After feeling “overjoyed” for a while, Meng Qi packed up the scripts and continued to search Shen Zui’s tent, unfortunately he didn’t find anything precious. Nevertheless, he was content with the four copies of the enlightenment period’s skills and sword art, a set of the Desperate Hit sword art in the enlightenment period and a refined weapon. Adding them all up, he could exchange them for at least 600 or 700 Karma points, which was equal to a Samsara task reward. In addition, he still had the land titles, house leases, jewelry and other things to live comfortably in the future.
If he had not been eager to rescue his junior brother, Meng Qi felt like he would have enjoyed living a “hunter for horse bandits” life from now on. Of course, it was a dangerous career too. Inferior horse bandits didn’t own any articles of value. Some of the more versatile ones with treasures might take his life, and those that he could deal with, like Shen Zui, were the minority. Besides, he would be absolutely encircled if he made them share a bitter hatred for him owing to his many attacks.
However, this was still better than the obsessive Samsara task. At least he could flee immediately when the situation got out of control.
Taking a breath, Meng Qi tided the “escape-proof net” at his left cuff so as not to expose it. In normal combat, Meng Qi would naturally prepare everything beforehand since he had the bane of all metal concealed weapons.
As a result, the threat of most concealed weapons would be very low because they would first be blocked by “escape-proof net” before breaking the defense of the Golden Bell Shield.
Therefore, upon seeing Shen Zui, Meng Qi hadn’t exerted his “Peace Quietude Split”, “Mortal Dust Fall” or “Yama’s Invitation”. The unique skill deserved its name, just as the trump card was worthy of its reputation. They both had either great usage value, or they were one-time treasures. If a unique skill could be used casually, it wasn’t a unique skill but a normal trick, which meant it was your usual strength and was fundamentally applied to grind the enemy.
As both “Peace Quietude Split” and “Mortal Dust Fall” cost a lot of energy, there would be only common fighting strength left after he used either of them once. If any accident were to happen later on, he would have to cast his “Sacrifice Formula”.
The Dharma Access of self-burning essence and body damage would create more and more serious countercharges. The more times he utilized it, the more unstable his foundation would be, causing unknown dangers, which would be difficult to make up for later. By then, even though he could seek help from the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms to cure him, who would dare say there were no bigger unforeseen difficulties? Hence, it was wise for him to minimize the use of it.
As for the “Yama’s Invitation”, it was a desperate hit. It burned its bridges and was difficult to control. It was probable that he would have taken Shen Zui’s life if he had used it. However, without Shen Zui, who could he ask for intelligence?
Outside of the tent, Meng Qi saw Gu Changqing standing there with his sword and a small package on his back and wearing a foolish smile on his face.
“This charmingly goofy kid has gained a lot…” Meng Qi thought in a relaxed mood. “In Gu Castle he couldn’t have been considered as a valued child. After he enlightened all the acupores, he toured outside and obtained very few weapons and rewarding treasures. But this time the sword he just got from the horse bandit , though could not be called a refined weapon, it is far better than his own. As for the treasures he’s harvested, they were so abundant beyond his imagination.”
Meng Qi did not interrupt Gu Changqing’s “sweet dreams”. Instead he pulled out his Ice Palace Sword and carefully cut Shen Zui’s hair.
“Are you going to disguise yourself again?” Gu Changqing came to his senses, wiped his mouth and asked in doubt, “Why not simply wrap your head with a cloth instead of the wigs?”
He didn’t ask about Meng Qi’s gains either.
Meng Qi nodded, “If I covered my head with a cloth, it would not be difficult for the horse bandits that I will be getting along with daily to discover that I am a monk without hair.”
“Getting along with daily? Do we need to stay with the horse bandits day and night?” Gu Changqing was more puzzled.
Meng Qi looked up at him with a smile. “Yes, if we were horse bandits, we certainly have to live with the horse bandits daily.”
“Ah, horse bandits?” Gu Changqing was surprised first and then thoughtfully said, “Are we going to pretend to be horse bandits?”
“Yes,” Meng Qi answered briskly, “Although Zhen Hui has been captured by Yuan Mengzhi, the target of the Evil Sword Hunting Order is me. As thus, there will be many horse bandits going that route and following Yuan Mengzhi to see if there is a chance to be famous for arresting me in passing as well as to get Ze Luoju’s promise.”
According to Gu Changqing’s former introduction, Yuan Mengzhi was the top martial artist with Nine Apertures opened. And he was accompanied by an Eight Apertures opened assistant, four or five heelers with Six or Seven Apertures opened and several “all the Apertures enlightened” henchmen. Hence his troop was so strong that they were bound to have importance attached. Once Zhen Hui was seized, most of the horse bandits would believe that the fellow of the Evil Sword Hunting Order either would come to rescue his junior brother or would be captured by Yuan Mengzhi. On this occasion, the horse bandits at further distances would rather stay in their own territories and wait for a stroke of luck of catching him if he happened to pass there.
Meanwhile, the horse bandits nearby knew that Meng Qi had wiped the White-headed Vulture out. No matter how coincidental it was, his strength could not be neglected. And was it possible that he would escape if he were only mauled heavily by Yuan Mengzhi?
By that time, Fortune would shine down if any lucky dog caught him by chance.
Besides, there would never be any shortage of new entries and powerful horse bandits, those who eagerly aspired to become famous and pull up their own horse bandits. How could such a grand event be missed? Even if he could not catch Meng Qi, when the horse bandits gathered, he would defeat or slaughter a few well-known leaders of the long-established reputation. And he himself would be far-famed.
The “newcomers” did not understand the rules, nor did they obey them. Thus, Meng Qi planned to dress up as one of them.
Gu Changqing nodded, “Right on. The Immensity Sea is so vast that the horse bandits are as many as the hairs on an ox. It is normal that the majority of them don’t know each other. I’m afraid that even Ze Luoju himself could not recognize all of his horse bandit chiefs either.”
“Ha-ha, let’s set off to ‘chase’ our own troop!” Meng Qi laughed loudly.
In the gritty wilderness, there was a small lake bringing a rare vitality. It was surrounded with common contorted plants and blocks of weathered rocks.
At the edge of the lake, there were no creatures, because there came a team of formidable human beings.
They were equipped with three horses, bulging pouches, solid food and long arrows. On both sides of the horses, there were sabers, powerful bows, stiff crossbows and other weapons.
The leader was a green-eyed man with a yellow beard, very calm. He gently jumped off the horse and walked towards the lake with a sabre in his hand.
The rest of the horse bandits were busy. Some were checking that the water was secure. Others were putting up their tents and making a fire. Some were patrolling the premises; others had left to hunt after nibbling a few bites of solid food and drinking some water from their water bags. A few bandits were bringing a little monk in a gray robe into their tent.
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“It’s Zhen Hui.” Meng Qi said to Gu Changqing using “Secret Voice-sending”. They hid behind a weathered rock.
He had wrapped up his “black hair” and wore a tight robe just like a typical horse bandit would wear. On his back lay his “Red Sun Evil Blade” and “The Bloodthirsty Sword”, and in his left hand he clenched the handle of his Ice Palace Sword.
Gu Changqing was dressed like Meng Qi, and he also replied using Secret Voice-sending, “It is good that you can confirm it’s him. When are you going to get to work? I’ll arrange the retreat route for you.”
“Don’t hurry, wait for the opportunity.” Meng Qi said succinctly.
Not long after they had left Che Lie Gorge, they confirmed that Yuan Mengzhi’s route was “White Mountain — Fish Sea”. They had arrived here in advance for two reasons. First, they needed to confirm whether they had Zhen Hui or not, and second, they were waiting for the right opportunity. Meng Qi and Gu Changqing received the news without inquiring because Yuan Mengzhi had escorted the hostage to the Evil Ridge in a big way. There was no chance that their identity had been exposed when walking in the Immensity Sea. In addition, being in disguise, they owned a new surprising identity, and thus were concealed from the horse bandits relying on a picture of him.
“Wait for the opportunity?” Gu Changqing frowned in confusion. Seeing Meng Qi that did not mean to say anything, he turned to walk to the tent at the edge of the weathered rocks with Meng Qi.
Meng Qi converged on other ideas, walking and thinking pensively, “Changqing, please display the method of your sword skill.”
Once he understood what Meng Qi meant, Gu Changqing swayed his sword and rolled up five sword flowers in one continuous motion.
Meng Qi watched closely. Suddenly he pulled out his Ice Palace Sword and gave him a virtual point, saying, “What if I attack here?”
“It is a spot where my sword will face dilemma. If you can seize the opportunity that my strength is about to rise yet not grow, I will have to change my mind and exert another method.” Gu Changqing said without any concealment.
During this time, Meng Qi did not venture to use his “Red Sun Evil Blade” for its outline of a Buddhist Commandment Blade. He had gotten a horseman’s scabbard and put it on his back with his bloodthirsty sword, making them look like trophies. The bloodthirsty sword had been Shen Zui’s walking sword, which would perhaps be noticed by the horse bandits. Therefore, he couldn’t use this sword either and had to find a scabbard to replace the original one.
For the past few days, Meng Qi had been mainly working hard on practicing with the left-handed sword, reading “Fast Sword of the Zhao Family” and other sword art and studing “Nine Strategies Beyond the Swords”. Now and then he asked Gu Changqing to practice what he had learned.
Meng Qi smiled as if harvesting something. He was about to walk to the edge of the weathered rocks when his face turned pale.
Near his tent lay three dead bodies. Several horse bandits surrounded them and were searching through their property and stripping off their clothes.
The three dead bodies were two men and a woman. They had been tribal nomads passing by the small lake by chance. Unfortunately, they had been cruelly murdered by the gathering horse bandits, quite different from the past.
In the vicinity, several camps had been built. Many bandit gangs were coming and going in great numbers, looking down on all.
It was precisely because a number of bandit troops had quietly followed Yuan Mengzhi and his men that Meng Qi and Gu Changqing were not afraid to reveal their identities and spy on the small lake— There were between 30 and 50 men who had taken similar action here.
With a calm and steady look on his face, Meng Qi walked back. Seeing that one bandit was getting ready to rape the corpse, he intended to make an excuse to fight.
“What are you staring at? Little mutt!” A horse bandit who had been disturbed with his “refined interest” gave Meng Qi a dark look with his head aslant. He belonged to the generation with their Eye Apertures opened. He was always bloodthirsty and well-known among the horse bandits.
Meng Qi did not answer, but stretched the sword as fast as a shuttle with his left hand, and directly pointed it at the horse bandit’s throat.
As an emerging horse bandit who was ready to do away with “predecessors” to make his name, did he really need an excuse to kill?
The horse bandit did not expect this little toy boy should kill him without any sign. He failed to respond in time. Meng Qi’s sword was so fast that it had reached his neck before he came back to himself.
He quickly leaned back, which Meng Qi seemed to have expected. Meng Qi’s sword tip suddenly sank from beneath his neck into his body and he died immediately.
POP! The horse bandit fell to the ground, blood flowing out.
“You! Do you understand the rules?” Another horse bandit was surprised and amazed. He took out a horseman saber with a trembling hand, and pointed to Meng Qi.
Even if the horse bandits were desperadoes of bloody blades, there were few of them willing to carry out meaningless destiny. When they came together, they naturally had some unwritten rules to bind each other so that they would not be destroyed by the open fight between factions. But this guy had freely killed a peer without even blinking. It was quite frightening!
He looked very young. Was he the kind of guy who could not wait to be famous?
This guy was extremely cruel and merciless. And he had completely ignored the rules, making people both hate and fear!
However, the Immensity Sea and every boss would teach him to be a man!
The horse bandits who did not obey the rules were fewer and fewer. They would either die or exchange their blood for maturity!
No matter what “business” they had done for a long time, they were always losing their élan, and so were the horse bandits.