Lian Li asked, “How can you tell?”
Yun Huizhou signaled for him to look at the dead horse bandits on the ground. “Even though they are all horse bandits, there are still slight differences in the clothing and weapons of different gangs. Furthermore, they will have different tattoos or carry other distinctive markers on their bodies.”
“But look, among the dead horse bandits on the ground, some have scorpion tattoos on their necks, some have bone ornaments hanging from their left earlobes, and others have nose studs. These are three different groups of horse bandits.”
Following Yun Huizhou’s explanation, Lian Li carefully observed the slain bandits and found it was exactly as Yun Huizhou had said.
Moreover, he discovered that the ones currently fighting were the gang with bone ornaments and the gang with nose studs.
As for the bandits with the tattoos, they were already all dead by the time the duo arrived.
It was just that they hadn’t noticed it at the time, assuming they were simply casualties from the two groups fighting for a while.
Now, the two groups currently fighting seemed to be preventing each other from approaching the corpses of the long-dead tattooed bandits.
Once someone drew near, they would inevitably become the primary target for the opposing side.
“They are fighting over something those tattooed bandits had,” Lian Li said in a low voice.
Yun Huizhou’s gaze was cold and sharp. “Once we make our move, we cannot let a single person here escape. Otherwise, we might draw the ire of all three bandit gangs.”
Lian Li was startled and said, “You want to take the thing they’re fighting over?”
Yun Huizhou nodded. “I don’t see any supply wagons or packhorses here, so there is an eighty percent chance that what they are fighting for isn’t money or goods. It must be something small. It’s either worth a fortune or has a special function.”
Hearing Yun Huizhou’s analysis, the alarm bells in Lian Li’s mind rang again.
This sounded like a very “special” item—could it be related to the plot? His subconscious instinct was to persuade Yun Huizhou to give up.
But on second thought, the plot seemed destined to affect the entire martial world. Moreover, from the moment he decided he wanted revenge on Monk Suixin, he had likely already been drawn into the plot.
Not to mention, his Grandmaster was also paying close attention to this matter; it was likely unavoidable.
Rather than reacting passively, it was better to proactively seize everything he could get his hands on and investigate every clue he could find.
Besides, they were about to enter the desert anyway. According to the news circulating in the Central Plains, the climax of the plot should be happening there, tens of thousands of miles away from them.
They couldn’t exactly be considered at the center of the plot, and he wasn’t some weak fledgling anymore.
Thinking of this, Lian Li’s heart gradually settled.
Not far away, the two groups of horse bandits were still fighting, but they were gradually moving away from their original location.
The unfortunate part was that the direction they were moving in was exactly where he and Yun Huizhou were positioned.
Lian Li cursed his luck inwardly. He had originally thought that since they were fighting so fiercely, they would surely fight until only the last man was standing.
How great would it have been to just step in and scavenge the spoils then?
As it turned out, they were fighting their way toward him and Yun Huizhou. If they got any closer, the duo would have no choice but to strike early.
Fortunately, in this short span of time, another twenty or so bandits had died, and their numbers had dropped below a hundred.
And having fought for so long, not a single one of these bandits was without injury.
Many of them had already exhausted their internal energy and were relying entirely on raw physical skill to fight/brawl each other.
Lian Li’s hand moved to his weapon, and Yun Huizhou was also poised to strike.
When the group of bandits drew closer once more, Yun Huizhou was the first to charge out.
His blade left its sheath, a flash of light appearing; with a single strike, he harvested the lives of several bandits.
Lian Li followed closely behind, sweeping away all the bandits at the very front, sending them crashing into those behind them.
Yun Huizhou immediately followed up to deliver the finishing blows.
Even though there were more bandits this time, their victory came more easily.
However, just as they had killed all but a dozen or so bandits, twenty or so men in black suddenly appeared.
This group of men in black wore uniform clothing, their heads and faces completely covered with black cloth, leaving only their eyes exposed.
As soon as they appeared, they split into two groups.
One group consisted of only three people, heading toward the corpses of the tattooed bandits. The other group charged toward Yun Huizhou, Lian Li, and the remaining dozen or so bandits.
Their martial arts were not of the same style as these bandits. Yun Huizhou could even see that their martial arts did not belong to any of the bandit dens in this region.
These people practiced martial arts meant for killing.
They were assassins.
“Lian Li!” Yun Huizhou shouted. “Stop those three!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he killed all the bandits currently fighting Lian Li, then intercepted both the incoming assassins and the remaining bandits.
Freed from his opponents, Lian Li immediately pulled away from the fray and headed toward the location of the tattooed bandits’ corpses.
He swept his whip, kicking up countless pebbles that shot toward the three black-clad assassins like arrows. At the same time, he raised his left hand slightly, and eight poison-tipped short arrows followed in close succession.
He also moved toward them at his maximum speed.
He had not yet reached the first-class rank. Although his internal energy could be projected outward, it could not travel too far from his body; if the distance was too great, he could not perform air-shattering attacks.
Otherwise, he could have simply lashed out with his whip from a distance, and the opponents would never have dared to take it head-on.
However, the technique of using his whip to sweep stones was something the Lord of the East Island had specifically forced him to practice, and its power was not to be underestimated.
Not to mention those poison-tipped short arrows.
This immediately slowed the three assassins’ progress toward the tattooed bandits.
That brief delay allowed Lian Li to arrive in time and reach the tattooed bandits’ corpses ahead of them.
The three assassins reacted quickly, immediately joining forces to attack Lian Li.
Once he engaged them, Lian Li also noticed the difference in these people.
These three assassins had similar levels of martial arts and came from the same lineage. More importantly, compared to the coordination between fellow disciples in martial sects, these three assassins seemed more like they had been trained uniformly.
To put it simply, even if they were fellow disciples in a martial sect, they would often have their own individual fighting styles.
But this group of assassins had no personal style at all. Many times, Lian Li felt as if he were not facing three people, but rather one person who could create clones.
This was the most troublesome part.
And things were even more troublesome on Yun Huizhou’s side. In addition to the bandits, there were over twenty “clones.”
Both of them knew clearly in their hearts that not a single one of these twenty-plus assassins or the remaining dozen bandits could be left alive.
This battle lasted from dusk until nightfall.
The dozen or so bandits were all killed shortly after the assassins entered the fray.
Some were killed by Yun Huizhou, and some by the assassins.
Lian Li clearly felt that not only was his physical strength failing, but his internal energy was also nearly depleted.
However, one of his three opponents still remained.
