Thieves

"I hate bandits most of all," Yan Jin said coldly.

Amon suddenly recalled that she had once said her village had been attacked by bandits, leaving only a few survivors.

"So, this is a robbery. Are you handing over your money or not?"

The coachman's expression turned somewhat strange. Wasn't she doing a bandit's job right now, even if her targets were bandits...

Seeming to notice his odd expression, Yan Jin explained, "I steal in the name of justice."

"Watch out."

Thunder exploded. Lightning crackled around Lei Yin's body as he flashed to Yan Jin's side, a longsword formed from lightning appearing in his hand.

His first Spirit Ring was similar to Yan Jin's: both were "Martial Soul Solidification," allowing them to freely alter the shape of their Martial Souls and condense them into whatever form they desired.

Lei Yin swung his sword, forcing back the short man in black who had been sneaking up on Yan Jin before suddenly launching a surprise attack.

"Heh heh... So there's a Soul Grandmaster among you. I underestimated you," the man in black said in a hoarse, low voice. "Still, you're only two little brats."

He revealed his Martial Soul: a hairless rat with heavily wrinkled skin.

White, yellow, and purple Spirit Rings gleamed around him, radiating a faint pressure.

"A Soul Elder?" Lei Yin frowned.

In Frostleaf City, a Soul Elder could absolutely be considered an expert. He had not expected to encounter a group of bandits on the road with a Soul Elder hidden among them.

"It's not like I haven't beaten one before," Yan Jin said indifferently.

A massive fist of lava appeared once more and smashed viciously toward the Soul Elder, who had already undergone Martial Soul Possession and turned into a "ratman."

Amon lightly pinched his Monocle and activated his Soul Skill.

Under the cover of his first Spirit Ring, his Martial Soul, Spirit Rings, and Soul Power that had not yet left his body all silently vanished. Only an almost undetectable ripple of Soul Power remained, mixed with spiritual power as it spread outward from him like ripples on water.

Seeing the enormous lava fist crashing toward him, the "ratman" prepared to activate a skill to deal with it.

Suddenly, his ability to think declined, and his thoughts slowed.

Who am I? What was I supposed to do?

What is that fist?

Oh, I need to dodge it! The deadly sense of danger jolted him awake.

At a moment like this, even an instant of sluggish thought was fatal.

He no longer had time to dodge. The lava was right before him.

The "ratman" Soul Elder could only let out a terrified, despairing scream of "No!" before being swallowed by magma.

With their leader gone, the bandits fled in panic.

Lei Yin, who was usually gentle, displayed an unusual ruthlessness at this moment. He chased after them and used his lightning sword to cut off the bandits' heads one by one.

"Hm? That was too easy, wasn't it?" Yan Jin frowned and glanced at Amon, who sat atop the carriage with a smiling expression. Suspiciously, she asked, "What did you do?"

"Do you want to experience it yourself?" Amon chuckled.

As he spoke, he cast a "Deception" on Yan Jin, then softly said:

"You don't need to understand so much. We're partners, so just relax and trust me. If we encounter something like this again, just attack directly. See? Didn't we cooperate perfectly this time? We dealt with a Soul Elder so easily."

This was the complete use of the Soul Skill "Scammer." First, it dulled the other person's thoughts and made them unable to think properly. Combined with its passive effect, which made spoken words more convincing, the result was that Amon's verbal persuasion became exceptionally effective for a short time.

Yan Jin instinctively gave up thinking and abandoned her curiosity about Amon's Soul Skill. She nodded woodenly. "You're right."

After a while, the three returned to the carriage.

Amon looked at the calm-faced Yan Jin with both surprise and suspicion. "Deception" could only interfere with someone's thoughts for a brief moment. She should have recovered by now, but someone who had recovered should not have been this calm.

Could it be that she was not surprised, curious, or afraid of an ability that could interfere with another person's thoughts?

From what Amon knew of Yan Jin, she was not someone who could hide what was on her mind. She definitely should have shown some unusual reaction.

Unless... she hadn't been thinking in the first place!

Not only during the brief time she was affected by "Deception," but afterward as well!

Because she hadn't thought about it, she hadn't noticed that her thoughts had been interfered with, nor had she noticed my ability. That's why she was so calm!

Amon felt that he had found the truth. It was unexpected, yet not entirely unexpected.

Lei Yin looked at Amon and Yan Jin, feeling that something was off.

He had seen their interaction and felt as though some step in the middle had been skipped.

He scratched his head in confusion but did not investigate further.

The carriage clattered southward, and the temperature gradually rose.

The scenery on both sides of the road also began to change.

All kinds of plants and animals that Yan Jin and Lei Yin had never seen in Frostleaf City broadened their horizons. For the first time, they learned that the world contained so many different natural landscapes.

The journey was not entirely smooth. Within only a few days, they encountered two more groups of bandits.

The first group was led by two Soul Elders. One had a Flame Bird Martial Soul, and the other a Lightning Turtle Martial Soul. Both had high resistance to heat and lightning. Amon did not intervene, and Yan Jin and Lei Yin had to exert great effort before killing them.

The second group was led by triplet brothers, all of whom were Soul Elders. Their coordination was exceptionally seamless, and one of them possessed resistance to mental interference, greatly limiting the effects of Amon's "Deception."

This forced Amon to take things a little more seriously. Besides using his Second Soul Skill, he also fired several Air Bullets, breaking the three brothers' coordination. Yan Jin seized the opportunity to kill one of them, securing their victory.

Amon noticed something unusual. "Lei Yin, don't you think there's something strange about these three groups of bandits we've encountered?"

"Strange?" Lei Yin lowered his head in thought, then shook it. He did not feel that there was anything special about them.

The two of them tacitly chose not to ask for Yan Jin's opinion.

Amon pinched his Monocle and said quietly, "Each of these three groups of bandits was a little stronger than the last. It feels like some sort of stage-clearing game. Every time we pass a stage, the next one becomes a little more difficult."

"It does seem... to be that way. Could it be because we're getting closer and closer to Northland City? There are more powerful people in big cities, so even the threshold for becoming a bandit has risen accordingly?" Lei Yin said.

"Perhaps..." Amon looked at the scenery outside through the carriage window, his expression slightly grave.

"Hey, Uncle, didn't you say the route you chose was relatively safe? Why are there so many bandits?" Yan Jin toyed with a gold bracelet inlaid with gemstones that she had taken from one group of bandits.

The coachman wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a forced smile, "I've traveled this route several times before. It's a shipping route for several large merchant associations, and ordinary bandits have generally been cleared out by them. Perhaps we've just been unlucky."

"Fortunately, you Lord Soul Masters are so powerful. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd have lost my life here," he flattered them.

Yan Jin had only asked casually and had no intention of blaming him.

She climbed onto the roof of the carriage and lay down, crossing one leg over the other as she looked at the sky.

In the vast, boundless sky, clouds drifted with the wind, constantly changing shape.

She extended her right hand and made a grasping motion, as though trying to catch something.