Mountain Wolf Bandits

The Yunling Mountain Range connects Yunzhou and Dingzhou; if one could cross it directly, they could travel from Yunzhou to Dingzhou in a single day.

But deep within the mountains, strange beasts and demonic beasts roamed freely. Even a Martial Artist at the Origin Embracing Realm would not dare to traverse the range.

Demonic beasts had appeared in this world a thousand years ago; strange beasts were the native creatures.

Demonic beasts were peculiar—once they cultivated to a certain realm, they could actually take human form.

Strange beasts, on the other hand, grew more intelligent as they became stronger, but their bodies only grew larger, with no possibility of transforming into humans.

In the forest fifty li outside Shanlin County.

"Boss, is this really okay? Isn't it too conspicuous?" Shi Xiaohu followed behind Scar Wolf, speaking uneasily.

"These last few times we've come down the mountain to rob, we didn't spare the people or the money, and now we're tying them all up and taking them back up the mountain. Won't someone come looking for trouble?"

"What's there to be afraid of? We've already sunk this low; our heads have been hanging on our belts for a long time. Just enjoy each day as it comes."

"Besides, that person who came to our stronghold a while back—even the big boss was killed by him. Do you dare to disobey?" Remembering that fierce man, even Scar Wolf, with his vicious nature, trembled in fear.

He also knew that to survive long on the road of banditry, you couldn't take things to the extreme.

But what choice did he have? His own life was held in that person's hands.

That person had given each of them poison to keep them from running their mouths recklessly.

Today they had come down the mountain and still hadn't caught anyone. Though he was puzzled why the new boss captured people but didn't demand ransom, He didn't dare to dig deeper, and what he feared even more was how he would explain himself when they returned.

"Keep a sharp eye on the road. Don't let anyone slip away!"

"Yes, boss."

On the other side, Chen Qinglin had asked for directions to Shanmen County in the commandery city. He heard talk in the inn about bandits robbing travelers, but paid it no mind.

His current task was to find Shen Dingyuan as quickly as possible.

According to information from Qingfeng Mountain, this man was suspected of practicing evil arts. Not only had he slaughtered his own entire clan, but he had also brutally massacred three villages.

The deaths were all extremely gruesome—every victim had been completely drained of blood.

The Shen clan had been dismembered so thoroughly that no one could tell which body part belonged to whom. The local authorities had no choice but to burn them all together and bury them in a single grave.

An extremely dangerous person. He would first go to Shanmen County to look for clues.

An hour and a half later.

Chen Qinglin was already over three hundred kilometers from Linbei Commandery. In another hour, he would reach Shanmen County.

At that moment, Chen Qinglin saw people in the road up ahead, and one of them signaled him to stop.

He couldn't help but squeeze his horse's flanks and slow down.

Riding closer, he saw several people in black brocade robes embroidered with the Crimson Feather Swallow pattern.

Seeing Chen Qinglin approach, the woman at the lead gave a signal, then asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Don't you know this road is very dangerous right now?"

She finished speaking and looked Chen Qinglin over carefully. A youth of fourteen or fifteen, traveling alone.

Though he didn't seem like a bad person, she remained inwardly vigilant.

Out on a mission, Chen Qinglin naturally wouldn't still be wearing Qingfeng Mountain disciple robes—otherwise, wouldn't his targets flee at the sight of him?

Seeing the woman's question, he didn't answer directly.

Instead, he asked back, "And who are you? Why are you stopping me?"

"We are Patrol Envoys of the Patrol Division. I advise you to dismount and submit to inspection..." Before the woman could speak, a young man beside her spoke up.

"Brother Yi, look, this kid is so young. He doesn't seem like a bad guy!" another person said quietly.

"You're still too inexperienced. You don't know that some people can't be judged by appearance."

Hearing their conversation, Chen Qinglin understood they were Patrol Envoys from Linbei Commandery.

He dismounted, not wanting to delay, and took out his Qingyun Peak Disciple Jade Talisman, showing it to the woman.

After looking at it, the woman said, "So you're an Inner Disciple of Qingfeng Mountain. My apologies for the rudeness."

"My name is Ling Xueyan. Does Junior Brother have a mission here?"

"This Humble One is Chen Qinglin, a Qingfeng Mountain disciple. Greetings, Senior Sister. I'm afraid I can't disclose the mission just yet. I ask Senior Sister to let me pass."

"In that case, please go ahead, Junior Brother. We have delayed you." Ling Xueyan gestured.

Chen Qinglin remounted his horse, clasped his hands toward the group, and quickly disappeared from their sight.

"Sister Yan, why didn't you ask this person for help? We're here investigating these bandits. Having a Qingfeng Mountain Inner Disciple with us would give us a much better chance."

"Sigh, they're just small-time thieves. It's already an honor that we came."

"We've only just met this person. How do you know if he's reliable?"

"I... I just wanted to finish the mission sooner, that's all!"

"Alright, this Junior Brother has his own matters to attend to. Xiao Wu, have you confirmed the bandits' area of activity?"

"Confirmed, Sister Yan. It's about fifty li from here, near Shanmen County. It should be the Mountain Wolf Bandits."

"The Mountain Wolf Bandits are a small mountain bandit camp, right? Their chief is only at Body Tempering Ninth Level, so how dare they act like this?" Ling Xueyan frowned.

"No idea. Could it be that their leader Blood Wolf broke through to the Inner Qi Realm and got cocky?"

"Hmph, since the Mountain Wolf Bandits don't know when to quit, let's just go up the mountain and wipe them out."

"Sister Yan and Brother Yi are both Inner Qi Realm martial artists too. Sister Yan broke through to Mid Inner Qi Realm half a month ago. With us backing them up, dealing with the Mountain Wolf Bandits will be more than enough."

"Let's head to Shanmen County first and gather some people there."

Ling Xueyan found it strange. For a mere group like the Mountain Wolf Bandits to act so boldly, there had to be some reason behind it.

She decided to go to Shanmen County first to look into the clues.

On the other side.

"Boss, someone's coming!"

"Listen. Hoofbeats."

"Tell the brothers to get ready."

"Got it!"

The galloping horses tore past like the wind. The bandits lying in ambush hadn't even had time to block the road before the riders vanished from sight.

"..."

"Damn it, rushing to reincarnate or what?"

"Fuck, we missed again." Scar Wolf slammed the rock in his hand against the ground in frustration.

Was there someone in those woods just now?

Chen Qinglin thought to himself. He had vaguely glimpsed a figure hidden among the trees in the mountain forest.

Who would be hiding in the forest? A thought surfaced in his mind.

'Bandits?'

He quickly confirmed his suspicion.

"Boss, what do we do now? If we go back, are we gonna die?"

"I don't wanna die, boss!" Shi Xiaohu was terrified. He hadn't had his fill of women yet.

"Then what do you suggest? There's barely anyone on this road lately. Where the hell are we supposed to catch people?"

"Boss, how about we run?" Shi Xiaohu leaned close to Scar Wolf and whispered.

"Run? Run where? What about the poison on you?"

"But if we don't run, we die anyway. If we run, maybe we can live a few more days."

"Maybe there's a cure for this poison down in the town. Then we wouldn't have to die."

Scar Wolf was tempted. If they slipped into the city, they could find a doctor to take a look. Maybe it really could be cured.

A truly deadly poison wouldn't be wasted on small fry like them.

Every brother in the camp had it on them. Maybe it really wasn't that hard to cure.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. But he couldn't tell everyone. More people meant more attention.

He glanced back at Shi Xiaohu. The kid seemed sharp enough.

If he took him along, at least he'd have someone to take the blame if things went south.

Having made up his mind, the two ordered the remaining brothers to keep watch and seized the chance to slip away.

Chen Qinglin, who had come back to investigate, overheard this exchange and fell into thought. Maybe these two bandits knew something.

As the pair gradually ran off into the distance, he quietly followed.

"Boss, I feel like someone's watching us." Shi Xiaohu's back went cold.

"Stop being paranoid. Move it!" Scar Wolf glanced around furtively. He didn't see anyone.

This kid was just a coward!

They had only taken a few steps forward when a figure dropped down from a tree ahead...