Chapter 9

### Massacre

Muxiang mainly taught Xiaoyan internal energy, deliberately teaching her only a little swordsmanship and fist techniques. He hoped that Xiaoyan would not enter the martial world but instead find a decent man, have children, and live a happy life. As these peaceful days continued, one day, Fang Daren suddenly summoned him.

"Something has happened."

"What is it?"

"The cargo coming from Huangliang Mountain was robbed by bandits. This time, the cargo was military funds, so we sent five of our best experts, but... What should we do? It was 100,000 taels of silver (about 3,125 kilograms)."

"Do you know who did it?"

"There aren't many bandits bold enough to touch military funds. You've been here for a short time, so you might not know, but when bandits rob a convoy, the governor usually goes with sufficient gifts to plead for the return of the cargo. If they don't return it, they become the common enemy of all convoy companies and will be destroyed. However, this time, they don't seem to want to return it easily. Normally, bandits don't kill the convoy guards. Even if they kill the guards, they don't kill the porters. But this time, everyone was killed. All ten guards and thirty porters were killed. From this, it seems they want to completely eliminate all evidence and take everything. Such an event is rare, so I called you."

"First, conduct an investigation. Find out who the opponent is and inform me. Then, I will lead about twenty of our best experts with gifts to make contact. If that doesn't work, I will eliminate them all and retrieve the goods. If that's too troublesome, I will eliminate them without prior notice."

A month later, Fang Daren discovered the bandits' hideout. They were bandits who had set up camp in Daxueshan, not far from Huangliang Mountain.

"The bandits from Daxueshan have been identified."

"Hmm... Even if they are low-level, it's strange that five of our guards were all killed by bandits."

"The bandit camp in Daxueshan is quite large, with about 200 bandits. It would be difficult for the government troops to completely eliminate them. Moreover, it seems they have recruited a few experts from outside to help."

"Then, where are those experts?"

"According to the investigation, three are still in the camp, and three have taken their share and left."

"Then, inform the headquarters to track down and eliminate those three. I will lead about twenty people to send the bandits in the camp to the afterlife. Please include a few experts who know the geography of Daxueshan."

"Understood."

"I will leave as soon as I'm ready."

"Will you take gifts?"

"No, a surprise attack would be better. That way, there will be fewer casualties."

"Understood, I leave it to you."

Muxiang led twenty experts and set out. After twelve days, they arrived at Daxueshan. Muxiang tied the horses at an inn in a nearby village and approached Daxueshan on foot. Indeed, the bandit camp was there. His subordinates were all capable experts, so Muxiang did not follow the path but cut through the bushes, allowing them to approach the camp without being detected. He approached to about 400 feet (about 1.2 kilometers) from the camp and told his subordinates:

"Everyone, eat some dry rations and rest. We will launch the surprise attack at the beginning of Mao hour (5 AM)."

"Understood!"

After giving the order, Muxiang ate some dried meat and rested. When Mao hour arrived, he approached the camp with his subordinates and gave the order:

"When I start the attack, some of them will try to escape. You must ambush in all directions and eliminate every single one of them."

"Understood."

Muxiang drew his sword, Muhun, and rushed into the camp. From the beginning, he attacked without mercy. With each swing of Muhun, bandits' bodies were cut into pieces. By the time he had killed over forty, four people rushed out of a log cabin. They were all skilled experts, but the one in a leather outfit was the weakest. He seemed to be the leader of the camp. The leader shouted:

"Who are you?"

"..."

But Muxiang ignored him and continued to cut down the bandits gathering nearby. Seeing this, the leader said to the three beside him:

"Brothers, quickly eliminate this guy."

"Understood."

The moment the three approached Muxiang, he released a powerful aura. Instantly, a few bandits within two feet with weak internal energy were caught in the aura's whirlwind, their clothes and skin torn. With a fierce cry, Muxiang began to cut down the bandits and the three martial artists. This time, there was no urgency, so Muxiang did not cut through their bodies but only made holes or cuts. He planned to sell their weapons to make up for the losses.

When the chaos began inside, the bandits on the watchtowers started shooting arrows at Muxiang. Muxiang used his lightness and agility skills to move quickly, so very few arrows hit him. If any did, he would block them with his sword. At one point, an arrow accidentally hit his back but was stopped by his protective aura, only piercing his clothes. After some time, the subordinates waiting outside eliminated all the bandits on the watchtowers.

After about fifteen minutes, there was no one alive in the camp. Muxiang had killed over 140 people. The remaining 60, who had tried to escape in a panic after seeing Muxiang's demonic slaughter, were all killed by the subordinates waiting outside. After the massacre, Muxiang told his subordinates waiting outside:

"If there are any survivors, make sure to finish them off. Not a single one should escape. There might be some hiding under the bodies. Check each one. Start from the outside and make sure to eliminate them. Even if they are dead, if their bodies are not cut in two, cut them in two."

"Understood."

While the subordinates were cutting the bandits' bodies, Muxiang entered a log cabin. There were twelve log cabins in the camp. Muxiang thoroughly searched each one. When he entered the fifth cabin, a naked woman was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket. Muxiang slowly approached and cut her body in two. After thoroughly searching under the bed to ensure no one was hiding, Muxiang entered the next cabin. Inside, fourteen people were huddled in a corner: thirteen almost naked women and the bandit leader. The leader was threatening the women with a knife.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill these women."

Seeing this, a deep killing intent appeared on Muxiang's face. He slowly approached and said:

"Since I was going to kill them anyway, do as you please."

The leader was taken aback when his hostage threat had no effect. If it wasn't to rescue the kidnapped women, why did this guy come? Then, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Did you come at the request of Tianling Convoy Company?"

"You know well. Just as you killed the porters to hide your theft, I must kill everyone here to hide the fact that I didn't bring gifts and ask for the return of the silver. Otherwise, I would be laughed at by the other convoy companies. Now, the rumor will be that Tianling Convoy Company offered valuable gifts and pleaded for the return of the silver, but you refused, so they had to eliminate the bandits and retrieve the silver..."

Muxiang slowly raised his sword. The leader, reading his face and aura, realized he could not escape death. And the women beside him...

"No!"

His scream was cut short. Because the head, separated from the lungs, could no longer scream. After eliminating the leader, Muxiang killed the remaining women. He could not let them go out of mercy, as they might include bandits. To ensure no one escaped, Muxiang's group continued to monitor the area until dawn.

In the morning, they thoroughly searched the bodies to ensure no one was alive. After confirming everything was handled, they started to move all the goods the bandits had stolen over the years outside. As noon approached, the convoy guards and guards from the convoy company arrived. Muxiang handed over all the goods and burned the bandit camp. He kept a watchful eye to ensure no one was hiding. After the camp was reduced to ashes, the group left. However, Muxiang led five subordinates back, hid their presence, and slowly approached the camp to wait.

As evening approached and darkness began to fall, the ashes of the log cabin where he had killed the naked woman started to move. After a while, a head appeared and cautiously looked around. There was no movement outside. A moment later, a bundle was thrown out, and a large man crawled out. The man sighed and whispered:

"Truly, they are formidable devils. They destroyed everything I built over ten years in one night. I must first inform my elder brother about their cruelty and seek revenge on Tianling Convoy Company."

He looked around and, seeing no danger, felt relieved. As he grumbled, he bent down to pick up the bundle and was about to take a step when a person suddenly appeared in front of him. He doubted his eyes. A moment ago, there was no one, but now someone was standing there. At that moment, cold sweat trickled down his back.

'Where did this guy come from?'

But his thoughts did not last long. As his vision flashed, he began to lose consciousness.

Muxiang examined the bundle the man had left. It contained gold and jewels. Muxiang ordered his subordinates in a low voice:

"Search the man's body and take anything valuable. You, pick up that bundle. What about the sword? Is it worth much?"

The man who was examining the sword said:

"It's not a famous sword, but it's a very good one. It's quite expensive."

"Good. Let's withdraw now."

"Understood!"

In the office, Muxiang and Fang Daren listened to the supervisor reading the list of items recovered from the bandits. Muxiang, who disliked calculations, was there to hand over the items to Fang Daren.

"The amount recovered this time is as follows: 85,000 taels of silver, 50 gold taels, 12 gold ingots equivalent to 120 gold taels, two pearl necklaces worth 1,100 taels of silver, nine gold rings with jewels worth 1,200 taels of silver, two gold necklaces with jewels worth 1,150 taels of silver, and various other trinkets totaling 8,430 taels of silver. One fine sword worth 500 taels of silver, one high-quality dao worth 40 taels of silver, and two high-quality swords worth 100 taels of silver. In total, 109,200 taels of silver."

"Anything else?"

"Also... All other weapons combined are worth about 12,350 taels of silver, 60 bolts of high-quality silk worth 50 taels each, totaling 3,000 taels of silver, 120 bolts of silk worth 384 coins each, totaling 4,608 taels of silver, 100 bolts of low-quality silk worth 25 taels each, totaling 2,500 taels of silver, 240 bolts of high-quality linen worth 12 taels each, totaling 2,880 taels of silver, 120 bolts of linen worth 10 taels each, totaling 1,200 taels of silver, 150 bolts of low-quality linen worth 8 taels each, totaling 1,200 taels of silver, and 300 shi of rice worth 11,520 taels of silver. Other miscellaneous items like grains and meat, totaling about 4,750 taels of silver, and the loose change collected from the entire camp, totaling 83,456 taels of silver. So, the total is 127,464 taels of silver! That's 663 taels and 168 coins... So, the total amount recovered is 101,583 taels and 168 coins of silver."

Hearing the supervisor's calculations, Muxiang felt somewhat relieved.

"Phew, it seems you've made a decent profit. Congratulations, Fang Daren."

"No! The bribes paid to the government and military to smooth things over, the costs of locating the bandit camp, and the costs of tracking the three who each took 5,000 taels of silver and fled... Considering all this, we haven't even broken even! If we can quickly catch them and recover some of the silver, it might be different, but otherwise, it will be a significant loss. Listen, Liu Biao!"

"Yes!"

"They each took 5