Chapter Seventeen: The Power of the Venomous Ant

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As shouts rose from the front of the procession, the entire caravan seemed like an elephant that had stepped on a hedgehog. Though order was maintained, an atmosphere of imminent danger spread swiftly through the ranks.

“Young brother, keep an eye on the two girls for me. I’m going ahead to see what’s happening.” As Southern Glory spoke, the sturdy mount beneath him was already thundering away.

“Father, be careful!” the two girls cried out in alarm, their faces turning deathly pale. Neither had ever witnessed such a scene.

Tong Jin was equally bewildered. While comforting the two beside him, he rose and gazed into the distance ahead. Several hundred yards away, a group of riders came rushing toward them through billowing dust, occasionally letting out thunderous cries. The distance was still too great to make out their faces, but their hostile appearance made their intentions clear.

Tong Jin had intended to go forward and investigate. Though he had lost all his cultivation, a situation like this was not enough to make him panic. But when he lowered his head and saw the two girls practically clinging to him, he could only shake his head helplessly.

The Southern Rong family’s caravan was well trained. Surely they could handle this.

He patted the two girls on the head, signaling them not to be afraid.

“Who goes there?” A stern challenge came from the front of the caravan. The speaker was clearly Southern Glory.

“Your grandfathers are here to take your wealth, not your lives! If you know what’s good for you, leave your goods behind and get out!”

The reply came in a deep, powerful voice. Infused with formidable inner power, it shook the caravan’s horses into shrieking and kicking wildly. Most of the Southern Rong family’s people clapped their hands over their ears in pain, including Fengyue Qinglan and Tong Jin.

“Brother Tong Jin, I’m scared.” Qinglan was nearly in tears as she burrowed into Tong Jin’s arms.

Fengyue, by contrast, appeared much calmer. Though her entire body trembled, she continued to stare fixedly toward the front of the caravan.

“Don’t be afraid. Your father will deal with the trouble,” Tong Jin comforted them, though his own heart was in turmoil.

The head of the Southern Rong family possessed a respectable level of martial skill, but he was clearly far from the Qi Transformation realm. As a merchant family, their pursuit of martial arts had likely never gone beyond strengthening the body.

The bandits opposite them were another matter. The mere display of power in that shouted challenge proved that at least one Qi Transformation expert was among them.

If my cultivation were still intact, Tong Jin thought, I would already have gone forward to test these bandits myself.

His right hand unconsciously reached toward his chest. Through his clothing, he touched the stone box hidden against his body, and his mind eased somewhat.

Before long, the sounds of fighting rang out ahead, followed by Southern Glory’s command:

“The rest of you, take the goods and the two girls and leave at once! We’ll regroup at Upper Water City!”

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At the order, the caravan began moving swiftly. The carriage carrying Tong Jin and the two girls jolted and rattled as it raced toward open ground.

The two girls finally reacted and began shouting desperately toward the melee.

“Father!”

Tong Jin sighed helplessly and said, “Stay inside the carriage and protect yourselves. I’m going to see whether I can help.”

With that, he leapt from the speeding carriage and sprinted toward the bushes beside the battlefield.

There were a dozen or so men on each side, and the two groups were easy to distinguish. The Southern Rong family members all wore ordinary cloth garments, while every bandit wore a vest cut from animal hide—perhaps to prevent them from injuring one another during the chaos of their usual robberies.

Crouching among the low bushes, Tong Jin observed the scene at close range.

Among the bandits, one man wore a tiger-skin cloak and wielded a long saber. With long hair falling over his shoulders and a heavily muscled build, he was clearly the leader. At that moment, he was locked in combat with an elderly man in black from the Southern Rong family.

To Tong Jin’s surprise, the black-clad elder was evenly matched with the bandit chief, an expert in the Qi Transformation realm. Tong Jin could not help marveling at the depth of the Southern Rong family’s foundation. They actually had a Qi Transformation master willing to conceal his identity and serve as a bodyguard.

The other clashes were far less impressive. The fighters relied on raw physical strength, meeting steel with steel in brutal close combat. It seemed that only the bandit leader posed any real threat to the Southern Rong caravan.

Southern Glory was also locked in a physical struggle with a burly bandit, but he clearly held the upper hand. As more wounds opened across the bandit’s body, his strength finally gave out. Southern Glory drove his saber through the man’s chest, ending his life.

“Kill them all!” Southern Glory roared, lunging at the nearest bandit with his saber.

At that very moment, a cry of agony suddenly came from the black-clad elder of the Southern Rong family.

The old man’s wretched scream drew nearly every eye on the battlefield. He was clutching both eyes in agony, groaning repeatedly.

“You despicable bastard! Ah! Ah—!”

Southern Glory rushed to his side.

“Uncle Zhan! How are you?”

After a moment, the black-clad elder managed to suppress the pain and snarled, “That despicable wretch ambushed me with poison. I can’t see! Yaorong, withdraw at once!”

Supporting the old man, Southern Glory gritted his teeth and said, “Two men, come with me and open a path! The rest of you, stay close and protect Uncle Zhan! Fall back!”

He handed the elder to a plump subordinate covered in blood, then led the others in hacking a bloody path through the enemy, fleeing in the direction of the caravan.

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The bandits did not hurry after them. Instead, they stopped to regroup. The wounded helped one another to the side to rest, while their leader leaned toward the remaining men and muttered a series of instructions.

Tong Jin realized that his opportunity had come.

He gently opened the stone box he had taken from his robes earlier.

With a series of faint whistling sounds, the corpse-sinking venom ants that had been confined for so long shot out at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

“Let’s see what you can do,” Tong Jin muttered.

“Ah—ah!”

A wave of agonized cries rose from the bandits, accompanied by the chaotic clang of weapons. Within only a few breaths, the screams abruptly ceased.

Several dark shapes flew back, circled twice above Tong Jin’s head as though seeking praise, and then burrowed into the stone box.

Tong Jin drew several deep breaths. A nauseating stench of decay filled the air.

“What is that smell?”

Suppressing his revulsion, he slowly rose to his feet.

When his gaze fell upon the dozen or so bandits who had been alive moments earlier, the sheer horror of the sight nearly made him vomit.

It was nothing short of terrifying. The men who had been vigorous and full of life only moments before now lay dead across the ground. Worse still, not one of their corpses remained whole. Black pustules covered their skin, exuding waves of rancid stench.

Tong Jin rubbed the gooseflesh rising along his arms.

These venomous ants were far too terrifying. Had he not been lucky, he would have ended up like this the first time he was bitten.

A chill ran along his spine, and the thought alone filled him with lingering dread.

Just then, a cold voice came from behind him, thick with murderous hatred.

“Damn you, boy!”