Black Mountain Bandits

"Creak." The largest black camel beast in the caravan stopped, and the dozen or so behind it stopped as well.

"Another hundred li and we'll reach the He Household's Mountain Forest Market. The Li Household's Black Horse Market lies beyond it. Once we reach Black Horse Market, we can head home in half a month at the latest. Everyone, rest for an hour first."

A trace of weariness showed on He Degong's handsome face, but he still tried to raise everyone's spirits. They had run into more trouble on this journey than usual.

The world really was getting worse by the day. Cultivators who blocked roads and robbed travelers were growing more numerous. Fortunately, he had hired Jiang Qing, and Wang Daoqiong's group had finally been willing to pull their weight.

Big brother was right. We should find a way to bring this young brother over. What was the point of scraping by with those two brothers from the Chongming Sect?

Even the finest prospects would be wasted there. A sect with three cultivators called itself a sect? Enough to make someone die laughing.

As soon as the caravan stopped, Wang Daoqiong and the cultivators close to him started a card game. Even those who weren't particularly close to him gathered around to watch.

Out in these desolate hills, they had to find some amusement for the hour. Were they supposed to sit in meditation and refine Qi instead? How dull would that be?

"Here, young brother Jiang, have a flower slice to freshen yourself up." He Degong walked over to Jiang Qing and took out a box of brown aromatic slices. They were top-quality brown betel flower slices, seven for twenty Spirit Stones, with an effect that sharpened concentration. He wouldn't have been willing to offer them to just anyone.

"Thank you, second brother He." Jiang Qing politely declined. Kang Dabao had taught him from childhood never to touch anything addictive.

He Degong put them away quite naturally. Had he known Jiang Qing didn't care for them, he would have brought out the box of green betel slices that cost forty Spirit Stones for three.

"You've really worked hard on this journey, young brother. When I see my eldest brother, I'll be sure to speak to him about raising your pay."

That was pure courtesy. They had encountered quite a few mountain bandits and roadside bullies this time, but none who could go toe-to-toe with the caravan.

After paying the customary tribute to the major powers at the various checkpoints, their journey had gone fairly smoothly. Jiang Qing had never even had occasion to kill.

For Second He, this brother's greatest value at present was still as a counterweight to the group of Rogue Cultivators led by Wang Daoqiong, whose guests had grown powerful enough to bully their hosts.

"Many thanks, second brother He." Jiang Qing nodded calmly, his face betraying neither joy nor sorrow.

This kid really doesn't talk much. He Degong chatted with Jiang Qing for quite a while longer, but felt no closer to him. Finding it dull, he made an excuse and left.

Once out of sight, he went to a wagon, put a flower slice in his mouth, and began clicking the abacus in his head.

All these years, the lion's share of the He Household's profits had gone to fund his eldest brother's cultivation. He had no complaint about that. They were blood brothers born of the same mother, after all. If his eldest brother truly reached Foundation Establishment, his own standing as his full brother would naturally rise with the tide.

But his eldest brother's Yuanhe and his own Yuanbing both had the aptitude of four Spirit Roots. Why could Yuanhe join the Stone Mountain Sect in Pu Prefecture while his Yuanbing had to stay at home?

His eldest brother was indeed doing his best to teach Bingwu, but how could that compare to the Stone Mountain Sect? It was a flourishing major sect, with ten true Foundation Establishment cultivators. He had heard that even its grand elder had hopes of reaching Core Formation.

As he was thinking this, he saw Wang Daoqiong, who had been enjoying the game, turn pale and jerk his head forward.

A tall, thin Daoist watching the game behind Wang Daoqiong suddenly had a great spray of blood blossom across the abdomen of his Daoist robe, and his face contorted in agony.

Ah, it wasn't just the tall, thin Daoist. Screams rang out from two other spots in the caravan.

"Enemy attack!" He Degong summoned a silver armored shield to protect himself and shouted at the top of his voice.

They hardly needed his warning. All of them lived on the edge of a blade. Like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, the caravan members scattered in every direction, each using their own methods and summoning all manner of defensive Law Artifacts and talismans to protect themselves!

"Forget the wagons for now, everyone take cover! Wang Shan, Ma Fu, why didn't your flying spirit sparrows send word? Where's He Zhong? Is he dead?!" He Degong shouted curses at the men responsible for keeping watch.

"Damn it, what's there to ask? All three of them are gone. They're either dead or they ran! What's the difference? Everyone watch yourselves, damn it. These people are using black mystic needles. Even if a hit doesn't kill you, it'll take half your life!" Wang Daoqiong cursed as he called out the warning from behind a wagon. He had just escaped with his life, and his face looked dreadful.

How could He Zhong have run? He Degong dismissed the thought. He Zhong was a household-born servant whose family had served the He Household for nine generations. Without that loyalty, why would the He Household have taught him an Immortal Method?

"Kill!"

As He Degong was thinking, a large group of cultivators came charging in.

Twenty people, that many! Even if we win, nearly all of us will be dead! He Degong thought. "Friends, who do you represent? We're a caravan of the He Household. Whatever the matter, we can talk it over!"

"I'm with the Black Mountain Bandits, and we came for your He Household! I can't take He Dezong's life, but yours aren't nearly so hard to take!" A burly, black-faced man among the cultivators spoke through clenched teeth and charged straight at He Degong, gripping a heavy, deep-blue saber in both hands.

The Black Mountain Bandits? He Degong had no time to think. The burly man's cultivation was formidable, around the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. He couldn't hold out for long.

He Degong opened with two First-Tier Superior-Grade fire dragon talismans. The burly man cut them apart with one stroke, then struck He Degong's silver armored shield with another. The force transmitted through the shield nearly knocked He Degong over, and his face darkened.

"A superior-grade Law Artifact!"

Two cultivators close to He Degong came to protect him. One of them summoned a wooden-plaque-shaped defensive Law Artifact, but it was only low-grade. With one sweeping slash, the burly man actually smashed the plaque to pieces. The cultivator turned deathly pale and hurriedly scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding being cut in half by the burly man's follow-up slash.

How did big brother provoke such a ruthless man? He Degong groaned inwardly, scattering handfuls of talismans as he struggled to hold out with his two subordinates.

"I'm not fighting anymore! I surrender! I surrender!"

A pale young scholar in the caravan watched the spiritual light of his ruyi-shaped Law Artifact dim sharply under his opponent's attacks and groaned inwardly without cease.

He had only come to earn a few Spirit Stones. Why should he lose his life here? At worst, he could join the Black Mountain Bandits. Wasn't selling his services to one side the same as selling them to another?

"Surrender my ass!" The Black Mountain Bandit opposing him showed no mercy.

Taking advantage of the scholar's complete loss of fighting spirit, he slipped past the ruyi and summoned a pitch-black Dark Light Spike. It easily pierced the several Golden Shield Talismans protecting the scholar, leaving a fist-sized hole in his throat.

The Black Mountain Bandit moved briskly. Without even picking up the scholar's Storage Bag, he went looking for his next opponent.

"Where did the He Household's eldest make enemies? He's getting us killed! They're out for our lives! Put your little schemes away, all of you. Nothing matters more than your life!" Wang Daoqiong was forming a defensive array with several cultivators close to him. After escorting caravans for so many years, what he feared most was people who wanted lives.

Those after money wanted the employer's money, and he didn't care about that. But his life was his own!

When did the Black Mountain Bandits appear? How do they have so many skilled fighters? They're looking to establish themselves by trampling on the He Household's reputation!

His cultivation was fairly high, after all, and the talismans and Law Artifacts in the hands of the caravan guards at his side were considerably better than their opponents'. Though facing twice their number, they could hold their own for the moment. Wang Daoqiong even seized an opening to wound a Black Mountain Bandit in both legs with his sword.

"One at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, two at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, one at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and all the rest below the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer."

Jiang Qing controlled the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword as he traded moves with a green-faced old man at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, beginning to calculate. The bandits were not actually much stronger than the caravan.

The caravan had merely lost the initiative and let the Black Mountain Bandits seize the momentum. They could fight this!

He and Wang Daoqiong were both at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, He Degong and his two trusted men were at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer, and the remaining eleven or twelve were all at the Early Qi Refining Stage. They could do more than fight-wasn't victory assured?

Jiang Qing drove his opponent back with a sword strike and glanced at the bandit chief, who had pushed He Degong to the brink. A worthy opponent!

With that thought, Jiang Qing lost interest in toying with the green-faced old man before him. He formed a sword seal, and the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword spun halfway around in the air, sending out three streaks of azure light.

The green-faced old man controlled a black stone stele that blocked all three, but three deep gashes appeared on its surface. Frightened, he used a movement technique and retreated several zhang.

Nothing more than ordinary tricks! Seeing this, Jiang Qing pressed his advantage. His sword seal changed, and the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword roared as it shot straight forward, bearing a wave of blazing Yang Qi.

The green-faced old man's expression changed repeatedly. Realizing he could not dodge, he finally gritted his teeth and sent the black stone stele forward to meet the attack again, while drawing a jade axe and chopping straight at Jiang Qing's head.

"Bang!" The black stone stele could not withstand the blow at all and was sent flying far away by the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword. Jiang Qing changed the direction of his sword strike, and the blazing Yang Qi on its edge grew even stronger. It knocked the jade axe aside, then took the green-faced old man's head with ease, like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood.

"Third Chief!" Every Black Mountain Bandit who saw it flew into a rage.

After years under Kang Dabao's tutelage, Jiang Qing had always been frugal. He had just collected the green-faced old man's Law Artifacts and Storage Bag when a leader at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining came charging over with seven or eight lackeys.

The pressure on Wang Daoqiong's group eased at once, but the enemy's other leader at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining was no less capable than Wang Daoqiong. The caravan had also suffered many casualties, so they were still being forced back, and their situation had not improved!

"Come on, then!" Jiang Qing raised his sword. The swift-travel restriction on his White Cloud Robe flashed, and he swept past the horse-faced cultivator at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining who led the group, charging into their ranks. A trace of viciousness flashed across the face of the long-bearded cultivator who met him head-on. There was nowhere to run now; all he could do was fight for his life! What was there to fear?

"Pfft." The long-bearded cultivator summoned a white jade plaque, which took one strike from Jiang Qing's sword. Three cracks appeared on its surface.

He had no time to lament the damage. He recalled the white jade plaque and flung out a handful of talismans, intending to slow his opponent while he retreated to his leader's side. He had just moved to leave when he saw a streak of azure light pierce the talismans, its sharp force bearing down on him.

How is it so fast?! He didn't even have time to summon the white jade plaque. He could only stare wide-eyed as he awaited death!

"Deacon Ge!" The bandits watched as their opponent killed another of their own while surrounded on all sides by them!

Jiang Qing had no time to collect the Storage Bag now. He first dodged a flaming palm strike from the horse-faced cultivator, then gripped his sword, turned sideways, and lightly touched its point to the brow of a cultivator at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer.

Another dead!

Three killed in a row!

The bandits surrounding Jiang Qing began to feel uneasy, and the horse-faced cultivator's expression grew even uglier.

"What are you standing there for? If he doesn't die, we do." The horse-faced cultivator's cold shout served as a reminder to the bandits.

They swarmed forward again, surrounding Jiang Qing so tightly that not even water could have trickled through, temporarily suppressing his momentum.

But how long could these people possibly stop him? Jiang Qing turned ruthless. With three sword strikes, three more cultivators at the Early Qi Refining Stage fell beneath his blade! Half the men brought to surround him were already dead!

The horse-faced cultivator grew more anxious. His own methods were actually formidable. He had cultivated the Desolate-grade mid-rank Gathering Fire Palm to minor mastery, and its power was extraordinary.

But Jiang Qing's movement technique was nimble and light, and with the added boost of the White Cloud Robe, the horse-faced cultivator couldn't hit him at all. Forget hitting him—he couldn't even stop him!

He had no suitable defensive Law Artifact in hand. If that flying sword got close, he would be finished in just a few blows. He had to think of another way.

"Damn it!" The horse-faced cultivator gritted his teeth, took out a sheet of fine yellow paper, and fixed it in midair. He then spat a mouthful of dark blood onto it, formed a sword with his fingers, dipped them in the blood, and drew a profound rune on the paper.

After doing this, his vision suddenly went black, and his presence weakened considerably. Clearly, it had cost him a great deal.

The fine yellow paper fluttered in the wind. The rune on it flashed with a burst of mysterious light, which then projected the rune into the air above the paper.

The mysterious light gathered chaotically amid the rune into an egg-sized black curtain of light. Before long, a streak of dark light shot out of the curtain and took shape on the ground, revealing a sinister creature steeped in death Qi.

The creature let out a monstrous roar and spat several spikes from its mouth, shooting them at vital points all over Jiang Qing's body.

I've been updating a little less lately while back in my hometown. Thank you all for your support.