The moment Su Yan spoke; a glint of malice flashed in Huang Sanhu's eyes.
"Naturally. My word is gold, little brother."
Su Yan threw his basket onto the ground near them. Huang Sanhu's eyes tightened. He signaled Huang Ba. Huang Ba instantly understood, grinned, and kicked the basket over. Silver coins and food tumbled out. Seeing nothing else, Huang Ba was surprised, then laughed: "The little brat is obedient."
Wang Heng moved forward, plunging a dagger toward Su Yan's waist. They were desperate; they wouldn't leave a witness alive. Wang Heng was a seasoned fighter, already at Great Accomplishment in Skin Refining, and ready to break through to Tendon-Bone after another year of training and supplements. His attack was swift and decisive.
But the dagger stopped just inches from Su Yan's body. Wang Heng's wrist instantly felt a sharp pain—it had been caught by Su Yan's hand. His expression changed drastically. This kid is no novice!
"Boss!" Wang Heng tried to warn his leader, but the words died in his throat. Su Yan's Ferocious Ape Three Styles struck.
With one punch—the Mountain Splitter style—he struck the side of Wang Heng's neck. The force was so immense that as the punch landed, Wang Heng's head lolled and snapped at the neck. Bone shards protruded from the gruesome wound. Fresh blood sprayed, staining the entire thicket.
'Good,' Su Yan thought. 'With blood energy augmentation, the Ferocious Ape Three Styles and the Golden Ape Jade Body Art complement each other perfectly, giving me immense power.'
Huang Sanhu and Huang Ba's faces immediately darkened. They rushed forward from the left and right, their daggers flashing like white silk. They were intent on striking Su Yan's head.
Shasha shasha!
The Velvet Fire Scorpion Bug shot out of the bushes. It opened its mouth and tail hook, spraying a crimson, fire-like mist of poison.
Huang Ba turned his head to see, but it was too late to dodge. He was completely enveloped by the poison mist. His eyes, instantly scorched, turned a ghastly white, and his vision went black. His skin, corroded by the venom, instantly turned crimson and broke out in festering blisters.
Huang Sanhu was horrified by Huang Ba's fate. He was instantly on high alert, but it was too late. The Dark Water Centipede swept past like a shadow, biting the arm that held his dagger. Crying out in pain, he dropped the knife.
"Vile beast!" Huang Sanhu was also a ruthless man. Knowing he was poisoned, he endured the agony and reached for the dagger on the ground, intending to kill the centipede first.
Just as he reached out, the sound of an arrow tearing through the air arrived. Thwack! His palm was shot through. Huang Sanhu looked up in terror, seeing Su Yan holding a Fine Steel Longbow.
With both hands injured, Huang Sanhu was consumed by fear. He realized the young man hadn't been fleeing; he had been leading them to their deaths.
Run!
'When I recover, I'll ensure your whole family dies!' Huang Sanhu leaped backward, covering two zhang in a few strides, moving like a startled antelope. With his Tendon-Bone strength—his muscles and bones unified, his skin tough as a shield—he should never have been forced into this situation, especially by those damnable bugs!
Huang Sanhu sighed in relief when he saw Su Yan wasn't chasing.
However, Su Yan merely sneered and drew his bow. What did a Tendon-Bone stage fighter matter?
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!Su Yan channeled his full strength, tensing his muscles, and fired three arrows in quick succession. The arrows flew like white streaks cutting through the sun.
Huang Sanhu heard the sound of air being torn and quickly dodged left and right. As a Tendon-Bone expert, his speed was considerable. He dodged left, avoiding the first arrow, which grazed his shoulder and embedded itself in the earth. The second arrow followed closely. Huang Sanhu caught sight of it, slowed down slightly, and ducked, narrowly avoiding it.
The third arrow was right behind. Huang Sanhu sneered, tilting his head. No matter how fast, it won't hit me.
But then, Su Yan released two more arrows in a quick sequence, flying so close to the third that they arrived simultaneously. Huang Sanhu tried to dodge but realized his technique had run its course, his energy supply was depleted, and his evasion was a half-beat too slow.
I'm done!
The thought barely registered before he tilted his head, avoiding the third arrow. But the two subsequent arrows struck true: one pierced his heart, and the other his brow. He was instantly killed.
"You almost got away." Su Yan fired one last arrow to pin Huang Sanhu's throat, then shot Huang Ba to end his suffering. He walked up to the three bodies.
He searched Huang Ba and Wang Heng, pulling out small pouches of medicinal powder and two taels of gold from their clothes. The remaining scraps were daggers and knives.
"They had some money." Two taels of gold converted to twenty-one or twenty-two taels of silver in this region. Given the martial prosperity, gold and silver had varied values and uses, hence the exchange rate was different from the modern world.
Su Yan stood over Huang Sanhu's body, pulling out the arrows. The arrowheads were slightly blunted and deformed.
'Tendon-Bone cultivation tempers all muscle, sharpening senses. The combination of dense muscle, tough skin, and bone density makes even ordinary arrows difficult to use for a quick kill.' Su Yan analyzed the fight, remaining vigilant. He needed either more vital point attacks or more follow-up arrows. It was fortunate that Huang Sanhu was a rogue fighter with no Supplementary Art; if he had body-tempering art, he might have escaped hundreds of meters further.
Su Yan collected the arrows. Though the arrows killed Huang Sanhu, the real killer was the Dark Water Centipede's venom. The Mature Stage centipede's poison was so potent that even a Tendon-Bone expert couldn't withstand it; the arm was already black.
He searched the corpse, finding ten taels of gold in the man's pocket, a bottle of Black Ginseng Pills, and a steel mini crossbow, barely a palm long, engraved with dark lines from an unknown precious mineral.
"This mini-crossbow, if used at close range, could pierce a Tendon-Bone fighter. They were indeed professionals at setting ambushes." Su Yan noted that Huang Sanhu's supplies confirmed he was a seasoned bandit—why else would he carry poison and a crossbow? These items now belonged to Su Yan.
'The Black Ginseng Pills are too risky for me to take directly, but they'll be great for the Dark Water Centipede and Velvet Fire Scorpion Bug. And all those poisons too.' He checked for cultivation methods but was disappointed. Although they were martial artists, they had learned simple stance skills and forms, which they wouldn't keep written down. Only complex techniques needed constant reference.
Su Yan dragged the three bodies together, skillfully dug a pit, and buried them. He then commanded the Dark Water Centipede and Velvet Fire Scorpion Bug to inject their venom and quickly corrode the corpses beyond recognition. He then covered the pit with soil, packing it down firmly. By the time he finished, the moon was high—a perfect jade disk in the sky, scattering brilliant moonlight.
Su Yan set off, using the moonlight to guide him. In a short time, he returned to Cloud-Front Village, ready for his herb refining session the next day.