~~~

The time for words is gone. Angered, the bandit leader orders his men to attack. The bandits leap into action.

If he wished to, Xiao Nan could end the fight in an instant. Even the blink of an eye would be too much time for such a task. That is how strong Xiao Nan is. That is how weak these bandits are. However, Xiao Nan refrains from doing so. Instead, he plays along. He goes through the motions of fighting the bandit leader, using only a fraction of his strength. Still, that’s enough for him to quickly draw the attention of the more dangerous bandits who are all too quick to back up their boss.

Like that, Xiao Nan keeps anyone who could have been a threat to Liu Jin occupied.

The first bandit to approach Liu Jin has a sword at his hip. He does not draw it. Instead, he approaches Liu Jin as though the latter were a simple child. The man has long hair and an eyepatch, but Liu Jin pays them little mind. The man’s Qi is the only thing that truly matters.

Inner Realm, Third Level.

The moment the man moves to grab him, Liu Jin attacks. His feet are planted firmly on the ground. His stance is perfect, his motions well-practiced.

His palm impacts the bandit’s center of mass with all his strength.

Had the bandit been in the Seventh or Eighth Level of the Inner Realm, Liu Jin’s attack would not matter much. Had the difference between Liu Jin and the bandit been that between the First and Third Levels of the Nascent Realm, Liu Jin’s attack would certainly not matter. It is too bad for the bandit that is not the case. The difference between the First and Third Levels of the Inner Realm is not much in the grand scheme of things. The bandit was poorly prepared for Liu Jin’s blow. There is only one possible outcome.

The bandit falls to his knees.

Liu Jin follows up with a kick that knocks the larger man to the ground and robs him of consciousness. The whole thing does not even take three seconds.

There is a small, near-instant pause as the bandits around Liu Jin now look at him with different eyes. Liu Jin sees the emotions that play across their faces. First, there is caution. However, that fades away all too soon.

Liu Jin understands it. He has seen it happen often enough around his father. People who come to their clinic for the first time are surprised a man who cannot use Qi can be so capable. They are so surprised they cannot accept it. They dismiss it as a fluke and are surprised all over again the next time they visit the clinic. The same thing is happening right now with the bandits. Liu Jin can almost see their thought process.

In front of them is a child who looks no older than eleven. He cannot possibly be that strong.

If the previous bandit fell, it was simply because he let his guard down. Yes, that has to be it. A blow from a child should not have hurt him so. Clearly, it was a fluke. Yes, nothing more than a fluke. As long as they do not let their guards down, they should have no trouble dealing with a child.

The bandits are probably thinking something like that.

Liu Jin sighs.

A bandit comes at him with a knife. To his credit, this one has at least drawn his weapon. Liu Jin nimbly backsteps out of his reach. The bandit pushes on, rushing at him.

He is so slow.

His Qi is at the Second Level of the Inner Realm, one level higher than Liu Jin. He should not be so slow. Liu Jin’s young mind struggles to comprehend the reality before him. Is it a trick, perhaps? Liu Jin instantly discards the possibility. In a situation like this, there is no point in feigning weakness. It is not a trick. It is not merely overconfidence. There is only one explanation.

The bandit is just that weak.

Liu Jin waits until the last moment before twisting to the side, letting the bandit harmlessly pass by. Liu Jin’s hand snatches the bandit’s wrist. The other one grabs hold of his shirt. In a single motion, Liu Jin flips the bandit and slams him harshly against the ground. The knife drops from his hand. Liu Jin quickly kicks it away.

Two more bandits reach him. Inner Realm, First Level. Foundational Realm, Eighth Level. A fist is aimed at Liu Jin’s face. The other bandit swipes low with a sword. Liu Jin picks the weaker bandit and moves. In an instant, Liu Jin snakes his way behind him.

The child frowns as he notices his movement just now was a little too clean, a little too smooth.

The style the Xiao Sect teaches is a very direct style. It strikes quick and strong. It overwhelms with power and endures with power. It is frighteningly effective when used well. However, Liu Jin often finds his movements deviating from that style lately.

It is not something he is willingly choosing to do. Rather, his body just seems to naturally move that way every now and then. Too little like raging fire. Too much like flowing water.

Too snake-like.

The possibility of Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison affecting his person in any way is troubling. Still, this isn’t the time to worry about that. He will ask his master about it when he returns to Eastern Port City. Right now, Liu Jin has bandits to focus on.

Liu Jin strikes the back of the bandit’s knee and hears a crack. The bandit cries in pain as he falls clutching his leg which is now bent at an odd angle. Guilt rises inside Liu Jin. He did not mean to do that. The difference between the Eighth Level of the Foundational Realm and the First Level of the Inner Realm is not much compared to the difference between later realms. The attack should not have done that much.

Why was the bandit’s body so frail?

Liu Jin has little time to ponder this as a bandit with a sword comes at him. The bandit’s dash is full of little imperfections. His stance is full openings.

Liu Jin closes in. In an instant, he is inside the bandit’s guard. At such a close range, his sword is almost useless. Liu Jin’s palm strikes the bandit’s neck, staggering him, before unleashing a flurry of blows on his abdomen and finishing by kicking his legs out from under him.

“You fucking brat!”

The shout gives him all the time in the world to dodge the following spear thrust. A tall bandit wearing brown is his next opponent. His Qi flares wildly around him. Liu Jin barely needs to try in order to sense his level.

Inner Realm, Fourth Level.

Liu Jin should not be capable of winning against such a foe. The conventional wisdom he learned at Eastern Port City has taught him that much. Even so…

Even so, Liu Jin is feeling confident.

The spearman acts first. He dashes in and swipes at Liu Jin with his spear. He is fast, faster than Liu Jin. Even so, Liu Jin is able to back out of the spear’s range in time. The spearman frowns. His feet move forward as he follows with a series of thrusts.

Even so, Liu Jin is able to keep dodging.

Maybe if the spearman’s movements were just a little faster, Liu Jin would not be able to keep up. Maybe if the spearman’s movements did not contain so many wasted motions, Liu Jin would not be able to dodge so well. Maybe if the spearman’s footwork were better, Liu Jin would not be able to stay one step ahead of him.

Sadly for the spearman, that is not the case. Liu Jin moves with impeccable precision, somehow managing to keep his eyes not just on the spearman but on the foes around him as well, never letting them surround him, never getting close to the stronger bandits Xiao Nan is entertaining.

Liu Jin flows through the battlefield following the path of least resistance.

Frustrated, the bandit’s spear dips and flicks dirt at Liu Jin’s face. However, Liu Jin snatches one of the weaker bandits and uses him as a shield.

The bandit yelps as the dirt hits his face. By then, Liu Jin is already kicking him towards the spearman. The spearman growls as he moves his spear to the side so as to not hurt his comrade before roughly pushing him out of the way. For a moment, he does not have Liu Jin in his sights. For a moment, his spear is not pointed at the enemy.

The moment costs him.

In an instant, Liu Jin slashes down with a sword one of the defeated bandits dropped. He strikes not the bandit but his spear, breaking the shaft in a single swing. Liu Jin grabs the broken part before it hits the ground. He then slams the hilt of the sword into the bandit’s stomach and strikes his knee with the broken shaft.

The attack hurts the bandit, but it is not enough to bring him down. It is only natural. After all, Liu Jin is still only in the First Level of the Inner Realm.

The attack is still enough to drastically alter the fight.

The bandit drops his broken spear and attacks with his bare hands. He is stronger and faster than Liu Jin. His body is tougher as well. However, he no longer has the reach advantage the spear provided him. His form is untrained, his swings wild, his stance full of holes.

Liu Jin punishes him for it.

Liu Jin dances around the bandit’s attacks and snakes in to strike, always moving back before the bandit can retaliate. It happens again and again. The bandit attacks, and Liu Jin uses the chance to counter before moving back, always keeping himself just barely out of reach. One hit becomes five, five become ten, ten become more.

In his mind, Liu Jin replaces the bandit’s face with the people who have been whispering about him in Eastern Port City and punches it.

He replaces the bandit’s face with the people who always whisper about his father and punches it.

Finally, he replaces it with Xiao Fang’s face and punches it. Just because.

The bandit falls soon after that.

“Well, I see you had some fun, Little Brother.”

Liu Jin turns back to see Xiao Nan. He has already taken care of the other bandits. All of them. Somehow, without Liu Jin noticing, Xiao Nan took down every single bandit. It has only been him fighting with the spearman for a while now.

“I would not call it fun, Elder Brother,” Liu Jin replies. He is breathing heavily. His body is covered by a light sheen of sweat. His Qi, however, is still perfectly controlled. “I do not think fighting is something I will ever consider fun.”

“Cathartic then,” Xiao Nan says, grinning. “No matter. We’ll talk about this later. Let’s focus on the immediate for now. What shall we do with the bandits? Since this was your first time, I will let Little Brother decide.”

Liu Jin thinks about it for a moment.

“I think I still want that scarf.”

~~~

Liu Jin and Xiao Nan leisurely follow the road to New Moon Town. A crimson scarf is now wrapped around Liu Jin’s neck. It is a long scarf so he has to wrap it several times around his neck. It ends up covering the lower half of his face. As for the bandits, after resetting that one bandit’s leg, Liu Jin and Xiao Nan left them tied to a tree without any weapons.

They had also left them naked, but that had been Xiao Nan’s idea.

“Elder Brother?” Liu Jin asks after a long moment of silence.

“Yes, Little Brother?”

“Was that all for my benefit?”

“Well, Little Brother has been stressed for some time now. I thought it would be prudent to give you a safe outlet for your frustrations before anyone in Eastern Port City could capitalize on them. It felt nice, didn’t it?”

It had, but Liu Jin is not about to admit it. Being a doctor is about healing, not hurting.

“What would have happened if we hadn’t gotten attacked?”

“We are young, not visibly armed, and my clothes are clearly expensive. Furthermore, neither one of us has flared his Qi during this whole trip.”

In fact, Xian Nan has been deliberately disguising his Qi ever since leaving Eastern Port City.

“We looked like an easy target. Furthermore, the Xiao Sect received a letter from New Moon Town’s Branch Master a few months ago. Apparently, the Black Bear Group has been bothering merchants that pass by New Moon Town. The Branch Master knew these men would not be a threat to us, but it would have looked bad if he hadn’t warned us. Regardless, us being attacked was just a matter of time.”

“Those men are considered a threat around here?” Somehow, Liu Jin still can’t quite understand that. Merchants should have some security around them, shouldn’t they?

“Little Brother, I told you this before. The Xiao Sect is the Xiao Sect, and the rest of the city-”

“Is the rest of the city,” Liu Jin finishes for him. He still remembers that talk. It almost seems like a lifetime ago.

Xiao Nan nods approvingly.

“What I neglected to mention is that there are also places like this. Places where being in the Nascent Realm is taken as a sign of great strength, and cultivators do not properly temper their bodies or learn how to fight, trusting only in their level as opposed to any actual skill. They are sadly not rare in the Empire. Of course, there are also many places like Eastern Port City, and places that make Eastern Port City look like this one by comparison. I thought it would be prudent to give Little Brother some perspective.”

Perspective. Old Jiang said the same thing.

“Little Brother is always comparing himself to people above him. While there is nothing wrong with setting high standards for oneself, this Elder Brother thought it would be fine if Little Brother stopped to take a look at all the people that are already beneath him.”

The two keep walking after. A lulling silence falls between them.

“Elder Brother?”

“Yes, Little Brother?”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

~~~