The staff member pulled out the records:
"A month ago, a Seven Treasures Caravan spotted a small group of about five or six Wolf Bandits roughly a hundred and twelve li west of Songpeikeer City."
Xia Yan took the records the staff member handed him.
The spot was a hundred li from the sea if you kept heading west. With abundant seafood and no shortage of food, and Wolf Bandits that moved swiftly, it was certainly possible to run into them.
And since the information had come from the Seven Treasures Caravan,
there was basically no chance it was wrong.
Although Wolf Bandits usually appeared in packs, they weren't entirely united within their own ranks, much like primitive tribes.
On the contrary, naturally bloodthirsty as they were, they didn't mind tasting the flesh of their own kind.
When internal conflicts arose, they split apart, forming new packs of Wolf Bandits.
That was practically the only way small packs of Wolf Bandits came into being.
The only thing that kept the pack together was a powerful leader, one strong enough to force the others to bow and obey. So the larger the pack, the stronger its leader.
The leaders of packs numbering over five hundred Wolf Bandits were certain to possess the strength of a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast.
So the only thing they could be sure of about a small pack was this:
its leader couldn't be too strong.
"Just to confirm, two hundred Gold Soul Coins for a juvenile Wolf Bandit and five hundred for an adult, right?"
"Uh..."
The staff member hesitated, then nodded.
"Yes, Lord Soul Master. But Wolf Bandits rarely act alone; they travel in packs. An average adult is as strong as a human Soul Master with two or three rings. They have a keen sense of smell and are highly aggressive, and they can wield some wind-attribute abilities in battle. Once they set their sights on you, they'll fight to the death. Even juvenile Wolf Bandits can wield wind attributes, and they're not weak..."
"Lord Soul Master, please think it over carefully."
Clearly, she really couldn't believe Xia Yan could take on a small pack of Wolf Bandits by himself.
"Young man..."
A middle-aged man who had been resting in a chair at the corner of the hall spoke up as well. "You look like you've got some strength, but even a Soul Ancestor couldn't guarantee he'd beat five or six Wolf Bandits attacking together. And don't even think about sneaking up on them. Their noses are sharp as a ghost's..."
He clearly thought Xia Yan was going to his death.
Xia Yan nodded politely. "Thank you. I'll think it over."
They weren't mocking him; they were warning him out of genuine concern. Of course he would take their advice to heart.
After Xia Yan left the hall,
the middle-aged man watched him disappear from view,
then picked up his wine and drained it in one go. He sighed again.
Sigh. Young people these days never listen. Wouldn't it be better to just stay alive?
When he reached the market,
Xia Yan replenished the food supplies he had already used up by half,
and bought some local grassland specialties as well, including dried beef and milk blocks.
Then he set off west.
The grasslands weren't like the hilly terrain around Notting City. They were flat as far as the eye could see, with a clear view of places ten li away.
He'd learned that if they traveled in a straight line, Songpeikeer City was only a little over two hundred li from the sea. A fast caravan could make the journey in a little over three days, while a slower one would take no more than five.
But caravans had to detour around the places where Wolf Bandits were most likely to appear, adding at least three more days.
For Xia Yan, though, a journey of a hundred-odd li would take no more than an hour.
He studied the map, estimating his position,
and when he was about where he needed to be, he began searching the grasslands.
Half an hour later:
"Chirp!"
The Jade Green Bird cried out. It had spotted the Wolf Bandits!
Xia Yan immediately looked ahead. A few li away, a small pack of Wolf Bandits wandered across the grassland. There were six of them in all.
Their fur was black and gray, and they looked like upright wolf-men. They wore ragged armor,
which could only have been looted from human Soul Masters.
"Let's go!"
The Jade Green Bird darted forward,
and with a beat of its wings, sent several blue-green wind blades slicing through the air.
"Roar!!"
The Wolf Bandits spotted the Jade Green Bird almost at once and took up attack stances.
A layer of blue-green energy covered their bodies, and blue-green afterimages even appeared around their already sharp claws.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The Wolf Bandits dodged the Jade Green Bird's wind blades one after another. The blades struck the grassland, kicking up clouds of dust.
But in a blind spot the Wolf Bandits weren't watching,
the Datura Snake suddenly emerged from the grass, opened its jaws, and sprayed corrosive poison onto the hind leg of one of them.
The Wolf Bandit felt a sudden chill in its hind leg and thought nothing of it, but the next moment, numbness spread through it.
It could barely move...
"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!!!"
A tearing pain shot through its brain. It suddenly collapsed and howled in agony.
The Wolf Bandits around it looked over and saw that its entire right hind leg had been reduced to a bloody mess!
Scalding blood poured out, and as it thrashed,
it stained the grass beneath it red.
"?!"
The massive leader couldn't understand what had happened. Aside from the bird Soul Beast and human Soul Master who had suddenly appeared, there was no other threat around!
A low-level Soul Beast's limited intelligence couldn't let it figure out the cause.
For now, it could only leave the matter aside,
focus on killing the bird Soul Beast and human Soul Master who had appeared out of nowhere, then deal with its own kind.
But when it turned its gaze back, it found
nothing in the sky... The human and Soul Beast had vanished!
"Awoo?!"
"Awwoo?!"
The five Wolf Bandits were badly startled. They immediately huddled together, abandoning the injured one and keeping their distance from it.
By their survival instincts,
if one of their kind was injured, the attacker would almost certainly go after the wounded one first.
That meant they could use it as bait!
The five Wolf Bandits couldn't understand why Xia Yan had suddenly vanished, but they made the choice most advantageous to themselves.
As they warily looked around,
Xia Yan and the Jade Green Bird suddenly appeared in the sky again and sent several blue-green wind blades at them!
"Roar!!"
The leader immediately let out a roar. After dodging the attack, it swung its sharp claws, sending out several identical wind blades.
But
while it focused on the fight and kept watch for danger,
the Datura Snake appeared again, spraying its fiercely corrosive venom onto its legs and those of the Wolf Bandit beside it.
"Awooo! Awooo!!"
The two Wolf Bandits collapsed in agony almost at the same time,
clutching their thighs as they rolled and howled.
The remaining three Wolf Bandits looked over. Their terrified eyes still couldn't find the Datura Snake, only their struggling companions.
Without a word,
almost simultaneously,
their bodies erupted with dense blue-green energy, and they bolted in different directions without hesitation.
They were running for their lives!
Fear crowded out everything else in their minds.
Run!
But how could Xia Yan give them a chance?
The Jade Green Bird was far faster than they were. Xia Yan summoned the Demon Suppressing Pagoda and revealed his First Soul Ring.
In an instant,
countless surging snake shadows burst from the shade beneath the blades of grass,
coiling tightly around one Wolf Bandit. Sharp phantom fangs pierced its eyeball and skin, injecting fierce snake venom into its flesh.
"Awooo! Awooo!!"
The snake shadows became chains and wrapped tightly around its neck.
Its claws, which could easily slice through prey, could only flail helplessly now.
In less than twenty seconds,
it stopped struggling altogether.
Before you continue