The Final Blow Must Be Mine

Mu Xiang Li could not fathom Shen Hong Yue's plan. Though his life was no longer in peril, he still observed her slowly.

A few days later, Yuehong Stronghold robbed travelers and abducted people. Shen Hong Yue repeated her old trick, unexpectedly seizing a group of Escort Masters on the mountain. She even clashed with another stronghold in the area.

"Could she be planning a rebellion?" Mu Xiang Li's thought had barely surfaced when he quickly shook his head. This Shen Hong Yue did not seem like a foolish person.

As he pondered, he was suddenly summoned to the main courtyard of the stronghold. Shen Hong Yue commanded, "Depart tonight, we will raid Heihu Stronghold."

Previously, a conflict had arisen due to their highway robbery. By the rules, Yuehong Stronghold had overstepped its bounds, acting on another's territory. Heihu Stronghold had demanded an apology from Yuehong Stronghold, but Shen Hong Yue unexpectedly decided to strike first.

This was not a time of chaos. If they were too ostentatious and drew the attention of the Imperial Court, causing the imperial army to be dispatched to suppress bandits, it would be disadvantageous. Thus, all mountain bandit groups acted quite discreetly. Only Yuehong Stronghold, after robbing people and seizing money, also wanted to seize territory, as if they feared no one would notice them.

The two strongholds were a few miles apart. As night fell, Shen Hong Yue led her group, advancing with all their might.

In these past days, Mu Xiang Li had witnessed her methods and strength. With her personally overseeing, no one dared to secretly flee. And so, the group marched aggressively towards Heihu Stronghold.

Heihu Stronghold and Yuehong Stronghold, formerly Heilang Stronghold, were originally rivals, their stronghold names fiercely opposing each other.

At this moment, in Heihu Stronghold, Great Chieftain Tai Da Zhong was drinking and cursing with his brothers, "I can't believe Shi Da Biao of Heilang Stronghold died at the hands of a mere woman."

His subordinates echoed him.

"I heard that woman has some tricks up her sleeve. These past few days, Heilang Stronghold has recruited many new people."

"So what? We in this line of work also need to follow rules. To rob on our territory, that's just too disrespectful."

"Exactly, isn't she just a woman? How can she have three heads and six arms? This time, she must give an explanation." "I say, why not just annex Heilang Stronghold? Let that vile woman warm the Great Chieftain's bed, wouldn't that be great?"

"Good point, I heard that little vile woman is quite comely."

Even though Heilang Stronghold was now Yuehong Stronghold, these people still couldn't change their words. When mentioning the woman, their language grew even more vulgar and disrespectful.

Tai Da Zhong came from a military background, but he was merely a deserter. Now, as the Great Chieftain of Heihu Stronghold, he wielded authority like a general. Hearing his subordinates praise him, he greatly enjoyed it, and his ambitions gradually grew.

In this area near Tan City, bandit strongholds were not uncommon. If he could annex Heilang Stronghold, other strongholds would surely give him three parts of respect. Moreover, to suppress the woman who killed Shi Da Biao beneath him would surely be a special experience.

The more Tai Da Zhong thought about it, the better this idea seemed. Just as he was about to make up his mind, a subordinate on the watchtower shouted, "Someone's coming!"

"Who?" Tai Da Zhong heard this and quickly led his brothers, weapons in hand.

The subordinate on the watchtower called out to the people outside, "Who goes there?"

"Yuehong Stronghold. We are escorting our Stronghold Master to apologize to your Great Chieftain."

Tai Da Zhong, hearing this, felt no trap and laughed heartily, "I told you, how could so many brothers willingly serve a woman who doesn't know her place every day? Now this woman has broken the rules, these fellows probably couldn't bear it anymore and have rebelled."

Yet, he wasn't entirely foolish, asking his subordinate, "How many people are outside?"

"More than ten?"

"Is that woman tied up?"

"She is."

Tai Da Zhong, hearing this, felt relieved, "Alright, open the gates!"

A dozen people, what if it was a trick? His Heihu Stronghold had seventy or eighty men; each of them could drown them with a mouthful of spit.

Mu Xiang Li stood outside the stronghold, cursing inwardly, "He has some brains, but only that much."

The stronghold gates opened, and Shen Hong Yue was escorted inside.

Although there were only torchlights around, Shen Hong Yue's face, illuminated by the flames, instantly made Tai Da Zhong gaze at her in a daze. He had once heard that someone wanted to seize this woman to be a stronghold mistress, but ended up falling flat. Tsk tsk, what a pity, Shi Da Biao didn't have such good fortune; this blessing should rightfully be his.

"Heh heh..." His laughter had not yet ceased, his words not yet formed, when the situation abruptly changed.

Shen Hong Yue had no intention of wasting words with him. The fake ropes binding her immediately fell apart. At the same time, her body moved, and several flying daggers shot out from her sleeves. The mountain bandits guarding the watchtower and the stronghold gate, unprepared, were struck by the daggers and died.

Then, with a light tap of her foot, she leaped straight towards Tai Da Zhong. To capture the bandits, first capture their leader!

The remaining Yuehong Stronghold brothers were already ambushed nearby. However, the dozen or so people carrying torches escorting Shen Hong Yue had drawn all the attention, and no one had noticed them, thinking it was merely a diversion.

At this moment, hearing the commotion, over a hundred people charged forward. This was actually an opportunity to escape, but Shen Hong Yue had already made her calculations. She had Er Biao and the older men bring up the rear; with these people watching, anyone with other intentions would find it difficult to act.

Mu Xiang Li was unaware of the situation outside. He had entered the stronghold with Shen Hong Yue. Now that a fight had broken out, he didn't care much; whoever attacked him, he would attack them back!

In the Heihu Stronghold at night, torches flickered, and shouts of killing echoed everywhere. Mu Xiang Li cut down three people consecutively, his heart pounding. When over a hundred Yuehong Stronghold members charged in, there was no one left beside him to cut down.

Mu Xiang Li had no intention of cunningly evading; these were all experiences, valuable experiences. Just as he was about to rush to "contend for spoils" with others, his gaze fell upon Shen Hong Yue.

Tai Da Zhong, having trained in the military for many years, was indeed not useless, yet he was not captured by Shen Hong Yue in one fell swoop.

Seeing this, Mu Xiang Li darted forward like a rabbit, joining the team to kill the leader. If he could land the final blow, he would surely gain a good amount of experience points.

He knew clearly that everything before his eyes was real; the wounds on his body were still distinct. But he also realized that treating all this as a game to play could alleviate his inner pressure. Surviving in this world with the attitude of wandering the mortal world might not be a bad solution.

Shen Hong Yue saw Mu Xiang Li suddenly rush over and immediately grew somewhat wary. Could this fellow be trying to take advantage of the situation to harm her?

But she immediately realized that Mu Xiang Li was circling behind Tai Da Zhong. Was he trying to help?

"Why would I need your help?" Shen Hong Yue snorted coldly in her heart. Her sword continuously thrust, several streams of sword energy enveloping Tai Da Zhong.

"Roll to the right!" Mu Xiang Li shouted a reminder.

Tai Da Zhong had long been sweating profusely, thinking he was surely going to die. Hearing the shout, he disregarded right or wrong and indeed followed, rolling to the right, actually evading the sword energy.

"You!" Shen Hong Yue was furious, then she froze.

Tai Da Zhong had just evaded the sword energy and hadn't even had time to feel lucky when Mu Xiang Li delivered a saber thrust to his heart.

"You..." Tai Da Zhong died with his eyes wide open.

Mu Xiang Li also let out a sigh of relief, almost having the final blow stolen from him. As he sighed, he was gratified to see the halo that had appeared before, like a swirling current of Qi rising from his feet, enveloping him, then flashing and disappearing.

"I must have leveled up again!" Satisfied, Mu Xiang Li pulled out his saber and looked up to see Shen Hong Yue staring at him.

Having the credit stolen would surely make one angry, but we are teammates now, so there's no need to be so angry, right? Mu Xiang Li felt a little guilty and quickly shouted to those around him, "Your Great Chieftain is dead! Why aren't you surrendering and being bound!"

Hearing his shout, the people fighting looked over and indeed saw Tai Da Zhong's corpse soaked in a pool of blood on the ground. The Heihu Stronghold members instantly lost their will to fight, and after confirming that Yuehong Stronghold would not pursue them to the death, they all threw down their weapons.