Chapter 8: Chapter 5: Horse Bandits Must Be Subdued at All Times
Translator: 549690339
Accompanied by the warm rice porridge sliding into their stomachs, the Horse Bandits also began to prepare for departure. They tossed their belongings onto the horses' backs, and then two of them approached the cage imprisoning the students, ready to lift it onto the cart together.
"Uh..."
One of the Horse Bandits, who happened to be facing the snow-haired girl, was not particularly interested in the beautiful girl in front of him; however, when he saw the steel bars in front of her, he noticed something amiss. Subconsciously, he reached out and touched the somewhat black substance on the steel.
"Softening agent, it softens bones and metal."
At that moment, a voice reached the Horse Bandit's ears. He nodded subconsciously, then his expression turned to one of alarm. Just as he was about to shout a warning, he found his right hand had gone limp and powerless, followed quickly by his whole body losing strength.
As he steadied himself to cry out an alert, a Plum Blossom Stab pierced through his back. Under his incredulous gaze, the snow-haired girl calmly withdrew the long spike from her hand and, with a flick, she cut the thick steel bars in front of her in half.
The sudden turn of events froze the other Horse Bandit in place, but he quickly regained his composure. Just as he drew the steel knife from his waist to strike at the snow-haired girl, an enormous force suddenly hoisted him into the air.
Only then did he realize that his waist and back had already been wrapped with strands of strange white threads, and above him, a...
A naked wild man?
The Horse Bandit was dumbfounded as he finally made out the barely discernible features of the wild man above his head, holding the white threads with both hands and positioning the Horse Bandit in the air in a stomach-churning pose. Then, with a strong pull, the Horse Bandit landed directly in the wild man's hand.
Without any hesitation, the Horse Bandit's clothes were swiftly removed.
Suddenly, finding himself turned into a naked wild man himself, the Horse Bandit's mind went blank. Just as he thought he was about to encounter some horrific twist of fate, the young man hung him disdainfully on a nearby tree and left without a second glance.
??????
So you hang upside down from a tree just to steal a set of clothes? Are you the Horse Bandit, or am I the Horse Bandit?
Meanwhile, the commotion stirred up by Zhou Li and the snow-haired girl had already caught the attention of the Bandit Leader, who was not far away, tending to the saddles. His expression turned steely as he drew his Simple Long Knife from his waist and, with a fierce shout, he sped towards the cage imprisoning the students.
The Horse Bandit's right hand, wielding the knife, was covered in sharp Sword Qi. His huge figure, like a raging bear, emitted a terrifying sense of oppression as he charged towards the iron cage not far off.
Watching the bear-like figure approaching, the students huddled together in the cage, panicked, trying to escape through the gap made by the snow-haired girl. However, in their panic, they ended up blocking the opening, unable to move an inch forward.
Despite facing the terrifying Bandit Leader, the snow-haired girl showed no sign of panic. She agilely propped herself up with her left hand and flipped onto the top of the cage. The Bandit Leader, showing no mercy, paused and swung his arm down heavily, sending a wave of Sword Qi crashing towards the girl's head.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The expected scene of flesh and blood flying did not materialize. Facing the unstoppable Sword Qi, the girl moved her hands like agile butterflies, deflecting the Sword Qi with three peculiarly shaped hidden weapons.
"Central Shichuan's Tang Sect!"
When Xu Sheng saw what had shattered his hidden weapon, his expression drastically changed, and the momentum of his previous unstoppable charge dissipated. He glared at the girl serenely standing on the cage, his neck veins bulging as he gritted his teeth and spoke:
"How dare you, a treacherous person, ruin my plans?!"
Wow, Tang Sect it is.
Zhou Li, perched in a tree, watched with interest the scene unfolding below. Upon hearing the four words "Central Shichuan's Tang Sect," he realized why the girl had so many poisons in her possession.
As a sect existing in the worldview of fantasy novels, Central Shichuan's Tang Sect was naturally adept at using poison and hidden weapons, but they also drew upon a broad range of skills, mastering everything from infiltration to lock-picking.
As a student who had once studied in-depth at the Imperial Academy Mansion, Zhou Li had known a student from Tang Sect, with whom he had a fairly good relationship. Zhou Li had even inquired whether their sect had the Ancient Divine Instrument Blue Silver Grass, and his acquaintance had genuinely asked their Sect about it.
But for some reason, that disciple from Tang Sect suddenly left Zongxue Manor one day, and no matter how much Zhou Li inquired, he could not find any news about him, which Zhou Li regretted for a long time.
"So many questions."
At that moment, the Tang Sect girl, facing Xu Sheng's words, frowned slightly and with a slight shake of her right hand, sixteen tiny, sharp Plum Blossom Stabs flew at Xu Sheng like fine rain aiming for his face.
Seeing that talking was futile, Xu Sheng forcefully clapped his hands together, and with a roar, his hands wielding the knife struck down powerfully, creating a surge of Sword Qi that engulfed the Plum Blossom Stabs in front of him. Just as he was about to proceed to the next step, he suddenly felt the world spinning, his vision darkening.
"The porridge was poisoned!"
With a thud, the tower-like body of Xu Sheng knelt on one knee. If not for the support of the long knife in his right hand, Xu Sheng would have already been lying on the ground.
Facing the girl on the cage and experiencing total enervation, Xu Sheng staked everything and projected his Qi throughout his body as a defense. Then, he bit the tip of his tongue and, with his lifeblood mixed with the Spiritual Energy from inside him, he started to expel it forth.
As a streetwise skill among those in the martial world, this last-ditch exertion of expelling lifeblood worked well against poisons like Reverse Walking Powder, which relied on disrupting one's Qi.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone