Frontier Hero: From Receiving a Convicted Woman to Becoming an Emperor for All Time

Black Tiger's twin axes cut through the wind, slashing down on his head.

Shen Chuxiao dodged to the side, the axe blade grazing his shoulder and striking the rock wall, sending shards of rock flying, a few pebbles landing on his shoulder armor. The onlookers cheered.

"Slay him!"

"Black Tiger, chop this scoundrel to pieces!"

Tie Niu was furious, but Shen Chuxiao kept glaring at him, preventing him from making a move.

Sun Ergou seemed to sense something: "You better bear with it. The captain knows what he's doing."

Seeing that his axe blow had missed, Black Tiger immediately followed up with a horizontal sweep of his right axe. The two axes, one horizontal and one vertical, completely blocked Shen Chuxiao's escape routes to the left and right.

Shen Chuxiao leaned back to avoid the axe blade, and before Black Tiger could finish his move, he pushed off with his feet and moved three feet to the side.

Black Tiger missed again.

He couldn't stand this insult, and wielded the axe with both hands, chopping down repeatedly.

But Shen Chuxiao never fought back, only dodging.

The faster Black Tiger's axe swung, the faster he dodged.

The footwork may not look fast, but it's always a notch faster than an axe blade.

The gang members nearby gradually quieted down.

"Black Tiger's axe... seems to be moving much slower?"

"Yes, and the other side hasn't even drawn their knife yet."

After chopping for a while, Black Tiger's forehead was covered in a fine sweat, while Shen Chuxiao's breathing was steady, without even a speck of sweat getting on his clothes.

"Are you even human or a mudfish? Don't hide if you dare!"

Shen Chuxiao stood still, staring coldly at him.

Black Tiger felt a surge of anger rising within him from that look.

His skill was such that even barbarians would be killed within three axe blows if they came at him. Yet, this army not only disregarded him, but dared to look at him with such contempt.

He took a deep breath and swung both axes at once again.

He thought he would surely defeat Shen Chuxiao this time, but unexpectedly, Shen Chuxiao advanced instead of retreating, lowering his body and crashing straight into Black Tiger's arms. The timing was perfect—it was the very moment Black Tiger swung his double axes, opening up his center. Black Tiger felt as if a bull had charged into his chest, his feet sliding three steps across the gravel before his back slammed heavily against the rock wall, snow falling in a flurry.

He hurriedly steadied himself and looked down to find that the axe in his left hand had vanished.

Shen Chuxiao stood five steps away, his fingertips hovering over the left-handed axe.

"You're nothing special!"

The crowd looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

"What just happened?"

"I didn't see it clearly, it just flashed by..."

"How did the axe end up in his hands?"

The scene happened so fast that no one present saw how Shen Chuxiao snatched the axe.

"He lost... Black Tiger actually lost?"

Upon hearing Shen Chuxiao's words, Black Tiger gritted his teeth, raised his axe with his right hand, and roared as he brought it down on Shen Chuxiao's head again.

"I'm going to chop you to pieces, you dog of the Great Jingbian army!"

This axe blow was delivered without reservation; all the hatred and strength in his body were concentrated on the axe blade.

Little did he know, this was exactly what Shen Chuxiao had been waiting for.

Then, Shen Chuxiao suddenly reached out with his right hand, precisely grabbing the Black Tiger's wrist joint, pressing his thumb firmly into the gap between the wrist bones, locking the tendons with his four fingers, and twisting it with the force of the opponent's forward momentum.

Black Tiger felt a numbness in his wrist, and all the strength in his right arm was instantly drained.

The axe flew out of his hand.

At the same time, Shen Chuxiao pressed his left hand on the shoulder, knee, and waist, and with a gentle press, Black Tiger was forced to kneel on one knee.

The sound of kneeling was not loud, but it was like a heavy hammer blow to everyone's heart.

The entire room fell silent.

The campfire crackled, and sparks flew at Black Tiger's feet, extinguishing it instantly.

Black Tiger stared at the axe on the ground, then suddenly felt a tightness in his back, as if the gazes around him were piercing him like needles.

He lost, without even seeing how he lost.

He's always clamoring to kill the border troops for revenge, but when he actually runs into a tough opponent, he can't even touch a scrap of their clothing. With that kind of skill, what revenge can he possibly take?

Black Tiger gave a bitter smile: "Kill me."

Shen Chuxiao looked at him.

For a fleeting moment, he felt that the person kneeling on the ground was not Black Tiger, but one of the refugees who had frozen to death in the ditch, and that he was just one of those crushed by this ruthless world.

"If I wanted to kill you, what I took just now wouldn't have been an axe, but your life."

Then, to everyone's astonishment, Shen Chuxiao reached out and pulled Black Tiger up.

"Your axe technique is solid, and your use of both axes is methodical. However, your lower body is too weak; with more practice, that can be corrected."

Black Tiger opened his mouth, but the words he was about to say lingered in his throat for a long time before he finally swallowed them back down.

He had been beaten and scolded his whole life, but no one had ever told him the words "good foundation". He stared blankly at Shen Chuxiao, the fierce light in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a trace of confusion.

"What exactly do you want?"

Shen Qiao, who had been observing the whole time, did not get involved.

He knew the outcome of this fight better than anyone else.

The reason we've come this far is because Black Tiger, a straightforward and impulsive man, can't be won over by words alone. He needs to experience things firsthand and get hurt before he realizes that there are always people more capable than him.

"You can't beat him."

Shen Qiao sneered, "I fought him when I came here, and I didn't gain the upper hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding gang members stirred.

Some people subconsciously glanced at Shen Qiao's expression to make sure he wasn't joking, but Shen Qiao's face showed no hint of a joke. Even Shen Qiao couldn't gain the upper hand?

When everyone looked at Shen Chuxiao again, their expressions had changed.

Black Tiger's face was full of anger: "Are you deliberately trying to make a fool of me?"

"You chose to do it yourself, so who's to blame?"

He wasn't gloating; Black Tiger had relied on this sheer grit his teeth to survive his entire life. If even that shattered, what would be left of him?

He composed himself, turned to Shen Chuxiao, and said in a deep voice, "Come with me, I'll take you to see our leader."

The moment those two words were uttered, the expressions of the surrounding gang members changed once again.

The tremor was now real and tangible.

The person who could get Shen Qiao to personally lead the way to see the leader must be someone whose identity is far more than just a border soldier.

The crowd immediately made way for them.

Shen Chuxiao and Shen Qiao walked one after the other along the narrow path carved into the rock wall. Every few steps along the path, there were pine resin torches stuck in the ground, their flickering light casting long and short shadows of the two figures. The rough chisel marks on the rock walls on both sides looked like they had been cleaved by a knife and axe, not the work of a craftsman, but rather like a hideout hastily carved out by bandits.

"Is your leader surnamed Wang?"

Shen Qiao paused in her steps.

Although he didn't answer, Shen Chuxiao had already guessed seven or eight parts of the answer.

After walking for a while, Shen Qiao suddenly said, "Black Tiger is actually a rough man, but he's not a bad person at all. He was the one who took a fatal blow for me back then."

As they spoke, the two arrived at a wooden door.

Shen Qiao reached out and pushed it away, and a scent of sandalwood wafted towards her.

Inside the door was a simple stone chamber carved into the rock wall. Candlelight flickered, and a memorial tablet sat solemnly on a wooden table in the center. In the candlelight, a line of writing was clearly visible:

First, examine the position of Prince Jingyuan.

Shen Chuxiao's face was solemn; all his guesses had come true at this moment.

Standing beside the memorial tablet, Shen Qiao's last trace of scrutiny vanished upon seeing his reaction.

"He is our gang leader."