Bandits.

In the last few hours, Xiao Ji had started to realise why they were generally so hated. The bandit camp that Qian Shi had found out was one of the more vile one’s according to her, but that still did not excuse how bad they could be.

He did not consider himself the most kind hearted person. It was one of the few parts of his uncle’s teachings that he truly found hard to follow. He would even go as far as to say he had some amount of prejudice towards humans, hypocritical as that might have been.

Yet even he felt uncomfortable with the situation in the camp. The bandits they had come across did not only steal money and valuable goods, it turned out. They also stole people, mostly humans with a few spirit beasts. That was bad on its own, but it got even worse.

The people taken by the bandits were found in the camp in conditions so horrible, he could scarcely believe it. For all their issues, the villagers were fairly decent in their care of even animals they only planned to eat. To see a human put a fellow member of their species in such bad living conditions, even after knowing they were intelligent was appalling.

In hindsight, it really should not have been surprising, when he thought about it. His uncle and even the scrolls he had read showed that people, regardless of species, could be even more cruel to each other than to other non sentient species. He remembered his uncle’s words.

‘Cruelty is the curse of intelligence.’

Currently, he and Ruo Long were just trying to do some damage control, making sure the people in chains were not on the verge of death. Or that one of the few surviving bandits did not attempt to escape. Though in reality, he doubted they would dare to attempt it. Not after what happened to the previous two that tried.

Qian Shi, on the other hand, was trying her best to search for clues and question the remaining bandits. She was apparently suspicious that there was more to the bandits than it seemed. The evidence pointed to them being just slavers who sold the people to the highest bidder so they could be put into servitude, but she said something about slavers never being so bold because slavery was outlawed when the Titans came to power.

“Any leads?” Ruo Long asked.

Qian Shi just shook her head, looking slightly frustrated.

“All the ones still alive are low level grunts and the leader was somehow able to keep all the details of what they were actually doing secret.“

“Is there nothing to be done?”

“The ape that ran away would most likely have more knowledge. But I have little confidence in finding them given how much time they’ve had to run away.”

“But your gut tells you there’s something wrong. If you’re so sure, then it might be worth it to try.”

The mastiff looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

“You’re right. I will go after him. But first of all, we need to do something about them. How confident are you in getting them all through the forest to the mountain?“

It was Ruo Long’s turn to squint at them thoughtfully this time.

“They are all mortals, so even if they were at peak strength, it would be hard to protect them all with just Xiao Ji and I. As they currently are, the walk alone will likely kill a few.”

Qian Shi looked at the bandit’s prisoners with worry and sighed.

“We will have to use the token then.”

Her statement was met with nods of agreement from the other disciples. Identifying them as disciples of Fan Guo was not the only thing the token could do. It also had the ability to alert their Master that they were in a situation that was above their ability to handle. Ji supposed this could count as one.

The token flashed as Ruo Long activated it. There was a strange sensation of being watched that made him tense before they heard a voice.

“Help will arrive tomorrow morning.”

It was their Master’s voice, and the message drew out a collective groan from all three disciples.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

They all knew it would only take an instant for either him or Mei to arrive at their location if they intended to. The fact that he wanted them to wait for an entire night was clearly a test. One that would be even harder since they might be missing their most powerful combatant. After all, no one knew how long it would take Qian Shi to find the Great Ape, and it was best if she went as soon as possible.

Of course the communication was cut off before any of them could voice complaints. The three of them merely looked at each other and shook their heads after that.

“I do not know why I expected anything different,” Ruo Long sighed.

Ji nodded to that. They truly should have seen it coming.

“Well good luck guys. I need to go track the last bandit before he goes too far. I might not be back before tomorrow.”

Ruo Long offered her the spatial ring, but she refused, saying she would hunt her own food if she got hungry. She instead took only the token and put it in her mouth before running off.

Xiao Ji watched her go, leaving the two of them to fend for themselves. He simply hoped they did not get attacked.

***

They were attacked.

Qian Shi had been gone for less than an hour when a very large animal that Ruo Long had called a two headed grizzly attacked them. It towered over them, both of its mouths open in a snarl.

It was at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, lower than Ruo Long. Yet neither of them looked relieved as they faced it. One major advantage some spirit beasts have was being born with higher base attributes.

Ji was almost certain that the bear was capable of annihilating most cultivators in the same stage quite easily. His Master had once mentioned spirit beasts that needed over a dozen people at the same stage to even stand a chance of killing them. The two headed grizzly was one such spirit beast.

Fortunately for them, they were not normal cultivators. Against a towering monstrosity that was capable of fighting above its stage, the two Awakened disciples of the Divine Fan Guo did not falter.

And they showed the bear why awakened beasts were so feared.

Ruo Long opened with a breath of flame that caused the bear to cry out in pain and slash its claws towards them. The flames stopped to reveal signed for and slightly charred skin. Something that Ji considered both relieving and worrying.

He felt relieved because the flame had shown that it could get through the bear’s defence even with just a little contact. Given enough time, he was sure Ruo Long could cook it alive. In fact, from the way the dragon flew above its head, it was likely the strategy he was considering too.

The worry was because Ruo Long’s flame was more powerful than anything he could bring to bear. Yet it could not do significant damage without prolonged use. Which did not bode well for Ji’s chances against the bear.

The bear also did not seem keen on simply letting Ruo Long blast it from the sky. Perhaps it would have been a viable strategy if the dragon was alone. Unfortunately, Ji could not fly for more than a few seconds, which meant he had to face the bear’s rampage.

Even if he could fly for longer though, there were also the victims of the bandits, the reason they were even there in the first place. He had seen the way the bear was looking at them and trying to move in their direction. Something he could not allow to happen.

He leapt into the air, flapping his wings a few times to give himself more lift. When he got to the bear’s head, he kicked out with a qi empowered claw, hitting straight into the eye. The bear's claws were on him in an instant, and dodging them was certainly the riskiest thing he had ever done. He could not say he enjoyed the feeling of being so close to death.

Still, he managed to escape and land on the ground unharmed, while the bear cried out in pain.

While the bear was distracted, he ran up to it again, this time trying to target the legs. Unfortunately, his efforts produced little result outside of a few scratches. He gave in soon enough and accepted the fact that he was currently unable to actually hurt the bear without striking its weak points.

Ruo Long seemed to have noticed the grizzly moving towards the camp, because he finally flew down to fight it close up. The grizzly, still focused on its injury, was not prepared for the dragon that crashed into it at full speed and was promptly tackled to the ground.

Unlike the fight with the wolves, Ruo Long showed no signs of contempt, instead putting all his effort into the battle with the massive spirit beast. He used everything from his claws to his teeth, with the occasional dragon’s breath in between.

At first Ji thought it was just brutal fighting with little regard for technique. Yet the more he watched, the more he realised how methodical the dragon’s approach was. Every hit left an opening and he always knew when to dodge and when he could afford to block it. The grizzly’s body was still riddled with holes, unable to push the dragon off and stand up once more.

The beast’s claws flowed all of a sudden, and Ruo Long immediately flew back not wanting to get caught up in it. Any temptation Ji previously had to go into the fight left. He was not a match for it at his current level, and did not trust his reactions enough to dodge with certainty.

Ruo Long returned just as the grizzly stood up and they resumed the fight, with Ruo Long spending a lot more time dodging than he did before. The fight seemed like it was now equal, with both sides having little advantage.

But Ruo Long was a dragon.

Ji watched as his fellow disciple breathed fire once more. Yet even without being able to sense it, he knew the fire was different. It was packed full of so much qi that particles of fire aspected qi were seeping into the environment.

This was not power a Qi Condensation should normally be able to wield.

It was a good thing they were not normal then. Even before it hit, he knew the fight would soon end.

Just as he was about to relax, however, he saw something at the edge of his vision that sent panic into his heart. Behind them, a short distance from the camp, was something he immediately recognised.

A shadow panther.

It was much more powerful than the one he once fought, that was obvious with a glance. Even worse though, was the body that hung from its mouth, dripping with blood that stained the grass.

The shadow panther moved once more in a blur. And from the camp, he heard screams.