I asked you to go hunting, and you ended up wearing a yellow robe?

No sooner had he finished speaking than the thunder of horses' hooves echoed from afar in the village.

The sounds grew louder as they approached, as dense as a torrential downpour, mixed with women's screams and men's roars.

Flames shot into the sky, turning half the night sky orange-red.

"It's too late! Quick! Get into the cellar!" Qi Shan flung open the hidden door of the main room, facing his three wives who were already terrified.

Without saying a word, Zhou Xue and Lin Wan pulled Su Yue inside.

"And you?" Jia Hui looked at Qi Shan, her hand already gripping the hilt of the knife at her waist.

"Take care of them!"

Before Jia Hui could get up in shock, he handed her a set of crossbows.

"Do you know how to use it?"

Jia Hui looked at the strangely shaped weapon in her hand, but before she could ask any questions, Qi Shan had already covered the cellar with wooden planks and concealed it with a tattered straw mat.

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate was kicked open, and a dozen or so bandits with steel knives in hand and menacing faces rushed in with sinister smiles, the torchlight illuminating their bloodthirsty eyes.

The scarred man at the head of the group stared wide-eyed when he saw Jia Hui dressed as a woman: "Oh, there's a woman here too!"

"This one's a real gem! Guys, this one's mine!"

Jia Hui's heart sank; she knew she couldn't escape.

She took a deep breath, assumed a fighting stance, and prepared to fight to the death.

However, Qi Shan made a move.

Instead of rushing forward, he darted back into the main room, slammed the door shut with a loud bang, and bolted it shut.

The bandits and the two men were locked together in the small courtyard.

Catching a turtle in a jar?

Jia Hui was taken aback. What kind of playing style was this?

"Hahaha! Scared out of your wits? Still want to fight to the death?" Scarface laughed wildly.

Several bandits, brandishing knives and grinning maliciously, walked towards the main room.

Just now.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two barely audible clicks of a mechanism came from two small holes in the door panel.

The laughter of the two bandits at the front abruptly stopped.

Each of them had a bloody hole between their eyebrows, their bodies swayed, and then they fell straight down.

Even in death, the sinister smiles on their faces remained.

The laughter in the courtyard froze instantly.

The remaining bandits stared in horror at their companion's corpse, completely bewildered by what had happened.

Jia Hui, who was hiding behind the door, also had her pupils shrink suddenly.

She looked down at the repeating crossbow in her hand, then at the one in Qi Shan's hand.

Was that thing making that sound just now?

There was no vibration of the bowstring, no drawing of the bow, just a pull of the trigger?

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two more soft sounds followed.

Two more bandits fell to the ground, one shot through the throat and the other through the eye socket.

Clean, efficient, and so fast that it takes no time to react!

"A ghost! There's a ghost in the house!"

One of the bandits finally broke down and turned to run out of the courtyard.

Jia Hui reacted quickly, imitating Qi Shan, and through another peephole, aimed at the man's back and pulled the trigger.

"call out!"

The bandit stumbled and fell to the ground. A short arrow was embedded most of its way into his back, the fletching still trembling slightly.

Jia Hui looked down at the repeating crossbow in her hand, her heart pounding.

What kind of divine weapon is this?

With such a high rate of fire and such great power, and such a small size, it can be operated with one hand!

If this thing were equipped in the military, what a terrifying existence it would be!

Only seven or eight bandits remained in the courtyard. They panicked completely and crowded around the gate like headless flies, only to find that the gate was bolted from the outside!

"Damn it! Fight them!" Scarface roared, his eyes bloodshot, brandishing his knife. "Charge in and chop them to pieces!"

The remaining bandits, their ferocity aroused, roared and charged towards the main hall door.

"Bang!"

The door was slammed shut with a loud bang.

Qi Shan had already discarded the repeating crossbow and instead drew the sword from his waist.

"Stand still," he told Jia Hui.

The next moment, he suddenly pulled open the door latch and kicked the door open!

The bandits outside were ramming the door together when this sudden movement caused them to lose their momentum and tumble inside like a string of gourds.

The blade flashed.

It wasn't a fleeting moment, but rather a chilling net of knives that stretched across the cramped main room.

Pfft! Sizzle!

Blood and severed limbs flew together.

Qi Shan moved like a ghost among the bandits.

The blade swept across the throat, severed the Achilles tendon, and pierced the heart.

There were no unnecessary movements; every strike was precise and deadly.

Jia Hui stood aside, completely unable to get involved.

She couldn't even see the trajectory of Qi Shan's sword; all she could see were fierce-looking bandits falling one after another before her eyes, like wheat being cut down.

The scarred man had just raised his knife when a line of blood appeared on his neck. He clutched his neck in disbelief, blood gushing from between his fingers, and finally collapsed in despair.

It took no more than three to five breaths.

More than a dozen ruthless bandits were all killed.

Throughout the entire process, Qi Shan didn't utter a single shout, remaining as calm as a butcher.

Jia Hui was completely stunned.

She boasted of her exceptional martial arts skills, considering herself one of the best in the border army.

But the killing skills displayed by the man in front of her were completely beyond her comprehension.

This is not martial arts.

This is... a method of killing.

Techniques that exist purely for the efficient deprivation of life.

This man... is even more terrifying than the commander of the most elite scout battalion in the army!

"There's one more."

Qi Shan shook the blood off his knife and walked towards a bandit in the corner of the yard who was terrified and slumped on the ground, his crotch soaked.

That was the only one who didn't dare to rush forward out of fear.

"Who sent you?" Qi Shan's voice was calm, but the tip of his knife was pressed against the bandit's throat.

"Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare my life!" The bandit cried, tears streaming down his face, kowtowing repeatedly. "It's...it's Battalion Commander Li! Battalion Commander Li from the border army!"

"He gave our leader a large sum of money, ordering us to go down the mountain tonight and slaughter every single village from the Blackwater River to here! Leave no one alive!"

"Why?" Jia Hui couldn't help but step forward and questioned sharply.

The bandit, his face contorted with despair, cried, "I...I don't know! I'm just a lowly henchman. I only heard that Commander Li specifically ordered the massacre of several surrounding villages!"

"Our young master is personally leading the team, and he said that after the mission is accomplished, Captain Li will give him an additional five hundred taels of silver!"

Jia Hui gasped.

Li Long!

It is him again!

They slaughtered hundreds of people within a ten-mile radius!

How utterly inhumane!

Qi Shan hesitated. Why was Li Long doing this?

"Where is your young master?" Qi Shan asked.

"At...at Wang the landlord's house at the village entrance! He...he brought more than twenty men and used that as a temporary stronghold!"

Qi Shan nodded and swiftly brought his knife down.

The bandit's head rolled to the ground.

Jia Hui snapped out of her daze and said urgently:

"We have to get going!"

"Before the bandits have surrounded us, let's go around through the back mountain and back to the county town! The county magistrate will definitely send troops to wipe them out when he finds out!"

She looked at Qi Shan, her tone leaving no room for argument: "Three hundred ruthless bandits—you can't handle them all by yourself! This isn't the time to play the hero!"

Qi Shan did not answer her, but turned around and opened the cellar.

"My lord!"

The three women rushed out and were terrified when they saw the corpses all over the yard. But when they saw that Qi Shan was safe and sound, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Follow her, go through the back of the mountain, and head to the county town."

Qi Shan looked at them, his voice unconsciously softening.

Zhou Xue was the first to grasp the key point in his words: "And what about you?"

"I?"

Qi Shan smiled, but his gaze fell upon the brightest firelight at the village entrance.

"I'm going to kill their leader."

Jia Hui and Zhou Xue said in unison, "No way!"

Jia Hui could hardly believe her ears:

"Are you crazy?!"

"Those are hundreds of ruthless bandits! Not just a dozen or so! Going there is just suicide!"

Su Yue looked at Qi Shan, her big eyes filled with fear, but even more so with a strange trust and anger.

She suddenly spoke, her voice unusually firm:

"My lord."

"These bad guys killed Uncle Wang and burned down Aunt Li's house. They deserve to die!"

"If my husband goes to kill bandits, Yue'er... Yue'er will go too!"

The girl puffed out her small chest, trying to look less scared: "I...I know how to use a crossbow, I can help you!"

Qi Shan stared at her, stunned.

This usually timid girl, who would hide behind him whenever she saw someone, was now saying she wanted to go with him to kill someone.

He reached out and gently patted Su Yue's head.

Su Yue obediently rubbed against his palm.

Qi Shan withdrew his hand, his gaze sharpening like a knife once more:

"obedient."

"Go to the county town and wait for me. I promise you, I will be back before dawn."

After saying that, he ignored everyone, picked up the crossbow and quiver from the ground, turned around, and strode into the night sky, where firelight and blood mingled, like a lone wolf.