098 Falling grass becomes a bandit (Part 2)

"...this is highly irregular," the leader remarked.

One of his subordinates inquired, "Boss, what exactly seems to be amiss?"

The leader, with a disdainful glance at the unimproving subordinate, retorted, "Is that trinket hanging around your neck merely for decoration? You've clashed with them in broad daylight, taken a good share of their spoils, and now they're stranded in the mountains at night, unable to descend. Not to mention, even if they don't come back for revenge, the wild beasts and birds of prey will have quite a feast. Yet you all sleep so soundly. Do you think that's normal?"

Upon hearing this reasoning, the subordinate realized the truth of it.

The leader glanced in the direction of Shen Tang's camp and speculated, "There must be an ambush nearby, waiting for us to fall into their trap."

The subordinate hesitated, "Then should we still not take action?"

The leader snorted disdainfully.

"It's absurd to return empty-handed after coming this far, isn't it? Ambushes only work when they catch the enemy off guard and unprepared. An ambush that's been discovered is simply a joke. You, take six brothers and go from here, you and you, take ten brothers and approach from there... Old Nine and Old Ma, lead the others... The rest follow from the rear!"

He didn't choose to charge in with everyone but instead opted to divide and conquer. Based on the information relayed by his men, this band of caravan guards was now reduced to about forty to fifty men, all of whom were injured.

In this unfavorable situation, they could only choose to concentrate their limited strength, use the terrain to anticipate the direction of the attack, which was likely to be the mountain path on the side of the camp, and deploy their forces accordingly.

A small number of men feigned sleep, snoring loudly, to lower the enemy's vigilance and lull them into complacency, while the rest lay in ambush, waiting for the targets to appear, catching them off guard.

To be cautious, the leader chose to disperse his forces, sending out multiple teams for a coordinated attack — once one team discovered the location of the ambush, they could converge and overwhelm the defenders, turning the tables on the camp guards.

Under normal circumstances, this tactic would have been quite effective. However, the reality deviated significantly from his expectations. The snores coming from the camp were indeed genuine snores, and those ruffians had been making noise for quite some time. The only ambush—

Shen Tang and Zhai Le were squatting in a tree, feeding mosquitoes.

Oh, wait, scratch that. It was only Shen Tang feeding mosquitoes.

The enemies lying in ambush, on the other hand, amounted to just two people.

Of course, the leader's dispersed attack still posed a certain level of trouble for them. Zhai Le, who was listening intently for sounds, furrowed his brows and whispered to Shen Tang, "They've opted for a divided approach. This could be problematic for us... We need to act quickly..."

If the bandits could concentrate their forces, even if their archery accuracy wasn't sufficient to hit their targets, Shen's skill with the sword wouldn't require her to run back and forth.

But now, scattered as they were, attempting to take down all the bandits in a short time would be considerably more difficult.

Shen Tang took a sip of wine from her gourd.

"Don't panic," she said, wiping the residue from her mouth with her sleeve and smiling. "I, walk ten steps, take one life!"

With a swift motion, she leaped down from the treetop, gathering her literary essence into the blade, her momentum soaring to its peak, and swung with force. The invisible and transparent sword qi, accompanied by a sharp burst, descended from above to strike the ground.

Boom!

The earth ruptured, leaving a several-yard-long sword mark at the bandits' feet.

Their escape route was blocked, and dust billowed several yards high, obscuring the moonlight like a dark cloud, blocking out the moon. A white figure broke through the dust like a shooting star, nearly tangible killing intent rushing forward.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The leader's heart trembled.

"Who goes there?"

He activated his martial prowess, conjuring a cross-shaped halberd in his hand.

The nearly ten-foot-long halberd tip whizzed through the air, aiming straight for Shen's face, but was effortlessly blocked by what appeared to be the thin edge of a longsword.

The collision between the spear tip and the sword body, with its tremendous force, numbed the leader's hand. This force also brought about a strange sense of familiarity, but he couldn't recall it for a moment. It wasn't until Shen Tang deflected a few more of his attacks while also dealing with his lackeys that he suddenly remembered, his pupils trembling.

"It's you!"

"It's me." Shen Tang was initially surprised, but upon recognizing the halberd, memories flooded back like a tide. Enemies meeting on a narrow road, indeed. She sneered coldly, "Since you're here as a guest, why not leave your life behind?"

The leader, enraged, laughed in response. "Today is your demise!"

"Is it? Perhaps you should widen your eyes and see who is at the disadvantage now!" Shen Tang taunted, enjoying both her victory and the banter. She had only one attitude toward such people —

To fight to the end!

At the mention of Shen Tang's words, the leader's heart chilled.

Only now did he notice that someone nearby was shooting cold arrows.

At least four in a single volley!

Each arrow could accurately hit its target, and the darkness did not hinder the archers' performance. Some pierced through the brow, killing instantly. Others, while not hitting vital points, carried enough force to easily penetrate through the body and into the ground.

If those archers continued to fight, the next arrow would be aimed at their heads.

Almost every moment, someone fell under the cold arrows.

The leader's heart trembled again, both surprised and frightened.

Troublesome in the dark, troublesome on the surface as well.

He distinctly remembered that this person had been under his command, barely holding on, and now in their clash, he couldn't even handle them. Not only did they not take him seriously, but they also dealt with his attacks while still having the leisure to harvest the lives of his other bandits.

Even though he wielded the nearly ten-foot-long halberd with a dense flurry of strikes, employing all eighteen of his martial skills, Shen Tang effortlessly parried them all, not even grazing her opponent's clothes... She was calm and composed, as if strolling in a garden.

Where was the previous frantic fleeing and dodging?

With just one person and one sword, plus the hidden archers, they managed to trap more than a hundred people here, making it impossible for them to move an inch.

Shen Tang seemed to see through his confusion.

Swiftly advancing, she moved forward. The leader's halberd was too long for him to retract in time. Making a quick decision, he abandoned the halberd, turning it into a short blade.

In a split second, he compressed all his martial energy into the blade, gathering it at the edge of the blade. At close

 range, he swung a blade, too close to dodge — based on his previous experience, this blade could easily cleave a person in two!

But the leader never expected—

The blade energy collided with the unexpectedly appearing black-and-white literary essence, breaking apart like waves crashing against rocks, exploding into fragments, and blasting him several yards away. Shen Tang emerged unscathed, while he rolled and tumbled, his world spinning before coming to a stop.

With his chest heaving and blood seeping from his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Shen Tang said, "Surprised?"

While her style with the sword seemed like that of a martial artist, the literary emblem at her waist silently indicated to everyone —

She was a literatus!

How could a literatus not be skilled in "self-preservation"?

Zhai Le, squatting in the tree, didn't miss the brief display of literary essence. He couldn't help but feel a bit disgruntled — he hadn't forgotten a certain someone saying "don't play support roles," yet here she was, showing off her literary skills.

Shen Tang, about to deliver another blow to the fallen leader and claim his life, was caught off guard when he suddenly raised his hand, blood dripping from his mouth, and shouted.

"Stop, I concede!"

He had brought over a hundred men, with over thirty killed and over thirty wounded. The remaining dozens responsible for supporting the attack had long been scared away by this scene, scrambling in the opposite direction to save their lives.

The outcome was no longer in doubt.

Shen Tang snorted inwardly.

He called it quits when he clearly couldn't win, sacrificing his pride?

Shen Tang tightened her grip on her sword.

At that moment —

From not far away came a series of screams, one after another.

Both she and the leader were taken aback.

That direction?

Were those screams from the escaping troops?