After the mercenary who had been restraining Weilian was knocked to the ground—
Before the other mercenaries could even react, a long bamboo pole suddenly shot out from nowhere with a sharp "whoosh!", wrapped in yellow Wu Zhuang Nuqi.
Like a flying arrow, it pierced straight through the throats of the two mercenaries who were holding Ma Ti, skewering them together as if threading meat on a skewer.
The mercenary leader's expression changed drastically."What person?!"
A white-haired, disheveled old man slowly descended from a large tree.
He pulled out the bamboo pole that had pierced through the two mercenaries' throats and smiled cheerfully at the mercenary leader."Haha, sorry about that. You see, I've always liked stepping in when I see injustice. Looks like I'll have to ruin your plans today."
As he spoke, the lioness had already bitten through the throat of the mercenary she had pounced on. Licking the blood from her mouth, she walked over to the old man and stood by his side.
"I don't recall offending you in any way," the mercenary leader said, staring at the old man. "Why must you interfere with my business?"
Though the old man looked aged and frail, there was a natural aura of authority about him, one that commanded respect without anger. At a glance, it was clear he was not someone easy to deal with, and the mercenary leader became even more cautious.
The old man glanced at Weilian, who had climbed up from the ground, then said to the mercenary leader,"Nothing much. I just think this little girl is quite adorable. I couldn't bear to see her bullied by you lot, so I stepped in."
Hearing this, the mercenary leader chuckled and said,"That's easy enough. Since you like her, we can just hand her over to you. She's not our real target anyway. It doesn't matter."
The old man reached out and patted the lioness's head. The lion closed her eyes contentedly, enjoying his touch like a cat.
The conversation between the mercenary leader and the old man made Jason's heart tighten. He didn't want to see Weilian taken away by this old man.
Jason slowly stood up and said to the old man,"Old sir, I am Jason Lane, son of the King of the Southern Lands, Daun Lane. If you save us today, I will surely repay you."
Jason was trying to buy the old man's favor.
"Oh~!" The old man exclaimed with interest. "No wonder these mercenaries came with such a big formation—so there's a big shot involved. How is your father doing these days? Is he still being deceived by that ambitious younger brother of his?"
Hearing this, Jason asked in surprise,"Could it be that you know my father, old sir?"
The old man smiled faintly."How could I not know your father? I was the one who taught him how to hold a sword, how to make himself stronger, how to defeat the enemy in front of him. It's just a pity that your father is too kind-hearted. He insisted on keeping that fellow Bard by his side. Sooner or later, Bard will bite him back. When that day comes, it'll be too late for regrets."
"How long do you plan to chat?" the mercenary leader said irritably. "You're really not putting our Thorn Star Mercenary Group in your eyes at all, are you?"
"Hm?"The old man glanced sideways at the mercenary leader and said calmly,"Why haven't you all scrammed yet? If you don't leave now, I might just let all of you die here."
His tone was gentle, but his eyes were filled with endless killing intent—something accumulated through years of warfare.
The mercenary leader was no pushover either and showed no intention of backing down. He walked straight up to the old man and said,"I already said it. If you want, we can let you take the girl. Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to kill you."
As he spoke, the mercenary leader twirled the twin short blades in his hands.
"Roar—!"Sensing the mercenary leader's killing intent, the lion beside the old man opened her bloody maw and let out an angry roar at him.
The old man sighed."In my lifetime, there have been thousands—no, tens of thousands—of people who've spoken to me like that. Unfortunately, not a single one succeeded. I doubt you'll be an exception."
With a flick of his wrist, the old man pointed the bamboo pole at the mercenary leader.
The mercenary leader glanced at the bamboo pole and sneered."You're planning to fight me with that? My blades are very sharp. Don't say I bullied you if you lose."
The old man burst into laughter."Against you, this is more than enough."
"Go die!"The mercenary leader shouted as he charged at the old man.
The old man's gaze suddenly sharpened. He raised the bamboo pole, setting up his stance to receive the attack.
While running, the mercenary leader injected Wu Zhuang Nuqi into his twin blades and slashed toward the old man.
The old man swung the bamboo pole, coating it with yellow Wu Zhuang Nuqi, and planted it vertically in front of himself, blocking the mercenary leader's blade.
Though it was only a bamboo pole, under the reinforcement of the old man's powerful Wu Zhuang Nuqi, it became incomparably hard, easily stopping the short blade.
"Hah!"The mercenary leader roared, twisting his body and spinning sideways, using all his strength to swing the other short blade upward toward the old man.
The old man casually turned the bamboo pole sideways to block again—but this time, the outcome was different.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, the bamboo pole in the old man's hand was cut cleanly in half.
The old man stepped back, letting the mercenary's blade graze past the tip of his nose.
Jason, watching from the side, broke out in a cold sweat. Seeing the bamboo pole severed made his heart sink.
"Old sir, you can use my sword!" Jason shouted.
The old man glanced back at Jason indifferently and said,"You keep it for yourself. I don't need it."
"Haha, old man! You're way too confident!" the mercenary leader laughed. "With the next strike, I'll cut your neck just like your bamboo pole."
Holding one half of the bamboo pole in each hand, the old man casually waved them and said,"Child, don't overthink it. I did that on purpose."
"On purpose? Once I cut off your neck, let's see what else you can say!"
After speaking, the mercenary leader lunged forward again with a whoosh.
"Hoo—! Watch my magnificent performance!"
The old man spoke, then shot forward like an arrow released from the bow, charging at the mercenary leader at an even faster speed.
Before the mercenary leader could react, the old man struck his waist with one segment of the bamboo pole.
After all, their levels of Nuqi were still separated by a full realm. Even with Wu Zhuang Nuqi protecting his body, the mercenary leader grimaced in pain from the blow.
He immediately counterattacked, flipping his short blade and slashing at the old man.
But the old man saw through his move completely. With a slight shift of his body, he dodged the attack, then swung back with even greater speed, smashing another bamboo strike straight down at the mercenary leader.
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)