The Beard vs the Lame Man

Derek and Masai had already started fighting. Derek swiftly cut off the horse's legs, forcing Masai to jump from the horseback. Without giving Masai a chance to catch his breathe, Derek slashed his sword with all his strength. Masai quickly blocked it with his scimitar. Then Derek followed up with a kick at Masai's stomach. Masai pushed the scimitar forward, used the rebound force to step back and evade Derek's kick. Masai's scimitar swept across and slashed at Derek's legs. Derek was facile, and he leaped high to avoid the scimitar. Following the impact from high to low, he raised his hands above his head and swung his sword straight down at Masai's head. Masai blocked it once, but the huge impact knocked him back several steps and he almost lose his balance.

Derek gained the upper hand. But he knew that he could not kill Masai in a short time. Masai's best combat skill was defense.

Meanwhile, the caravan guards relied on their numerical advantage to fend off these charging robbers, yet their situation was passive. The fleeing people in the caravan prevented the guards from exerting their full strength. For robbers, they didn't have to worry, and they were just killing people without hesitation.

These robbers went back and forth. The caravan's formation was torn into pieces.

"Calm down, fight!" Derek shouted. He was anxious and his face was gloomy.

However, people just ignored his words and fled in all directions. Some were tripped or pushed down, and there were curses and cries for help.

Seeing the situation, Masai began his psychological attack: "Derek, hand over all the money and jewelry, and kowtow to me, and I will let you go."

"Just like what you did?" Derek said with disdain.

Masai's expression twisted drastically as if he was poked in the sore spot. His lips were bitten by his teeth and blood came out. He roared and said angrily: "Kill them all!"

Masai's attack became extremely fierce, which made Derek more and more difficult to defend.

Lee realized that Masai was slightly lame. When exerting force, his left leg supported the whole body.

"This guy is about to win." Lee said.

"Derek is distracted. This is the worst thing in combat." Tang agreed.

Obviously the guards could not deploy effective defense without Derek's lead. The whole caravan was in danger. In this situation, Derek's fighting flaws were increasing.

In contrast, Masai became calm and he also observed the situation. Then he restarted his assault.

"Derek, think about it. I keep my words." Masai laughed.

"Go to hell." Derek replied. He could not stop but glance at another direction.

Masai grasped this moment. He pretended to strike directly at Derek's head, but then he swung his scimitar sideways and struck Derek's shoulder.

Derek did not have enough time to dodge. In an instant, he moved aside, and the scimitar left a long wound on his arm.

Derek snorted coldly and stepped back.

"Come on, Gerben!" Derek shouted. 

Then a big bearded man rushed over with an axe in his hand.

"What? Isn't he a cook?" Lee widened his eyes and stared at the big bearded man's back suspiciously. While eating, he saw Gerben making a fire to cook. Because of his big beard, Lee was impressed by him. His beard was even thicker than Mark's.

"The fighting master in this caravan finally takes action." Tang said excitedly.

"Leave him to me." Gerben said. His voice was hoarse.

Derek did not answer. He rushed to organize his guards to fight back.

Gerben assaulted straight towards Masai.

Masai cursed inwardly, the scimitar in his hand gleaming, and the sunset behind him emitting a glaring light.

The combat between the beard and the lame man began.

Gerben took advantage of the momentum to chop Masai on the head with his axe. Masai held up his scimitar to block, and then kicked at Gerben's abdomen with his right foot. Gerben barely dodged it, and Masai stood a little unsteady. Gerben seized the opportunity and swung his axe straight towards Masai's chest. But Masai didn't block it at all. He slashed down towards Gerben's neck. Gerben dodged sideways and turned his axe to stab upward. Masai's scimitar chopped Gerben's waist, drawing blood instantly.

However, Gerben's axe did not pierce Masai's body. Gerben's arm went numb, and his axe seemed to hit an iron plate. Under the huge impact, Masai retreated several steps.

"Heart protector! A desperate man, why do you cherish your life so much?" Gerben taunted.

"Hehe," Masai laughed dryly.

The impact just now was really strong. His chest hurt so much that blood even rose in his throat. He swallowed it.

Masai was ready to get rid of Gerben in one go after gaining the advantage.

Masai's scimitar was sharp, and he went straight to Gerben's vitals.

Gerben was very agile. He endured the pain in his waist and repeatedly dodged Masai's fatal attacks. He couldn't muster any strength to fight back at all because of the injury.

"He trained his agility well, his dodging skills are worth learning. " Tang remarked.

Tang's eyes looked at the fight between Gerben and Masai in the distance, and then turned to watch the battle between the re-organized guards and these robbers. He felt like two eyes were not enough.

At this time, two robbers came back from the crowd to support Masai.

Masai was relieved. While fighting Gerben, he said: "Bearded man, why don't you join us? I can give you countless money and beautiful women."

Gerben ignored Masai's words and suddenly pulled out a pack of white powder from his waist and sprinkled it on Masai.

Masai was a little careless and fell into Gerben's trick. The powder fell on Masai's face. He immediately lost his sight and could only swing the scimitar blindly.

Gerben knew time was precious, and cut off Masai's left hand with his axe. Then his axe was already on Masai's neck.

"Unh, there is a trick." Lee said in surprise.

"It is shameful." Tang said, "but it works."

"Stop, stop!" The cold sensation on his neck made Masai dare not act rashly. His mind worked quickly, and he shouted.

Seeing that Masai was captured by Gerben, the two robbers who rushed back stopped for a moment. They looked at each other, holding their weapons tighter.

On the other side, there were a lot of dead bodies on the ground. Under Derek's leadership, the guards turned the passive situation around. Derek ordered the guards to pull these robbers off their horses, and started a ground battle. Obviously Derek gained the upper hand and also got Masai's left hand.

Masai's loud voice caused both sides to halt.

"Derek, let me go, we are even." Masai shouted at Derek, trying to suppress the discomfort in his eyes.

Derek laughed in anger after hearing this, and he said: "No one can leave today."

"Do you really want to fight to the end?" Masai asked.

"Kill him, Gerben!" Derek shouted.

Gerden did not move.

"Masai, what should we do?" The two robbers asked on the horseback.

"Run. Avenge us." Masai said, his tone surprisingly calm.

The two robbers didn't hesitate any more, and immediately rode away.

"Chase!" Derek shouted loudly.

The remaining robbers lost their fighting spirit, and soon they were captured or killed by the guards.

Gerben brought the tied-up Masai to Derek. Lee and Tang, who had watched the entire show, approached at this time.

Masai finally saw clearly. He stared at Derek, gritted his teeth and said, "Derek, I curse your whole family."

"Just save it." Derek replied with a smile.

Masai turned his gaze to Gerben.

"Why don't you kill me?" Masai asked.

"I promised the Universe God I won't kill anyone for the rest of my life." Gerben replied.

Suddenly Gerben's face turned bad, and fell to the sand. His face was distorted and deformed, and his eyes were wide open. But he couldn't close them anyway.

"I help you." Masai said.

As night fell, he laughed loudly, and his sinister laughter spread all around, without a trace of echo in the empty desert.