“Stop running!” The Bandit Captain bellowed, smashing his long axe against Dai Meifen’s sword. “Turn back and fight, or I’ll skin all of you!!” 

The Bandit Captain’s, now former, underlings shared some glances at their boss surrounded by Ku Lo and others before fleeing deeper into the thick oak forest. 

“Cowards!” Ku Lo too roared at the figures vanishing into the dense undergrowth and treetops. The cry being somewhat hypocritical as he wouldn’t follow these bandits to the forest. 

Alongside many others, he ridiculed the fleeing bandits from the safety of the road before turning around to encircle the Bandit Captain abandoned to die alone. 

I should get some friends so this will never happen to me, he reflected, seeing the hint of desperation in the Bandit Captain’s slanted eyes searching for a way out. To die like this isn’t a good way to go. 

“If you talk, we’ll let you live.” Meifen backed away enough for the man to have a breather yet not to act.  

“I-I’m not like those cowards! I’ll fight to my last breath!” The Bandit Captain replied with a ferocious shout, a hand wiping his mouth that spewed out spit before going back for the long axe’s handle. 

“You think we’ll let you die?” Meifen replied with a chuckle. 

The Bandit Captain frowned as his head spun around him. 

“Boys… girls… I want him alive.” 

Getting the idea and being in a perfect position, Ku Lo rushed for the Bandit Captain. His aim was to cut his calf, an action that would secure points from everyone around. 

The idea wasn’t bad; however, he wasn’t alone and many others, including his squad leader, moved with the same intent. 

It came down to a contest of speed that the squad leader being an Inner Court Disciple, and so a Spirit Base Realm cultivator won handily. This left Ku Lo with no hope of landing the first, the most priced strike, though he wouldn’t cease trying. 

To his luck, the Bandit Captain who’d appeared more and more stressed gulped, his Adam’s apple going up and then down once.

What was that? The Bandit Captain had put nothing into his mouth, so this hard swallowing action meant the enemy had hidden something inside his mouth. 

An ace! 

Too close and with no way to stop, Ku Lo dropped his body to glide on the ground. 

Just in time, for his squad captain, a few steps ahead got smacked aside by a hand larger than Ku Lo’s body!

With momentum from the sprint, he glided past the Bandit Captain turned into a monster. 

Startled by the sight, Ku Lo fumbled the opportunity presented as the sword moved right past the monster’s untransformed calf. He couldn’t afford the luxury of lamenting, however, as he had come to a halt still well within strike range. 

Ku Lo began to scramble back to his feet while hearing cries of panic all around him. Still, his attention went onto the hand turned into a horrid blob of muscle, veins, and meat that used the long axe like a hatchet.

Shit shit shit. The monstrous hand plummeted towards him. 

“Not so fast.” 

It never got to him. 

With a glance, Ku Lo could see the hand’s skin be blocked like a piece of metal. 

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” The monster screamed as it tried to ram its way through Meifen’s sword. 

“What are you waiting for?!” Meifen shouted as the sword began crackling under tremendous pressure. “Someone wound this monster already!” 

“Yin Paw, First Form!” 

A pink beam of light was shot at the monster, but it missed by meters. 

Peeking to his side, he saw it was Huang Gingge who’d attempted this reckless move. 

“Yin Paw, First Form!” It might have been reckless for her, but from his position the tale was different. Even if he pierced through the monster’s body, which had stayed human, would no one be in danger.

Ten violet streaks rushed out from under his fingertips, forming the proper beam right before the monster’s chest.

“Take that!” His Yin Pan cut its way through the wretched flesh and resumed course into the sky from what he could see through the hole soon flooded with blood. 

The monster had been injured and nudged backwards. 

Ku Lo found the strength to push his advantage. One hand grabbed the pommel of his sword, raising it back up from the ground. Its tip pointing towards the monster, his other hand grabbed the blade directly before thrusting with both.

The sword dug into the flesh until his hand met the monster’s skin. 

Twisting the grip to the side, he prepared to leverage his weight to finish the job. 

“Stop! You’re going to kill him!” Meifen shouted as her hand grabbed his robe to pull him away.

The amount of power behind her yank threw him on his back. 

Before responding with anything, he double-checked the opponent. With this type of enemies, you never knew how many transformations there could be. 

Yet after a minute, it seemed safe to assume that this was not the case here. 

“Huuh...” he let out a long sigh. 

“Lo’er, are you okay?” Gingge called him with her ever so affectionate voice as Ku Lo gazed at the clouds.

The entire world seemed to have slowed down. So many things were going in and out of his consideration. Murder, near-death experience, and most importantly he saw how the people closest to him reacted to him pushing himself into harm’s way for an unneeded cause. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said without moving his head to look at her, too embarrassed to do so.  

Gingge’s palpitating as she got onto her knees beside him. “Good, good. When I saw the monster lash out at you, I… I.”

“Ku Lo!” This time a voice belonging to Feng Niu came, making him take a peek at the redhead approaching. 

“Thought your hero would die so easily?” 

“Not for a moment,” she giggled. “Even the Deacon had her hands full with it, yet you slew it without a hitch!” 

“Ah, I was lucky.” He didn’t exactly like Feng Niu’s words because his — ex — squad leader had told him to be patient and then died after trying to be brave himself. 

Every day in this world made Ku Lo distance himself more from Earth and its games with yet another life. A near-death experience wasn’t a fun story. 

“C’mon, cheer up-” Feng Niu squatted at his side. “Everyone has their day of death written somewhere. Enjoy the time you have!” 

Ku Lo did the opposite as his head pondered possibilities. This is a world of magic, so there must be a way for eternal life… If I find a way to cheat death… But to even have a chance, I must work harder, be more serious, and confident in everything I do. 

“Maybe, maybe not,” he responded to Feng Niu before his focus shifted to Gingge, who he hugged. “Shouldn’t have scared you like that; however, for me to become strong enough to protect everyone risks need to be taken.” 

“I-I understand.” 

“Glad you figured something out on your own.” A third female voice appeared. This one being almost identical to Gingge’s — minus the prudery, of course. 

“I try to be the strongest for Gingg’er.” 

“Then how about honing those sword skills of yours?” Qingling snapped. “Or do I find a hammer for you straight away?” 

“Is my swordsmanship that bad?” 

“If you want to be strong enough to protect my sister? Then that couldn’t be called swordsmanship.” 

“Are you offering me help or just mocking?”

“It seems that she’s too attached to you—” 

“Sister!” Gingge cut her while maintaining the hug. “Lo’er’s my only one in this life. I’ll never have another man in life or afterlife!” Her hug tightened. 

Qingling sighed. “To improve my sister’s chance of living a decent life, I will teach you.”