Chapter 5

The small bonfire, fueled by dry twigs, flickered with a tiny flame. Zhang Jian broke a long, dry twig in half and tossed it into the fire. Despite this, the bonfire remained small and flickered uneasily, the light not very bright. If he wanted it to burn throughout the night, he would have to find more firewood from somewhere.

Zhang Jian didn't really care. Though the light was dim, his heightened senses made it as bright as daylight. He had lit the fire to keep the horse, Zaozao, from feeling anxious and to boil water for tea.

He lifted a small iron cup and took a sip of the slightly turbid tea, grimacing at the taste.

"This tastes like shit."

Zaozao, lying on the ground, mumbled something and then looked at Zhang Jian when he heard his muttering. Zhang Jian, feeling the gaze, looked back at Zaozao.

"What? Do you want some too?"

Zaozao, sitting in a haughty manner, looked at Zhang Jian with disdain and snorted, lying his head back on the ground. Zhang Jian grimaced again.

"There's no other horse in the world that likes to lie down as much as you."

Zaozao, as if understanding the rebuke, snorted again and scratched the ground with his nose, sending dust flying toward Zhang Jian.

"Damn it."

Zhang Jian waved his hand to disperse the dust. Sometimes, he wondered if Zaozao wasn't a reincarnation of a human. The horse was too smart for an animal. This thought made him recall his own secret, and his mood sank.

Reincarnation. In Buddhism, it means that a dead being changes form and comes back to life. This was the most unbelievable phenomenon he had encountered in this new continent and the thousand-year empire, and ultimately, he had to believe it. A young man from an era where airplanes broke the sound barrier and humans landed on the moon had died in an accident and been reincarnated here. Specifically, not in this new continent but in the Central Plains, as the son of a wealthy family.

"Damn it."

Zhang Jian, trying to suppress his emotions, took a sip from the cup and then frowned, spitting out the tea he had been sipping. He glared at the lying Zaozao and splashed the dusty tea to the side. Zaozao, like a real person, made a sound as if he found it amusing.

Zhang Jian, thinking he would sell this guy someday and get a new horse, leaned back and looked up at the distant sky.

The night was pitch black, and everything on the ground looked like a single dark mass. However, the twinkling stars and the Milky Way filled the sky with large and small lights, as if asserting their vivid existence. It was like seeing jewels sparkle in deep water, and Zhang Jian felt like getting up and diving into the sea of stars.

However, the distance between those stars and Zhang Jian was so vast that he could understand it in numbers but not in his heart. Even if he burned his entire life, he would never reach any of those lights.

Some might feel sad about this, but at least Zhang Jian didn't dwell on things he couldn't change. He took a deep breath, lay down, and pulled the thin blanket up to his neck.

It was time to sleep.

* * *

Zhang Jian woke up in the morning, lightly swung his sword to warm up, and then packed up the blanket and the bonfire. He lifted the still lying Zaozao and put the saddle on him. Zaozao, trying to avoid the saddle, snorted but couldn't escape Zhang Jian's hands.

After roughly finishing the packing, he took a small biscuit from his bag, mumbled, and climbed onto Zaozao. He was a bit worried about whether he would reach a village today. No matter how beautiful the night sky was, nothing could beat a comfortable inn bed and a warm meal.

He hoped to reach a large village. He needed to sell the jade ring he had taken from Yang Hong and find something else to make money.

"If I touch the tiles again, I'm not a human, really."

He slowly rode Zaozao while muttering. He had confidence in his martial arts and dexterity, but gambling was a different story.

Just having quick eyes and a stealthy hand wasn't enough to cheat. The key was whether the rest, except for one mark, had conspired. He realized this only after losing all his money.

While lost in these thoughts, Zhang Jian suddenly pulled the reins. Zaozao, startled by the sudden movement, shook his head nervously.

"Stay still, you brat."

A scream reached his ears, sharpened by his training and inner strength. The scream came from beyond a hill to the right.

Zhang Jian immediately pulled Zaozao's reins in that direction. Zaozao, understanding his master's intent, galloped toward the hill without hesitation. A cloud of dust followed them.

From the top of the hill, Zhang Jian and Zaozao could see a carriage stopped in the middle of a field, people lying on the ground, and bandits ransacking and destroying the carriage.

Among those who didn't look like bandits, only one person was still intact, kneeling and begging someone. In front of him stood a bandit, holding a sword and smirking arrogantly.

The kneeling person, wanting to live, begged while prostrating on the ground, but the next moment, the bandit's sword swept across his neck. The bandit, seemingly enjoying the blood on his sword, continued to smirk.

After killing the last person, the other bandits raised their weapons high and cheered. Zhang Jian, frowning, watched from the top of the hill.

In the new continent, only a few cities were completely under the empire's influence. In other areas, a martial arts sect maintained order or martial artists were dispatched through the martial arts alliance.

Naturally, bandits and villains who ignored laws and rules ran rampant everywhere. The smart ones blended in with ordinary people, while the less capable ones preyed on civilians in fields and deserts.

However, even these people, who had lived under the empire's strict moral code, had a sense of aversion to killing. Few engaged in indiscriminate massacres. The martial arts alliance's prioritization of murder as a top crime also played a role.

But just as there are always a few lunatics in any place, there were those who killed without regard for rewards or morals. These were either truly insane killers or practitioners of dark martial arts. Often, they were both.

At that moment, the smirking bandit turned his head toward Zhang Jian. His dirty face and glassy eyes glared at Zhang Jian.

The bandit pointed at Zhang Jian with his sword and shouted. The other bandits, who had been ransacking the bodies, quickly stood up and mounted their horses. They let out strange cries, like a grassland bandit group, and charged toward Zhang Jian.

A cold smile appeared on Zhang Jian's lips.

"Let's see what you've got."

He pulled out the sword from his waist while still on the horse. The long blade gleamed sharply. He lightly kicked Zaozao's side, and the horse, taking a deep breath, galloped down the hill at full speed.

A dozen bandits and Zhang Jian charged at each other.

The bandits, being bandits, hadn't practiced any formation. They just charged in a line. As a result, only two directly faced Zhang Jian.

As they passed each other, two heads separated from their bodies and floated in the air.

Zhang Jian immediately pulled the reins and turned Zaozao. The horse, usually acting like a calf, smoothly turned as if it were a luxury car.

"What! That kid killed Shangyan and Gumen!"

"Shit! Kill him! Cut off his head too!"

The remaining bandits, who had passed Zhang Jian, turned their horses and cursed. The different speeds at which they turned their horses inadvertently made them approach Zhang Jian one by one.

And one by one, their heads were cut off by Zhang Jian's sword.

After beheading about five, one of them bit his sword and kicked the saddle, charging at Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian grabbed him with his left hand, flipped him over, and roughly brought the sword to his chest. The bandit, split from his chest to his navel, rolled on the ground, spewing blood.

Seeing their comrades die so easily, the remaining bandits stopped their horses in shock.

"Shit! He's a master!"

"What the hell! Why is such a guy here?"

One of them turned his head and shouted at the bandit standing alone by the carriage.

"Boss! Help us, Boss!"

But if he really wanted to live, he shouldn't have taken his eyes off Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian's sword, which had already approached, split the bandit's upper body diagonally.

"Shit! Run!"

The bandits, frightened, fled. However, they headed toward where their boss stood, showing that they trusted his skills.

Zhang Jian, not chasing them, stopped his horse and watched the bandits flee behind their leader. The leader, with a murderous look, glared at Zhang Jian. He noticed that Zhang Jian, who was slowly approaching, had no blood on him except for a drop on the blade.

The leader, looking at the blade, raised his head and met Zhang Jian's eyes under the hood. Despite his indifferent face, his eyes were cold and ruthless.

The leader grinned and said, "Are you from the martial arts alliance?"

"No."

Zhang Jian stopped Zaozao and answered. The leader's smile deepened.

"Ah, then you're a passing knight? Are you going to continue on your way?"

Zhang Jian, hearing the mocking tone, gave a bitter smile.

"Are you crazy? You start slashing and expect me to just leave?"

"Well, that couldn't be helped. This is our business."

"Killing people and taking money is your business. What a fine bastard you are."

The leader, spreading his arms wide, answered.

"So what? The new continent has been open for over a hundred years. Who has dominated this continent during that time? The powerful, right? The martial arts alliance supported by the empire, the ancient families of the old dynasty, the merchant guilds, and so on. Haven't they been kicking the backs of those settling in the new continent and picking up money for a hundred years?"

The leader, still smiling, licked his yellow, rotten teeth.

"I just added my share. So it's a job. They would call what they do a job too."

Zhang Jian, frowning, looked at the bodies behind the leader. Among them was a young woman, leaning against the carriage, holding a sword. Her clothes were torn, and her skin was exposed, possibly from being molested or searched.

For some reason, Zhang Jian felt like the woman's dull, dry eyes were looking at him.

He dismounted and walked up to the leader, stopping a few steps away.

"You thought I was from the martial arts alliance."

He flicked the sword and slowly sheathed it. The leader, seeing this, seemed excited, his mouth wide open.

"So there's a bounty on you."

"Right, right! There's a bounty on my head! If my recent activities are exposed, it might be even higher?"

The excited leader, breathing heavily, grabbed his sword with both hands, pulled it to his waist, and crouched, spreading his legs wide. It was as if he was gathering strength before an explosion.

Zhang Jian, loosening his grip on the sword, thought to himself. This is really funny.

As the empire's imperial army became the strongest martial arts group in the world, the development of martial arts focused on quickly killing opponents. As a result, the martial arts in this world were very specialized, unlike what he knew from novels.

Skills like lightness, long-distance hearing, or telepathy and object manipulation were either very basic or non-existent. Martial arts were solely focused on killing an opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Thus, the moment two masters faced each other in a one-on-one duel was exactly what was happening now.

The leader's eyes glowed a dark red, his thighs bulged as if they would burst, and his crouched body seemed ready to explode. The sword, filled with inner strength, glowed faintly red.

In contrast, Zhang Jian was calm. He stepped forward with his right foot, placed his left foot at a right angle, and lightly held the sword with his right hand and the scabbard with his left. Only his scruffy beard was visible under the tilted hood.

Despite the presence of a dozen people and horses, the surroundings were silent. The wind didn't blow, and no animals or insects made a sound. They were all silent.

At that moment, a bandit, watching the two with tense eyes, sniffed.

Simultaneously, two beams of light passed each other.

"Fast."

The leader muttered. Both he and Zhang Jian were still in the stance of extending their swords forward, but they were now facing opposite directions. Zhang Jian, hearing the mutter, didn't respond. The only damage to his hood was a small vertical tear.

However, the leader's waist split, and he fell to the ground, dead. Zhang Jian, through the tear in his hood, saw the remaining bandits in shock.

They immediately turned their horses to flee, but Zhang Jian, who had already approached, cut their waists, spilling their entrails.

After finishing off all the bandits, Zhang Jian flicked the sword and looked at the field of bodies he had created. He whistled, and Zaozao, who had moved a bit away, slowly approached. His calm demeanor was a stark contrast to his recent warhorse-like gallop.

Zhang Jian, amused by the horse's indifferent attitude, grabbed the saddle to mount. At that moment, a dying voice reached his ears. It came from the carriage.