Rise in the Martial Chaos: Starting From a Martial Arts School

Yang Jing’s gaze swept over the surroundings. He saw a few scattered members of the Flying Horse Thieves hunched over, scurrying into the depths of the dense forest, clearly trying to escape in the chaos.

His eyes narrowed, and he said in a low voice, ”These fish that slipped through the net will just be a menace if we leave them. We might as well clean them up while we’re at it.”

Li Tieyun nodded in agreement. ”It’s only right.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when the two of them moved simultaneously.

Yang Jing’s figure was like a flash of lightning. In an instant, he caught up to a Dark Strength-level chieftain who was trying to escape.

It was the same man who had been engaged by the wiry man earlier.

When the chieftain saw Yang Jing charging at him, he was scared out of his wits. He raised his saber and slashed, but Yang Jing easily dodged it.

Yang Jing took advantage of the opening and threw a punch, striking him square in the chest. The chieftain cried out and was sent flying backward. Before he could even struggle, Yang Jing stomped on his throat, crushing it and killing him on the spot.

Meanwhile, Li Tieyun wasn’t idle either. With a few swings of his iron ruler, he had already slain two Bright Strength-level bandits.

Seeing this, the burly man and the wiry man immediately chased after the other fleeing bandits. Blades flashed, and they quickly finished off the remaining dozen or so men.

After the cleanup, this patch of dense forest finally fell completely silent.

Fifty or sixty bodies lay strewn across the ground. The stench of blood filled the air, mixing with the earthy scent of the forest foliage in a particularly pungent combination.

The only ones left standing were Yang Jing, Li Tieyun, the burly man, and the wiry man. In the distance, the young Vice Gang Leader, Ma Chaoyun, was still holding Liu Maolin and staying where he was.

Li Tieyun wiped the blood from his iron ruler, his gaze turning toward the Flying Horse Thieves’ mountain stronghold in the distance. He raised an eyebrow, a hint of anticipation in his eyes, and said, ”I did a quick headcount just now. The second-in-command of the Flying Horse Thieves never showed himself; he’s probably still in the stronghold. Plus, a good number of bandits escaped. If we let them be, there’s no guarantee they won’t make a comeback.”

He paused, looked at Yang Jing beside him, and continued, ”The way I see it, we should take this opportunity to storm the stronghold and cut the weeds and dig up the roots!”

Hearing this, the burly man and the wiry man at their side instantly broke into excited grins, their gazes burning as they stared at the mountain stronghold.

The Flying Horse Thieves had been entrenched on Yunshan for many years. In recent years, they had become even more tyrannical, robbing at least eighty, if not a hundred, merchant caravans. They must have accumulated a considerable fortune. If they could take the stronghold, the rewards would be immense.

Yang Jing also nodded, his expression serious. ”Gang Leader Li has a point. These bandits all have blood on their hands. Letting them escape will only mean they continue to plague the countryside. As for the Flying Horse Thieves’ second-in-command, since he hasn’t shown himself, he’s likely still hiding in the stronghold. If he hasn’t fled yet, we can deal with him at the same time and save ourselves future trouble.”

It wasn’t that he was simply greedy for the Flying Horse Thieves’ treasure. He also figured that since they had already made a move, they should completely eradicate this band of villains. It would also count as eliminating a great menace for the people of Yuhe County.

”Good!” Seeing Yang Jing’s approval, Li Tieyun’s spirits rose. ”There’s no time to lose. Let’s move out!”

The four exchanged a look and, without further hesitation, immediately headed toward the Flying Horse Thieves’ mountain stronghold.

Li Tieyun and Yang Jing made a point to go over to Ma Chaoyun and instructed him to watch over Liu Maolin and stay put. Then, they sped toward the Flying Horse Thieves’ stronghold up ahead.

When the four of them arrived before the Flying Horse Thieves’ stronghold, the drawbridge had already been lowered by the panicked bandits.

Yang Jing took the lead, charging across the drawbridge and through the gate. Li Tieyun and the other two followed close behind.

The inside of the stronghold was in total disarray.

Many bandits, with no time to gather their valuables, were scrambling over the rear fence in a panic. They didn’t even bother to pick up the sabers and axes they dropped.

Meanwhile, a crowd of Flying Horse Thieves had gathered near the silver carts. Apparently driven mad by the sight of silver, they were frantically prying open the wooden chests, grabbing silver ingots, and stuffing them into their clothes. They were even pushing, shoving, and fighting each other over the ingots in a chaotic mess.

”Kill!”

Li Tieyun let out a low shout and swiftly darted toward the silver carts. As he approached, he swung his iron ruler, striking at a bandit who was clutching silver ingots and about to flee.

The bandit didn’t even have time to react before the iron ruler pierced his chest, killing him instantly.

Yang Jing and the other two men also attacked at the same time.

At this moment, most of the Flying Horse Thieves inside the stronghold were ordinary bandits who hadn’t even cultivated Inner Strength. Facing four experts at the Dark Strength realm, they were like lambs to the slaughter.

”Run!”

Seeing this, the bandits who were grabbing the silver ingots were scared out of their wits. They jumped down from the carts and scattered in all directions.

But their speed was far too slow compared to Yang Jing and the others.

This was especially true for Yang Jing. He executed his Raging Wave Kicks to their fullest extent, his body moving as fast as a phantom. In the blink of an eye, he had caught up to the foremost bandits.

He didn’t even need to use his Mountain-Shattering Fist. Relying solely on the power endowed by his Dark Strength, he smashed a fist into a bandit’s back. The man screamed and collapsed.

He struck out with his palm again, hitting another bandit square in the abdomen. The man instantly doubled over like a shrimp and went silent.

Dealing with these ordinary bandits required hardly any effort at all.

Yang Jing darted to the side of the silver carts and glanced at the wooden chests.

The lids of the topmost chests on the seven carts had been pried open. The silver ingots inside had spilled out and rolled all over the ground, but most were still inside the chests.

After all, the silver ingots were heavy. An adult could carry seven or eight at most, so the amount of silver that had been snatched wasn’t actually that large.

”They ran that way!”

The burly man from the River Gang pointed at a group of bandits fleeing deeper into the stronghold, shouted, and gave chase.

Yang Jing and Li Tieyun exchanged a glance and immediately followed.

The four of them swept through the fleeing bandits like they were clearing away fallen leaves, killing them one by one. Their blood stained the dirt path inside the stronghold red.