Wandering Swordsman |

He Yun immediately waved his hand: "Upholding justice is the principle of martial artists. There's no need for thanks, young lady. However, I am quite curious as to why you fell into the hands of those three bandits."

Upon hearing He Yun's question, the girl pondered for a moment, then her eyes filled with tears, which she bravely held back. "I was on my way to visit distant relatives, but I was tricked by human traffickers and taken to a nearby town. This morning, I escaped outside the town while the traffickers weren't looking. But I was caught by the traffickers outside this forest. Just as they were about to forcibly take me back, those bandits suddenly appeared and kidnapped me..."

After pondering for a moment, He Yun continued, "Since you are going to seek refuge with distant relatives, may I ask where your distant relatives are?"

The girl shook her head and said, "I was originally going to Liaocheng. But I've strayed from my original route..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo asked with concern, "So what are your plans now?"

The girl lowered her head and said helplessly, "I don't know what to do. I've strayed from the original route, and I'm afraid to go any further. I can't even remember the way back."

Shen Mo watched the girl finish speaking, his eyes filled with worry. If he let her continue to leave alone, she would most likely encounter something bad again.

He Yun, who was standing to the side, seemed to have seen through Shen Mo's thoughts and immediately said, "Miss, how about this? Brother Shen and I are also going through Liaocheng. Why don't we travel together? That way, we'll have company on the road, and it will be safer for the three of us to be together."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo knew that going to Changbai Mountain via Liaocheng would be a detour, so he hesitated for a moment. However, he felt a little reluctant to let the girl travel alone again, so he nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, Brother He is right. Let's travel together first, so we can look after each other along the way."

The girl looked up, her eyes sparkling with gratitude, her heart filled with warmth. She nodded and said, "Then thank you both very much."

He Yun smiled and said, "We're all going the same way. There's no need for you to be so polite, young lady."

Shen Mo also said, "Meeting is fate, and helping each other is only right."

The unconscious bandit seemed to hear the three men talking and vaguely opened his eyes. He suddenly stood up, only to find his hands tightly bound, a movement that also pulled the other two bandits up with him. The other two bandits also woke up one after another, and the three struggled, but the ropes held them firmly in place.

Noticing that the bandits had woken up, the three stopped talking and turned their attention to the three bandits.

The bandits exchanged glances, and their leader roared, "You brat, I advise you to release us right now!"

He Yun sneered and said, "You have committed countless evils, and today you have fallen into my hands. Do you think I would let you go and allow you to continue your evil deeds?"

The bandit leader chuckled dismissively, "You'd better pray you have a powerful backer, otherwise Black Wind Stronghold won't let you off the hook!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo frowned slightly, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the leader of the bandits by the collar, and asked, "Black Wind Stronghold! What is your relationship with the Black Wind Gang?"

Upon seeing this, the bandit leader laughed loudly, "Hahaha, are you scared now? Our Black Wind Stronghold is naturally an important branch under the Black Wind Gang, otherwise how would we dare to call ourselves 'Black Wind'?"

Seeing the bandits' deliberately arrogant attitude, Shen Mo fell into deep thought. He felt that these bandits were not the same group that attacked his master. If he continued to ask, he wouldn't get any results. Besides, if He Yun asked him why he cared so much about the Black Wind Gang, he wouldn't be able to explain it.

Seeing the bandits' arrogance, He Yun immediately stood beside Shen Mo, raised his fist, and said, "Seeing you end up like this, and still showing no remorse, it seems you've lost all conscience. You deserve to die!"

With that, He Yun's fist was about to strike. At that moment, Shen Mo snapped out of his silence and hurriedly shouted, "Wait!"

Upon hearing this, He Yun stopped what he was doing and looked at Shen Mo. Shen Mo calmly said, "Brother He, although they deserve their punishment, let's still send them to the authorities for them to deal with."

He Yun withdrew his fist, sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll listen to you. I hope the authorities will handle this fairly."

Watching this scene, the girl felt even more favorably disposed towards Shen Mo and He Yun.

He Yun turned to Shen Mo and said, "Yuancang County is not far from here, so let's take them there."

Shen Mo nodded and said, "Yes, that's for the best."

He Yun then led the way, holding the rope, while Shen Mo and the girl followed behind, keeping an eye on the bandits. The group headed towards Yuancang County.

Along the way, the bandits kept shouting and threatening, but He Yun and Shen Mo ignored them. The girl followed behind them, feeling somewhat relaxed.

As the sun was about to set, the three finally arrived at Yuancang County. They went directly to the county government office, recounted the events to the constables at the gate, and handed the bandits over to them for processing.

The constables looked at the three boys with disbelief on their faces: "Truly, heroes emerge from among the young! Thank you both, young brothers. Please rest assured, we will severely punish these villains."

He Yun and Shen Mo exchanged a smile, and He Yun said, "Brother Constable, you flatter me. It is the duty of people in the martial arts world to help the weak and punish the strong."

What He Yun and Shen Mo didn't notice was that the three bandits seemed much more relaxed after seeing the constables, as if they had seen familiar faces.

After Shen Mo and his two companions left, the constables, once they were sure they were far away, escorted the three bandits back to the yamen's prison.

Then the "interrogation" of the three bandits began. However, the constables' attitude seemed rather strange.

One of the constables walked up to the bandits and said in a low voice, "How could you be so careless as to be captured by two teenagers?"

The bandit leader gave a wry smile and said, "Did you see that girl just now? We were about to get her, but then these two lads suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They actually know a few moves. It's our fault for being careless and not being on guard."

Another constable chimed in, "Don't worry, given the relationship between Black Wind Stronghold and our lord, we won't let you suffer."

The constables exchanged glances, and one of the older constables said softly, "We'll just pretend to detain you for a while, and release you later tonight when it's darker."

The bandits breathed a sigh of relief, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. The leader of the bandits said, "Thank you all, brothers. We at Black Wind Stronghold will never forget what happened this time."

The constables nodded in satisfaction, but the lead constable looked troubled and said, "You all need to be more careful in the future, so you don't get caught again. We can help you this time, but we might not be able to next time."

The bandit leader nodded repeatedly: "Thank you for your advice, brothers. We will be careful."

The constables then left the cell, but instead of actually imprisoning the bandits, they placed them in a relatively spacious area. As night fell, the constables secretly released the three bandits, instructing them not to cause any more trouble.