Chapter 44: Desperados
“Zheng!”
A faint sound rang out behind him—not the rustling of wind through leaves, nor the startled movements of birds and beasts.
Meng Xueli didn’t turn his head. He tightened his grip, and with a crisp “crack,” ‘Hundred Generations of Time’ split in half, revealing sharp blades that transformed into two short swords.
With his left-hand sword, he blocked an incoming blade at the front, while his right-hand sword flashed like lightning as he hurled it backward!
At the same time, he shouted, “Retreat!”
Before the three Han Shan disciples could react, Li Wei suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. Meng Xueli had struck him with the sword hilt, sending him flying like a kite with a broken string.
“Boom—!”
While airborne, Li Wei looked down and saw the ground where he had stood erupt in a sea of fire, waves of scorching heat surging toward him.
Splinters of wood and chunks of rock shot skyward, leaving behind a deep crater over three meters in diameter. The sheer heat of the explosion ignited the surrounding debris into frenzied flames.
A chill of fear ran through him.
What Meng Xueli had heard was the subtle sound of a blade being unsheathed.
It turned out there weren’t just five opponents—there were six.
This person hadn’t fired arrows or revealed their position, remained utterly indifferent even when their companions were gravely injured, concealed their presence entirely, and waited with cold patience until the perfect moment.
Because Meng Xueli had fought boldly, the four Han Shan disciples had ended up scattered. Taking advantage of this, the hidden attacker unleashed an explosive talisman toward the Han Shan disciple farthest from Meng Xueli’s position. Simultaneously, their blade flashed as they lunged straight for Meng Xueli.
At that very moment, the two enemies fighting Meng Xueli also erupted with sudden ferocity, their attacks becoming sharper and faster.
That earlier furious shout of “He’s not Meng Xueli!” had been nothing more than a distraction, meant to make him lower his guard and give their hidden comrade an opening.
Meng Xueli still had no time to turn around and simply shouted, “Throw it over.”
Their side remained unscathed. Including the unfortunate one nailed to the tree, Meng Xueli had already severely injured three enemies. Despite this, the opponents showed no signs of retreat—instead, they fought even more desperately.
He understood their mindset. It wasn’t about determination or courage; they had already invested too much. Since they had paid the price, they had no choice but to go all in and at least recover some losses.
The Han Shan disciples hesitated at his command. Li Wei was still mid-air, not yet landed—what were they supposed to throw? Him?
Zhang Suyuan reacted swiftly, rising into the air on his sword. He grabbed the short sword in front of Li Wei and hurled it toward Meng Xueli. “Elder Meng! Catch the sword!”
Although ‘Hundred Generations of Time’ had been broken into two pieces, they remained connected through an unseen bond. The short sword pierced through the gaps between the leaves, streaking across the sky like a living being with its own awareness, flying straight toward Meng Xueli. With a crisp *crack*, the two halves seamlessly rejoined, reforming into a long spear.
At that precise moment, Meng Xueli sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blade that had struck from behind. The tip of his spear swept across in a wide arc, forcing the two opponents in front of him to retreat repeatedly. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he thrust the spear backward.
This strike carried a sudden surge of true energy, infused with eighty percent of his strength. He knew that this person had been hiding in the shadows for a long time, only launching an attack at the final moment. That meant they were likely the strongest and most difficult opponent among the enemy forces.
Unexpectedly, the spear struck only empty air—there was no dull thud of a blade piercing through soft armor and flesh.
A shadowy figure had leveraged the momentum of the attack to propel forward, brushing past Meng Xueli and continuing ahead at full speed.
A sharp realization struck Meng Xueli—this was bad. The target of the second blade had never been him in the first place.
The two other black-cloaked figures, who had been forced back by his spear, swiftly rolled away to absorb the impact before regrouping with their companion.
In the blink of an eye, the dust settled. Zhang Suyuan and Li Wei arrived with swords drawn, just in time to witness Meng Xueli twirl his spear in a flourish before pointing its tip toward the ground. “Stop.”
The two hesitated in confusion. But when they looked closer, they noticed a corner of a Han Shan disciple’s white robe visible beneath one of the black cloaks. He Ming had been seized, his wrist locked in a vice grip while a blade pressed against the back of his neck. His meridians had likely been sealed, leaving his face twisted in pain.
A tense silence fell over the scene. A faint breeze drifted through, carrying away the lingering smoke and the scent of charred grass and wood. The forest was deathly quiet—no calls from birds or beasts, only the whisper of falling leaves.
The two sides stood ten or so zhang apart. Zhang Suyuan asked in a low voice, “Who are you people?”
The black-cloaked figures remained silent. They had worn these cloaks specifically to conceal their identities and make their ambush easier—there was no point in answering.
The one who had launched the final attack stood tall, exuding an imposing aura. He spoke in a deliberately distorted, hoarse voice: “Elder Meng, your status is far too valuable. We have no intention of taking your life. But this brat’s life? Not worth nearly as much as yours!”
Zhang Suyuan’s voice turned cold. “So you don’t care about your own comrades’ lives?”
Aside from these three, there were another three black-cloaked figures lying injured on the ground, too wounded to fight. Logically speaking, Meng Xueli’s group held the advantage.
But one of the black-cloaked figures chuckled. “Doesn’t matter. Our lives are cheap—dying is no big deal.”
Meng Xueli’s tone remained calm as he stated the obvious: “If a single Han Shan disciple is harmed, none of you will walk out of this valley alive. Why go through all this trouble? Isn’t staying alive better?”
Another heavy silence followed.
Then, the leader of the black-cloaked figures shifted the conversation, pointing at the embroidered pouch hanging from Meng Xueli’s waist.
“Exactly. Why go through all this? We have no personal grudge against each other—there’s no need for a fight to the death. The secret realm has just begun, and your jade talisman is still intact. Just hand over your storage pouch, and we’ll part ways. The road is wide enough for all of us, don’t you think?”
Meng Xueli raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression turning strange. “Are you sure?”
What was this situation? He had thought this was a revenge-driven assassination attempt, but it turned out to be a simple robbery?
Since when had bandits become so hardworking, ignoring the easy prey and specifically targeting the difficult ones?
Meanwhile, the black-cloaked men were also inwardly lamenting their misfortune. What kind of monster was Meng Xueli? He was nothing like the rumors.
Now, hearing his three-word response, their nerves grew even tighter.
If Meng Xueli truly didn’t care about his disciple’s safety and was willing to retaliate without restraint, then they were doomed.
Backed into a corner, they had no choice but to take the risk.
The leader of the black-cloaked figures knew that the more they spoke, the more unpredictable the situation would become. The more nervous he felt, the less he could afford to show weakness. He forced a menacing tone and barked, “Enough talking! If you don’t want him crippled, then pay up! We’ll exchange—one hand for the hostage, one hand for the pouch!”
Meng Xueli shook his head. “That’s not very sincere. You release my disciple first—once he reaches the middle ground, I’ll toss you the storage pouch. I’ll even erase my spiritual imprint from it so you can use everything inside immediately. I keep my word. What do you say?”
One of the black-cloaked men snapped, “Why should we trust you? Swear an oath on your Dao heart!”
“Alright,” Meng Xueli replied.
He Ming’s eyes widened in rage. Defying the silence spell placed on him, he shouted, “Elder Meng, don’t let these scoundrels threaten you!”
“Quiet!” The leader of the black-cloaked figures remained wary. “Swear the oath right now!”
A Dao heart oath was witnessed by the heavens—breaking it would bring inescapable karmic retribution.
Zhang Suyuan conveyed, “This is too dangerous. These desperate people have no sense of honor; if they get their hands on the storage bag, they will likely control their magical tools to attack us immediately.”
Meng Xueli replied to his companion through their minds, “It’s fine. Just do as I say.”
The figures in black cloaks were even more vigilant than they were, but everything proceeded smoothly. Once he confirmed his disciple was safe, Meng Xueli raised his hand, and a white silk bag flew through the air like a bird returning to its nest, landing on the opposite side.
As He Ming rushed back to the Han Shan camp, the leader of the black cloaks caught the bag and finally believed that Meng Xueli was not playing tricks.
Just like Zhang Suyuan had expected, the man pressed the storage bag, and everyone saw him scatter… a handful of pine nuts, which stunned them all in disbelief.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, retreating swiftly while opening the bag wide to unleash all his magical tools.
“Boom—”
A full ten pounds of pine nuts rained down like flowers from the heavens!
On the first day in the secret realm, a rain of pine nuts fell upon Biyun Valley.
After the rain of pine nuts, Meng Xueli soared through the air holding ‘Hundred Generations of Time’!
Author’s note
: Meng Xueli: It’s not a problem; it’s a rare treasure that Ji Xiao packed himself.
Juan Zhi: Ji ah, your Dao companion is so silly; can you really tolerate this?
Ji Xiao: It’s manageable; what can I do? Can we really part ways?
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
