Marauders

Zhang Xuezhou never expected that he would be used as bait.

He was clearly caught in a vortex of conflict between experts from the Xiong State and local experts from the Great Han Dynasty.

The four soldiers were not mediocre; they were highly skilled in martial arts and adept at teamwork.

Among these people, coachman Zhang An was truly only good for driving the carriage; his abilities were far inferior to those of the soldiers.

Even though they came prepared, the difficulty of dealing with the experts from the Xiong State still exceeded everyone's expectations.

One soldier was cut down from his horse as soon as they made contact, while the soldier shooting from a distance was at a disadvantage in the exchange of fire. The two soldiers facing each other head-on were evenly matched with their opponent, despite their back-and-forth coordination.

It wasn't until he used his Yang Soul to fly into the air and shout wildly to disrupt the formation, drawing the archers' fire, and with Zhang An's charge, that the Xiong State expert skilled in curved swords was finally killed.

The opponent borrowed the Demon Power of the snake demon. In addition to having superhuman flexibility and being skilled in bizarre attacks, the opponent had several light purple pustules on its body and sprayed out countless venoms before dying.

Zhang An sprayed venom on his back, and then another soldier with a sword got venom into his eyes. He rolled on the ground clutching one eye. Another soldier who had returned to attack was further away and was not affected.

In a short span of time, one person died and two were wounded before the expert from the Xiong State was finally killed. This was a common casualty ratio when the Great Han Dynasty clashed with the Xiong State.

The Xiong State are fearless in the face of death, and they will drag others down with them before they die. They are also all aided by Demon Power. This domineering fighting style has caused many orthodox Great Han a great headache.

"Hmph, the sixth arrow!"

Zhang Xuezhou's spirit emitted a muffled sound in mid-air.

Taking advantage of Zhang An's rush in, he used his Yang Soul Transformation to emerge from the carriage and leap into the air, attracting little attention.

At this moment, he made a loud statement in mid-air, while his physical body was temporarily in a risk-free state.

"You are a highly accomplished person, why do you bully us lonely and helpless old people!"

From within the woods, a voice, aged and tinged with bitterness, rang out, followed by Zhang Xuezhou's cold snort as he looked up in mid-air.

He looked down and saw that the Xiong State expert who had killed the crowd wielding the curved sword had an old face, his body covered with various pustules and swellings, and his body was ulcerated to varying degrees.

The archery expert from the Xiong State was slightly younger, but still looked to be close to sixty years old. Although he was a cultivator, he looked much older than Zhang Xuezhou's parents.

The other person's arms were an extremely abnormal bluish-black color, and there was a protrusion on their forehead, which was difficult to conceal even with a straw hat and cloth covering them.

After continuously channeling his energy and spirit into firing six arrows, the expert from the Xiong State found it difficult to break through Zhang Xuezhou's body. He couldn't help but lower his voice and began to beg for mercy in broken Great Han.

"You Xiong State the Xiongnu Kingdom! In your old age, unable to control your Demon Power, you fled to our Great Han Dynasty, committing countless heinous crimes!" the soldier with the gun roared. "What do you take the Great Han Dynasty for?!"

He only has three arrows left!

From a hundred paces away, the soldiers who had been shooting arrows from the rear shouted.

"An elderly person skilled in Demon Power?"

In mid-air, Zhang Xuezhou felt as if he had seen this situation before.

He only came to his senses when he thought of the elderly people in Western Capital City.

Whether through genetic evolution or the use of Demon Power, problems clearly arose as they aged.

Whether one is imprisoned in a mansion in their twilight years or seeks to spend their remaining years in another country, these are choices made under different national conditions and social development.

"I grant you permission to shoot ten arrows. Draw your bow!"

Zhang Xuezhou spoke calmly.

This archery expert from the Xiong State posed the greatest threat, so much so that even he, sitting in the carriage, dared not use complex Technique Method.

Once the opponent's quiver is empty of arrows, their threat level drops significantly.

Although skilled archers also possess close-combat abilities, their threat level is negligible compared to their long-range shooting prowess.

Zhang Xuezhou once again tempted the other party to shoot an arrow, which made the old man from the Xiong State, who was hiding in the jungle, show a struggle.

"Since you promised me ten arrows, you should at least let me live until I've shot them all!"

He pondered for a few seconds before recklessly withdrawing his bow and arrows, turning to face the approaching soldiers wielding spears, which caused the spear-wielding soldiers to shout in alarm.

"Senior, this thug has attacked merchant caravans and official convoys twelve times in the past six months, causing nearly a hundred deaths and injuries. We beg you not to hold back and eliminate this villain to restore peace to this road!"

"It's none of your business what I do!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied irritably.

If he had that ability, he would have already run down and killed the other person.

Unless his Yang Soul incarnation is fully formed, Zhang Xuezhou can freely use the Law Power in his body. However, the current situation does not give him time to fully form his Yang Soul. Furthermore, Zhang Xuezhou does not want to reveal his transformed Yang Soul at all, so as not to cause any future trouble.

His yang energy was hazy and gray at this moment, making even his face appear blurry. In addition, he had to tilt his head up from high above and change his tone to conceal his identity.

Apart from Rong Tianding, who was on high alert in the carriage, no one knew that he was the one spouting nonsense in mid-air.

"You foolish people have joined forces with the Xiong State to cause chaos. If you ambush and kill the Xiong State now, you can still turn back. But continuing to follow these bandits is a path of no return!"

Seeing that it was difficult to persuade Zhang Xuezhou, the soldier with the gun began to persuade the many ragged bandits.

"If you cooperate with us to kill this fiend, you will not only receive the new title of 'Jie', but you will also gain land to cultivate and houses in Nanyang, plus one string of cash each to live on!"

The armed soldiers repeatedly tried to persuade him, which caused many bandits in the jungle to peek out, and some even approached the old man from the Xiong State with knives.

"You actually believed what the officers and soldiers said? You're all foolish!"

The old man from the Xiong State, who was hiding in the woods, saw the bandits approaching and some of them pointing arrows at him, which made him shout.

"They are military officers; they couldn't possibly handle these things for you. They're just lying to you!"

"Du Zhou of Nanyang is under the command of the Prefect of Nanyang. We assure you that we can fulfill this promise!"

As the old man from the Xiong State tried again to persuade the bandits, the soldier behind him, holding a strong bow, lifted his mask, revealing a broad face, and announced his identity.

"Give up on that idea. Today you'll pay for the sins you've committed!"

The soldier with the long spear shouted, and he used his spear to sweep away the vines. After clearing away several animal traps, he became even more cautious as he moved forward.

"Let's all charge in together!"

A hundred paces away, Du Zhou also shouted loudly.

These bandits are not very strong. Getting close to those skilled in close combat is just suicide, but getting close to those skilled in long-range shooting will bring them countless troubles.

Du Zhou looked up and glanced enviously at the figure in the air. Seeing that the other person did not look back, he had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

As he passed the carriage, Du Zhou whispered, "Lord Dongfang."

Seeing that his appeals received no response, Du Zhou couldn't help but feel disappointed.

As the crowd drew closer, the old man from the Xiong State pulled out a short knife from his waist.

He glanced at the surrounding jungle.

This was originally his ideal hiding place for ambushing officials and merchants, but now it has become the terrain that traps him.

If you can't fly or lack the ability to climb, it's difficult to run far in these overgrown, thorny jungle areas.

The animal traps on the ground, intended for defense, only added to the difficulty of escape.

This made his face show despair.

Even if that powerful cultivator passing by in the air hadn't intervened, he would have had a hard time breaking through the encirclement today.

His mind was filled with malice, and his expression grew increasingly ferocious as he looked at the approaching crowd.

But suddenly, he remembered something, and with a burst of speed, he began to run outside, heading straight for the escorting carriage.