"Cha!"
A faint sound echoed as the tree trunks blocking the bandit’s way were all chopped down, scattering on the ground. The middle-aged bandit looked up and saw the distance between him and his prey had once again widened.
"Really crafty, but where can you run off to in the end?"
"This granddaddy will cut you down today!" As he measured the small rogue’s pace, the middle-aged man followed on with a much more relaxed stance. From the exchange right now he had felt that the scoundrel was soon going to be exhausted.
He followed closely and dealt any obstacle with his blade.
"Hua -"
Within the dense forest, even the Pei Ziyun who was familiar with the surrounding had to often search and determined his position. Usually there would be traps and snares laid by hunters inside those woods, traps that could be of use to him, but unfortunately he had no time at all to be searching for them.
Huahua the sound of cutting vegetation and foliage brushed aside sounded behind him, approaching very fast. The middle-aged bandit roared: "You lowly servant, you can’t get away - you’re already dead for certain!"
Pei Ziyun ran in big strides. His body just recovered from severe sickness, and although he still had skills from previous lives, but a man of superior strength could crush ten men of higher skills. No matter how many tricks he had it would be difficult for him to resist the Black Wind bandit’s blade. At first he still had strength to trick and scheme, but fleeing all this way had used up almost his entire strength. At least he still had his familiarity with the woods, or else he wouldn’t be able to contend with his pursuer.
Suddenly Pei Ziyun remembered there was a trail in front, it was an animal trail and a bit along that trail was a tripping rope some hunter had put there. It could come in handy.
His heart skipped a beat and his left hand gripped his machete. He sneered twice and endured pain and burning lungs as he resolutely strode on.
He directly went through a th.o.r.n.y bush, the many barbs p.r.i.c.king him like so many blades slicing flesh, bit by bit.
The Black Wind bandit following had no intention of getting covered in th.o.r.n.y spikes and lowered his pace somewhat, but even so he wasn’t slow. His nasty smile had widened when he saw Pei Ziyun’s last ditch struggles.
"This lowly servant is exhausted already but he’s still trying to run, he’ll be dead in the blink of an eye!" The middle-aged bandit couldn’t hold in his big laugh as he thought of his prey’s soon to come death. He handily sliced the bushy undergrowth while he approached step by step.
There was a trail that seemed to have been suddenly opened in the originally thick growth of dense thickets. The trail extending all the way into the mountain, and if someone observed it they would see it was very narrow, only a single man’s width with dense shrubs and overgrown cogon gra.s.s on both sides, with nothing else but the moonlight shining down on it.
Pei Ziyun was delighted as he saw this trail. He ran forward ten steps and rolled to the right, moving his body through the thickets and reaching an open s.p.a.ce laying half against the mountainside. There were a few scattered short trees there, quite a few twisty brambles on which grew small raspberries, their size from a small thumb to a big thumb, sweet and acid. On the rattans grew thin thorns.
His mouth felt like burning right now. He threw caution to the wind and directly picked the raspberries then stuffed them in his mouth, the sweet and acid fruit juice flowing as soon as he bit down on them. He panted heavily, the juice flowing down his parched throat.
Pei Ziyun savagely swallowed both raspberries and raspberry leaves and wiped his mouth without care. He leaned his head to one side and focused his ears on the animal trail. He counted, one two three!
Right when Pei Ziyun had counted to three the sound of displaced shrubs instantly came.
An instant later the sound stopped, and he seemingly heard a "kaxi" sound, the sound of something being hacked off.
Now he heard kacha kacha and the shrubs right in front of his eyes stirred!
"No good, the tripping rope didn’t work, now I have to run!" There was only such a thought left in Pei Ziyun’s mind at this instant.
But as soon as that thought came to him, "Pa!", the shrubs were split open and the middle-aged bandit walked from within the hacked undergrowth.
In front were some sweet potato vines linked together on the ground, and long traces on the ground that seemed like the vestige of wild boars digging through with their snout and overturning the soil. Pei Ziyun was only ten steps away but it seemed as if he had almost no more strength left to run, so he turned and faced the Black Wind bandit.
The middle-aged mountain bandit finally had a good look at the scoundrel he had been pursuing. At a rough glance it was an appearance that was still soft and immature, the mixture of sweat and mud on his face blurring his features. He was wearing green clothes covered in patches, and right now he was panting heavily, unable to run further. The bandit couldn’t resist a laugh and approached slowly saber in hand.
"How come you aren’t running anymore?" The Black Wind bandit grinned fiercely. He was approaching slowly, not because he wanted to let this lowly servant live a few moments longer, but because after chasing here hacking all his way through he was also a little tired and short on breath.
With his eyes staring unblinkingly at Pei Ziyun, he grinned and took the opportunity to catch his breath - this clearing was only ten meters big at most, no matter how this servant ran he would only need two or three breaths to catch up to him.
Going forward step by step, he suddenly charged forward with a roar: "Go die!"
Pei Ziyun licked his lips, his lips still carried the acid and sweet taste of raspberries. He seemed to be struggling in his last moments, moving to one side and fighting for his life. His vision swept past a tuft of underbush.
Moonlight was dim there, and the ground felt somewhat soft when he stepped on it… There was no way he could have forgotten, here many years ago a little girl with twin braids had fallen inside a pit.
"Fortunately I fetched the clamps only yesterday, how did you fall in?"
When she had seen him jump down her tears had poured out: "Stupid stupid - why didn’t you call some people, it’s so dangerous jumping down!"
He ran as the memory flashed across his mind. The middle-aged bandit didn’t want to prolong the pursuit any longer and ran behind him, crossing five or six meters in only 3 to 4 steps.
"Pa!" When the middle-aged man’s step landed his foot sank and he felt a wave of piercing pain biting deep to the bone. It seemed his foot had been caught by something. Blood gushed from it and wetted his skin and shoes.
"Ah, it’s an animal clamp trap!" The middle-aged bandit screamed miserably and instantly understood. Hate and regret filled his heart, he had already been tricked once, how could he have been so careless again?
The animal clamp trap was extremely tight and painful enough to make him yell. When he lifted his head he saw the scoundrel he had been pursuing slash his machete in his direction, his face full of mud and sweat: "Go die!"
The middle-aged bandit painfully lifted his saber in parry. The two metal weapons met and sparks spattered everywhere, almost as if splashing on his face.
During this exchange his foot had moved and his blood now flowed out faster - this was a trap made to catch wild pigs, and when caught in it the more you struggled the more it would tear your muscles and bleed you.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’m going to cut you dead!" The middle-aged man struggled on and wanted to hack off the trap on the ground, but Pei Ziyun’s sword flashed forward at this moment: "Kill-"
That voice was full of violence and didn’t seem to come out of a teenager. "Puff!" This time the middle-aged bandit hadn’t escaped completely unscathed and there was a huge b.l.o.o.d.y hole in his left shoulder.
"Ah, how dare you cut your father!" The middle-aged bandit screamed tragically. The feeling of approaching death made a mess of his mind and he wielded his saber in at random under the pressure of the gigantic pain.
Seeing the Black Wind bandit weaken, Pei Ziyun felt his heart lighten and a refresh feeling fill his body.
He couldn’t rein in a laughter that echoed in this clearing. Another machete strike fell down when the laughter hadn’t even fallen yet.
"Puff!" This middle-aged man had his hand holding the saber cut off. The weapon flew away from the hand. In pain, he shouted: " You dare to kill me - our fortress lord will come down from the mountain and take revenge for me!"
"Let him come then." A blade slashed down, spattering blood spattered.
"Hero let’s talk, I surrender, I’ll give you money. All the patrols in the county are on intimate terms with us, they won’t do anything to me. If you really kill me the Black Wind bandits definitely won’t let you off – " The Black Wind bandit was trembling in fear as he faced imminent death.
"Moron!"
Pei Ziyun breathed deeply, seeing this Black Wind bandit’s third master trapped in the clamp, all kinds of memories from the past life flashed through his eyes. Yes, it was time to settle this grudge. Although his body had reached its limit he still sluggishly raised his blade and pressed on step by step.
"As a new dynasty raises, the court sweeps its reforms on the hinterland and hasn’t bothered yet cleaning mountain bandits like you folks in distant areas. The prefecture capital only wants to preserve the local status quo, keeping matters in check, but founding a state necessitates a bandit purge. At most in a few years the court will send troops and clean the county, and then all of you will become scattered ashes and dispersed smoke. Exterminating you Black Wind bandits today is a kindness from me."
Saying such he was about to strike down, but unexpectedly at this time this third master of the Black Wind bandits knelt down despite the clamp and begged loudly for mercy: "Don’t kill me, I still have parents and children…"
Pei Ziyun squinted his eyes and was ready for the kill, but suddenly the Black Wind bandit pulled a dagger from his calf and threw it with the good hand he had left.
That dagger was mesmerizing under moonlight. Pei Ziyun rolled his body in shock and felt pain on his face. A trace of blood flowed down on his face.
"Go die!" Pei Ziyun wasn’t going to leave anything to chance anymore and hacked his machete on top of the middle-aged bandit’s head. "Puff" The man’s skull exploded and whitish yellow brain matter spurted out.
"Finally dead!" Under the moonlight Pei Ziyun gasped. His strength deserted him in and instant and he fell straight on the ground, tired to death with every part of his body filled with pain.
Resisting the pain he pulled dozens of thorns from his body and wiped the blood from his face. He picked some raspberries and threw them in his mouth. He sat, put his hands on the ground behind him and propped himself on them, quietly recovering his strength and breath.
After long while, his stamina somewhat recovered, he went and examined the bandit corpse. He was truly dead.
He tidied the bandit’s belongings. When he lifted the bandit’s clothes he discovered that underneath there still was a short sword with a refined appearance. Cold light filled his vision when he pulled it out.
Searching the rest of the corpse he found a wallet, and when he opened it he saw inside some pocket change, around 10 taels of silver.
This was all his war booty. Pei Ziyun laughed and graciously accepted it. He stood up and gazed at the scenerey afar. In the distance was a continuous mountain range. The mountain wind was blowing over his body at this moment, refreshing him. Looking down at the chaotic village beneath he felt a kind of heroic pride arise inside him unbidden. He removed the blood and soil, then headed down the mountain.
When he reached a big tree he suddenly heard "Zhi Zhi". Pei Ziyun immediately stopped, his gaze sharp again as he asked full of suspicions: "Who is it?"
"…is it big brother Pei?" The trembling voice came after a long while, and following that voice a person came out from the shadows.
Under the moonlight he saw it was Ye Su’er. Her clothes were disorderly and one of her hairpins had fallen, leaving half her hair scattered, but it was indeed Ye Su’er.
When she saw Pei Ziyun and then the blood on his body, she suddenly cried and she flew in Pei Ziyun’s embrace with tears flowing down.
Pei Ziyun was startled, in the previous life she hadn’t managed to escape, how did she come out this time? Seeing her sorry figure he suddenly understood.
This young girl had guessed his own actions and she had found courage she hadn’t had in the previous life as she came looking for him.
She really had a death wish searching for him under this kind of situation.
Pei Ziyun suddenly felt dazzled, he realized those were the feelings of tears and joy and happiness from the body’s previous owner.
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