Chapter 30: Unexpected

All the bandits froze in place.

One moment, he looked like a foppish Young Master, soft as butter; the next, he’d transformed into a suit-wearing thug who could beat a man to death with his bare hands. The stunning contrast was so jarring that some of them thought they were hallucinating.

The bald man in the lead was the first to react, his face turning grim as he forced the words through gritted teeth.

"I misjudged you. To think you’re a trained fighter...

Kill him!"

The other bandits snapped out of their daze, finally realizing this man had been playing them all along. Gritting their teeth, they charged forward to kill. Even the ones who had been shot and wounded struggled to their feet, sabers in hand.

These bandits all used large sabers, similar to the upper half of a Guan Gong Saber.

The blades were wide, with a strip of black silk hanging from the pommel.

Two bandits, one on the left and one on the right, viciously swung at Fu Juemin. Their large sabers cleaved through the air, creating a sharp whistling sound.

Fu Juemin took half a step back and suddenly spoke. "Those two million silver coins... You don’t want them anymore?"

Their movements faltered for a fraction of a second. Satisfied, Fu Juemin seized the opportunity to strike.

His arms shot out like two white pythons, snapping onto their necks.

’Once that mental barrier is broken, things you thought were difficult suddenly become simple.’

Coiling Dragon!

Fu Juemin’s fingers splayed wide. He gripped the necks of the two bandits, one with each hand, and applied a bit of pressure...

CRACK—

With the strength bonus from ten points in Attack, he easily snapped their necks as if they were dried hemp stalks.

He released his grip, and their bodies crumpled limply to the ground.

The bandit charging from behind them was completely stunned. It seemed he never imagined his companions would fall so quickly.

Fu Juemin took the initiative, stepping forward half a pace and lashing out with a kick.

Beneath the suit pants, his suddenly tensed calf shot out like a cannonball, viciously striking the bandit’s chest.

The man’s chest caved in instantly. Without a sound, he was thrown backward, skimming along the ground before sliding to his knees, utterly still.

Fu Juemin bent down to dust off his leather shoes. He glanced around. The remaining bandits were now staring at him as if they were seeing a ghost.

Though they still held sabers in their hands, their feet were unconsciously taking step after step backward.

Just as Fu Juemin was about to randomly select another unlucky victim, a saber—much wider and thicker than the others—appeared without warning, slashing down at his face.

Fu Juemin’s pupils contracted. His body reacted, dodging backward.

The wide-backed saber hit nothing but air, swinging low and kicking up a shower of grass and leaves.

Behind the saber was the bald man, his eyes now Chi-red. With every swing, his muscles rippled, making him look like a crazed Tiger baring its fangs and claws.

’Bone Forging?!’

Fu Juemin judged the bald man’s approximate level of strength from the speed and power of his slashes.

The disadvantage of being bare-handed against an armed opponent was now on full display. The bald man held a saber and had clearly studied a corresponding Saber Technique. As a result, even though Fu Juemin surpassed him in both strength and speed, he could only continuously dodge and retreat under the man’s onslaught, quickly finding himself at a disadvantage.

RIIIP—

All three frog buttons on his suit vest were sliced off, and a long, clean cut appeared on the silk white shirt underneath.

Fu Juemin came to a somewhat ragged stop. He looked down at his torn clothes. He wasn’t hurt this time, but he couldn’t guarantee the same for the next.

’Sparring in the training hall is completely different from a real life-or-death battle in the wild.’

Fu Juemin sighed inwardly. Seeing the bald man charge at him again with another menacing slash, he seemed to have lost all desire to dodge this time.

"Brat, I’ll take one of your arms first!"

Seeing Fu Juemin stand his ground, not dodging or evading, a vicious glint appeared in the bald man’s eyes. He let out a savage grin and swung his saber at Fu Juemin’s shoulder.

However, as his saber came straight down, Fu Juemin’s body, which had been motionless, suddenly twisted bizarrely, like a wet noodle.

He had dodged the blow by pressing close to the blade, appearing before the man like a phantom.

The bald man froze, not yet having processed the bizarre sight. He saw Fu Juemin, now right in front of him, raise a hand. And then, his Consciousness faded to black...

Fu Juemin’s right fist tapped the bald man’s throat and retracted, as light as a dragonfly touching the water’s surface.

He had used the Piercing Fist from Five Elements Tongbei. His skill with it was average, but with the bonus from ten points in Attack, it was more than enough to shatter the bald man’s entire cervical spine.

With a sharp CRACK, the bald man’s head drooped, and his body followed, collapsing to the ground.

Huuuh—

Fu Juemin exhaled. His body, which had been tensed from facing the bald man’s ferocious saber attacks, finally dared to relax.

’After activating [Soft Bone], the fight really did get a lot easier.’

With their leader down, only three bandits—the ones who had been shot earlier—were left alive.

Seeing the ground littered with the bodies of their comrades, the three turned and fled without a second thought.

Fu Juemin casually picked up the saber the bald man had dropped. He thought for a moment, then set off in pursuit...

「Five minutes later.」

Fu Juemin stood amid a field of corpses, meticulously wiping the bloodstains from his hands with a white silk handkerchief he carried.

When half the handkerchief was stained crimson, he casually tossed it to the ground.

Only now did he have a moment to process the feeling of having killed.

There was no special feeling. He didn’t feel sick or disgusted, nor was he trembling with fear. He just felt—

—that human life was so fragile. Like paper, it tears with a gentle pull, gone forever, impossible to piece back together...

He scanned the battlefield again, recounting the number of bandits. A glance at a burlap sack lying on the ground reminded Fu Juemin that there was still another living person here.

The woman the bandits had kidnapped was lying motionless on the ground, perhaps frightened into a stupor by the commotion.

Fu Juemin slowly approached, his gaze falling on a tear in the sack.

A section of a light, Jade-colored satin qipao had slipped out. The fabric was embroidered with a subtle pattern of sparse orchids.

Below the hem of the dress, a pair of calves were dazzlingly white, like the finest mutton-fat jade. Her shoes were long gone, and her two feet, smudged with a bit of mud, were curled up demurely.

’From the looks of her attire, she seems to be a well-bred lady from a good family.’

Fu Juemin bent down slightly, grabbed the existing tear in the sack, and ripped it open with a firm pull.

RIIIP—

The sack tore open, revealing a woman’s face.

She was about thirty years old, with delicate, beautiful features. Surprisingly, there was little panic in her expression.

Her calm eyes met his. With a subtle shift, she blinked twice at him.

"Mmph... mmph..."

Fu Juemin understood and immediately removed the cloth gag from her mouth.

"Cough... cough cough..."

The woman coughed a few times, then quickly looked toward the handcart, her words fast and clear. "Quick! There’s another one over there!"

Fu Juemin shot to his feet and followed her gaze. Underneath the handcart was another burlap sack, curled into a ball.

’They kidnapped two of them.’

He hurried over and deftly untied the knot.

But when he saw the face of the person inside the sack, Fu Juemin’s movements came to a sudden halt.

Just then, the sound of urgent, chaotic footsteps rang out from the edge of the woods.

A moment later, a handsome young man in a gray Zhongshan suit and gold-rimmed glasses was the first to run in, shouting anxiously.

"Leyi!"

Immediately after, a large group of Patrol Police armed with foreign rifles and wearing blue-and-black uniforms filed in.

Qian Fei and Ma Dakui were among them. As soon as they saw Fu Juemin, they immediately led a few men and ran toward him.

"Young Master."

Fu Juemin narrowed his eyes and slowly stood up.