"Truly an extraordinary character." After seeing Liu ShengSheng convince his men into staying Zhu Jiu Village, Woman Indulgent Monk praised him inwardly. Yet mocking him at the same time, a man who submits to those more powerful than himself, heh, truly a coward.
Since Liu ShengSheng understood Women Indulgent Monk's hidden intentions, there was no need for him to make a move.
"Eldest brother Liu ShengSheng, what should we do with these two?" Fifth Brother asked as he pointed at Old Ren and Chen Hai, who were still restrained and at the mercy of these bandits.
Liu ShengSheng's face instantly turned cold as he fixed a fierce gaze on Chen Hai, who was the closest to him.
"Kill." He swung his butcher knife wildly at Chen Hai's head. The knife struck, making a dull thud, before shearing straight through. Chen Hai's head was split in two, as blood and brain matter poured out like a fountain, dyeing the ground scarlet.
Although Chen Hai was young and still developing, splitting his skull in two through sheer brute force was no easy feat. Liu Sheng Sheng's title of "Hundred Man's Strength" had not been bestowed upon him without reason, even though he was not a martial artist.
Fifth Brother, who had been restraining Chen Hai, frowned in annoyance as blood and brain matter were splattered onto his hands and clothes. He sighed, being deeply aware that Liu ShengSheng was always like this, completely dominating those weaker than him, leaving no room for disobedience.
"You devils!" Old Ren's pitiful scream rang out, assaulting everyone's ears in the courtyard. His eyes turned blood red as he cursed the bandits and unable to contain his deep hatred.
But more than anything, deep in his heart, he was blaming himself for Chen Hai's miserable death.
The boy he had watched grow up was brutally murdered right before his eyes. If only I hadn't insisted on coming back to this place, would Chen Hai still be alive? Only this thought repeatedly echoed in his head.
"Are you still humans? How could you cold heartedly murder a fellow human..."
But before he could finish his curses, Liu ShengSheng pounced on him. His seven feet gigantic body casting a shadow over him.
The only thing Old Ren could see was an elephant like figure crushing toward him at lightning speed, with its massive foot raised high. Already weak and old, and restrained by three men, he had no way to escape. Seeing the massive foot descending toward his head, he closed his eyes, accepting his fate. His only regret was Chen Hai's death.
Boom!
Liu ShengSheng's foot descended like a mountain, sending bone fragments, blood, and brain matter splattering in every direction upon impact. The force of the impact was powerful enough to send the three men restraining Old Ren tumbling backward.
As the dust from the impact died down, a brief moment of silence fell over the courtyard.
The only sound that could be heard was the blood spurting from Old Ren's neck as his headless body lay on the ground.
Confirming Old Ren was no more in this world, Liu HengSheng let out a cold snort as he shook his foot, wiping away the blood. "When killing a snake, you must crush it completely so it doesn't move anymore."
"Eldest brother is truly powerful."
"Sigh, every time I see Eldest brother's might, I wonder if he's even human."
One after another, the bandits couldn't help but exclaim in awe at Liu ShengSheng's overwhelming might.
Fifth Brother chipped in with the others as he curried favor. "Even back then he completely defeated us all fairly, even Third and Fourth Brothers, who are very powerful, couldn't even smack the dust off his clothes."
Before the Dragon Mountain River Bandit was created, there were many bandit groups within Yu Peak Sect's territory. One day, Liu ShengSheng appeared and defeated the leaders of all these bandit groups in one on one duels, emerging as the strongest. Thus, the Dragon Mountain River Bandits were formed, with all the former bandit leaders following him as their leader.
"I've dealt with these ungrateful fools. Now pick up their bodies and hang them in the middle of the village for all the villagers to see. This is the fate that awaits anyone who tries to escape from me!" Liu ShengSheng shouted.
A couple of men hurriedly came, taking Old Ren and Chen Hai's corpses.
Liu ShengSheng then looked toward Fifth Brother and ordering him with an obvious authoritative tone. "Fifth Brother, I want you to call our Third and Fourth Brothers. Since we now know other villages won't be attacking us, we will be recuperating while we wait for Yu Peak Sect's disciples to arrive. But of course, leave some of the men guarding outside the village."
Fifth Brother cupped his fists before replying and thought "Zhu Jiu Village had its own respected warriors and taking it over had not been easy we lost a lot of men during the battle, Eldest Brother is right. Since Third and Fourth Brothers are one of our strongest they need rest." After calmly thinking it over Fifth Brother respectfully replayed. "Yes, Eldest Brother is wise, I will immediately call them.
But he paused before walking away and asked, "By the way, Eldest Brother, isn't it better to keep Third Brother outside with me watching over him?"
Liu ShengSheng lightly closed his eyes as he shook his head, signaling Fifth Brother not to meddle in. "There is no need. I trust both Third and Fourth Brothers. Excessive suspicion and doubts would only tear our band apart."
Though he said this, in his heart he scoffed, so what if they all scheme against me, at the end I will tremble them all with my strength. Just like I had done before.
Even though Liu ShengSheng fairly won all the duels with the leaders of the previous bandits, some still held grudge towards him and were secretly scheming against him. But Liu ShengSheng could understand them.
All these previous bandit leaders were the strongest among their groups, enjoying all the benefits that came with being the strongest for a long time. Liu ShengSheng appearing all of a sudden and subduing them was a big shock to most of them, and naturally as people who once held high positions of power they didn't want someone ruling over them.
But due to Liu ShengSheng being overwhelmingly more powerful, they could only scheme.
Sometimes strength wasn't everything in this world.
After watching Fifth Brother off, Liu ShengSheng slightly turned his head and took a sneaky glance at Woman Indulgent Monk.
Woman Indulgent Monk grinned in satisfaction before standing up and heading into one of the rooms in the courtyard with the beautiful young woman.
Seeing that, Liu ShengSheng touched his chest and let out a deep sigh of relief.
A few seconds later, his eyebrows twitched, forming a tight knot as he fell into deep thought. "This Woman Indulgent Monk is truly as ruthless as the rumors say. Even if I hadn't killed those two, he would have done it himself, since I figured he wouldn't want his identity to leak to Yu Peak Sect."
"This makes me wonder if he'll get rid of us as well, since we know his identity and could possibly leak to Yu Peak Sect." As this thought came into his mind, Liu ShengSheng felt a heavy object pressing against his chest.
"No, no." But then he shook his head, immediately shrugging off the thought. "We have at least fifty men. Even if we are no match for him alone, if all of us were to disappear without a trace, it would inevitably draw Yu Peak Sect's suspicion."
"And if word spread that we were wiped out by Zhu Jiu Village, it wouldn't add up. We are far stronger than them. A complete annihilation would make no sense; it would be far too unnatural. Thus Yu Peak Sect would investigate the matter, and as someone who came here to take advantage of our misdeeds he definitely wouldn't want that."
Liu ShengSheng's expression gradually loosened. After assessing the situation and realizing Woman Indulgent Monk was unlikely to eliminate them.
"Anyways, that young man, Chen Hai." Liu ShengSheng had only a brief interaction with Chen Hai, but he couldn't help being impressed by the young man's determination to survive.
With a sigh, he said to himself, "He could've fetched a good price. It's such a shame he crossed paths with Woman Indulgent Monk."
Even though I can dominate these other bandits, I'm nothing compared to martial artists. There's always a mountain higher than another.
...
whoosh whoosh
At the peak of Yu Mountain, fierce winds blew relentlessly, fluttering Wu Jin, Hao Jun, Wei Long, and Xiao Mei Yue's clothes as they stood atop the cliff, looking down.
Below, nothing but unusual jade green clouds drifted across the vast expanse.
Wei Long cupped his fists as he faced the others and reassuringly said, "Brothers, this time it will surely be different. Two months ago when we first climbed this mountain, we weren't even martial artists."
Wu Jin nodded lightly, adding, "Right, back then we managed to climb this mountain through sheer will alone. How hard can it be now that we are martial artists and can use the essence of earth itself?"
He continued, a faint smile appearing on his lips as he swept his gaze over them. "By the way brothers, how about we make a bet?"
"A bet? All of a sudden?" Hao Jun's brows rose in surprise.
Wu Jin chuckled softly, replying, "Wouldn't it be more fun that way, to play a little game as we go down the mountain?"
The others exchanged surprised glances. Wu Jin's suggestion caught them off guard. It had only been about two months since they last climbed Yu Mountain, a journey during which they had witnessed the miserable deaths of many youths around their age. They had also come painfully close to losing their own lives.
"Is he afraid? Is that why he's suggesting a bet?" Wei Long wondered, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
At this moment Xiao Mei Yue's soft delicate voice came, "What kind of bet is it?"
"Yes, as long as it's nothing dangerous, we can attempt it." Hao Jun plainly said as he crossed his arms across his chest.
Wu Jin waved a hand casually. "Well, it's nothing too dangerous. Since we will already be climbing down, I thought a little game would make our descent a little more interesting. So how about it, whoever reaches the mountain foot first gets to collect three qi essence beads from everyone?"
"Hahaha brother, I like your way of motivating us. I'm in." Wei Long laughed as he patted Wu Jin's shoulder.
"I'm in, but..." Hao Jun too agreed to the bet, but then his eyes flickered with excitement as he added, "On the condition that whoever reaches the mountain foot first will not only receive three qi essence beads but will also become our leader."
This condition caught their attention as they wondered. why is he so obsessed with being our leader. at every moment Hao Jun got the chance he would put himself at the center of attention.
"Hmm, this might be my chance to get rid of his nuisances and also earn myself some qi beads." Wei Long thought as he plainly said, "I'm fine with that condition."
"I'm fine with that condition too." Wu Jin said, his tone obviously confident, as he quickly fell into thought. "I've always been agile, and now that I learned martial arts, I'm confident I can climb down this mountain without any scratches."
Xiao Mei Yue on the other hand did not say anything but silently nodded as the others looked at her after agreeing to the bet.
Being the only girl in the group, she was somewhat feeling down.
With Hao Jun taking the lead, they slowly started their descent.