The two men and the Azure Ox slowly made their way toward the Aran Stone Forest.
Jiang Feng gained some preliminary understanding of Slande Luser.
Slande Luser had once been the leader of a clan in Xiang River Prefecture. Later, after being plotted against by other clans and seeing his own clan wiped out, he fled with some remnants. To avoid becoming slaves, he took advantage of the treacherous terrain around the Aran Stone Forest and began robbing merchant caravans.
Xiang River Prefecture had dispatched troops to suppress him many times, but Slande Luser was exceedingly cunning and never clashed head-on with the Empire's regular army.
Whenever the army left the city, he slipped away. Whenever the army returned, he emerged to resume his raids.
Perhaps because he bore a grudge against the Empire, Slande Luser's rules for robbery were cruel in the extreme.
Any caravan that resisted being plundered would have every last person slaughtered.
Even caravans that did not resist would have half their people killed to establish his fearsome reputation.
As for the goods, once he succeeded, he would inevitably seize everything, never leaving the caravan so much as a scrap.
The Aran Stone Forest also happened to lie along several vital trade routes in Xiang River Prefecture. His actions had dealt devastating blows to the commerce of many clans in the prefecture, leaving each and every one of them in bitter misery.
Some clans had sent out their own clan soldiers in an attempt to destroy him, but clan soldiers were naturally no match for the Empire's army.
Relying on the perilous terrain and the various devices laid throughout the stone forest, Slande Luser's men often routed the clan soldiers before they had even caught a glimpse of him.
To limit the strength of the clans,