“Enemies are attacking! Enemies are attacking! Go to your post!”

“Raging tigers, go to the left! Stumbling elephants go to the right!”

“Protect the goods! Merchants, for a circle!”

…

There is chaos in the caravan. Danger isn’t something new. Everyone who traverses the wild hills is always in danger. Sometimes it is beast groups, sometimes it is bandits. As a midsized caravan those kinds of dangers are doable with little damage. But in the wild hills you never are save. The most dangerous things are beast tides and blood lusty divine beasts. There are also demonic cultivators that can make even big caravans disappear.

This is a group of bandits. It’s one of the bigger ones. But bandit groups are normally only dangerous for small caravans.

Even though there is a lot of hectic, Lie Mo isn’t panicking. He is the unofficial son of the caravan chief. Because of that he got to train under the strongest martial artist in this camp – flexible bamboo. Lie Mo is confident in his skills. And no bandit group was ever dangerous to them.

“Lie Mo, what is your judgment of this situation?”

“They are quite bold. Even though they have a few more members they are no match to us.”

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“Don’t be overconfident. I feel as there is something off. I feel a subtill fear coming from over there. They have some hidden card.”

“What is so strong that even Master fears it? A formation?”

“No, the formation wouldn’t be so directional. It has to be a strong enemy. Perhaps even a demonic cultivator.”

“What! A demonic cultivator?”

“If that’s the case then just run. Go hide in the forest and stay away from the paths.”

“Haven’t you always said that the survival chances are slim for a single person in the forest?”

“Slim is better than certain death. Just be careful and don’t hesitate to run.”

“What about you, and mom?”

“Forget us, everything with value makes you a target. I am strong, your mom is pretty, and she will slow you down in the forest…”

“So I should just leave her to die?”

“You are a martial, you will be the one to die. Especially since you have rights to a leadership position. That makes you dangerous. Now go help out over there.“

Lie Mo follows his masters orders. The place he goes to is a busy part of the fight. But this place doesn’t have a single strong fighter near it.

Just as he begins to engage in battle everyone freezes. A strong aura covers the entire battlefield.

When he turns around he sees a big fierce looking hyena. Right in the direction that flexible bamboo was pointing before. After a short break the bandits attack again. The machineries of the caravan are still stunned from the aura and they react too late. Many got wounded and they all are now in a defensive position. Lie Mo somehow got away with barely any wound. Just as he tries to engage again he hears the death cry of flexible bamboo:

“RUUUNNN!!!”

Lie Mo turns around and is shocked. His master is decapitated in such a short amount of time. And the hyena is rushing over to his father. Time slows down and he sees how the hyena shreds his father in just one punch. He freezes up. Lie Mo never had such a terrifying experience in his live.

After an indefinite amount of time he suddenly feels the fear of death. He doges the attack and just starts running. Several bandits run after him. He runs and runs. He leaves the path and goes into the forest. Deeper and deeper. After a while he looses the pursuers. But he doesn’t dare to stop. He isn’t even in a state of mind to stop. He runs and runs until he collapses.