Chapter 95: Chapter 91: 7 Pillar Peak (Part 2)

The relief bandits had arrived!

Zhao Lin and Liang Song both perked up, but then a question arose: ’How come there are three of them?’

They watched the three bandits descend the winding mountain path. In front of the valley, they weaved left and right, taking several detours before finally reaching the gully entrance.

Zhao Lin and Liang Song understood. The bandits were clearly moving this way to avoid the traps on the ground.

"Hong-tou, you got any wine? Damn it, I’m freezing to death."

A coarse voice rang out as a dusty figure stood up from the ground. He was draped in a felt blanket, its color blending in with the mountain terrain.

’So there really were three hidden sentries. We had only spotted two before.’

Seeing this, Zhao Lin had to admire the bandits’ caution and cunning.

Three hidden sentry posts were set up here. Take one out, and there’s another. Take out the second, and there’s still a third.

No matter how strong you were, it was impossible to enter their lair without alerting them, not to mention the traps and mechanisms inside the valley.

"Here!"

The bandit in the lead raised his hand and tossed over a waterskin, the sound of sloshing liquid coming from within.

"Drink it slow, and save some for me!" The bandit hiding at the second sentry post also emerged from behind a protruding rock.

Liang Song gripped the hunting bow in his hands, his breathing growing heavy.

Zhao Lin glanced at him and gently pressed down on the bow, signaling for him to remain calm.

’If we rush out now, it’ll be hard to wipe out all six of them.’

Once the bandits retreated into the valley, Zhao Lin and his companion, unfamiliar with the terrain, could only let them escape.

The three bandits continued forward. Two of them took their positions at the third and second sentry posts, respectively. The remaining bandit walked toward the large tree in front of the valley to relieve the first sentry.

THUD!

A man in black clothes leaped down from the tree.

"Tietou, how was it tonight?" the bandit taking over the first post asked with a grin.

The man in black laughed and replied, "Same old, same old."

All six bandits had now appeared. The time to strike had come!

Zhao Lin grabbed Liang Song with one hand and his bronze rod with the other, leaping out from behind the rock and charging toward the gully entrance with lightning speed.

The two bandits at the first sentry post were stunned. They watched in horror as a dark shadow rushed toward them, and before they could comprehend what was happening, Zhao Lin had already shot past them.

"Enemy attack!"

"We’ve got trouble...!"

The two bandits at the second post reacted, grabbing the whistles on their chests and blowing with all their might.

The piercing shriek of bamboo whistles immediately echoed through the valley.

After sounding the alarm, the bandits drew their short sabres and took a stance, preparing to fight.

Zhao Lin leaped into the air, flying directly over their heads and conveniently placing Liang Song next to the large, protruding rock.

The two bandits stared, speechless, as Zhao Lin flew like a great bird, eclipsing the moonlight and casting down a dark shadow.

Liang Song drew his bow halfway and loosed a cold arrow, striking one of the men straight in the throat.

As he shot his second arrow, the remaining bandit dodged, and the arrow struck him in the shoulder.

The bandit roared, lunged forward, and swung his sabre down.

Liang Song dropped his bow and drew his hunting knife to block...

Zhao Lin cleared the second post. At the apex of his jump, he kicked off a rock face and, like an osprey, dove toward the two bandits at the third post.

Knowing they couldn’t outrun Zhao Lin, they turned vicious, splitting left and right and slashing wildly with their sabres.

Zhao Lin swung his bronze rod down. Sparks flew, and the sound of metal striking metal rang out.

Two broken sabres clattered to the ground, followed by two bodies collapsing.

Having succeeded, Zhao Lin immediately turned back and saw Liang Song wiping the blood from his knife on a corpse’s clothes.

The two bandits from the first post came charging over, shouting. Halfway there, they realized the fight was already over and found themselves in a dilemma.

The path up the mountain was blocked by Zhao Lin and Liang Song. Running away from the mountain meant abandoning their own lair. After weighing their options, they chose the latter.

Zhao Lin wasn’t in a hurry to chase them. He looked up toward the mountaintop.

An uproar had erupted on the peak. A hundred or so figures rushed out of the buildings, followed by a torrent of curses and shouts.

After a moment of chaos, a dozen bandits carrying torches ran down the mountain, followed by a long, straggling line of men.

Zhao Lin and Liang Song walked to the gully entrance and saw the two bandits still running for their lives.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single tree for hundreds of feet in any direction, leaving them with nowhere to hide.

Zhao Lin strode after them and, with a swift chop to the back of their necks, knocked both bandits unconscious in an instant.

Liang Song caught up, and together they tied the two bandits up securely.

"We’ll take them back to the yamen and see what we can get out of them."

Zhao Lin dusted off his hands and looked at the bandits gathering in the valley.

In the firelight, a middle-aged man with a full, bristly beard stood out in the middle of the crowd.

Zhao Lin pointed and asked, "Is that him...?"

"Drilling Mountain Leopard!"

Liang Song spat the three words from between his teeth, his eyes burning with deep-seated hatred.

This was the first time Zhao Lin had laid eyes on Drilling Mountain Leopard, the feared bandit from the Baitou Mountain area. He studied his face for a few moments, committing it to memory.

"Let’s go. They won’t be causing trouble for much longer."

Zhao Lin patted Liang Song on the shoulder and hoisted up one of the captured bandits.

「...」

"Four brothers dead! Son of a bitch!"

Wang Mazi looked at the bodies on the ground and roared, "Zheng Ma, go get my horse!"

"There’s no need," Drilling Mountain Leopard said calmly.

Wang Mazi swung his arms. "Boss, why aren’t we giving chase? Look at them, they’re not even in a hurry! It’s pissing me off!"

"Because you wouldn’t be able to catch him even on horseback."

Drilling Mountain Leopard said in a low voice, "You all said he was fast. I believed you, but I also felt it was something of an exaggeration, that the claims were overblown."

"But seeing him today, he’s even faster than the rumors claimed. Chasing him now would only feed his arrogance and serve no purpose."

Wang Mazi stamped his foot. "Then what do we do?"

Drilling Mountain Leopard sneered. "I underestimated him before. I thought he’d be easy to crush, but I never expected the kid to get into the yamen and reach the Second Layer of the Power Realm in less than a year."

"If this keeps up, I’m afraid that in three to five years, even I might not be his match."

At this, Drilling Mountain Leopard made a hand gesture. The crowd of bandits immediately withdrew to a distance, leaving only his core leadership—the "Four Beams and Eight Pillars," the Second and Third Shopkeepers, and other key members.

Drilling Mountain Leopard’s gaze fell on a handsome young man. "Yang Dan, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip to Taizhou. Take enough silver and buy some heavy crossbows from the black market. No fewer than twenty of them."

"It’s a long journey, so try to leave and return as quickly as possible."

Several of the bandit leaders immediately praised him, "The Boss is wise!"

"No matter how fast that kid is, he can’t outrun a crossbow bolt."

"Next time he comes, we’ll turn him into a porcupine..."

Drilling Mountain Leopard pondered for a moment, still feeling it wasn’t enough. He spoke again, "Zheng Ma, Lu Shuixiang, I have another important task for you two."

The two men immediately stepped forward. "Your orders, Boss."

"The Seven Flowers Sect has a hidden weapon called the Hundred Poison Needle. It contains one hundred and eight poison needles hidden within a mechanism. They say that within a hundred feet, anyone struck by it dies instantly. No one below the Blood Realm can escape it."

Drilling Mountain Leopard looked at the two men. "You will acquire a Hundred Poison Needle and bring it back."

Zheng Ma and Lu Shuixiang exchanged a glance. The former spoke with difficulty, "Boss, I’ve heard the Hundred Poison Needle is extremely difficult to craft. The entire Seven Flowers Sect only has three of them. I’m afraid they won’t sell one, no matter how much money we offer."

Drilling Mountain Leopard smiled faintly. "No matter. The old master of the Seven Flowers Sect is eighty-nine this year; his time is short. I have an eight-tael-weight old mountain ginseng here. If you offer this as payment, he will certainly agree."