Lian Cheng thought for a moment and said, “Big Brother, Master is right. Your strength isn’t enough yet. So, Big Brother should train diligently. When I come back, I will teach you the Lian Cheng Sword Art and the Lingbo Weibu. Once you’ve mastered them, we can go down the mountain together and be heroes, how about that?”
Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong was overjoyed. “Second Brother, we have a deal then. Don’t go back on your word!”
“Hehe, naturally, I won’t go back on my word!”
Lian Cheng smiled, “But Big Brother, you have to train hard. When I get back, I’ll ask Little Sister. If I find out you’ve been slacking off, don’t blame me for breaking our promise, okay?”
Linghu Chong decisively patted his chest with a thump-thump, assuring him, “Little Brother, rest assured, I will train hard!”
Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze remained silent, simply smiling as they watched the two brothers make their agreement. Seeing how good their relationship was, and how Lian Cheng was even willing to teach Linghu Chong sword art and movement techniques, they were truly relieved.
Although Linghu Chong’s aptitude was not as good as Lian Cheng’s, he was still quite good. If he was willing to train diligently and learn the Lian Cheng Sword Art and Lingbo Weibu, he would certainly be a pillar of the Huashan Sect in the future.
The Huashan Sect would only get better and better!
At this moment, they heard Yue Lingshan plead, “Mother, Shan’er wants to go down the mountain to fight bandits too! Shan’er wants to be a heroine!”
“Hahahaha!”
Everyone was amused by the little girl and burst into laughter.
Lian Cheng, with his sword strapped to his back, followed closely behind Yue Buqun as they descended the mountain. Then, they went straight to the county road.
Based on the information provided by the county office, they quickly found the location where the merchant caravan had been attacked. Following the footprints, they searched all the way and soon found the bandits’ hideout.
It was located in a secluded forest. If one wasn’t actively searching for it, it would be hard to find.
The two hid discreetly and observed the situation in the hideout. They discovered that there were about thirty bandits inside, and their leader was a third-rate martial artist.
Such a band of bandits was indeed beyond the county office’s capability to eliminate.
They had to rely on martial arts heroes from the jianghu (the martial arts world).
Lian Cheng decisively said, “Master, these bandits are not strong. Leave them to me. You just help out on the sidelines. If I don’t do well, you can step in, alright?”
After thinking for a moment, Yue Buqun nodded in agreement, “Alright, consider it a test for you.”
After seeing the bandits’ hideout, Yue Buqun wasn’t worried about Lian Cheng. With his strength, even against the bandit leader, Lian Cheng could easily defeat him.
But it’s better to be safe than sorry.
There’s something called psychological shadow.
Yue Buqun knew that when Lian Cheng was a child, an entire village had been slaughtered by bandits, and he might have some psychological trauma. Seeing these weak bandits, he might hesitate, which is why he, his Master, needed to be there to provide support.
As long as Lian Cheng could complete the bandit extermination alone, it would basically mean he could handle things independently.
Having received permission, Lian Cheng walked directly toward the bandit hideout, swaggering without concealing his movements. He didn’t worry about the bandits running away.
Would the bandits run away? No!
Because Lian Cheng was so young, anyone who didn’t know better would think he was a child who had lost his way!
Well, if the bandits recognized the Huashan disciples’ attire, then it would be a different story. But Lian Cheng didn’t care about that. He walked swiftly toward the hideout with his sword in hand.
Seeing a child approaching with a drawn sword, the bandits guarding the gate burst into a ferocious laugh. “Yo! Which kid lost their way here…?”
Poof! One Sword to Rule Them All!
Seeing this, Yue Buqun nodded, completely reassured.
It seemed Lian Cheng didn’t have any psychological shadows. He was completely unafraid of the bandits. His first kill was also very steady, he didn’t even use his sword techniques.
Lian Cheng, however, was incredibly excited.
Even though it was his first kill, he knew clearly that he wasn’t murdering innocent people. These bandits deserved to die.
The bandits inside the hideout saw a young boy killing with a sword and were instantly startled. They all grabbed their weapons and surrounded the boy, trying to kill him. Not a single one of them showed fear.
Perhaps in their eyes, no matter how strong a little kid was, he couldn’t be that strong.
He must have killed the guard with a sneak attack.
Lian Cheng’s childish voice rang out, “Huashan Sect, Lian Cheng. I’m here to exterminate the bandits. Today, none of you will escape!”
The bandits were furious when they heard this. They were about to shout some curses, but then they saw the boy waving his long sword. Every time it struck, a life was taken, blood splattered everywhere, but the boy’s clothes were not stained in the slightest.
Suddenly, the bandits became terrified, realizing that this Huashan Sect disciple was a killing god.
They couldn’t possibly be his opponents. If they didn’t escape, they would die!
So, the bandits completely lost their composure and scrambled to run away, each trying to escape faster than the next.
Lian Cheng didn’t pay any attention. First, he used Bai Yun Chu Xiu (White Clouds Emerging from the Peaks), followed by Cang Song Ying Ke (Pine Trees Welcoming Guests), then Bai Hong Guan Ri (White Rainbow Piercing the Sun). Each move was a basic Huashan sword technique, just for practice.
These bandits only had a few who were below-average martial artists, most of them weren’t even martial artists at all.
Killing them didn’t require high-level sword techniques.
As for those bandits who tried to run away, how could they outrun a third-rate martial artist? Lian Cheng didn’t even need to use Lingbo Weibu. With a light step, he jumped behind the bandits, one sword strike for each, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.
Within a short time, all thirty bandits were killed, leaving only the bandit leader with a large saber in hand, his face contorted in fury.
“Damn it! I’ll kill this little brat!”
The bandit leader roared, swinging his saber towards Lian Cheng. His bulging muscles displayed his tremendous power, and the force behind the saber was definitely not weak.
Lian Cheng wasn’t stupid enough to clash head-on. With a flick of his foot, he easily avoided the saber.
Then, his long sword flashed like lightning, and the bandit leader’s hand and saber flew off. His wrist was severed by a single strike.
“You’re too weak. So, go die. Be a good person in your next life.”
Lian Cheng said expressionlessly, ignoring the bandit leader’s cries of pain, and stabbed his sword through his throat.
From the moment Lian Cheng appeared to the extermination of all the bandits, only a quarter of an hour had passed. His efficiency was undeniably high, and it also demonstrated his formidable strength.
Yue Buqun saw it all clearly and nodded in satisfaction.
This disciple really was exceptional! It seemed his burdens would lighten in the future. Once Lian Cheng reached the second-rate level, the Huashan Sect would finally have a disciple they could proudly show off!
Lian Cheng didn’t let his guard down. He carefully inspected the bandits’ hideout and confirmed that all the bandits had been killed.
Besides that, they found quite a bit of loot, at least several hundred taels.
This was quite a lot. You know, during the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver had a high purchasing power. One tael could buy three to four hundred pounds of grain, equivalent to five to six hundred yuan in modern currency. Hundreds of taels were equivalent to hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Adding the three hundred taels reward from the county office, this bandit extermination trip was indeed quite profitable.
However, the Huashan Sect was a major sect, and their daily expenses were high. Although several hundred taels seemed like a lot, they really didn’t last long.
Lian Cheng had previously asked Old Yue and his wife to understand the Huashan Sect’s predicament. He was naturally aware of the situation, so he didn’t feel much joy about it.