The campfire crackles intensely as four valiant martial artists turn their back to it, each facing off a group of bandits, wearing all black and covering their faces
Li Wei facing West
Zhu Lian facing North
Zhou Xuelan facing South
Ming facing East
Ever the hot head, Ming rushed in first without hesitation
Bandits were shocked by Ming's ferocity but didn't relent, they too rushed in to face him
Feeling their Qi, Ming could tell that in front of him were Two Early Third rates, One Mid Third rate and one Late Third rate practitioner
The two Early third rates rushed in at him first, each holding out a dagger
Ming ignited his dantian as Chaotic Qi flooded forth from his stomach, he channeled them to his legs
//Flowing reed steps, Mid Bronze, Mastered//
With fluid steps, Ming dodged their daggers and countered attacked, lowering his stance and sweeping their legs
//Underhanded Thug Sweep, Low Bronze, Mastered//
Ming's shins like an axe, chopped through their ankles, his sturdy bones, reinforced by Lao Jiu's Bone Infusement art, shattered their ankles on impact
No stopping there, Ming counted those two as eliminated and rushed past them groaning on the ground holding their legs
One of the bandits took that moment to throw his dagger from behind Ming, channeling his Qi into his fingertips and flicking it
//Flying Dagger Flick, Mid Bronze, Familiar//
The dagger whistled through the air and lodged into Ming's upper back
"Ahhh"
Ming screamed out and turned back to see the bandit who threw it with his arms out stretched
'I was careless'
Ming thought as try he tried to return there knock them out for good
But before he could do that, another bandit rushed at him with another dagger, he flared his Mid Thirdrate Qi and stabbed at the disoriented Ming
//Green Mountain Stab, Low Bronze, Familiar//
The bandit put strength into his legs, fortifying his stance as he stabs towards Ming's Abdomen
Thankfully, Ming noticed in time and retaliated
Ming weaved his body to the side, dodging the stab and slumped his posture
Gathering Qi at his finger tips like claws of a tiger as he swiped up with vigor
//Staggering Tiger's Claw, Low Bronze, Mastered//
The bandit screams in pain as Ming's claw ripped out a significant chunk of his upper arms, the blood spewing out on Ming's maniac grin
Injured, the bandit hurriedly stepped back to retreat, Ming pressed on, deliberately blocking his path and getting into the stance for a Crimson Flame Palm
//Underhanded Thug Sweep, Low Bronze, Mastered//
Ming's knees buckled under intense impact as the Late Third rate bandit slipped behind him and swept at his legs
Crack!
"Arghhh!"
The sound of cracking bones ran out as the bandit cried out, sweeping Ming's legs felt like smashing into a brick wall, Ming's bones were surprisingly tough
Before Ming fell completely, he grabbed a handful of soil with one hand and hurriedly threw a half baked Crimson Flame Palm at the ground with the other, the impact just enough to propel himself back up right
"I'm not going down that easy!"
Ming smiled, his eyes still as deep as the abyss as he retreated where the two fallen bandits were
Both of them were unconscious from the sudden pain of their ankles shattering, only one of them held on long enough to throw the dagger at Ming
"Better safe than sorry"
Ming remarked as he raised his leg, collecting Qi at his right sole
//Flattening Curb Stomp, Low Bronze, Mastered//
Ming's foot landed on the unconscious bandit's forearms, shattering them, ensuring that they're completely out of the battle
The two remaining bandits watched in horror
"What's wrong? Can't handle a little pragmatic thinking from me?"
Ming chuckled, bent down, grabbed a dagger from an unconscious bandit's hand and rushed forward
The stronger bandit stepped forward to meet Ming face on
Ming prepared a stabbing stance with the dagger
The bandit answered in kind
//Green Mountain Stab, Low Bronze, Perfect//
The bandit executed his stab perfectly to block Ming's and even set up and counterattack
Unfortunately for him, Ming never intended to stab in the first place
//Heated Sand Splash, Low Bronze, Familiar//
With one hand, Ming released soil heated with chaotic Qi straight at his eyes
The bandit closed his eyes as the soil hit his facing, burning through his cloth mask and searing his skin harshly
Taking advantage of the moment
Ming weaved off of the way, dodging the dagger and pulled his other hand back
//Flying Dagger Flick, Mid Bronze, Novice//
Interpreting the way the dagger lodged into his body and seeing the bandit's pose after executing it, Ming completely copied the technique, Ming flicked his hand forward, throwing it directly at the injured Mid Third rate Bandit who was standing behind, trying to treat his own arm
The dagger flew and lodged into his stomach, making him cough up blood
"Wha- You brat!!"
The stronger bandit facing Ming screamed in anger, retracted his blade
Most of his face was covered but Ming could tell from his eyes alone that he was pissed
"One down, only one to go"
Ming laughed in his face and changed forward
The bandit stabbed forth at Ming's torso once more
//Green Mountain Stab, Low Bronze, Perfect//
Too late to dodge, Ming reacted quickly, he channeled chaotic Qi and grabbed the bandit's hand before it reached him
//Mountain Monkey's Grip, Low Bronze, Familiar//
It stopped his dagger, the chaotic Qi sizzling the surface of the bandit's hand
The bandit gritted his teeth and pushed forward, his Late Third rate strength slowly overwhelming Ming's
Ming tried his best to stop it but could only alter his aim, the dagger stabbed into Ming's left shoulder, spewing blood
"Fine! An eye for an eye then!"
Ming roared, taking advantage of the bandit's close proximity, Ming flexed his shoulder muscle, locking the bandit's dagger in place as he let go of his hand
Ming lowered his body and pulled his his right hand
In an instant, an overload of Chaotic Qi rushed into his palm, breaking skin in the form of crackling embers, Ming clenched his teeth, enduring the pain and palmed forward with all his might
//Crimson Flame Palm X2 Overdrive, Low Silver, Mastered//
Ming's palm of blaze and chaos smashed directly into the bandit's ribs, caving it in, broke his dantian and flash burning his chest
The bandit was immediately knocked unconscious, barely alive
Ming breathed heavily, straightened his posture and walked towards the one bandit left conscious
The one with profusely bleeding arms and a dagger in his abdomen
The bandit's face went pale, after seeing how cruel Ming was with his foes, it felt as if they were were fighting a wild beast (courtesy of the Beggar's Gu tournament)
Desperately, he looked around, seeing if there's any reinforcements coming but all he found was:
Li Wei, his clothes neat and stainless, gracefully sitting on a tall pile of twenty unconscious bandits, with their squad leader, who was at Mid Second rate, among the pile
Li Wei gracefully sipped on a cup of tea while watching over Ming from afar
Zhu Lian, her cloth slightly ruffled and burnt at the sleeves, casually tying up six charred bodies, unknown if they're even alive, her eyes periodically darting to where Ming was from time to time to make sure he's okay
And Zhou Xuelan tightly grabbing eight unconscious bandits by their hair, her storm gray eyes fierce, their bodies littered with small puncture wounds, dragging them towards Lian to let her tie them up
It was utterly hopeless, so the man began pleading for his life
"Please! Don't kill me, I'll tell you everything, please have mercy!!"
He pleaded with tears running down his face
"Alright, I wasn't planning on killing anyone in the first place" Ming chuckled and apprehended him
=================================
After a while, the four finished tying up all the bandits, treating them just enough so that they don't die
The one guy still conscious was watched over by Xuelan while Li Wei treated the bandits and Zhu Lian tended to Ming's wounds
"I did pretty good huh?"
Ming chuckled as Lian bandaged his shoulder
"You were reckless, hmph! You should've just stayed back and let us handle it"
Lian grumbled but Ming knew that she was proud of him despite her harsh words
"Hehe, thanks for always taking care of me Lian"
Ming smiled warmly and caressed her cheek with his hand, his smile and gentle touch instantly melting through Lian's tough facade
Lian blushes and refuted
"Of course! It's my duty to take care of you as your Young Lady!"
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
Xuelan butted in, baffled by Lian's statement that goes against everything she knows about master-servant relationships
"Don't butt in! Twintails!" Lian snapped back
Xuelan laughed nervously, scratched her neck and looked away
Just in time, Li Wei finished up with the bandit's treatment and walked to the group
"All of them are alive, we did a good job this time"
He smiled gracefully
"Especially you, brother Ming, this should be your first time facing bandits, correct?"
"Mhm, they were quite unpredictable" Ming remarked as his ache from the surprise attack earlier
"Well, you handled it well, and to think you copied their dagger throwing art on the spot, it was very impressive" Li Wei smiled, unable to hide his surprise
"Yeah!! How did you do that?? Where did you learn that flying dagger art??" Xuelan asked, confused, people don't just learn things after seeing it once, let alone martial arts!
"Oh I didn't, I just followed what I saw and it came naturally-"
"What!!" Xuelan gasped in amazing, this goes against everything she had ever known about martial arts, to learn a technique requires intensive practice, knowledge behind its principles and Qi flow, not to mention extensive mentorship
"Impossible! You're lying, right? Right?" Her disbelief was very apparent
"Don't be too surprised, Ming had been able to do that ever since he was little, he's that talented" Zhu Lian casually remarked, smiling proudly, his uncanny ability to mimic martial arts was the reason why Zhu Feng changed so drastically in the first place, even she can't help but be jealous of him
"It's a shame, Ming, you have the talent to reach so high, yet…" Li Wei's face turned melancholic when he recalled Ming's condition, although Li Wei is hopeful, Ming's Chaotic Structure Syndrome will get worse the stronger he becomes. Truly a waste of such talents
"A shame? What do you mean brother Wei?" Zhu Lian raised an eyebrow at Li Wei's odd statement
"It has seem I misspoke, think nothing of it miss Zhu Lian" Li Wei recomposed himself and smiles reassuringly
Before Lian could ask more about it, Ming spoke up and changed the subject
"Well, I suppose it's time we interrogated this bandit"
He said as he pointed to the bandit who's being tied up and awkwardly listening to their conversation this whole time