Chapter 198: Beating Up the Bandits
Chapter 198: Beating Up the Bandits
Unlike Yu Se and Xiaohuan, Bai Xiangxiu didn’t cower in fright. After all, she’d seen how men fought in this world. She knew very well that the two men outside were not there just for show. The bandits were doomed from the start. However, Bai Xiangxiu couldn’t resist furrowing her brows when she drew the curtains aside to take a small glance outside. Are they supposed to be bandits or refugees? They’re just armed with farming tools like hoes and sickles. Moreover, their clothes are all tattered and in awful condition. They look so pitiful.
Song Jiaoyue, who like Bai Xiangxiu, was used to the wealth and prosperity of the capital doubtfully asked. “You’re… bandits?”
These bandits simply looked too miserable. Had they been normal looking bandits, he would’ve beaten them up already. But he just couldn’t lay his hands on people who looked this pitiful. Yu Kuang however, understood the hardships faced by the citizens. He only said, “Run along if you still want your lives. Don’t throw your lives away for something as insignificant as money.”
The bandits didn’t part ranks. It was quite rare for a carriage to head towards the border. Moreover, this particular carriage seemed to be filled with wealth. Without any more useless talking, they swarmed forward in an attack.
Song Jiaoyue and Yu Kuang were troubled by their actions. They wouldn’t have felt so distressed if the attackers were martial arts experts, but many of the bandits were people without the slightest skill in martial arts. Fortunately, there were some that knew a thing or two about martial arts. So, Song Jiaoyue and Yu Kuang attacked them instead.
Maybe it was because of the chaos or because of the weapons that were flying everywhere, the horses were badly spooked. They broke into a mad gallop out of nowhere.
“Ah…” Yu Se screamed shrilly. The cat was now out of the bag.
“There’s a woman! Stop the horses. Quickly! The bandits went crazy when they heard a woman’s voice. They immediately set their sights on the women and ignored the money. Song Jiaoyue was drenched in cold sweat. Are these men that crazy for women? It will be bad if Bai Xiangxiu and the other two were to fall into their hands.
Because they were deep in the jungle, the roads were bumpy and uneven which caused Bai Xiangxiu to be thrown off the carriage halfway during the mad gallop. Fortunately, she landed onto a patch of barren grassland, so she didn’t sustain any heavy injuries. However, she hit the ground with enough force that she was stunned from the fall. Afraid that she might’ve injured herself, she wriggled her hands and legs around in hopes that she didn’t break anything. It was at this moment when she heard footsteps heading in her direction. She discarded any plans to move, let alone get up. She remained in a collapsed heap without moving an inch.
“Look. Do you think that it’s a woman?”
“But he’s wearing male clothing.”
“Look at that waist! Only a woman could have a waist like that!”
“Did she die from her fall?”
“That would be bad. Such a pity.”
“Go take a look. For all we know, we might still be able to use her.”
You must be kidding me! I’ll smash your head in if you dare come near me! Bai Xiangxiu hardened her heart. She stealthily wrapped her hand around a thick tree branch and prepared to hit anyone who would approach her.
In a few moments, someone really did approach her, trying to turn her over. Bai Xiangxiu grabbed this chance to quickly leap up and strike the bandit with the stick. “You stupid hooligan! I’m gonna beat you to death!”
Bang! She struck the man on his shoulder. It didn’t injure him since he was used to manual labour, but it was enough to cause him a great deal of pain. So much so, in fact, that beads of cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.
“Wait a moment! Miss!” Bai Xiangxiu had already lifted her makeshift club to give him some more blows. He was so frightened by her that he curled up into a ball to protect himself. He was screaming on the inside. Women are so scary! I’m never going to marry!
Noticing that his friend was about to be beaten to death, the other man quickly intervened by moving two steps closer to say, “Miss. Please stay your hand. We are not here with evil intentio… W-wait! Why are you beating me up too!?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You filthy, good-for-nothing bandits! I’m gonna beat you all to death!” Bai Xiangxiu had worked herself into a frenzy. She was giving a fierce beating to anyone and everyone who tried to approach her.
The two bandits were badly frightened. They’ve never seen such a fierce lady in their life. Weren’t women from respectable families supposed to be weak? Weren’t they so fragile that they could be defeated with just a finger? Why is this lady as fierce as a tiger? Even though she was extremely beautiful, there wasn’t any hesitation when she picked up the stick. Had they not decided to run away, she just might’ve beaten them to death.
Song Jiaoyue and Yu Kuang had quickly finished off their opponents and came to the rescue, but were presented with a particularly strange scene instead. They’d stopped the carriage and brought the other two women in tow to search for Bai Xiangxiu. But upon finding her, they only saw Bai Xiangxiu chasing after the bandits and beating the hell out of them with a stick.
The two bandits had lumps all over their heads and were cowering from her endless beatings. They screamed for mercy as they ran away. It was almost like a string had snapped in the back of Song Jiaoyue’s mind. It was his first time seeing Bai Xiangxiu like that. This wasn’t the gentle and feeble Bai Xiangxiu that he was familiar with. No. She was practically a female tiger at this point.
It was one against two, but the two young men were the ones running with their tails between their legs instead. Even though the two young men didn’t have any intention to harm her, they didn’t have the ability to stop her from beating them or to wrest the stick from her hands.
Yu Kuang was calm. After all, Bai Xiangxiu had never once acted all weak and feeble in front of him. The two women at the back were completely and utterly flabbergasted. They quietly hugged each other.
Bai Xiangxiu’s current form was incredibly frightening. Xiaohuan was first to snap back to reality and said something while trembling. “Madame Xiu had the same expression on her face when she saved me from the fire.” She began to reminisce about the past once she was done speaking. A look of great respect slowly emerged on her face. Her mistress had become a genuine heroine in her eyes.
“Stop staring! We have people to save!” Yu Kuang had already taken his first step forward, but he hesitated when he heard what Xiaohuan had said.
“Save who? The bandits?”
Yu Kuang turned his head and frowned. Did she think that he was stupid or something? Why would he save the bandits? But upon further thought, he realized that he really would be saving the bandits if he intervened.
Song Jiaoyue was still entranced. Yu Se called out to him softly. “Young Master… Young Master…Young Master!” It seems like this was a rather big blow to him. She decided to keep silent. After all, it’d be very good if Sir Song were to lose interest in Bai Xiangxiu because of this. But for some reason, Yu Se felt that the current Bai Xiangxiu was kind of cute in her own way too.
Noticing that running did not seem to save them from their current predicament, the bandits suddenly dropped to the floor and knelt down to her. They begged for mercy while cowering. “Miss… No. My queen! Please have mercy! We really didn’t have any intentions to hurt you.”
“No intentions to hurt me? Then what were you trying to imply when you said that you could still use me even though I had fainted? Hmm?”
Song Jiaoyue’s mouth twitched. Her expressions. Her attitude. Isn’t she mimicking Long Heng? However, she truly does look very attractive when she tries to mimic him in such a situation. Is this… an example of a married couple resembling each other? Such thoughts caused a painful twinge to run through Song Jiaoyue, which caused him to smile bitterly.
The two bandits didn’t notice anything wrong with their use of words. “Yeah! It’s true that we needed a woman to… Ahh!” Bandit A was struck hard by a stick. It hurt so much that he didn’t dare to utter another word.
“We actually wanted to beseech this lady’s help with something.” Bandit B had finally grown a brain for once.
“Help? With what?” Bai Xiangxiu was exhausted as well. She clutched the stick tightly with her hands. Any sudden movements and she’d give them another round of beatings.