Chapter 20: The Bandit Threat
Darkness fell once more.
Li Qingfeng simply caught a wild chicken, pushed aside the buried fire pit and rekindled the flame.
His spiritual power had recovered significantly, more than enough to deal with the beasts in the mountains.
While hunting, Li Qingfeng had even come across a pack of wolves, their green-glowing eyes were particularly chilling.
Although the wolves also smelled the blood on Li Qingfeng, they didn’t attack. Instead, under the low growl of the lead wolf, they retreated.
At the time, Li Qingfeng thought he had encountered some kind of spirit beast, so he also didn’t make a move and allowed the wolves to leave.
A noise outside the door surprised Li Qingfeng, how could there be people in a place like this?
Moments later, the sound of footsteps grew denser.
Armor clinked and clanked.
The small group approaching seemed to be well-equipped.
Li Qingfeng gripped the Soul Banner tightly, his expression grave.
He thought to himself, “Could it be that the county city has found my hiding place so quickly?”
With suspicion in his heart, Li Qingfeng didn’t act rashly.
Although his injuries were not light, he was a Qi Refining cultivator. Even at the first layer of Qi training, his physical body was already stronger than what martial artists called innate experts.
As long as the soldiers weren’t arrayed in battle formation, they wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“Big brother, I remember there’s a Mountain God Temple up ahead. We can rest there.”
“We’ve been running all day, the brothers are tired too. Let’s rest at the temple and head back to the mountain stronghold at dawn.”
Their eyes met.
Five men drew their blades and stared at Li Qingfeng.
The atmosphere immediately grew tense, like a drawn bowstring.
Li Qingfeng scanned them briefly, only the leader wore a cotton-padded armor; the others were dressed in ordinary short jackets. Even the weapons they held looked like antiques, used for who knows how many years.
This made Li Qingfeng breathe a sigh of relief. He had thought they were elite soldiers, but it turned out they were just common bandits.
“Beggar?” the tall man in front asked.
In these times of war and chaos, along with natural and man-made disasters, people who couldn’t feed themselves naturally turned to banditry.
Some villages had simply become bandit villages, farming in the busy season and turning into mountain lords in the off-season, collecting tolls and looting the dead.
So Li Qingfeng wasn’t surprised to encounter bandits. Judging by their appearance, they’d likely just experienced a bloody battle.
As for beggars, there were even more of them. In Eight Directions City, beggars could form their own little gangs.
“Big brother, there’s even a roast chicken here.”
The short bandit’s eyes lit up with delight and he reached out to grab the spit of roast chicken.
“We’ve been starving all the way here, after eating this chicken, we’ll charge back to Wild Wolf Stronghold,” the tall man in the half cotton armor agreed readily.
It was as if the roast chicken was already in their pocket.
In their eyes, Li Qingfeng, who looked like a beggar posed no threat whatsoever.
Clack.
A slender pole wrapped in unknown brocade blocked the short bandit’s hand.
The short man was momentarily stunned. He glanced at his companions, but they said nothing. Instead, they seemed to be watching him with mocking smiles.
Since when could a stinking beggar stop him?
Clearly, his companions were watching for entertainment, not thinking it serious.
The short bandit grew furious on the spot. He was already a refugee, if he couldn’t even handle a beggar, how could he survive in the stronghold in the future?
“Stinking beggar, you got tired of living?” The short bandit drew a waist knife of unknown age.
It had no scabbard, bound casually with tattered cloth.
Li Qingfeng glanced at them, just a ragtag mob, not worth his effort. “I’m in a foul mood. If you’re looking to die, better go find another place.”
“Looking to die?”
“Hahaha!”
The bandits burst into laughter.
As if they’d heard the funniest joke in the world.
“What nonsense is this beggar spouting? Is he making fun of us?”
“Perfect, didn’t get to kill enough at the stronghold. Now here comes someone offering himself up.”
“Fine, then I’ll grant your wish.”
The short bandit, laughing from rage, drew his knife and slashed down fiercely, aiming to chop off Li Qingfeng’s head.
To ordinary people, the move was fast. But in Li Qingfeng’s eyes, it was slow as a snail.
Spiritual power surged into the Soul Banner. Li Qingfeng shook it.
The white-faced evil ghost formed from Zhao Shixian leapt out of the banner and instantly pierced through the short bandit.
To the remaining four, it seemed like the short bandit collapsed mid-swing.
They burst into laughter again.
“Short Rat, can’t even hold your knife steady?”
Li Qingfeng stroked the Soul Banner and looked at the remaining bandits.
He no longer held back.
The Soul Banner waved and several evil ghosts leapt forth.
“Something’s not right,” the leader in the cotton armor muttered gravely.
Short Rat lay unmoving on the ground, while the beggar waved his strange flag like some spirit object.
His eyes showed no fear, only condescension.
The big man found the expression familiar, he had seen it before.
Then he suddenly recalled something terrifying.
As bandits, killing and arson had become routine for them.
Once, they had seized a bride from Feihu Village, ravaged her and massacred the entire village. The accumulated resentment summoned a fierce ghost.
Feihu Village suffered heavy casualties until an immortal master from the county city subdued the ghost.
They had watched from afar, seen the cultivator.
That gaze. Yes, the same as this man’s. No, this man’s gaze resembled the cultivator’s.
That cultivator stood above all, indifferent to mortals, as if he didn’t care whether they committed evil or not.
At the time, they thought their stronghold would be eradicated. But after eliminating the ghost, the cultivator just turned and left without killing them.
“Immortal Master, have mercy!”
The big man dropped to his knees with a thud.
The other three bandits were stunned, disbelief on their faces.
How had they, after fleeing a bloody battle and finding a random temple, run into an Immortal Master?
And why did this one look like a beggar?
“Big bro, you’re confused. He’s just a stinking beggar,” one bandit still refused to believe and rushed forward with his knife.
The fierce ghost beside Li Qingfeng grinned, revealing fangs and shot out, passing through the bandit’s body and ripping out his soul, then swiftly returning to the Soul Banner.
With two now lying dead before him, Li Qingfeng’s anger eased considerably.
“Immortal Master, please spare us. We only became bandits out of desperation.”
“The imperial taxes are too heavy, we couldn’t bear the burden.”
“We were just looking for something to eat. We never dared hurt anyone.”
“We swear to turn over a new leaf!”
The two bandits had been scared silly. They had never seen such strange methods.
Just a wave of the flag, and two fierce men lay dead.
Seeing the remaining three bandits all kneeling and kowtowing repeatedly, Li Qingfeng hesitated. Heaven values life, if these people truly meant to repent, sparing them wouldn’t be a bad thing.
A scholar after all was still a scholar, he could be too soft-hearted.
While Li Qingfeng was contemplating, a sudden change occurred, ninety percent of his stored spiritual power was instantly drained and the remaining ten percent was barely enough to suppress his injuries.
Without the support of spiritual power, the surrounding ghosts vanished and returned to the Soul Banner.
Li Qingfeng staggered, collapsed to the ground and leaned against the statue of the Mountain God.
The big man sneaked a look at Li Qingfeng’s state and suddenly realized this Immortal Master was injured, and badly.
He didn’t believe the Immortal Master had spared them out of mercy.
It must’ve been that his injuries were too severe to act.
“Immortal Master, what’s wrong?” the big man crawled a few steps closer.
Li Qingfeng’s eyes lit up. He had no idea what had just happened, why had ninety percent of his spiritual power been drained? Now with his injuries, the aura he’d built up crumbled instantly.
Li Qingfeng, imitating the grand tone of a storyteller at a teahouse, shouted sternly: “Stand down!”
The big man instead saw an opportunity, he crawled even closer while still kneeling. “Immortal Master, are you alright?”
The Mountain God Temple was a cramped space.
Just a few more steps brought him within reach of Li Qingfeng.
The malicious intent the big man had been suppressing exploded all at once. He suddenly leapt up, drew his blade and slashed down!
(Chapter End)