Blade - Unbound

Chapter 97: Bandits Blocking the Road

“What?” Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. “What happened?”

The man wielding the broad blade cursed, “Nearly every household in our village makes paper. We used to have a regular merchant who bought our goods and settled accounts every ten days, but the caravan got robbed by bandits, and even the boss was killed.

“Those damned bastards! Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their own burrows! The merchant died, so how could we have the nerve to ask for payment? But the year's end is almost here, and no other merchant caravans dare come anymore, so we have no choice but to deliver the goods ourselves!”

He sighed. “Poor Liu’er and the others. How is their whole family supposed to survive now...”

Sha Lifei patted them on the shoulder and comforted them. “Don't worry. The road from here to Chang'an is still fairly peaceful. We've traveled all the way here without encountering much danger.”

“Thank you.” The man cupped his fists in gratitude, then hesitated before speaking awkwardly, “To be honest, we're from Shilipu. Since you're heading over Niubei Ridge, you'll definitely pass through Shilipu.

“The old and young back home are all waiting for food. We still have to continue on to Chang'an, but we thought to leave one man behind with a cart to take the bodies of Liu’er and the others back to the village. We're worried about running into wild beasts on the road again. Could he perhaps travel with your group?”

Li Yan thought for a moment before nodding. “That'll be fine.”

There was a severe bandit problem around Niubei Ridge. They had already planned to stop and rest while gathering information and figuring out a way through. Letting someone accompany them was no trouble at all.

The man's face filled with gratitude. “Thank you.”

Li Yan replied, “It's nothing.”

His expression remained calm, but doubts arose in his heart. No matter how vicious bandits were, they rarely preyed on nearby villages. First, there wasn't much profit to be made. Second, there were inevitably acquaintances among the villagers.

Some bandit strongholds even drew most of their manpower from nearby villages. Whenever someone could no longer survive honestly, they would simply throw a pack over their shoulder, grab a blade, and head into the mountains to become an outlaw.

Yet now, the bandit problem had become so severe that they neither feared provoking an official suppression campaign nor cared about offending the villagers below the mountains...

Something had to have happened on Niubei Ridge. Places called Shilipu could be found almost everywhere across Shenzhou.

The village name generally came from two origins. It could either come from major cities, so one would often find names like Wulipu and Qilipu. Reaching such a village usually meant one was not far from a major city.

However, it could also come from nearby relay stations. For example, Yingpan Relay Station stood near Niubei Ridge. It had once served as a military garrison of Cao Wei against Hanzhong before later being converted into a relay station.

Since wild beasts roamed the ancient Qinling roads, the convoy did not linger. They continued traveling after sunset and only arrived at Shilipu deep into the night.

As soon as word spread that people had died, torches quickly lit up throughout the pitch-black village. Many villagers rushed over, and soon, the heart-wrenching wails of grieving women filled the air. No amount of consolation could calm them.

Many villagers were visibly shaken at the sight of the mutilated corpses. Li Yan's group could hardly say anything and could only wait nearby.

At that moment, an elderly man leaning on a cane stepped forward and cupped his fists. “I am Guo Fu'an, village head of Shilipu. Thank you all for your assistance. I've already heard what happened. Had it not been for you, far more people would have died.

“I've had some hot food prepared for everyone. If you...”

Before Village Head Guo could finish, several men interrupted loudly.

“No!”

“Village Head, there's an old saying: cold coffins should not enter the village, and those fresh in mourning should not visit people's homes. They're a corpse escort convoy. The village already has enough troubles lately. If they bring bad luck—”

“Shut up!” Village Head Guo barked angrily. He turned, embarrassed, and said, “Please don't take offense. Country folk have poor manners.”

“No need.” Li Yan shook his head. “Is there a place nearby where we can rest? We won't enter the village. There's no need to trouble yourselves.”

The village head visibly relaxed at his understanding. Pointing southeast, he said, “There's a White Dragon Temple over there. It used to worship the River Dragon King, but after the river changed course, it fell into disuse. If you don't mind, you may stay there temporarily.”

Li Yan nodded. “Thank you.”

Without further pleasantries, he immediately led the convoy away.

After they had left the village some distance behind, Sha Lifei sneered, “That village head sure knows how to play tricks. Those men making a fuss were obviously his men. If he didn't want us entering the village, fine, but why put on that little show?”

Scarry Yue chuckled bitterly. “Hero Sha, corpse convoys aren't allowed into villages anywhere in Shenzhou. If we hadn't saved their people, that old village head might have sent people to drive us away long before we came up to them.”

Sha Lifei clearly knew the custom as well and could not be bothered to argue further. Though Village Head Guo was crafty, he had not lied. After traveling less than three li, the convoy spotted the White Dragon Temple.

The temple stood beside a dried-up river channel overgrown with waist-high wild grass. Under the moonlight, everything appeared dim and shadowy. The night wind rustled through the grass, producing a constant whispering sound, as though something lurked within.

The White Dragon Temple itself was small. It was merely a modest village shrine built through collective effort, consisting of a single tiled room enclosed by a brick courtyard wall. Though abandoned and with its wooden gate long collapsed, the structure itself remained sturdy.

Li Yan raised a hand to stop everyone. “Wait here.”

Forming his hand seal, he sniffed the air several times before gripping his Guanshan blade and striding into the pitch-black temple. Moments later, a chilling killing intent spread outward.

Everyone shuddered involuntarily, though fortunately they were familiar with Li Yan's methods.

When he emerged from the ruined temple, Sha Lifei quickly stepped forward. “Well? Is the place unclean?”

Li Yan casually tossed a rotten hemp rope onto the ground and shook his head. “Nothing serious. There was probably a hanging ghost.”

“What?!” Sha Lifei's scalp immediately tingled. “Did that old village head deliberately try to harm us?”

Wang Daoxuan chuckled, “Don't overthink it. The body was probably dealt with long ago. The villagers likely didn't know better and failed to clean things up properly.”

Turning to Li Yan, he asked, “Little Brother Yan, was that all?”

Li Yan nodded. “That's it.”

Without wasting words, Wang Daoxuan took out some salt and cinnabar from his robes and sprinkled them over the rope. He then attached a talisman and formed a hand seal to ignite it.

The rope was damp and rotten, yet after being ignited by the talisman, it burned with extraordinary vigor, crackling loudly while releasing a foul stench.

Seeing the others' curiosity, Wang Daoxuan explained, “If someone hangs themselves in a ruined temple, then either their resentment was extremely deep, or they knew some form of evil art. Even after the corpse is removed, the lingering resentment and yin spirit would remain attached to the rope. Sooner or later, trouble will arise.

“If my guess is correct, it would first enter people's dreams and possess them, urging them to worship the old temple's Dragon King. Then it would attach itself to the statue and absorb incense offerings.

“Many evil gods in various places are formed this way. Since we've encountered it, we may as well eliminate the future danger.”

“So that's how it is.” Old Meng, the cart driver, sighed in relief. “Thankfully we have Daoist Wang and Young Hero Li with us. If ordinary people ran into something like this, we'd probably stumble into disaster without even realizing it.”

It was only a minor incident, and nobody paid it much attention. Exhausted from the journey and with the night already deep, Li Yan had no desire to cook. After lighting a campfire and cleaning up the temple a little, everyone ate some dried rations and went to sleep early.

In the silent darkness, the ruined temple glowed faintly with firelight.

Far away beneath a wooded hillside, several figures slowly poked their heads out, and peered at the ruined temple below. Though they did not possess farsight techniques, the firelight shining in the darkness was impossible to miss.

“What did Granny Black say?”

“It's a convoy escorting a corpse.”

“Boss, those horses are worth some money, and they don't have many people. Why don't we hit them?”

“You idiot. Robbing a corpse convoy? Aren't you worried about bad luck?”

“What bad luck? We should grab whatever we can before we disband. Who knows if our stronghold will even exist next year?”

Those words caused everyone to fall silent.

“Fine.” a gloomy voice rang out. “A horse grows fat only when eating at night. Let's give it a shot.”

***

“Mercy, heroes!”

Torches blazed brightly as a row of men knelt before the White Dragon Temple.

Sha Lifei's eyes were swollen with anger. Brandishing his blade, he cursed, “You worthless bastards! This was the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in a while! You're just robbing people! Couldn't you at least pick a better time? Were you really that desperate?!”

The bandits shrank back nervously, occasionally stealing glances upward. The bald giant looked fierce and loud, but they had seen all kinds of ugly faces and fearsome appearances in their line of work. He was not the most frightening one in this group.

The one who truly terrified them was the fair-faced young man sitting there playing with a blade. They had merely launched a night raid, but that young man seemed more like a ghost lurking in the darkness.

Swift as the wind and utterly ruthless, he had injured many of them before they could even react. They had not even been able to light torches when they were basically crippled. Faced with such a formidable opponent, surrendering was their only choice.

Of course, they did not know that Li Yan, once night fell, already possessed two of the three great advantages, timing and terrain. Why would he fear an ambush? The reason he had shown mercy was naturally because he wanted information.

Seeing all the bandits staring at him, Li Yan glanced coldly at them. “Uncle Sha, count to ten. Whoever talks first lives. Kill the rest.”

“I'll talk!”

“I'll talk!”

“Move aside! Let me speak first!”

Before Sha Lifei could even start counting, the bandits surged forward in panic, some even starting to fight among themselves.

Li Yan raised an eyebrow, a little speechless by how quickly they were willing to betray their brothers.

Sha Lifei burst out laughing. “You idiots are surprisingly honest. Not a shred of loyalty among you. Fine, you. You speak first.”

“Yes! Yes!” The chosen bandit was overjoyed. He opened his mouth, then smiled awkwardly. “Hero, what exactly do you want us to talk about?”

Li Yan asked in a deep voice, “Why have the bandits on Niubei Ridge become so rampant lately? Did something happen in the mountains?”

“Yes, yes, you are absolutely right. Something did happen.” The bandit didn’t need any coercion as he immediately began pouring out his grievances. “You guys may not know this, but Niubei Ridge is huge and sits on the ancient Qin-Chu Road. There has never been any shortage of profit here. There are at least a dozen large and small bandit strongholds in the mountains.

“Originally everyone got along reasonably well, with each group controlling its own territory. Any fat sheep entering your territory belonged to you. Nobody pushed things too far either, so as not to attract government suppression.

“But just a few days ago, the largest stronghold, Old Dragon Fortress, suddenly announced that all other strongholds must submit to them. Anyone who refused had to get out of Niubei Ridge.

“Normally, merging strongholds and sharing incense isn't a big deal. But there should at least be rules. Besides, Old Dragon Fortress seems to have gone mad. They've become completely tyrannical and overbearing. But one stronghold chief refused to believe it. He personally led several experts into Old Dragon Fortress to investigate.

“That man was at the peak of the Dark Jin Realm, a genuine monster. Even so, he was killed. Only one man escaped alive, and he came back completely insane, constantly babbling about ghosts.

“After that happened, everyone had no choice but to accept reality. Some decided to join Old Dragon Fortress, but more chose to leave. So everyone started descending the mountain, hoping to pull off a few more jobs before winter arrived...”

As the bandit continued to ramble, Li Yan fell into thought.

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and muttered, “Judging from this situation, there is not only an expert involved, they are definitely from the mystic path. Even someone at the peak of the Dark Jin Realm was killed. With that kind of ability, why become interested in banditry at all? There must be another objective!”

Sha Lifei's eyes lit up. “I've heard that some highly capable tomb raiding groups discover major ancient tombs deep in the mountains. They don't even bother hiding it and often gather huge numbers of people to excavate them. Could there be some treasure hidden in these mountains?”

But the kneeling bandit shook his head. “What ancient tomb? To be honest, some strongholds don't just rob travelers. They also search the Qinling Mountain Range for treasure. We even have treasure-hunters skilled in fengshui and tomb excavation techniques under our command. There are no ancient tombs on Niubei Ridge.”

That answer piqued Li Yan's interest. “Oh? Then what treasures are hidden in the Qinling Mountain Range?”

“There are countless treasures!” The bandit grew animated, speaking with excitement. “The treasures buried in the Qinling Mountain Range are beyond anything you can comprehend.

“It is said that after Qin Shihuang unified the world and gathered all weapons under heaven, he forged the Twelve Bronze Men, objects of unfathomable mystery. During the chaos following Qin's collapse, they were hidden somewhere within the Qinling Mountain Range!

“There's also the ancient Huaxu Kingdom, rumored to have been a dwelling place of immortals...

“The most terrifying is the Ten Absolute Death Tombs, along with the Qin King's Palace of Immortality built by the early Daoists for Qin Shihuang, where the secret of eternal life lies buried!

“Then, there's the White Python God of Qinling. Some people claim they've seen it coil around an entire mountain. When it exhales, multicolored clouds fill the sky; when it inhales, the heavens become clear. It's said that obtaining its python treasure allows one to ascend to immortality instantly!”

The more Li Yan listened, the more speechless he became, until he finally exclaimed, “Enough, enough!”

Sha Lifei roared with laughter, “You fool sure know how to make things up. Why don't you tell us the Queen Mother's Peach Garden is hidden in the Qinling Mountain Range too?”

Wang Daoxuan chuckled, “The Twelve Bronze Men were melted down by Dong Zhuo long ago. Besides, the locations of some major tombs in the Guanzhong Plains were never secret. Yet every grave robber who entered them disappeared without exception. Even if such places exist, nobody would dare enter.

“What you're talking about are merely rumors spread among common folk.”

The bandit nodded repeatedly, though his eyes clearly showed disbelief. “Yes, yes. This humble one is ignorant. Please don't blame me.”

“Forget it.” Li Yan asked solemnly, “Can Niubei Ridge still be crossed?”

“No.” The bandit shook his head immediately. “If it had been yesterday, Hero, with your skills, sneaking through at night might still have been possible. But now, the roads are completely blocked.”

Li Yan frowned. “What happened this time?”

The bandit smiled nervously. “Just today, word spread that Lu Kang, the former Left Minister, is retiring and returning home. That old official used himself as bait to attract attention while secretly hiring several escort agencies from Chang'an to transport a shipment of expensive cargo back home.

“Since the shipment is worth an incredible fortune, the escorts didn't dare publicize it. They disguised themselves and traveled as a covert escort convoy.

“Now all the mountain strongholds have joined forces. They plan to swallow that shipment before disbanding. They've stationed guards on both the ancient roads and mountain paths. Not even a fly could get through.

“Forget merchant caravans. Traveling peddlers, opera troupes, even two escort agencies have already been stopped. And Hero, you're hauling such a large coffin, there's no way you won't attract suspicion.”

Sha Lifei cursed, “Well damn. Blocking official roads and planning to kill a high-ranking official? Your courage as bandits is unbelievable.”

The bandit laughed awkwardly. “We're disbanding anyway. Might as well make one big score first.”

Li Yan asked gravely, “Where are those people being held?”

“Qilipu. At the Long Wind Inn.”