Chapter 39: Three Against One

At the same time, she saw another bandit brandishing a broadsword and rushing toward Tianshu.

In her anxiety, she twisted her body to the side, dodging the punch while her left hand fished out a pebble and hurled it away.

With his punch missing and the miserable scream of his subordinate Qu Ba ringing in his ear, the bandit leader lost his reason to blind fury. "Damn woman, I swear I'll make you die!"

Cursing, he struck out again. Because Hong Xiaoduo was worried about Tianshu and the other children on the donkey cart, she was momentarily distracted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him move, so she raised the hand holding her sword and parried.

When she heard the shriek beside her and turned to see the scene before her, Hong Xiaoduo was so shocked she almost screamed.

The bandit stood before her, clutching his severed arm with his one remaining hand, his exposed eyes filled with terror as he staggered backward.

Hong Xiaoduo instinctively covered her mouth, staring in a daze as blood spurted endlessly from the stump of the bandit's arm, impossible to staunch.

Where was his arm? How—gone? Severed?

Suddenly, seeming to realize something, she raised her right hand to look at the sword. There was no blood on it.

She glanced over at the six men in the distance, but they showed no sign of having stepped forward; they were still right where they had been.

The bandit's arm had been cut off so cleanly, and it didn't look like it was caused by any hidden projectile from afar!

Could it be... her own doing? Hong Xiaoduo forced herself to recall the moment. It seemed she had merely raised her hand to block... was this sword really that sharp?

Realizing that she was the one who had severed the bandit's arm, Hong Xiaoduo panicked. Lowering her gaze, she saw the severed arm lying right beside her feet, and she scrambled backward in fright.

When she looked up again, she saw the one-armed bandit stumbling away toward the woods. Glancing toward the donkey cart, she saw the other two bandits crawling laboriously across the ground toward the woods on the opposite side.

Were they trying to escape? What should she do? Chase after them and stop them? And if she stopped them, should she capture them and hand them over to the authorities?

"Mother, you are so amazing!" Tianshu hurried over, leading the donkey cart, looking at Hong Xiaoduo with excitement and admiration.

"Mother, you're amazing! You beat up all the bad guys!" The children in the carriage crowded against the window, staring at her with sparkling excitement.

That's right, the bandits had been beaten away by her, and she and the children were safe and sound. Logically speaking, she ought to feel happy, yet Hong Xiaoduo couldn't feel happy no matter what.

Even though she reasoned with herself that the men were highway robbers and she shouldn't feel any psychological pressure or burden for injuring them, she simply couldn't relax.

"Mother, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tianshu asked nervously, sensing that her reaction wasn't quite right.

Hearing this, the other children scrambled to get out of the carriage, crowding around Hong Xiaoduo to inspect her from head to toe.

The six men in the distance watched the unfolding events, finding them utterly surreal.

"Master, should this subordinate go over and take a look?" one of the retainers finally asked, unable to contain himself any longer.

However, the master acted as if he hadn't heard. He gave no response and didn't even spare him a glance.

The other companions silently exchanged glances, signaling with their eyes that he should just go ahead. Why bother asking the master? One only had to look at the master's expression right now to know what kind of mood he was in.

Hmph, serving up such a cold demeanor, wanting to wait for the young lady to take the initiative and ask for help?

And what was the result? There was no need to ask anyone for help at all; she had taken care of all three bandits by herself.

Though her moves looked unorthodox and completely casual, they carried real power.

So what if the bandit leader was skilled with a blade? He was still defeated by the young lady in two moves—the first knocked his sword flying, and the second sliced his arm straight off.

Encouraged by his companions, the retainer gritted his teeth, spurred his horse, and rode toward the scene. This young lady truly lived up to the saying: do not judge a book by its cover, just as the sea cannot be measured with a peck.

Even if he ended up being scolded by his master later, he had to go over and greet her; perhaps he could learn a bit about her background from a conversation.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves, the one adult and seven children turned to look.

Those people who had stood there as mere bystanders during such a critical moment—what were they coming over for now?

The man reined in his horse, dismounted, and cupped his fists at Hong Xiaoduo. "Young lady, you are truly formidable. We are immensely impressed."

Hong Xiaoduo was in a foul mood and had no inclination to exchange pleasantries, so she simply stared at him expressionlessly.

Remembering what had just happened, the man felt quite ill at ease. He awkwardly turned his neck and said, "Those three bandits have fled. I wanted to ask... are you just going to let them get away like that?"

Hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo frowned. Indeed, was she just going to let them escape like this?

Such men would never turn over a new leaf. Perhaps they would seek revenge on her later, or perhaps, once their wounds healed, they would continue their highway robbery.

Besides, this probably wasn't the first time they had done such a thing; goodness knows how many people had suffered at their hands before.

At this thought, Hong Xiaoduo glanced briefly at the narcissistic fellow sitting on his horse in the distance, then withdrew her gaze and looked at the man before her. Cupping her fists in return, she said, "Those three have no doubt committed such crimes countless times. Allowing them to leave unchecked will only mean continued peril for innocent travelers.

"I would love to capture them and send them to the authorities, but as you can see, brave warrior, I am traveling with these children and it is quite inconvenient.

"Might I trouble you, brave warrior, to capture those three villains and deliver them to the yamen so they receive the punishment they deserve?"

Hong Xiaoduo gestured toward the children beside her, making her request with a troubled and helpless expression.

"Is that all? A mere trifle, young lady, rest assured," the man agreed instantly without a second thought.

Instantly, he turned his head and shouted to his companions in the distance, "Lend a hand over here! Help capture those scum!"

Hearing this, the men eagerly spurred their horses and gave chase to the three fleeing bandits.

Mu Zitao watched his subordinates eagerly rushing off to capture criminals without even asking for his permission. His already gloomy mood plummeted even further.

Sitting on his horse with a dark expression, he watched these battle-hardened men who could usually take on a hundred single-handedly—two of whom were actually teaming up to chase a single bandit!

Watching the swift pursuit launched by the men, Hong Xiaoduo knew those three bandits wouldn't be able to run far. "Brave warrior, we must be on our way. Farewell." Without waiting for a reply, she scooped up Yaoguang, placed her in the carriage, and climbed in herself.

Seeing this, Tianshu urged his younger siblings to hurry back inside, then climbed onto the driver's seat and drove the cart away.

"Hey? Young lady? Why are you leaving just like that? What's the rush?" The man stood in place, muttering helplessly to himself. He hadn't expected the young lady to be so brisk; the moment she finished asking for his favor, off she went!

He had wanted to chat a bit more and learn more about her situation!

Sighing as he watched the donkey cart rumble slowly into the distance, he mounted his horse and returned to his master's side.

The three bandits were all injured and hadn't made it very far before they were hauled back by the horsemen.

Reaching the master's presence, the guards rudely dumped the prisoners onto the ground.

"My lords, good heroes, I beg you to spare our lives!" the two leg-wounded bandits kowtowed together, begging for mercy.

The one-armed bandit, likely due to excessive blood loss, had turned ghostly pale and already fainted unconscious.

Mu Zitao ignored them, looking instead at his subordinates and asking, "What is the meaning of this?"

Eh? The retainers exchanged bewildered glances before pointing at one of their companions and saying, "Jiao Tu told us to go."

Mu Zitao shifted his gaze to the retainer they had pointed at.

Pinched by his master's icy stare, Jiao Tu panicked inwardly. "It... it was the young lady. She said she wanted to capture them and send them to the officials, saying that leaving them at large would harm others.

"She said she was traveling with a group of young children and had to hurry on her way, making it rather inconvenient for her, so... so she asked..." His voice trailed off until he couldn't finish.

The boldness he had felt earlier when casually spurring his horse to speak with the young lady was now completely eclipsed by the cowardice he felt facing his master's glare.