Does your leader always talk like that!?

After the Five Junior Sisters had fully recovered, Jiang Beiran led them onward. However, they seemed to have developed a bit of a psychological scar, and the Five Junior Sisters walked with extreme caution, terrified of stepping into another formation.

But despite their caution, they still followed Jiang Beiran closely, afraid of falling behind.

Relying on his powerful Spiritual power, Jiang Beiran followed the residual aura of the thief all the way out of the forest and soon arrived outside a cave.

"This should be it."

Standing at the entrance of the cave and sensing for a moment, Jiang Beiran found that most of the people inside were ordinary folk. Only one had some cultivation, but it was only Qi Refining Second Order.

Putting away his Spiritual power, Jiang Beiran turned and asked the Five Junior Sisters, "Come, let me test you. Once we've confirmed all the thieves are in the cave, what should you do?"

Liu Zijin pondered for a moment and answered first, "Charge straight in and capture the Leader. It's called 'catching the thief by catching the king'."

Jiang Beiran shook his head after hearing this, looking at Liu Zijin with a disappointed gaze. "Reckless. This isn't a war. What's the use of capturing the Leader? The other thieves will just scatter like birds and beasts."

Liu Zijin immediately lowered her head. "Senior Brother's teachings are correct." After speaking, Liu Zijin had another idea and was about to speak when she heard Yu Shimei speak first, "Then, should we first determine what exits this cave has?"

"Clever. That's the top priority."

After hearing this, Liu Zijin and Fang Qiuyue both showed a look of regret, though for slightly different reasons.

After giving a few more detailed instructions, Jiang Beiran nodded. "Alright, remember what I just said. The thieves inside are no match for you. Make your move."

"Yes!" The Five Junior Sisters responded in unison and began to capture the thieves according to Jiang Beiran's plan.

Just as Jiang Beiran had said, the thieves in the cave were mostly ordinary people and no match for Liu Zijin and the others. Soon, some were knocked unconscious, and others surrendered on their knees.

Huh... that guy didn't even set up a formation in his own lair?

Jiang Beiran hadn't gone in with the Five Junior Sisters because he expected there to be other defensive formations inside the cave. It was much easier to break formations from the outside than from within.

But to his surprise, there were no signs of any formations being triggered inside.

He's quite the character.

He mused inwardly and walked into the cave with light steps.

Hmm~ Their control over the force is quite good.

Looking at the thieves lying haphazardly on the ground near the entrance, Jiang Beiran knew at a glance that they had all been knocked out with a single blow, and their unconsciousness was quite "peaceful."

He walked all the way to the deepest part of the cave and saw his Junior Sisters cleaning up the battlefield, gathering the unconscious thieves in one place.

"Well done," Jiang Beiran praised them, nodding.

"Senior Brother, he's the Leader of this group," Liu Zijin said, pushing a youth tied up securely in front of Jiang Beiran.

"Mm, I see," Jiang Beiran replied casually.

"Then I'll go tie up more of those thieves."

"Go ahead."

After Liu Zijin walked away, Jiang Beiran squatted down and looked at the youth leader, who appeared calm, with great curiosity. "Why aren't you like other thieves, shouting 'let me go'?"

"Would you let me go if I did?" The youth leader looked up at Jiang Beiran and asked.

"Yes, if you shout, I'll let you go," Jiang Beiran nodded.

"Tch, stop being so hypocritical," the youth leader turned his head away disdainfully.

"Oh." Jiang Beiran then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began cultivating the Returning Heart Skill.

This left the youth leader somewhat bewildered, unsure of what this person's intentions were.

"Hey, you caught me, so hurry up and take me to the Government to claim your reward. What are you sitting here for?"

"No rush, no rush." Jiang Beiran smiled and shook his head.

Thus, a strange silence fell between the two.

After a few minutes, the youth leader, unable to stand the odd atmosphere any longer, spoke up. "Since you were able to get here... did you break the outer formation?"

'Here it comes.'

Based on years of experience catching thieves, Jiang Beiran had concluded that if he immediately bombarded thieves with questions, they would mostly just retort defiantly, "Cut the crap. Kill me or skin me alive, I don't know what you're talking about."

This made interrogations very troublesome.

So, Jiang Beiran decided to do the opposite. He would leave them be, and once their hostility gradually subsided, he would initiate the conversation.

Opening his eyes, Jiang Beiran looked at the youth leader. "Did you set up that formation? Quite interesting."

The youth leader proudly raised his head. "If I hadn't been short on materials, you guys definitely wouldn't have gotten out."

"Mhm, that formation does have some history. Where did you learn it?"

"Hmph! I'm not telling you."

"Oh." Jiang Beiran closed his eyes and resumed meditating.

"You!" The youth leader became anxious. "Don't you want to ask more questions, or perhaps negotiate with me?"

"Are you telling me how to do my job?" Jiang Beiran opened his eyes and asked.

"I...!"

If he hadn't been tied up, the youth leader would have rushed forward to fight Jiang Beiran to the death. This guy was too infuriating!

After taking a few deep breaths, the Youth Leader looked at the female Qi cultivators binding his subordinates around him and shouted, "Hey! Does your leader always talk like this?"

Liu Zijin and the others were holding back laughter so hard they felt internally injured, but upon hearing the Youth Leader's question, they all chose not to answer and continued silently binding the men.

"Senior Brother, let's go bind those thieves at the cave entrance too."

"En, go ahead." Jiang Beiran nodded.

Watching Liu Zijin and the others leave together, the Youth Leader, who had been worn down to his last nerve, spoke, "If I tell you where I learned this formation, can you let me go?"

"No, I'm not interested in a formation that can't even trap me."

"That's just because my skills are lacking! This formation is called the Minor Sixfold Mind-Seizing Formation. If it can be set up perfectly, even a Profound King would be trapped if they walked into it!"

"Oh."

"I'm serious! That's what the book says! It's just that no one taught me, so my skills are lacking. Otherwise, you definitely wouldn't be able to get out."

"Book?" Jiang Beiran asked.

Seeing that Jiang Beiran finally seemed interested, the Youth Leader nodded repeatedly, "Yes! I dug it up when I was tomb robbing before! It's very valuable! As long as you're willing to let me go, I'll give you that book!"

"Not interested."

At this moment, the Five Junior Sisters returned and saluted Jiang Beiran, "Senior Brother, all the thieves have been tied up."

"Alright, let's go then," Jiang Beiran said as he stood up.

"Hey! Wait! The formation in that book is really powerful! If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see it. It's in the Back Mountain, it's real!!!"