Mark Ma, the triangular-eyed brute, was overjoyed at those words and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Chief, for your appreciation!"
But aside from Ian Song and Lily Qi, the rest of the Clearwind Stronghold crowd all wore angry expressions at this scene. Old Stick couldn't hold back and shouted, "Mark Ma, you heartless dog! The late chief treated you so well, and now you dare raise a hand against the new chief? Aren't you afraid you'll have no face to meet him in the afterlife?"
Hearing Old Stick's scolding, a trace of venom flashed in Mark Ma's eyes. He said coldly, "Normally, I wouldn't lay a finger on that little brat, but he just had to offend Chief Liu. So, if there's anyone to blame, blame that brat's foul mouth!"
"Shameless cur!" Old Stick trembled all over with rage.
Mark Ma couldn't be bothered to argue with Old Stick. He hefted a broadsword and swaggered forward, pointing at Ian Song and barking, "You little brat, get up here and die!"
"What are you supposed to be? You're not even qualified to fight me!" Ian Song said with utter disdain.
"Damn! You little bastard, you're asking for it!" Mark Ma roared in fury, swinging his blade as he rushed to hack Ian Song down.
"Wait!" Ian Song raised his hand and called out.
"What, you want to beg for mercy now, brat? Too bad it's already too late!" Mark Ma sneered.
Ian Song gave him a calm look and said, "Why would I need to beg you? I already said you're not qualified for me to deal with personally. Tell you what—I'll send our stronghold's fire-tending maid out to fight you instead!"
Ian Song said to Lily Qi, "Fire-tending maid, if you beat him, I'll promote you to ordinary maid—how about it?"
Lily Qi rolled her eyes. "This lady hero isn't interested!"
"Damn, go a few days without a beating and you think you can run wild, huh? Are you asking for me to...!" At this, Ian Song's face twisted into a mischievous grin.
"No—let's fight!"
Lily Qi's face paled; she suddenly drew her jeweled sword and charged straight at Mark Ma.
"Ha! Where'd this pretty little thing come from? I'll catch you and give you to the chief!" Mark Ma was delighted and swung his broadsword to meet her. Lily Qi had been standing behind the crowd, so nobody had noticed this little beauty before.
This first look didn't just please Mark Ma—Victor Black was also delighted. With such a pretty girl, wouldn't it be great to have her under him...
Clang!
Their sword and blade collided in mid-air.
Thud, thud, thud!
Mark Ma was knocked back three steps, his face filling with shock—this little lady was actually a third-rate expert.
"Villain! This lady hero will kill you!"
Seeing she’d driven Mark Ma back with a single move, Lily Qi pressed her advantage, unleashing her sword art and attacking him relentlessly.
Mark Ma was only a bit stronger than the average man and knew a few trashy blade moves—barely a fourth-rate fighter. Lily Qi, even with poor combat experience, was a genuine third-rate expert with a halfway-decent sword technique.
So once Lily Qi started her sword art, Mark Ma was forced into a panicked retreat, shrieking as he fell back, but he just couldn’t do anything about her.
What really drove Mark Ma crazy was that Lily Qi kept swinging her sword while shouting, "I'll chop you to pieces! How dare you make me a fire-tending maid!"
Clearly, he’d become Ian Song’s stand-in.
Splat!
Blood sprayed everywhere. After barely holding out for a dozen moves, Mark Ma finally couldn’t keep up and was stabbed in the shoulder by Lily Qi’s sword.
But since Lily Qi had never killed anyone before, she froze after injuring Mark Ma. He took the chance to spin around and flee, screaming, "Chief, save me!"
Victor Black cursed under his breath, snatching a long knife from one of his men. His eyes gleamed with lust as he stared at Lily Qi, grinning wickedly: "Heh, little miss, let me show you a few moves from your chief."
With his experience, it was obvious Lily Qi lacked real combat training. If she’d faced a seasoned fighter, she could’ve killed Mark Ma in three moves, but she’d flailed for more than ten and let him escape after being wounded.
At this moment, Lily Qi snapped back to her senses. Seeing Victor Black’s leering gaze, she grew furious. Having just beaten Mark Ma, her confidence surged. She raised her sword and pointed at Victor Black: "Ugly brute, give your name! This lady hero doesn’t kill nameless rabble!"
Victor Black’s face darkened—though his face was always grim, it was hard to tell the difference. He barked, "Listen up, brat! I’m Victor Black, chief of Black Tiger Stronghold. Take my move!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Victor Black sprang forward, slashing three times at Lily Qi with ruthless force.
Victor Black’s blade technique wasn’t refined, but every strike was vicious, each one aimed at Lily Qi’s vital points.
For a moment, Lily Qi seemed cowed by Victor Black’s aura and froze on the spot.
Ian Song saw this and silently shook his head.
Victor Black, seeing Lily Qi fail to resist, thought she’d been completely suppressed by his presence. He was secretly delighted, but he didn’t want to waste such a beauty—so he held back most of his strength, aiming only to subdue her.
But unexpectedly, at the last moment, Lily Qi suddenly thrust her sword straight forward. Her attack was lightning-fast—before Victor Black could adjust to his own held-back power, her blade pierced right through his throat.
"What...?"
For a moment, Victor Black’s eyes widened in disbelief, filled with unwillingness.
Lily Qi was just as shocked—how had she managed to stab him right in the throat? Reflexively, she yanked her sword free, and a torrent of fresh blood sprayed from Victor Black’s neck.
With a dull thud, Victor Black’s huge body collapsed to the ground, not making another sound.
"Ah!"
Lily Qi let out a sharp scream, her face turning ghostly pale. She staggered backward, finally collapsing to the ground. Suddenly, she noticed Victor Black’s wide, staring eyes seemed to be looking right at her. She screamed again, then fainted clean away.
Seeing this scene, Ian Song was left speechless. With nerves that fragile, she still dared to run off and play at being a hero?
"The chief is dead! Revenge for the chief!"
Someone shouted, and suddenly more than twenty Black Tiger bandits charged at Ian Song’s group, weapons raised.
Ian Song let out a cold snort, reached out, and Lily Qi’s jeweled sword flew from the ground into his hand.
Everyone from Clearwind Stronghold was stunned—telekinetic sword control? Even first-rate experts would struggle to pull that off!
The Black Tiger bandits stopped in their tracks, their eyes now filled with fear as they stared at Ian Song. Telekinetic sword control was legendary—how could this little Shawn Steele do it?
Seeing the Black Tiger bandits hesitate, Mark Ma tried to rally them: "Don’t be afraid of him! That little brat must be using some cheap trick! Let’s kill him together and avenge the chief!"
"Die!"
Ian Song’s eyes turned cold as he stared at Mark Ma. He pointed his sword, and a streak of sword qi shot from the tip, punching straight through Mark Ma’s brow.
"Sword qi! Run!"
The other bandits saw this and immediately panicked, turning and fleeing down the mountain.
Through this confrontation, Ian Song let Lily Qi take down the main enemy chief, while he used a small display of true power—telekinetic sword control and sword qi—to kill the ringleader and rout the rest, establishing his authority over Clearwind and the neighboring bandits.
The stage was set for him to annex Black Tiger Stronghold, collect loot and supplies, and begin his quest to make Clearwind the number-one bandit lair under heaven.