The soldiers and bandits had been quite evenly matched initially. In fact, the bandits might have even had the upper hand as they numbered more.
However, seeing their boss collapse to the floor like that changed everything.
Some of the bandits went berserk, forgetting about all forms of self-preservation as they rushed at Uncle Hei, only to be cut down by soldiers along the way.
Some of the bandits decided to abandon ship and make a mad dash for the door, though not a single one managed to reach it.
Some of the bandits felt their morale evaporate, and chose to raise their hands in surrender.
There were also some of them who continued fighting, only to eventually realise that they were the only ones left fighting, and ended up both outnumbered and overwhelmed.
But out of the four groups, those who surrendered were the only ones left alive as the fighting finally came to an end.
By then, the inn was already in a state of complete mess.
Most of the chairs were strewn about with broken parts everywhere, while only one table out of the original ten remained intact.
Even the table that Hui Shajing was at had suffered some light damage from stray cuts.
The wooden walls and floor had cuts and holes everywhere, with a large portion of it now dyed red with fresh blood that was still continuing to flow.
Numerous bodies lay motionlessly on this blood-soaked floor, and that included Redblade himself.
In this mess, a group of five bandits knelt with their heads hung low, having been stripped completely of their weapons.
These were the only ones who were still alive since they had surrendered right after seeing the fall of Redblade.
"Now then, why don't you start talking?" Hui Shajing asked while casually examining the sabre that Redblade had been wielding previously. "Let's start with a simple question – where is your hideout?"
None of the five spoke.
"Come on now, let's not waste everyone's time," Hui Shajing let out a sigh. "You are not going to tell me that you have no idea, are you?"
"You have already won, haven't you?" one of them finally spoke. "The boss has a huge bounty on his head. If you bring him in, it will definitely fetch you a hefty sum."
"Let me see... are you suggesting that we settle for your boss' bounty, so that you lot can go back and split the loot that your group has accumulated over the years?" Hui Shajing said with a smile. "Is that right? Or am I just confused?"
"There's no loot to speak of! We have always spent everything that we got!" the same person retorted. "We just want to leave, please! We won't breathe a word about this incident to anyone else!"
"Whether there is loot or not is not for you to say, but for us to find out," Hui Shajing spoke in the same composed manner. "So, I will ask one last time. Where is your hideout?"
Silence ensued once more.
"Uncle Hei," Hui Shajing signalled.
"Yes, Young Noble," Uncle Hei stepped up upon being called.
"Please wait a minute, Young Noble. There are still others in the inn," Uncle Bai reminded.
Uncle Bai had been at a disadvantage when clashing against Redblade earlier, to the point where he had almost lost his life.
However, he remained fortunate enough to escape that fate.
In fact, it could be said that Uncle Bai had escaped relatively unscathed.
Right from the start, he had managed to block Redblade's sabre slash with his arm bracers. As for crashing into the table, it might have hurt, but that was not nearly enough to knock him out or result in any serious injuries.
"Hmm? My bad. Looks like I need to be more aware of my surroundings," Hui Shajing said after looking in the direction that Uncle Bai was gesturing at. "Why don't you go check if our friends here are willing to step out, so that we can interrogate the criminals in private?"
"Yes, Young Noble," Uncle Hei said and slowly made his way towards Zhao Yunxiao and the rest of the Mystic Cavalry.
Chu Han let out a silent sigh.
"Let me handle it," Mo Mian whispered as all eyes fell on him.
Before long, Uncle Hei was already standing next to their table.
"Greetings, everyone," Uncle Hei said with a smile while clasping his fists towards them. "My apologies for the disturbance during your meal. I hope that your mood has not been ruined because of this matter."
"Greetings," Mo Mian clasped his fists in return. "Don't worry about it, sir. We are on a long journey and only want to have a quick meal before continuing on our way. We could care less about anything else."
"That's good to hear," Uncle Hei reached into his sleeves and pulled out two silver ingots, carefully placing them on the table. "In any case, please accept this as our token of apology. If you don't mind, would you be willing to leave first, so that we can properly assess the damages and help the innkeeper fix up the place?"
Pu Feixiang let out a snort in disdain.
Did this uncle think they had holes for ears?
They were obviously talking about trying to find the bandits' hideout earlier, so how did that suddenly become them trying to help the innkeeper fix up the place?
Zhao Yunxiao closely observed Uncle Hei, only to see the latter casually ignore Pu Feixiang's obvious show of disdain, focusing solely on Mo Mian.
It would appear that he had already identified Mo Mian as the party leader, and had no qualms completely disregarding everyone else.
"It is not a problem for us to leave," Mo Mian answered with a smile. "As for the silver, there's no need for that. As I said, we really do not find it a disturbance in particular."
"Is that so?" Uncle Hei nodded. "That's good to hear."
Whoosh-!
Uncle Hei quickly stepped to the side, dodging a flying cup that would have hit the back of his head otherwise.
But because he dodged it, the cup ended up heading straight for Mo Mian instead.
Mo Mian reacted instantly, raising the sword hanging by his side to block the cup.
However, he did not simply block it head on. Instead, holding the sword by the scabbard, Mo Mian used the handle to gently receive the cup.
By going through a wide circular motion, Mo Mian completely changed the direction of the cup's movement, guiding it to land properly on the table instead.
At the same time, he turned to look at the person who had thrown the cup in the first place.
"Ah! My apologies!" Hui Shajing said in an amused manner. "I had wanted to throw the cup at my man, but didn't expect him to dodge. It's fortunate that you weren't hurt!"
"I must have done something wrong, then, Young Noble?" Uncle Hei asked with a downtrodden expression.
"Of course, you did!" Hui Shajing answered with a frown. "By the looks of it, were you just about to take back the silver? How can you even think of doing that?"
"Young Noble Hui, is it?" Mo Mian interjected.
"That's right," Hui Shajing nodded with a smile.
"As I have told your man earlier, there is no need for the silver," Mo Mian explained once more. "We don't find this incident a disturbance, and will get going now anyway."
"But that's no good, my friends," Hui Shajing shook his head. "Considering the current situation, if you refuse to accept the silver that we offer, don't you think it could create some sort of misunderstanding between us?"
"And by misunderstanding, you mean...?" Mo Mian asked.
"Who knows? One might think that you are up to little tricks. For example, you might be thinking of reporting this matter to the authorities, or even hiding somewhere to secretly follow us to the hideout," Hui Shajing shrugged. "Of course, that is not what I think of you. I'm just saying that one of my men might get that idea. As their leader, it would be difficult for me to answer to my men if I simply let you go when they are expecting otherwise, wouldn't it?"
"Report the matter to the authorities? Why would that be a problem?" Mo Mian asked in response. "Or do you think you are doing something wrong here?"
"Oh? Hahahahaha!" Hui Shajing revealed a look of surprise before breaking into laughter. "Indeed, that is not a problem since nobody did anything wrong here! The only ones who did something wrong have already been gotten rid of, or will be gotten rid of soon enough!"
"Wait! What do you mean by that?" one of the remaining bandits exclaimed in alarm. "Aren't you going to let us go? We surrendered instead of fighting earlier!"
"Oh? Were you listening?" Hui Shajing looked at the man with a smile. "Then again, who said anything about letting you go?"
"You-!" the bandits tried to get up, but were forced back to their knees by the soldiers surrounding them, who promptly rested sabre blades against their necks.
"That's more like it. Just sit there quietly and watch. Otherwise, your end might just end up becoming long and painful instead of being swift and painless," Hui Shajing shook his head in disapproval.
"Are you going to kill them all? Including the waiter and his kid?" Mo Mian asked.
Just like them, the waiter and his daughter were basically witnesses to this incident. If Hui Shajing was concerned about the possibility of them going to the authorities, that same concern would probably apply to the waiter as well.
"The waiter? You mean the innkeeper? Why would I?" Hui Shajing asked in genuine confusion before looking towards the waiter. "Do you honestly think that someone like that would be able to lodge a proper complaint against me to the authorities? Or do you think he is capable of getting to the bandits' loot before I do?"
Mo Mian had been observing the waiter since before.
The poor man was frozen in fear after witnessing the whole fight. In fact, he had to lean against the wall for support just to remain standing right now.
Hui Shajing was right.
This man was indeed not a threat.
Mo Mian then turned his attention to his party members and Zhao Yunxiao, sweeping his gaze across them.
As his gaze matched theirs, each of them nodded towards him, silently assuring him that they would respect whatever decision he made here.
"Why don't you just accept the silver, and we can all go on with our lives?" Uncle Hei urged. "That is a win-win situation for both of us, don't you think so?"
Mo Mian frowned.
There might be something fishy about the silver ingots, considering how they kept insisting them to accept it.
"How about sparing their lives?" Mo Mian finally spoke up after a few moments of contemplation.
Hui Shajing raised an eyebrow.
Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai frowned.
The soldiers turned their attention towards them.
"Why are you so concerned about these lowlifes?" Hui Shajing asked in confusion. "Didn't you see how aggressive they were earlier? If we don't mete out justice and get rid of them today, they will just end up causing the deaths of many others in the future. You don't want that to happen either, do you?"
"No, we definitely won't do that anymore!" one of the men immediately promised.
"Shut up!" the nearest soldier immediately shut him up with a kick.
"Nobody can predict the future," Mo Mian said. "After all, their leader has already been killed."
"Hahaha! We really aren't compatible, are we?" Hui Shajing laughed in disbelief. "The way we think are truly far too different!"
"Seems that way," Mo Mian was not flustered by the random laughter. "But I still hope that Young Noble Hui will spare their lives."
Hui Shajing stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at Mo Mian.
Mo Mian did not look away, choosing to calmly return the gaze.
There was tension in the air as the two locked gazes, silently assessing each other for a few moments.
It might just be a few short moments, but this duration felt painfully long in the eyes of the kneeling bandits.
After all, this was the exchange that was probably going to determine their life and death!