Chapter Twelve: The Thirty-Six Bandits of the Wilderness

“What is that?”
Li Yan couldn’t help but open her mouth in shock.
“Bandit riders.”
Li Ju replied.
Thanks to his vision, enhanced by his internal martial arts training, he could easily see through the swirling dust and make out a group of bandits astride horses, their faces wild and unrestrained.
“Bandits on horseback…”
Li Yan’s voice trembled with fear.
She had grown up hearing countless tales of horse bandits raiding travelers and merchant caravans in Yangyuan County, and the victims in those stories rarely met with a good end.
“Fourth Chief, looks like there’s someone by the edge of those woods up ahead!”
As Li Ju and his companions watched the bandits, a sharp-eyed member of the gang spotted them standing at the forest’s edge.
“And a woman too!”
The first bandit spoke up again, adding this detail.
“Oh?”
At the mention of a woman, nearly all the bandits’ attention shifted at once.
“Haha, it really is a woman.”
Amid the group, a burly man, distinct from the others by his rough iron armor—a clear sign of leadership—grinned savagely.
“Brothers, kill for the money, seize the woman!”
With a roar from the fourth chief, the bandits urged their horses forward, charging toward Li Ju and his group.
“Brother, they’re coming for us!”
Li Yan recoiled in terror as the bandits thundered toward them.
Old Carpenter Li, beside her, was sweating profusely. From his younger days wandering the roads, he knew better than most just how ruthless these marauding horse thieves could be.
If you fell into their hands, even dying cleanly would be a luxury.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here. You two, hide back in the forest.”
Li Ju, armed with martial skill, remained calm. From what he sensed, none of the bandits had reached the level of an external arts master; at best, they were seasoned fighters.
Though wounded, Li Ju knew these bandits were nothing like the elite assassins who had previously hunted him. With his own mastery in the external arts, dealing with this rabble would be easy.
With a powerful stride, he dashed straight at the oncoming horsemen, covering dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.
“Something’s wrong!”
“There’s a martial artist ahead, and he looks strong! Turn around, run for it!”
Just as Li Ju was about to tear into the bandits, the fourth chief recognized his extraordinary skill and immediately ordered a retreat.
Li Ju watched the bandits wheel their horses and flee, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He hadn’t expected such a reaction, but after a brief hesitation, he quickly recovered and ignored the scattering bandits, setting his sights on the leader and giving relentless chase.
“Hyah! Hyah!”
The fourth chief glanced back at Li Ju chasing him and desperately urged his horse forward.
But it was futile. While a martial artist might not outrun a horse over long distances, in a short burst—especially one trained in speed-focused internal arts—catching a rider was child’s play.
“Yaaah!”
Seeing escape was impossible, the fourth chief drew his long blade and swung it fiercely at Li Ju.
Bat Demon Claw!
Li Ju deflected the blade with one hand and, with the other, seized the man by the throat.
Thud!
The horse, unable to bear the force of their struggle, stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Li Ju, clutching the fourth chief’s neck, took the man’s blade and landed nimbly on his feet.
“Mmmph…”
The fourth chief gripped Li Ju’s arm, his body feebly struggling.
“Now, you answer my questions.”
Li Ju’s voice was cold as ice.

The fourth chief met Li Ju’s gaze and a flicker of fear appeared in his eyes.
…
With a single stroke, Li Ju severed the fourth chief’s head, which tumbled to the ground, leaving a gaping wound at the neck.
For bandits accustomed to pillaging and killing, Li Ju felt no remorse in ending his life after extracting the information he wanted, even if he had initially promised to spare him for cooperation.
“The Thirty-Six Marauders of the Steppe…”
Leading the captured horse, Li Ju walked back toward Li Yan and old Carpenter Li, a thoughtful look on his face.
Faced with the threat of death, the bandit had quickly revealed his identity.
On this wasteland leading to Tianmen Prefecture, there were many such horse bandits, who preyed on passing caravans and travelers.
Each group had its own territory, and because there were thirty-six of them in total, they were known as the Thirty-Six Marauders of the Steppe.
The bandits who had just attacked were one such group, called the Willow Wood Band, named for their base in Willow Wood Village on Willow Wood Mountain, though their strength ranked among the weakest of the thirty-six.
Within the Willow Wood Band, there were four chiefs. The first chief was an external arts master, the second and third were veteran fighters—top-tier among their class.
Only the fourth chief, the one Li Ju had just killed, was weak. He’d been promoted solely because he was the first chief’s younger brother, and was not even the equal of Willow Wood’s best regular bandits.
“Willow Wood Mountain… perhaps there’s an opportunity there.”
A glint flashed in Li Ju’s eyes.
Their family had fled Yangyuan County with nothing but the clothes on their backs, utterly destitute. According to the information from the fourth chief, the entrance fee to Tianmen Prefecture alone was twenty coins per person.
Though not much, it was more than his family could afford, and that was only the fee to enter; food and shelter in the city would require far more.
Li Ju had been wracking his brain for a way to support his family in the city. Robbing the city was impossible—if even a minor clan in Yangyuan could produce a martial arts master, who knew what experts lay hidden in the bustling prefecture?
Pick the wrong target, stumble into an expert’s home, and he might be dead before he even realized his mistake.