Chapter 62: Wolf King Howling at the Moon
Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Wolf King Howling at the Moon
The sky was clear, the air crisp, and a warm sun hung high above. A party of four and a cart proceeded along the official road at a steady, unhurried pace.
This was Xie Yuan’s first time traveling so far from home. At first, he looked around with a sense of novelty, but after a while, he grew bored.
The official road was just a dirt path. Its sides were either a crisscrossing network of field ridges or pure wilderness, with nothing but withered trees and weeds—no scenery to speak of. Aside from an occasional village every few or ten-odd miles, the land was utterly desolate.
He had heard the three old hands mention some places with elegant scenery, but they would have to take a long detour. With a mission to complete, that was out of the question.
’No wonder ordinary people can’t travel far,’ Xie Yuan thought. ’The main roads between counties are all like this. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if bandits popped out of nowhere. With travel this inconvenient, an ordinary person’s life is confined to a limited area.’
The cart followed the ruts in the official road. The terrain gradually began to rise, and the surrounding trees grew denser.
Wu Qing had the other three get out of the cart. The four of them walked alongside it up the slope to spare the horse’s strength.
"This is Little West Mountain, the only obstacle between Yunzhou and Jin Mountain. The mountain isn’t high and the forest isn’t dense, so it can’t support any large bandit groups."
"There used to be some petty thieves around here, but no one has ever dared to stop an Escort Team from our Longteng Escort Agency. Of course, everyone should still be careful. It’s easy to run into bandits here, so just follow procedure."
"I feel like it’s been easy to run into bandits this whole trip."
Xie Yuan said, shaking his head.
Tang Dawei chuckled.
"That’s true. How else would our Escort Agency’s business be so big? If it were truly an age where people didn’t pocket what they found on the road and left their doors unlocked at night, we’d all be out of a job."
"Speaking of which, the world is considered pretty peaceful these days. If it were a year of famine, we’d have run into several groups of highwaymen by now, at least. But even in peaceful years, life isn’t easy for the common folk. It’s always the same people who get fat."
He said with a dry laugh, gesturing upwards with his finger.
Xie Yuan could certainly relate. He came from a mountain village, and he could never forget the feeling of an empty stomach and a frozen body.
"Still, it’s ’better to be a dog in a peaceful age than a man in a chaotic one.’"
Xie Yuan sighed softly, thinking of the fates of certain regions in his past life.
"That’s the truth."
The others all agreed.
"We’re entering the mountains. Let’s stop here for a moment. Kong Chun, go ahead and shout the cry a couple of times. You can treat it as getting Xiaoxie familiar with the process."
Wu Qing said.
Kong Chun nodded.
"You got it."
With a wave of his hand, he led Xie Yuan forward.
"If this were an army, we’d be the scouts, the vanguard. The work is pretty much the same. Sounds a bit better than ’runner,’ doesn’t it?"
Kong Chun said with a laugh.
Xie Yuan returned the smile.
"Our title isn’t bad either."
"How can a runner compare to a Darts Master? The pay and status are worlds apart... Oh, but for you, Xiaoxie, getting promoted to Darts Master should be quick. After all, even Li Guo was no match for you, and he’s an old Darts Master."
Kong Chun said, a little envious.
The two of them scouted about a mile ahead, gradually entering the mountain forest, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.
Kong Chun cautiously scanned the surroundings and nodded slowly.
"Looks like we’re clear. We’ll give the escort cry here to announce our presence, then we can head back. I’ll go first, you just repeat it after me—"
"Longteng of Yunzhou, Yunzhou’s Longteng! The Longteng Escort Agency is passing through! Friends on the mountain, friends on the water, grant us safe passage and let us part on good terms!"
He shouted it three times. In the twelfth lunar month, not even a bird was in flight; only his echo answered from the mountains.
Kong Chun nodded and said to Xie Yuan with a smile:
"Heh, I figured no one here would dare block an Escort Team from our agency. To be honest, the mountain path here is narrow and the terrain is quite treacherous. If some clever robbers or cunning bandits were to set up an ambush here, we’d really be in—"
"HEY! I opened this mountain, I planted these trees! If you want to pass, leave your toll money behind!"
Suddenly, from the woods, two burly men who looked exactly like bandits leaped out, one in front and one behind, spouting lines that sounded exactly like what bandits should say.
Xie Yuan and Kong Chun stared blankly at the scene. Xie Yuan even thought:
’Is this some kind of old-school novel from twenty years ago?’
Though the trope was a classic, the sabers in the bandits’ hands were no joke. They glinted coldly with a faint reddish sheen, clearly sharp blades that had drawn blood before.
Kong Chun slowly drew his saber, frowning.
"Gentlemen, we’re from the Longteng Escort Agency. Please, show us some respect!"
"I don’t care if you’re the Longteng Escort Agency or the bird-shit Escort Agency! If you want to pass through here today, you either leave your money or you leave your lives!"
The bandit in front of them swallowed hard and said fiercely.
Xie Yuan and Kong Chun exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious.
To dare and block the Longteng Escort Agency, these two were either reckless fools or they had the confidence to back it up.
Kong Chun flicked his wrist, sending a signal arrow whistling into the sky. The sound carried far across the mountains.
"Damn it, they have backup! Get ’em together!"
One of the bandits shouted viciously, and the two of them closed in, attacking in a pincer from front and back.
Xie Yuan and Kong Chun each moved to face one of them.
Xie Yuan drew his saber and swung horizontally, clashing violently with the bandit’s long saber.
CLANG! The bandit’s saber was sent flying in one clean strike.
Both Xie Yuan and the bandit froze for a moment, clearly equally surprised by the result. Then, they looked at each other.
For a moment, the atmosphere was awkward.
But Xie Yuan quickly recovered. He raised his saber, about to finish off the bandit in front of him and turn back to help Kong Chun.
He could already see the fear and despair in the bandit’s eyes. Just as he was about to bring his saber down, a warning flared in his mind.
Xie Yuan instinctively pulled back his saber and turned, parrying a long saber that had thrust out from the bushes behind him in the nick of time!
’Such a fast saber! Such ferocious power! I didn’t even notice him.’
Xie Yuan’s heart went cold. In an instant, he had labeled the scar-faced man emerging from the woods as extremely dangerous.
The bandit who had lost his saber looked overjoyed. He stealthily rolled away to create some distance, snatched up his saber, and charged toward the other fight.
Seeing his sneak attack had failed, the scar-faced youth snorted coldly. He retracted his saber and then executed a cunning upward slash aimed at Xie Yuan’s armpit.
Seeing the ferocity of his opponent’s attack, Xie Yuan focused completely. His Blood Qi instantly flared, his internal energy surged, and the saber in his hand moved so fast it became a blur of shadow, knocking aside the vicious slash.
Then, following the momentum, he raised his saber high, like a silver wolf gazing at the moon.
Wolf King Howling at the Moon, the killing move of the Rushing Wolf Saber Skill. One could not comprehend it without reaching Minor Success.
The long saber chopped down fiercely from above, carrying a whining sound as it rushed forward unstoppably!
The scar-faced youth’s expression changed, and he desperately raised his saber to parry.
The two sabers clashed. The youth shuddered, a flush rising to his face. He was just about to counterattack when he saw the long saber was already swiftly raised high again, ready to fall once more.
The Wolf King Howled at the Moon again.
The youth mustered all his strength and barely managed to block the strike, his face now as pale as gold leaf.
He was both shocked and enraged, roaring:
"You’re..."
Before he could ask who he was, the youth saw the saber being raised again, poised to strike, and his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets in fury.
"You motherf..."
This time, seeing his opponent could still speak, Xie Yuan couldn’t help but add another thirty percent more force.
The Wolf King Howled at the Moon a third time.
The long saber came down. The youth’s saber flew from his grasp; though he had barely blocked the blow, the immense force still made him vomit blood and collapse limply to the ground.
’How could a First Training Martial Artist use a killing move three times in a row?’
The youth couldn’t figure it out even as he died. His internal injuries erupted, forcing him to swallow the rest of his curse—"are you ever going to stop?!"—as he died, filled with resentment.
He had been bludgeoned to death, plain and simple.