Chapter 37: Another Massacre

Feng Zi had only rested for one hour, and had not even fallen asleep.

But compared to the need to remain vigilant at all times while traveling, he only needed to maintain a minimum level of caution now, which was relatively more relaxed.

Thanks to this, Feng Zi's mind was able to relax significantly.

After all, this was not his hometown, and such rare opportunities to relax were few and far between.

"Really now... to have the mood to let my mind wander, it seems I have indeed relaxed a bit." Thinking of this, Feng Zi said to himself in his heart.

It was precisely when he was feeling bored that, within Feng Zi's perception, a Martial Artist downstairs was moving toward his location.

Before long, he heard a knock at the door: "Lord Cun Xin, I am a guard from the Su Family, here under the orders of the Eldest Young Master."

"Under the orders of the Eldest Young Master"? What a vague way of putting it.

Feng Zi feigned ignorance, slowly opened his eyes, and said, "The door isn't locked, come in."

Every movement, every detail, was a deliberate act by Feng Zi; one could also say it was an opportunity he left for the other party.

If the other party had truly perceived his intentions, perhaps they would not have invited their own death.

Perhaps due to his own reasons, Feng Zi possessed a sort of "moral fastidiousness" and liked for the logic of events to follow the most "appropriate" progression.

After all, his initial goal was to help the unjustly killed people of Bao Jia Zhuang seek justice, and there were actually many means he could have taken.

But it was very clear that few people possessed this kind of wisdom, and the members of the Sun Family, including Sun Min, did not seem to have realized this.

Of course, it was also possible that the other party did not believe that they, as the stronger side, should make concessions... that was not something Feng Zi needed to consider.

Seeing the Martial Artist he had met once before, Feng Zi still did not stand up, but calmly asked:

"Is Young Master Sun not gathering men? Is there some important matter that has occurred, why have you come to find me so suddenly?"

He knew the other party was coming to test his strength, and this was also the Sun Family's last chance.

But how could that Martial Artist know this? He simply replied with a serious face:

"Lord Cun Xin, the mountain bandits have come to pillage again. An urgent report has come from the farms west of Daishan County; the situation is extremely critical.

"We currently do not have enough men to mobilize, so the Eldest Young Master asks that you go to the rescue first, and we will follow shortly!"

What a lame excuse, what a clumsy test... at this very moment, only these two thoughts existed in Feng Zi's mind.

It was a pity; this matter was destined not to end well.

Feng Zi gave the man a deep look, said nothing, just shook his head and sighed: "I understand, the west of Daishan County."

Afterward, he walked past the Martial Artist without looking back, merely saying indifferently: "Close the door."

Would there be any so-called "reinforcements"? Naturally, that was impossible; Sun Min was dying for him to die at the hands of the bandits.

Upon hearing this, the Martial Artist subconsciously followed Feng Zi's order.

Before his eyes was nothing but a sea of scorching flames, as if it wanted to burn everything in heaven and earth to ashes.

Feng Zi stood before this sea of fire with furrowed brows, hearing only heart-wrenching wails in his ears:

Just to deal with him, they did not hesitate to use the power of mountain bandits, and even more so, did not hesitate to treat the common people as bargaining chips to be discarded at will!

Even the most ruthless chess player should not squander these "assets" so wantonly!

Those were living, breathing people, yet they had lost everything because of his momentary compassion!

Feng Zi was beyond furious, but the rage did not burn away his reason; instead, it made his consciousness increasingly clear—

In his perception, there were three Martial Artists, as well as many existences with surging Qi and Blood... conservatively estimated, there should be at least thirty mountain bandits here.

If he were to unleash his true strength, Feng Zi could wipe out all the bandits here in less than three breaths.

But in order to cleanse the dark clouds over this place, even if he felt sorry for the people before him, he could only use the strength he had displayed for now.

Having made up his mind, Feng Zi gripped his precious bow, reached his right hand into the quiver at his waist, and moved forward, restraining his breath amidst the firelight.

Not long after, the bandits' conversation reached his ears:

"Liang Ge, we've really made a fortune this time! The boss actually only let us few come to rob this village!"

"Exactly, exactly. Last time at Bao Jia Zhuang, the lion's share was taken by the leaders and the Sun Family; I thought there wouldn't be any profit to scrape this time either."

"Pah! Keep your mouth clean. If the leaders really hear this kind of crap, they'll tear your mouths to shreds!"

"Right, right, right, Liang Ge is right. We don't know anything, we just made a little money, hehe..."

"Stop the nonsense, get moving. Once we've robbed it, we leave. I don't want to be used as a pawn by that fat pig from the Sun Family!"

Whoosh—

Before the group of bandits could continue, Feng Zi, hiding behind the firelight, fired an arrow.

With just one arrow, he shattered the head of the Martial Artist known as "Liang Ge," who seemed to be a minor leader!

Even the bandits beside him had never seen such a display.

Even with fresh blood splattered all over their faces, these bandits were stunned.

Feng Zi naturally would not hesitate any longer—it was precisely because of his own "decency" and self-righteousness that those innocent commoners had suffered!

At the thought of the one hundred and thirty-six people of Bao Jia Zhuang burned to charcoal, and the gradually weakening cries in his ears, a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

Hearing only the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of arrows piercing the air, the head of another Martial Artist was precisely pierced by an arrow.

The last Martial Artist finally reacted, but it was too late:

The man's legs had already been pierced by sharp arrows and were firmly pinned to the ground—

Feng Zi's archery was no longer what it once was; even if he could not hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces, at such close range, the target he aimed at had no possibility of escaping alive!

The bandits scattered around pillaging naturally heard this disturbance and one after another "squeezed" toward his direction.

Facing these bandits who did not even count as Martial Artists, Feng Zi was naturally even less intimidated; he put away his precious bow and charged out from the sea of fire.

Without any combat techniques, there were only punches filled with rage, one after another!

What was he angry about?

Was it because of the bandits' atrocities? Perhaps so.

But what angered him even more was his own tepidness!

Why... when he knew full well that Sun Min was a self-righteous idiot, did he still maintain the mindset of a "cat playing with a mouse"?

This was an extremely painful lesson, and the price... was the lives of these poor people who only wanted to survive!

The time of one incense stick passed, and Feng Zi, bathed in blood, arrived before the bandit who was still struggling.

And beside the two of them, the ground was already littered with the mangled corpses of bandits.

Feng Zi's heart was full of rage, but his mind remained clear throughout:

The miserable state of these bandits' deaths was not out of a desire to vent his anger, but for the purpose of "deterrence"—

Feng Zi came before the bandit who was at the Martial Artist realm, grabbed the other's collar, and said indifferently: "Speak, where is your mountain stronghold?"

Under Feng Zi's immense strength, the bandit's body was slowly lifted up, and the arrows stuck into the ground were smeared with fresh blood.