Blade - Unbound

Chapter 15: Bandits and the Strange Serpent

In the jianghu, it was said that people of the same type could smell each other from miles away. It was originally just a saying, meaning that those same tricks and deceptions might fool ordinary folk, but never fellow insiders.

Yet for Li Yan, the smell was real. Ever since that night, his sense of smell had only grown sharper. The riders were still hundreds of feet away, galloping down the official road, yet the thick stench of blood on them could not escape his nose.

It was the stench of human blood. Not only that, there was a faint hint of decay mixed in. Fortunately, Li Yan could distinguish between different scents clearly. They had an ordinary smell, nothing like the eerie, intangible odors of the Cold Altar Soldier.

Sha Lifei, seasoned as he was, sensed something off as well. He immediately stood up and muttered to those nearby, “Something’s wrong. Stay sharp.”

He shifted into a guarded stance, feet neither fully squared nor fully angled, elbows slightly bent, and his palms hovering just inches from his blade. It was a standard defensive posture for bladesmen. He didn’t draw his blade to avoid provoking the other side and causing a misunderstanding. However, he was also ready to strike at any instant.

Li Yan recognized his stance at once. After all, his blade technique came from the same lineage. And more than that, he could tell that the old fox was leaning his weight slightly back. He was ready to escape at a moment’s notice.

The laborers around them grew tense, gripping their sickles tightly. Some had trained in basic forms, but others hadn’t. However, years of handling farm tools steadied their hands. If they were pushed to the edge, they could cut down their enemies just like reaping wheat. With their numbers, they managed to stand firm instead of scattering.

The hoofbeats quickly drew near. The riders reined in their horses and looked the entire group over from beneath their straw hats. Their weathered faces were grim and indifferent, but some had mocking glints in their eyes.

Li Yan judged them the moment he saw the look on their faces. They were definitely bandits. No matter their clothing or weapons, they all wore a loose black cloth around their necks. They could cover their face with a simple tug. Still, bandits had their own rules. In Li Yan’s opinion, they would have to be mad if they killed in broad daylight.

At that moment, Sha Lifei took a step forward, cupped his fists, and laughed. “There are five sacred peaks and five great lakes. In the northwest, there’s but one blade. You fellows look unfamiliar, where do you hail from?”

To outsiders, that jianghu slang sounded meaningless, but Li Yan understood. The five peaks and five lakes referred to everything under the heavens. Sha Lifei was probing their origins while subtly declaring himself one of the jianghu, hoping to make them hesitate. After all, there was a saying, Even a mighty dragon does not crush the local snake.

Sha Lifei wasn’t a dragon, and he was barely even a snake. However, that was how the jianghui worked. He could bluff first and see if it stuck. Normally, the other side would respond with the path they followed. If both sides could sound each other out and avoid unnecessary conflict, it would be for the best.

However, things never went according to plan.

The group gave no response. A few even toyed with their blades, eyes cold and malicious.

Then their leader barked, “Get going, you fools are just a bunch of dirt-poor peasants. Don’t waste our time.”

Li Yan’s heart tightened at his accent; it was nothing like the local dialect.

Qilu bandits!

There were many infamous groups among the outlaws of the land, from the Guandong gangs, Guanzhong bladesmen bandits, and Central Plains brigands, to the Qilu bandits, Taihu water pirates, and more. All of them were cut from the same cloth, since they all kidnapped, looted, and lived off violence. They all had their own territory, and rarely crossed into each other’s turf.

But, if the Qilu bandits were now brazenly walking around in the Guanzhong Plains, something was off. Sha Lifei had realized it too. His legs were already trembling.

Thankfully, the riders wasted no time and spurred their horses forward at the leader’s command, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

After a moment, Sha Lifei suddenly stepped forward, drew his blade, and pointed into the distance. “Bunch of ruleless dogs! If I weren’t looking after my people, I’d teach you a lesson today!” freewebnσvel.cѳm

Li Yan rolled his eyes.

They’re long gone. What’s the point of yelling at them now? Why didn’t you do it earlier if you wanted to take them on?

The villages, however, quickly hurried over to calm him down.

“Hero Sha, take it easy.”

“Yeah, don’t call them back!”

Sha Lifei huffed, sheathing his blade. “Just a bunch of bandits. They’re no threat at all! If not for your safety... hmph!”

An old man said uneasily, “Things feel off this year... Maybe we should move on?”

“Move?” Sha Lifei snapped. “They just left and might be heading for a fight ahead. You want to walk right into it? We’ll wait and let them pass.”

Li Yan grunted softly. The man might be a coward, but his instincts were sound.

But not long after, Li Yan suddenly sprang to his feet like a carp leaping from water.

Clang!

He drew his blade with his eyes fixed up ahead.

“What now?” Sha Lifei ran over in fright and asked.

Li Yan gripped his Guanshan blade tightly and muttered in a low voice, “Something’s coming.”

Naturally, he wasn’t referring to a person. He had caught another scent. The stench was strong, and it was exceedingly cold and damp. In fact, it was far stronger than the stench Third Blindy had given off.

A chill crept into Li Yan’s heart as he wondered if the creature had noticed his spirit root. But the midday sun was high in the sky. What kind of creature dared to roam around in the middle of the day?

Sha Lifei jumped in fright and he drew both blades that hung on his waist. He looked around vigilantly, only to see nothing. A frown formed on his face as he grunted in confusion, “Are you imagining things? There’s nothing here!”

“What is that?!” Heidan’s voice cut through the suspense as he pointed to the left.

Everyone turned to look. Golden stalks parted violently in the wheat field beside the road, as though something large was rushing through it. Just as everyone started wondering what it was, a massive serpent, whose head alone was as thick as the cover of a huge vat, lifted its head from the wheat fields, hissing softly. Its scales gleamed under the sun.

Strangely enough, there was a crest like a rooster’s comb on its head.

Someone yelled, “Crested Serpent!”

Many villagers turned pale as they recalled the stories. Folklore spoke of such snakes with rooster-like crowns. They were said to haunt graves and ancient tombs, feeding on yin energy and punishing grave robbers. A bite from them meant certain death. More importantly, they were no ordinary beasts. They were spirit serpents who had stepped onto the path of cultivation!

Li Yan felt his scalp prickle. To him, the sensation was even clearer. The serpent’s cold, foul aura was stronger than the incense of the Earth God’s shrine. What was even scarier was that its cold gaze was fixed on him!

His hand immediately reached for the red pouch at his waist that contained the Three Talent Demon Suppressing Coin tassel. At the very least, the creature had a physical body. He might be able to kill it with the artifact.

Though... Li Yan didn’t know if killing it would draw even stronger creatures.

“Don’t move!” Sha Lifei suddenly yelled. He glared at the serpent as he continued, though his voice had started to tremble. “I-I’ve heard these kinds of snakes know how to size people up. As long as we’re taller than it, it wouldn’t dare to come at us! Quick, stack up!”

The villagers didn’t question him. After all, they had all heard of similar tales. In the old legends, a snake that had started to cultivate would attack if they were taller than their target. That was also why experts who traveled the lands would often carry something tall like an umbrella, to make it look like they were taller and force the snake to back off.

Seeing how quickly it moved in the fields earlier, they also knew there was no outrunning it.

In moments, they formed a human tower. The stronger ones stood at the bottom while the lighter ones climbed on top. By no means did it look elegant, but their movement was effective. Before long, they had formed three-man tall human towers.

To their relief, the Crested Serpent didn’t move the entire time they were making their human tower. It simply stared at them, seemingly hesitating between attacking and backing off.

“See, told you it works!” Sha Lifei grinned. As the strongest among them, he alone supported two people.

However, the smile froze on his face the very next second. The Crested Serpent rose higher and higher, until it towered above their human tower.

“Quick, hurry up, go higher!”

“What?! Who the hell just jumped off?”

Panic broke out as the tower shook slightly. Unable to rely on those below to push him up, Li Yan simply jumped on a nearby tree before vaulting to the top of his human column

He had his blade in hand. Since he didn’t have a better plan, he could only follow Sha Lifei’s lead. For some reason, as he looked at the Crested Serpent, he felt like it was mocking them.

As the snake tilted its head to stare at the bunch of humans, it seemed to have heard something. It slammed its body back down into the ground and slipped back into the field, disappearing in an instant. All that was left behind was the rustling of wheat.

As the field swayed, the soft melody of a flute drifted over from a distance. Now that the snake was gone, everyone collapsed in relief, their legs weak from either supporting the others or fear.

One old villager couldn’t help but curse, “What the hell is going on this year?! First, we ran into bandits, now, this. Did we offend the gods this year?!”

Li Yan ignored the curses as he stared into the distance. He had a strange feeling the serpent hadn’t come for them. Instead, it had been targeting those bandits.

The scare had badly affected the group’s morale. Sha Lifei tried to rally them with some boasting and when he finally saw some results, they quickly resumed their journey.

Originally, they had planned to take the shortcut through the mountains. However, after the scare early in their journey, even Sha Lifei wasn’t feeling that brave. They stuck to the main road, even if it cost them an extra day of travel.

Fortunately, nothing else happened.

For all his hot air, Sha Lifei was still a seasoned bladesman who roamed the jianghu. Along the way, he asked around at tea stalls and traveling merchants about the whereabouts of those bandits. It seemed they had vanished after leaving the group from Li Clan’s Fort alone.

***

A few days later, Xianyang came into view. Instead of entering the city, the group headed toward a nearby village.

Sha Lifei puffed up proudly. “This year’s employer is generous. They are giving higher pay, and they have plenty of land. If not for me, you wouldn’t get such work!”

Li Yan barely listened as he scanned his surroundings carefully.

Sha Lifei had promised to bring him to Xianyang to meet Wang Daoxuan after the villagers were settled. He wondered if Wang Daoxuan truly had the skills he was looking for. And whether he would be accepted as a disciple... That remained a mystery.