Chapter 28

At the sight of the overturned carriage and Zhang Jian standing there, staring at them, Yang Hong and the bandits were momentarily stunned. After a brief moment of silence, with no one daring to speak, Yang Hong was the first to regain his composure and moved to stand beside Zhang Jian.

He then pointed at the bandits who had just arrived and shouted,

"Did you see that, you bastards! This carriage is ours now! All of you, scram!"

Neither the bandits nor Yang Hong's gang were frightened by his words; instead, they looked at him with a mix of bewilderment and disbelief. However, Yang Hong paid no heed to their gazes and turned to Zhang Jian, saying,

"Hehe, Brother Zhang. As expected, you're amazing. It's a great relief to have a master like you on our side. What was that move at the end?"

"What move at the end?"

Yang Hong awkwardly twirled his short saber and replied,

"You know, when you caught the flying spear like that. It was pretty cool."

Zhang Jian met Yang Hong's eyes and said calmly,

"I see. It doesn't have a name yet. Do you want to learn it?"

Yang Hong was taken aback by this unexpected offer and hesitated. But then he laughed and said,

"Ah, I'm already too old to learn new skills. I couldn't even master what I was originally learning. Come on, let's check inside the carriage. We need to grab the gold and silver and make a run for it!"

With that, he dismounted. The rest of Yang Hong's gang, who had been watching, also approached. Since they couldn't take the carriage, their only option was to grab as much gold and silver as they could carry and flee.

At that moment, one of the bandits, who had been watching them approach the carriage, stepped forward.

"Stop! Don't touch the carriage!"

It was a woman's voice, firm and resolute, different from the one who had called out to the fallen bandit earlier.

Yang Hong smirked at the woman who had stepped forward.

"Don't touch it? What the hell. What are you going to do if we touch it?"

"The silver and gold in this carriage were taken from the people of this land by Xue Weiliang. They are the tears of the ranch owners and the blood of the miners. Do you think we'll let you, scoundrels like you, steal them?"

She pointed her sword at Yang Hong as she spoke.

"Just leave. We'll take the blame for the attack on this carriage, so just get out of here."

"Damn it! Are you crazy? You're bandits, right? And we were the ones who stopped the carriage, so why are you causing trouble? Do you really want to die?"

Actually, it was almost all me. Zhang Jian scratched the back of his neck, thinking. However, he agreed that it wasn't right to just tell them to leave.

After a moment of silence, the woman suddenly pulled down her mask.

"Sister! What are you doing!"

"Suyeon! What are you doing, ah, no, Suyeon, not... that..."

The other bandits were shocked by her sudden action. Some even called out her name, only to realize they were drawing attention from Yang Hong's gang.

The woman who had removed her mask said,

"My name is Jin Suyeon. I am the daughter of a ranch owner who was robbed and the sister of a miner who coughed up blood. We stole to reclaim what was originally ours and to show our anger to Xue Weiliang and Sun Guang. Want the gold and silver? Then you'll have to kill all of us. We're prepared to do that."

Yang Hong's face twisted.

"Damn... You're not a bandit gang but just the villagers of this town? I thought your sword skills were a bit awkward..."

"It doesn't matter what you call us. We're just trying to reclaim our rights and the fruits of our labor."

She looked at Yang Hong with calm, but cold, anger. As he muttered curses under his breath, the other bandits, seemingly moved by her, also stepped forward and removed their masks.

There were old men, young men who had just grown out of their teenage years, middle-aged women, and young girls. Some of them didn't look well. There were a few strong adults, but they didn't seem like typical bandits.

However, there was a certain resolve in the way they stepped forward and removed their masks. The Gong brothers subtly moved back and patted Yang Hong on the shoulder.

"Hey, maybe we should just leave. Do you really want to fight these people?"

"We should step back a bit. Unless you plan to kill all of them."

Yang Hong cursed again, then turned to Zhang Jian, as if asking for help. Zhang Jian smiled and stepped forward, quickly removing his mask.

"Let's check inside the carriage first. We don't know how much money is in there. Besides, from what I've heard, most of the ranches and gold mines around here belonged to Sun Guang, so the gold and silver in the carriage aren't all yours. We'll take our fair share, so let's take a look."

His words carried more weight. He had taken down three guards in an instant, dealt with the unexpected obstacle, Xue Shangzheng, and overturned the carriage. This suggested that he could have looted the carriage on his own.

After a moment of consideration, Jin Suyeon nodded. In fact, if Zhang Jian had insisted, they wouldn't have been able to stop him.

Seeing this, Yang Hong quickly approached the carriage and opened the half-broken door. The Gong brothers quickly joined him to help. They soon pulled out a person and a small rectangular metal block from inside the carriage.

Gong Ping grabbed the person and asked Yang Hong,

"Is this the guy? The informant?"

"Yeah. Jiang Shangzhu."

Jiang Shangzhu was unconscious. Gong Ping roughly threw him aside and quickly approached the metal block.

"Damn, is this a safe?"

"Looks like it."

As they hesitated, Zhang Jian, Jian Zhongchan, and the bandits dismounted and gathered around. They saw a rectangular metal block with handles on both sides. It wasn't very large, but if it contained only gold and silver, it wasn't small either.

Gong Ping asked Yang Hong, who was examining it,

"What the hell. Can you open this? There's no keyhole."

"Wait a moment. Damn, that guy didn't mention this..."

"That guy? That guy? Jiang Shangzhu?"

Yang Hong nodded, and Gong Ping immediately approached the unconscious Jiang Shangzhu and slapped his face.

"Hey! Wake up! Wake up!"

The sound of the slaps was loud, and Jiang Shangzhu woke up, looking around in confusion. But Gong Ping, showing no sympathy, slapped him again.

"Damn, snap out of it. Hey, how do you open this?"

"What, what, what... What is this..."

Frustrated, Gong Ping was about to hit him again. But Gong Lang grabbed his hand, pushed him away, and leaned in close to Jiang Shangzhu.

"Jiang Shangzhu?"

"Y-Yes, I'm Jiang Shangzhu."

"Do you understand what's happening?"

"Th-The bandits appeared, and Xue Shangzheng climbed onto the carriage roof to stop them..."

Gong Lang grabbed Jiang Shangzhu's chin and made him look at him.

"Right, you seem to understand. Do you remember the deal we made?"

"Deal...? Ah! Yes, of course. I remember."

Nodding, Gong Lang pulled Jiang Shangzhu's chin to look at the metal block and said,

"Good, you remember the deal. Now, how do you open this?"

But Jiang Shangzhu hesitated, rolling his eyes and looking around. Seeing this, Gong Ping rolled up his sleeves and said,

"You! Aren't you going to talk? We made a deal!"

"Deal or no deal! The deal was with all five of us! Who are these guys? They're from the nearby villages! Ranch people! I know them all! And you're holding me like this, what deal? Damn! If I tell you how to open it, you'll kill me! I won't say anything!"

"What the hell?"

Gong Ping's face turned red as he moved to hit him. But Yang Hong stopped him and made Gong Lang step back, then squatted in front of Jiang Shangzhu and spoke calmly.

"Friend, do you remember our deal? We agreed to work together, split the money, and go our separate ways. You need to tell us how to open this to get the money. You said you wanted to pay off your gambling debts and go to the Central Plains, right? You wanted to see Chang'an, right? We need to split the money. Don't you agree?"

"Will you not kill me?"

Yang Hong smiled and shook his head.

"Of course not, friend."

"Kill him."

Yang Hong, momentarily confused by what he had heard, slowly turned his head. There, Jin Suyeon was standing with her arms crossed, looking down at them with a stern face.

Yang Hong, taken aback, asked,

"What do you mean?"

"He's the one who locked the Huo couple in their house and set it on fire. He can't be spared."

Jin Suyeon's firm answer left Yang Hong speechless. He looked back and forth between Jiang Shangzhu and her, then shouted,

"Damn! Then find out how to open it and kill him! Why are you butting in now!"

Jin Suyeon remained silent, her stern face unchanged. Jiang Shangzhu, who had seemed to calm down, turned pale again, insisting that he wouldn't talk and demanding his safety. Gong Ping threatened to beat him up. The bandits shouted, cursing Jiang Shangzhu, Xue Weiliang, and Sun Guang. Yang Hong, pointing at Jin Suyeon, continued to curse her.

The sun was bright, and the dust from the overturned carriage had settled. People were shouting and arguing, but no one seemed ready to draw their swords. Zhang Jian, watching, laughed.

"This mess never ends."

"Exactly. A fitting description."

Jian Zhongchan, who had been watching the situation, laughed similarly and said. Zhang Jian turned to him and asked,

"Is your arm okay? It looked pretty bad earlier."

"It should be fine with good medicine. I'm okay."

"Let me take a look."

"No, wait-"

Jian Zhongchan tried to avoid Zhang Jian's hand, but he was caught. Zhang Jian carefully examined his injured right arm.

"Hmm. The wound is deep, but the bleeding has stopped. The tendons aren't badly damaged..."

"Did you learn medicine?"

"A little when I was young. I'm not very skilled, but I'm good with external injuries."

As Zhang Jian examined the arm, his eyebrows twitched. He felt something strange in Jian Zhongchan's arm muscles and skin. Zhang Jian unconsciously tried to send his internal energy into Jian Zhongchan's arm but stopped. Unlike the natives of the new continent, martial artists could be dangerous if they did such things carelessly.

Zhang Jian lowered his internal energy and wrapped the wound with his mask.

"From what I can see, the damage isn't as bad as it looked earlier. You couldn't even use your sword properly. Applying some good medicine later should be enough."

"Is that so? That's a relief."

Jian Zhongchan looked down and patted the bandaged wound. He then glanced at Zhang Jian, who was moving towards the people whose voices were gradually fading. Jian Zhongchan watched his back, rubbing his hand.

Meanwhile, Yang Hong, who had vented his frustration at Jin Suyeon, sat back down in front of Jiang Shangzhu.

"Damn. Tell us how to open it!"

"No! I won't say anything until you promise to spare me!"

"You bastard. You'll talk eventually, no matter how stubborn you are."

Jiang Shangzhu, frightened, asked,

"Are you going to torture me...?"

"Maybe. I can if I need to. Where should I start? Your hands? Feet? Or your eyes?"

Yang Hong, smiling as if he had caught him, said this. Jiang Shangzhu, trembling, finally closed his eyes and was about to speak when something whistled through the air and exploded in the sky.

The bandits, seeing the sudden explosion, muttered in confusion.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, but it's interesting. Look, the smoke has colors."

"Wow, really."

Only Yang Hong, seeing this, turned pale and pushed through the bandits to find the person who had set off the firecracker.

Far away, on the dry ground, Xue Shangzheng, who had fallen from the carriage, lay with his legs and left arm broken, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He held the firecracker shell, laughed weakly at the bandits, and then slumped over. Yang Hong, rushing over, found that he was already dead.

Gong Ping, approaching, asked,

"What was that? Smoke in the sky?"

"It's a firecracker. They're very expensive and rare. Only rich merchant guilds or the imperial army use them. And the fact that someone set one off means there are reinforcements nearby."

"What? But you said these were all the bandits!"

Yang Hong quickly ran back to Jiang Shangzhu and grabbed him by the collar.

"You! You didn't give us any proper information! What's this? Who are the reinforcements?"

But Jiang Shangzhu, seeing the situation, seemed to think he had a chance to survive and remained silent. Yang Hong, seeing this, finally lost his temper and was about to punch him when his hand was caught.

Turning around, he saw Zhang Jian.

"Don't waste your anger. Let's go."

"Where to?"

Zhang Jian looked at Jin Suyeon.

"Is there a place nearby where we can hide? You must have planned to hide after looting the carriage."

Jin Suyeon, looking at Zhang Jian for a moment, uncrossed her arms, turned, and mounted her horse.

"Follow me."

Zhang Jian nodded at Yang Hong and approached Jiang Shangzhu, quickly pressing various points on his body. Jiang Shangzhu, who had been trembling and clenching his fists, slumped over and fainted.

Zhang Jian threw the unconscious Jiang Shangzhu to Yang Hong, picked up the metal block, and mounted his horse, following Jin Suyeon. The other bandits and the Gong brothers quickly followed. Only Yang Hong and Jian Zhongchan, who had received the unconscious Jiang Shangzhu, exchanged a meaningful glance as they watched Zhang Jian's back.

Gong Ping, seeing this, shouted,

"What are you doing, damn it! Let's go!"

The two, hesitating for a moment, mounted their horses and followed Jin Suyeon.

A short while later, in the middle of the wilderness, only the overturned carriage, the dead coachman with a broken neck, the slowly dying horses, and the cooling corpse holding the empty firecracker shell remained.