Meng Hao and Zhang Jie were brought before the large tent. They currently had over ten bandits surrounding them, all of them holding weapons. Zao Bo bowed low and called out, "Great leader! We have brought captives to you, one of them knows where some treasure is!"
"Is this important!? It better be!" could be heard from inside the tent.
"Yes great leader! You can find out where this smug bastard hid some treasure!"
Suddenly, the tent opened and a middle aged man walked out. He had two beautiful girls beside him and another man walking behind him. The middle aged man was at the 5th level of Qi Condensation. The man walking behind him that nobody was paying attention to was at the 8th level! Meng Hao's face was like always and he didn't change expression.
However, both men stopped and the middle aged man shouted, "Why did you bring a cultivator here?"
Zao Bo gaped and the rest of the bandits were astonished too. "A cultivator?" All the bandits holding weapons were shaking, acting like cicadas in Winter.
"Yes, you idiot! He has a bag of holding and the air of a cultivator. Can't you tell by how relaxed he was in the middle of all of you?!"
Inside, Meng Hao laughed. It seemed he was not as good of an actor as he thought. It was good enough to get here, though. He continued to clamp down on his cultivation base as hard as he could.
The middle age man snorted, "Why would you even bring him here? You all have killed many other people and never bothered me about it! You know I just want treasure to buy the cultivation items in the nearby towns. These towns are protected by a powerful, Core Formation cultivator so I dare not kill or steal in these towns. Find me wealth and I will protect you and share it. That is the deal!
"Yes Great One! We're sorry Great One!" Zao Bo suddenly ordered his men, "Attack them!"
Meng Hao's expression didn't change, but inside he wondered how stupid some of these bandits were, especially Zao Bo. As the bandits stepped forward to attack him, the middle aged man opened his mouth to speak. Zhang Jie tried to dive behind Meng Hao, screaming, "Help me, Senior!" The cultivator behind the middle aged man's pupils constricted and he began to back up. Meng Hao simply let out a small portion of his cultivation base and said, "Screw off!" All of this takes time to write, but it all happened in time it takes a spark to jump from steel!
When Meng Hao spoke, all the surrounding bandits fell over. Half were dead and half were still alive. At this point, Meng Hao didn't really care if they died or not. He heard they'd been killing other morals. On one hand, it was not his place to kill them all. On the other hand, now that he knew how wicked they were, he wouldn't be bothered by being impolite!
The only people left standing were Meng Hao, Zhang Jie cowering behind him, the two girls, and the two bandit cultivators. "What is your name?" asked the middle aged man. He still seemed self confident. "You may have some power, but you are too young and too weak to challenge me!" He laughed at Meng Hao.
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From behind him, Zhang Jie whispered, "Honored Immoral Meng Hao! Please watch out! Those women are bandits too. One of them killed her own brother and was on the run before joining these bandits!"
Meng Hao's eyes glittered. He would not target anyone, but he would not mind being impolite! "Honored elder, please tell me what you are doing out here. I don't understand this situation."
The middle aged man flicked his sleeve, "Allow Zao Mo to explain it to you then, brat! The cultivation world is harsh. By coming out here, we can live an easy life and steal gold and silver. It is almost too easy! Then we buy cultivation tools and treasures from mortals that will sell them for moral money. It's too easy!"
Suddenly Meng Hao understood the entirety of the situation! Now it was time for him to start his scam!
Meng Hao looked a bit shy, and once again, if many cultivators that had met Meng Hao in the past saw this expression, they would feel as if someone was walking on their grave. "Honored elder Zao Mo, this is truly a wise plan. However, if you are gone, couldn't the bandits here steal your treasure?"
"That is an easy problem to solve! I just hid the treasure behind the nearby waterfall! This is an area that morals cannot go!"
"Zao Mo, please watch yourself! You are giving too much away to this brat!" The other cultivator shook his head. "You should not tell him where we hide our treasure!"
Zao Mo laughed, "You worry too much, nephew Zao Qiang! This guy's aura is very mysterious but he can't be very strong or he would have already attacked or run away. We have nothing to worry about." Zao mo snorted.
Zao Qiang's killing intent grew stronger and he said, "Uncle, please let me kill this man like I've killed everyone else these useless bandits have brought here."
Meng Hao was not done with his scam yet. He bowed again and looked nervous, "Elders, please, you misunderstand! I came to join you!"
"You came to what? Truly? Why?"
This was where Meng Hao decided to take a gamble. As he knew from his life, greater risks can bring greater reward! "I don't believe that the treasure behind the waterfall is the only treasure you elders are hiding! I know this is a very dangerous thing to do, so there is no way you would life a life as a bandit despite being a cultivator without a more serious treasure being available!"
The other two cultivators looked at each other for a moment before Zao Mo said, "We could use another person to help us. These mortal bandits are truly useless."
Zao Qiang had an expression like he had eaten a rotted plum but he finally responded, "Yes, you are right."
Meng Hao could tell what they were thinking. Both men obviously had some scheme, and they could use help but they were wondering if they could trust him. However, both of them thought they could easily suppress Meng Hao if they needed to. Meng Hao attempted to make his face look open and honest.
The whole time this was going on, Zhang Jie was being very quiet and staying as still as he could.
Zao Qiang flicked his sleeve and pointed at Zhang Jie. "What about him?" he asked.
Meng Hao cupped his hands and bowed. "He is with me, elders," he said.
"Where we are going, he cannot go."
"That is fine. Zhang Jie, please make camp nearby and wait for me. I will definitely be back."
If Zhang Jie didn't know Meng Hao, he probably would have pretended to agree and then run away. However, they had a good relationship at this point. He trusted Meng Hao. He slowly nodded and bowed deeply. "Yes, I will be nearby."
Seeing this, Zao Mo coldly snorted. "Are you ready to go? We have not been able to attain this treasure, but with one more person, we probably can quickly now."
Meng Hao nodded. He slapped his bag of holding and began to follow the other two men. They sped off on flying swords and Meng Hao did the same. Meng Hao itched in anticipation to discover why these two cultivators had been mucking around in the mortal world for so long!