Three burly figures with black hoods entered.
Then, the three removed their hoods.
The three appeared to be arguing about something, and a bundle fell to the ground.
From the bundle spilled a pile of silver ingots and some jewelry.
Lu Changsheng widened his eyes.
Clearly, he guessed the identities of these three.
Most likely, they were not from the righteous path, probably thieves.
These gold and silver jewelry were most likely ill-gotten gains.
Seeing the gold and silver jewelry in the bundle, two of them exchanged glances, then drew large knives.
One of the men fell into a pool of blood, and the two killed their accomplice.
The man picked up the bundle from the ground, sneering, "Hmph, Liu San, this is your own doing, don't blame us, you're just too greedy."
"Big brother, why talk so much? With one less Liu San, we'll get even more gold and silver this time."
Both of them showed a hint of greed in their eyes.
With so much gold and silver, they intended to take a break for a while.
Both of them walked inside, preparing to hide the bundle.
Suddenly, one of them sniffed the air as if he had caught a scent.
"Who's there? Come out!"
The man's gaze scanned around, finally fixing on a corner. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt
Lu Changsheng's heart trembled, but in such a narrow space, if he was discovered, he couldn't hide.
So, Lu Changsheng walked out directly, staring at the two men, calmly saying, "I'm an herbalist, here to gather herbs in the mountains."
Lu Changsheng still had a basket on his back.
The two thieves looked, and indeed, there were herbs in the basket.
"Your business has nothing to do with me."
"Consider me as if I haven't been here, and I haven't seen you either, okay?"
Lu Changsheng said calmly.
The two men exchanged glances and then gripped their knives, sneering, "Blame your bad luck, finding our hiding cave, and seeing our faces."
The two men approached with their knives.
"Wait, I'm not alone in the mountains; I have a companion."
"My companion must be looking for me everywhere now. If you kill me, you'll be in big trouble."
Lu Changsheng stepped back step by step.
"You have a companion? It seems we can't stay here. Kill you, and we'll leave the mountain immediately!"
The two men's eyes flashed with malice as they continued to approach with their large knives.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Lu Changsheng had backed up against the cave wall, with no room left to retreat.
"I have only one chance."
"It must be a one-hit kill!"
Lu Changsheng's eyes were resolute.
He knew very well that his body had not fully developed yet, and in every aspect, he was inferior to these two tough bandits.
Even if he had practiced martial arts, what did it matter when his strength had just slightly improved?
If it were any other apprentice facing these two thieves, they would undoubtedly be dead.
But Lu Changsheng had a glimmer of hope.
Because he had practiced the Tiger Pounce Technique! And it was the perfected Tiger Pounce Technique!
The Tiger Pounce Technique imitated a tiger pouncing on its prey, emphasizing a one-hit kill.
As long as he could take out one of the thieves first, Lu Changsheng had a chance to deal with the other.
Lu Changsheng crouched slightly, not moving.
He was gathering strength, just like a real tiger observing its prey.
When a vulnerability was found, the tiger would strike to kill.
These two thieves clearly didn't take Lu Changsheng, a teenager, seriously.
One of the thieves approached directly in three steps and two steps, swinging his large knife toward Lu Changsheng.
At the moment when the opponent raised his knife, a flash of determination passed through Lu Changsheng's eyes.
Lu Changsheng's legs slightly flexed, and he crouched down a little, just like a real tiger, and then he leaped with all his might.
Lu Changsheng's pounce was lightning-fast and powerful.
In fact, the bandit couldn't react in time due to the speed, and Lu Changsheng pounced directly onto him, causing him to fall to the ground.
Lu Changsheng tackled the bandit, then immediately grabbed a stone he had broken off the cave wall and ruthlessly smashed it into the bandit's head.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes...
In just three to five hits, the bandit's head became a mess of blood and flesh, and he ceased to breathe.
The other bandit finally reacted, widening his eyes, his gaze filled with rage.
The bandit swung a knife toward Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack, then assumed the posture of a tiger pouncing again, launching himself at the bandit.
With this pounce, he took down the bandit again.
Lu Changsheng followed the same pattern, picking up a stone and smashing it viciously onto the bandit's head.
After a few hits, the bandit's head was reduced to a pulp, lying motionless on the ground.
"Tiger Pounce Technique mastered. Comprehension +2."
A line of small text appeared in front of Lu Changsheng.
"What? I've mastered the Tiger Pounce Technique?"
Lu Changsheng's expression brightened.
Ever since he had comprehended the essence of the tiger, practicing the Tiger Pounce Technique had been smooth sailing, and his progress was swift.
He hadn't expected that after using the Tiger Pounce Technique to kill the two bandits just now, he had mastered it directly.
However, he was now very tired and had no energy to check the attribute panel.
Lu Changsheng collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
In fact, those two moves he just made had already exhausted his strength.
Reflecting on the battle just now, those two bandits were physically strong but seemed to lack martial skills. They couldn't even resist a young teenager like Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng had only just started practicing martial arts.
If he practiced for a longer time, with stronger qi and blood, those two would no longer pose a threat to him.
After resting for a while, feeling his energy returning, Lu Changsheng immediately sorted through the items in the bandits' bundle.
A rough estimate indicated that the gold and silver jewelry were worth around five hundred taels. From searching the three bandits, he also found some silver bills, totaling over three hundred taels.
In total, it was more than eight hundred taels.
What did over eight hundred taels mean?
In Nanyang City, even a small two-compartment courtyard cost only three to fifty taels of silver.
His over eight hundred taels of silver was undoubtedly a significant fortune.
No wonder those two bandits had said they could take a break for several years after splitting the silver.
I need to regroup with the apprentices. I can't carry the silver on me, and I can't even carry the silver bills. It would be troublesome if I were searched."
Lu Changsheng was very cautious.
He glanced at them, then directly dragged the three people into the valley and hastily buried them.
Then, he cleaned up the cave, making sure there was no trace of blood to avoid attracting wild animals.
He also processed and stored the gathered herbs in the cave, temporarily leaving them there.
In his basket, he only collected a portion of the herbs, enough to avoid punishment.
After completing all of this, Lu Changsheng left the valley, leaving behind some concealed markers along the way to ensure he could find the valley's location the next time he entered the mountains.
Around noon, Lu Changsheng finally reunited with many apprentices from the Miao Shou Garden.
"Lu Changsheng, how was your harvest today?"
An apprentice, looking dusty and sweaty, asked Lu Changsheng.
In fact, the other apprentice wanted to show off.
After all, the apprentice's basket was filled to the brim with herbs.
Lu Changsheng shook his head, pretending to be disappointed, "I had average luck today, only finding this amount of herbs. Never mind, I need to hurry up and find more herbs."
Lu Changsheng quickly went back into the mountains to gather herbs.
However, in reality, with the windfall he had just acquired, he didn't care about the rewards from the Miao Shou Garden at all.
Everything he was doing now was just for appearances.
Soon, the sky began to darken.
The Miao Shou Garden also gathered the apprentices again.
One apprentice had a stroke of bad luck, accidentally fell off a cliff and died while gathering herbs, and they couldn't even find the body.
Three other apprentices had the misfortune of stepping on traps set by hunters in the mountains, and they were injured.
The remaining apprentices were unharmed.
One apprentice named "Ruan Jin" had a bountiful harvest, both in terms of quantity and quality of herbs, making him the top performer.
As a result, Ruan Jin was publicly rewarded with five taels of silver by the Miao Shou Garden.
This could be considered a "generous reward," and many apprentices were envious.
However, this herb-gathering mission had already ended, and they didn't know when the next one would take place.
Some were happy, and some were worried.
The apprentices quickly left Wo Niu Mountain.