Almost Exposed

This alliance was not formed by just one or two mountain strongholds; rather, it was a coalition of a full nine strongholds. There were as many as nine martial marquis realm experts among them alone. This kind of strength was completely capable of sweeping across entire forests. They even possessed the strength to attack Northern Desert City, yet they dared not make a move. This was because standing behind Northern Desert City was the ruler of the Northern Di Kingdom, an expert in the martial king realm.

"Hahaha! Once we consolidate for another two years, we will build a city of our own. I've already thought of a name—let's call it the City of Sin."

Hearing this, the others raised their eyebrows and nodded in approval. They were extremely satisfied with the name. After all, the names of the nine of them had long been placed on wanted posters, and the bounties offered for their heads far exceeded those of ordinary bandits. It was no exaggeration to describe them as committing heinous crimes. For nine wanted criminals to found a city—it was only logical to call it the City of Sin.

"That's a brilliant idea! When the time comes, we'll only accept villains, and execute any good people on the spot."

"Perhaps we might even have the opportunity to create a kingdom of villains," the only young man among them said with a chuckle.

"Little Song is right. We must set a goal, and let building a city be our very first small goal," the elderly man seated at the head of the table suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, everyone nodded in unison and laughed heartily.

"Brother Mountain Ghost is right! We can't be bandits for the rest of our lives; shouldn't we have a dream?"

With that, he raised the wine bowl before him and said heartily, "To our future city and kingdom!"

Instantly, the emotions of the fierce bandits were thoroughly stirred. They all stood up and laughed loudly.

"Build a city, found a kingdom, become city lords, and establish a royal family!"

These words struck a chord, igniting the passion of the other brigands as well. Most of these outlaws were children from impoverished families; had their households possessed enough food or money, they would never have embarked on this path. Now, hearing that being a bandit not only brought wealth and meat to eat, but also offered the chance to become the founders of a city, they all raised their voices and shouted. Every single one of them had a trace of excitement in their eyes, thoroughly yearning for the day they would become the elders of a city.

As the group was drinking to their heart's content, a figure suddenly rushed in from outside.

"Reporting!"

However, before the newcomer could approach, he was blocked by someone.

"A great banquet is being held today. Whatever the matter is, speak of it tomorrow."

It was a half-step martial marquis expert who spoke in a cold tone.

A look of dilemma crossed the newcomer's face, and after a moment of thought, he turned to leave. Yet, before he could take a step, a voice came from behind.

"Let this fellow speak. What could possibly be the matter to make him so flustered?"

Hearing this, the messenger quickly dropped to his knees.

"Reporting to the nine stronghold masters, while on patrol down the mountain, we discovered a local tycoon."

Expecting a massive windfall, the nine of them felt somewhat disappointed upon hearing the words "local tycoon." They picked up their wine cups and drained them in one gulp.

"Just for this sort of trivial matter?"

A clearly displeased expression appeared on the First Chieftain's face.

Seeing this, the messenger shuddered and hurriedly explained, "Ordinarily, it wouldn't be anything, but this fellow is far too arrogant. He carries all sorts of treasures openly on his body. Just a single glance from afar nearly blinded my eyes."

Hearing this, the nine chieftains were slightly taken aback. The bandit infestation in the Thousand Mountains Ridge was a well-known fact to virtually everyone within a radius of a thousand miles. Yet today, they had suddenly encountered such an eccentric character who brazenly carried all his valuables out in the open—this felt to the nine of them like a profound insult.

"Damn it all! I'd like to see which bastard dares to be so arrogant."

Immediately, one of the chieftains stepped forward, eager to meet Xiao Yang in person.

"Eighth Brother, you go then." The First Chieftain nodded.

"Elder brothers, continue eating. I shall go and return shortly."

Leaving behind these words, he strode outward.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yang had walked for a while longer, yet still no one came to rob him. This left him thoroughly depressed.

"These bandits are completely unprofessional! Are they taking a day off?"

It was already growing dark, and with the sun about to set, there was still not the slightest movement from the bandits' side. It was obvious that the bandits had taken the day off today and were not coming out to rob people.

"Senior Brother, is something on your mind? You've been dejected the entire day," Zhou Yan's voice sounded beside him.

Xiao Yang forced a wry smile and shook his head helplessly. "Junior Sister, I'm really fine."

Right now, he was simply furious. These slack-off bandits—even when someone paraded around making themselves such an obvious target, they still refused to come out and rob him. They lacked any shred of professional ethics. They were the scum of society. In his heart, he cursed every single bandit in the Thousand Mountains Ridge from top to bottom. However, he decided against plunging deep into the Thousand Mountains Ridge to hunt them down just yet; they would first return to report their safety to Zhou Pengpeng, and then come back later to have a proper chat with these unindustrious bandits.

"Alright then."

The two continued on their way. Before setting out, Xiao Yang had not called Jiang Luo, leaving him only a message telling him to make his way to the Great Spirit Sect and find them at the Spirit Sword Peak on his own. It wasn't that he didn't want him along, but Little Red ran far too slowly. To make it run fast, it needed to be upgraded once again. However, an ordinary horse simply wasn't worthy of such an investment. If he was going to spend gaming currency, he might as well upgrade a powerful tiger-type demonic beast instead. Even when not fighting, at least he would be able to pet a tiger. One could say that the utility of tiger-type demonic beasts far exceeded that of other beasts.

"Oh?"

Suddenly, within Xiao Yang's perception, a squad of people appeared. The cultivation levels of this group had all roughly reached the martial master realm, qualifying them as an elite squad. The person leading them was even a martial marquis expert.

"They're here. They've finally come."

The moment he sensed their aura, Xiao Yang guessed the identity of this group and muttered happily to himself. Unfortunately, his words were overheard by Zhou Yan.

"Senior Brother, what are you muttering about? What 'has come'?"

Since the young girl's spiritual sense was not strong, she had completely failed to sense the presence of the approaching band of brigands. However, not long after, Zhou Yan also spotted a squad of people appearing in the distance, rushing rapidly toward them. She was startled at first, but quickly recovered.

"This is bad, Senior Brother! A group of bandits is heading straight toward us!" she said with a hint of nervousness.

Xiao Yang, however, simply smiled. "They've finally arrived," he muttered under his breath.

This immediately drew a strange look from Zhou Yan. Normally, people would go out of their way to avoid bandits, so what was wrong with her Senior Brother? Even if his strength was formidable, he shouldn't be thinking like that, should he?

Realizing his slip, Xiao Yang quickly coughed twice to cover up his awkwardness, while hastily offering an explanation.

"Well, you see, there wasn't a single soul along this entire road, and I was about to die of boredom. These bandits will just serve to liven things up."

Zhou Yan gave Xiao Yang a suspicious look, feeling deep down that there was more to the story. But no matter how she racked her brain, she never could have imagined that her most cherished Senior Brother was actually planning to use her as bait.

Though puzzled, she ultimately nodded. "Wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Yang uttered those words and dashed toward the approaching bandits, breathing a silent sigh of relief inwardly.

*Luckily my reaction was fast enough, almost blew my cover.*

The Eighth Chieftain, who was leading the group over, also paused in his tracks. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief—not only was this kid not running away upon seeing bandits, why was he actively charging forward? Though he found such behavior somewhat baffling, the robbery trade didn't have all that many rigid rules. Since the kid wasn't running, they would simply rob him. Why bother overthinking it?