Two of the bandits drew their bows and shot at me, no warnings issued, they had a rather calm expression. Honed by years of constant faces with death. Fight or flight. And in a case where a cultivator is upon them, they knew that death was inevitable, so they would rather risk their lives for a lucky shot in the dark and kill the cultivator rather than try and escape from a man that can bend the laws of the world.
The two arrows were to me as slow as a snail. Apparently, my body had already improved beyond human... no that's not the correct term in this case. Beyond mortal limits. What these two men considered a shot that could be a sneak attack and would definitely fell any soldiers that weren't paying attention, nor wearing armor such as me, that attack was nothing more than a toddler trying to kill me with a single punch. Pathetic.
I easily dodged the first arrow and plucked the second one from the air with my index and middle finger as it was a few inches away from my eye.
"Impressive. Not the shot, the gall you had to actually try and kill me."
The two archer bandits looked at each other and split up, each running in a different direction.
Smart, an impressive tactic that will cause me to waver, having to think which to chase after.
The bandit to my right vaulted over a boulder and jumped into a tree branch, then continued running as if he was sprinting across the solid ground while in fact, he was jumping from tree to tree. The other archer on the other hand had chosen a far risker way as he took to a nearby geographic descent, like the side of a cliff, and ran down with all he got.
In that split moment, the rest of the bandits had already run away, splitting like a school of fish when a shark comes into play.
This tactic was rather smart though heartless. It would mean that one or at least a few, the slowest, or just the unlucky ones that I would go after would die. And this is probably the reason why they have survived so long even when they were infesting the perimeters of the imperium.
If they were ever chased after by the guards, then most of them would survive on the account of a few unlucky ones that will get caught.
I ignored the escaping bunch, though momentarily. There was a small problem that needed my attention.
The carriage had its door ripped out, and two women were there, a beautiful and well-dressed woman, and a maid that looked like she was on her death bed. Still, I noticed that something was odd and I was going to address it soon.
As I approached the caravan, the two men in it had come to greet me.
One of the men was wearing servant clothes, and the other was a bloodied soldier or guard, he seemed to be the only one left alive. The bandit's ambush was so thorough that they had killed off the entire retinue.
"Lord benefactor, we thank you greatly for your patronage and hope that you can forgive us for the time it took you to offer our mortal selves your benevolence."
"Such it with the over glorification, I just offered a hand. So, what happened?" I asked the old servant.
"We were accompanying our lady to the imperial city when we were ambushed by mountain bandits. They had predicted our route and caused us great trouble. Without your aid, we wouldn't have survived. We're greatly thankful."
"Thank you," said the soldier as he cupped his hands toward me.
As I glanced at the battered carriage once again, I realized that the so-called lady was in fact not the lady. It seemed odd.
"So, why aren't you panicking?" I asked.
"W-why should we panic?" asked the servant.
'oh, he probably interpreted that wrong.'
"No, I don't mean you harm, but why aren't you panicking since your lady is badly wounded."
The two men looked at each other and looked back at me when the servant said.
"How did you figure it out?" he asked.
"The nails on the girl in the dress, they are polished, but there are rough around the edges, even her neckline has a light tan, she is used to going out and use her hands. While the maid's hands are as smooth as silk, a maid who uses her hands all the time would have rougher hands.
The two men bowed to me as the servant said, "Please great immortal, we didn't wish to deceive you, it is just a precaution we did to hid the identity of our lady."
"Then you're as foolish as you think you are smart," I replied.
The two looked at each other unable to understand the underlying meaning in my words.
I sighed as I explained, "In these scenarios when you've been hunted by the bandits, who do you think is the first to die?"
None of them seemed to be bright enough so I answered for them, "It's the soldiers and the people of least interest," I pointed at the bloodied lady dressed as a maid, "She was believed to be a person of least interest, a useless maid. In an ambush like this, she has only two options, die, killed for her insignificance, or taken, raped then killed for her insignificance. As for the one dressed as your lady, she would have been kidnapped, then in fear for her life she would have spilled the beans that she is not the lady, then she would end up, raped or killed or both. Dumb discissions such as these that don't take into account all the variables would have ended up with you two in a noose."
The two men instantly kowtowed, "Thank you for your insight!"
"I didn't do this to receive your kowtows, stand up damn it, and next time use your heads. Still, you're not off the thicket, she is bleeding rigorously and she will die in the next hour or so unless you plug that bleeding."
"Do you great immortal have a pill or something, we're willing to trade you for a pill that can cure her, a palace, or even a great plot of land, anything please, she must not die!" the woman dressed as a maid spoke.
"It's not about money, the pills I have are not for mortals."
The words I spoke were like an ice bucket being poured on them on a cold morning. Seeing their panicking faces I sighed, "But I do have a method."
I went to the carriage, got inside, and said, "Leave."
The girl was hesitant at first before the soldier gestured with his face for her to leave. Once the girl was out I overheard the soldier say "If he wanted us harm, we would be dead already, trust him."
"But, the lady."
"Just stay, he may not look like a monster, but to me, he is far more heroic than those filth bandits."
I shook my head, a cultivator's hearing is far more powerful than a human's, and their whispering was like a loud glaring shouting in my ears.
I ignored them and checked the wound. The girl was slashed through the face and the sword had cut through her collar bone, breaking it.
Miraculously, it didn't cut into any major artery, but the damage was still severe and she would die of fever even if she had first aid.
"How long until we're at the capital?" I asked.
"It should take us half a day on the carriage."
"So, not far. But the carriage would be bumpy. It's not good to shake a patient."
I bandaged her face and did the best I could for her shoulder. I lit up my pipe and puffed gout of the Joyful Weed into the girl's face. I made sure to keep a separate stash, one that didn't have the toxin in it. A batch that I was going to share with Elder Yun.
The Joyful Weed is far too potent for mortals, but I made sure to manipulate my Qi and reduce its potency to the bare minimum. It was enough for the girl to have her complexity change, and her face softens up as if she had relaxed.
"I don't have the required tools to help her here, she needs mortal medicine and I need an apothecary's shop to treat her."
"We don't have anything here."
"I know that's why I'll be taking her."
The men looked at me and said, "If we go back to the city without her."
"You will be punished, or executed," I completed their sentence for them, "But it's far better than the alternative she dies here, you will definitely be killed."
I bandaged the girl as best as I could and carried her into my arms. The little thing was too light. Surprisingly, she looked like she was in her mid-twenties, and didn't seem like a person who had gone out much. She had much of her life ahead of her, and she was going to lose it due to the greed of a few bandits. Such wretched creatures.
I looked back at the general area where the bandits had run to and scrunched up, "I'll need to clear this once and for all once I'm done."
I placed my foot on my sword while I carried the girl in a princess's carry. then willed the weapon to move forward as fast as it could. The girl didn't have much time.
The sword, surprisingly fast, had increased its speed even greater than it was.
It seems that it is reacting to my intentions, though it's consuming my poison Qi like mad, it's giving me far greater speed.
"If this keeps up, you'll have a chance, just hang in there," I addressed the unconscious girl as we flew forward.
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