60. The bandits 1/3

Mei Lin and the middle-aged bandit tumbled down the stairs, the bandit still clutching her to prevent her from hitting the ground. Desperation and fear fueled Mei Lin's actions as she pulled a crystal knife from her storage ring. The shirtless bandit, confident in the toughness of his third-stage Body Tempering skin, believed he had nothing to fear from a normal knife and held Mei Lin tightly, his mind clouded with greed and lust.

With swift precision, Mei Lin drove the crystal knife into his throat. The blade sliced through his hardened skin effortlessly, piercing deeply. The bandit's eyes widened in shock and pain, but no scream escaped his mouth. The knife continued its deadly journey, moving upward through his throat, cutting through the jaw, and finally splitting his skull as it exited through his nose, leaving his face grotesquely looking like some eating plant.

Blood sprayed violently, covering Mei Lin and the stairs in a crimson torrent. The bandit's grip loosened as his lifeless body collapsed, pulling Mei Lin down with him. She landed on top of his corpse, her hands and face drenched in his blood.

*****

In the meantime, the scream woke Xu Yi from his cultivation state. As he opened his eyes, he saw Mei Lin in the arms of a middle-aged man carrying her to the third floor. His mind went blank with rage. Xu Yi wanted to kill the intruder as he stood up, but before he could act, he saw Mei Lin pull out a knife and slash the man's throat. Blood sprayed all over the walls.

Both the bandit and Mei Lin fell to the first floor. The bandit absorbed almost all the impact from the fall, and they landed in a heap on the ground.

The knife in Mei Lin's arm plunged back into the bandit's head, further mutilating his face and splitting his skull in two. The impact was powerful, causing his head to slam into the floor with maximum force. As a third-stage Body Tempering cultivator, his skull didn't shatter like a watermelon. The floor beneath cracked, sending wooden splinters flying. Mei Lin's bamboo hat tumbled to the ground, revealing her divine beauty amidst the deadly scene.

Covered in blood, Mei Lin's face and hands took on a stunning, crimson allure, resembling a deadly yet exquisite rose. If they hadn't witnessed her kill the bandit, neither Xu Jie nor the remaining bandit would have believed that such a delicate beauty could be a ruthless killer. But the sight of her pulling her bloody hand, still clutching the crystal knife, from the bandit's shattered face dispelled any illusions.

Mei Lin's red eyes locked onto the bandit holding Xu Jie, her gaze cold and menacing. "What the hell just happened? You're only at the first stage of Body Tempering. How did you manage to kill that bastard at the third stage?" The remaining bandit stammered, his voice laced with fear and disbelief.

Mei Lin's hands were covered in the bandit's blood and her own. Although the knife had sliced through his bones like butter, it had difficulty penetrating his extremely durable skin, causing her hand to be injured by the cracked bones. The skin on her hand was torn, and she was bleeding.

"What have you done, bitch? I'll kill you, even if you tell me about the barrier!" the bandit snarled.

The only surviving bandit, also a middle-aged man, slammed Xu Jie to the ground and jumped over the kitchen table toward Mei Lin, pulling out a machete from his storage bag. He moved with incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, he was poised to decapitate Mei Lin. She managed to block with her knife and with that split machete in two, so the bandit kicked her with all his might, sending her sprawling.

As his leg made contact with Mei Lin's ribs, something strange happened. Her ribs broke, but he felt as if he had kicked a stone wall. This was thanks to Mei Lin's blood manipulation. Anticipating his attack, she had condensed blood in her body to reinforce her side, bracing herself for the kick. His foot, which he used to kick her, nearly shattered from the impact.

As Mei Lin was sent flying across the room, her body broke everything in its path. The bandit saw her red eyes and the huge sinister smile on her face as she lay on the ground, which only fueled his rage further.

"Fucking BITCH!" he roared, his anger reaching a boiling point.

He bent down from the pain, clutching his broken foot. His fingers were all broken, and his anger grew even more. "What have you done? What the hell are you, you monster!" As he stood up, an arrow struck him in the head. The unexpected force of the arrow sent him to the ground. Although it didn't penetrate his skull, it cut his skin and lodged in the bone.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! FUCK!" he screamed, his rage and pain now overwhelming him.

The bandit realized he had a problem. He rushed towards Mei Lin, intent on killing her first and then Xu Yi. Despite Mei Lin being only at the first stage of Body Tempering, she managed to break his fingers and kill his friend. Xu Yi, hearing the commotion, rushed to the first floor to help Mei Lin. He dropped his bow and pulled out a sword from his storage bag.

Mei Lin tried to push herself up from the floor and prepared the knife to protect herself against the bandit. He slashed again, and Mei Lin couldn't fully deflect the attack with the knife. She managed to reduce the force of the hit but still was struck in the shoulder. Blood started to flow from the wound as the bandit prepared to strike again.

Suddenly, Xu Yi intervened, hitting the bandit in the back of the head with the machete. However, the machete had no effect, and the bandit fell forward onto Mei Lin.

The bandit, fueled by desperation and adrenaline, pinned Mei Lin to the ground, his weight bearing down on her breaking more of her ribs. Mei Lin struggled beneath him, her hands clawing at his face in a desperate attempt to free herself. With all her strength, she tried to gouge out his eyes, but the bandit's sheer strength prevented her from succeeding.

Faced with the imminent threat of being overpowered, Mei Lin seized the only weapon she had. Her blood. With a swift motion, she smeared her bloodied hand across the bandit's face, aiming for his eyes. The warm, sticky liquid seeped into his eyes, causing him to howl in agony.