Chapter 38

"Big brother, it seems like someone's here." The man hiding shouted.

With this shout, his hiding spot was immediately exposed. Li Wenjun shook his hand, and several stones flew out in quick succession.

One of them hit the mark, and the man let out a scream of pain.

Li Wenjun dashed forward in a single bound, leaping through the open window into the eastern room. He saw the man who had been hiding, pressing his blood-soaked forehead, looking at him in surprise and asking, "Who are you?"

Li Wenjun ignored his question. He grabbed the cleaver on the cutting board, swung his arm, and the cleaver spun through the air, slicing toward the man.

With a thud, the cleaver buried itself in the man's chest, and he died instantly.

"Who's there?" The two men drinking in the main hall were startled. They picked up their weapons and jumped out. One of them had a broad face and was dressed in black, holding a broadsword. The other looked more refined, wearing a traditional warrior's robe, and carried a battle axe in each hand.

Li Wenjun quickly scanned the eastern room and found a bamboo pole leaning against the wall, about as thick as a child's arm and taller than a man. He grabbed the pole and rushed out of the room.

"Who are you? Where's the third one?" The man with the broad face asked.

Li Wenjun quickly sized up the two men, then shouted, "Kill!"

He thrust the bamboo pole at them, sweeping it toward them.

The broad-faced man and the refined man both used short weapons, which put them at a slight disadvantage. However, their weapons were deadly, something a bamboo pole couldn't match. They exchanged a glance and knew what to do without speaking.

They quickly split up, one in front and one behind, attacking Li Wenjun.

As soon as Li Wenjun engaged them, he realized these two were much stronger than Li Tou, the man he had fought before. They were ruthless and skilled. Li Wenjun was secretly glad he had eliminated one of them at the start; otherwise, being surrounded by three would have been a losing battle.

Li Wenjun blocked and parried, keeping the two men at bay. They couldn't get close to him, and he couldn't threaten them either. This stalemate was unsatisfactory for both sides, especially for Li Wenjun, who had suffered so much and finally made some progress in his training, only to find he couldn't defeat these two bandits. He felt ashamed to face his fellow villagers.

"Ha!"

Li Wenjun shouted, took a deep breath, and leaped into the air.

The two bandits were surprised by this move and looked up at Li Wenjun in shock.

Without any support, Li Wenjun couldn't stay in the air for long. As he jumped, he swung the bamboo pole toward the refined man's head.

When they first engaged, the bandits had noticed Li Wenjun's strength. If the bamboo pole hit his head, even if it didn't kill him, it would surely daze him for a while.

The refined man quickly fell backward, lying on the ground to narrowly avoid Li Wenjun's deadly strike.

Li Wenjun twisted in mid-air and landed behind the broad-faced man. He moved swiftly, thrusting the bamboo pole toward the man's back.

The broad-faced man's hair stood on end. He quickly turned, holding his broadsword in front of him with both hands.

With a thud, the tip of the bamboo pole slammed into the blade of the broadsword.

Li Wenjun, determined, pushed the bamboo pole forward with all his might. The broad-faced man couldn't hold his ground and stumbled backward.

Seeing that their leader was struggling, the refined man rolled off the ground, grabbed an axe, and threw it at Li Wenjun.

The axe spun through the air, whistling as it cut through the wind.

Li Wenjun had no choice but to pull back the bamboo pole and deflect the axe.

To his surprise, the bamboo pole hit the sharp edge of the axe, deflecting it but also cutting off a piece of the pole.

Li Wenjun was pleased rather than angry. The bamboo pole, originally blunt, now had a sharp tip, turning it into a deadly spear.

The broad-faced man and the refined man realized the situation was turning against them. The broad-faced man said, "I don't know which gang you're from. If you need money, we're willing to offer you a thousand taels of silver."

The refined man added, "There's one more thing to consider. Your skills are impressive, but can you match a god? We are under the protection of the old immortal on Tianhua Mountain. If you kill us, the old immortal will not let you escape."

Li Wenjun was taken aback. He had only intended to eliminate the bandits, but the mention of "old immortal" by the refined man made him cautious. He wasn't sure if the "old immortal" was a cultivator, but he didn't want to take the risk. Letting these bandits go would not be a good choice, especially since he hadn't disguised himself.

"A thousand taels of silver to get rid of me?" Li Wenjun said coldly. "I see you've killed many people and extorted a lot of money. I don't want much, just give me three thousand taels, and I'll leave."

"You're after money, that's easy to arrange. Little brother, go fetch three hundred taels of gold for this young hero," the broad-faced man said, giving the refined man a meaningful look.

The refined man looked at Li Wenjun, nodded, and ran toward the main hall.

As the refined man ran into the main hall, the broad-faced man tried to make small talk to buy time for his companion. However, he noticed Li Wenjun's bamboo pole sweeping the ground.

The ground was dirt, and Li Wenjun's sweep kicked up a cloud of sand and gravel, which flew toward the broad-faced man.

The broad-faced man stepped back, shouting, "What are you doing? Don't you want the silver?"

Li Wenjun lunged forward, thrusting the bamboo pole with all his speed.

The broad-faced man, though on guard, was already at a disadvantage. When he tried to block with his broadsword, he was a step too late.

With a thud, the bamboo pole pierced the broad-faced man's chest, emerging from his back.

The broad-faced man raised his arm weakly, pointing at Li Wenjun, and said, "You... you... will not die a good death."

Li Wenjun pulled the bamboo pole out of the broad-faced man's body, turned, and rushed toward the main hall. He saw the refined man standing by the window, holding a paper crane and muttering to it.

Li Wenjun felt a sense of foreboding. The refined man wouldn't just hold a paper crane for no reason. According to "Miscellaneous Talks on Cultivation," cultivators used flying cranes to send messages. Could the paper crane be a message crane?

The refined man heard the commotion at the door and turned pale. He stopped talking to the paper crane and pushed it out the window. The paper crane flapped its wings and flew away.

Li Wenjun had no doubt. He raised the bamboo pole and threw it with all his strength.

The distance from the door to the window was short.

The refined man had nowhere to hide, and without a weapon, he was pierced through the heart by the bamboo pole.

Li Wenjun dashed to the window, used the window frame for leverage, and leaped several feet into the air. He stretched out his hand to grab the paper crane.

The paper crane dodged, flapping its wings to avoid Li Wenjun's grasp.

Li Wenjun landed and jumped again, first onto a tree, then from the treetop, he leaped again, reaching for the flying paper crane.

After several attempts, he finally caught the paper crane.

The paper crane struggled in his hand as if it were alive.

Li Wenjun held the paper crane tightly, jumped down from the treetop, and returned to the courtyard. He walked to a brazier, grabbed the paper crane's wings, and thrust it into the fire.

The flames quickly consumed the paper crane, turning it to ashes.

Li Wenjun looked at the scattered bodies in the courtyard, picked up the broad-faced man's broadsword, and delivered a final blow to both the broad-faced man and the refined man, ensuring they were dead. He then breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Wenjun searched the rooms and found two chests filled with gold and silver. He took the gold and silver ingots, which were less likely to draw attention, but left the jewelry and precious stones, fearing the bandits might have already reported them to their "old immortal." If the old immortal traced them back to him, it would be trouble. In contrast, gold and silver ingots were less traceable, as they all looked the same in the Song Dynasty.

Even with just the gold and silver ingots, Li Wenjun estimated their value to be around three thousand taels of silver, a considerable fortune. He had been worried about money, and this would help fill his empty purse.

Li Wenjun didn't search too thoroughly, unsure if there were more valuable items. Even if he knew, he didn't want to linger. He wasn't sure if destroying the paper crane would prevent the message from reaching its intended recipient.

If the message did reach the recipient, and they came quickly, he might be caught. He wasn't confident enough to face a cultivator.

Li Wenjun entered the eastern room, found a jar of cooking oil, and several jars of wine. He poured the oil and wine over the bodies and the house, then set it all on fire, burning the courtyard and the three bandits' bodies. He then left the compound without looking back.

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End of the chapter.