Chapter 3: Pursuing and Killing the Horse Thieves

  In the small wooden house room, Qin Yang's voice became increasingly low and solemn: "After you were born, your parents entrusted you to me, but did not expect that the assassin of the Yan family would track you down."

  "Your father died to block the assassin's blade, your mother was wounded and captured, I brought you out with my life, we settled here to escape from the Yan clan's assassins."

  He looked at Qin Yun, his eyes filled with affection: "I received great kindness from your father and am willing to be a servant for him, even if it means dying a hundred times without regret!"

  "It's just a pity that in that one war, I suffered internal injuries and my strength fell from the Xiantian realm to the Lianqi realm, unable to help you much. Fortunately, you've worked hard enough, and now you've finally succeeded in opening your meridians. I believe your father's spirit in heaven would also feel comforted if he knew."

  As a former congenital realm strongman, Qin Yang's eyes were absolutely old and wise, so he saw at a glance that Qin Yun had successfully opened his veins and advanced to the Lianqi Realm.

  "Grandpa..." Scalding tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes, Qin Yun choked and said: "Don't say anything else, just focus on recovering from your injuries first."

  "Foolish child, Grandfather won't be okay this time..." Qin Yang wiped away the tears on Qin Yun's face, his eyes becoming stern: "You must remember, men of the Qin family shed blood but not tears. From now on, never cry again, you must become even stronger!"

  "I've made extensive inquiries, and your mother should still be imprisoned in the Forbidden Palace of the Great Yan Imperial City. She gave up everything for you back then, and no matter what, you must rescue her and reunite with her!"

  "I know, don't worry!" Qin Yun nodded vigorously, his face set in determination: "I will definitely rescue my mother!"

  "The Great Yan imperial family has countless experts, and the strong are too numerous to count. With your current strength, don't even think about rushing into the forbidden palace to rescue someone." Qin Yang continued: "However, I have already made preparations for you."

  He took out a cloth bag from under the pillow and handed it to Qin Yun: "There is a family jade token inside, take it to Guiyang Prefecture Qianchao City, participate in the annual October selection of the Qin clan's return flow, as long as you can stand out among the clansmen, you will have the opportunity to enter the Tiancheng Sword Sect!"

  Qin Yang's face flashed a abnormal bright red, his voice suddenly rose an octave: "The Tian Cheng Sword Sect is one of the top ten sects in the nine states, only by mastering the sect's supreme swordsmanship can you have the power to do what you want!"

  "Before this, you must remember firmly, never ever let others know your background!"

  "I remember..." Qin Yun replied in a trembling voice, with an ominous feeling in his heart.

  "That's good, unfortunately I won't be able to see you..."

  Qin Yang revealed a hint of a smile, and the sparkle in his eyes quickly dimmed and disappeared, his voice also becoming softer.

  He slowly leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes and passed away quietly!

  "Grandpa!"

  Qin Yun's mournful howls and wails of grief penetrated through the thin wooden boards of the room, spreading throughout the entire village.

  The villagers of Shanglie Village gathered around, gathering at the door. They knew that Qin Yang had passed away and almost everyone was in tears.

  Qin Yang's prestige in Shanglie Village was second only to that of the old village chief, and many people had benefited from his kindness. This time, he died to protect the village, who could remain unmoved?

  The sun had set behind the western hills, and the sky was completely dark, but the crowd at the entrance of the Qin family's house was growing larger.

  After a long time, the door of the room finally opened, and Qin Yun walked out with red and swollen eyes.

  "Yun Xiaozi, your grandfather... Alas!" The old village chief wiped away his tears and choked with emotion, not knowing what to say.

  Qin Yun was extremely calm and collected. Having gone through this great change and learned about his true origins, he suddenly matured a lot.

  Although his face is still youthful, it reveals a few hints of sternness and killing intent, and his eyes also have a hint of ferocity.

  "Old Master Shi, tell me, what's going on?"

  It turned out that in the afternoon, Qin Yun was still practicing on the edge of Hanshan when a group of more than ten horse bandits suddenly broke into Shanglie Village.

  At this time, most of the hunters in the village had not returned, and the bandits were very powerful, so the unarmed villagers could not resist at all, and several people were killed on the spot.

  At the critical moment, Qin Yang appeared in time and killed several horse bandits with his sword. He then engaged in a fierce battle with the leader of the horse bandits, who wielded a giant sword, exchanging dozens of blows before both sides suffered heavy injuries.

  Later, as more and more villagers fought back, the bandits, seeing that things were not going well for them, fled in disarray with their companions' corpses.

  Although they repelled the horse thieves, Qin Yang was seriously injured in the process.

  "Which direction did they escape?" Qin Yun asked in a low voice, his calm tone containing boundless anger.

  "He ran southward, the village head has already sent someone to report to the town." a villager replied.

  To the east of Shanglie Village, dozens of miles away, there is a small town. For such a big event as encountering horse thieves and bandits, the village must notify the local government to send people to hunt them down. With just these ordinary villagers, they can't deal with the cruel horse thieves.

  Qin Yun didn't say a word and turned back into the house. When he came out again, he had a hunting bow on his back, with a quiver of arrows and a machete!

  "Yun Xiaozi, what do you want to do?" The old village chief was startled: "Don't be impulsive, they've already run far away, let's wait..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Qin Yun broke through the crowd and sprinted towards the outskirts of the village, with the villagers beside him unable to stop him in time.

  At this moment, Qin Yun was filled with indignation, and his heart only thought of avenging his grandfather, no one's persuasion would be listened to.

  "This kid!"

  Watching Qin Yun quickly disappear into the night, the old village chief stomped his foot heavily and shouted loudly: "We can't let Yunzi get into trouble again! All hunters bring your weapons and torches, follow me to chase after him!"

  When the hunters of Shanglie Village, under the command of the old village chief, set out with their equipment and formed a team to chase Qin Yun, Qin Yun was already more than ten miles away, following the trail left by the horse thieves.

  He joined the village hunting team at the age of twelve and has been hunting in the mountains for three years, killing many tigers, leopards and other ferocious beasts, and tracking horse hoof prints is nothing to him.

  Qin Yun had never learned the Light Body Skill, so in order to catch up with his enemy at the fastest speed possible, he used a clumsy method of channeling his true energy into his legs to increase his strength and speed.

  Although it's still quite unskilled and the effect of true energy is low, compared to before when I relied purely on leg strength to run, it's undoubtedly much faster.

  He chased after him for sixty or seventy miles, and Qin Yun's body was drenched in sweat, finally spotting the flickering flames in the woods not far ahead.

  The wind blowing in front of me carries a faint voice speaking.

  Found them!

  This gang of daring horse thieves didn't run too far. They probably thought the villagers wouldn't dare to chase them, so they stopped in the forest to rest.

  Qin Yun clenched his fists and dug his fingernails into his palms, forcing himself to calm down.

  Qin Yang had taught him many times before his death that when encountering things or dangers, he must keep a clear head, otherwise it would be easy to suffer losses or even lose his life.

  Although Qin Yun hated to rush over and fight the horse bandits to the death, he did not lose his basic sanity.

  To know that the leader of the horse thieves could fight Qin Yang to a draw, even if he was injured now, it wasn't something that Qin Yun, who had just opened his veins, could easily handle, let alone the other horse thieves.

  If you rush forward with a dizzy head, not only will you fail to avenge yourself, but you'll also lose your own life.

  Qin Yang's decade-long painstaking teachings took effect, and Qin Yun slowed down his footsteps, holding his breath, silently and quietly approaching the forest.

  In the woods, a burly man sitting in front of the bonfire raised his head and looked around vigilantly, as if he had sensed something.

  He was a sturdy and robust man, with a fierce appearance, his upper body wrapped in blood-stained hemp cloth, apparently having been injured not long ago.

  A giant sword with a blade as wide as a palm was still inserted beside the burly man, and the light bronze body of the sword reflected a fierce light under the firelight.

  "Big brother, what's wrong?" a nearby horse thief asked cautiously.

  "No big deal..." The burly man with a curly beard shook his head and said in a low voice to the subordinates sitting around the bonfire, "We can't stay here for long. After filling our stomachs, we'll leave!"

  The bandits all nodded in unison, and no one dared to disobey his orders.

  Despite this, the bearded big man's heart was not happy at all.

  He was hired to do business in Guiyang County, and after completing it, he took a detour back to his old nest. In the afternoon, he passed by Shanglie Village and suddenly wanted to loot for a while, letting his brothers relax.

  I didn't expect to find a Qigong master in this remote mountain village!

  After the fierce battle, the burly man not only lost four of his men but also ended up with a two-defeated injury and escaped in defeat without gaining anything, losing all face.

  The burly man secretly vowed in his heart that once he returned to his lair and recovered from his injuries, he would definitely bring people to exterminate this village, otherwise he could not eliminate the hatred in his heart.

  The horse bandits hastily ate the hot dry rations, and the burly man with a curly beard stood up and said, "Let's go!"

  The horse thief next to him quickly followed suit and said eagerly: "Boss, I'll go get... Ah!"

  An arrow suddenly shot from the darkness and accurately hit his neck with great ferocity!

  The iron arrow pierced his neck, turning the words he had yet to say into a shrill and brief cry of despair, his eyes bulging out as he fell to the ground, clearly beyond saving.

  "Who!?"

  "There is an enemy!"

  The bandits suddenly exploded, each of them was a desperate fugitive who licked blood on the knife head, and they didn't panic when they were suddenly attacked, quickly manipulating their respective weapons.

  The burly man with a thick beard reacted the fastest. As his subordinate fell to the ground with an arrow in him, he reached out and grabbed his giant sword, his face twisted in a malevolent scowl.

  Whoosh!

  Another arrow shot out from the woods, aiming straight at the chest of the burly man with a curly beard.

  Ding!

  The majestic Han warrior was well-prepared, holding his sword in front of his chest and deflecting the feathered arrows.

  And he also found out where his opponent was. He pointed his giant sword to the left and shouted loudly, "He's over there! Let's go kill him together!"

  Seven or eight horse thieves immediately shouted and rushed in the direction pointed by the whiskered big Han.

  On the other side of the forest, Qin Yun placed his third arrow on the bowstring.