"Go!"
Zheng Renxin made the sharp decision to retreat at once.
With a sinister grin, Li Ji leapt forward and swept his large saber at Zheng Renxin and the three men beside him. All four Organ Refinement martial artists erupted with blood qi and raised their longswords across their chests to block.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The muffled impact shook Zheng Renxin to his core. He felt as though a crushing force had slammed into him, pressing down with unstoppable might. Even after unleashing all his blood qi and combining it with the strength of Bone Tempering and Organ Refinement, he still failed to withstand the attack.
Li Ji had forced him back several steps.
"Puh!"
Zheng Renxin clutched his chest as a metallic tang flooded his mouth, blood dripping from his lips. He was already wounded after taking one strike—and he wasn't the only one. The other three Organ Refinement experts of Miaoshou Garden had also withstood serious damage.
In that instant, a shockwave crashed through all four of them like a storm.
With a single blow, Li Ji had struck them all down. Though they were all at the Organ Refinement Stage, the difference in strength was as vast as heaven and earth.
It was hardly surprising that the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji had managed to block trade routes with his followers and even escape the imperial army's encirclement alive. With such strength, who beneath the Divine Strength Realm could stand against him?
"Patriarch, run! You must not die here! We three will hold them off for you!"
"Patriarch, we’ve lost! Hurry and go!"
The three experts roared at the top of their lungs, their voices hoarse with desperation. Miaoshou Garden had committed its full strength to this battle, and if all of their Organ Refinement experts were wiped out, the consequences would be catastrophic. If Zheng Renxin perished here, their century-old foundation could crumble overnight.
"Leave?" Li Ji sneered. "I already told you. None of you will leave. You're stuck here with me."
Li Ji hefted his big saber onto his shoulder, his expression twisting with a savage grin as he strode forward.
Zheng Renxin was no fool. His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging across his temples—the very image of fury. However, the situation was dire, and he knew he couldn't afford to die here. If he fell, the order of Miaoshou Garden would fall with him and descend into chaos.
Just as he was about to retreat, a crash echoed from outside the derelict temple. More than a dozen bandits surged in, led by another Organ Refinement martial artist. He and his men raised their crossbows, cutting off Miaoshou Garden's escape route.
At once, the Miaoshou Garden martial artists still fighting inside were struck with terror, their morale collapsing.
"Wait!" shouted Zheng Renxin, fixing his gaze on Li Ji. "Enough. This time, Miaoshou Garden admits defeat," he said bitterly. "You came south to Nanyang City, risking everything for the sake of gold and silver. Name your price."
Everyone was taken aback by his words, including Li Ji, who halted his steps.
"You admit defeat? No desperate struggle?" Li Ji sneered.
Zheng Renxin shook his head. "A desperate struggle now would only bring more death. There is no meaning in that."
With that, Zheng Renxin simply tossed his weapon aside. Seeing him surrender brought a faint smile to Li Ji's face.
"Hahaha! Not bad. At least you're able to read the room. Now, have your men drop their weapons."
Zheng Renxin glanced across the temple hall. Of the seventy or eighty skilled men Miaoshou Garden had brought, half were already dead. Barely thirty or forty remained.
He exhaled heavily and said, "Put down your weapons."
Clang, clang, clang!
They obeyed at once.
At a single glance from Li Ji, his bandits rushed forward, shoving the survivors together and hemming them in on all sides.
"Li Ji, name your price," Zheng Renxin said once more.
Those words left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he had little choice. The Zheng Clan of Nanyang City wasn't specialized in martial arts, and Miaoshou Garden's reputation had never been built on killing or bloodshed. Its foundation lay instead in a century of medical practice, refined by generations of physicians and apothecaries.
Now, faced with a ruthless bandit like the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, they stood no chance against him. The only option was to buy peace with money and hope to survive this calamity.
Although Li Ji was a rugged, hulking bandit, his mind was sharp. His eyes flickered as he let out a cold laugh. "Zheng Renxin, the Zheng Clan founded and ruled Miaoshou Garden for generations, amassing wealth for more than a hundred years. The gold and silver you've piled up must be beyond reckoning. But let's not trouble ourselves with numbers. Have someone lead my men to your treasury, and we'll take however much we can carry."
He sneered. "If I’m satisfied, I’ll let you all go. After all, you were right. My brothers and I risked coming south for nothing more than gold and silver. Your lives mean nothing to us."
Zheng Renxin's expression shifted slightly. He had expected Li Ji to be greedy, but not to this extent. Li Ji had not even given a figure, instead demanding that Miaoshou Garden be emptied out entirely. That was the Zheng Clan's century of wealth, the lifeblood of their foundation.
But what choice did he have? In that situation, he was a fish on the chopping block, and the knife was in Li Ji's hands. Refusing his request meant death.
Zheng Renxin's chest heaved as he recalled the ancestral teachings of the Zheng Clan. Above all, human life was most important; everything else could be abandoned. It was by clinging to this principle that the Zheng Clan had survived calamity after calamity over the past hundred years, enduring to the present day.
With this in mind, Zheng Renxin clenched his teeth and said in a low voice, "Li Ji, I will send back my son, Zheng Yifeng. Send your men after the goods."
Li Ji burst into loud laughter. "Good! Erhu, take your men and escort Zheng Yifeng back. Remember, bring out everything you can carry."
Then, his tone hardened. "And if Zheng Yifeng dares to play any tricks, kill him on the spot."
"Yes, Heavenly King," Erhu answered.
With that, Li Erhu led more than ten men, escorting Zheng Yifeng out of the derelict temple.
The temple was still littered with corpses, yet the atmosphere had eased somewhat. Zheng Renxin and the others crouched on the ground, guarded closely by Li Ji's men.
Li Ji scratched his head with a grin. "Zheng Renxin, you know when to bend and when to yield. You're quite the character."
A bandit beside him shook his head and said coldly, "Heavenly King, the Zheng Clan of Nanyang City has survived over a hundred years. Naturally, they know how to play their cards. They're not a family specialised in martial arts like us men of the jianghu. They don't fight and kill, gambling their lives with every move."
He spat to the side. "Still, I thought they'd put up a better fight than this. Four Organ Refinement experts, and this is all they amount to? Pathetic. I reckon the imperial hounds would've done a better job. Tsk, tsk... Seems Miaoshou Garden has grown fat on gold, rich and comfortable, with no warrior blood left in their veins."
At that, the bandits burst into laughter, their eyes filled with mockery as they looked upon the people of Miaoshou Garden. Some of the captured men glared back at the bandits, but most kept their heads low. After all, the bandits were speaking the truth.
The Zheng Clan of Nanyang had long since lost their ferocity. They were no longer truly part of the jianghu. They had four Organ Refinement experts in name, yet their combat prowess was laughable.
Zheng Renxin's eyes turned cold as he clenched his fists, but he dared not lash out. He could only endure as Li Ji and his men mocked him.
Boom!
At that moment, the sky shifted, thunder rolling across the heavens. Moments later, rain poured down on the derelict temple. The bandits paid it no mind, continuing to feast and drink as they waited for Miaoshou Garden's treasure to arrive.
Clap, clap, clap.
Eventually, a figure emerged through the rain. He wore a conical straw hat, his body wrapped in black clothing, his face concealed by a scarf of the same color. Step by step, he advanced steadily toward the derelict temple.
"Stop! Who goes there?" shouted one of the bandits guarding the temple gate.
The newcomer was none other than Lu Changsheng. He lifted his head, his sharp gaze piercing through the rain. He grasped the situation at once. The people of Miaoshou Garden were crouched on the ground, stripped of their dignity, reduced to mere prisoners.
Lu Changsheng shook his head. Can't believe the Zheng Clan is this pitiful...
He slowly walked all the way to the temple gate, completely disregarding the bandit's warning.
Swish!
The men guarding the gate drew their blades.
Lu Changsheng came to a stop. He gave them a brief glance, then raised his voice so everyone inside the temple could hear.
"A traveler hurrying through the night. With rain pouring from the heavens, may I enter to rest my feet for a while?"