Volume 1, Chapter 55: Bandits

The burly leader, seeing that the person before him was such a strikingly handsome young man, couldn't help letting out a couple of whistles and laughing heartily. "Releasing that dog of a man is nothing much, but... not only do the silver pieces stay..."

His eyes swept over Xue Nian's face as if appraising an object. "You are staying behind as well to be a servant to us grandfathers!"

"Kneel down and lick our boots!"

The aura of nobility about Xue Nian was hard to conceal, and they took the greatest pleasure in humiliating such people. Moreover, they were bound to extract much more gold and silver from him.

A wave of overlapping, jeering laughter immediately erupted all around.

Only Xue Nian's expression remained unchanged. "It seems the brave hero intends to break his word."

The burly man hoisted his broadsword onto his shoulder and snorted, his nose turned up to the sky. "Talk about integrity with bandits? Was your brain kicked by a donkey, kid?"

As his voice fell, over twenty bandits scattered, surrounding Xue Nian and his party in the center.

Two of them jumped down from their horses to lift the chests, while the burly man spurred his horse forward to grab Xue Nian by the shoulder.

Zhou Mancang was still being dragged behind his horse, his forehead striking heavily against a stone. His body shuddered in a near-spasmodic twitch, and blood splattered instantly!

Goudan let out a miserable scream, "Father!"

Wang Yan pulled him back with all his might.

At the same time, the burly man only saw a flash of red light before his eyes, and when he snapped back to his senses, Xue Nian was gone.

He was momentarily stunned.

Immediately afterward, he heard a long, agonizing shriek from his warhorse. The next moment, its front legs buckled, and with a dull thud, it dumped his bulky body onto the ground.

Blood gushed like a fountain.

The man's large head, with its eyes split to the corners in horror, traced an arc through mid-air and rolled onto the ground with a soft, tumbling sound.

Xue Nian stood nearby, holding his saber.

Blood droplets slid down the tip of the blade, merging into an alarming red line due to the sheer speed of his movement.

It all happened in the span of just a few breaths.

He had hamstrung the horse and taken a life.

No one had seen how he moved, nor had anyone even seen him draw his blade.

An eerie silence fell over the surroundings.

Bandits and Xue Nian's men alike were frozen in momentary stupefaction.

A short moment later, Xue Nian's personal guard was the first to snap out of it.

He hoisted the gravely injured Zhou Mancang onto his back and slowly retreated alongside Wang Yan.

At that exact moment, someone shouted at the top of their lungs—

"The chief is dead!"

"Kill him!"

"Avenge the chief!"

The bandits finally snapped out of their trance.

Yet they did not scatter in flight.

With reddened eyes, over twenty men raised their swords and sabers, charging forward like madmen.

Besieged on all sides.

Xue Nian's gaze darkened.

His curved blade spun as it flew out, severing the throats of three or four men simultaneously.

However, with a soft, tearing sound—

A burst of blood suddenly bloomed on Xue Nian's shoulder.

A small, black bolt had pierced into his shoulder.

A bandit who happened to be charging right at him was overjoyed at the sight. Fully convinced that Xue Nian was now as good as dead, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Kill him—!"

Before he could finish his sentence, he abruptly felt a chill at his neck.

The pain was heart-rending, and his right arm refused to rise.

Yet in the span of a split second, Xue Nian had shifted the saber to his left hand and cleanly severed the man's head with a single slash!

…………

These bandits actually possessed crossbows!

At this sight, the few personal guards watching from not far away turned deathly pale.

Shen Ran's pupils also constricted slightly.

Crossbows were much smaller and more compact than regular bows.

However, they possessed greater lethality and a longer range. In the Great Zhou, they were classified as contraband items, and due to their overly complex operation, they were not commonly used even by the military.

Yet these bandits not only had crossbows in their possession, but their craftsmanship was also far superior to those of the Great Zhou military.

How could these possibly be ordinary bandits!

No wonder they hadn't fled in panic even after their leader was killed!

Furthermore, the crossbows in the hands of these bandits were not just one, but a full three of them!

With these three crossbows in play, compounded by Xue Nian's injured right arm, the situation reversed in an instant.

No matter how agile Xue Nian's movements were or how great his strength, he could not sustain this for long.

Seeing that the young general was in mortal peril, the guards protecting Shen Ran could no longer restrain themselves and exchanged glances, preparing to charge out.

Unexpectedly, Shen Ran commanded, "Do not move. Crossbows are formidable, and you aren't as agile as Xue Nian. Rushing out will only make things worse!"

Xue Nian had repeatedly impressed upon them before to listen to "Seventh Master" under all circumstances.

The four guards looked at each other in dismay, all assuming Shen Ran was cowardly and afraid to die.

"We can't just stand here and watch!"

The other three hesitated, but one guard with a fiery temper immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "How did our young general treat you? He's in danger, and you're only looking out for yourself! I don't care, anyway I won't let the young general face this alone—"

As he spoke, he raised his foot to step forward.

With two crisp, sudden clicks, Shen Ran unceremoniously dislocated both of his wrists and shoved him forcefully to the ground!

None of them expected that the very person the young general had strictly ordered them to protect would turn on them.

The sudden turn of events left the other three guards dumbfounded.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shen Ran snatched the bow off the back of one of them.

Archery was no simple feat.

With so many people moving around ahead, and though the distance wasn't extremely far, it wasn't particularly close either, hitting the target was secondary under such conditions. A moment of carelessness could result in accidentally injuring their own men or exposing their own position. Once bow and crossbow engaged in a shooting exchange, the archer would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage; otherwise, why hadn't they tried releasing arrows earlier?

That guard grew anxious as well. "Our own people are over there, don't just shoot blindly—!"

"Whoosh—!"

The cold arrow was aimed straight at one of the bandits holding a crossbow.

Shen Ran narrowed his eyes slightly.

The next instant—

The sharp arrow tore through the air, sinking straight into the bandit's temple!

The corpse dropped heavily from its horse with a thud.

Then, before anyone could react, a second arrow arrived, striking the second crossbow-wielding bandit!

Still in the temple!

The last crossbow-wielding bandit turned deathly pale, but these consecutive arrows finally allowed him to discern the direction from which the stealthy shots were coming.

Without a moment's hesitation, he raised his arm—

"Splash—!"

The third arrow flashed like lightning, piercing right into his temple as well.