Martial Arts Have Mastery - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Escape

Translator: Tuiwen Editor: Tuiwen

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

The gate of Qi Hua City kept shaking and the soldiers behind the gate were terrified.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the gate…

A strong man over two meters tall was standing at the entrance of the city gate and ramming the gate repeatedly with his shoulder.

He continued doing this without stopping.

Apparently, he would not stop until the city gate came down flat.

If Shen Ling was there, he would have recognized the person at a glance.

This man was none other than the most powerful bandit in Green Mountain. The martial maniac whom even Shen Ling had to be very cautious of.

At that moment, the madman seemed to have transformed into a human-shaped hammer, slowly breaking open the city gate bit by bit.

In the main hall of the Shen residence…

Shen Ling rushed over and asked, “How’s the situation?”

One of the servants shook his head negatively, “Young Master, I’m afraid the city gate won’t be able to hold on for long. The bandits will enter the city very soon.”

Shen Ling frowned when he heard this. “What’s the situation outside?” he asked again.

“Young Master, there are a large number of bandits near the east gate, north gate, and the south gate; there are fewer people on the west.”

Master Shen looked at Shen Ling and said, “You can leave the city first.”

Shen Ling shook his head in disagreement, “No, I can’t go alone.”

“I’ll go to the city gate and take a look. You all should pack your things and go to the sharecroppers’ village together. It’s safer there!”

Master Shen looked at Shen Ling with a frown and asked, “Are you sure?”

Shen Ling shook his head.

Although his strength had greatly improved during the past two months…

He could not tell whether or not he was a match for that madman unless they fought each other.

Master Shen frowned deeply and said, “Then…”

Shen Ling nodded and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be very careful. With my current strength, even if I can’t win, I can always run away.”

After Shen Ling had persuaded him, Master Shen began to pack some of the valuable things in preparation to leave his place.

The bandits were about to enter the city and the people were all afraid.

Shen Ling brought Lily along, and as they walked on the road, they found that the surrounding commoners were anxious as ants on the hot pot.

“This won’t work!”

Shen Ling contorted his face in a frown. Qi Hua City had a permanent population of over a thousand households and if the bandits entered the city, it was very likely that these people would be plunged into misery.

After thinking for a while, he decided to make a trip to the Chennan Trading Company.

“Young Master Shen, is there something important that you need at this time?”

Miss Qin asked him, a strange look flashing in her eyes. She was just packing her things when he came in.

Shen Ling shook his head. “There’s nothing important, Miss Qin. I just wanted to know if you want to evacuate from here.”

Miss Qin smiled. “This city is no longer safe for anybody. Of course, we have to leave here.”

He nodded and said, “Well, it also happens that the Shen family is also evacuating. Why don’t we all go together?”

She nodded, “Of course, but I wonder where you plan to go to.”

Shen Ling said in reply, “For now, there is a village not far from Qi Hua City. That should be the safest area around here.”

Miss Qin looked at Shen Ling with curiosity. “Could it be the village where you arranged for the Yang family to settle down some weeks ago?”

Shen Ling nodded.

All those triple crossbows and arrows he had specially bought previously were all stored in the sharecroppers’ village.

Coupled with the camp wall that had been built to guard against attacks from the bandits, the sharecroppers’ village was their best bet.

In addition, the one hundred young sharecroppers that Shen Ling had trained before had already mastered the Mountain-splitting Saber Technique.

No other place nearby was safer than this village.

Miss Qin nodded happily and said, “In that case, we will go over there as well.”

Shen Ling nodded.

If it weren’t for the sudden turn of events, he wouldn’t want to leave the Qi Hua City either.

But at this moment, the bandits were very powerful. If he recklessly fought them head-on, he would probably get into big trouble.

The Shen family, Chennan Trading Company, and a large number of commoners all gathered near the Shen family residence.

Shen Ling went to the south gate where the bandits were attacking. The gate was already on the verge of collapse.

As soon as he returned to the Shen residence, Miss Qin looked at Shen Ling and asked, “Young Master Shen, when are we leaving the city?”

Shen Ling said in a deep voice, “We’re leaving now! Through the north gate!”

“The north gate?” Miss Qin asked in confusion.

There were fewer bandits near the west gate. Why then did Shen Ling choose the north one?

The reason was very simple!

When Shen Ling heard that there were fewer bandits near the west gate, he felt that there was something off.

After walking around the four city gates on his own, he was sure that there was something wrong with the west gate.

Previously, he had done a food trade with the bandits, and at that time, he had estimated that there were more than three thousand bandits in their camp.

If he only counted the young men who could fight, he estimated that they were at least two thousand of them. However, Shen Ling noticed that the bandits around the three city gates added up to only one thousand.

Except for the east gate where the madman was, the other bandits didn’t even come close to the city gates, which made Shen Ling even more suspicious.

These actions are a bit like the siege in the art of war — the seemingly safe way out might just be the trap set up by the enemy.

For this reason, they could not go through the west gate.

“Yes!”

Shen Ling nodded and said, “The number of bandits doesn’t add up. They might have laid an ambush on the west side. It would be safer to go through the north gate.”

When Miss Qin heard his explanation, she nodded and said, “Alright then, we’ll go through the north gate!”

A group of people marched mightily towards the north gate.

The bandits at the north gate, who had been idling about, were stunned when they saw a large number of carriages appear at the gate all of a sudden.

“Attack!”

The guards of the Chennan Trading Company led the way. Before they got close, the bandits let go and fled for their dear lives.

“Quick, Quick!”

Below the north gate, Shen Ling urged the civilians to hurry up and exit the city.

Behind the carriage of the Chennan Trading Company was that of the Shen family and the surrounding civilians. They all left the city almost at the same time.

“Hurry!”

After the Shen family’s carriage left, Shen Ling still stayed behind.

There were still some people who hadn’t left the city yet.

As time went on, Shen Ling looked at the guards who had run over and smiled as he nodded at them.

In a situation like this, where their strength was inferior to that of the bandits and the difference in number was huge, these guards didn’t flee for their lives. This was already enough for Shen Ling to hold them in high regard.

“So, it’s you!”

The madman, who had just broken through the east gate, caught up to the north gate and he immediately saw Shen Ling, who had just bolted the north gate.

By then, Qi Hua City was already empty. Except for some supplies that could not be taken away in time, all the citizens had already escaped.

“I’m sorry. You’re too late!”

After successfully closing the city gate, Shen Ling smiled at him.

As he spoke, Shen Ling ran towards the city wall. And he yelled while running, “See you next time!”

He didn’t forget about his manners.

The madman was very angry. He had put in his strength to bring down the city gate, but everyone in the city had run away.

Now, Shen Ling, who was right in his presence, was about to escape too. He said in a rage, “Don’t you dare run!”

The madman chased after him wildly.

But Shen Ling ran so fast that he had already jumped down from the city wall in no time.

The madman looked down and saw Shen Ling stepping on the air and landing on a tiger. Soon he disappeared from his sight.

“Ah!”

He yelled in anger. He felt very bitter in his heart.. He vowed that the next time he saw Shen Ling, he would tear him into tiny pieces!