This way, even if they ended up not finding any clues regarding the cause of the drought, they could at least take this chance to ascertain the current status of the bandits.
Because the bandit had not been active recently, Shan Shou speculated that the bandits had already been forced away by the drought.
After all, it would be terrible if the rain returned, only for the villagers to be plagued by bandits immediately after!
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“A cultivator?” Nie Hanchang asked with a frown.
“Doesn’t seem like it, but I can’t be sure,” Zhao Yunxiao replied solemnly.
This man looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in ragged clothes, and had a rather peaceful expression on his face.
But what led Zhao Yunxiao to doubt his identity as a cultivator was because of his parched lips that were similar to the villagers of Kindness Village.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
That would suggest that he had been suffering from the drought as well.
However, a natural drought like this should not have much of an impact on cultivators, unless they had only recently embarked on the cultivation path.
And even without considering that, what could a cultivator possibly be doing here in the middle of nowhere?
“Bandits, then?” Nie Hanchang asked.
Zhao Yunxiao had no answers.
While he doubted that this man was a cultivator, it similarly did not make sense for a bandit to be sitting out here in the wilds, and in the middle of the night to boot!
“Let’s get the answer out of him,” Zhao Yunxiao suggested.
“Agreed,” Nie Hanchang nodded.
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“To prevent unwanted visitors from barging in,” the man answered.
“I understand. That said, the sun has already set, so can we humbly ask to stay for the night?” Zhao Yunxiao asked. “We can leave first thing tomorrow.”
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“...I’m afraid I can’t just take your word for it,” Zhao Yunxiao finally lost his patience. “Seeing that you are out here with us, don’t you think it is more likely that you are just a visitor like us? Unless you show proof that you belong here, I would just have to treat you like a fellow visitor.”
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“I understand. Let’s do this, then,” Zhao Yunxiao said.
“Come,” the man said with a calm expression, as though he was genuinely unconcerned about Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang.
Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang exchanged glances and nodded.
The man might be calm, but the duo was not afraid, either.
But at the same time, they also knew better than to allow themselves to get careless and complacent.
That was especially the case since this man’s demeanour did not fit those of a regular bandit at all. In fact, the man even moved to enter a proper battle stance, making it even more difficult to underestimate him.
Nie Hanchang slowly moved away, almost blending into the darkness of the night.
As an archer, he was the most effective when attacking from outside of the other party’s sensory range.
On the other hand, Zhao Yunxiao slowly approached the man.
Or at least, that was what he did initially.
But the moment Zhao Yunxiao got into range, he ramped up the rhythm without warning.
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Snapping Burst]
Zhao Yunxiao appeared before the man in an instant.
Without knowing anything about the opponent, it was almost always best to prioritise speed over power.
Because of that, Zhao Yunxiao chose to attack with the fastest move in the Xuanwu Fist Art!
[Xuanwu Fist Art – Invisible Snap]
The man widened his eyes in shock, not expecting the speed of Zhao Yunxiao’s approach. Nevertheless, he managed to bring his hand up to point two fingers at his own glabella.
“Moonlight Sutra – Body of Light!”
With that, his entire body started to emit a dim glow, a stark contrast to their dark surroundings.
Chime-!
Zhao Yunxiao’s fist connected squarely against the abdomen of the glowing man, but the result was not exactly what he had expected.
Rather than the feeling of hitting flesh, Zhao Yunxiao felt more like he had punched a metal rack instead.
Even the sound resulting from the impact resembled that of a bell’s chime!
However, Zhao Yunxiao’s punch was not to be underestimated as well.
With his strong fundamentals in the Xuanwu Fist Art, every punch that he threw out in seriousness could instantly knock out an elephant, and that was only strengthened further by the layer of essence energy on his fist.
No mere martial art could change a person at the fundamental level, allowing them to glow like this man did earlier.
What this man executed was a combat technique instead – one that seemed to strengthen his body by taking on properties similar to those of metal.
There was no doubt about it.
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What happened to your confident and calm demeanour from earlier, acting as if this would be a walk in the park for you?
If you are not that good, then don’t act as if you are all that!
If you hadn’t pretended to be an expert, I would have held back a little more as well.
And should that be the case, you wouldn’t have to suffer this much right now, either!