Meng Hao and Zhang Jie began walking to the next village, which would take the rest of the day. After the first few minutes of the walk, Meng Hao decided he liked Zhang Jie quite a bit. They had a great deal in common!

Both of them had struggled with money, with food, and with the path of a scholar. Meng Hao was reminded of his chance encounter with the young scholar outside the capital city in the State of Zhao. During that meeting, Meng Hao said that snow may yearn for Summer, but it is not part of that world. As a cultivator, Meng Hao yearned for Summer, but could only exist in the cold of winter.

This was still true, and he felt the truth of it deep in his bones. He knew that his current situation could not last. Meng Hao was not a part of this world, but neither was any other immortal. Meng Hao was glad he decided to help Zhang Jie. Now he could investigate the rumor of a bandit cultivator!

Meng Hao walked with Zhang Jie and indulged in scholarly conversation for some time. At times, they debated fine points of scholarly debate, becoming so engrossed that they snorted and Meng Hao flicked his sleeve.

Both young men were very engrossed in their conversation, but Meng Hao still noticed when several men were approaching them through the forest. He didn't say anything and didn't alert Zhang Jie. They continued on for some time until a group of six men stepped onto the road, three in front of them and three behind. The man leading them was none other than Zao Bo!

Zhang Jie gasped, but Meng Hao's expression didn't change. He watched the men and saw they were out of breath, soaked in sweat. Zao Bo must have run the entire time to catch up after he woke up from being unconscious.

When Zao Bo saw Meng Hao being quiet, he thought it was from fright. He let out a cold snort. "You thought you could get away? You simply caught us by surprise due to your scholarly appearance. I was not paying attention and didn't even see you attack. But this time, we are all watching you, we have twice as many men, and we all have weapons!

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Meng Hao saw every bandit was carrying a club. His mind raced and he got a slightly bashful expression. This expression would doubtlessly make several other cultivators cough up great mouthfuls of blood. He said, "I can give you everything I own now, but you will never learn the secret of where I stashed all my treasure!"

One of the bandits standing by Zao Bo's pupils constricted and he got excited. "Zao Bo, we should find out where this treasure is!"

Zao Bo thought Meng Hao was too simple. He must be so scared he gave away his secrets! He would have been more suspicious if the young man walking with Meng Hao was not so scared and if Meng Hao himself was not making a strange expression. "Let's take them back to our secret base! We will let Wang Lei deal with them!"

Zao Bo smiled coldly and flicked his sleeve. The bandits all surrounded Meng Hao and Zhang Jie as they escorted them into the forest. Meng Hao avoided Zhang Jie's eyes as they walked and hoped the young man would trust him.

As they walked, Zao Bo and the other bandits boasted about their immortal leader, Wang Lei. They also boasted about their wealth. When Meng Hao heard this, his eyes glittered and he got even more quiet.

Meng Hao normally got more quiet the more he wanted to kill someone, that was his personality. However, he didn't feel in any danger and he didn't know how bad the bandits were yet.

Eventually they came to a small camp. Meng Hao looked around for an immortal's cave but didn't see one. The camp and the lack of an immortal's cave made him think any cultivator staying here was obviously shoddy.

They walked deeper into the camp and Meng Hao's pupils constricted as he saw two bodies. Both were women and they had obviously been abused. He became even more silent, and the bandits laughed and joked louder as they believed their captives were even more frightened.

Meng Hao had not entirely decided what to do yet. He originally began this plan as a scam to obtain more wealth, but he didn't like what he saw. He was no longer the naive scholar and was now firmly planted in the world of cultivation, but he still didn't like the idea of fighting mortals.

He felt no guilt about befriending Zhang Jie. In this way, he was just visiting from his world of snow. But to kill several mortals might be crossing a line he did not want to cross. Meng Hao pondered while they walked through the camp.

Eventually they saw a large tent. The sound of laughter could be heard from inside. This must be where the boss of the bandits lived!