Chapter 5: Grim Reaper

 

On the Huangshan mountain range, there are several mountain bandit groups; the most powerful is the White Tiger bandit. Because their leader is a first-class martial artist, and according to rumors, he has already reached the peak of martial artistry or martial mastery.

 

However, no one really knows the truth without seeing the bandit leader fight with another martial master.

 

The White Tiger bandit had made their lair inside a cave. Even if the enemy attacks, they can only enter through the cave's main entrance.

 

Inside a large chamber, a middle-aged man sitting on a large chair resembles a Chinese throne chair, and on his hips is a beautiful woman wearing a revealing cloth. Her face is emotionless, like a doll. She had already accepted her fate a long time ago.

 

The men below gaze at the woman lecherously. When their leader is bored with her, each one of them will have fun enjoying her body.

 

“Boss, the middleman is getting greedy, should we?" The bandit makes a cut gesture around his neck.

 

“Although he is greedy, he is trustworthy. Most of our supply comes from him.”

 

"Boss, we already looted the villages near the mountain ranges. But it had caused the other bandit group to be dissatisfied.” Every village belongs to a certain bandit group; nevertheless, the White Tiger bandit attacked and looted most of the villages near the mountain range.

 

“Leave them be; what can they do?" The bandit leader laughed. He is the strongest bandit in the mountain range.

 

"Well, if anything happens, don’t disturb me.” The bandit leader licks his lips and carries the woman to his chamber.

 

The other bandits can only look envious. Especially the lowest-rank bandits, they can only release their lust on ugly captive women.

 

-

 

In the forest, a group of people are gathered; if the White Tiger bandits are here, they can recognize the people. Because they are the leaders of a bandit group in the Huangshan mountain range.

 

“Have you contacted the martial alliance?”

 

“They agreed, but the looted goods belong to them.”

 

“What a greedy bastard.”

 

“The right path is the same as the demonic path.”

 

The various bandit leaders complain.

 

“Stop, we had no choice. Living here is already hard; we are not like the white tiger bandit that killed and looted everything.”

 

The white tiger bandit attacks the villages and caravans without leaving anything for them.

 

“Fine, I agree.”

 

The bandit leaders nodded. Actually, they wanted to cooperate with the Bai Kingdom military army, but they refused. Instead, their men get captured and executed.

 

In the past, the army tried to wipe out the white tiger bandit but failed because of the terrain. And mountain bandits know how to move in the forest and mountains to flee.

 

“The martial alliance needs time to gather people; we need to wait for them.”

 

-

 

Martial Alliance headquarters

 

An elderly man with a long white beard is reading the report and smiles while stroking his beard.

 

“Do we really need to cooperate with the bandits?” A man who looked like a scholar spoke.

 

“It’s a good place to train the new academy student.”

 

“It’s not that easy; the new student is mostly only a third-class martial artist.”

 

“We can have the martial master protect them in the shadow.”

 

“I suggested letting the senior student and sect disciple join as well.”

 

“Okay.” The elderly man nodded.

 

“I heard your granddaughter is already at Bai Kingdom.”

 

“Yes, after her escort mission is finished, she can join.” The elderly man smiles when he remembers Shi Li beating up his good friend's grandson.

 

He is thinking of marrying her granddaughter to his friend's eldest grandson. However, it was fate that at least his granddaughter would not suffer at the hands of that lecherous scoundrel.

 

 

-

 

Luo Wei is already entering Han Empire territory and feeling melancholy; his memory is gradually recovering thanks to his parents' help.

 

However, he feels suffocated the more he remembers. Because of the pressure his family put on his shoulders from a young age, There is a reason why he wants to come to the border.

 

Along the way, Luo Wei became close to Shi Li. Since he is just a small boy, Shi Li is fond of him like her little brother.

 

Luo Wei heard many martial arts world stories from her, and his eyes were bright.

 

At the same time, Luo Wei told Shi Li about the kindhearted physician Zhou.

 

Shi Li likes to hear the story.

 

While they are talking, the middle-aged martial arts students get a message from a pigeon bird. After reading it, he begins to spread the news about the white tiger bandit extermination mission.

 

Most of them are excited, and finally, they can get to fight.

 

-

 

Zou Jie told the nearby villages that he was going somewhere, and the villagers thought he was going to leave and begged him to stay. After Zou Jie reassured them he would return, the villagers calmed down.

 

Thanks to the villagers, he had gathered information about the mountain bandits. He didn’t even need to pay anything; they gladly told him everything.

 

The villagers never thought of anything. Zou Jie is just a physician; he is just asking because he is curious.

 

They don’t realize the bandits’ deaths are near.

Huangshan mountain range is large, not to mention the dense forest below. It might take months if Zou Jie wants to explore the area to find the bandits' lair. Fortunately, he had asked the villagers, and some of them had been forced to carry provisions to their lair.

 

The bandits are not afraid of the villagers exposing them if they find out the only punishment is death.

 

The army also prefers to fight in the open area and doesn’t like fighting in the forest or mountains because of the humid environment.

 

-

 

Deep in the forest.

 

The tall wooden wall protected the Wolf Claw bandit lair from any attack or intruder. However, today, a black-clothed man who only shows his eyes enters the bandit stronghold.

 

The black-clad man takes out his dagger, enters the first wooden house, and finds several men sleeping. Without wasting time, he covers the man's throat and slits his throat. Blood splattered, but none hit the black-clad man.

 

Zou Jie checks the system and sees the karma point increase by ten. Does that mean killing bad people gives him more points? He continues to kill the remaining bandits and finds out that each of them gives him a different amount of karma points.

 

The room already smells of blood. He leaves the room and goes to another house. Zou Jie, like a grim reaper, takes their lives without any problem. However, in one of the rooms, he found a naked woman and a few men sleeping.

 

After killing the men, Zou Jie hesitated to help the woman. Even if he saves her, most likely, her parents will sell her to the brothel.

 

Zou Jie can only sigh; his heart is not young. Although this body is young, his mind is an old man. When he was an elite soldier in the past, he had seen many cruel things.

 

Taking a deep breath, Zou Jie's eyes became determined. He had gone soft after becoming a doctor for a long time; it was time to remember how to become a soldier.

 

On the bed, the leader of the Wolf Claw Bandit sleeps soundly. Zou Jie appears beside the bed.

 

The Wolf Claw Bandit leader wakes up after being splashed by water. He wanted to scream, but his mouth had been shut by cloth, and his limbs had been tied by rope.

 

Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain in his body and can see a dagger. When the dagger pulls out, blood comes out of the wound.

 

The bandit leader screams, but only a muffled sound comes out.

 

“Oh, I get the point.” Zou Jie, check the visual panel.

 

‘This man is crazy.’ The bandit leader thought, but he can’t escape.

 

After that, Zou Jie continued to torture the bandit leader until there were no more points. Even when he kills the bandit leader, he gets no more points. “It looks like everyone had a limit of karma points.” Zou Jie gazes at the copses and leaves.

 

However, at this point, the whole Wolf Claw bandit is alarmed because they have found their comrade's corpses.

 

While the bandits are panicking, an arrow pierces one of their bodies.

 

Zou Jie this time uses a bow and arrows to kill the remaining bandits.

 

“Don’t shoot, I have a hostage!” The bandit is holding a woman hostage.

 

Without hesitation, Zou Jie aimed the arrow at the bandit's neck. Suddenly, the bandit's body moves, and the arrow pierces the woman instead. Although she is not dead, if she is not treated, she will die.

 

Zou Jie checked the system, and just like he suspected, his bad karma punishment had risen by 2. After contemplating, he decided to come back later.