Chen Ping's Sword

Chapter 389: Chapter 185: Eight-Fold Golden Locks, Supreme Strategy in War

No matter how urgent things are, they must be done one at a time.

Chen Ping gazed into the sky, forcefully casting aside the pressing feeling of the Beizhou Hu Cavalry’s invasion.

Though the Hu Cavalry is elite and the masters of the Celestial Witchcraft Sect might be strong, it will still take them some time before they reach Xingqing Prefecture.

It is unlikely that someone as renowned as Divine Master Duran, with such esteemed status, would act like a common assassin and engage in assassination plots.

I still have some time to prepare.

"Right now, the most urgent issue is the Cui Family. This is the most pressing concern; if we can’t get past this hurdle, there’s no point in thinking further ahead."

Chen Ping silently calculated in his mind, then laughed freely, "Let’s go, it’s getting late, once we leave this forest, we must be more careful.

If the Cui Family army detects something amiss early, and Cui Huchen hides within the troops ahead of time, it would be nearly impossible to kill him.

Several people mounted their horses, their hooves lifted lightly, out of the mountain pass.

The target, of course, is the merchant convoy ahead, severely struck by the Golden Eagle, suffering heavy casualties.

The convoy’s situation is quite unfavorable at this time.

It has already stopped, the carriages are all clustered together, forming a circular formation, the sound of shouting can be heard from afar.

They are not guarding against Chen Ping and the others, but are facing bandit mounted raiders.

The world is not peaceful now,

Ordinary people, walking alone in the wilderness, are very unsafe, hence they form convoys and also hire guards from martial escort companies to carefully travel the road.

Without martial protection, traveling the wilderness is tantamount to carrying one’s head on a platter, completely seeking one’s own end.

Let alone trading, whether one can reach the destination depends on whether the bandits along the way will show mercy.

"It must be the earlier attack by the Golden Eagle that left the convoy with heavy casualties, thus showing weakness, and the bandit raiders on the side saw through their defenses."

Han Wushang, with just one glance, understood what was happening.

Those bandits on the plains are like hyenas, wandering constantly on the side, impossible to fully wipe out or subjugate.

Because they are originally composed of defeated soldiers and displaced people, once exposed to bloodshed, they have long discarded their humanity, knowing only slaughter and plunder, committing all kinds of evil.

Such people live for today, without tomorrow, all carrying a painful past and bringing pain to others.

Rather than calling them humans, one might as well call them walking corpses, living specters would be more fitting.

Seeing the convoy’s weak martial force, how could they bear to wait, so they howled and, with eyes red, crazily charged forth.

Killing whoever they see, snatching women,.

Like evil ghosts.

"Should we go over?"

Han Xiaoru looked at her dress, her hand already resting on the large wooden box, hearing the broadsword inside humming lightly, evidently her heart moved to kill.

Though she was no longer the naive, pure girl she had been, having undergone battle training and holding countless bloody deeds in her hand, she still felt some compassion.

She was inclined to intervene, yet worried about revealing something, disrupting her brother disciple’s plan to infiltrate Xianggu County.

"Of course, we should go. It would have been one thing had we not seen it, but since we did, there’s no reason to just stand by. Master, Master Uncle, leave these bandits to you; only first-rate skills are needed."

He had already seen through the security leader of the convoy, and the leader of the bandits, only at a second-rate level of strength.

With first-rate skills, dealing with them is easy, and it won’t reveal our sect’s origins.

A casual move can wipe them out.

"Rest assured, if we couldn’t handle such a minor issue, we wouldn’t have the face to act alongside you."

Han Wushang self-deprecatingly said, then spurred his horse swiftly, first among the group, sword in hand, charging into the bandits.

Sunx Yun said nothing, conveying his intent through actions.

With a swing of the long sword, following the horse’s charge, like autumn leaves swirling, slicing through the bandits like cutting through grass.

The bandit leader, wielding a sharp axe, roared fiercely, cutting down the security leader’s broadsword, slashing his left shoulder, about to break through the guards and slaughter wantonly, when suddenly a rider approached, filled with murderous aura.

He managed to raise his axe to shield his chest, only to be pierced between the eyebrows by a sword.

Without a sound, he fell from his horse.

There was really nothing much to say thereafter; of the over three hundred bandits, more than two hundred were killed, the remaining twenty to thirty fled in terror.

Sunx Yun and Han Wushang did not pursue.

Slaying these bandits brought them no joy, nor any dissatisfaction, it was simply done upon sight, chasing would be unnecessary.

That’s how the world is, a vast realm filled with chaos, evil people abound, today one is human, tomorrow a ghost.

Killing cannot thoroughly cleanse.

Only with a large regime setting down rules can the malicious intent in people’s hearts be restrained, allowing such disorder to cease.

"Thank you both heroes for rescuing us, I am Peng Guangfu from Wangcheng’s Peng’s Trading Company, may I ask..."

A plump middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy civilian scrambled from the grass, bowing repeatedly, smiling profusely, while talking, he adjusted his silk attire.

"I’m Li by surname, I won’t mention my name. This journey is to escort the young master and lady of my clan to Xianggu, having heard that the finest herbs from Xianggu’s flowering fields benefit the body and calm the nerves, we came specifically to seek some. Encountered injustice on the road, drew our blades to aid, no thanks are needed."

Han Wushang tightened the hat on his head, not wanting to expose his iconic bald head.