Maiden Of The Splitting Moon
Chapter 2 - The Wolf Bandits

There were 15 of them in total, nodding their heads in excitement. 

Their leader was a sinister man, he was known throughout the southern part of Blue Bamboo Province as "Blood Wolf." His group of bandits was known as the Wolf Bandits.

This was due to the fact that every time a village was attacked by them, no one was left alive. Everyone was to be slaughtered, women and children were no exception either. It was as if a pack of wolves had run through, destroying everything in their path.

They waited until midnight before they struck. 

Blood Wolf stood up, looking back at his men with an evil grin.

"Leave no one alive, except for that girl, she looks quite delicious. Let us capture her and give our brothers a little fun!"

The men were excited, they couldn't wait to taste her flesh. Blood Wolf even had a disgusting look on his face, it was obvious that he was already planning all of the vulgar things that he would do.

Within minutes, they had arrived at the front of the village and attacked. Soon, screams could be heard, scenes of men and women being cut down everywhere. 

In an instant, Teacher Fan had run out of his home with a sword, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"It's an attack! If you cannot fight then run! If you can, pick up anything that can be used as a weapon and defend with me!"

He then charged towards the closest bandit, fighting him furiously. 

Any able-bodied man took whatever could be used as a weapon: sickles, machetes, etc. The elderly, women, and children ran towards the opposite end of the village where there was another entrance. 

"Run! Escape if you can!"

"We can't hold them off for much longer!"

"Bandits! Bandits!"

The fighting was gruesome and unfortunately, the villagers were taking heavier losses. They were not as experienced in fighting as these bandits despite having more numbers.

As Ming Yue and her father could not fight, they quickly packed up and joined with the escaping group while the others stalled. As they reached the exit, they saw a man there holding a saber menacingly.

With that very blade, he began cutting down anyone who tried to escape.

"Just try to get past me, Blood Wolf! You'll just end up dying! Ahahahah!"

The bandit leader cackled as he spun his blade around. He was walking towards them and sliced whomever he could reach. Horror soon crossed through everyone's face and they panicked even more.

"What do we do?! Where do we go?" 

With no choice, they were pushed back to the center of the village where Teacher Fan and what was left of the village forces were fighting. At this point, It was only him and three other villagers out of around thirty compared to the five remaining bandits.

Blood Wolf looked at the scene.

"Hmmph, what is going on? How come so many of our brothers have died?" He said.

As he watched, he soon realized that Teacher Fan was different, he was adept in battle and quite skilled. The fight was nearly at its end and Teacher Fan had just cut down the last bandit. Then he saw Blood Wolf, looking at him with rage.

"You must be the leader, you will pay for what you have done to this village!"

"Hah, I have plundered countless of unfortunate villages, this is not the first time someone had said this and this will not be the last! Come!"

Both of them brandished their weapons before charging at each other. It was a wild fight with each swing they made aimed at their vitals. But Teacher Fan was already tired, he could barely attack and mostly defended.

With each swing, Blood Wolf became even more ferocious and attacked faster, adding more pressure on his opponent. A manic look could already be seen on his face as victory was soon his. Teacher Fan's body was riddled with cuts and gashes. But then, a boy ran in with a knife and stabbing the bandit in the back.

"Agh!"

It was Chen Xiao! Seeing his teacher in such a desperate situation, he rushed in to help, with a victorious look on his face, he believed that with this, the bandit would die. However, that was not the case for Blood Wolf turned around and saw him.

"You little shit!"

Then, he chopped off his head in front of whoever was left. No one was able to stop it.

Chen Xiao's body fell to the ground and his head rolled towards the remaining villagers, one of which was his mother. She had a look of shock and froze up. Evidently, the scene of her son being beheaded in front of her was too much. But soon after, she was sobbing as she held her son's head in her bloody arms. She was wailing, calling for her son to come back to her.

"Cheh, your crying is annoying. Shut up" said Blood Wolf.

Then he walked up to her and cut off her head as well. Afterward, he started beheading the rest of the villagers until the only ones left were Ming Yue, her father, and Teacher Fan. Rou Meng, Ming Yue's father, held her tightly using his walking stick to defend them. However, his face was that of a pleading man, hoping for something. 

"No, please sir, not my daughter, Forgive us, I beg of you."

Blood Wolf saw the look on Rou Meng's face and sneered.

"Heheheh, Don't worry I won't kill your daughter. Not until she services me and the entire Wolf Bandit group."

It seems that Blood Wolf did not come with his entire group but rather a small detachment. He did not think that this village would be hard to conquer.

"You animal!"

Hearing such words, a look of anger could be seen on Rou Meng's face as he pointed his stick at Blood Wolf. But Blood Wolf did nothing, the stick could not threaten him at all. He knocked the stick out of Rou Meng's hand and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Say goodbye to your precious daughter, but don't worry, she'll join you soon enough"

Then he started attacking Rou Meng, but he didn't just kill him immediately. Instead, he intentionally missed, creating small incisions on his back. It could not kill Rou Meng but it was excruciating.

Rou Meng hugged his daughter tightly, groaning with each attack but he managed to whisper into her eats.

"That walking stick is a sword. I'll give you some time but when you reach it, pull it out and attack him. Urgh!"

Ming Yue was surprised.

"A sword?"

She did not think that the walking stick that her father always used would be a sword. However there was no time, she silently agreed and waited for her father's signal.

"Okay, I love you."

Then, Rou Meng shot towards Blood Wolf and tackled him to the ground.

"Agh, still want to struggle?!"

Ming Yue rushed towards the sword and pulled it out of its scabbard. It was a beautiful single-edged blade. It was taller than her and had a length of over five feet, the width was two fingers apart, the thickness was seven millimeters, and it weighed around five pounds. Ming Yue was only four feet and six inches and the sword was too long for her to hold correctly.

Nevertheless, It was a pristine blade that sparkled under the moonlight. It was had a simple handle but the blade itself had a name etched on it. It was the name of the blade and it was called "Parting Sun". Ming Yue did not know the meaning of the name and She turned around to assist her father.

However, Blood Wolf had kicked him off and turned his attention to her. He saw the blade in her hands and lowered his saber with a cocky smile. 

"A girl like you shouldn't be holding a sword like that. Come to me, I'll show you what a real man can do."

Ming Yue was scared, she had never touched a sword before and she could feel her body freeze. Blood Wolf noticed this and had a disgusting smile on his face. 

"Hah, too easy! Once, I'm done with her, she can die but that sword... it looks quite expensive. 

Believing that this girl could do nothing, not even with such a sword, he lowered his guard.

Unfortunately, this mistake was a fatal one. As he approached Ming Yue, he had his arms open preparing to snatch the sword.

Suddenly, Rou Meng screamed out, "Swing! Don't be afraid! Just swing it!"

MIng Yue suddenly awakened from her state and swung towards Blood Wolf's torso without thinking. She closed her eyes as she attacked, not wanting to look.

"Wha-"

He was surprised and tried to defend against it or dodge it but the strike was too fast. Not even a breath had passed and Blood Wolf was split in half. He could not see the blade, all he saw was a flash.

The final look on his face was shock, but nothing could be done, he had died then.