Volume 1: Winds Rising From the Mountains and Swamps Chapter 26: Night Terror
Just when Shopkeeper Xiao was startled, he heard a "bang" sound of a string. He opened his eyes in shock, and saw a flash of light. The man with a knife behind him leaned back and fell to the ground with a "thump". His body twitched violently for a few times and gradually stopped moving.
Before the shopkeeper could come to his senses, the other two bandits had let go of Ma Hu and the others and rushed over.
The shopkeeper hurriedly got up and ran forward. Looking up, he saw a young man with a calm face holding a crossbow standing not far in front of him. When he was panicking, he heard another "bang" sound in his ears. A crossbow arrow nailed into the chest of a bandit. He screamed and fell to the ground. The other bandit showed panic on his face, hesitated for a moment, turned around and ran away.
The three bandits who besieged Ma Hu and the others saw that the situation was not good, whistled and rushed into the woods, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It was just a few breaths, and when the disaster was about to happen, the vicious bandits actually left two corpses and fled.
The incident happened suddenly, and the situation changed rapidly, making people dizzy.
It was Lin Yi who saved the shopkeeper and his party. He had discovered in his consciousness that there were people lurking dozens of feet away. Seeing that the shopkeeper was in danger, he shot and killed two bandits with a crossbow in time, scaring away the bandits.
"Thank you for your help, Xiao is very grateful!" The shopkeeper calmed down a little, and bowed to Lin Yi with a sincere face to thank him.
Ma Hu and Wang Er came over to thank him. The mountain boy who was suspected by several people before, unexpectedly became the benefactor who saved his life in the end.
"I didn't expect that the little brother was so powerful. It was really dangerous just now! I didn't expect this group of bandits to be so fierce!" Shopkeeper Xiao said with lingering fear. He looked at the crossbow in the other's hand, and wondered where did this young man find the killing weapon?
Seeing the two thieves he shot dead, Lin Yi's face turned pale. He didn't think too much when he was saving people, but he killed two people in a blink of an eye. Two living people died in his hands, and he was panicked for a while.
What Lin Yi didn't know was that this was not his first time to kill people. Qian Hu died after leaving Xianrending! But seeing people die in front of him, let alone he was only sixteen years old, even ordinary adults would find it difficult to adapt.
Didn't the master say it? Just act with your heart! Isn't killing also saving people! After calming down, Lin Yi said to Shopkeeper Xiao: "I am just a mountain man, and I am used to using a crossbow for hunting on weekdays. It's just a small effort, shopkeeper, no need to be polite!" He casually hung the small crossbow on his waist.
As for the curiosity in the other party's eyes, Lin Yi had to pretend not to know.
Ma Hu and Wang Er were not seriously injured. Lin Yi walked around, found a few herbs, crushed them and bandaged their wounds. The latter was grateful, exchanged glances with each other, and secretly thought that this kid in the mountains knew a lot.
Lin Yi went to look at the dead bandit again. The bloody corpse was so bloody that he felt sick. He suppressed his discomfort, frowned, took back his crossbow, wiped it clean, and put it into the crossbow bag made of deerskin.
Ma Hu and Wang Er searched the bandit's arms again. In addition to the money bag of Shopkeeper Xiao, there were dozens of taels of silver. Then they dug a pit and buried the body.
"I don't know your name, little brother!"
After experiencing life and death, several people were quite tired and sat aside to rest. Shopkeeper Xiao came to sit next to Lin Yi.
"My name is Lin Yi." Lin Yi replied. He looked at Shopkeeper Xiao's panting appearance and thought to himself, this person is weak and short of breath. I really don't know how he survived the bumps along the way.
"Brother Lin! I won't say much about saving your life. This is my little token of appreciation. Please accept it." Shopkeeper Xiao said, holding a package in his hand. After opening it, a pile of silver and a purse appeared in front of Lin Yi.
Lin Yi waved his hands and said, "Shopkeeper Xiao! What are you doing? There's no need to do this."
Shopkeeper Xiao saw that the other party didn't accept it, and said anxiously, "Brother Lin, don't refuse first. Listen to me. Most of these are stolen goods from thieves. It's a pity to abandon them. Since you killed the man, these things should belong to you. In addition, although the purse is mine, it was also snatched back by Brother Lin." After saying that, he looked at Lin Yi with a sincere face.
Seeing that the other party was moved, he said again, "If Brother Lin accepts these silvers, it will be regarded as a small token of our gratitude!"
Lin Yi didn't have much silver on him, and what Shopkeeper Xiao said made sense. He thought about it, and then stopped being hypocritical. He took the package, took out the purse and handed it to Shopkeeper Xiao, saying: "Shopkeeper Xiao's kindness is hard to refuse, so I will accept it, but the purse should be returned to its original owner."
"Brother Lin, you are embarrassing me, aren't you? The purse should belong to you." Shopkeeper Xiao hurriedly stuffed the purse into Lin Yi's arms.
Lin Yi stretched out his hand to stop him, saying: "The two brothers have done their duty to protect the people and goods. Shopkeeper Xiao should give them compensation!"
"Don't worry about this, brother Lin!" Shopkeeper Xiao said, took out a piece of golden object from the purse, and said without allowing it to be refused: "Let me show my gratitude, please don't refuse!"
Looking down at his hand, it was a piece of gold weighing no less than ten taels. Lin Yi thought to himself that Shopkeeper Xiao was really rich and generous. For him, gold was really the first time he had seen it, and it was much more valuable than silver. Looking up and seeing the other party's determined face, he put the gold and silver into his arms.
Shopkeeper Xiao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. He said with a smile: "I see that you are from the mountains, but you have handsome eyebrows and extraordinary demeanor, and your martial arts should be good. I wonder why you are going to Taiping Town?"
Although Shopkeeper Xiao looks shrewd, he is also kind and approachable. He should be an honest businessman.
"I am a boy from the mountains, so I don't have any martial arts skills." Lin Yi chuckled and shook his head. He thought for a moment and then asked, "Shopkeeper Xiao is from Tianping Town. Have you ever heard of Xiaotian'ao?"
"Oh! Xiaotian'ao?" Shopkeeper Xiao pondered for a while, nodded and said, "I remembered it. There seems to be such a place more than ten miles north of Taiping Town. I wonder...?"
"Looking for a relative!" Lin Yi said calmly.
"I'm just on my way. I'll tell Brother Lin when we get there." Shopkeeper Xiao said cheerfully.
"Then thank Shopkeeper Xiao first!" A smile appeared on Lin Yi's face.
.
"Brother Lin! You and I are friends of life and death, don't be too indifferent!" Shopkeeper Xiao has become much more familiar with him.
"Since Shopkeeper Xiao is from Taiping Town, where does this come from?" Lin Yi asked casually.
Just thinking that he had met a kid from the mountains who had never seen the world, Shopkeeper Xiao regained his true nature as a businessman and became talkative after the lingering fear.
It turns out that this route leads to the north, leading to the Hetian Kingdom.
The country of Hetian is small and mountainous, but it is famous for its jade production, and Hetian jade is famous all over the world. Therefore, jade and jewelry merchants from various countries mostly purchase goods from the Hetian Kingdom. This shopkeeper Xiao also opened a jade shop in Tianping Town. Since Tianping Town is very close to Hetian Kingdom, with the advantage of the geographical location, the processed jade wares are sold to all parts of the Shang Kingdom, and the business is not bad.
This time, Shopkeeper Xiao went to Haotian in person, selected several pieces of high-quality jade concentrate, and transported them back to the Shang Kingdom. Just hire a jade craftsman to carve it and sell it, which should make a lot of money. Unexpectedly, just after crossing Hetian and entering the Shang Kingdom, they encountered robbers. Fortunately, Lin Yi came to help and saved him from this unexpected disaster.
After listening to what the other party said, Lin Yi was secretly surprised. I was just running around in the mountains, but I came to the junction of the two countries. This place is still two hundred miles away from Taiping Town. In other words, he went too far.
A moment later, the carriage was on the road again. Lin Yi no longer stayed away from the carriage, but followed closely behind.
After dozens of miles, the sky darkened and the terrain on both sides of the mountain road gradually became clearer.
The carriage drove out of the woods, and there was an open space in front of it, with several large rocks scattered on the side.
Shopkeeper Xiao jumped out of the carriage and said to Lin Yi with a tired but kind expression: "After this mountain trail, you will find the main road. This place is more than a hundred miles away from Tianping, which is only a day's journey. The color is now It’s late, so let’s take a rest so we can go on our way in the morning.”
The old man who drove the carriage was busy arranging the carriage. Although Ma Hu and Wang Er were injured, they were not seriously injured, so they found some dry grass and dry firewood, lit a bonfire, and lay down on the ground. It’s wet at night in the mountains, so having a bonfire can help you avoid mosquitoes. Several people, all looking very tired, gathered around and ate dry food.
Lin Yi found a dry place by himself, leaning against a big rock and sitting cross-legged. The old man who drove the cart waited on the animals and gave him a few pieces of dried meat and a bag of water.
Shopkeeper Xiao lay down early and began to snore. The old man who drove the carriage was dozing off next to the carriage, while the horses not far away were still chewing grass silently. Ma Hu and Wang Er, one is making a pile of dogs, and the other is sitting by the fire, holding a knife in his arms, looking on guard. Watching the night is the duty of the two of them, and they can only take turns to rest.
Lin Yi closed his eyes slightly and sat cross-legged in silence, his consciousness spreading around intentionally or unintentionally.
In the past two or three years, he had become accustomed to meditating, but rarely lay down to sleep. After entering samadhi, the spiritual platform becomes clear and the spiritual energy in the meridians circulates on its own for a night. It feels good to feel refreshed and a hundred times stronger.
But here, Lin Yi didn't dare to be careless. After the spiritual energy circulated twice in the body, he sat alone and seemed to be sleeping.
Twilight is closing, and the night is getting darker.
There were insects chirping in the mountains and fields, but the open space was quiet except for the crackling sound of the campfire from time to time.
When Lin Yizheng was closing his eyes to rest, his brows suddenly moved.
There was a faint tremor in the ground, and after a while, a gradually fading "rumbling" sound came.
The person holding the knife in his arms was either Ma Hu or Wang Er. He turned his head as if listening to something. After a while, his expression suddenly changed and he hurriedly pushed his companion who was lying beside him to wake up.
"Mahu, get up quickly!" It turned out that it was Mahu who fell asleep, and the person keeping watch should be Wang Er. Ma Hu snorted and seemed not to wake up. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly climbed up and grabbed the knife in his hand.
At this time, the ground was shaking more violently, and the old driver also rubbed his eyes and looked around blankly.
Several horses neighed, and bursts of sharp clatter of horse hooves rushed through the night, bringing with them a cloud of dust and sweeping over them.
Shopkeeper Xiao was finally awakened by the sudden movement, but before he could get up, he lay on the ground with a look of panic...
ps: (The normal update time of this book is the Ziwu double update. When full attendance is reached next month, updates will be added from time to time! Friends who like this book, please read it slowly. The first and last issues of the book are deliberately smooth, just for the subsequent development. No will disappoint you!)
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