"Leave the camels, the goods, and the women. The rest of you can get lost."
The leader of the raiders wore more beast fangs than the others, seven in total. This stemmed from a cultural practice within their tribe: the more beast fangs one wore, the greater their prestige and the stronger they were.
His voice was neither gruff nor hoarse, and the statement sounded more like a bland line from a soap opera, as if to imply that looting was commonplace and no one should be surprised.
"Brother, we haven't traveled the desert in a long time and don't know the rules. We hope you can forgive us."
The man behind the woman handed a bag of gold coins to the raider's rough hand. The raider weighed it, then threw it back at the man's face and spat on him. The muscular men behind the man were about to draw their scimitars, but this man suddenly raised his hand to stop them, wiping away the salty saliva from his face with his sleeve.
"I'll say it again: leave the camels, the goods, and the women. Everyone else scram. You have half a minute."
The raider drew a strangely shaped saber and held it to the woman's neck.
"Brother, I, Sha Yunba, respect the Coyote God. I know you brothers must have a set of principles for doing things. If one bag of gold isn't enough, how about another?"
The man pushed the gold coins on the ground together with the ones in front of the raider on horseback.
The raider weighed the gold coins and nodded with satisfaction, but the blade held at the woman's neck was not withdrawn.
"The weight is good, but I'm more curious about what you're transporting. It's worth exchanging two bags of gold for."
The raider raised his eyebrows, retracted the saber, and dismounted, looking as if he were about to inspect the cargo. However, Sha Yunba flashed forward and blocked the raider, and the atmosphere instantly became tense with the sudden change in the wind.
"It's just ordinary cargo. If you stab into it, we won't be able to deliver it."
Unexpectedly, the raider suddenly turned around, raised his saber, and immediately plunged it half an inch into Sha Yunba's shoulder. Blood slowly dripped down his arm onto the sand, which was gradually cooling, and quickly disappeared.
The man behind Sha Yunba finally lost his patience and drew his extremely curved saber.
The saber light was cold and sharp, and the four men were ready to fight. But when the raider sneered and waved his hand, and more than a dozen raiders, who were a head taller than them, dismounted, these men clearly felt an excited and chilling murderous intent from their huge sabers!
This killing aura, under the reflection of the totems on their faces, became even more arrogant. The killing aura surged in all directions. With every step the raiders took, the four men subconsciously took a step back, their minds losing all capacity for thought beyond fear.
Their faces turned slightly pale, and even their usually handy scimitars wilted under the killing aura, as if they were holding not sharp weapons, but limp, rotten vegetables.
"Sorry, your thirty seconds are up, and you've successfully pissed me off."
The raider drew his saber. Sha Yunba, realizing communication was impossible, also drew his scimitar. Just as he was about to order his men to fight, his back suddenly felt hot, and scalding blood gushed out from the four trembling muscular men!
Death came in an instant!
More than a dozen raiders, like giant coyotes, closed in on the remaining man and woman. Sha Yunba stood in front of the woman, prepared for death. The woman clasped her hands together, daring not to meet the strange gazes of the raiders.
Suddenly, a not-so-sturdy horse appeared like a gust of wind. The man kicked the stirrups, pulled the reins, and the horse reared up and neighed, accompanied by a rather lazy voice.
"Hey, you dozen guys who look like Tarzan, isn't it embarrassing to bully just six people?"
The raiders turned their heads in unison, looking at the approaching man. He was quite thin, with only a Tang dao hanging on one side of his horse, and nothing else. Even the horse was as lean as the man, and they immediately lost interest.
"Trash, you have nothing worth looting on you. Get lost, we don't have time for you."
— What the heck? So brazen? Aren't my saber and horse quite valuable too?
Ren Yuanhao did not leave. Instead, he walked up to the raiders bare-handed. But as he looked up, he saw that the muscular man who had just given him the middle finger had fallen into a pool of blood. His expression immediately changed.
— These bastards are truly fierce bandits.
The raiders sized up Ren Yuanhao's expression with amusement. Just as they were about to raise their sabers, they heard the leader woman softly say, "Little brother, this has nothing to do with you. You should leave quickly."
However, as soon as the woman finished speaking, Ren Yuanhao shook his water bag and his face brightened like the sun after rain. "Miss, what you said is a bit wrong. As the saying goes, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring, let alone a bag of water in the desert. This kindness is immense."
"Hahahaha, what era is this? People are still playing heroes? Please open your eyes and look. This isn't a movie, you'll die!"
Ren Yuanhao also put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, "Yes, I know I'll die, but I'm afraid you've got the wrong person."
"You're asking for death!"
The raider's saber stirred up a strong wind. Ren Yuanhao dodged backward, appearing extremely agile. The leader woman, seeing Ren Yuanhao's skill, had a flicker of expectation in her previously dim expression!
"Don't rush. According to江湖规矩 (jianghu rules), how about a one-on-one fight?" Ren Yuanhao stood with his hands behind his back, his face still bearing a pleasant smile.
However, when the raiders heard this, it was clearly something only greenhorns fresh to the jianghu would say. But the raider leader suddenly stopped smiling, with a hint of mockery on his face, and said in a deep voice, "Alright, we have sixteen people here, pick any one! If you don't die within ten moves, I'll break my rule and let you go."
Unexpectedly, Ren Yuanhao shook his finger. "Letting me go alone won't do. I want all of you. And you might have misunderstood my intention." He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a puff, and watched the smoke rings slowly rise. "A one-on-one fight, naturally, means I fight all of you. That's what you call a one-on-one."
As soon as he said this, the raiders were stunned for a moment, even the leader girl was stunned. Sha Yunba was even more dumbfounded, thinking to himself if this kid had a problem with his head. The first half of his sentence was heroic, but the latter half was simply idiotic!