Volume 1: Turbulent Times as a Bandit Chapter 23: Intimidation

  Once one side fled on the battlefield, the subsequent battle became a unilateral massacre. More than a dozen killers, forgetting their fear from earlier, shouted and chased after those frightened officers and soldiers everywhere. With swords and guns drawn, it only took about the time to drink a cup of tea to knock all these bandits to the ground.

  Several officers and soldiers, seeing that they could not escape, were so frightened that they dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground, and repeatedly kowtowed, begging Xiao Tianjian and his men to spare their lives. However, their surrender did not receive mercy from Xiao Tianjian and his gang, and the cold blades still pierced into their bodies.

  Fighting to the end, Xiao Tianjian watched as only two frightened soldiers fled into a thicket of bushes in the north of the village. He then raised his hand to stop his men from pursuing and killing them. These people did not quite understand Xiao Tianjian's actions, but they also dared not disobey him, so they gathered at the head of the village.

  At this time, only one officer was left alive. When Xiao Tianjian caught up with him, he didn't kill him with a single knife, but instead cut his leg with a knife. This guy had just been busy molesting the woman and hadn't had time to put on his armor in the chaos, so there was only a thin pair of pants on his legs. Xiao Tianjian's knife cut through it, opening up a big gash on his thigh. Now he was pale-faced, clutching at the wound on his leg, rolling around on the ground and screaming like a slaughtered pig.

  Originally Zhao Er Liu wanted to take advantage of the situation and kill him, but was stopped by Xiao Tian Jian, resulting in him being left alive this time.

  When he saw Xiao Tianjian and his gang of thugs approaching, the officer was so frightened that he turned pale, ignoring the pain, struggled to get up, and kept kowtowing to Xiao Tianjian. In an instant, he knocked his forehead bloody, and blood flowed all over his face.

  "Grandfather! Grandfather! Spare my life! Spare my life!... I... I... I still have some silver, it's all yours, just please spare my dog's life!..." The officer was begging like a madman, kneeling on the ground and crawling forward, trying to grab onto Xiao Tianjian's leg.

  Xiao Tianjian kicked him in the face, right on his mouth, and the guy let out a miserable cry as he flew backward. As he flipped over, he spat out blood, which included two front teeth, and his upper lip was split open, making him look like a rabbit. This kick was extremely heavy, leaving the guy dazed and disoriented, unable to tell east from west, and all he could do was lie on the ground and hum.

  "Spare my life......" This guy was kicked until he was dizzy, but he still didn't forget to beg for mercy. However, when he begged for mercy, his speech became somewhat unclear, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

  The crowd swarmed around him, staring at him with sinister eyes, as if they were going to devour him alive.

  At this time, a dozen or so men slowly walked out of the small woods in the south of the village, one by one, still in shock and following behind Jing Fu Zi, trembling with fear as they approached.

  Many people, as they approached the village head, had already begun to wail loudly. Some rushed forward a few steps and threw themselves onto the bodies of the slain civilians, crying out in anguish.

  Xiao Tianjian wore a face full of sorrow, silently watching the men of Zhaojiabao who were crying and wailing, his eyes still carrying a hint of disdain and helplessness.

  They are also men, but when they face the not-so-many government soldiers, they don't even have the courage to resist, let alone fight back. They just watch as their families are slaughtered by these bandits and their wives and daughters are ravished by these scoundrels. Why is this? Don't they have any sense of honor or dignity?

  Xiao Tianjian led his men in a simple sweep of the battlefield, stripping the officials and soldiers bare, gathering up everything that could be collected. Only then did he turn to see Li Mazai lying on the empty ground outside the village.

  Li Ma Zi fled in disarray, was struck by Xiao Tian Jian's axe and suffered severe injuries on his back. Although Xiao Tian Jian's axe was accurate, due to the suddenness of the situation, he still missed a bit when striking out, so the axe did not directly chop into Li Ma Zi's heart but only crushed several ribs on his back, causing him to suffer severe injuries and fall to the ground.

  Many of Xiao Tianjian's subordinates couldn't help but show a look of reluctance, after all, Li Ma had been with them for quite some time and had developed a certain bond with everyone. Seeing his miserable state, many people felt uneasy and gathered around Li Ma, occasionally stealing glances at Xiao Tianjian's expression.

  Xiao Tianjian actually couldn't bear it, but today was his first battle after training these people for a period of time. Before the battle, he had warned that anyone who fled would be killed without mercy. Li Ma Zi still disobeyed him and now looking at Li Ma Zi's injuries, Xiao Tianjian knew that Li Ma Zi was finished. In this situation, even if he didn't kill Li Ma Zi, Li Ma Zi wouldn't last much longer anyway.

  Then Xiao Tianjian took a deep breath, sank his face and coldly shouted at the men under him: "What are you looking at? Before we came out, I had already spoken, what we do is about brotherhood, fleeing in battle is harming our own brothers! For this kind of person, I will never sympathize! This is the consequence of not listening to orders!

  Li Ma Zi! Don't blame me for being ruthless, you've gone too far today, I can no longer tolerate you. I'll give you a quick end to this! Go over there and don't blame me!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, the knife in his hand was heavily inserted, and the tip of the knife immediately entered Li Mazi's heart. Li Mazi's eyes suddenly widened, and his hands grasped Xiao Tianjian's blade. His mouth seemed to want to say something, but he spat out a mouthful of blood and stopped struggling after a brief moment.

  Xiao Tianjian's heart also ached, people are not objects, who can be without feelings? Moreover, he was not that kind of cold-blooded person to begin with. Saying he had no feelings was nonsense. After all, Li Ma Zi had followed him for so long, and being treated like this, Xiao Tianjian couldn't bear it either! However, in order to intimidate others, he had to do this, and doing so would also relieve Li Ma Zi's suffering, which was much better than leaving him be.

  Others watched as Xiao Tianjian killed Li Ma Zi, each and every one of them was silent like a cicada in winter. Although they couldn't bear it in their hearts, no one dared to say anything, they just secretly warned themselves that from now on, they must not learn from this Li Ma Zi. When going out into the world, one must have the awareness of being prepared to die; otherwise, even if you die, you'll die a shameful death! After dying, you'll still be despised by others!

  Li Mazi's death was undoubtedly a strong shock to everyone, making them even more aware that they had to listen to Xiao Tianjian here, otherwise Xiao Tianjian would not leave any face.

  "Stop staring, Tiger and the others, bury Li Ma Zi! After all, he was with us in this battle, we can't let him be left to rot in the wilderness for wild dogs to eat! Others quickly clean up the battlefield and go help those from Zhao Jia Bu, gather the bodies! We can't stay here any longer!" Xiao Tian Jian struggled to control his emotions, putting away his knife before relaxing his expression, shaking his head as he instructed the crowd.

  After everyone heard it, they immediately dispersed and started working according to Xiao Tianjian's instructions.