Chapter 28: A Bloody Night
Da Cai crouched low behind a cluster of bushes, his eyes scanning the chaotic scene in the village square. Almost thirty men milled about, fifteen of them mounted on horses, their ragged attire and hardened faces unmistakable—bandits. Their loud, crude laughter filled the air, punctuated by the terrified cries of the villagers.
He observed carefully, noting their strength. Most of the bandits were at the Skin Refinement stage, two were at Muscle Refinement, and their leader, a towering brute with a scarred face, exuded the aura of someone at the peak of the Muscle Refinement stage. Da Cai clenched his fists. "I'm at the early third stage of Muscle Refinement, but thirty of them…," he muttered.
He hesitated, weighing his options. The gap between stages in the Mortal Realm wasn't insurmountable, but sheer numbers posed a significant threat. He didn't act—not yet. But then, his eyes widened as he saw one of the bandits swing a blade, cutting down a villager he recognized: Old Man Cheng, the very person he'd spoken to earlier that day. The old man's body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
Something inside Da Cai snapped. His blood surged, and his hesitation melted away, replaced by unrelenting fury. "Enough!" he hissed.
Emerging from his cover, he lunged at the bandit who had just killed Old Man Cheng. Before the man could react, Da Cai's fist, imbued with Spirit Qi, connected with his chest, shattering his ribs and sending him flying. The other bandits froze momentarily, shocked by the sudden attack.
"Who are you?" one of them barked. "Leave now, and we'll forget this happened."
Da Cai's eyes burned with rage. "I'll kill you all," he said, his voice low but seething with anger.
A Fight to the Limit
The bandits recovered quickly and surrounded Da Cai. He knew he was outnumbered but didn't care. His anger drove him forward. The first wave of attackers charged. Da Cai activated Infernal Barrier, a fiery shield that incinerated the nearest bandit as he swung his blade. The screams of the burning man echoed, sowing fear among the others.
Da Cai didn't stop. He punched and kicked with precision, his Spirit Qi-enhanced strikes breaking bones and crushing throats. Blood sprayed as he fought, each strike deliberate and cruel. He drove his fist into a bandit's stomach, shattering his spine, then turned and snapped another's neck with a vicious twist.
The bandits fought back savagely, sacrificing their own to trap Da Cai. One threw a comrade into Da Cai's path, forcing him to waste time striking the human shield, while another slashed at his back. The blade grazed him, drawing blood, but Da Cai spun and delivered a fiery blow that turned his attacker to ash.
Arrows whizzed through the air, one grazing his arm and another embedding in his thigh. Despite the pain, Da Cai kept moving, using the corpses of the fallen as cover. He grabbed a spear from a dead bandit and hurled it, impaling an archer through the chest. Another bandit charged, but Da Cai sidestepped and drove his knee into the man's skull, caving it in.
The chaos intensified. "Da Cai, run!" a villager screamed, only to be silenced by an arrow through the heart. The sight fueled Da Cai's fury further. He roared, flames erupting around him as he unleashed a wide arc of fire that engulfed several bandits. Their screams pierced the night as they burned alive.
Forced Retreat
Despite his ferocity, the fight took its toll. Da Cai's movements slowed as exhaustion and blood loss caught up to him. The bandits, wary of his strength, began to retreat slightly, regrouping near their leader. "He's strong," one muttered, "but he's just a kid."
The leader stepped forward, his presence radiating menace. "Enough," he growled. "Let's end this."
The bandits pressed their attack again, but Da Cai's strength was waning. He killed a few more—a spear thrust through the chest, a punch that cracked a skull—but he couldn't hold them off. An arrow struck his shoulder, and a blade slashed across his side. Blood flowed freely, and his vision blurred.
Realizing he couldn't win, Da Cai turned and fled into the forest. The bandits, wary of his abilities, didn't pursue far, shouting curses into the night.
A Bloody Night to Remember
Da Cai stumbled through the dark woods, his breath ragged and his body battered. The weight of what had happened bore down on him. He had killed—more people than he could count. The faces of the bandits, the villagers, and Old Man Cheng flashed through his mind. Tears mixed with the blood on his face as he collapsed into a cave, his body trembling.
The trauma of the night hit him like a wave. He'd fought, killed, and survived, but at what cost? His hands shook as he looked at the blood staining them. Exhaustion finally claimed him, and he fainted on the cold, hard ground, the flames of his fury extinguished—for now.