Chapter 263: The Beginning of Change

“First, go take care of the two bandits outside.”
Yu Feng stepped outside and saw two bandits about to whip down on his parents. He picked up a hayfork and drove it into one bandit’s wrist, punching a big hole through it.
The other bandit reacted by swinging at Yu Feng, but he sidestepped just in time, snatched the blade, and stabbed both bandits in return.
The two bandits died. The whole process was clean and crisp, like it had been rehearsed countless times.
Yu Feng wasn’t doing this for the first time. Though his body was thin and frail, he had trained in martial arts in the future—enough to take down three to five grown men. Relying on martial arts techniques, he had killed these two bandits many times.
But that was all he could do.
When the rest of the bandits found their comrades dead, they would all attack together and hack Yu Feng to death.
“Xiao Feng, how are you so strong?” His parents were stunned. They never expected their skinny son to fight like that.
Yu Feng had heard that line many times before.
“Find the bandit leader and subdue him.”
Yu Feng had tried to capture the leader before, hoping to kill the snake by striking its head. But the bandits were a bunch of desperados—once they saw their leader subdued, they would just cut Yu Feng and their leader down together.
He hesitated for a moment, but still chose to trust Jiang Li.
The bandit leader was preparing to lead his men into the village for a round of slaughter, only to be taken by surprise as a small figure dashed in, chopped a horse’s leg, and made him fall.
Before he could even get angry, a knife was at his throat—Yu Feng’s.
Seeing their boss threatened, the bandits all drew their blades.
“Who are you!” the leader barked. Yu Feng didn’t answer.
The deputy leader’s eyes lit up—what a heaven-sent opportunity! Today was perfect for a coup. He was well respected in the gang; with a single order, killing both the kid and the boss would be a cinch.
Just as he was about to speak, Yu Feng locked eyes on him with a glare full of hatred: “I’ve done what I promised—subdued the leader. When are you going to release my parents?”
“Li Can, it’s you?!” the bandit leader glared at the deputy. He had long known Li Can was eyeing his position, but never thought he’d bring in a kid—and such a formidable one at that.
“Nonsense! Who said I took your parents?” Li Can flatly denied it.
If the boss was merely being threatened and Li Can used the chaos to kill both him and the kid, the loyalists would have to accept it.
But if it came out that Li Can was behind the hostage-taking, even if he killed the boss, the loyalists would turn on him. The whole gang would fall apart, which he didn’t want.
“You’re breaking your word! You clearly said that if I subdued the boss, you’d let my parents go and even recommend me to the Blood Sea Sect as a servant!”
Unlike the Nine Provinces World, the Tongu World was cut off from mainstream cultivation. Cultivation methods were top secret and never shared—mortals had no chance to cultivate.
As a result, most people in the Tongu World were true mortals—untouched by cultivation. In their eyes, even a First-Level Qi Refining cultivator was a towering figure. A sect full of such people was nothing short of a sacred place.
Becoming a servant there was considered a blessing.
Yu Feng’s claim had credibility.
“Li Can, you bastard!” the leader was furious. The bandits operated under the Blood Sea Sect. Only he and Li Can knew the name—everyone else just knew they were backed by a cultivation sect. The kid could only have heard the name from Li Can.
The leader elbowed backward, hitting Yu Feng in the gut, causing him to curl up. Taking advantage, he flung Yu Feng off.
Yu Feng pretended to be overwhelmed, letting himself get thrown far away.
“You’ll die today!” If the leader lived, he was still the boss. Li Can would forever remain the deputy.
Seeing the leader resolved to kill, Li Can and his supporters resisted but were swiftly cut down by the boss’s iron-fisted methods.
The leader still wanted to kill Yu Feng, but then noticed Yu Feng holding a talisman.
“If you don’t want me to tear this communication talisman, then get lost,” Yu Feng said, threatening to rip it. He had snatched it off the leader in the chaos.
The leader panicked. That talisman was a priceless treasure granted by the Blood Sea Sect. If the sect found out it was destroyed, it wouldn’t matter if Yu Feng lived—he himself would be dead for sure.
“Give it back, and I promise to leave.”
“You think I’d believe that crap?” Yu Feng sneered. “You only have one choice—leave now and wait for me to return it.”
“That’s impossible. Then I’d rather die with you!” the leader refused Yu Feng’s terms.
“Then let’s compromise. Send your men back and leave just the two of us here. How about that?”
“Fine.”
The leader had been caught off guard earlier but had also thrown Yu Feng off. He knew Yu Feng wasn’t his match, so he agreed.
“No way. Your camp is on the west side of the mountain, too close to here. What if you get the talisman and then attack us?”
“Send your men to the southern side. For five days, they don’t come back. You and I stay here and wait. I’ll give you the talisman in five days.”
“Deal.” The leader was thinking the same thing—once he got the talisman, he’d circle back and massacre the whole village.
But since Yu Feng had seen through him, he dropped the idea.
Sending them south for five days… he figured Yu Feng planned to use the time to evacuate the villagers. The leader snorted—nice little plan.
But he had no choice but to go along with it.
The bandits left, leaving only Yu Feng and the leader behind.
“How about this. I’m someone with a name in the underworld. My word is law. I never go back on it. You can give me the talisman now, and I swear my people won’t set foot in this village again.”
Yu Feng thought for a moment. “Alright. I’ll trust you once.”
The leader had just been bluffing, but he was overjoyed that Yu Feng actually agreed.
Yu Feng slowly approached, handing the talisman to him.
Suddenly, the leader’s lips curled into a cold grin and he struck. Yu Feng moved too—both had been waiting for this moment.
Yu Feng’s combat experience and martial arts mastery far surpassed the leader’s. The leader was killed.
With the deputy and his faction dead, the rest of the bandits were loyal to the leader. He’d told them to wait five days on the mountain’s southern side, so they would.
If the deputy had lived, he’d have grown suspicious and sent scouts.
But he was dead, and the leader’s word was law.
Five days later, torrential rain triggered a mudslide on the southern slope, wiping out the entire bandit force.
“This… it worked?” When he learned the bandits were destroyed, Yu Feng couldn’t believe it. He thought for sure he’d have to die a few times first.
Then joy flooded in. He laughed and cried, hugging his parents tightly like a madman.
He never imagined his parents could actually survive.
“Thank you, thank you…” Yu Feng didn’t know what else to say. All he could do was cry and repeat “thank you.” He’d only acted on a hunch—he didn’t expect it to actually work.
Jiang Li saw everything with his Divine Sense. He had planned out this entire series of tactics: manipulating the deputy, the leader, the entire bandit gang, and ultimately saving Yu Feng’s parents and the whole village.
“Don’t get too comfortable. This is just the beginning. With your luck, even greater calamities are likely on the way. You better be prepared.”