Chapter 22: Killing to Silence
The old dog with a keen sense of smell.
Ji Ma cursed inwardly. She did not want to slip away from Shalin City, abandoning her treasure.
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her chin slightly, saying, “What’s the matter? Are you surrounding Sir George without reason, trying to get yourselves killed and become the clueless robbers in the bards’ tales?”
Sir?
The other soldiers finally noticed the armor on George. Shoulder armor, fingered iron gloves, steel boots… This was not just ordinary goods bought from any armor shop. It was full plate armor, specially fitted by a blacksmith to ensure that each piece was both sturdy and form-fitting.
Thus, it was priceless and not something an ordinary person could afford.
Many swords lowered involuntarily.
Bai Ba had already noticed the full plate armor on George, which was why he had suspected the two of them.
“Should we salute you? You say so, is that it?” Bai Ba said slowly. “Either you open your pack for us to search, or… don’t blame me for being rude.”
Ji Ma felt a bit anxious, while George remained silent like a statue beside her. She knew George was waiting for her cue, like a supporting actor. She turned her head and gave George a look, then spoke:
“Do you think a knight of Barto, suddenly surrounded in a foreign land, should drop his weapon and let you search him? Isn’t that just robbery?”
“Exactly,” George replied.
“When attacked by robbers, would a Barto knight drop his weapon and say, ‘But I am a noble, you must salute me according to the law’?”
“Ah? That can’t be true.”
“Oh, it is true. But it’s just a fantasy inside the robbers’ minds. Do you know what a Barto knight would do, my lord?”
“Slice them down with his sword.”
George’s sword tip slowly pointed at Bai Ba’s face.
“I forgot to introduce my master to you,” Ji Ma said, “My master was born in the knightly country of Barto.”
“Right.”
Bai Ba didn’t understand why George replied “right.” He just felt that what George said was convincing, and it seemed true. He subconsciously believed that George was from Barto and was a knight, thus trusting Ji Ma’s words as well.
But that was also suspicious. What a coincidence, huh?
Bai Ba did not believe in coincidences.
“If you’re willing to cooperate and are innocent, I will personally apologize,” Bai Ba said, his tone noticeably more polite, but he remained obstinate.
“You falsely accuse my master, which has made him feel it necessary to defend his honor with his sword,” Ji Ma replied. “Either you apologize and leave, or we duel—whether it’s one-on-one or one versus many, my master is willing to oblige.”
George chimed in, “Right.”
Several soldiers suddenly felt like retreating, taking half a step back and pressing their backs against the counter.
Ji Ma quietly activated her “Desire’s Double Eyes” to observe their psychology. She saw those people’s heads emitting colored smoke, forming seven clouds above them.
Among them, the light green cloud, symbolizing rage, was gradually shrinking. This should indicate that they were starting to back down.
Bai Ba hesitated. Although it was embarrassing, there was indeed no reason to search a Barto knight without cause; his brothers would not fight for no reason.
Just as he opened his mouth, ready to save face…
Ji Ma unhesitatingly beckoned the light green cloud with her pinky. The cloud representing rage suddenly expanded, standing out among the seven clouds.
A surge of anger suddenly welled up in Bai Ba’s heart, and he changed his mind:
What a simple search of a suspect; how dare they smear me as a robber? Look at that little brat’s eyes; he didn’t even regard me as someone important, and that knight is so arrogant he refuses to talk to me directly!
They only wanted a standard search, yet they were asked to apologize? It was time to teach this arrogant kid what the laws of Shalin City were.
Bai Ba shouted, “Brothers, are we to apologize to this arrogant brat?”
The others felt similar anger, thinking along the same lines.
“Is full plate armor supposed to be impressive?”
“We have eleven of us!”
“Come on! This is what we call an apology.”
One person grabbed a clay pot and threw it at George. George countered with his sword, shattering it, and the shards grazed Bai Ba’s face.
“Kill him and throw him into the dungeon!”
Bai Ba charged ahead, sword in hand. The others rushed at George as well, while Ji Ma, frightened, immediately crouched down, covering her head.
George wasted no time, swinging his sword like a baseball bat. He held the sword with both hands, twisting his waist to pour all his strength into the massive sword, executing a fundamental sword technique—Rage Strike.
The sword blade swept across to the left, so fast that one soldier hadn’t even reacted. His neck fell along with one shoulder; the sword slowed just slightly, giving the second soldier time to react as he raised his sword to block.
But his longsword was immediately deflected when it touched the massive sword. The massive sword swept across his neck; when the vertebrae were severed, it was silent. The massive sword then continued to sweep towards Bai Ba in front of George.
In one stroke, he killed two men, daring to ignore my attack and still wanting to kill me!
Bai Ba’s eyes turned red as he swung at George’s sword tip, planning to divert the sword and then close in to grapple George, intending to crash the armored knight down to the ground.
George remained unfazed, converting the slash into a thrust. The massive sword grazed against the longsword, causing sparks to fly as it effortlessly pushed it aside and plunged into Bai Ba’s chest.
Bai Ba instinctively wanted to stab back in a final act of desperation but found he couldn’t muster the strength. He lowered his head and saw that the cross-guard of the massive sword had ensnared the guard of his longsword.
Even wearing heavy armor, George was still cautious against his final strike.
This man was no ordinary knight; his swordsmanship was terrifyingly strong!
Bai Ba’s eyes widened as the massive sword was pulled from his chest, and he weakly collapsed to the dirt.
The pain in his chest spread, driving away the anger that had clouded his mind, and he suddenly came to his senses.
Some sword skills excel in both offense and defense. Techniques that can achieve both are referred to as Master Strikes.
Without a doubt, he had died to a Master Strike, and the opponent had even casually killed two of his brothers in the process, making it a total of three kills with one stroke.
Dying at the hands of such superb swordsmanship left no regrets.
Bai Ba closed his eyes and let his life bleed away.
By the time George swung his sixth sword, the fight had shifted from a one-sided slaughter to a cat-and-mouse game.
The remaining three, frightened, ran towards the back of the house, shouting, “Scatter! Scatter!”
The three split into two groups and fled. A grocery store in a fire zone had more than one back door.
As long as they escaped, they would definitely report everything that happened today to their superiors and put out a wanted notice.
They believed they could escape. Because they had been standing at the back, there had been a high long cabinet obstructing them. Wearing full plate armor, once they flipped over the cabinet, they would have easily fled through the back door.
But they were wrong.
George easily vaulted over the long cabinet that was taller than Ji Ma. Like an enraged rhinoceros, he charged through, quickly dispatching the soldiers that were fleeing together with two sword strikes. Another soldier had just pushed open the back door, sunlight pouring onto his face.
A hand grabbed his shoulder from behind, pulling him back into the dark doorway.
“Boom!” The back door slammed shut, drowning out the terrified screams.
…
…
Inside the grocery store, Ji Ma closed the door and thoughtfully hung up a “Resting” sign. She turned around and looked at the bodies scattered on the ground, receiving feedback—feedback that her scheme had succeeded.
This feedback made her body feel at ease; she felt she had taken another step forward in her pursuit of power, touching the threshold of advancement.
Opening her personal panel system, she was unsurprised to see in the message bar, “DM: Your mastery of the succubus’ extraordinary power has advanced further.”
Ji Ma smiled, walking toward Bai Ba’s corpse and casually drawing her short sword,
