Xibei City
Wu Qi and his two companions did not enter the city immediately, but lingered outside the city for a while.
Now that we've confirmed the presence of Wolf Bandit here, we should be able to find some clues to determine the Wolf Bandit of their group.
To be selected as the Sixth Trial, the difficulty of this assessment is no joke.
Either the band of Wolf Bandit is so numerous that it's impossible to completely wipe them out, or there are senior Wolf Bandit among them who are extremely powerful.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has limited intelligence capabilities, and with the Empire's focus on the border, the Heaven Dou Royal Family remains unaware of the Wolf Bandit appearing in Xibei City.
Without knowing their size and strength, if they act rashly, they will surely be the ones who suffer.
Before long, Wu Qi squatted down under a large tree.
Because of the recent rains, the footprints on the ground had long been washed away, but a foul stench of rotting corpses wafted from the vicinity.
I picked up a stick and parted the fallen leaves to reveal a piece of gnawed and rotten flesh.
Qiangu Changkong recognized it at a glance, "This is human flesh!"
Although the skin was rotting, the tattoos on the surface were still visible.
Wu Qi looked around and said, "Let's search the area. A small Wolf Bandit team once foraged here."
The size of this Wolf Bandit squad can be roughly determined by the distribution and scale of the nearby wreckage.
It's important to understand that the Wolf Bandit, a type of Soul Beast, is a product of humans and Gale Wolf. Although its appearance and characteristics belong to Soul Beast, it possesses intelligence that rivals that of humans.
Wolf Bandit are social Soul Beast, and a lot can be analyzed by examining their organizational structure, division of labor, and the number of people in their teams.
While searching, Qiangu Changkong suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but say, "Why is the product of a human and Gale Wolf considered Soul Beast? And Tang San is also the product of a human and Soul Beast, so how come he's a human?"
Wu Qi rolled his eyes at him and said, "You can criticize Tang San Tang San as you please, but his mother has completed her Humanoid Transformation and is now human."
"The Gale Wolf doesn't have 100,000 years of cultivation, nor has it been able to Humanoid Transformation."
After a brief interlude, they had thoroughly searched the area.
What's evident so far is that this Wolf Bandit squad is highly disciplined. They've buried almost all the bones and scraps of meat they left behind to ensure they won't be detected anytime soon.
"This squad consists of about twenty Alpha Wolf bandits, and their leader is quite intelligent, probably with twenty or thirty thousand years of cultivation."
Some Wolf Bandit possess Talent secret techniques, and their strength will undergo a qualitative leap after Berserk Transformation, making them difficult for ordinary Soul Saint to defeat.
Wu Qi didn't know if there was anyone like the wolf king among this Wolf Bandit.
If it exists, this wolf king must be very powerful and capable of organizing a large number of Wolf Bandit.
He's definitely not an easy opponent!
As dusk approached, wandering around outside the city indefinitely was not a good idea.
If they reveal their strength prematurely, alerting the Wolf Bandit, it will be difficult to find them again once they scatter and flee.
The three did not linger and immediately headed to Xibei City.
At this time, martial law had been imposed in Xibei City, and the city walls were filled with fully armed soldiers and militia temporarily conscripted.
The three men's appearance was unusually abrupt, and soldiers immediately opened the city gates and surrounded them.
Wu Qi was exceptionally handsome, unlike the hairy and ugly Wolf Bandit, so he was clearly not Wolf Bandit.
A middle-aged man dressed in a white robe stepped out from the crowd.
The hem of the white robe was covered in dust, but it was not cleaned.
The man looked haggard and walked with unsteady steps, clearly having not rested for many days.
He stepped forward and said helplessly, "You three friends are from out of town, aren't you? Sigh, you shouldn't have come to Xibei City at this time."
Having confirmed they weren't Wolf Bandit, the man in white robes beckoned the three of them to follow him into the city.
Once inside the city, the soldiers quickly closed the city gates and used massive logs, each as thick as several people could hug, to prop them up.
Inside the archway.
"May I ask, are you the Xibei City, senior?" Wu Qi inquired.
The middle-aged man glanced at him and nodded slightly. "I am Han Shizhong, the city lord here."
"My friends, from which faction or academy do you come? You are unaware that Xibei City is currently facing a great calamity. Tomorrow morning I will find a way to send you out so that you can take this message to Heaven Dou City and seek the Emperor's support."
Wu Qi took out Xue Qinghe's Gold Token from his Soul Tool.
"Despite the urgency of the border conflict, His Majesty and the Spirit Hall are aware of the dire situation in Xibei City and have specially dispatched us here to provide assistance."
"You?" Han Shizhong scrutinized the three men with a critical gaze.
After a short while, he sighed and said, "It seems that His Majesty is still unaware of the troubles in Xibei City. Forgive my bluntness, but the three of you are too young to be of any use."
Before he could continue, at Wu Qi's prompting, Qiangu Changkong and Chen Ping revealed their Soul Ring.
Although their Soul Ring Configuration didn't seem genuine, the powerful fluctuations in their Soul Power convinced Han Shizhong that the two were indeed true Soul Saint experts.
Han Shizhong himself was only Peak Soul Ancestor, but when he saw that Soul Saint expert had been sent to provide support, he burst into tears.
"His Majesty has not forgotten us, nor has he forgotten the thousands of ordinary people of Xibei City."
Wu Qi tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said, "City Lord Han, now is not the time for you to be moved. I need to quickly understand the current situation so that I can make arrangements as soon as possible."
After regaining his composure, Han Shizhong quickly offered an explanation.
Six months ago, when the Wolf Bandit first appeared, they slaughtered an entire village.
Several days later, when Merchant Convoy from the city passed through the village, they noticed the tragic scene.
Subsequent investigations, coupled with the Wolf Bandit committing another crime, finally confirmed their identities.
Unfortunately, the Spirit Hall of Xibei City was transferred away by the Spirit Hall due to the border war, resulting in weak defenses within the city.
Knowing the ferocity of the Wolf Bandit, Han Shizhong arranged for all the villagers from several villages near Xibei City to move into the city and imposed martial law.
Unfortunately, for the past six months, he had been sending people to send messages to the outside world, but had not received a reply from the Imperial Family until today when he saw the arrival of Wu Qi and the other two.
Wu Qi and his two companions did not come because they received the news, but because of the Divine Trial; otherwise, they would not have known about the ordeal in Xibei City.
As for those men sent by Han Shizhong to deliver the message, they were either robbed and killed by Wolf Bandit or encountered other problems.
In short, Ning Fengzhi, who was responsible for the stability of the empire, did not receive any relevant information.
"Can you estimate the number of Wolf Bandit?" Wu Qi asked.
Originally, the Spirit Hall was responsible for cracking down on Evil Spirit Master and dealing with Wolf Bandit.
However, in preparation for the Continental War, Bibi Dong recalled all the Spirit Hall's many Soul Master were stationed outside the Spirit Hall.
Without intelligence agents outside, they naturally had no idea about the large-scale Wolf Bandit.
Han Shizhong hesitated for a moment, then said, "There might be over a hundred, or even more."
"My lords, Xibei City is truly depleted of talent, lacking any Soul Grandmaster. With the limited resources of our City Lord Mansion, how dare we pursue the Wolf Bandit?"