Unstoppable Martial Arts: Starting from Fist Technique Deduction
Chapter 54 - 45: Encounter (Part 2)

Chapter 54: Chapter 45: Encounter (Part 2)

As time passed, the moon rose to the treetops.

The weather was great today, and the moonlight poured down. However, the mountain mist was dense, making it only possible to see about thirty feet clearly.

Besides a few patrol cooks walking on the outskirts, everyone else in the caravan was lying down, snoring in deep sleep.

Ugh!

The outermost patrol cook suddenly let out a muffled grunt and fell limply to the ground.

"They’re here!"

Lin Yuan abruptly opened his eyes. Having reached his level of martial arts, his eyesight and hearing were far beyond ordinary people. He could clearly hear footsteps rushing at high speed.

But the attack came from the other end of the caravan.

Before controlling the situation, he didn’t want to reveal his strength, so he remained motionless and continued pretending to sleep.

"Ha ha ha, boys, today we’re taking this caravan. Don’t let a single person escape."

A rough voice broke the silence of the night.

"Kill!" The voice of slaughter echoed.

Looking around, the patrol cooks had already been decapitated.

Ten or so torches suddenly appeared around the dense forest, swiftly approaching the caravan.

"Ah!"

The people resting around had already been attacked and killed.

"The bandits are attacking, grab the weapons!" Pan Xuncheng was already awake, the first to rise, drawing his saber and slashing at the intruders.

As one of the foremost among the third-grade Guest Elders, his Qi-Blood was full, and his strength extraordinary.

Like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, he leapt to the front in a flash, cutting down two mountain bandits in quick succession.

The others quickly reacted, grabbed their weapons, and chased after the distant burning torches.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Pan Xuncheng exchanged several blows with a burly figure in the middle.

After a brief trial, the man took advantage of Pan Xuncheng’s exertion, using the momentum to retreat, not lingering in the fight.

After retreating about ten feet, the man’s eyes showed a grave expression. Seeing that the purpose of this harassment had been achieved, it was time to retreat.

"Tight spot, retreat!" The man shouted, turned, and ran. The formerly charging mountain bandits turned, threw down torches, and ran.

The caravan crew hurried to chase but found only a few bandits left at the torches; the rest had vanished.

"Don’t fall into an ambush, don’t pursue too deep!" Pan Xuncheng hurriedly stopped a few Guest Elders eager to continue the chase.

"Damn, those hairless brats, lucky they ran fast." Awakened in the middle of the night, Ji Guoxiang’s anger was left with nowhere to vent. He angrily hacked at the nearby tree trunk with his knife, cursing under his breath.

"I am from the Tian caravan. Who is in charge here?" Pan Xuncheng took a deep breath, and shouted towards the darkness where the figures vanished.

No one responded.

"The caravan lost thirteen good men and killed five mountain bandits." The Tian family leader, seeing Pan Xuncheng and others return, gathered the Guest Elders to assess the losses.

"What just came was merely a vanguard, intended to probe our strength." Pan Xuncheng, experienced, knew that anyone daring to attack their caravan had to gauge their capabilities first.

"Which nearby ignorant bandit dares to target the Tian transport team?" Zhou Jianxing’s face was grim.

The Tian family, backed by the Pei family, always had smooth operations in the Yanghua transport business. Larger bandit villages had first-grade Guest Elders for contact and fencing, while smaller ones inevitably got a tough lesson.

Thus, no bandits dared to target their transport teams.

"It’s either the nearby Qingfeng Village, Shanyang Village, or another couple of villages that can harass our transport team. We don’t know exactly which. Even when I shouted earlier, no one responded, probably indicating a bigger plot." Pan Xuncheng pondered deeply.

This harassment is clearly just the beginning, and it’s uncertain how many more will follow.

"Tonight may not be peaceful, and when the bandits will attack again is unknown." The Tian family leader’s brows were furrowed with worry.

"Since the enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light, panic will do no good." Pan Xuncheng told the group: "Since they dare to come, we will naturally meet them."

"Given the current situation, I doubt we can safely rest here. We should move at night. Our caravan is heavily loaded. If the bandits attack again, we may not be able to retain enough people." Zhou Jianxing suggested.

Following the caravan for years, he had some experience handling such situations.

"True, as long as we are here, we can ask the family to retrieve the supplies later."

Pan Xuncheng nodded in agreement with Zhou Jianxing’s suggestion. After some thought, he added: "And these are iron ingots; they’ll take time to fence."

"Hmm!" Hearing this, the Tian family leader’s brows tightened, showing hesitation before finally nodding, "That’s our only choice."

The caravan members got up, extinguished the campfire, and proceeded in the dark.

"The road is slippery in the dark, proceed with caution." Pan Xuncheng guarded the team, cautioning.

On a journey, personal items are light, and within a stick of incense time, the team was back on the road. Realizing the gravity of the situation after the earlier harassment, they knew they had to advance discreetly.

In front of the team, a figure kept whipping their horse, galloping down the forest path.

"Snap!"

Suddenly, a shadow shot down from the trees, striking the heart of the horse-riding figure with a palm.

"Spurt!" The person spewed blood from the mouth immediately.

The horse neighed, and the person fell from its back, lifeless as they hit the ground.

"Fourth Chief, good skills."

"Ha ha, wanting to send a message? They should fear my Iron Palms." The shadow was smug, "You all keep watch. Report any movement immediately."

Not long after the person fell, Ma Jinfu arrived with leaders of varying ranks.

"Boss, this was the messenger they sent, here’s the token." The Fourth Chief handed the token to Ma Jinfu.

"Any other messengers nearby?" Ma Jinfu nodded, asking again.

"Rest assured, Boss, not even a fly will get through!" The Fourth Chief patted their chest confidently.

"Good! Second, you tested their strength just now?" Ma Jinfu turned to the burly man beside him.

"Boss, I tried them. The leading figure was a Tian Guest Elder. I exchanged a few moves with him; his skills are formidable, equal to mine, probably with full Qi-Blood."

"And there were three others of considerable skill, possibly on par with him. If I hadn’t retreated in time, I might have been stuck there."

"Second, your probing was invaluable."

"Since they couldn’t stop you, there’s clearly no Condensed Yuan Realm figure. We will not only take this batch of goods but do so securely." Ma Jinfu’s round face showed pride, "Their strength lacking, I have another plan. Gather around."

The leaders all huddled together.

Pan Xuncheng and others naturally had no clue about the events ahead, directing the team to move quietly.

At dawn, the caravan passed through a forest path and encountered a fork in the road.

Usually, at this time, people are deeply asleep. But the caravan members were exhausted after a sleepless night.

Seeing two diverging roads, the caravan halted, and Pan Xuncheng called a guide to ask which way to go.

Suddenly, rapid hoofbeats shattered the silence.

"Kill!"

A group of ferocious-looking bandits charged from every direction, wielding swords and thirsty for blood, closing in on the caravan.

"Grab the weapons, kill them!" Pan Xuncheng shouted.

Seeing the incoming attack, the weary guards and strongmen forced themselves to react quickly, drawing their swords to protect the cargo.

As soon as both sides met, chaos ensued.

Pan Xuncheng’s face was calm, waving his long knife, and cutting down two people in succession.

"Ha ha ha, your opponent is me." The man who previously fought Pan Xuncheng dismounted and charged at him.

Knowing this man’s strength, Pan Xuncheng dared not underestimate, engaging in battle with him.

The two, evenly matched, were locked in a fierce fight.

But the number of bandits was much greater than before, and the caravan crew was quickly overwhelmed.

Yet Ji Guoxiang, Zhou Jianxing, and Gong Zhangshan quickly joined the fray. The three Guest Elders had outstanding abilities, far above the ordinary bandit level.

In an instant, several bandits fell to their hands.

"Third, Fourth, Fifth!" The man fighting Pan Xuncheng glanced around while shouting loudly.

"Kill!"

A squad of bandits suddenly attacked from the rear of the caravan.

Gong Zhangshan and the others’ expressions changed, exchanged glances, and charged towards the newcomers, engaging in a melee.

A few rounds of battle, the caravan was stuck in a quagmire, struggling bitterly.

Pan Xuncheng knew that continuing to defend the caravan would lead to losing both people and goods.

He suddenly slashed powerfully, pushing back the attacking man.

"Old Tian, the situation is beyond what we can handle. We must choose to save the people over the goods. Retreat with the men first." Pan Xuncheng seized the breath-catching moment to retreat to the Tian family leader.