Chapter 87: Students vs Bandits

“Alright, kiddies,” the skinny man began. He had long black hair styled in a quiff that fell over his face and a scar on his chin going down to his neck and cruel brown eyes. “Give us all your valuables and you don’t have to get hurt.”

There was a moment of anxious stillness…

Geyi Kun took off like an arrow. The female adult raced to block her path, her black hair following like a flag behind her as she got in position. When she was in front of Kun, her leg thrust out and the slightly chubby girl barely raised her forearms in time to stop the kick, but the power floored her.

“Geyi Kun!” Xue Shaonu shouted as she rushed to her side.

The older woman smirked as she got in a fighting stance before the two met. She and Xue Shaonu exchanged a quick bout of palms and fists, but Xue Shaonu was able to get the better of her and deliver a double palm strike to her abdomen and chest, surprising the older female as she was sent tumbling back on the ground.

The girl sat up, a fuming look on her reddening face. “Yang! Crush her!”

The biggest of the group touched the stone at his belt and a giant, spiked club began forming in his hand in purple lights. He leapt in the air towards Xue Shaonu’s position, prompting Zen to run for them. Zen reached the girls and threw them out of the path before jumping out of the way. When Yang’s club hit the ground, it sent a shockwave out that created a crater in the ground and sent Zen hurtling away, blood spurting from his mouth.

“Zen!” Xue Shaonu said, crouching near Zen as he got up.

“I’m… I’m okay,” Zen said, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Yang charged for them, his club pulled back for a swing.

Zen and Xue Shaonu stood ready as he got closer. When he swung, Xue Shaonu leapt back, out distancing the swing while Zen dove to the ground, allowing the weapon to sail overhead. Once the weapon had passed, Zen leapt forward, his meridians roiling with ki.

“Blitz Punch!” Zen sent a volley of punches to the man’s side in a single second. Yang stumbled back as Xue Shaonu followed up with a palm, glowing in ki.

“Pulsing Palm!” She thrust her hand out.

Yang raised his club to ward off Xue Shaonu’s attack and it worked… for the initial part of the attack but he was then being pushed back by the follow up pulses. Zen stayed close to him, kicking and punching the big and sturdy man’s legs when he got the chance. Yang dropped to one knee and swung his club in anger but Zen dodged by jumping up over the club and landed at the back of Yang’s head with a knee. Yang fell to his hands and knees before Xue Shaonu scored a direct hit on his face with a Pulsing Palm, sending him flying back where his momentum was stopped by a tree. Zen sprinted before him and added another volley of Blitz Punch to finish the job.

The remaining adult whistled as the female adult joined him. “These kids are good. I guess we’ll have to get serious.”

“Yeah,” she said.

“I’ll take the stronger one.”

“But I…”

The man raised his hand, “I want to finish this quick quick.”

She pouted, “Fine.”

Meanwhile Zn was feeling great. He was sure that the big man was a Disciple cultivator and yet, he and Xue Shaonu were able to quickly dispatch of him. He looked at the remaining two bandits.

“Aright, if you leave, you, won’t get hurt.” Zen said, bolstered by the confidence gained from his recent victory.

“Don’t get too confident of yourself, kid.” The man said, before revealing his strength as his partner did the same.

Zen gulped, sensing that these two were high level Expert cultivators. They sped forward, the guy heading for him and the girl heading for Xue Shaonu. Both Goixi Academy students took a fighting stance. Then the adults switched places in the blink of an eye and Zen was now facing down the woman.

Zen leapt back, dodging the raging ki that sprouted out of the woman’s straight hands like an extended blade. He kept weaving back, dodging the her flurry and fluid movements of her hands which were now both covered in ki. He was backed into a tree and had to roll away before the attack swiped against the tree, stripping the wood from the plant and leaving a gouge in the stem before the other hand passed by, finishing off the job ad sending the tree toppling over.

Zen looked at the movement of the woman as he was being forced further back. Although it was fluid and fast, he could see a pattern, thanks to his countless battles he had had with his training mannequin. He found an opening in the pattern and launched forward, delivering a ki powered punch to the woman’s face and staggering her.

While she was stunned he used a ki technique, “Blits Punch!” His 9 fists delivered in a second met only cold air. In confusion he looked around before he rolled forward, dodging the girl as she came down, swiping her had and cutting an x shaped scar into the ground. “Blitz Punch!” Zen got her from behind, his punches finding a place at her back before knocking her down.

Meanwhile, Xue Shaonu stayed in place and blocked the man’s kick in their initial attack. She advanced, throwing a few palms that the man was barely able to block or dodge but one caught hm at his centre, making him stumble back. The man leapt back and began a ki technique.

“Swift Claw,” he said as he sent ki through his meridians and focused it on his left hand with its fingers curved in like a claw.

Xue Shaonu stood ready with her palms out.

The man rushed forward with a grunt. Then he slammed his left hand into the snowy ground, sending a blinding trail of snow and earth towards Xue Shaonu. She sidestepped the stream of debris and was surprised when the man came out of the debris, heading for her. She raised her hand to block the incoming claw which set her tumbling on the ground.

“Xue Shaonu!” Zen shouted as he ran for her, only tod doge another attack from the woman who had gotten u and was now barring his way.

“You got a lucky shot kid,” she said, grimacing in pain with an awkward posture. “But it won’t happen again.” She lunged forward, starting her dance anew.

Xue Shaonu tumbled on the ground. She had a chance to get up before the man swiftly kicked her in the ribs, sending her tumbling again. She got up, ready to defend only to be immersed in a stream of debris and then have a claw slammed into her, sending her back into a tree. Before she could fall forward, a knee slammed into her stomach so hard, that it pinned her against the tree.

The smiled cruelly. “I hate hurting such pretty girls.” He said before pulling his knee back and causing her to collapse forward.

While Wang Zen was finding it easier to dodge the woman’s attack now that he had spotted her pattern. When an opening presented itself, he rushed forward to attack but was stopped when a leg shot out, stopping inches from his face. He dropped down as ki sprouted from the leg and shot out for him.

Now that he was flat on the ground, the woman thought she had him pinned and brought her leg down, with the ki technique, to Zen for an axe kick. Zen kicked her leg away with his own and using his hands, launched himself into her. She desperately tried to cut him down with her hand but it was knocked away by another one of Zen’s kicks to her forearms before his last kick found a home in the middle of her face.

She staggered, her boot-print marked face growing red in anger. “You little rat!” she attacked ut Zen was already on her, delivering a fist to her soft belly, sending her back.

Zen glanced at Xue Shaonu who was on the ground, her head being stepped on by the man. He knew he had to save her but first, he had to finish off the female bandit. He dashed for her only to be forced to dodge when the woman’s ki technique. He dodged the first one but the second one caught his shoulder. Zen screamed in pain as the ki technique ripped the clothing and flesh from his shoulder away, at the back and the front. The woman continued forward and delivered an axe-kick with the ki technique at the end of her foot. Zen dodged it but then the woman thrust her foot out and the ki grew again, forcing him to cross his arms as he leapt back to outdistance the fast growing sprout of ki. The ki shredded through his forearms, once again tearing at his flesh. He stumbled before the woman floored him and got on his back where she pinned him down by the neck.

“You move and your dead, you little punk.” She said at the defeated Zen.