
The two decisively ordered the attack!
Fires sprang up all around.
They had traveled without lights for fear of being spotted by the bandits. Now they lit fires to prevent the confusion that came with fighting at night and to help their archers shoot more accurately.
Mo Zhengshang charged at the head of the group, iron spear in hand. In the blink of an eye, he had covered several yards, his movements as nimble as a leopard's!
Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong deliberately stayed behind, keeping an eye on Wu Shuangren from either side to stop him from running off.
Ahead, Peng Tianlang slashed furiously at a man charging toward him, their blades meeting head-on.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Peng Tianlang knocked the man's saber away. He followed with another slash, and the sound of breaking bones rang out as he ripped the man open from chest to belly!
Peng Tianlang drew back his saber, scraps of flesh and bone clinging to its blade as the smell of blood spread. A bloodthirsty gleam appeared in his eyes, and he strode toward his next enemy.
Surrounded by danger, the ferocious bandit leader had pushed his internal cultivation to its limit. The saber in his hand weighed forty-three jin, yet he swung it so swiftly that its flashing blade was almost impossible to see!
With a move of Night Battle in Eight Directions, Peng Tianlang forced three men back. He leaped, crossing more than ten feet as though the distance did not exist, and appeared before a man on his left. He drove his saber into the man's belly and twisted it hard.
A scream rang out, and the expression on his enemy's face gave Peng Tianlang even greater pleasure.
He laughed savagely and sent the man flying with a palm strike. Raising his great saber, he roared, "Who dares stand in my way?"
His force was that of a ravening wolf!
Swish-
A shrill rush of air sounded as an iron spear thrust at him from the right like a venomous dragon.
Peng Tianlang turned and slashed at the spear shaft.
But the iron spear suddenly withdrew, vanishing like an illusion before thrusting at him again.
Peng Tianlang's expression changed. He immediately pulled his saber back to defend himself and retreated a step.
Clang!
It was the loudest collision of the night.
"Who are you?"
"Mo Zhengshang of the Mo family!"
"Good! I was just looking for someone from the Mo family."
"Leave your life here!"
Outside the mountain god's temple, the night wind roared like a tiger.
Figures crossed and clashed in a fierce fight.
11 Ferocious Wolf
Under the night sky, two figures collided violently again and again.
Mo Zhengshang swept and struck with his iron spear as though wielding a staff, but at the most crucial moments, he would bare its "fangs," thrusting the spearhead out with deadly threat!
Peng Tianlang held his saber in one hand, his sweeping saber techniques working in concert with his footwork. Again and again, he cut the iron spear aside and advanced, only to be temporarily forced back by a sudden thrust of its point.
Every collision of their weapons erupted with a crash like a hammer striking an iron anvil, sending sparks flying!
The howling gusts flattened the wild grass. Weeds severed by the flashing saber flew through the air like falling rain.
Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong paid no attention to anyone else, their eyes fixed on the two combatants.
Peng Tianlang was the greatest uncertainty in tonight's operation. As long as they could pin him down, tonight would be a complete victory!
Wu Shuangren looked around. Of the dozen or so bandits, some had fallen to arrows, while others were being besieged by seven or eight men.
In individual martial skill, these bandits were stronger than the vast majority of the constables and militia present.
But surrounded, with no terrain to rely on, they were immediately beset by danger.
Wu Shuangren saw a bandit hacking madly with his saber. One blow even cut straight through a wooden spear shaft as thick as a wrist, an astonishing display of force. Seven or eight spearmen surrounded him, repeatedly using the same thrust, a move they had practiced to perfection.
The militiamen never met the bandit's blows head-on. They kept him threatened with their spears, preventing him from drawing close. Whenever he cut one spear in two, others immediately thrust at him from either side, forcing him back. The militiamen behind them seized the chance to thrust as well.
After several repetitions, a spear pierced the bandit's thigh, slowing him down. Unable to dodge in time, he was killed on the spot by several spears that swiftly followed!
If I were that bandit, surrounded by seven or eight militiamen with spears, what would happen?
Wu Shuangren could not help imagining it.
Unless I closed in on one of them immediately, killed him quickly, then broke out, kept maneuvering and looked for chances to fight them one on one...
Wu Shuangren pictured the fight in his mind and realized that the most crucial factor was still how quickly he could kill one opponent on his own.
As long as he was fast enough, it might look like he was fighting many at once, but every exchange would actually be one on one.
While Wu Shuangren was imagining himself fighting, Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong suddenly drew their sabers and charged out, warning him not to run off.
Peng Tianlang had seen that things were going badly and wanted to flee, so Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong hurried to stop him.
The tall Wu Dongrong was faster and reached Peng Tianlang first. Their blades crossed.
Seeing this, Wu Shuangren's heart tightened. No longer concerned about wasting stamina, he immediately equipped [Match for One Person], ready to charge in at any moment!
In the blink of an eye, Peng Tianlang and Wu Dongrong exchanged several blows, both matching speed with speed. Their flashing blades merged into a single blur, sparks spraying in every direction!
The tremendous force drove Wu Dongrong back step after step. His internal cultivation was ultimately inferior to that of the ferocious bandit before him, and just as his guard began to falter, Liao Yu arrived, slashing in from the side and relieving the pressure on him.
Mo Zhengshang charged back in as well, and the four became locked in combat.
Peng Tianlang constantly shifted and dodged, never staying in one place for even a breath. He strode, turned, leaped... pushing his speed to the limit, howling like the wind!
He exchanged only one or two moves with any one opponent before immediately changing position, never allowing himself to be attacked from front and rear.
Wu Shuangren could only run swiftly along with the four of them. Under the effect of [Match for One Person], their movements, which had been somewhat blurred, became perfectly clear to him. He could also see the hidden variations and killing intent within those seemingly straightforward, "simple" moves.
After watching for a while, Wu Shuangren noticed that Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu worked together most seamlessly. By comparison, Mo Zhengshang seemed somewhat out of place.
After the two joined the attack, the pressure on Mo Zhengshang had indeed lessened, but his sweeping spear moves were also affected, the space in which he could use them squeezed tight.
The three of them joining forces did not simply add their fighting strength together.
That was also why Peng Tianlang could hold out.
Even so, he gradually fell into a disadvantage and accumulated several wounds. Had he not been wearing leather armor, he might already have been badly injured.
When Wu Dongrong seized an opening and slashed Peng Tianlang's left arm, adding another wound, Peng Tianlang's eyes suddenly turned blood-red, and he let out a long howl.
The howl seemed to be some method of rousing hidden potential and stimulating Qi and blood. Peng Tianlang's saber strikes became more vicious, his movements faster!
He hacked aside Mo Zhengshang's thrusting spear, the immense force smashing its front end into the ground and sending bits of grass flying.
Turning, Peng Tianlang took a slash from Liao Yu on his leather armor and used the force to propel himself forward, charging at Wu Dongrong!
Wu Dongrong drew his saber back to defend himself and met Peng Tianlang's blood-red eyes.
In the darkness were savage, blood-red eyes, the chilling flash of a blade, and a soul-seizing howl.
At that moment, Peng Tianlang was like a ferocious wolf driven into a dead end!
Blades collided, blood flashed, and Peng Tianlang struck Wu Dongrong's thigh with Flying Sparrow Bends Its Shadow!
Wu Dongrong grunted and staggered back. The wound to his thigh kept him from exerting his full strength, and when his long saber collided with Peng Tianlang's thick-backed great saber again, it was knocked from his hand!
Peng Tianlang relied not only on brute force to knock an opponent's weapon away, but also on deftly applied force. This was the signature move he took the greatest pride in-Gold-Inlaid Saber.
Having knocked Wu Dongrong's weapon away with Gold-Inlaid Saber, Peng Tianlang gave a savage grin and stepped forward, about to cut off his head with one stroke.
As long as he killed one of them, the remaining two would be unable to stop him.
The blade descended with a shrill whistle, and Wu Dongrong was nearly in despair.
If he had been wearing his own set of leather armor, with its armored skirt protecting his thighs, that last strike would not have wounded him, and he would not now be trapped in this desperate situation.
But he had no regrets. He only hoped Wu Shuangren could return safely tonight.
At that critical moment, a flash of saber light slashed in at an angle.
Wu Shuangren entered the fight!
Clang-
Wu Shuangren blocked Peng Tianlang's descending saber. The web between his thumb and forefinger split, his arm went numb, and the saber nearly flew from his hand.
The difference in strength was too great!
In truth, Wu Shuangren had also been curious: if he encountered an enemy like [Hegemon-King], someone so much stronger that a casual blow could crush him to death and no technique would be of any use, how would [Match for One Person] let him win?
Now Wu Shuangren knew the answer-
After taking that blow, his breathing abruptly quickened, his whole body burned, and a lava-like force within him seemed on the verge of erupting!
Following his body's instincts, Wu Shuangren stepped forward and slashed before Peng Tianlang could make a move.
People often said that a weapon was an extension of the limbs. As Wu Shuangren delivered that slash, he felt the Qi and blood in his body surge not only into his right arm like raging waves, but also "flow" into the long saber in his hand.