14: Kill bandits

Qiu Ling Slope!

The terrain here was rugged, with wild grass growing everywhere, making it ideal for Mountain Bandits to gather and build their camps.

On a muddy road about two zhang wide, more than a dozen men carrying sabers and spears rode their horses towards the mountain stronghold. Behind them, four horses dragged about twenty large and small bundles.

These were their spoils from this trip, looted from a village.

The leader, whose face was covered in flesh, spat and cursed gruffly, "That Young Miss surnamed Wang was quite feisty; the bite she gave me still throbs a bit."

Next to him, a man with a pockmarked face carried a rusty saber and lewdly grinned, "It's just that Big Brother doesn't know how to cherish women. That Young Miss was so delicate, and you just chopped her down with a single saber. Tsk... the brothers waited behind for nothing."

"Exactly, Big Brother! You were not benevolent this time. My pants were already off, and I ended up only having an old hag to use."

The surrounding crowd immediately started to jeer.

The man cursed, "Alright, all of you shut up! In a few days, I'll take you to the pleasure houses in the city. The women there are much better than these farmwives."

Everyone immediately cheered, and filthy language splashed onto the mountain road like sewage, making the wild flowers by the roadside seem to shrink back a few points.

They were a group of desperadoes who committed every conceivable evil, living each day by the sword, indulging in arson, murder, robbery, and all manner of wickedness.

The pockmarked man chuckled slyly, "Big Brother, pleasure houses are too expensive. We'll be at the stronghold soon. Why not reward the brothers with the woman we robbed the other day?"

The men behind him immediately grew excited: "Exactly, that woman has big hips and breasts, and she was wearing brocade and satin. She must be a landlord's wife."

"Tsk tsk, Big Brother! You wouldn't be thinking of hiding her for yourself, would you?"

The leader with the fleshy face cursed, "Idiots, those people were specifically requested by the Immortals of the Yin Yang Sect. How many heads do you have to dare to covet her?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately quieted down. Immortal techniques were not something that mere Mortals like them could provoke.

Especially the Yin Yang Sect, which was notorious for killing without batting an eye.

When these desperadoes saw people from the Yin Yang Sect, they could only cower like quails, not daring to even glance at them.

"Alright, we'll be at the stronghold soon. Our harvest this time is good. We'll slaughter a sheep in a bit, and we brothers can have a feast," the leader with the fleshy face consoled them.

"Big Brother, there's someone ahead!"

"Whoa~"

The leading bandit pulled on his reins, and his horse reared, stopping its advance.

Ahead, yellow sand blew and wild grass swayed. A Yellow-Skirts Girl stood alone in the middle of the road, gazing at everyone with icy eyes.

The pockmarked man's eyes lit up. He wiped the corner of his mouth and chuckled, "What a pretty girl! She's even more enticing than the courtesans in those pleasure houses."

The people behind him all wore lewd grins, their eyes filled with undisguised greed, as if they wanted to devour the woman blocking their way alive.

The leader with the fleshy face cursed, "Idiots, she's a weak woman. If she dares to block our path, she's clearly no ordinary person."

Everyone paused, then suddenly understood.

"Big Brother, what do we do now?"

The leader didn't reply, but instead shouted forward, "Who are you, and why are you blocking our way?"

The person blocking the road was none other than Mu Wanqing, who had left the Dao Seeking Sect. Her voice was cold as she said, "Are you the people from Feihu Stronghold on Qiu Ling Slope?"

"That's us! Who are you?"

Mu Wanqing's brows furrowed with frost, and her fingertips had quietly formed a hand seal: "That's right. Villains who burn, kill, and plunder, committing all sorts of evil deeds, every Disciple of my Dao Seeking Sect has the right to execute you."

"Dao Seeking Sect?" The leading bandit chewed on these three words, searching his mind for relevant information.

"This stinking bitch is really arrogant. I don't care what sect you're from, let me give you a taste of Grandpa's flavor first!" The pockmarked man roared, squeezed his horse's belly with his legs, and charged forward with his great saber.

This woman looked frail; he really didn't believe she had any real ability.

Mu Wanqing's fingers moved slightly.

In an instant, the surrounding air turned frigid. Countless tiny ice crystals burst from her fingertips, wrapping around the bandit's limbs like silver threads. The pockmarked man fell to the ground with a "thud," along with his horse.

He whimpered, unable to utter a single word, watching helplessly as a layer of white frost covered his wrists, and his joints made a "click" sound.

He died silently, eyes wide and face contorted in pain.

"An Immortal, an Immortal! This bitch is a goddamn Immortal." Seeing this, everyone was terrified and turned to flee, but silver threads pierced their hearts, and they fell straight to the ground.

The leader with the fleshy face cursed, "Damn it, this stinking bitch is asking for death!"

He stretched out his right hand, directly pulling one of his subordinates off his horse, lifting him over his head, and throwing him violently towards Mu Wanqing. Then, without turning his head, he spun his horse around and fled swiftly.

Mu Wanqing's expression was indifferent. Her hand seals changed, and an ice cone condensed from silver frost shot out, piercing through the flying person like a meteor.

Blood splattered, but not a drop touched her.

This was that god-rank Divine Ability, Heaven's Lamentation Condensing Yin Art!

The leader with the fleshy face used the delay created by his subordinate to continuously whip his horse's rump, wanting to escape from this place.

In an instant!

With a "boom," dust flew up in front of the leader as a person suddenly crashed down from the sky.

The person was slender and dark-skinned, yet he possessed the imposing aura of a single man holding off ten thousand.

Li Pingan didn't speak. He clenched his fist and suddenly punched out. He moved like an arrow, with such speed that it caught people off guard.

After receiving guidance from his Revered Master, he had skillfully mastered the power of the Heaven-Loathing Divine Body. Only then did he understand that the reason he couldn't see things clearly was because his speed was increasing, and his eyes couldn't keep up with his movements.

Before he could utter the word "slow," the leader with the fleshy face lowered his head, only to see that his chest had been pierced by a fist.

Li Pingan acted decisively, and after dispatching the leader, he turned and rushed towards the other fleeing bandits.

"Whoosh!"

"Splat."

In an instant, blood splattered on the muddy road, and screams echoed continuously.

Within a dozen breaths, none of the fleeing bandits were left alive. These desperadoes had committed every evil imaginable, and their deaths were well-deserved.

Steward Wang emerged from behind a crooked-necked tree, looking at the corpses scattered everywhere, still somewhat shaken!

The bandits, whom ordinary people would avoid at all costs, were all killed by a young man and a young woman.

This was the difference between Immortals and Mortals!

"Senior Sister, what do we do now?" Li Pingan asked, wiping his hands. Next time, he should bring a weapon.

Mu Wanqing frowned, "Let's go to their stronghold first. My Father and Mother are very likely imprisoned there. These people are utterly evil; not a single one can be spared."

Li Pingan hummed in agreement. He held the same view regarding these bandits who engaged in arson, murder, and robbery.

Steward Wang quickly stepped forward and said, "Young Miss, this way. Their Feihu Stronghold is just ahead!"

A moment later!

Everyone arrived in front of a wooden stronghold at the top of the mountain.

It was eerily quiet all around. The stronghold's main gate was wide open, yet there wasn't a single person in sight.