Chapter 370 Don't Read Anymore

Song Chunxue pricked up her ears, inwardly cursing herself for being so spineless.

Bandits are actually not very skilled; they rely on brute force and weapons to intimidate people.

But from the stories she heard growing up, she felt that bandits were more terrifying than demons and monsters, since their machetes were indiscriminate and would behead anyone who was in a bad mood.

Just thinking about that scene makes her want to touch her neck.

"Knock knock knock".

The fourth brother turned to Song Chunxue and laughed, "Mom, my sister said you can kick her grandpa away with one kick, how come you're so timid at home? Hahaha, I'll go open the door."

Dogs are the most intelligent animals; if it wags its tail at the door, it must be someone it knows.

Who is it?

"It's me. Is your mother home?"

Hearing her senior brother's voice, Song Chunxue breathed a sigh of relief and immediately got up to open the door.

"Squeak~"

Standing outside the door was a Taoist priest in a dark blue robe, wearing a straw hat and holding a whisk. The donkey behind him heard the door open and put its muzzle on his shoulder.

Song Chunxue laughed and couldn't help but tease, "It's obvious that Senior Brother really likes my donkey; you're all arm in arm."

The Taoist priest looked at her with a half-smile, "Yes, this donkey is quite bold. Hearing the noise from inside the city, it wasn't frightened at all. Instead, it got excited and wanted to jump up. It just loves to watch the excitement."

"My good junior brother is terrified at the mere mention of a bandit's son. I was standing right under that wall just now and witnessed you and Lao Si rushing into the yard in a panic. It was a bit embarrassing."

Song Chunxue blushed and said, "I'm not your senior brother. Those bandits were a group of people, and I've been afraid of them since I was a child. Senior brother, what brings you here today?"

Just as the Taoist priest was about to say something, the fourth son laughed and said, "Mother, are you not planning to let the Taoist priest in?"

Song Chunxue quickly stepped aside, "Senior brother, come in quickly, have the bandits really arrived?"

The senior brother led the donkey into the courtyard. "They've arrived, but the guards at the city gate are quite clever. They closed the gate quickly, and only a dozen or so people managed to get in. Now they're surrounded by soldiers."

"Junior brother, come with me quickly, lest those good-for-nothings get hacked to pieces by the bandits."

“Alright, let’s hurry up,” Song Chunxue said, picking up the sickle that was leaning against the wall. “Fourth brother, you can watch the house, or have your sister and the others come to our fort. This fort was originally built to defend against bandits.”

The fourth son was a little scared. "Mother, maybe you should be more timid. I'm not married yet."

"..." Song Chunxue was both amused and exasperated. "Don't worry, with my senior brother here, I'll be fine."

The Taoist priest glanced at the sickle in her hand, then hesitated to speak.

The courtyard gate closed, and the two brothers quickly walked towards the noisy place.

The sounds of a child crying and a woman pleading for mercy seemed to drift from afar. Song Chunxue gripped her sickle tighter. "Could they be abducting women? Are the county officials and soldiers really incompetent?"

The Taoist priest grabbed her shoulder and stood on the longsword. "Go take a look."

During the day, when there were many people, the Taoist priest did not travel through the air, but instead quickly crossed the streets.

In the time it takes to breathe, they arrived at the crossroads. The Taoist priest sheathed his longsword and his pupils contracted when he saw the scene on the other side.

"stop!"

On the opposite street, a dozen bandits, wielding large machetes, were grabbing several young women and putting them onto horses. Several children followed behind, wailing loudly. One of the older children rushed forward to tear at them, and the bandits raised their machetes, ready to strike.

Meanwhile, a man standing nearby was being trampled on the ground by several bandits, his forehead covered in blood.

This was the first time Song Chunxue had ever seen such a scene. She had only ever thought about bandits killing people, never about bandits robbing women. Immediately, a surge of hot blood rushed to the back of her head.

Damn it, I should have grabbed two axes earlier.

"Where did these stinking Taoist priests come from? Arrest them!"

"There's another woman, she's a bit older, but she's fair-skinned. Take her back to the brothers on the mountain, hurry up."

As they were talking, four or five bandits carrying knives swaggered over.

At this very moment, the government officials, dressed in their official robes, were hiding on both sides, trembling with fear and not daring to step forward.

"Here you go, don't hold back later."

The Taoist priest handed a sword to Song Chunxue, then stepped in front of her, deflecting the long knife of a bandit who was rushing towards him. With the next swift movement, he slit the bandit's throat.

With fluid, effortless movements, the three bandits fell to the ground in an instant, blood gushing from their necks. They clutched their necks, sobbing, unable to utter a single word.

The bandits, who had been so arrogant just moments before, were stunned, probably because they hadn't expected the Taoist priest in front of them to be so skilled.

"Quickly, take these two women back to the mountains."

The bandit leader acted decisively, gritted his teeth, climbed onto his horse, and knocked the struggling woman unconscious with a single blow.

"Mother, mother!"

The child knelt on the ground, crying and shouting. The other two bandits turned cold and raised their hands to chop at him.

Song Chunxue's scalp tightened, and without thinking, she threw down the sickle in her hand and rushed over.

The Taoist priest also leaped up and kicked the bandit who had raised his knife.

In a flash, the bandit felt a chill on the back of his neck. Before his knife could even fall on the child, he felt a sharp pain in his own neck.

"Sizzle!"

"Bang!"

Song Chunxue instinctively closed her eyes. It was over; she had killed someone.

"Retreat immediately!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Having just entered the city, the bandit leader encountered such a powerful and foul-smelling Taoist priest. He reacted quickly, immediately spurring his horse towards the city gate.

Seeing this, the officials hiding on both sides shouted, "Go! Go! Go! Seize them!"

Song Chunxue stared blankly for a moment at the sickle embedded in the bandit's body. Without thinking, she pulled it off and threw it at the bandit leader.

The Taoist priest moved even faster. With his long sword flashing, the bandits who were nearby were either killed or wounded, while the remaining few climbed onto their horses and fled out of the city as if their lives depended on it.

"Pfft~"

Song Chunxue frowned, watching helplessly as her sickle pierced the bandit leader's back; it was quite painful.

She stood there dumbfounded; she probably wasn't dead.

Even if they die, these bandits who harmed countless ordinary people deserve to die.

Has she committed a heinous crime?

However, she also saved several people; saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.

"They killed the city guards and have already escaped. Go after them!"

A group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere and offered their hindsight advice at just the right time.

The Taoist priest glanced at the dumbfounded Song Chunxue, then strode forward and pulled the woman off the bandit leader's horse.

He grabbed the person by the collar with one hand and supported their back with the other, placing them in front of the child.

"Take your mother home quickly."

A man with blood all over his head ran over from not far away.

The woman on the other side broke free from the bandits' control, holding her child and crying out in relief.

The surroundings were chaotic. Soldiers inside and outside the city surrounded the bandits. From afar, one could hear soldiers outside the city gates shouting that they would wipe out the bandits hiding three miles away.

"Thank you so much, Taoist priest, for saving my life."

"Thank you very much, auntie. I will repay you handsomely in the future."

Having escaped with their lives saved, they didn't dare delay for a moment and scrambled home.

Song Chunxue stood there blankly, her mind a complete mess, her eyes fixed on the bandit who had fallen off his horse. The sickle was stuck in his back, and blood stained the clothes around the wound, turning it redder and redder.

The next moment, everything went black before her eyes.

The Taoist priest covered her eyes with his hand, saying, "Don't look. They deserved to die."

The warmth of his palm pressed against her eyelids, dispelling the fear in her heart.

The senior brother's voice was unusually gentle, "I take back what I said about you being a coward. Junior brother is very brave, don't be afraid."