Hua Yan slowly unsheathed his knife.
This was the one that he had been using to chop away at the Truewood Trees for a very long time. It was by no means as sharp or as long as the bandit's blade that looked like it was already quite attuned to the texture of blood.
It was but an ordinary knife that was used for carving wood. It was not a weapon of war or something that an esteemed general would be seen carrying out into the fields. It was just a tool that Hua Yan had been using to cut some wood.
Seeing Hua Yan's action of taking it out, the bandit snickered.
"Hehe, boy, if you think you can harm me with that, you're 100 years too early. Just leave your belongings behind, and I'll let you off for today? How about it?"
If the bandit were anyone else, Hua Yan would've simply ignored his words. But since this man was after his life, and since Hua Yan wasn't in the best of moods, he decided to say some words in response.
"Let me tell you something, fellow. You see this blade here? It looks dull and edgeless right?"
Hua Yan brandished his dagger as he spoke. It was almost as if he was speaking to himself. Then, out of nowhere, he charged the bandit. His feet flew across the ground and his arm was drawn backwards.
The bandit was taken aback by the sudden attack, but quickly regained his senses and blocked the incoming knife with his blade.
Hearing the painful screech of metal on metal, the bandit grit his teeth.
He thought that his attack would destroy Hua Yan's little knife in one shot. He thought that he would be able to snap Hua Yan's arm off of his body.
Contrary to his expectations, however, it was his own sword that appeared to be a little… chipped around the edges.
"This blade may look ordinary and weak..."
Hua Hua Yan continued his attack. There was a dangerous glimmer in his eyes.
The bandit was forced onto the retreat. A trace of fear appeared on his sweating face.
"But within it lies my hopes, my dreams, and my ambitions."
Hua Yan never paused in his relentless assault. Wounds were quickly covering up the bandit's body.
"It contains the fruits of my labour."
Shraa!
The bandit's mask was shredded off and his ugly mug within was exposed.
"The proof of my hardships."
The bearded man let out a howl as one of his fingers was cut off cleanly. Blood sprayed in torrents from the location of the wound.
"The records of my deeds."
The man's sword was too late to parry the knife that was coming for his thighs. He was crudely brought to his knees. The force of his fall was so hard that he suspected that his femur was fractured.
"This blade is heavy, stranger," Hua Yan announced, "It carries both your life and mine."
Hua Yan broke through the bandit's guard and brushed his sword off to some faraway shrub in the distance, leaving the bearded man unarmed.
"So you'd best not look down it."
A flash of light appeared on the edge of his knife as he struck it towards the bandit's throat.
"That would be unhealthy."
And just like that, the bandit left the mortal world without another sound.
His death was meaningless.
He was hungry and desperate and his haste had gotten the better of him, leading him to make the fatal mistake of choosing a stronger opponent for a target. His downfall was not an uncommon one in this world. Many often overestimated themselves while thinking that they were different from the rest.
Unfortunately for the bandit, he was no one was special. He was unable to escape the curse of being shackled down to the dirt by the chains of fate.
He was just a friend of fortune and a foe of hardship; he wasn't one that could take matters into his own hands and control the direction of his life. He was just another ordinary man that could only be satisfied with his lot in life. Either that, or he could die trying to vie for a better one like how he had just now.
"I wonder if I can be special," Hua Yan murmured to himself, staring into the distant skies above.
He would be eternally grateful if he was given a chance to prove himself. But, if he wasn't given said chance, he would just give up. He would not try to make an opportunity for himself.
He really lacked the drive for that.
He was someone that was tied down and had many things on his mind. As such, for him to go out of his way to change his fate was something that wasn't very likely.
This was the curse of the ordinary man. They weren't bound for greatness because they only dreamt of it, never really taking any conscious efforts to realize their dreams.
They kept waiting and waiting for a lucky break. But when the days aged and their beards turned grey, they still had not moved a step closer to where they wanted to be.
Hence, most spent their lives as ordinary folk, only being able to fantasize of what things could have been if they had done things differently.
Hua Yan was no different. He was just a dreamer.