The entire valley path fell into a dead silence!
“Thud!”
The heavy mace, along with the severed arm, crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
Blood splattered. The burly giant froze in a daze for a moment before the agonizing pain finally registered, forcing a shrill shriek from his throat:
“Ahhh! My arm!”
He stumbled backward, clutching his gushing wound. The savage look on his face vanished completely, replaced by twisted agony and sheer terror.
The other bandits following close behind froze in their tracks at the sight, their faces written with shock and horror.
They were so shocked because this giant was by no means a nobody.
He was the core combat force of the original Mute Pass bandit gang, notorious for his brutality.
With his brute strength and heavy mace, he had crushed countless heads during past raids. He was the fearsome entity that Scarface's crew tacitly agreed was “unbeatable,” and one of the direct reasons they had swallowed their pride and been forced to hand over most of their spoils.
Yet, such a formidable powerhouse in their eyes had been completely subdued in a single strike.
Seeing the giant's severed arm, Scarface's pupils contracted. But immediately after, an uncontrollable wave of secret ecstasy and relief welled up in his heart!
He clenched his fists in secret, gritting his teeth to barely suppress the urge to smile.
“Who would have thought that yesterday's observation would actually save my life!”
On the other side, Uncle Delank and the young boys standing behind Matthew were even more dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief and sheer joy!
Their hands trembled slightly as they gripped their weapons, but their eyes remained glued to Matthew's straight back in front of them, filled with awe and respect.
Aidan even let out a trembling shout, “Brother Matthew is mighty!”
Seeing this, the others silently cursed Aidan for beating them to the punch.
Then, they all chimed in to agree!
In an instant, the morale of Matthew's side soared!
Matthew stood before everyone with his sword in hand, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground. Bright red blood dripped slowly from the blade, leaving dark stains on the gravel.
His expression was calm, showing no pride whatsoever from severing the arm in one strike. Instead, his gaze swept past the howling giant, coldly landing on the other bandits who were frozen in place.
With that 【Melting Slash】 just now, he was indeed confident he could have split the opponent in half. The momentum of his sword fully driven by the White Snake Breathing Technique, combined with his Black Iron Rank physical attributes, was more than enough to slice right into the giant's chest the moment the arm was severed.
But he had intentionally adjusted his angle slightly, sparing the giant's life.
The reason was simple: he had questions, so he couldn't just kill him.
The only thing that surprised him was that even though this counted as actual combat, no black text prompt had appeared before his eyes...
“Is it because this bandit is too weak? Or should I fight more slowly?”
Meanwhile, a miserable wail echoed through the valley!
“Ahhh! My arm!”
The giant's agonizing screams were heart-wrenching, echoing in the narrow path and mixing with the scent of blood, making everyone's skin crawl.
Matthew frowned and interrupted coldly,
“Shut up.”
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable chill.
The giant's wails instantly ceased, leaving only sharp gasps of pain as he stared at Matthew in terror.
He was a completely different person from before.
Matthew stopped looking at him and turned his gaze to the remaining bandits, finally locking eyes with Scarface. “Who is the leader?”
Seeing the death god looking at him, Scarface didn't know if the other party had seen him waving earlier. As he tried to speak, his throat went dry.
Before he could utter a word, he caught a figure arriving from the corner of his eye—it was the short man!
The short man had been rushing down behind the giant. Now, seeing the giant lying on the ground, silenced by a single cold word, and the youth before him radiating an overwhelming aura, how could he have any fighting spirit left? His eyes darted around, and his feet already began to shift, wanting nothing more than to slip away in the chaos...
Seeing this, a fierce light flashed in Scarface's eyes!
He had harbored a deep grudge against these two for a long time. Now that the giant was crippled, this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the short man and curry favor with Matthew!
In a flash, Scarface made his decision.
He suddenly pointed at the short man and roared at his dazed subordinates:
“Grab him! Get him alive!”
His subordinates were startled at first, complex emotions flashing across their faces—fear, hesitation, but mostly a near-instinctive resentment.
If the giant had bullied and oppressed them with brute force in the open, then this short man had been constantly sneering and mocking them in the dark, occasionally pointing his longbow at their backs to “play jokes.”
Now that Scarface gave the order, the lingering fear they had of the short man was instantly overwhelmed by accumulated rage and an eagerness to prove themselves.
“Get him!”
The short man's face paled. He cursed and spun around, trying to scramble up the steep slope.
But he wasn't far to begin with, and Scarface's men charged with fury at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, they pounced on him, and a chaotic brawl ensued.
In the valley path, the situation shifted once again in an instant.
Matthew stood with his sword, watching the infighting. Combining this with what he had heard in the tavern and the figure on the cliff earlier, he had a pretty good guess of what was going on.
After just a brief moment, the short man was beaten half to death and tossed next to the giant.
The two of them lay in the blood and dirt, one on the verge of death and the other trembling in severe pain, without a shred of their former ferocity.
“My Lord... the one who waved from the cliff to warn you earlier was indeed me,”
Scarface stepped forward two paces, bowing his head respectfully as he spoke.
Matthew stood holding his sword, his calm gaze resting on Scarface's face. He wasn't particularly surprised by Scarface's claim of being the one who waved the warning from the cliff.
He nodded slightly and replied flatly, “Yes.”
This single, brief word carried little emotion, but it allowed the heavy weight hanging in Scarface's heart to settle slightly.
At least, the other party didn't immediately show hostility or denial.
“Have your men hand over all their weapons, and bandage his wound to stop the bleeding. Don't let him die,”
Matthew said as he lightly nudged the giant on the ground with his foot.
Hearing this, Scarface nodded repeatedly in agreement, turning to instruct his men, “Did you all hear what the lord said? Throw all your weapons over here!”
“Old Fourth, go give that idiot a quick bandage...”
“...”
Seeing this, Matthew shot a glance at Uncle Delank.
Delank understood instantly, immediately stepping forward with Aidan and the other boys to maintain order.
Although the atmosphere in the valley path remained tense, the situation was now completely under the control of Matthew's side.
Half an hour later.
The bandits were slowly carrying out various goods looted in recent days from their hidden lair, stacking them onto a fourth donkey cart.
These items were of all kinds—bolts of cloth, bags of salt, iron spare parts, and even some mud-stained farming tools and tightly wrapped, unknown cargo.
This was the “spoils” that Scarface's crew had plundered from passing merchants recently.
Uncle Delank arranged for the boys to hold their weapons, closely guarding the bandits one-on-one as they carried the goods, ensuring no one dared to make a move in the chaos, keeping everything safe.
Rate on N.U.
