I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 127: What Do You Mean by a Scholar Too Weak to Truss a Chicken? Are You Blind?
"Guard Chen, why has the carriage stopped?"
The carriage curtain was pulled aside, and the still-shaken maid asked Guard Chen, whose expression was grim.
"A huge boulder rolled down from the hill ahead. It landed in the middle of the road, blocking our path," Guard Chen said.
"Then let’s move it, quickly! Those bandits might be chasing us as we speak!"
The pretty young maid stuck her head out of the carriage window, glanced ahead, and spoke anxiously to Guard Chen.
"Chunxiang." A voice as gentle as flowing water sounded again from within the carriage.
"Miss," Chunxiang said, her tone anxious.
"Be quiet. Let Guard Chen decide what to do," Miss Zhu said softly.
Though she, too, was flustered, she knew she had to trust her guard’s judgment and not interfere.
"Miss, the timing of that boulder’s fall is too suspicious..." Before Guard Chen could finish, five burly, weapon-wielding men charged down from the hills on both sides of the road.
The five men split into two groups—one of two, the other of three. They moved to block both ends of the road, trapping Lin Li and Miss Zhu’s party.
"Hahaha, Miss Zhu, we’ve been waiting here for you for quite some time..." The group’s leader was a man in his late twenties with a silver earring and a tattoo on his arm.
"Damn it, we’ve walked right into a trap..." As soon as he saw the five vicious men charge down from the hill, Guard Chen knew they had fallen for the enemy’s plot.
"Miss, what do we do now?" Chunxiang asked, trembling with fear, her voice on the verge of tears.
The ever-gentle Miss Zhu now knew they were in a desperate situation.
After a few seconds of contemplation, she spoke with resolve. "It has come to this. We’ll have to fight them to the bitter end."
As soon as she spoke, a stunningly beautiful woman holding a Spiritual Longsword stepped out of the carriage.
This was Miss Zhu. She was tall and slender with hair cascading over her shoulders. She had a delicate, oval face, bright, clear eyes, and flawless, fair skin. Her thin lips were a tender, dewy red, and she wore a flowing, light-blue dress.
’This woman is gorgeous. She could give Su Yue a run for her money,’ Lin Li thought in silent admiration upon seeing Miss Zhu.
When San, the bandit with the silver earring, saw Miss Zhu, his eyes widened. Just like his two henchmen, a lecherous expression spread across his face.
Zhu Xinru turned to look at Lin Li, who was standing by the side of the road. Her slender eyebrows knitted together. ’A young man who looks so refined, with the air of a scholar... he’s a bandit too?’
Lin Li, completely unaware that this beautiful woman from the Spirit Realm had already labeled him a bandit, simply smiled and nodded when he saw her looking his way.
"Shameless bandit! I’d rather die today than let you have your way!" Zhu Xinru shouted when she saw the "refined" bandit actually nod at her.
"Huh? Shameless bandit?! When did I become a bandit?!" Lin Li was stunned to hear Zhu Xinru call him that.
"Miss, I think he’s just a passerby, not one of the bandits..." Guard Chen whispered, seeing that his lady had misunderstood Lin Li.
After Guard Chen’s reminder, the bandit San snapped out of his daze. Wiping the lecherous look from his face, he laughed and said to Zhu Xinru,
"Miss Zhu, we have standards for who we recruit. We wouldn’t be interested in a pasty-faced scholar who doesn’t even have the strength to tie up a chicken."
"I’m so sorry, sir. It was a misunderstanding..." Realizing her mistake, a humiliated blush crept onto Zhu Xinru’s face as she quickly apologized to Lin Li.
Lin Li, looking exasperated, waved his hand in response to her apology. "It’s fine."
He then turned to look at San, the bandit who had just mocked him, and grumbled to himself, ’What do you mean, "scholar who doesn’t even have the strength to tie up a chicken"? Are you blind?’
"Miss Zhu, we just want to ask Master Zhu for a bit of coin. As long as you cooperate, we won’t harm a single hair on your head..."
Greed shone in San’s eyes as he stared at Zhu Xinru’s shapely figure.
Although her light-blue dress was quite loose, it couldn’t hide the clear lines of her figure.
’This bandit is so unprofessional,’ Lin Li thought, looking at San with contempt. ’His eyes are practically glowing. Staring at a girl like that... who in their right mind would believe a word he says?’
"I’d never believe the lies of shameless bandits like you!" Zhu Xinru was utterly disgusted by the way their eyes roamed over her. Her slender eyebrows knitted together as she snapped at them.
With that, she leaped down from the carriage, ready to fight to the bitter end alongside Guard Chen.
The bandits weren’t the least bit concerned by Zhu Xinru’s attitude. After all, their side had one Tier One Peak expert, one at the Tier One High Stage, and three at the Tier One Middle Stage.
On the opposing side, besides Guard Chen who was at Tier One Peak, the beautiful Miss Zhu was only a Tier One Middle Stage Cultivator.
The other three—the driver, the maid, and the refined-looking scholar—were all ordinary people and posed no threat whatsoever.
"Gouzi, I’ll handle the guard. The four of you, go capture Miss Zhu. Remember, don’t kill her..." San ordered his men.
"Yes, San!" the bandit called Gouzi replied happily.
His eyes lit up as he looked at Zhu Xinru. He signaled to his three companions, and the four bandits began to close in on her.
"Miss, I’ll hold them off. Take my horse and break through!" Guard Chen whispered, jumping off his horse and moving to Zhu Xinru’s side.
"Guard Chen, they won’t give me the chance..." Zhu Xinru said with a bitter smile, looking at the four bandits who were circling her like predators.
"Miss, I don’t want to die! I have a seventy-year-old mother and two young children to take care of!" the carriage driver wailed as he watched the bandits close in.
SOB... SOB... The terrified Chunxiang huddled inside the carriage, covering her mouth as she cried and trembled.
Hearing the driver’s wailing and Chunxiang’s muffled sobs, Zhu Xinru’s resolve wavered. She had been ready to fight to the death with Guard Chen, but now her heart softened. She turned to the approaching bandits and spoke. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"If I surrender, will you let the others leave?"
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