Chapter 8: It was a lucky day, a long time coming.
Before us lay the caravan’s procession.
To plunder this massive caravan, clearly no ordinary target, the Black Tiger Bandits had mobilized nearly their entire force, leaving only a minimal guard at their stronghold.
Hundreds of bandits, led by their chieftain, stood poised, savoring the sight of their prey one last time before the assault.
“What do you think, boss?”
“Hmm… Impressive. It’s been ages since we’ve seen a haul this big.”
The sheer volume of supplies stacked on the caravan’s wagons was staggering.
Even a rough estimate of the visible wealth was enough to dazzle the eyes.
A large-scale caravan, rare since the Heavenly Demon’s rampage.
The sight of it ignited fervent ambition in the bandits’ hearts.
“With that much, we could live comfortably for a while without robbing.”
“All that wealth is about to be ours.”
“What a stroke of luck today!”
The bandits felt a surge of exhilaration at the prospect of their prize.
True, the caravan’s escort matched its scale, with numerous skilled martial artists among them.
But despite this, the bandits cast aside any concerns, fixated solely on the treasure before them.
They had a trump card—a being who traveled with them, guaranteeing victory in any situation.
With that person’s power, they were confident they could single-handedly sweep away the escorts before them.
“Alright, let’s move. Ensure they can’t escape the encirclement.”
“Yes, boss! Everyone, attack!”
At the chieftain’s command, the bandits surged forward.
Simultaneously, the caravan’s escorts formed a defensive formation, ready to repel the assault.
“Bandits! Stop them!”
“Don’t let them touch the wagons! Protect the cargo!”
Thus began a clash between the hundreds of bandits and the hundred or so escorts.
Though the bandits vastly outnumbered them, the escorts’ individual skill far surpassed their attackers.
Thud!
“Argh!”
A single punch from an escort sent bandits flying in agony.
Infused with inner energy, each strike shattered weapons, bones, and organs.
The escorts primarily used fist-based martial arts rather than weapons.
Though the bandits wielded blades, the stark skill gap between trained martial artists and common thugs was evident.
Each swing of an escort’s fist felled a bandit, while the bandits’ weapons were blocked or broken, unable to inflict significant damage.
“These guys are tough!”
“Damn it! We can’t win up close! Use arrows from a distance!”
“Useless! Arrows won’t take them down… Argh!”
The escorts leveraged their superior combat skills to hold their ground.
But despite their efforts, the seemingly balanced battle soon tilted.
As time passed, the escorts were pushed back, barely able to counterattack.
‘Damn it!’
‘There are too many of them!’
‘My inner energy’s running dry… If this keeps up…!’
Despite their individual strength, the numerical disadvantage became glaringly apparent.
The bandits’ relentless wave tactics drained the escorts’ inner energy.
Their formation began to crack at its weakest points,
And those cracks quickly snowballed into a desperate situation.
But then,
The tide shifted abruptly.
“Grab that woman!”
“Kill the men, take the women! Tonight, we feast at the stronghold!”
As the escorts’ formation crumbled, exposing the caravan’s rear, another group came into view.
A woman whose beauty shone through her veiled face and a young girl with striking looks despite her age caught the bandits’ eyes, and they charged with greed.
But…
“Gahhh!”
“Arghhh!!!”
“!!”
The next moment, bloodcurdling screams rang out as bandits dropped dead, vomiting blood.
Nearly a fifth of their number perished instantly.
“What… what the hell?”
“What just happened…?”
The sudden deaths of their comrades stunned the bandits, their momentum faltering as fear took hold, causing them to retreat momentarily.
And then,
Before their eyes appeared a woman, her face hidden by a black veil,
Holding a blood-stained sword with a razor-sharp edge, exuding an ominous aura.
She felt fundamentally different from the other escorts.
Instinctive fear gripped the bandits, yet they mindlessly swung their weapons at her.
After all, they numbered in the dozens, if not hundreds, while she stood alone.
Driven by this simplistic reasoning, they attacked—
And met a gruesome end.
“Arghhh!!”
“Gaaah!!!”
Before their strikes could land, they were sliced apart as if by an invisible blade, their limbs severed.
Witnessing this, the surviving bandits froze, unable to advance further.
“Will you come to me? Or shall I come to you?”
Her voice was polite yet chillingly cold.
The bandits could only stand silent,
Their gazes shifting to the one person among them bold enough to step forward in such a situation.
“Well, well… It seems things never go quite as planned, do they?”
“!”
“To think I’d meet such a master in a place like this. This might actually be fun.”
A figure emerged from among the bandits.
But this person’s appearance was utterly out of place among them.
A woman, dressed in the delicate, flowing garb of a dancer,
Not of the Central Plains but with the exotic features of someone from the southern Tianzhu region.
Her hair was like black silk, her skin a deep bronze, and her eyes a vivid purple—a mysterious yet dazzling beauty.
But at this moment,
As Hyangbi faced this Tianzhu dancer,
She couldn’t help but frown slightly.
‘Who… who is this woman?’
The dancer, clad in revealing attire, radiated an extraordinary presence.
She drew a small dagger from her bosom, twirling it once before gripping it in both hands.
And then…
“!”
In an instant, the dancer vanished from Hyangbi’s sight.
A chill ran down Hyangbi’s spine as she urgently swung her sword.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
At the last second, Hyangbi deflected an attack aimed at her neck by a hair’s breadth.
Had she not sensed it in time, it would’ve been deadly. Shuddering, she gauged the dancer’s strength.
‘This woman… she’s strong. Incredibly so…’
From that single strike, Hyangbi confirmed one thing.
She, standing at the cusp of first-rate mastery and nearing the peak,
Could easily dispatch dozens of untrained men and, under perfect conditions, perhaps even a peak-level martial artist.
But facing this dancer, who wore an arrogant smile, Hyangbi knew.
With her current skill, no matter what she did, she couldn’t defeat this woman.
And for good reason.
The woman before her had surpassed the peak realm…
‘Hwa-kyung…’
A master of the Hwa-kyung realm, one of fewer than a hundred in the entire Central Plains.
Her presence here was a profound shock to Hyangbi.
But.
“Sigh… No choice, then.”
“…”
Despite this, Hyangbi felt only surprise, not despair or a sense of crisis.
Because,
“Time to switch.”
Behind her stood the one person who would step in if she faced true danger.
“Yes, Master.”
The strongest in this world.
Her Master.