Chapter 267: Counterattack—The Red-Eyed Mushroom Shows Its Power!

Jier and his group of a few people headed in a south-southwest direction; not only did they have to move slightly faster to avoid being caught by the pursuing Bandit team, but they also had to laboriously create tracks for the group of over twenty people.

Fortunately, the pursuing Bandits were not checking very carefully; they just followed the tracks they found along the way without observing closely whether those tracks were truly produced by people walking.

When evening came, Jier let the companions traveling with him rest against the trees, while he, full of energy, continued to create tracks to gain some more distance for the next morning.

After working until midnight, he followed the tracks he had made back to find his companions huddled together for warmth, then led them through the darkness to the end of the tracks he had created.

As the few of them huddled together for warmth, Jier secretly calculated how far they were from where he had stored his Backpack and weapons.

"Jier, how much further are we from the place you mentioned?" one of his companions asked in a low voice.

After calculating, Jier replied: "There are few of us, and the surrounding terrain is easy to traverse. Once we get our speed up, I estimate we can reach the vicinity by tomorrow afternoon. Once we get our weapons tomorrow, we'll give those Bandits a taste of their own medicine!"

Another person asked curiously: "How? Those robbers are so brutal, and according to what you said, this pursuing Bandit team isn't the usual kind of Bandit."

Jier said confidently: "No need to think about defeating them all. As long as we kill a few of them, those Bandits will naturally value their lives and flee back to bring reinforcements, looking for a more formidable boss to lead men to catch us."

"Heh heh, by the time they go back and come again, we will have long since returned to Bingxun Pass; they won't be able to catch up. After all, we have legs, we aren't big trees that don't move." Jier shook hands with each companion to encourage them, as the afternoon of walking and working had left them all very exhausted.

They still had to travel for most of the next day, and they had to hold on until the moment he launched the counterattack.

The situation the next day went as Jier had planned; because they had pushed ahead a bit more the previous night, they had widened the distance between themselves and the pursuing Bandits.

It was finally not as urgent as it had been yesterday. So, even though everyone had only eaten a little food and water, they gritted their teeth and made it to the location.

Jier looked at the somewhat familiar environment around him, as well as some sporadic marks he had previously carved into the tree bark. He found a small, semi-hidden burrow under a tree root that could accommodate one person resting.

He dove in at once and retrieved the Backpack and Long Spear and other weapons he had placed inside earlier. His companions looked at this very hidden little burrow and clicked their tongues in wonder; if Jier hadn't said the items were hidden here, they would never have discovered that such a place capable of hiding a person existed here.

Jier came out and distributed the food and water from the Backpack to his companions, telling everyone to replenish their strength quickly, while he himself took large bites of the frozen-hard Cured meat. After two bites, he realized that the food prepared in his Backpack was not something that could be eaten directly. They had been eating the dried meat brought out from the Bandit lair, so they all subconsciously felt this could be eaten too.

Jier awkwardly took the Cured meat out of his mouth, thought for a moment, then started a fire right there and called his companions to roast the Cured meat together. The frozen ice water in the Water bottle didn't need to be hidden in his clothes to warm up; near the rising fire, it only took a while for the ice to melt for drinking.

"Haven't eaten meat for so many days, ha, ha, ha. So hot, so delicious." Several companions couldn't care less about the Cured meat just roasted on the branches; while saying it was hot, they used their teeth to tear into the fragrant, seasoned cooked meat.

"Jier, is it okay to start a fire now? Don't we need to worry about the Bandits seeing the smoke?" a more cautious companion asked.

Blowing softly on the roasted meat, Jier nodded: "No need. I'm afraid they won't come. After everyone finishes eating, find a place to hide carefully. In a while, I'll give these Bandits a surprise, and tonight I'll find a chance to ambush them more."

After finishing the meat and drinking their fill of warmed water, Jier arranged for his companions to stay in a safe place nearby. Everyone carefully left no traces, fearing that the Bandits, once they realized they had been tricked, would search everywhere and find them.

Returning to the place where the fire was, right next to the fire pit, Zhao Ji hid in the small burrow where he had put his things earlier, did some concealment for the surface of the burrow, and prepared his weapons, waiting for the coming battle.

Taking a Wooden box from the Backpack on his back, he opened it carefully and fished out a small Dried mushroom. Zhao Ji considered for a moment, held the dried Mushroom in his mouth, and put away the Wooden box.

Seeing the fire rising ahead, he guessed that those fleeing civilians finally had no food that could be eaten directly and could only roast the sporadic food they found in the mountain forest.

This made the pursuing Bandits quite excited.

When they found the tracks of these civilians a few days ago, they felt they had hit the jackpot; out of the four cardinal directions, their team had still managed to find the tracks.

It was just that they had been pursuing for the past few days but had never been able to catch up with the fleeing civilians, which made these Bandits quite depressed. They gradually let go of their relaxed mindset, kept accelerating, and kept following the discovered tracks, wanting to catch up with those civilians.

However, it was likely the fire lit at night that exposed their pursuing team; those civilians had boldly changed direction.

Although this also surprised the pursuing Bandits, those old, weak, sick, and disabled civilians had left too many tracks along the way. Just by looking with their eyes, they all knew where those people had run.

So the Bandits didn't fall for it at all and followed the fleeing civilians, changing direction to pursue.

In the eyes of the Bandit leading the team, this was already the final struggle of these civilians; they would soon be able to catch up with these civilians who were like trapped beasts.

Although the fleeing civilians were numerous, they were no match for this group of people while fleeing. After all, these civilians were originally captured by them; when they were first attacked, the civilians who dared to resist and fight had already been killed, and those left behind were all people who dared not fight but were still of some use to them.

Speeding up their pace again, ten Bandits drew their weapons and spread out, quickly approaching the place where the fire was rising ahead.

The discovery after approaching exceeded their expectations.

There were no twenty-plus civilians fighting to the death as expected, nor were there twenty-plus civilians kneeling and begging for mercy. There wasn't a single person where the fire was lit!

Not a single person!

"Spread out and search, they must be nearby. Two people to a group, if you find anything, shout it out directly. Be careful, don't get bitten by these prey." The leading Bandit shouted loudly, directing the other Bandits to scout the surroundings starting from the fire pit.

He himself took one person to the fire pit to check the burning situation.

For these Bandits who often started fires in the wild, they only needed to look at the burning of the wood in the fire pit to know when the fire was lit and roughly how long ago the last firewood was added.

This Bandit looked at the fire pit, somewhat puzzled. The traces left by people sitting by the fire were normal, but the number was too small. The opponent's team should have been at least twenty people, and this fire hadn't been lit for long, yet the surrounding traces showed that only a few people had sat by the fire.

Another Bandit standing by the fire pit was warming himself: "Popu, any discoveries? I see you're a bit nervous."

The Bandit named Popu shook his head: "Something's not right, not right, not right."

"What's not right? Can they split up and run in this place? If they really dared to do that, let alone those who fled, even if you asked me to walk from here to Bingxun Pass alone, I wouldn't dare." Another Bandit took a Potato from his chest, picked up a branch used for roasting things on the ground, and started roasting something on his own.

"Heh, I wouldn't dare either. After all, those small gangs hiding in the Shulin don't care where we come from; they just hack at anyone they see. Anyway, just bury them on the spot and that's it. Hmm, what I said wasn't right; it's why did those who fled disappear after lighting the fire and eating?" Just as the Bandit Popu was puzzled, from under the tree root on the other side of the fire pit, a slightly protruding piece of ground gave a reply that horrified him.

"Let me tell you, because the counterattack has begun!" Following this abrupt answer, a sharp Long Spear suddenly emerged from the tree root.

As soon as this Long Spear rushed out from underground, it headed straight for the nearest Bandit who was roasting a Potato.

However, although this Bandit was holding a branch to roast the Potato with one hand, he had never let go of the Long Sword he held in his other hand.

Seeing the suddenly attacking Long Spear, this Bandit threw the branch with one hand and slashed out a sword with the other, while also trying to dodge the Thrust of the Long Spear with his feet.

Zhao Ji didn't expect that even this randomly selected Bandit would have such excellent on-the-spot reaction ability; facing his sudden attack, they actually knew how to counterattack, defend, and dodge.

However, Zhao Ji was no fool. Although he regretted having to talk to the other party just now, he wasn't without technique in his hands.

His whole body rushed out from the small burrow, and while thrusting forward, he swept the Long Spear held in both hands horizontally toward the direction the Bandit was dodging.

The technique taught by old Duomu previously came in handy. Zhao Ji did not use all his strength during the Thrust, but kept two parts of his strength specifically to deal with the opponent's possible reaction.

With a clang, the Long Sword blocked the incoming Long Spear diagonally, but a Long Sword wielded with one hand in an emergency was no match for a Long Spear.

This sword didn't have much effect and could only stick to the gun-blade of the Long Spear.

Zhao Ji's body paused, he stopped rushing forward, planted his feet apart, and rotated his waist to drive the Long Spear to sweep. Resisting the Bandit's resistance, he smashed the sharp Long Spear together with the opponent's Long Sword into the opponent's waist.

The thick fur clothing on the opponent Bandit saved his life, but Zhao Ji lifted the Long Spear along the opponent's waist clothing, and the gun-blade of the Long Spear cut along the opponent's body up into the opponent's armpit.

Following a shout from Zhao Ji, an arm flew off the Bandit's body and fell.

At this time, the other Bandit, Popu, on the opposite side of the fire pit, finally circled around the fire pit, and the sharp Cleaver in his hand slashed down from above.

Zhao Ji didn't use the Long Spear to block, but rushed directly along the direction of the Long Spear to the side of the Bandit whose arm had been cut off. Pressing the Long Spear on the opponent's shoulder, Zhao Ji crossed paths with this Bandit.

When the Bandit Popu, who had slashed into the air, turned his head to look, he discovered that his accomplice's neck had already been cut open by the gun-blade of the Long Spear that the opponent had placed on his shoulder.

This wound sliced open a major blood vessel in the neck, and large amounts of fresh blood flowed from the Bandit's neck. The Bandit covered his neck with his hand, but knowing this injury was fatal, he gasped to warn Popu before collapsing from exhaustion: "Call for help quickly, avenge me."

The Bandit Popu stood his ground to confront the person opposite him; he took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Over here! Someone is over here! Come and provide support quickly!"

Very soon, responses rang out from all around, and the previously scattered Bandits began to head toward this location.

Zhao Ji stared coldly at the Bandit opposite him, planting his Long Spear to the side. Bloodshot veins gradually appeared in the whites of his eyes; he felt somewhat uncomfortable, his body burning, and his head hot as well.

Drawing his Long Sword, Zhao Ji took a deep breath and charged forward with the sword in hand.

He had to kill the Bandit he was confronting with the Long Sword he was still most proficient with before the other Bandits arrived to surround him.

Without a Shield at his side, he chose a one-handed sword stance and attacked first, his footsteps rushing toward the opponent's side, forcing the opponent to back against the campfire and compressing the opponent's space for movement.

The blades collided and crossed several times.

Zhao Ji discovered that the opponent was merely attempting to defend, dragging the battle out until the other Bandits arrived to take his life with their numerical advantage.

Seeing through the opponent's plan from the collision of their blades, Zhao Ji's sword style became like a cleaver, wide and sweeping, forcefully pressing the Bandit backward.

The opponent retreated slightly for the first two strikes, but only when a scorching sensation came from behind his head did this Bandit realize something.

Not giving the opponent time to react, Zhao Ji slashed a few more times fiercely, quickly closing the distance between them, and then his Long Sword suddenly swung, slightly knocking aside the opponent's Cleaver.

Aiming for the opening, Zhao Ji delivered a knee strike, slamming his knee into the opponent's chest and knocking the Bandit backward.

Under normal circumstances, this Bandit would still have had a chance to resist, as long as he did a simple roll on the ground. But behind him was the campfire; as his upper body fell onto the scorching firewood and charcoal, the Bandit's hair and his shiny, oily Leather Clothing caught fire entirely.

"Aaaargh, hot! So hot! So burning! Ahhhhh!" Although the Bandit Popu had rolled his body as quickly as possible, the knee strike from that person just now had left his chest feeling stifled, and by the time he regained his senses, his entire upper body was ablaze.

The Bandit rolled continuously on the ground, attempting to turn himself over to extinguish the flames on his body.

Zhao Ji had originally wanted to land one more strike, but the scattered Bandits around had already rushed over quickly. They saw their companion on fire, and another already collapsed on the ground with flames scattered all around; they shouted and cursed while running at full speed.

Zhao Ji hurriedly pulled out his Long Spear, and ignoring the Bandit rolling on the ground nearby, he rushed toward a spot where there were fewer Bandits.

Seeing that the person who killed their companion was about to run, the four Bandits closest to Zhao Ji hurried over to intercept, but as the red in Zhao Ji's eyes increased, his entire body became hot and he ran quickly.

Zhao Ji felt as if his whole body was filled with a pile of small furnaces, and the shouting around him and the four Bandits trying to intercept him all seemed a bit different. Compared to everything before, it was all somewhat uncoordinated; those Bandits running with all their might seemed as if they were deliberately letting him go, playing along with him.

Zhao Ji just ran with all his might and shook them off in one go.

Those Bandits did not give up; one Bandit pulled a Short throwing spear from his back and threw it at him from a distance.

While running, Zhao Ji looked back, watching the throwing spear break free from the opponent's fully exerted hand, then fly toward him while vibrating back and forth. Zhao Ji felt that he wouldn't be hit by the opponent's trajectory at all; what were those Bandits doing?

Weapons are not toys for playing; they were in a battle right now, they needed to be serious.

Zhao Ji instead changed his pace slightly, bringing himself closer to the flight path of the throwing spear; he reached out his hand, waiting for the throwing spear to fly over along an arc.

In truth, the flight speed of that throwing spear was not slow, and Zhao Ji himself only had one chance to catch the throwing spear in flight.

Yet although there was only one chance, that throwing spear was like a bird returning home, or a student returning to school every day, steadily and surely caught by Zhao Ji's right hand.

His palm gripped the middle section of the throwing spear tightly; the thin rope tied to the throwing spear rubbed intensely against his palm, and the entire throwing spear vibrated continuously following the contact with his palm.

It was just like a cat that didn't want to be petted or teased, always wanting to escape from his palm.

Zhao Ji knew that to deal with this cat, he couldn't just pet it directly. He swung his arm along an arc, changing it bit by bit to follow the direction of the throwing spear's flight.

His arm traced a semi-arc, and that throwing spear was then obediently mastered within his palm.

While running, Zhao Ji rotated himself with a half-jump. After two jumps and rotations, during his second rotation in the air, Jier threw the throwing spear cat he had just tamed toward his rear.

The cat let out a shrill screech sharper than when it came, and amidst the stunned silence of the four Bandits, it flew while trembling and plunged straight into the chest of its original owner.

"Cough, how is this possible!" Looking at the throwing spear that had pierced through his chest, the Bandit used his last bit of strength to look up at the person who had jumped to counter-attack and throw, watching him run far away.

His heart was shattered directly by the throwing spear; the throwing spear that had pierced through his chest even flew a distance after penetrating, sticking into a tree trunk not far behind him, vibrating while shaking off the flesh and blood debris on its tail.

The other three Bandits stopped with weak legs; they dared not pursue any further, after all, none of them wanted to die.

Watching their companion, who just seconds ago had confidently declared that this strike would injure the opponent, only for the opponent to catch the attacking throwing spear in mid-air, jump twice, and then throw it back while spinning in the air.

Killing the Bandit who attacked him.

The three of them looked at each other, and in the end, they had to pull out their companion's corpse and the throwing spear stuck in the tree, returning to the campfire from earlier.

They felt as if they had encountered those strange, false stories from the Bards; such a thing had happened by some strange twist of fate that no one would believe even if they told it.

"Could it be? That person is a Knight lord from the city?" one Bandit said, filled with worry.

Another Bandit immediately refuted loudly: "Impossible! If he were, would we still be alive right now? It must have been something that person did by chance! Yeah, right, or maybe that person had practiced throwing spears before, that's why Dun'erke died."

The other two Bandits also felt that this was the case, otherwise, they couldn't explain what had just happened.