Three burly, broad-shouldered n stepped into the cave, their faces concealed by black scarves. One by one, they pulled the coverings away. They seed to be in the middle of an argunt when a bundle slipped from one of the n's grasp and hit the ground.
Whoosh.
A heap of silver ingots spilled out, along with jewelry and ornants.
Lu Changsheng's eyes widened. It was now clear what kind of n these were—the kind that didn't walk the righteous path. Most likely, they were bandits, and the silver and jewels were undoubtedly plunder.
Upon seeing the loot, the other two n exchanged a glance and each drew a large saber. They swiftly cut down their companion.
Squelch!
Their companion collapsed into a spreading pool of blood.
One of the two n bent down to pick up the bundle and sneered, "Hmph. Liu San, you brought this on yourself. You were simply too greedy."
"Big Brother, forget about him? Without Liu San, there's more gold and silver for us this ti," the other said with a grin.
Greed glinted in both their eyes. With this much gold and silver, they were thinking of lying low for a while. They walked deeper into the cave, ready to hide the bundle.
But one of them suddenly paused; his nose twitched, as though he had just caught a scent. "Who's there? Co out!"
He swept his gaze across the cave, fixing it on a shadowed corner.
Lu Changsheng's heart jolted. They've found ?
In such a cramped space, there was no way for him to stay hidden now.
He calmly stepped out, eting their gazes. "I'm just an herb gatherer. I'm here to collect dicinal herbs."
The basket was still strapped to his back. The two bandits glanced at it, and indeed, it was filled with dicinal herbs.
"Whatever you've been doing has nothing to do with ," Lu Changsheng said evenly, with a steady tone. "Pretend I was never here, and I'll pretend I never saw you. How about that?"
The two n exchanged a glance, then tightened their grip on their blades.
A cold sneer spread across one of their faces. "Bad luck for you. You found our hideout and saw our faces."
They began to approach him.
"Wait, I'm not alone," Lu Changsheng stated quickly. "I have companions here in the mountains. They're probably looking for right now. If you kill , you'll be in trouble."
Step by step, he backed away.
"So he has companions with him?" one of them muttered to the other. "Then we can't stay here. We cut him down, then head down the mountain at once."
A flash of killing intent glead in their eyes as they advanced with their blades.
As Lu Changsheng kept retreating, his back eventually hit the cave wall. He was cornered, with nowhere to run.
I only have one chance, he told himself. It has to be a single, lethal strike.
Lu Changsheng's gaze hardened. He was well aware that his body had yet to fully develop and that he was weaker in every way compared to those two brutes. Even with martial training, he had only just begun sensing his blood qi. That was hardly enough to make a difference here.
Any other apprentice would almost certainly die here, but Lu Changsheng still had a sliver of hope, for he had reached Advanced Mastery in the Tiger Pounce Strike. The Tiger Pounce Strike imitated the leap of a tiger, aiming to deliver a single, lethal blow. If Lu Changsheng could swiftly take out one bandit, he might have a chance against the other.
He crouched low and still, preparing to pounce on his prey. Just like a tiger, he needed one split mont—an opening to land a decisive, lethal strike.
Naturally, the two bandits didn't think a teenage boy could pose a threat to them. One of them closed the distance in a few long strides.
As the man raised his big saber, a sharp glint flashed in Lu Changsheng's eyes.
Now!
He bent his legs, lowering his body like a real tiger. Then he sprang forward with all his might. The pounce was as fast as lightning, as fierce as a storm.
In that split mont, the bandit almost felt like it wasn't a boy charging at him but an actual predator. Before he could react, Lu Changsheng slamd into him, driving him to the ground.
Thud!
Lu Changsheng promptly seized the stone he had pried from the cave wall earlier and brought it down hard on the man's head. In just three to five blows, the bandit's head was nothing but a bloody ss. His breathing had ceased.
"Ahh!"
The other bandit finally reacted, his eyes widening, the whites turning bloodshot. "Second Brother!"
He swung his large saber down at Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng managed to dodge by rolling to the side. Without pause, he lowered into the tiger stance and pounced at the man. The impact sent the bandit crashing to the ground.
Lu Changsheng replicated his earlier attack, snatching up a stone and smashing it into the man's skull.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After several heavy blows, the bandit's head was reduced to pulp, and he lay limp.
Tiger Pounce Strike: Perfection. Perception 2.
A line of small text appeared before Lu Changsheng's eyes.
What? I've reached Perfection in the Tiger Pounce Strike?
His eyes lit up. Ever since he had grasped the tiger's will, he had been making fast and steady improvents with the Tiger Pounce Strike. Still, he hadn't expected that using it to kill two bandits in the heat of a life-and-death situation would push it straight to Perfection.
Nevertheless, he was far too tired now to check his status panel.
"Haaah..."
Lu Changsheng collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Those two brief exchanges had drained every bit of his strength.
Thinking back on the fight, the two bandits had been big and strong, but they lacked proper martial training. That was the only reason a youth like Lu Changsheng had managed to defy the odds and kill them. He had only just begun his martial training. Given more ti and stronger blood qi, n like them would never again pose a threat to him.
After taking a few minutes to catch his breath and regain so of his strength, Lu Changsheng sorted through the contents of the bandits' bundle. By his rough estimate, the silver and jewels were worth about five hundred taels. A search of their bodies had yielded several silver notes, totaling a little over three hundred taels. That made a total of more than eight hundred taels.
And what did eight hundred taels an? In Nanyang City, a two-courtyard residence cost only thirty to fifty taels. Eight hundred taels was, without question, a fortune. No wonder the two bandits had thought they could live comfortably for years after splitting the silver.
I need to regroup with the apprentices, but I can't carry the silver taels or even the notes with . I'll be in trouble if I'm searched.
Lu Changsheng was cautious. After glancing once more at the three corpses, he dragged them into the valley and buried them in shallow graves. He then cleaned the cave thoroughly, making sure the scent of blood wouldn't linger and attract any beasts.
As for the herbs he had gathered prior to the confrontation, Lu Changsheng processed and stored them in the cave, leaving them there for the ti being. He had left a small amount of dicinal herbs in his basket, just enough to avoid punishnt. Once he had taken care of everything, Lu Changsheng left the valley, marking the route with subtle signs so he could find it again.
It was near noon when he finally rejoined the group from Miaoshou Garden.
"Lu Changsheng, how was your haul today?" one apprentice asked, eyeing him from head to toe. The boy was dusty and drenched in sweat, but in truth, the question was only an excuse to boast, as his own basket was plentiful.
Lu Changsheng shook his head and feigned disappointnt. "Luck wasn't on my side today. I only found this much. Forget it, I'd better hurry and look for more."
With that, he hurried back into the mountains.
In truth, after his earlier windfall, he couldn't have cared less about Miaoshou Garden's ager rewards. Now, he was rely putting up a front for the others.
Before long, the sky began to darken, and Miaoshou Garden called its apprentices back together. One unfortunate apprentice had fallen to his death while gathering herbs, tumbling off a cliff; his body was never found. Three others had hurt themselves by stepping into hunting traps left in the mountains, while the rest returned unhard.
Among them, an apprentice nad Ruan Jin had an especially bountiful harvest. In both quantity and quality, his herbs were the best of the day. As a result, Miaoshou Garden rewarded him publicly with five silver taels. It was considered a generous reward, and many apprentices looked on enviously.
With the trip concluded, no one knew when the next herb-gathering would be. So left in high spirits, while others wore looks of disappointnt. Before long, the apprentices were making their way down from Recumbent Ox Mountain.
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