21 Entering the bandit camp. (1/2)
Li Yang was not a person who liked wasting time, so the moment he left the Royal Dragon Pavilion, he also left the city. Instead of following the road to the west, he kept a good distance from the road as he walked towards the west.
This allowed him to not only stay undiscovered by any scouts that the bandits might have set out to keep an eye on the road, it also allowed him to send out Jinwu to hunt some food for them.
Jinwu was only the size of his palm, but his talons and beak were incredibly sharp. Jinwu alone could easily kill any Demonic beast or person that had not reached the early stage of the Mortal Rune realm. And since Jinwu was capable of flight, he could cover much more ground than Li Yang, making it easier for him to find prey.
With Jinwu providing the meat for them, Li Yang only had to make sure that the meat was cooked and that they had enough water on them. After spending a bit over three days walking to the east, Jinwu warned Li Yang that they were approaching the bandit camp.
After hearing Jinwu's warning, Li Yang stopped walking forward and started moving to the side. He kept moving to the side until he managed to reach the edge of the Cloud Wilderness. The bandit camp was located a short distance away from the Cloud Wilderness, so entering the edge of the Cloud Wilderness would let Li Yang climb up a tree and get a better view of the camp.
Li Yang found a tree that he considered close enough and tall enough and climbed until he reached a point where he could see the entire bandit camp. It was slightly hard to climb the tree with his small body, but he managed it after spending some time.
The bandit camp that revealed itself to him consisted of six small one-room shacks, as well as one larger three-room shack located at the very center. The shacks were built with logs from the surrounding trees, but they were built very shoddily. A wooden fence surrounded the entire camp, preventing entrance from any other place than the gate.
Seeing the way the camp looked, Li Yang was now certain that the only reason the bandit camp still existed was that the Royal Dragon Pavilion was saving them to test the strength of newcomers. Even the guards of the city would have no problem taking down this bandit camp, so it was clear that someone had stopped the guards from doing so.
”So that's the bandit camp. That shack at the center should be where the boss is living. That should be his beast companion, a Metal Eater. Should we just go in from the front?”
Li Yang looked over the entire bandit camp from his vantage point. Resting next to the entrance of the largest shack was a large metallic lizard. It was about two meters in length, and its scales looked like solid steel, large metallic spikes grew out from it's back.
This type of Demonic beast was called a Metal Eater, as its diet consisted mostly of varying types of metal. Its scales did not simply look like solid steel, they were in fact solid steel, just like the spikes growing out from it's back. The teeth in its maw could easily crush most types of metal that had not been strengthened or carved with an array.
Li Yang's question was directed at Jinwu, who was perching on his shoulder and overlooking the camp, looking at the Metal Eater with a hungry gaze. After hearing Li Yang's words, it let out a few caws and jumped around on his shoulder in protest.
”I know that it might cause the bandit leader to flee if we attack like that, but what better plans do we have? Ranged attacks will lose too much strength before reaching them to deal any proper damage.”
Li Yang furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke. Simply attacking from the front could easily lead to the bandit leader fleeing when he saw their strength. But their ranged attacks would lose too much power before they managed to reach the bandit camp. Jinwu seemed to have come up with what it thought to be a brilliant idea because its eyes lit up and it jumped around on his shoulder with an excited expression.
”What?! You're fucking with me, right? You can't expect me to actually do that.”
Li Yang couldn't help but curse out when he heard Jinwu's suggestion. Jinwu ignored his cursing, hopping down from his shoulder and flying around his head as it let out a few excited caws.
”You're serious? I do agree that it is a better plan, but you really expect me to do something like that?”
The corners of Li Yang's mouth couldn't help but twitch when he heard Jinwu talk about his plan. But no matter how much he disliked it, he had to agree that the plan was better than his, he just wished that it wasn't so humiliating.
”If this does not work, or Fang Ying ever learns about it, I am having Golden Crow soup for dinner.”
Li Yang sighed and shook his head, making up his mind. He gave Jinwu a quick glare before making his way down from the tree, a snickering Jinwu following after him.
”Help! Help me! Please help me!”
Not long after he climbed down from the tree, Li Yang ran at full speed into the bandit camp, shouting for help. His wolf skin was torn and shredded, his hair unruly and dirty. His body was covered in small wounds and dirt, making him look like an unfortunate child.
”Halt! Who are you, what are you doing here?!”
After Li Yang fled into the bandit camp, 7 people ran out from the shacks and stopped in front of Li Yang. One of the men was tall and burly, his chest completely bare. He had short brown hair and was blind in one eye.
This man was the only person here at the early stage of the Mortal Rune realm and the Metal Eater followed this man, so he was clearly the bandit leader that Li Yang was looking for.
”Oh thank the heavens, I found people! Please help me, I was attacked by a beast while wandering in the woods, it killed everyone! You need to help me, I'm begging you, I will give you everything I own!”