Chapter 26

Black Mountain has a dangerous path on its mountainside.

The main route leading to the interior is not only blocked by rows of wooden stakes, but also has numerous sentry towers along the way, giving it the feel of a military base.

Jun Changxiao walked on the narrow path, not in the mood to observe, and thought to himself, "I've killed people."

Yes.

He had killed two people.

Having crossed over to the Starfall Continent and being in the martial arts world, such things were inevitable.

"Strange," Jun Changxiao mused, "when Elder Wei's arm was cut off at the grudge desk, I almost vomited at the sight of blood. Why didn't I react like that the first time I killed?"

He had killed two robbers with a single sword strike each.

The system explained, "Because the host has adapted to the new identity and the Starfall Continent, where the strong prey on the weak, you have become desensitized."

"Oh," Jun Changxiao understood.

Putting aside his thoughts, he began to survey the surroundings, thinking, "This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only entrance is heavily fortified. It is very difficult to attack."

No wonder the authorities and various factions have suffered here.

"Move!" A thief barked coldly in front, and dozens of thieves followed with swords and guns, all glaring at Jun Changxiao.

They would have swarmed him and chopped him into pieces for killing two of their comrades, but their boss had ordered them to bring him into the fortress, suppressing their urge.

"Third Brother, why do you think the boss wants us to bring him in instead of letting us kill him?"

"This guy is the head of the Iron Bones School. The boss probably wants to consider his status in the martial world, so he didn't let us kill him outright."

"Pah, what kind of leader would he be?"

"We've been in Qingyang County for so long and have never seen a martial arts leader. He must be some nobody with no real power."

The bandits talked among themselves, convinced that Jun Changxiao was a weakling unfit to be a faction leader.

"Hey," Jun Changxiao sighed.

At that moment, he couldn't wait to carve the words 'I'm the head' on his forehead to prove that he was truly a faction leader.

"Brother, do you think this guy is an imposter?"

"If he's impersonating and gets found out, he'll definitely die."

"Hey, I hope he is an imposter. That way, we can see some real torture!"

Under the escort of dozens of robbers, Jun Changxiao passed through layers of guards and stopped at a gate made of wood, with the characters "Heifengzhai" carved on it.

The bandits had indeed built their own mountain village.

"Open the door!"

"Creak!"

The wide wooden doors were slowly pushed open, and the lead bandit said coldly, "Boy, come with me."

Jun Changxiao entered the stronghold.

...

The interior of Heifengzhai was larger than the Iron Bones School, with many simple wooden houses on both sides.

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

As soon as Jun Changxiao entered, he heard the sound of flogging.

In the open ground in the distance, there were five wooden stakes, each tied to a person with disheveled clothes. They had shaved heads, blood all over, and noticeable whip marks inside their tattered clothes.

A bare-chested, muscular bandit was whipping one of them, but despite the lashes, there were no screams.

Jun Changxiao frowned slightly.

He knew that the whipped people didn't scream because they were already close to death.

"Save... save me..." came a weak groan from nearby.

Jun Changxiao looked down. A man was slowly crawling on the ground, his legs truncated, leaving two long bloodstains. His face was pale and weak, his eyes filled with fear, despair, and pain, as if he knew he was going to die but still hoped to live.

"Whoosh!"

A sword fell, and his head rolled away.

The bandit raised his sword, kicked the head into a brazier full of coal, and cursed, "Damn cripple, still trying to crawl around."

"Brother Niu, that guy was going to die soon anyway. Why not let him suffer a bit more?"

"I think Niu is just soft-hearted and wanted him to go quickly."

The other bandits joked.

"Fuck off!" The bandit known as Brother Niu cursed. "This damn mess is dirtying the place."

"True, true," the others laughed.

Jun Changxiao frowned even more. From the eyes of these robbers, he saw no pity—only cold-blooded cruelty.

"What?" Brother Niu sheathed his sword and walked over.

Other bandits also jumped off their platforms, staring at Jun Changxiao with mocking gazes.

One of them raised his hand and made a slitting throat gesture while grinning eerily.

The other bandits in the village noticed the stranger and also looked at him coldly.

In an instant, hundreds of robbers in the fortress were staring at Jun Changxiao.

"Snap!" The whip-wielding bandit struck again, grabbed the hair of the person tied to the stake, and cursed, "Damn, you're already dead. I can't even enjoy whipping you."

Jun Changxiao walked straight ahead.

He only walked a few dozen steps before seeing more people hanging or tied up, their heads bowed as if they had no breath left.

"Damn it," a bandit emerged from a shabby house on the right, angrily fastening his pants. "I got distracted, and the girl bit her tongue and killed herself."

"Hey, let me see."

"Fuck, Xiao Ba, how desperate are you to go after a dead one?"

The bandits joked.

Xiao Ba went into the house, and his voice was heard, "It's been more than half a year. Even if it's a sow, I'd still go for it!"

"Hahaha," the bandits laughed loudly.

Jun Changxiao walked past them, his eyes growing colder.

This wasn't a stronghold or a bandit hideout—it was a slaughterhouse, a hellish place. The robbers here were no longer human but a group of brutal, bloodthirsty beasts.

Jun Changxiao didn't want to be a hero.

But seeing the corpses tortured and whipped to death, and seeing the bones piled up, an unnamed anger surged within him.

If witnessing this slaughterhouse-like stronghold made him angry, seeing the head kicked into the brazier and the despair, fear, and helplessness in the eyes before death ignited a single thought in his mind: kill them all!