Li Xiao smiled and nodded. There was no harm in befriending a Second-Turn Martial Master.
Martial Master Zhou continued.
"The sky is already dark. Traveling at night could be dangerous.
"We'll rest here for the night and head down the mountain early tomorrow morning."
The others nodded, raising no objections to the arrangement.
The setting sun had already dipped below the horizon, and the light within the mountain forest rapidly faded. Traveling at night truly was far too dangerous; no one knew what else might be lurking in these vast mountains.
Zhou Kun directed the remaining Escorts and several Archers, including Li Xiao, to carefully cut up and pack the valuable parts of the Black Silk Snake.
They also cleared a relatively safe patch of open ground, lit a campfire, arranged shifts for the night watch, and prepared to spend the night there before descending the mountain at daybreak.
Meanwhile, the hunters and mountain folk who had fled in panic earlier had fallen into an even greater crisis.
Unfamiliar with the paths deep in the mountains, they blundered through the dim forest like headless flies and had long since lost their way.
Fear drove them onward, but they did not realize they were rushing straight toward an even more dangerous area.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
A burst of hurried footsteps and the scraping of grass and branches came from the bushes ahead.
Before those still-shaken people could react, more than a dozen vicious-looking figures wielding steel blades sprang out of the darkness and surrounded them!
They were clearly a band of mountain bandits!
"Well, well, fat sheep delivered right to our door?"
A scar-faced bandit leader licked his lips, greed and Killing Intent flickering in his eyes.
"Brothers, looks like we've got a haul tonight. Kill them all and take their