In the dense darkness of the night, arrows pierced through the air, heading toward the merchant guild's caravan. Most of the arrows were aimed at the caravan's horses. Tristan saw six barbaric-looking men emerge from their hiding spot ahead and rush toward the members of his group. He also noticed three others spreading metal spikes.
His thoughts were that they now needed to turn the carts around and go back the way they came, but on such a narrow path, that would be difficult.
'Nine of them have already appeared, and there are also those who shot the arrows. The two Martial artists we have are at the Mist level—they won't be able to handle so many bandits alone, and practically everyone else is useless in combat.'
'Well, damn it!'
Without any hesitation, he jumped from the cart. Tristan tried to escape cautiously.
"Dusk!" He heard Yue shout.
An arrow was coming his way.
Fortunately, he was expecting it, and with superhuman agility, he retreated backward, using the cart as protection.
The arrow hit the spot where he had stood just a second earlier.
'Tsk, it seems the crossbowmen are still alert.'
***
Jian nervously observed the current situation. The three front carts had been hit, and only the ones at the back were still intact.
As guards, he and Liao were stationed on the first carts. When one of the horses was hit, it went wild, causing the cart to shake and throwing him off. But as a Martial artist, he spun his body in the air and landed without difficulty.
Jian looked ahead, seeing four men running toward him and Liao. Two more were heading toward the guild workers.
'This isn't good!' he thought.
Summoning all his bravery and courage, Jian drew his short sword and waited for the bandits to approach, staying close to the overturned cart to avoid being hit by arrows.
In his mind, there was only one thought:
'I must protect Lady Liu Feiyan at all costs!'
Soon, he saw two bearded men with long, dirty hair, dressed in animal leather. Seeing his confident stance, they ran toward him with their sabers in hand. The two bandits were taller than Jian, standing about 1.85 meters, while Jian was around 1.75 meters.
The first bandit to reach him tried to behead him, aiming at his neck. However, Jian quickly retreated, adjusting his stance and aiming for the enemy's abdomen. The bandit narrowly dodged, receiving only a small cut.
"You forgot he's a Martial artist, you idiot? We need to wear him down until his vital energy runs out!" said a one-eyed bandit who had just arrived.
"Ah, sorry, I couldn't contain my excitement. Killing cultivators is always so satisfying," the bandit replied with a crazed look in his eyes and a wide grin on his face.
Jian's eyes widened at hearing this. 'They knew about us?'
'No time to think about that, they know that without energy, a cultivator is no different from an ordinary human. I can't let this drag on,' the young cultivator thought as he advanced once more.
Unfortunately for him, the mountain bandits displayed surprisingly good teamwork. If he tried to attack one, the other would target his blind spot and attempt to take his life.
Wang Liao wasn't faring much better; in fact, it seemed he was in a worse situation than Jian. Jian noticed some superficial cuts on Liao's skin, staining his clothes with blood.
He returned his focus to his own enemies. His arms moved like snakes as he attacked, focusing on the bandit who seemed the most deranged.
The crazed bandit was caught off guard by Jian's strange fighting style, moving too late to prevent Jian from slashing his right shoulder.
The one-eyed bandit didn't stand idly by, attempting to impale Jian, but Jian bent his body at an awkward angle to dodge the attack. Without stopping, Jian took advantage of the proximity and slashed the one-eyed bandit's shoulder diagonally, making the bandit scream.
At that moment, however, Jian heard Liao scream—the left side of his abdomen had been pierced by a savage wielding a spear.
Jian and Liao were only wearing regular protective clothing, vulnerable to any mundane weapon attack.
Angry, Liao charged with all his might, striking the bandit with the spear. In a swift move, he managed to cut the enemy's calf before the bandit's ally could defend him. However, Liao wasn't satisfied with this—the simple strike had consumed much of his core energy.
Liu Junhan shouted, "Stop! It's the goods you want, right? You can take them, just leave us in peace."
"Haha, well, that sounds fair. Give us your goods and the young beauty, and we'll leave you alive," the one-eyed bandit said, pointing at Liu Feiyan.
"You want my daughter?" Liu Junhan asked, his face now pale.
The bandit next to the one-eyed man looked at Liu Feiyan with lust in his eyes and said, "Damn, can't we keep this girl this time? When will we ever find such a rare beauty again?"
"Forget it, with the money we'll get from her, we'll be able to live comfortably with dozens of women for a long time," the one-eyed bandit replied.
Liu Feiyan trembled in fear as she hugged her father.
Rage burned in Jian's eyes like fire.
Unfortunately, the two archers had emerged from their hiding places and were now running toward the two cultivators to help their allies.
Now, he and Liao would have to face four more enemies.
At that moment, he saw Wang Liao muttering angrily. Liao looked at the people in the caravan, then at the two approaching bandits. He grimaced in irritation and started running.
"What are you doing?" Jian shouted.
"Let's get out of here, idiot, no money is worth more than our lives," Liao said, using all his remaining energy to run as far as he could.
Jian was completely stunned by this.
Earlier, he had struggled to fight two bandits, but soon he would have to face four more.