Chapter 600: Pursuit and Kill (2/10, extra chapter for 'Ruichi Tianxia')

"Let me go! Let me go!"

The eldest young lady, Yang Hongxia, struggled with all her might, both furious and terrified.

The viciousness of the Night Thieves — the merchant caravans understood it even more clearly than ordinary folk!

Sometimes, for the sake of safety, some merchant caravans would even take the initiative to offer tribute to the Night Thieves, simply to protect themselves — a sort of protection money in disguise.

Under such a climate, the Night Thieves grew ever more rampant.

Every merchant caravan despised the Night Thieves to the bone, yet the Government did absolutely nothing. The only few effective strikes against the Night Thieves were operations organized by the 【Heavenly Merchant Alliance】 itself.

Logically speaking, this place was already not far from Chunuan City.

No matter how rampant the Night Thieves were, they would never dare commit crimes near Chunuan City — that would be acting against the wind, challenging the Heavenly Merchant Alliance's bottom line.

But against all reason, the Night Thieves had done exactly that — and even kidnapped her, the heir of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan!

The eldest young lady, Yang Hongxia, rapidly flashed through several names of competitors in her mind, trembling all over with rage.

She truly hadn't expected that, with the 【Martial Decision】 imminent, others refused to face her head-on and instead played such underhanded, dirty tricks!

If she died at the hands of the Night Thieves today, there would be no evidence — even her father would have no way to seek justice for her!

"Hahaha! Don't cry, little lady. Tonight you'll be my village chief's wife — a moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold!"

"Hun Dawang is mighty!"

Mighty?

Mighty my ass!

If someone hadn't delivered Liehong Horses right to his door, how could his measly little Night Thief gang — ranked outside the top hundred — possibly have the ability to kidnap the eldest daughter of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan!

As for making her his village chief's wife and the like, that was all just talk — the sponsor was still waiting for him to deliver the person over.

Once the person was delivered, these fifteen Liehong Horses would be entirely his. Then he could make a name for himself on the 【Thief Rankings】, squeeze into the top hundred, become a great Night Thief, and build himself a proper career!

Unlike Heiqing Shanmai — that small place where everyone united as one to resist the Night Thieves and resist the uncanny.

In the Chaoyang Avenue region, with the Night Thieves running rampant, there were even rankings like the 【Thief Rankings】, and a trend where people took pride in making it onto the 【Thief Rankings】. One could see how well-developed it was — no less than great organizations like the Heavenly Merchant Alliance.

The only difference, perhaps, was that Night Thieves all played their own games — all individual operators, setting up their own little hills as kings, with no such thing as unity.

Listening to the Night Thieves' discussion, the eldest young lady Yang Hongxia's face went pale as paper.

The Liehong Horse's speed was so terrifying that in the blink of an eye it had already left her merchant caravan behind — not even a shadow could be seen.

Even more terrifying, these Night Thieves had actually made a turn, steering the Liehong Horse far away from the Official Road!

Veering off the Official Road meant a higher chance of encountering the uncanny — but that was only part of the reason.

The real reason the eldest young lady's face turned deathly pale was that veering off the Official Road meant others would find it very hard to track the Night Thieves' trail again!

Combined with the Liehong Horse's terrifying speed… today she truly had nowhere to turn, and death seemed certain!

"My father is the Regimental Commander of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan, you all…"

"Shut up! Who doesn't know you're the eldest daughter of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan? You're exactly who we're after! Hahahaha!"

The Night Thieves burst into unbridled, wild laughter, sharp and grating to the ear.

Despair welled up in her heart — even the eldest young lady couldn't help but begin to cry in fear.

"She's crying too, haha, so the great…"

"Hun Dawang! Someone's chasing us from behind!"

Hun Dawang hadn't even finished speaking before he was cut off by his subordinate.

Hun Dawang thought he'd misheard. He turned his head in astonishment to look, and his expression changed dramatically!

Boom boom boom!

He saw, behind them, a figure in black robes, wisps of black Qi coiling around his body, charging toward them like a raging wild bull!

All along the way, dust flew and yellow smoke rolled!

What the hell was that?!

Hun Dawang was shocked — the horse beneath him was a Liehong Horse, reputed to be the fastest Liehong Horse in Chunuan City!

Its speed was so great that ordinary Xiantian Realm martial artists could never possibly catch up!

Even a Human-Rank martial artist would need an excellent movement-type Martial Technique to have the ability to catch up.

Could the guy coming from behind be a Human-Rank expert?!

At this thought, Hun Dawang's face changed dramatically.

With a sharp crack of the reins, he sped up, pulling away from the others.

"You lot go hold that guy back!"

What?!

His subordinates' faces shifted slightly at the order.

But constrained by the fearsome reputation Hun Dawang had built up over time, they still gritted their teeth, turned around with their brothers, and charged to intercept.

However…

Hum!!

Hun Dawang, riding ahead, only heard the abrupt ring of a blade behind him — and then the war cries of his subordinates fell utterly silent.

He turned to look, and his pupils contracted on the spot, his face going deathly pale in an instant.

The moment he turned to look, he caught exactly the terrifying scene: over a dozen of his brothers, under the might of a single blade, men and horses alike torn apart, bodies and mounts flung in all directions.

The blood mist was still bursting open in midair when the figure wrapped in black Qi had already charged up.

In just the span of that one stunned, shocked moment, the person had already charged right up to him.

"Night…"

"Wait…"

Two voices rose within the ring of the blade, then quickly fell silent.

Hun Dawang's head flew high, his body tumbling from the saddle.

The young lady screamed as she fell, but was quickly caught around the waist, lifted in a single bound, and set on the horse's back together.

A tug on the reins, and the Liehong horse came to a stop.

"Lord Night!"

Through her wild plunge and sudden lift, the young lady was overcome with joyful surprise, deeply moved.

She had nearly believed she was done for, that today was the day she died.

But then Fang Yue descended like a divine warrior from the heavens—fierce as a dream, every blade stroke lethal, overwhelmingly domineering—and at the same time, he had safely rescued her!

The young lady excitedly expressed her gratitude.

"Lord Night, thank you again for saving my life! Twice you've risked your life to save me, I…"

"Holy shit!"

"…I have no way to repay you. I carry nothing of value on me right now. Once we return to…"

"Holy shit!!"

"…once we return to 【Chunuan City】, on behalf of…"

"Awesome! I'm invincible!"

"…"

The young lady was a little bewildered.

She realized that not a single word she said had reached Fang Yue's ears.

The fellow was inexplicably worked up, babbling words she couldn't understand.

Then she saw Fang Yue, both excited and gesticulating wildly.

After he returned to his usual steady demeanor, he tossed two words at the young lady.

"Dismount."

The young lady:???

The young lady was stunned for a moment, swallowed her frustration, and asked, "Why?"

"This is my horse. Your horses are over there—pick one yourself."

Ah, this…

The young lady looked in the direction Fang Yue was pointing.

Sure enough, among the corpses of the Night Thief underlings Fang Yue had cut down earlier, seven or eight Liehong horses had actually gotten back to their feet.

That single slash of his had actually controlled the release and restraint of part of its force—killing only people, not harming the horses!

No, to be precise, a few horses had been killed. At the time, Fang Yue needed to save someone and had no time for a prolonged fight, so naturally he could only strike with full force while holding back as much as possible.

So the horses that survived had, to varying degrees, sustained certain injuries and needed to recover before returning to full condition.

And the one Fang Yue had dismounted from was taken down completely unscathed.

(End of this chapter)