Chapter 79: Picking Up the Pieces
At that moment, two shadowy figures came running back, only to stop in front of a group of mercenaries. These were the mercenaries that had chased after the middle aged man.
The two males looked to be around 30 or 40 years old. Both of their faces were covered with blood and their bodies were filled with wounds which dyed their clothes scarlet with blood. However while their faces were pale from their fatigue, their eyes were still full of vigor.
Seeing the two come back empty handed, it was clear that the middle aged man had escaped.
“Ai, that guy has a wind attribute, so he had an advantage over us in speed. Although our strength was better than his, in our current condition, we weren’t able to chase him, so he escaped in the end.” One of the two said, his voice was brimming with regret.
“Forget it, if he ran, he ran. I didn’t think we’d run into the Boundless Bandits, no wonder they were so strong. If it weren’t for our mysterious benefactor in the shadows, then I’m afraid we wouldn’t have been able to come back. For him to save our lives, he is definitely a trusted person.” An older person said as he stood next to the brilliant flames, already his skin was starting to look a little tanned.
Hearing the man talk, the other mercenaries who had returned after killing some bandits all were stunned. From their faces, all of them had some joy but some still had some lingering fear.
“Captain Lang Tian, are you okay?” A mercenary went up to the man and asked with a worried tone.
The newly named Lang Tian slowly looked down on the various wounds before shaking his head, “I’ve some wounds, but nothing that’ll kill me.” He looked at the few mercenaries around him before sighing. With a sorrowful voice, he said, “It’s a shame, Yun Bai Mu, the captain of the Desert Shadows Mercenaries was killed by the experts of the Boundless Bandits.”
Hearing the announcement, many of the mercenaries started to grieve, especially the mercenaries of the Desert Shadows. It was a heavy blow to their mood, however, for travelers of the Tian Yuan Continent, seeing someone die was an experience many of them were used to. After a small period of mourning, many of the mercenaries had already become peaceful once more.
“My comrades, although we managed to beat back the Boundless Bandits, this was only just a small group. If we were to come across a larger group or even their elites, then we will die on the road. So we cannot afford to stay here for long, hurry up and dress your wounds and bury our dead brothers. We will have to leave immediately afterwards.” Lang Tian announced.
Each mercenary immediately got to work by helping each other bandage their wounds and applying herbal medicine. Those who were healthier and less injured went to help dig holes and transport the bodies.
Everyone set themselves to do their tasks in silence. No one talked at all, and as each mercenary did their own thing, the atmosphere was incomparably heavy.
Jian Chen looked around himself before inwardly sighing, they had ultimately won against the Boundless Bandits, but to him, this was a wretched victory. After the course of one battle, the three mercenary groups had dwindled down to less than a hundred people that were for the most part injured. Their entire fighting capabilities had been reduced to a third of their original power, and from the original ten experts that had led the charge, only five of them returned with heavy wounds. One of the mercenary captains was killed in battle, causing another sharp decline in their power.
“Jian Chen, are you alright? Are your wounds serious?” A familiar voice called out behind Jian Chen.
Hearing this, Jian Chen turned his head around to see Mu Yun. He didn’t know when Mu Yun had got behind him, but he was there now.
At the moment Mu Yun’s condition wasn’t all that good. His facial color was an abnormally pale one, and although he had looked fine while fighting against the middle aged man, the battle skill placed a heavy burden on Mu Yun after using it to surpass his strength.
Jian Chen softly shook his head, “I’m fine,” Pausing slightly, he looked at Mu Yun with a complicated look. “Mu Yun, your battle skill was revealed to every mercenary here. On the road, you’ll have to be even more careful now, and when you reach a safe spot, get away from the group as far as possible. Otherwise, I’m afraid they’ll try to do something.”
Mu Yun looked around at the busy mercenaries, “Jian Chen, I thank you for your concerns, I’ll be careful from now on.” Although he had said that, Mu Yun’s expression did not look at all concerned at the people around him. When it came the mercenaries, Mu Yun did not see them as a challenge at all.
Taking note of Mu Yun’s unconcerned stare, Jian Chen was slightly amazed. Despite the strength Mu Yun had shown during his fight, Jian Chen didn’t think would be able to protect himself within the group.
Mu Yun took out a white jade bottle from his Space Ring and held it towards Jian Chen, “This is a top notch healing medication, drink it and heal yourself up.”
“Thanks!” Jian Chen didn’t decline his offer and took the bottle from him.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m going to treat my own wounds first and then go help the others.” Mu Yun waved before walking away from Jian Chen.
Two hours later, everything was in order as all the dead mercenaries were buried while ignoring the corpses of the Boundless Bandits. The mercenaries hated the Boundless Bandits even after they died, and so they wouldn’t bother to pay their respects by burying their bodies.
During those two hours, Jian Chen had casually treated his wounds and already swapped out the bloody clothes from his fight with the middle aged man with a new set. Before they had set out on the trip, Jian Chen had prepared a few dozen sets of clothes, so he wasn’t worried about running out.
“Let’s go!”
After everyone was ready, someone called out for them all to start moving. Everyone was prepared to move into the night without stopping for rest or sleep. Ever since the ambush by the Boundless Bandits, the caravans no longer wished to stay around any longer. Even taking a break would not do.
After the ambush from the Boundless Bandits, the caravan’s strength had been greatly diminished, leaving them with very little manpower. Since many members of the Boundless Bandits had escaped, if they were to bring back a bigger unit to attack them, then the caravan would not be able to survive, let alone think about trying to reverse such an abysmal situation.
Jian Chen painstakingly climbed onto his own horse, and began to blindly follow the caravans in the dark. Atop the horse’s back, Jian Chen sat with his eyes closed, as he quietly manipulated his Saint Force to heal his internal injuries. He had previously received quite a few heavy attacks from the middle-aged man, so the damage Jian Chen was suffering was quite severe. Moreover, he had consumed a large chunk of his internal Saint Force already, so his current body’s condition made even the simplest movements difficult to carry out, let alone fighting. Since Jian Chen was currently traversing the Tian Yuan Continent, and could encounter danger at any moment, his strength was most important. Thus, Jian Chen continued to expend all his effort in trying to recover his own strength, without daring to stop for even a second.
The caravan quickly advanced on the road. Since the people were afraid of reinforcements from the Boundless Bandits chasing them, their current speed was many times faster than their previous traveling pace. Despite this, it was still only slightly faster than the average person running at their peak speed. After all, the carriages contained many goods, so speeding up further was impossible, even if they wanted to. The current speed had already nearly flipped the carriages multiple times whenever they had passed through uneven parts of the road.
Because of the current situation, Jian Chen didn’t dare to completely enter a self-healing state. Thus, his severe injuries were only recovering at a snail’s pace.
At that moment, Jian Chen couldn’t help but recall his mother, Bi Yuntian. He still clearly remembered that time a few years ago when he had injured his third brother, Changyang Ke. Bi Yuntian had unexpectedly healed his injuries as if it were the easiest thing in the world, without leaving a single scar. If there was a Radiant Saint Master at the scene right now, the internal injuries within his body would’ve probably recovered faster. Unfortunately, Radiant Saint Masters were really too rare, and their statuses were highly esteemed. With the strengths of the three mercenary groups currently present, there was absolutely no way they could have invited a Radiant Saint Master.
Just as Jian Chen had thought of Radiant Saint Masters, a divine light suddenly flashed within his mind. Immediately, he opened his previously closed eyes, and in that instant, a bright ray of light seemed to shoot out from his eyes in amazement, dying out immediately afterwards.
“That’s right, I can sense light Saint Force, and even gather it. I wonder if I can control the light Saint Force like a Radiant Saint Master would, and be able to heal my own wounds.” Jian Chen pondered this furiously. When he recalled the possibility that he would be able to control light Saint Force just as Radiant Saint Masters could, his heart momentarily surged from the excitement, and was uncontrollably delighted at the thought.
Ever since he saw Bi Yuntian use light Saint Force to heal Changyang Ke’s injuries back at the Changyang household, Jian Chen had realized that this power was exactly the special energy that he felt every time he absorbed the World Essence during cultivation. At the time, Jian Chen had really wanted to test and see if he could control the light Saint Force. Unfortunately, due to the various situations that had occurred since then, he never got to try testing his thoughts. Afterwards, this thought had gradually been pushed further and further back into his mind, and he had forgotten about it until just now.