Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 8 The Bandits Return (5k-word chapter, please vote with monthly tickets, recommendations, and follow along!)
Damn it!
Those damned bandits deserve our revenge!
Ren Shaoyang was filled with resentment: "No, the Ding'an sword technique is not yet mastered, and Hongxiu is powerless. If she encounters these bandits, her chances of survival are slim!"

In the midst of my turmoil, my arm slipped out of control and moved slightly.

There was a loud "click" sound from the tile.

The room fell silent.

Ren Shaoyang used his supernatural abilities to keep his eyes on the direction of the bandits while listening to the situation inside the house.

The sudden silence made him uneasy.

"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the window shattered, and Jia Ting burst out through the gust of wind, shouting, "Go!"

The sword light before him flashed like a startled snake emerging from its hole, aiming straight for Ren Shaoyang's neck.

Ren Shaoyang had never seen such a fast sword before.

Ultimately, he lacked experience. His opponents were nothing more than bandits and hunters, skilled in group fights, but when faced with a top-tier expert like Jia Ting, he was immediately at a loss.

In the blink of an eye, the sword tip arrived, the wind from the sword sending shivers down my spine and making more than ten acupoints on my upper body feel like they were being pricked by needles.

Ren Shaoyang was terrified, knowing that this sword strike was impossible to dodge. He hurriedly used all his strength to fall backward, avoiding the fatal blows to his head and neck.

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his arm. Jia Ting swung his long sword and stabbed him in the left arm.

Ren Shaoyang screamed, blood gushed out, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Hmph, so it's you, you little brat!" Jia Ting landed with his sword, looked him up and down, and sneered, "I'm curious, how did you survive the 'Heart-Shattering Palm'?"

Ren Shaoyang gritted his teeth and stood up. He saw blood gushing from his arm, but he laughed and said, "That sword of yours was really powerful."

Just then, a figure flew out of the window and landed in a whirlwind, wielding a long sword and rushing towards his head and neck.

Dressed in a plain robe, with phoenix eyes, wasn't that Cao Tian, ​​the fourth-ranking officer of the Eastern Depot?
Ren Shaoyang was furious: "Damn it, you dead eunuch!" The Great Vajra infused his arm with divine power, the bleeding from the wound stopped immediately, and he swung the iron rod with force.

when!
Cao Tian felt a sharp pain in his hand, and his longsword immediately bent. But when he heard Ren Shaoyang's foul language, he shouted, "You little dog, you're asking for death!"

With a flick of his wrist, he threw out more than ten darts, which whizzed through the rain like lightning.

Ren Shaoyang was startled to see more than ten darts appear out of thin air. However, he had inherited a long lineage and had been practicing diligently, so he could change his moves quickly in an emergency.

He immediately let out a soft shout, and sprang into the air. The iron rod hummed and danced into a ball of black light, as powerful as a great axe and halberd. The darts that passed by were as fragile as paper, and they shattered and flew away in an instant.

After deflecting the dart, Ren Shaoyang knew that the two eunuchs were highly skilled in martial arts. He did not want to get entangled with them and was about to use his "Monkey King Form" to escape.

Suddenly, Jia Ting shouted loudly, like an angry falcon soaring through the sky, and slashed down with his palm.

Before Ren Shaoyang could react, he channeled his divine power into his left palm to meet the attack.

With a snap, Ren Shaoyang seemed to take root in the ground and remained motionless.

Jia Ting felt an immense force strike him, causing him to lean back and fall to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Cao Tian was greatly alarmed and couldn't help but shout, "Big Boss?!" He quickly stepped forward and reached out to help him up.

Jia Ting felt that his arm was numb and half of his body was aching. He was both shocked and angry: "What kind of skill is this? How can it be so domineering?"

But no one answered. Ren Shaoyang had disappeared into the rain at some point, his figure barely visible.

Cao Tian helped Jia Ting up: "Boss, are you alright?"

Jia Ting circulated his qi for a moment, exhaled a breath of stale air, and said coldly, "Fortunately, that kid's skill wasn't pure, otherwise that palm strike could have crippled me!"

Cao Tian said angrily, "This is really strange. How did such a master come out of this godforsaken place?"

“That kid must have had some kind of extraordinary encounter,” Jia Ting said in a deep voice. “His internal strength is formidable, but his fighting style is a complete mess.”

Wait, a serendipitous encounter?
The two exchanged a glance, their minds pounding: "Could it be...?"

Jia Ting immediately shouted, "Cao Tian!"

Cao Tian clasped his hands in greeting: "Your subordinate is here!"

Jia Ting ordered, "Immediately mobilize the Eastern Depot guards, dig three feet into the ground to find that brat!"

"Yes!"
-
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!"

The rain was in full swing, the world was pitch black, and the faint shadows of thunder could be seen in the clouds, like dragons hanging in the sky.

In the valley, there stood a small house all alone.

Inside the newly renovated house, the food was hot and the candles were flickering, creating a very cozy atmosphere.

Hongxiu and Ding'an sat together by the window, one with both hands on her face and the other with one hand on her face.

Everyone is waiting for Ren Shaoyang to come back.

The little beggar's stomach was growling with hunger. Ding'an told her to go and eat something, but Hongxiu shook her head, saying she would eat when the cripple came back.

Ding An pursed his lips and stuffed a steamed bun into her mouth.

"Ugh, ugh!" Hongxiu, her mouth stuffed with food, quickly reached out to remove it, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, "You stinky broken hand, it's crumbling, you know that?"

As he spoke, he bent down, picked up the fallen crumbs, and threw them into his mouth.

Hongxiu was still angry and cursed a few more times, but in the end she softened and gave half of it to Ding'an as a reward for him because she saw how hard he had been practicing his sword these days.

The two chuckled and began to eat their dry rations together.

But after taking a few bites, Hongxiu was filled with thoughts. She couldn't eat the sweet steamed buns that she used to enjoy. She simply looked out the window at the torrential rain and fell silent.

Ding'an quickly finished his dry rations and laughed, "Shao Yang's martial arts are very powerful, you don't need to worry."

Hongxiu glared at him and said, "No matter how high your martial arts skills are, you can't escape accidents! Besides, his leg has just healed. What if he runs into bandits or hunters? That would be a real problem!"

She tugged at Ding An's sleeve and lowered her voice, saying, "Remember this! You were all rescued by me, Ren Hongxiu. Your lives aren't your own. Don't risk your lives, understand?"

As she spoke, she twisted Ding'an's arm hard, causing Ding'an to cry out in pain. He couldn't help but call her a little beggar, and Hongxiu was not to be outdone, calling him a stinky broken hand.

The mutual insults did alleviate some of the unease in their hearts.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves was heard.

Immediately following were the sounds of clashing weapons, shouts, and strange howls.

"Drive~!"

"Drive~!"

"Damn it, this house really was rebuilt?"

"What's so special about that? If I can burn it once, I can burn it a second time!"

Ding An's heart tightened, and he looked up to see dozens of fast horses carrying ragged and strangely shaped bandits emerging from the valley entrance in the rain, arriving in the blink of an eye.

These bandits were all eager to be the first, and each of them exerted their strength. After they rushed over, they lined up in a row.

Ding An's expression changed, and he immediately said to Hong Xiu, "Little beggar, quickly hide in the cellar!"

Hongxiu didn't mince words and nodded, "Be careful with your severed hand!" After saying that, she quickly ran to the cellar behind the house, jumped down, and secretly peeked through the thatched roof.

At the same time, several more riders suddenly appeared, led by the skull-faced man.

Staring intently at the renovated little house before him, the skull-faced man sneered after a long while, "I didn't expect you guys would actually dare to come back!"

Just then, lightning flashed incessantly, and thunder roared one after another. Suddenly, a dead tree in front of the house was struck by lightning and fell down with a crack.

Then a fire suddenly burst into flames.

The firelight illuminated the faces of the people, which were flushed, when they saw a figure flash through the room.

Ding An, dressed in a tattered black robe and holding a broken knife, calmly walked out the door.

"Shaoyang said that if we don't come back," Ding'an said calmly, with a cold laugh, "how could we possibly run into you again?"

"Shaoyang? Is that the cripple from last time?"

The skull-faced man clicked his tongue in amazement: "Last time he killed two of my brothers, and now he's got a cripple, and he's already clamoring for more." He glanced at the bandits behind him. "Are we now just sitting ducks? Why does everyone want to mess with us?"

Seeing this, the bandits behind him were enraged. They spurred their horses forward and shouted, "You cripple, I'll skin you alive!"

He was fast, but Ding An was even faster. He leaped forward, his clear black and white eyes fixed on the approaching bandits.

With a loud "whoosh," a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, its flashes a mixture of electric and blade-like light, bright white and bluish-green, disappearing in an instant.

Ding'an ran a few steps forward and then stopped there.

The old horse carried the bandit a few more steps before slowly coming to a stop.

There was a thud, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground.

When the bandits looked, they saw that the man on horseback had lost his head, leaving only a scar the size of a bowl!
"Pfft!" Suddenly, a surge of blood gushed from his chest, the hot blood shooting up several feet high, splashing onto their faces and bodies in the heavy rain.

The bandits fell silent, their hearts filled with fear, their faces turning deathly pale.

With a mere gesture, he slashed down a man, yet Ding An showed neither joy nor sorrow on his face, only staring intently at the skull face, his cold, gleaming eyes visible even in the rain.

Holding the broken sword, he pointed it and shouted, "You dog, today it's a fight to the death, don't you dare think you can escape!"

The skull-faced man was deathly pale, but seeing that the broken knife in his hand was only about a foot and a half long, more like a ruler, he suddenly made up his mind and turned around to shout, "That cripple only has one arm, surround him!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than six or seven men rushed out of the group, their curved blades like a forest, sweeping towards Ding'an like a dense rain.

Upon hearing the sharp blade pierce the air, Ding An hurriedly retreated, his broken sword flying around him to protect himself. In the blink of an eye, he was forced back into the arena.

The skull-faced man watched them clanging and fighting, then pointed at another group: "Go burn their house down." "Wait!"

Seeing Ding An's changed expression, the skull-faced man grinned and said, "I remember there was a child among them."

Ding An's expression changed drastically, and he shouted, "How dare you?"

The skull-faced man looked at Ding'an, who was still fighting fiercely, and laughed loudly: "Bring that child out for me!"

Ding An cursed angrily, "Fuck your mother!" He took a step forward, shouted "Hey!" and turned to swing his knife. With a whoosh, the blade flashed like a whirlwind.

Seeing him swing his sword with wide, sweeping movements and strange posture, the crowd was greatly surprised. Seeing that he was already close, they immediately shouted and swung their swords to meet him on horseback, intending to chop him into mincemeat by virtue of their numbers.

Dang Dang Dang Dang!
The sound of the impact was deafening. The bandits felt an immense force from their opponents, their chests tightened, their bodies swayed, and they all fell off their horses.

Ding An's wrist was nearly cracked from the force of the bandits' attack, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing that someone was coming from afar, he took a deep breath and, without thinking, spun around and slashed again.

With a series of swishing sounds and a clanging sound, the bandits on the ground felt as if the broken sword opposite them was a whirlwind or a sudden rainstorm, sweeping across all directions in a single swing, its force impossible to avoid.

In just one exchange, four or five people broke their swords, coughed up blood, and were cut down by Ding An.

Ding An revealed himself, but his black robe was tattered, revealing several knife wounds. His hands and feet were trembling, and his face was pale, indicating that he was already exhausted.

It's no wonder he couldn't fight for long. He had only mastered "Flying Sand and Stones" for a few days, and his internal strength was still shallow. Even if he was a natural-born expert with a knife, he had lost an arm after all. A weakness is a weakness, and there's no denying it.

Now, facing more than a dozen knights, Ding'an was still able to kill most of them. Such a feat is something to be proud of.

Unfortunately, that's not enough.

Seeing his companions suffering heavy casualties, the bandits nearby howled and charged forward, brandishing their knives.

Suddenly, the flashes of swords and the whistling of blades filled the air.

Inside the cellar, Hongxiu heard a cacophony of sounds outside, including shouts and curses, and Ding'an letting out a long howl as the fight raged fiercely.

She felt uneasy and couldn't help but think to herself, "Ding'an, if you can't beat them, you should run away." Then she thought, "Maybe it's better to wait for Shaoyang to come back."

But then she thought of all those bandits, and her heart sank.

"No, no, Shaoyang shouldn't come back. There are too many people. At most, they'll just burn the house down again."

Thinking of this, Hongxiu was both angry and heartbroken, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

It took me so long to finally have a home!

Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps, followed by someone shouting from above, "Quick, there's a cellar here!"

"Quickly lift it up, that little brat is probably right here!"

"Haha, now that we've caught the little brat, we're not afraid that cripple won't surrender!"

As they were speaking, the thatch on their heads was suddenly lifted, and then a downpour of rain the size of soybeans poured down.

Three menacing-looking heads, baring yellow teeth, peeked out and peered down.

What came straight at them was a mocking and cruel gaze.

Just like that undisguised malice, it made Hongxiu tremble with cold and her heart was chilled.

"Oh my, I didn't expect her to be a virgin!"

"Haha, I haven't eaten meat for days, I need to save some for myself!"

"Damn it, let's take her turn first, hahaha!"

Foul language fell with the raindrops.

Hongxiu's face turned slightly pale, her heart sank, and all she could hear was the sound of the rain pattering down and Ding'an's desperate cries and muffled groans of pain.

Hongxiu felt as if her heart was being torn apart; she knew she absolutely could not fall into the hands of those bandits.

At the very least, we can't hold An back!
She made up her mind and was about to smash her head against the earthen wall of the cellar.

At the critical moment, three loud bangs were heard from above, followed by a cracking sound and the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Such a swift and lightning-fast change left Hongxiu momentarily stunned.

The air in the cellar seemed to freeze for a moment.

After a long pause, Hongxiu swallowed hard, as if she had thought of something, and asked cautiously, "The cripple?"

The thatch was then covered back up, and the cellar immediately became dark again.

Immediately following was the sound of shoes splashing in water, and Ren Shaoyang's voice rang out: "You hide, I'll go help the broken hand first!"

At this moment, the rain gradually stopped.

Rainwater and blood pooled in the field, forming small puddles that appeared dim in the faint light of the fire and lightning.

The bandits slowly surrounded Ding'an, who had fallen to the ground.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, this cripple alone killed more than a dozen of his own bandits.

The ferocity of his swordsmanship and the ruthlessness of his methods left everyone speechless.

Fortunately, the leader noticed his weakness of having a short sword in time and ordered everyone to ride horses and attack him.

This slowly wore him down until he was exhausted, and then he was knocked to the ground with a blow!
The skull-faced man rode forward and suddenly laughed, "You cripple, now that you're in my hands, let's see how you die."

The surrounding bandits chuckled and laughed. They knew their leader's methods; this kid would probably be begging for death when the time came.

Ding An wiped the blood from his eyes, slowly sat up, and said, "Really? You're quite confident."

The skull-faced man grinned maliciously, "I love people who are stubborn." He paused, then added, "When it's time to shove your mouth open, I hope you'll still be this stubborn!"

Ding An's expression changed as he looked at the bandits' grinning faces, and his heart sank.

Damn it, this guy is a rabbit!

The skull-faced man chuckled, "What, not saying anything now? Or are you waiting for that cripple?"

Ding'an stared intently at him, but remained silent.

"Dumbfounded?" The skull-faced man's smile vanished, and he suddenly shouted, "Or are you scared?"

"Yeah, are you scared?"

"Weren't you so awesome just now?"

"I'll fuck you to death, cripple you!"

Just as the bandits were spewing vulgarities and laughing loudly.

Suddenly a voice came from afar: "Scared? Scared your mother!"

The sound was like thunder, shaking the mountains and valleys, leaving everyone stunned and their ears ringing.

Ding'an finally spoke, his face beaming with joy as he called out loudly, "Shaoyang!"

The skull-faced man suddenly felt an overwhelming killing intent emanating from him, and his heart trembled.

Suddenly, the dark clouds dispersed, revealing a golden full moon.

Under the moonlight, a man stood tall, leaning on a dark iron rod.

He had a sharp, angular face, high cheekbones, sword-like eyebrows that reached his temples, thin lips like knives, long arms and legs, and wore a tattered coat that fluttered in the wind.

Ren Shaoyang's sudden appearance startled everyone, who then became on guard.

The skull-faced man stared at the short-haired youth, feeling as if his mind had been shaken, and he was at a loss for words.

Ren Shaoyang stood tall and strode forward.

Wherever they went, the bandits were intimidated by their imposing presence, and were utterly speechless, as if parted by waves.

Covered in blood and utterly exhausted, Ding An sat slumped in a puddle, clutching a broken sword. His hands and feet trembled, and his face was covered in mud, making him look extremely disheveled.

At this moment, she stared at him as if she had lost her soul, and as she turned her neck, blood dripped from her chin.

Ren Shaoyang also saw the little beggar running from the cellar, but he seemed afraid of becoming a burden. He stopped after running a couple of steps, then started again, but his pace slowed down and he looked somewhat hesitant.

Upon seeing this, Ren Shaoyang did not open his arms to the little beggar as usual.

They did not help Ding'an up, who was sitting on the ground.

He didn't even utter a single malicious or sarcastic word to the bandits.

Because it is not necessary.

There's no need to talk to dead people.

The young man remained silent, but slowly raised the iron rod.

Crackle!

As lightning flashed, it reflected off the dark, straight shaft of the iron rod, turning into a faint blue light.

"kill!"

Ren Shaoyang roared and charged forward!

(End of this chapter)