13: Chapter 13 The Origins of the Robbery

After a bit of making an example of someone, the remaining masked bandits lost their nerve and dropped their weapons one after another.

Wang Wu and Li Shi immediately went over to collect their weapons, piling them up beside the carriage.

Those disarmed bandits...

"Hands behind your heads, squat down in a circle back-to-back," Meng Li commanded, seeing they were being cooperative.

The bandits had already lost their nerve, and now that their weapons were taken, they didn't dare resist and quickly complied.

With just one person's action, a whole group was suppressed; the gap between the upper-tier Jianghu people and the lower-tier ruffians was clear to see.

Meng Li sighed inwardly, then steadied himself and began to interrogate the bandits about their origins and the reason for the robbery.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yuyan and her mother took in the scene through the gap in the curtains.

Xiao Baiyan breathed a sigh of relief, while also being incredibly surprised.

She had originally thought Meng Li was just a young master from a wealthy family, never expecting him to possess such high-level Martial Arts.

This surprise was accompanied by a trace of worry. Most Jianghu people lived lives of constant fighting and traveling, never truly settling down. Furthermore, Jiang Yuyan's biological father was also a Jianghu person; if he and Meng Li were to cross paths now or in the future...

She was a bit unsure of how to handle it.

Beside her, Jiang Yuyan was completely unaware of her mother's thoughts, as her large, sparkling eyes were currently fixed only on Meng Li.

Heroes love beauties, and beauties likewise admire heroes.

The plot of a hero saving a beauty, followed by the beauty offering herself in marriage, is cliché and old-fashioned, but it works for a reason. Of course, the prerequisite is that the hero's appearance cannot be too disappointing; otherwise, the beauty would simply express her gratitude and promise to repay his kindness in the next life by serving him as a beast of burden.

Meng Li was quite handsome, so he naturally wouldn't fall into the latter category.

However, strictly speaking, his actions just now weren't exactly a hero saving a beauty; at most, they were self-defense and a counterattack.

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was that he easily defeated and suppressed those bandits, easing the heart of the previously worried Jiang Yuyan.

The seeds of her affection were once again stimulated.

Under this influence, Meng Li was a hero in her eyes.

To use a description from Meng Li's previous life, his performance just now had personified the hero from the storybooks in Jiang Yuyan's heart. Or rather, at this moment, the hero in Jiang Yuyan's heart finally had a face, and it was Meng Li's.

Meng Li, who was currently interrogating the bandits, was unaware of this.

Before long, the interrogation ended.

Meng Li shook his head, somewhat speechless.

This robbery was related to his display of wealth when he bought Jiang Yuyan, but there was also an element of bad luck.

These bandits had only recently drifted in from elsewhere. A few days ago, they sent someone to scout the previous Market Town and happened to see Meng Li buy Jiang Yuyan for thirty taels of silver—a price far exceeding the market rate. Later, they learned about him being extorted by Hu Zuo and decided he was a "fat sheep."

Thus, the highway robbery occurred.

Meng Li naturally understood the principle of not flaunting wealth, but meeting Jiang Yuyan, combined with his Golden Finger, was a major Opportunity.

If he missed this chance, he might never get another.

That was why he had temporarily ignored the potential danger.

To say he ignored it wasn't entirely accurate.

Because Meng Li had prepared many countermeasures: Flying Locust Stones, willow leaf daggers, and several types of poison.

This was also one of the reasons he had stayed in that Market Town for a few extra days.

With these means, even without the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, he was confident he could have resolved the situation just now, though it wouldn't have been quite so easy.

Now that the crisis was resolved, Meng Li turned and walked over to Zhang Shan to check his injuries.

"It's alright, just some superficial wounds."

"Apply some medicine and rest for a while, and you'll be fine."

Meng Li concluded based on the injuries, then stepped onto the carriage. Under the stunned gazes of Jiang Yuyan and her mother, he pulled out a small box from under the seat and opened it, revealing many bottles and jars separated by grids, along with specially made cotton swabs and gauze.

The bottles and jars were filled with medicine: alcohol for disinfection, fine healing salves, and poisons for self-defense.

Taking the appropriate healing medicine, gauze, and alcohol, Meng Li handed them to Li Shi: "Clean the wound first, then disinfect it, and finally apply the medicine and bandage it."

Li Shi nodded to show he understood and followed the instructions.

Meng Li then looked at the bandits and said coldly, "Do you want to live or die?"

As soon as he said this, the bandits were momentarily stunned.

Is he willing to let us go?

In an instant, someone tried to reply, "We want to live!"

Immediately after, others joined in: "That's right, Young Hero, we want to live!"

"Young Hero, spare us!"

...

Meng Li raised his hand for silence and then said, "He who kills will himself be killed. You were just trying to rob and kill me; by rights, I should kill you all. But you didn't succeed, and I generally dislike killing."

"Therefore, I've decided to spare you this once."

Hearing this, the bandits' eyes brightened with a glimmer of hope.

The next second, Meng Li's tone shifted abruptly: "However, while the death penalty is waived, punishment is unavoidable."

"If you want to live, you must kill the mastermind of this robbery and those directly involved. The logic is simple: without them planning this robbery, I wouldn't have encountered this mess, and you wouldn't have fallen into my hands."

"Therefore, this current situation was caused by them."

"They should pay the price for it."

"Don't you agree?"

When he asked the final question, Meng Li smiled warmly, as if he were truly just pointing out where the problem lay.

The bandits, however, felt a chill in their hearts.

Meng Li had indeed pointed out the problem, but he was also instigating them to kill each other.

Most importantly, some of them were actually tempted.

Because what Meng Li said made sense, and even more so because he held the universal logic of the Jianghu—fists, or rather, force!

Soon, someone among the bandits began to turn traitor.

And the target of his attack was the Towering man who had lost his Martial Arts and was in a weakened state.

That person pointed at the Towering man and said, "It's him! He's the Chief; he ordered this entire operation! So, he's the one who deserves to die most!"

At these words, the other bandits couldn't help but be stunned.

It wasn't that the man was wrong; on the contrary, he was right. As the leader, the Towering man was indeed the mastermind behind this robbery. However, the Towering man held great prestige among them because of his high martial strength and because he looked after his subordinates, not letting them die in vain.

Thus, none of them were willing to jump out and target the Towering man.

Unexpectedly...

In that brief moment of distraction, the turncoat who had spoken first already began to act.

Having lost his weapon, he picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at the Towering man.

But the Towering man had practiced Martial Arts, after all. Even though his cultivation was gone and he was weak, his muscle memory remained. He easily dodged the blow and seized the Opportunity to counterattack, throwing a fierce punch at the turncoat.

However, though the punch was fierce, it lacked its proper power due to his weakness and caused no real damage.

Seeing this, the turncoat was overjoyed. With a murderous glint in his eyes, he immediately rushed at the Towering man regardless of the consequences, and the two began to brawl.

The other bandits were rooted to the spot, stunned.

Meng Li couldn't help but shake his head at the sight: "It seems you don't want a way out."

With that, he flicked his wrist, and a willow leaf dagger shot out sharply...