บท 33: Little Red vs Blocking (part 1)
"Your father is in trouble."
Qiao Mei was terrified to hear that. She loved her parents very much and couldn't stand the thought of them suffering. She wouldn't think twice about running to try to help her father. But she didn't know what kind of difficulties he was in, so she couldn't drag Nero into her problems.
When she denied that Nero followed her, he looked away, and she understood that he would not insist. Qiao Mei did not know if she should be happy or not because she told him not to meddle in the matter, but maybe she wanted him not to leave her alone.
Anyway, she didn't have time for that kind of thinking now that her father needed help, so while Nero looked to the side, she took the boy's hand and ran out of the inn. The boy said that her father was in the square, which was very close, so they ran there.
"No! Dad..."
When Qiao Mei approached the square, she could see her father being beaten on the floor, and she felt a pain in her chest that she had never felt before. That brutal scene was too much for a good girl like her. Qiao Mei was a novice cultivator, but she had never fought hard except with the old teacher who helped young people with the way of cultivation.
Qiao Mei was a girl who was always protected by her father. She was not spoiled because since she was very young, she was already helping with housework, and when Qiao Mei turned sixteen, she started working. But she still didn't know the ugly side of the world. She never saw violence like the one that was happening to her father.
Having the first contact with that kind of brutality was a very strong impact on Qiao Mei. And the worst was that it was happening to her father that she loved so much. Qiao Mei's mind was a mess because she didn't know what to do to stop it.
As she ran towards the platform, she thought of several things. She didn't know what had happened, but she was sure that her father was innocent because he was the best person she knew, so there was no way he could have hurt anyone.
"Those men... Why are they doing that to my father?"
"They should stop... They must stop! If I could stop them..."
The distance between Qiao Mei and the center of the square was not large, but in those few seconds, a lot passed through her mind. She first wondered why it was happening and concluded that it was all the fault of those men. Then she started cursing them because she knew she didn't have the strength to stop them.
As she ran, her father continued to be beaten, and she became more desperate. When she was close to them, she couldn't contain her screaming heart.
"DAD!!!"
Qiao Mei shouted as loud as she could, wishing her pain would stop those men. She would never be prepared for what happened next. Nobody would be prepared...
Qiao Mei felt a wind pass by her side, and before her cry traveled across the square, the heads of the men who beat her father exploded in a bloody mess.
She who already felt a whirlwind of emotions now had new feelings in the mix. She felt fear, confusion, relief, and then security.
She, as everyone feared the unknown and the one who killed men so quickly, should be a monster. How could anyone be so fast? Anyone would feel a lot of confusion for not understanding movements so fast. How could she not be relieved that the men who caused her father so much pain died?
But all of those feelings were still weaker than despair until she looked at the face of the man in black and realized that he was someone dear to her. Someone that she didn't want to cause problems but also wanted beside her.
When she realized that he would not abandon her, everything was better. Qiao Mei felt that with Nero's help, she would fear nothing. Perhaps it was strange for anyone to trust someone they had known for less than a day, but it seemed so natural for her to believe that he was a mountain that would protect her from everything.
Qiao Mei ran towards Nero and her father.
"Dad!"
"Mei!"
Qiao Kun got up with the help of the stranger who had just saved him, and before he knew it, he was hugged by his crying daughter. Qiao Kun couldn't help hugging her tightly while crying too.
"Everything will be fine. They can't hurt you anymore."
Nero did not interfere with the father-daughter moment, but he faced Tao Jian and made his point clear. He would never act on impulse and always tried to think twice before following a plan of action. Nero did not have to ask Sarah about the strength of the group, as she also knew his way of thinking.
When he was still coming, Sarah said that most of the men were from the ninth and tenth layers of Qi Refinement Realm. Only one of them was much stronger than the others being in the third layer of Martial Warrior Realm, so he should be the leader.
Nero knew that this fight would not be easy. But Sarah said that if he used his speed well, there was a good chance of victory. Sarah's confidence was all Nero needed to face any challenge.
When he saw the poor man's suffering and Qiao Mei's despair at not being able to help him, Nero remembered his family and how he felt useless for not being able to do anything for them. He would not let people dear to him suffer the same terrible fate, so he had already decided that this group would die no matter what.
"I am Tao Jian, and I was sent here by the Duke himself! Who are you to kill my guards?!"
*Wooosh* *Creack*
"Too slow!"
Nero heard someone pull the string from a bow the moment he faced the one who was supposed to be the leader of the group. Nero could even hear the hard breathing of the person who was very nervous as he kept the bow taut.
When Nero saw the leader of the group nod slightly when he introduced himself, Nero knew it was a signal to the archer who did not think twice before releasing the bowstring. Nero heard the sound of the arrow passing through the bow until it was free-flying towards him.
Cultivators can specialize in various types of weapons. An archer was one of the most dangerous kinds of cultivators as they were far away, and with their superior senses, it was easy to kill the target from several different angles. There is also the question of the quality of the bow and arrow that could even be magic weapons made by great masters of formation.
While the arrow flew towards Nero, he concluded that it was better to block than to dodge because he could feel the arrow was not strong enough to cause much damage to his 'Blood Gauntlet' (Name that Nero thought was appropriate to call the gauntlet made of Qi Guardian).
The group of tax collectors was already used to working with Tao Jian, so everyone knew how to do things his way. When anyone went against his orders and challenged his authority, whoever first brought the person down would be rewarded.
All the guards realized what was going on when Nero killed his teammates and was prepared to fight. When Nero faced Tao Jian and showed hostility, all the guards wanted to run to beat Nero, but they did not forget how he killed two of them so easily, so nobody wanted to be the first to die.
But for an archer, proximity to danger was not a problem as he could attack without leaving his safe zone. So he prepared the arrow, and when Tao Jian nodded, he knew it was the signal, and if his arrow were successful, he would be rewarded generously.
Tao Jian would not forgive anyone who was against him even more when he was on duty for the Duke. When Nero killed his men, he wanted to run and hit him at the same time, but he did not live for so long, being impulsive.
He was a smart and cunning man. Tao Jian didn't feel an aura of the Martial Warrior Realm coming from the stranger, but the speed this man used was higher than he had ever seen even in the Duke who was stronger than he.
Tao Jian believed that this man had a movement technique and other secrets that made him very dangerous. Then he noticed the archer prepared and thought of talking to the stranger to get his attention while the guard wounded him with the arrow.
A surprise attack would be perfect for measuring the stranger's strength, but he never expected the man to take the arrow with his hand covered by a sinister gauntlet that came out of nowhere.
"You have an interesting gauntlet there, but will it be enough to defeat us all?"
"You will know soon."
*Woosh* *Clang*
Tao Jian was very interested in the stranger's gauntlet and can't help provoking him. He didn't think the man would attack all of them and was just trying to defend the old man and his daughter, but he can't even talk before the stranger attacks him with super speed.
Nero knew he was outnumbered and was weaker than the leader, so he would have to use his superior senses to end the fight quickly. He climbed onto the platform quickly while trying to grab Tao Jian's neck, but it was not so easy as he blocked his attack with a long sword.
The sound of metal hitting the gauntlet made the people in the square return from their confused thoughts and realized that a fight was going on, and it was not safe to stay there.
The common people began to run away from the square as the guards positioned themselves around Nero and Tao Jian. Qiao Mei took advantage of the fact that the guards were focused on Nero and took her father along with the people leaving the square.
After his blow was blocked, Nero continued to attack. When Tao Jian blocked again, a guard tried to launch an attack on Nero, but he dodged and tore that guard's neck. And so the bloody fight continued with many guards dying brutally from by the Blood Gauntlet.
"Monster! Who are you?!"
"The devil who came from hell to meet you!"
Tao Jian was unable to attack Nero as he continued to attack him with high speed. It was not such strong blows allowing him to block, but even when the guards attacked Nero, it was not possible to stop the gauntlet's charges. He could only call Nero a monster, but he made fun of him while continuing to kill his men.
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"He will always be a monster if we compare to less talented people."
"He will always be a devil for those who get in his way."
"You can only wish for a quick death now. I can't even say that I'm sorry for your men, Duke Ming..."
Xiong Zhelan watched the fight with Zhu Tai and a concerned Xun Lan. He had many thoughts in mind about Nero's fight and was enjoying the show as he felt nothing good about Duke Ming with whom he had disagreements in the past.
He was prepared to enter the fight and help Nero but it seemed that he had everything under control even though Tao Jian was stronger than him.
__________________________________
"Where are you going?"
"Nero is alone fighting all of them for us! Of course, I will help him."
After Qiao Mei took her father to the inn, she turned to go back to the square, but her father held her hand, still crying.
"It's very dangerous! You can't go back there. I will be forever grateful to him for saving us, but we have to get out of this village as soon as possible as no one can stop Tao Jian and his group."
Qiao Kun was a man who would always repay those who help him and would never abandon anyone in need. But his focus was still on his family in the first place, and today he understood that he would never stop doing everything to protect them.
He couldn't help but like Nero after he saved them, but there is no chance of letting his daughter go back to where that terrible man wanted to harm her.
"He's strong enough to kill those bastards, not mentioning that he has an elder from the Black Sword Sect in his group. So I'm going to support him, don't worry."
Qiao Mei was pleased to be able to count on Nero's help, and even though she trusted his strength and his group, she still wouldn't be calm knowing that he was risking his life while she was hiding.
Qiao Mei strengthened her heart and ran out of the inn towards the square to help her 'hero' who looked more like a demon, but she didn't care.
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