Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“You—” the leader of the mounted bandits bellowed angrily. “Don’t push your luck too far!”

“I haven’t bullied you,” Chen Shu said, raising her stick and patting a flame out. She corrected him somberly: “You and your two brothers stole belongings, horses, and wrecked the inn stables—ending up like this? That’s exactly what you deserve.”

Her lecture was earnest, but it only stoked the big brother’s fury higher. Hearing that, he spat viciously at the ground and said: “Murder and robbery depend solely on strength. Today, my skills fell short; if you want to kill or fight, just get on with it. Enough of this high talk—it couldn’t even scare a three-year-old!”

At those words, Chen Shu gave a slight motion of her hand. The crimson flames enshrouding her obeyed instantly and vanished, leaving her with only a bare stick. She lifted it, pointing toward the bandit.

“I’ve already given you a chance,” she declared, then repeated loudly as if to an onlooker: “I’ve already given them a chance!”

The leader of the mounted bandits, perhaps knowing escape was futile, found a surge of courage from somewhere. He acted first; yelling out loud, he swung his curved blade straight at Chen Shu’s neck to hack her life away swiftly. He stood taller than her by a few inches, striking unpredictably and deadly.

But as he brought the blade down, mere half an inch from piercing her skin, Chen Shu simply blocked it with the stick in her hand.

Don’t scorn this stick—it was thin and small, blackened all over from the fire just moments ago. Yet even when he strained every muscle, red-faced and veins bulging, the blade couldn’t advance a single fraction.

After a tense standoff between the two, the man felt his blade knocked aside again by Chen Shu’s light flick, the impact jolting through his hand like a heavy blow, sending a sharp, explosive pain through his tiger’s mouth. Wincing from the hurt, he let go of the curved knife. Instantly, the Zujun blade was effortlessly sent aloft with that flick, sailing gracefully through the air before slipping smoothly into Chen Shu’s grasp.

With the iron knife now in her hand, Chen Shu didn’t immediately resume the fight. Instead, she curiously weighed it, repeatedly tossing it lightly in her palm as if she were not engaged in combat at all. Without even glancing at the stunned mounted bandit, she remarked lightly, “So light! Much lighter than my sword. How can something this light even serve as a proper weapon?”

This only stoked the bandit’s fury. Abandoning the thought of retrieving his weapon, he clenched his fist and launched a direct strike at Chen Shu’s face again. With agile ease, she merely tilted her head and shifted her body slightly to evade it. Her foot simultaneously swept out in a hooking motion. Unable to halt his momentum, the bandit’s shin felt as if it had slammed into an iron wall. An instant searing pain shot through his leg, forcing him to crash to his knees and skid half a pace forward, collapsing beside Chen Shu’s feet. He remained sprawled on the ground for a good while, unable to rise.

Chen Shu tossed the knife in her hand again, addressing the fallen bandit, “Judging by how much you cherish this knife—though I can’t say why—I’m a reasonable person. How’s this? I’ll honor your attachment… by using it to send you on your way. How does that sound?”

“Just kill me already… spare me the chatter!” the bandit gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Here I am, reasoning with you kindly, and you’re still ungrateful.” Chen Shu’s cheeks puffed out in displeasure. True to her word, she pointed the knife tip directly at the bandit’s throat. Suddenly remembering something, she added resentfully, “And you’re stingy, too—never even offered me one measly skewer of meat!”

Facing imminent death, the bandit erupted in hoarse laughter at her words. Lifting his head defiantly, exposing his neck, and locking eyes with Chen Shu, he declared, “Go ahead, little girl! Kill me. Eat my flesh! Sleep on my skin! If you even have the guts!”

“I’m NOT afraid!” Chen Shu shot back. Stepping back, she raised the knife with both hands and swung it down.

The iron knife tore through the air with an almost metallic reverberation. Resigned to his fate, the bandit bared his neck for the killing blow. He was on the verge of being cleaved in two when a voice rang out crisply from the mountain path leading toward Zhanglin Village.

“Hold it!”

The command, sharp and resonant, pierced the silence, causing the bandit—who had closed his eyes to await death—to turn his head instinctively. The door of the previously closed carriage had been pushed open, revealing two men inside. One was bound at both hands and feet—obviously the lookout from this bandit gang, captured earlier. The other, in gray robes, was just leaping down from the carriage and striding toward them. It was Yun Shen.

Chen Shu slowed with evident reluctance but didn’t turn toward Yun Shen. She withdrew the knife, though its point lingered near the bandit’s neck. “He deserves death! He stole horses, robbed and plundered!” She seemed to gain momentum as she justified herself, pointing at herself, then gesturing vehemently toward the dying embers of the campfire beside them. “He KILLS people! Sets FIRE!”

“You cannot kill him!” Yun Shen refuted sharply. “The nation has its laws! Regardless of whether horse theft warrants execution, even if his crimes deserved death by a thousand cuts, you cannot presume to deliver judgment on him in this wilderness!”

The rebuke, as startling as thunder in the quiet woods, startled even the bandit beneath Chen Shu’s blade. Only then did Chen Shu turn her head to look at Yun Shen. Seeing his resolute stance, she reluctantly turned back toward the bandit. Her knife point idly circled his neck for another moment before she finally looked back at Yun Shen again.

“Fine… What if I just cut off one hand?” she asked, appealing pitifully.

“No. Like I said.”

The knife tip slid down, tracing along the path to the bandit’s arm.

“Then what about just one finger?”

“That won’t do either.”

“Oh my! So unreasonable!” Chen Shu exclaimed in frustration. She released the knife, letting it clatter to the ground, and angrily kicked the bandit. The impact flipped him onto his front, his face striking the broad, unyielding spine of the discarded blade. He gasped and contorted in silent agony, nearly passing out again from the pain. Only then did Chen Shu seem marginally appeased. Turning to Yun Shen, she declared, “There! I assume that’s acceptable now?”

Yun Shen offered no reply. Instead, he pulled a length of rope from the carriage and approached. Seeing him ignore her question, Chen Shu huffed again. She snatched her sword, plunged it deep into the earth nearby, wiped her hands, and declared, “Fine! You do it! I don’t know how to properly tie anyone up!”

Her voice hadn’t fully faded when Yun Shen paused his stride, stopping about two paces away. Still silent, Chen Shu couldn’t decipher his intent and opened her mouth to argue. But before she could speak, Yun Shen raised his hand in a gesture for silence, then pointed meaningfully toward the woods.

The deepest hour of midnight lay heavy over the mountains. When Yun Shen first gestured, nothing stirred—save for the ragged moans of the semi-conscious third bandit sprawled nearby as he clutched his injured leg.

But Chen Shu understood the gesture instantly. Following the direction indicated by Yun Shen’s final pointing finger, it clicked. She began an “Oh” of realization before abruptly swallowing the rest of the sound.

Eagerly mimicking Yun Shen, Chen Shu gestured back. Her gestures, however, were likely comprehensible only to herself. Yun Shen’s eyes tracked the movements of her hands in puzzlement, and he finally shook his head to indicate he hadn’t caught her meaning.

Chen Shu, however, couldn’t care less if he understood a single bizarre gesture. She snatched up a stone from the ground and hurled it with startling speed into the exact patch of shadow Yun Shen had indicated.

Thwack! The sound of stone hitting solid flesh was followed by a low grunt. A figure stumbled clumsily out from behind a tree, landing gracelessly in a patch of grass at the edge of their camp.

“Another bandit?” Chen Shu’s eyes sparked with renewed interest. She jabbed Yun Shen excitedly with an elbow.

Yun Shen chuckled softly. “What bandit would be stupid enough to linger after spotting a terrifying presence like yours?”

Considering this fair logic, Chen Shu nodded. “True.”

They watched the newcomer groan, flail about through the grass and dirt for two clumsy rolls, staggering upright with a string of furious curses, before finally noticing them. He froze mid-tirade, eyes widening comically. An awkward, throat-clearing sound escaped him as he hastily brushed clumps of grass and soil off his disheveled clothes.

Chen Shu, mirroring his action, brushed a smear of ash from her own sleeve. Setting one foot firmly on the unmoving bandit beneath her, she demanded haughtily, “Who are you? Another one of these ruffians?”

“It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!” The man approached, waving his hand. Under the moonlight, his features could vaguely be discerned—he appeared to be no older than thirty, with a decent countenance. Yet his left eye seemed injured, covered by an eye patch, lending him a somewhat fierce look. “This lowly one happened to be passing through Zhanglin Village, staying at an inn there, when the bandits raided it. Thus, I set out to recover the stolen goods.”

“You’re also chasing these Mounted Bandits?” Chen Shu instantly believed him, her face lighting up as if she’d met a kindred spirit. She laughed. “Might I ask your honorable name, sir? How should we address you?”

“This humble one is surnamed He, called Yu, hailing from the east. This journey is but a coincidence,” he said, offering a slight bow toward Chen Shu. “I am fortunate to witness your martial prowess—truly awe-inspiring.”

His words made Chen Shu beam. Even her footwork grew unsteady; she accidentally pressed down harder on the Mounted Bandit beneath her, prompting pained gasps. Only then did she withdraw her foot and step back, preparing a feigned show of modesty. But someone else answered for her.

“This lass merely dabbles in minor tricks. They’re fine for intimidation, but wouldn’t hold up under real scrutiny,” Yun Shen said. “It’s your lightness skills that truly command admiration, brother. Mind you, my companion and I borrowed the last two aged horses from the innkeeper and galloped after the bandits for quite some time to reach this place. You arrived even earlier—extraordinary speed indeed. Might I ask where you trained?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Chen Shu added, oblivious to Yun Shen’s criticism. “Can you soar through the clouds too?”

“Haha!” He Yu boomed a laugh. “Milady jests! We’re all just ordinary human beings with two eyes and one mouth. Who could truly soar through the clouds? I come from Cold Pine Glen, usually fiddling with mechanisms—no master myself. I simply keep late hours. I happened to be awake during the robbery and was fortunate enough to secure my little horse. Having set off earlier than you two, I merely set an ambush here ahead of time.”

“You’re too modest, brother. You strike me as an admirable hero,” Yun Shen clasped his hands, smiling. “These three bandits possess considerable skill. Not only did you hold your own against them at the inn without yielding, but you also dared to pursue them alone. You deserve the praise: ‘courage incarnate’!”

“You’re too kind, truly undeserving praise,” He Yu shook his head. “Far from holding my own at the inn, I had already been defeated by the three, which is how they succeeded. As for this pursuit, I only wished to note their features and direction to report to the authorities later. I’m bound by my master’s orders on this journey and cannot afford delays. Even if I possessed such courage, I wouldn’t dare intervene.”

The two men traded compliments and modesty, a delighted back-and-forth across several exchanges. Chen Shu, however, grew bored.

Certain the man wasn’t a threat, her vigilance vanished entirely. She idly picked up the rusty dagger she’d dropped earlier, brushed off the dirt, and examined it intently. But his last sentence caught her attention, and she looked up.

“Where are you headed?”

“This lowly one travels from east to west, crossing Green Mound, following the Yushui River toward Diancang Pass.”