Of course bandits would show up to rob us. The road had been far too pleasant, and I was already growing suspicious.
Where I came from, people often said that a road without bandits wasn't truly a road.
Zhao Lintao looked anxious. He didn't have a bodyguard with him and clearly wasn't prepared for this.
Peering through the narrow gap between the cargo area and the driver's seat, he muttered, "I think we've lost it all... damn it. I can't afford a bodyguard."
A proper one was expensive. My family back home had bodyguards aplenty. Zhao, though, came from a small village—he had more money than most folks there, but he wasn't rich.
I knew I had to act. I had to do something—anything.
Zhao Lintao had helped me a lot. He'd treated me well. I couldn't sit by and let him lose everything. I had to help, even if that meant getting hurt.
I tried to sound confident, even though I wasn't. "I'll take care of the bandits, my friend. Don't worry."
"No, you can't! It's dangerous!"
Zhao turned toward the cargo area again—but I was already gone. Thanks to the beast I'd absorbed a few days prior, my movement was swift, feline-like. I was out of the carriage in seconds.
One of the bandits noticed me and sneered. "Well, look what we've got here. A skinny boy with no weapons. Don't tell me he's the bodyguard? Boys, I think we just robbed a broke merchant!"
The rest laughed. That sound—that mocking tone—grated on me. Why couldn't these people find honest work? Why resort to stealing?
Their very existence irritated me.
"Shut up," I growled. "I don't carry weapons because I don't need them to handle trash like you."
"What did you say?"
They were angry now. Good. I liked them angry. Bandits didn't have the luxury of clarity or restraint. They weren't calm thinkers—they acted on impulse, and that gave me an edge.
I wasn't sure I could beat them. My body had only undergone some minor changes: the first layer of Qi Condensation, and some physical perks from the beast I absorbed. Was that enough to deal with trained men on horseback, armed to the teeth?
I didn't know. But if I didn't try, Zhao Lintao would lose everything—his cargo, his money, and his future.
So I moved.
My speed threw them off. None expected me to leap straight toward them.
There were six in total.
I closed the distance between me and one of the bandits, launching myself at him and dragging him off his horse. It was crude—primitive—but it worked.
As we hit the ground, something inside me shifted. An ancient instinct surged through me. My veins pulsed with a primal urge to destroy.
Beast instincts. That was the only explanation.
Without hesitation, I sliced his throat with my claws. Blood burst from the gash, splattering across my face.
It was my first kill—but not the first time I'd seen someone die.
Thanks to Mo Zhen's memories, I had witnessed horrors beyond anything Earth could ever show me. My soul had already been hardened.
Watching this man writhe and gasp for air didn't stir guilt in me. I felt nothing.
One of the bandits shouted, "Attack him!"
I was now surrounded—which was bad.
I slapped the nearest horse's flank a few times, spooking it. It barreled through the group, scattering them long enough for me to act.
I jumped up, springing behind another bandit. Now we were both balanced atop the same horse, and he was panicking.
"Get away from me!" he shouted, visibly terrified.
I locked my arms around his neck, pulling tight.
But he didn't give in easily—he stabbed me with a dagger, right in the stomach. A burning pain tore through me.
Still, something awakened inside me again. Another layer of strength—like raw energy rising from my core.
I crushed his neck with ease.
Another one down. That left four.
I hoped they'd panic and flee. My wound was bad, though. They saw it. They saw the blood. For them, this was their chance.
He's hurt, they thought. He won't last long now.
They weren't wrong. Even with the sturdier body I'd gained as a cultivator, I needed to recover—and fast. Without rest, I'd collapse.
From inside the carriage, Zhao Lintao watched the chaos. His eyes were wide—shocked by my strength. But beneath that, I saw the fear in his gaze as he watched the blood running down my clothes.
Then—luck struck.
A group of soldiers galloped down the road, spotting the skirmish as they approached.
"Bandits! Protect the travelers!" one of them shouted.
Their arrival changed everything.
The remaining bandits didn't hesitate—they turned tail and fled, vanishing into the woods before the soldiers could catch them.
Still, the soldiers reached us.
"What happened here?" one asked.
"I fought them," I said, lifting my shirt to show the wound.
It wasn't normal to see soldiers on this road. I spoke with them while one of their medics tended to me. Turns out, they were returning from a mission—taking a shortcut back to the city. Just our luck.
Zhao never left my side.
The medic applied spiritual herbs to the wound—ones rich in energy that hastened healing. Then, he wrapped me in clean bandages.
I felt better already, though the pain still lingered.
The captain of the squad approached Zhao.
"We can escort your carriage all the way to the next city. Do you want that?"
"That would be amazing. Thank you," Zhao said, relief filling his voice.
He helped me climb back into the carriage, settling me into the rear so I could rest.
As the wheels rolled again, Zhao spoke through the small window, soft but sincere.
"I don't know what to say. You're stronger than I thought… and you saved me. Honestly, you're my best friend now."
I smiled when I heard that. After being looked down by everyone, kicked out of my own house, having a friend was nice.
"You're my friend too, Zhao."
"Now let's cut this moment shall we. Tell me, what do you think of working with me?"
I had no job, no money. So, the offer was quite nice. I just wanted one thing.
"If you let me live peacefully in your village with a seclude place where no one can bother me."
Zhao understood. "Right, a cultivator needs a proper place to meditate. Yes, I can get you that."
It was not a place to meditate that I needed, but a place to plant my spiritual beasts...