The Thief Prince

"Damn it, what are those bandits from Dangshan doing here?"

The bald man took a machete from his waist and pulled a whistle stick from the cart frame.

Inserting a whistle stick into the slot at the bottom of the machete transforms it into a long weapon, the broadsword.

Holding the broadsword in his hand brought him no sense of security; a chill ran down his spine.

"Don't make a move yet, there are at least dozens of people on the other side." Scarface pressed down on the broadsword in the bald man's hand.

As the figure drew closer, the bald man wiped the sweat from his temples with his elbow.

Even bandits have different levels of skill.

Some bandits were farmers by profession, and they robbed as a side job during the off-season. Those were the lowest level of thieves.

Blocking the main road like this, with dozens of people armed with knives and clubs intercepting a carriage in broad daylight, they are definitely ruthless bandits!

These ruthless bandits will show absolutely no mercy to human traffickers like them.

Thinking of this, the bald man trembled uncontrollably.

In contrast, Scarface remained much calmer:

"Let's investigate first. We're not far from Changfeng Temple. Maybe these bandits know Master Puhui and will give us face and let us go."

As they were talking, the sound of a clapper was heard, and seventy or eighty henchmen, dragging their guns and sticks, rushed to both sides of the road and lined up.

The leading burly man wore a rolled-up iron helmet, animal skin armor, and held a dagger horizontally in his hand.

He was eight feet five inches tall, with a waist ten spans wide, a broad back and a thick waist, as solid as an iron tower.

His face was marked with a blue birthmark, and the left half of his face was mottled with blue and purple spots, making him look like a judge in the underworld.

Beside the burly man was a thin man, wearing a blue cloth turban, a dark brown narrow-sleeved shirt, and eagle-beak boots.

His face was as white as gold paper, his cheeks were thin, and his nose was high and straight.

The strangest thing was his eyes, which were only narrowed into two thin slits, as if he was still half asleep.

He had a birch bark bow with an iron frame hanging diagonally on his back, wolf-tooth arrows inserted in the left side of his waist, and a quiver of quivering arrows hanging in the right side. He walked with a light and airy gait, as if he were walking on clouds.

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but these two powerful leaders looked so strange that they seemed like troublemakers.

The two were already panicked, and now they were even more terrified.

The henchmen swarmed forward, and Scarface quickly bowed in greeting:

"Heroes, please don't make a move. My brother and I are on our way to deliver goods and need to pass through your esteemed place. If you can let us through, we will thank you profusely upon our return."

The purple-faced man sneered, "I'll let you go, but there's one who won't. You'll have to ask him."

The bald man quickly flattered, "Whom should I ask, sir?"

"Ask me about this knife!"

The bald man was shocked and was pulled to his side by the scarred man: "May I ask your name, brother?"

A henchman nearby replied, "We are heroes from Black Cloud Stronghold in Dangshan. The one who asked you the question is our second-in-command, 'Purple-Faced Yama' Tang Meng. Do you hear me?"

Such a scene is something you have to admit you've heard of, even if you haven't.

Scarface immediately cupped his hands in greeting: "So it's Brother Tang Meng in person, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, the thin man beside him interrupted, "Everyone in the car, get off!"

Li Zheng, who was spying inside the car, showed a slight change in expression.

He was certain he hadn't made a sound, yet it had still been noticed; those squinty eyes were incredibly sharp.

"Don't be nervous, protect your sister, just stay with me."

Li Zheng gave Yan Yun a few words of advice and then got out of the car first.

The eyes of dozens of henchmen from all directions instantly converged on this.

Yan Yun pulled the girl out of the car, and Li Zheng shielded the two of them behind him, his body swaying slightly, and a look of fear on his face.

Upon seeing the three terrified children, the bandits all turned to look at the two men with scarred faces, their eyes filled with disgust.

"Well, so you're just two kidnappers!" Tang Meng raised his Wind-Splashing Blade. "My blade doesn't recognize filthy thieves like you!"

Seeing the broadsword about to fall on his head, Scarface hurriedly begged for mercy:

"Hero, spare our lives! We brothers are delivering goods for Master Puhui."

The Phoenix Blade hovered in mid-air. Tang Meng frowned and asked, "Master Puhui? Puhui from Changfeng Temple?"

Seeing that things were looking promising, Scarface nodded repeatedly: "I dare not deceive you, sir, it is indeed Changfeng Temple."

Do you have any proof?

Scarface quickly took out a silver ingot from his clothes: "This is the deposit money that the master gave to us brothers."

Tang Meng took the silver ingot and handed it to the thin man beside him.

After examining it, the latter whispered, "It is indeed an official ingot, of very good quality. Within a radius of dozens of miles, apart from officials, only Changfeng Temple can produce one."

Tang Meng nodded and smiled at the scarred man: "Your money is not bad."

The scarred man said with a fawning smile, "If you like it, sir, you may take it."

Tang Meng smiled but remained silent.

"And this carriage and horse, we leave them to you heroes as toll for my brother and me."

"I only ask that you heroes lend me a way to complete this business, and I will repay you handsomely in the future."

Tang Meng nodded in satisfaction.

Although he despised kidnappers, he preferred money.

With these silver ingots and carriages already in hand, there's no need to offend Changfeng Temple for the sake of these two thieves.

Alright, alright, let them pass. As for the three children...

That's just how the world is; they're just unlucky.

Just as he was about to give the two a chance to cross, Li Zheng, who had been silent all along, made his move.

He bent down to take a running start, and suddenly darted off in a few steps.

Instead of running away, he leaped up like a leopard and slammed into Scarface's lower back.

Scarface was caught off guard, only to feel a sudden gust of wind behind him and a tremendous force coming from his lower back.

He stumbled and his body flew uncontrollably toward Tang Meng in front of him.

This scene was too sudden, and given Li Zheng's extremely fast speed, Tang Meng didn't have time to react.

He instinctively gripped the Phoenix Blade in his hand and swung it upwards with a 'whoosh'!

Scarface had a gruesome wound that ran from his left abdomen to his left shoulder, deep enough to expose bone above, and the skin and flesh of his abdominal cavity turned inside out below.

Everyone clearly heard a "splashing" sound, and when they looked over, they saw white intestines spilling out onto the ground.

"Well!"

Scarface stared wide-eyed as he slowly collapsed into a pool of blood, looking at Li Zheng in disbelief.

Li Zheng was also knocked to the ground by the recoil, panting heavily as he stared at him.

Seeing that Scarface was doomed, Tang Meng was so shocked that he cursed, "You son of a bitch, what are you doing?!"

Despite committing such a daring act, Li Zheng remained calm, even more so than before.

Ignoring Tang Meng's shouts and curses, he turned to the bald man who was stunned with fear.

He shouted, "Stop running, you bald thief!"

The bald man hadn't intended to think that way, but just as he was feeling terrified...

Provoked by Li Zheng's words, he looked over in confusion.

Seeing that Li Zheng had already gotten up and was rushing forward, the bandits all looked at him, and they were immediately terrified.

He turned around abruptly and was about to run towards the roadside.

How could Li Zheng let him off the hook? By the time the bandits realized what was happening, it would be difficult to find such a good opportunity again.

Damn it! I survived a near-death experience to transmigrate here, not to sell my ass as a page!

Moreover, these two people knew that they came from a small courtyard in the capital. If the Zhao family followed the clues and found them, their identities would likely be exposed.

These two must die!

Thinking of this, Li Zheng sped up and ran towards the bald man.

whoosh-

I had only taken two steps when a gust of wind swept past my cheek.

Looking ahead, the bald man had fallen to the ground, an arrow lodged in his chest, the fletching of the arrow trembling slightly.

What a fast arrow!

An arrow piercing the heart, even a god couldn't save him.

The henchmen belatedly realized what was happening and surrounded them.

Seeing that the two had stopped breathing, Tang Meng asked urgently:

"Brother Zhang Yin, what are you doing?"

The gaunt man silently lowered his bow and arrow: "Brother, don't be angry. The blood feud has already been formed, and we must nip it in the bud."

"Damn it!" Tang Meng cursed again, then turned and walked towards Li Zheng.

Li Zheng steadied himself, ready to counterattack at any moment.

However, Tang Meng did not make a move, but only rebuked:

"You little brat, you're incredibly audacious! Aren't you afraid of dying?!"

Li Zheng calmly cupped his hands in greeting: "Being captured by these two thieves is the same as death. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a human."

Tang Meng was not angry upon hearing this. He looked Li Zheng up and down and said with some surprise, "You look clean-cut, but you're a tough guy."

Li Zheng remained silent, watching as several henchmen came up to examine the bodies of the two human traffickers.

A moment later, the henchman shook his head at Tang Meng, confirming that the two were dead.

Tang Meng waved his hand: "Fine, I don't mind you being a burden. Go and save your life."

The purpose of bandits is to rob money; most of the time they don't intend to kill.

Now that the money is in hand, there's no need to kill anymore.

Having said that, he led his henchmen toward the carriage.

Li Zheng remained motionless and bowed to Tang Meng again.

Tang Meng squinted at him: "What does this mean?"

"Brother above, your humble servant Li Zheng requests to join us!"