Volume 1, Chapter 84 – Encountering Bandits

During the journey, Shi Lan did not pay much attention to their exact direction and only subconsciously steered away from the Boundless Demon Domain.

Before she knew it, demonic beasts had grown much fewer, and the roaming herds had almost vanished. In contrast, the number of people they ran into began to increase.

Shi Lan conscientiously played the role of a kind-hearted good person. Watching her reputation slowly tick upward bit by bit, she felt a faint sense of satisfaction.

There were not that many people in the world who knew how to be grateful and repay kindness. Some, after accepting benefits from others, might even curse them as fools in their hearts.

Shi Lan did not know mind-reading, but the reputation value on her status panel could clearly tell her whether a particular good deed had achieved the effect it should.

Being a person was hard. Being a good person was very hard. Being a good person whom others sincerely felt grateful to from the bottom of their hearts was harder still.

This was something Shi Lan knew from personal experience.

……

“Stop!”

Shi Lan pulled on the reins, signaling Wang Ning and the others to halt, then began studying the terrain ahead.

Two enormous stone walls towered on either side, seeming to reach the sky. Between them was only a narrow gap, barely wide enough for three flood-dragon horses to ride abreast.

This kind of terrain was called Heaven-Slashing Sha, or “One-Line Sky.” It was steeped in baleful energy and very prone to breeding bandits and other desperate outlaws. In short, it was not a good place.

Shi Lan frowned slightly and was just about to give the order to go around when a rush of sharp sounds rose on all sides.

“Swish!”

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“Swish!”

A dense rain of arrows shot out from every direction.

The arrows landed in a loose ring about five steps away from Shi Lan and the others, never touching them, as if forming a fence around them.

Figures appeared atop the sheer stone walls.

Dozens more stepped out from the remaining three sides, forming an encirclement and penning Shi Lan and her group in the middle. Every one of them held a bow with an arrow nocked. Their expressions were cold and their auras ferocious.

Footsteps echoed from the narrow cleft between the cliffs, and a burly figure emerged a short distance in front of Shi Lan’s group, saying in a deep voice,

“Friends, we are all just trying to earn a living. Do us a favor and leave two-thirds of your goods, and I will let you pass.”

The burly man looked no longer young. His hair was streaked with white, and he held a long-hafted straight blade nearly four chi in length.

Judging from the vigorous blood and qi surging in him, he was also a martial artist.

Wang Ning and the others said nothing, instead looking toward Shi Lan. These bandits looked impressive, but compared to crazed demonic beasts, they were still lacking, to say nothing of their actual strength.

Even with only a dozen riders now, a single charge would be enough for them to smash through this encirclement in an instant, perhaps even slaughter them to the last man.

The burly man swept his gaze over the group and finally fixed his eyes on Wang Ning. He gave Shi Lan a brief glance, then said meaningfully,

“Friend, think this through. If a fight breaks out and you lose, at worst you all die. But this young lady’s end might not be so pretty.”

Steel rasped as blades left their scabbards, killing intent solidifying and surging skyward.

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Wang Ning and the others looked to Shi Lan at the front. They were just waiting for a single order to make this man pay for those words.

Feeling that terrifying killing intent, the burly man’s heart clenched and he sensed that something was very wrong.

By his usual rules, he always killed a batch first, then came out to demand goods and money.

The only reason he had wasted so many words with these people today was because they were all in heavy armor and their mounts were so magnificent. He had thought they were not simple and had not wanted to increase casualties among his own men for nothing.

From the look of it now, there would have to be a fierce battle today, and the outcome might be far worse than he had imagined.

After a long silence, just as the burly man steeled his heart and was about to give the order to attack, Shi Lan gave a faint smile. “How long have you been in this line of work, robbing people here?”

“More than ten years…” The burly man froze and answered without thinking.

“Then you must be quite famous around here?” Shi Lan raised an eyebrow, her interest growing.

“Enough nonsense. I will ask once more: are you handing over the goods or not?!” The burly man lost his patience and growled.

With that killing intent locked on him, he felt as if several sharp blades were pressed against his neck and he could not feel at ease anywhere in his body.

Shi Lan gave a small shake of her head, then turned slightly and said to Wang Ning, “Leave a few of the higher-ranking ones alive. I have use for them.”

With that, Shi Lan leapt into the air. Nine streaks of azure light shot out almost at the same time, and within a few breaths, every bandit atop the cliffs lay dead.

Shi Lan did not have the time, nor the desire, to try and reform these desperadoes whose hands were all more or less stained with human lives.

For Shi Lan, these outlaws had only one use: to be turned, through certain means, into reputation points.

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There was no shortage of martial artists among these desperadoes, but when faced with the Demon-Suppressing Army, whose strength far outstripped theirs and whose training was rigorous, they were not much better than ordinary folk.

The bandits also had a fatal flaw. When their companions began dying in large numbers, their first instinct was not to fight to the death, but to flee.

Watching his men fall with almost no ability to resist, the burly man stared blankly. The long blade slipped from his hand with a clang, and he slowly slumped down against the cliff wall.

The battle ended faster than anyone could have imagined. The Demon-Suppressing Army did not even suffer a single minor injury. Those arrows were utterly useless against their armor.

Wang Ning tied up a few of the survivors they had deliberately spared and bound them to the back of a flood-dragon horse.

After a brief interrogation, Shi Lan led the group straight through the gorge, heading toward the nearest city.

……

In less than half an hour, Shi Lan and the others stopped before a city.

The city was not small, even a bit larger than the Twin Moon City from before, though its walls were not very high, barely less than ten zhang.

“Purple Flame City…”

After a glance at the three large characters carved above the gate tower, Shi Lan urged her horse forward and entered the city in the lead.

It was midday, the sun hanging high in the sky. But as the season had already turned to winter, its rays did not bring much warmth.

People in the streets huddled into themselves against the cold wind as they hurried along.

Shi Lan was long since impervious to heat and cold, and Wang Ning and the others were martial artists with vigorous blood and qi. Naturally, such a bit of chill meant nothing to them.

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Only the prisoners felt cold all the way to their hearts.

The atmosphere in Purple Flame City was very relaxed, with not a trace of tension. Nearly every shop along the road had its doors wide open, welcoming guests coming and going.

“Spicy noodles and meat stew, come have a taste!”

“Take a look, top-grade white fox fur, not a single coarse hair, premium goods just brought in from outside!”

“All kinds of spices, if you need any, come and see!”

There were many makeshift stalls set up along the roadside as well, offering food, drink, and entertainment of every kind. Cries from the hawkers rose and fell one after another.

Looking at this scene of peace and prosperity, Shi Lan felt a moment of dazedness and could not snap out of it for quite some time.

The sight before her eyes might have been close at hand, yet it gave Shi Lan a feeling of unreality, as though it were a mirage on water that would shatter at a touch.

She also felt an indescribable sense of not belonging here.

Wang Ning and the others behind Shi Lan were also slow to recover.

They could not remember how long it had been since they had seen such a scene.

Shi Lan came back to herself, lowered her head slightly to hide the complicated look in her eyes, then began wandering the streets, searching for a place to stay.