“What is that?” Wu Ying said with a frown. He slowed down as he looked about but saw no danger in his proximity.
Of course, the scream had originated from a distance ahead of him. Wu Ying considered shifting directions or just slowing down, but he shook his head. Those thoughts were not something a cultivator should have. Having resolved to help, Wu Ying sped up.
The first thing Wu Ying noticed was the crowd. Next was the merchant’s wagon that the crowd surrounded. Wu Ying quickly realized that the crowd was no ordinary crowd but a group of bandits, all of whom had swords and other weapons as they threatened the merchant. He frowned, seeing no women. But that high-pitched scream should have come from a female.
“What’s going on here?” Wu Ying said as he arrived. Eying the group, he exhaled and untied the knots around his bag as he readied himself. Best not to be encumbered if things went as he expected.
“This is none of your business,” one of the bandits said, turning around and sneering at Wu Ying. The balding bandit wielded a simple spear, which he leveled at Wu Ying. As Wu Ying looked at the group, he noticed that many of these bandits wielded hooked spears, nets, and daos. “Just wait there. We’re collecting our fee.”
“Your fee? It looks like you’re attempting to collect their lives,” Wu Ying said, eyeing the bruised and bloody merchant on the ground, a bandit straddling the prone body.
The employees stood pressed up against the wagon, fear in their eyes. A quick sweep of Wu Ying’s gaze told him that there were a half dozen bandits, plus the one speaking with him. Of those six, one held the horses still, leaving only the one beating the merchant and four others an immediate threat.
As he confronted the group, Wu Ying found his heartbeat speeding up and his palms growing sweaty. It took all his hard-won self-control to keep his breathing low and slow as the group moved to surround him. Faced with the bandits, Wu Ying realized he might have to actually kill another person. Was this how Fa Hui felt when they had clashed with the army? Somehow, the way Fa Hui had described the event to him, Wu Ying kind of doubted it. Perhaps he wasn’t…
“Are you listening to me?” the balding bandit snarled as he jabbed his spear toward Wu Ying’s face.
It was not an actual strike, just a threat, but the spearhead came so close to Wu Ying’s face, he reacted without thought. Wu Ying sidestepped, and the sword in his hand unsheathed in the first move of the Long family style.
“You dare!” the bandit leader who held the merchant in his hands snarled.
All around the bandit, his comrades recoiled in surprise as their friend staggered back, the spear falling to the ground as his arm separated from his body. A moment’s shock, before the formerly belligerent bandit screamed. Clutching his arm, the bandit fell backward as blood spurted from his arm, coating the area around him in scarlet droplets.
“Move,” Wu Ying whispered. Whether it was said to the bandits or himself, even he was not sure. But now that blood was drawn, this was no time to stop.
Another spear jabbed toward him and Wu Ying blocked it with his forearm, catching the blade as it slid above his shoulder before he pulled its wielder toward him. A quick kick and twist of his arm as he grabbed the spear sent the bandit stumbling into another, giving Wu Ying time to spin toward the last bandit. A quick clash of blades and a failed attempt at a wrist cut forced Wu Ying to fall backward as the three bandits recovered.
“Finish him, damn it!” the bandit leader growled as he kicked the merchant toward his servants and stood up. “And you people, move and I’ll kill you.”
Wu Ying stepped back lightly as the group continued to attempt to encircle him. He dropped his bag with a shrug, letting it land beside him as he moved backward constantly. As the bandit on his left moved around the discarded bag, breaking up the formation, Wu Ying acted.
A single quick step took him close while he spun. Clearing the vermin from the doorstep, followed by greeting the rising sun. Then the dragon stretches to back off as the bandit on his left collapsed on his newly injured leg while the one in the middle blocked Wu Ying’s retreating cut. Another quick forward step, a kick to the temple of the downed bandit before Wu Ying twisted, his blade blocking the attack while positioning itself to allow Wu Ying to gently extend his hand. The blade plunged into the attacking bandit’s neck, sliding in with such ease that Wu Ying almost believed he’d missed—until the sudden explosion of blood as his jian exited. Then, close, grapple and upset, kick and stab.
As quickly as it started, the fight was over. Wu Ying’s hand trembled slightly as blood dripped from his jian. Around his feet, the bodies of the badly trained bandits lay, slowly bleeding to death. After kicking aside a weapon a dying bandit scrabbled for, Wu Ying walked forward to where the bandit leader looked on in fright. The rest of his opponents were either injured enough that they were dying or in shock as they stared at Wu Ying’s retreating back. The bandit leader stared at his fallen men then Wu Ying, who no longer hid his cultivation. The pressure of his advanced cultivation made the bandit leader’s lips tremble.
“You’ll pay for this. When Boss Chao finds out, he’ll hunt you down!”
“Only if you survive,” Wu Ying said as he stalked forward. Internally, Wu Ying marveled at the dispassionate calm within him. Unlike his fight with Yin Xue, where he had been a bundle of nerves, or even in his struggle against the boar, Wu Ying found himself casually analyzing the bandit leader. He noted the way the bandit’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, the cold sweat and darting eyes, the way the bandit’s feet were angled away from him and the hostages. It all added up to…
“Go!” Wu Ying shouted.
Startled, the bandit leader’s eyes widened before he darted off, followed soon after by his remaining follower from the front of the wagon. Wu Ying smiled slightly in satisfaction. Good. He had no desire to kill if he did not have to. And with the leader being so much closer to the merchants, if he had chosen to take a hostage, Wu Ying would have been unable to do anything. Though as Wu Ying turned around to stare at the injured bandits who slowly bled out, he found his respect for the bandit leader reaching a new low. Abandoning his own people. Despicable.
“Benefactor!” The merchant and his servants quickly scrambled to bow to Wu Ying. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s fine. It was nothing,” Wu Ying said, waving his free hand casually. As he did so, Wu Ying realized how heavy his jian felt, the way blood dripped from the newly christened blade. Wu Ying casually waved the weapon, sending the majority of the blood sliding off, before he turned to his pack for a spare cloth. Best to clean it before it rusted.
“You’re hurt, benefactor!” a voice exclaimed, making Wu Ying pause.
He frowned, looking down and seeing a slowly growing spot of blood on his left side. As he stared at the spot, Wu Ying’s body finally allowed the full extent of his injuries to make themselves known. Pain flared in his side, the way a fire ant’s bite did. “Oh.”
It hurt, but not too badly. For a second, he debated what to do, but considering the wound did not seem to be bleeding quickly, Wu Ying decided to finish what he’d started. A few moments later, he had cut off a piece of cloth from one bandit’s clothing and cleaned his sword, then he returned the blade to its sheath.
“Please, benefactor, let us see to it. My servant has some small skill in healing. And we can carry you with us to the next stop!” the merchant said, wringing his hands as he eyed Wu Ying.
Wu Ying opened his mouth to reject the advances then reconsidered. Beyond gratitude, the merchant probably figured it was safer to have Wu Ying with him. And while Wu Ying could travel faster than the slow wagon—that was, if he was uninjured—right now, he needed to treat his wound and cultivate to speed up his recuperation. In this case, still cultivation was obviously superior. If he was going to cultivate, he might as well do so while traveling toward his destination.