Chapter 241: Killing the Horse Bandits

Most of them knew some basic martial arts, while a small portion possessed a shallow amount of internal energy. The few leading them were roughly at the threshold of the second-rate level.

Furthermore, as soon as they struck, Lian Li could see that they all practiced the same internal cultivation technique.

Some had only learned the basics, while others had studied it more deeply.

Those who had studied it more deeply were precisely the leaders of this troop of horse bandits.

Lian Li roughly understood the internal structure of this bandit den.

He estimated that the low-level lackeys or those who had recently joined were only taught basic moves and horsemanship.

Senior members learned the introductory internal cultivation, and the small-scale leaders learned a bit more.

As for the bandit chief, he surely must have learned the complete internal cultivation technique.

Lian Li sighed inwardly. He had realized that ever since he came out this time, he had been constantly besieged.

When hunting down villains, it was common for him to fight one against three or four.

Since leaving seclusion twice, the last time he and Yun Huizhou fought two against nine, and this time it was actually two against more than forty.

Lian Li felt that this was no longer a question of how high or low one’s martial arts were, but rather a problem of being worn down to death by a war of attrition if he were to face them alone.

Yun Huizhou, on the other hand, remained very calm.

After the horse bandits surrounded the two, there wasn’t even a segment for shouting threats. With a wave of the leader’s hand, the other bandits swarmed forward.

Lian Li and Yun Huizhou had walked out directly, while this troop of bandits were all mounted.

About forty burly men on horseback charged at the two of them.

Neither of the two was short in stature, but the horses here were much taller and sturdier than those commonly seen in the Central Plains.

With more than forty horses charging at them, hooves raised high to trample down, the sheer pressure would make an ordinary person’s legs go weak at the sight, let alone think of escaping.

Even if someone had particularly strong mental fortitude and their legs didn’t give way, they were surrounded by the bandits with nowhere to run.

Moreover, a human could not outrun a horse.

In such a situation, one could either stand still and be trampled to death by the mounted bandits or run blindly and end up being crushed under the horses’ hooves anyway.

Many times, when horse bandits plundered merchant caravans, they didn’t even need to use the blades in their hands; they could kill everyone just by relying on their horses.

The bandits didn’t just ride and trample at random; they moved in formations.

Even for those with decent martial arts, falling into their horse formation by accident was extremely dangerous.

Occasionally, if someone wasn’t trampled to death and the bandits felt like it, they would tie the person behind a horse and drag them to death along the way.

Tying someone to a post to die of sun exposure was also a very common method they used.

Yun Huizhou and Lian Li, of course, would not let themselves be trampled by the bandits’ horses from the start.

Lian Li leaped into the air from where he stood, his whip lashing out to coil around the nearest bandit. That bandit reacted extremely quickly, immediately swinging his blade to block for a moment before leaning his body back to dodge the strike.

However, he could do nothing more.

If it were one-on-one, this bandit would have certainly been knocked off his horse by the next move.

But this was clearly not a one-on-one; it was two against more than forty.

Seeing their companion about to be knocked down and trampled by the horses, other nearby bandits immediately came to his aid.

Heavy blades, glinting with a cold light and capable of hacking through a horse’s leg, swung toward Lian Li in unison.

At this moment, Yun Huizhou also made his move.

The moment the saber in his hand left its sheath, it brought forth a flash of blinding light, causing the bandits near him to squint their eyes simultaneously.

Even when ordinary martial artists exchanged blows, a single mistake could cost a life, let alone when these bandits were facing a top-tier expert like Yun Huizhou.

In that instant they squinted, Yun Huizhou’s scabbard struck directly at the horses’ legs. Several horses immediately knelt forward as their front legs were hit, and the bandits on their backs tumbled forward. One bandit’s chest slammed directly into Yun Huizhou’s saber, losing his life on the spot.

While Yun Huizhou withdrew his saber, his other hand threw the scabbard, hitting another bandit’s neck.

The scabbard was not sharp and naturally could not cut the bandit’s throat, but the force with which Yun Huizhou threw it, combined with his internal energy, caused the bandit’s neck to twist into a bizarre angle instantly.

Even if he didn’t die, he would be paralyzed from the neck down.

In that brief exchange, the other bandits who had tumbled forward managed to adjust. They could only dismount and charge at Yun Huizhou with their blades raised.

Before the scabbard could return, Yun Huizhou’s empty hand struck the chest of the fastest-charging bandit with a single palm.

The bandit spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward, only stopping when he crashed into another horse.

The horse was startled by the impact and raised its hooves, stomping down right onto the bandit’s chest.

Although Lian Li could not yet be called a top-tier expert and his speed in dealing with the bandits was not as fast as Yun Huizhou’s, he was still among the most formidable of the second-rate level in the martial world.

Almost at the same time, Lian Li knocked away all the heavy blades slashing at him and lashed his whip against the neck of a horse that had closed in. The horse’s head was knocked askew, and the flesh where it was hit instantly split open.

However, his intention was not to take the horse’s life, but to make it feel pain.

In its agony, the horse let out a neigh, its front legs rearing high as it thrashed its body and collided wildly with everything around it.

The bandit on the horse tried to bring it under control, but among the bandits, except for the leader who had a specific horse, the other horses were not assigned to individuals.

If one horse went mad and wasn’t dealt with immediately, the horse formation would be greatly affected.

A bandit turned his blade and plunged it straight into the horse’s neck.

Instantly, horse blood sprayed from the neck, and no one nearby was spared.

Even the hem of Lian Li’s clothes was inevitably stained by the splashing horse blood.

Taking advantage of the enemy killing the horse, Lian Li immediately turned to attack the other bandits surrounding him.

The bandit who killed the horse, now without a mount, could only stand on the ground like Yun Huizhou. Lian Li’s attack left the other bandits near the horseless one unable to look out for him. Soon, he enjoyed the same treatment as the merchants he had trampled to death.

Seeing that his subordinates were clearly unable to handle the two, the leader of this attacking group of bandits stopped watching from the sidelines and immediately urged his horse to charge toward Yun Huizhou.

Seeing their boss take action, the other bandits quickly cleared a path.

As soon as the bandit leader engaged Yun Huizhou, he knew he was no match for him. He could only fight while calling his subordinates to gang up on him.

When the bandits realized their numbers had been reduced by half, while only one of the two opponents had torn robes and was slightly winded, and the other remained no different from before the fight started, they knew that if they didn’t retreat, all forty of them would be lost here.

Once the bandits felt the urge to retreat, things became even smoother for Lian Li and Yun Huizhou.

By the time not a single bandit was left alive, two hours had already passed.

They had chased this group of bandits for a considerable distance before finally taking down all forty of them.

Lian Li’s internal energy was now somewhat insufficient, and he felt extremely hot. However, the wind and sand were heavy; if he took off the cloth wrapping his head and neck, his head and face would be covered in sand in no time.