Chapter 152: The Night Before It Begins (Part 3)

Having confirmed the presence of the Glowing Baishi on the tree, this confidant of the Oakes Brothers knew he had arrived at the place.

From here, traveling a few kilometers north across the gentle wasteland, one could see a patch of elevated mountain forest slightly to the north. The largest of the outside Bandit Groups had their Jiedian right in the woodland at the edge of this mountain forest.

The confidant jumped off his horse, carefully tethered it under the large tree where the white stone was fixed, and then tightened his clothing, tidying up his disguised, disheveled attire once more to make himself look like a new recruit wearing stolen clothes.

He walked quickly toward the north; along the way, the grass and trees were withered and yellow, one moon was about to set, and the other two were gradually rising.

"Good luck, there will be two moons to light the way when I return in a while. Thanks to the Goddesses of the Moon for their favor, praise be to you!" The confidant blew a few kisses toward the moons, striding forward with a smile on his face.

Soon, he arrived at the edge of the mountain forest. Just as Da Aokesi had said, these newly formed outside Bandit Groups were truly unprofessional; they didn't even have a single person on watch in the middle of the night.

Not only were there no hidden sentries, but there wasn't even a single person standing guard in the open.

It was just that absurd.

But absurd as it was, it actually made his actions easier.

After approaching the edge of the mountain forest, one could see faint firelight in the woods and people moving about. Tents of all kinds were propped up haphazardly among the trees, without any regard for how they would extinguish a fire or evacuate if a forest fire were to break out.

Pieces and boxes of valuable stolen goods were just left casually outside the tents, unattended and free for anyone to take.

The confidant raised an eyebrow, reached into an open Wooden Box, took out a stack of folded fine cloth, and felt the smooth fabric. He nodded, looked left and right, and after confirming no one was paying attention, stuffed the entire bundle of cloth into his bosom.

A light laugh came from nearby. The confidant of Da Aokesi turned his head sharply and discovered that in an opposite tent, a young woman was sitting at the entrance, naked and with disheveled hair, laughing right at him, seemingly mocking his actions just now.

The guilty confidant stared fiercely at her, terrified that she might see he was not a member of the Bandit Group, but an outsider.

But the other party merely picked up a glass bottle of expensive Wine from beside her and took a casual sip: "The goods were all stolen by everyone themselves; is there any need to take them secretly like a thief? If you want it, just take it. When you go back, have your wife sew you a comfortable set of good clothes to wear. Though we have the fabric here, the needle and thread to sew clothes are a bit lacking, *hic*, after all, merchants rarely sell such cheap things, and when everyone fled their respective villages, no one brought such things with them."

The confidant echoed her: "That is so, you are right."

Seeing that she truly didn't realize he was an outsider, he felt relieved. He took the fabric from his bosom, unfolded it into a long strip, wrapped it around his waist, and tied a casual knot, making him look even more like a member of this Bandit Group.

No longer paying attention to the drunken young woman, the confidant wandered through this messy camp. He didn't dare approach the campfires or participate in the celebrations of the young bandits, only searching for the tent with the agreed-upon mark.

Along the way, he encountered many bandits who hadn't slept yet, but these people saw the fine cloth wrapped haphazardly around his waist and assumed he was one of their own. Some even invited him to dance, saying he might be able to win the heart of some girl in the camp with his dance moves.

But the confidant didn't know any of the bandits here; how could he dare to run off to a crowded place like that? So he waved his hand and clutched his stomach, pretending he needed to take a dump.

"Don't take a dump in the camp! The boss just stepped in someone's feces in front of his tent yesterday and was furious. If you need to go, go outside, but don't go into the mountain forest, it's not very safe there. Go to the wasteland outside the woods and just dig a hole."

The young bandit who spoke was quite friendly, pointing outside to give him directions.

The confidant, clutching his stomach, nodded with a pained expression and, without saying anything more, walked away.

After searching for a while, every time he encountered a bandit, he used the need to take a dump as the perfect excuse to wander through the camp. Soon, he spotted an ordinary tent with a Zihonghua specially embroidered on it.

Relieved, the confidant stopped pretending to have a stomachache, strode over, and scanned his head left and right to ensure no one was watching him.

He lifted the curtain of the small triangular tent and ducked inside.

But the next moment, a sharp Dagger was already pressed against his neck.

"Get out, my relative is gone, I have no interest in singing or dancing," a cold voice said.

The confidant breathed a sigh of relief; it was someone he knew, who had been sent out by Da Aokesi to act as an inside agent for the outside Bandit Group for several months. They hadn't seen each other for quite some time.

"Don't be nervous, it's me, 'White Scar'. You guy, didn't you recognize me?" The confidant nicknamed 'White Scar' said.

The person in the darkness was stunned for a moment, then realized it was a familiar friend. He found it hard to understand: "No, shouldn't we be having a secret meeting at the agreed time and the agreed safe location? Why did you come here too?"

'White Scar' curled his lip: "This damn place has no security at all. I just walked right in, using the excuse of taking a dump along the way, and wandered around the whole camp for half a day before I found your tent."

"Ah, is that so?" The inside agent was also bewildered. Thinking about it carefully, this newly formed Bandit Group was indeed like that; many places were very casual. Not only was the camp chosen in a place that wasn't enclosed, but there was no organization inside. Because people joined almost every day, no one knew anyone else. When going out to raid, a few leaders would just shout, and whoever came would be taken along to try their luck.

However, because they had many people, they hadn't failed a single time in these days.

"Fine, what happened that you suddenly came looking for me? The boss actually sent you to find me at this time? Did something happen? Did the Thieves Guild make a move? Or is there another Caravan coming from the Merchant Union side?" The inside agent put away the Dagger and sat up straight in the cramped tent.

This was a young man under twenty. Although young, his lean, well-trained muscles showed at a glance that he was very capable of fighting.

In fact, that was the case. He had been sent by Da Aokesi to act as an inside agent from the very beginning. Because he joined this outside Bandit Group very early, he was now the fourth-in-command within the group.

He was also considered a leader of some standing.

But the inside agent didn't think such a scattered bandit organization could go very far. After all, everyone near Duoen Town knew that bandit groups of this large scale that didn't follow the rules basically didn't last long.

In fact, even now, the inside agent lived in fear all day, terrified that one night, professional thieves would sneak up and kill them all in the dark, and he would die in this dump without even having a chance to use his skills.

"It's like this..."

The confidant who came to deliver the news whispered the message Da Aokesi wanted to convey. He saw a smile appear on the face of the young man acting as the inside agent, though the light from the campfire nearby was dim, and the half-open tent curtain didn't let much light in.

"Finally, this damn mission is finally coming to an end," the inside agent breathed a sigh of relief, looking relaxed and happy.

After a while, having sent off his companion who delivered the message, the inside agent was calculating in his heart how to incite the people around him to target the Caravan of Knight Jier when another person came looking for him.

This time he didn't pull out his Dagger, but first identified the face of the visitor.

Sure enough, it was another familiar companion.

"Brother Kado-Aokesi sends his greetings. I am the second person sent to deliver the message. 'White Scar' has already come, right?" The visitor was also one of Da Aokesi's subordinates who considered himself wise.

The inside agent nodded: "He came and told me about the situation tonight, as well as my mission."

"Very good, but the situation has changed slightly. The boss estimates that 'Blood Dagger' at the Chalu will send people to persuade the surrounding bandits not to move against Knight Jier's Caravan. Let them focus their main energy on the Merchant Union's ransom for their captured Shop Assistants. But this is something the boss absolutely cannot allow. The boss said, no matter what method you use, you must make the Bandit Group here attack the Caravan at the Chalu."

The confidant who came in the second batch whispered these instructions. At this moment, several young bandits walked over and shouted loudly: "Fourth Brother! Fourth Brother! The boss is calling us over, saying there is new news from the Shanglu."

"Alright, coming right away." The inside agent also shouted back, then patted the confidant beside him and whispered: "I understand, leave it to me."

After saying that, he picked up a 'captured' Long Sword from inside the tent—which was actually his own Sword—and strode off with the young bandits who had come to call him.

The confidant who had finished delivering the message also slipped away secretly. It seemed many people had been called to the center of the camp, so even as he walked out like this, no one bothered him.

"Fourth Brother, who was that person? He looked a bit unfamiliar," a young bandit asked curiously. In the middle of the night, the fourth leader of the group was talking to a stranger; it looked a bit strange.

"He is from another group nearby, a fellow villager from my hometown. It seems he joined another group as a bandit. I recognized him after seeing him earlier. We were discussing things back home to see if any relatives were still alive."

The inside agent rolled his eyes and thought of a retreat: "According to him, he seems to have seen my uncle's family in Shangen Zhen to the north a few days ago. *Tsk*, he said my uncle's family is begging outside the town. This won't do; my family is all dead, and now only this uncle's family is left. I can't let them beg for a living."

Another young bandit stretched: "Fourth Brother, what else is there to say? Just bring them over. Compared to begging, our life here is much better. Compared to now, what kind of bitter life was it farming in the village back home?"

The other young bandits were of the same mind. Since he had found his family, he should definitely bring them into their group. Moreover, the more people they had, the stronger the group's strength would be. Not only could they swallow up the Caravans of large Merchant Guilds, but they could also gain more benefits when competing for territory and looting spoils with other Bandit Groups.

In short, the more people on their side, the better!

"Of course, that's what I think too. If there's nothing else in a while, I'll tell the boss at dawn, take a few people, bring some things, and make a trip to Shangen Zhen in the north. Not only to bring my uncle's family over but also to help the boss scout the situation in the north."

As the few spoke, they arrived at the center of the Yingdi; the singing and dancing that had been going on here had already stopped, and many people were woken up, walking over while yawning one after another. Some of the girls who had been singing and dancing here earlier did not leave either, sitting on the ground and listening to the news out of curiosity.

The leader of this Bandit Group did not chase anyone away; whoever wanted to listen could listen. They were all their own people—either this guy's younger sister or that guy's young wife. The entire Bandit Group did not have that many rules, and because their group had the most people and the strongest strength in the surrounding area, they were not that cautious.

The group leader was a middle-aged man around thirty years old with a tall, sturdy build; his arms were as thick as the thighs of some young girls. He held a Spear over four meters long that he had gotten from who knows where. Of course, it was very inconvenient to use in this forest, but in an open area, this thing could kill a person or a horse with a single thrust.

When the inside man came over, the other few leaders had also arrived. Seeing that the people who needed to come were mostly there, he didn't care if all the people who could go out to plunder had arrived, and patted the scout from his own group who had just returned beside him, letting him stand out.

The poor scout had walked back from Meiqian Chakou, while the trusted aides sent by Da Aokesi had already ridden past on horseback in two separate groups.

This guy had of course seen the guys riding horses past him on the Shanglu, but he was all alone, while the others were galloping through the night on horseback; who knew where they were going or what they were doing. This scout did not dare to go up and ask; after all, if the other party had malicious intentions, his pair of legs could not outrun someone on horseback.

Whenever he discovered someone passing by on horseback, this scout had to consciously retreat into the wild fields outside the Shanglu and secretly lie down to avoid being discovered by the other party.

He walked for a long time, and it was only now, deep in the night and nearing dawn, that he arrived at his own Yingdi.

"Cough, cough, everyone, I am 'Haotui Yueke', who was scouting for news at Meiqian Chakou. Tonight, a caravan arrived at the Chalu, and it is quite large; it has filled all three inns at the Chalu."

Hearing this, many people around immediately shouted that there was work again, becoming excited.

But the Bandit leader coughed heavily; he had already heard the news in advance and knew that the words were not yet finished.

"Everyone, although this caravan is accompanied by merchants, it is not so easy to take down, because the Siren Ganzi inn that cooperates with us, the innkeeper 'Blood Dagger', specifically called over the scouts at the Chalu to tell us about the specific situation of that caravan."

At this moment, many young Bandits who were shouting about robbing quieted down, because it seemed that things had changed.

"That caravan is led by a young Knight named Qiao Jier, and the Knight has a group of about thirty, uh, armored Refining Qi Warriors under his command. 'Blood Dagger' said those people are very formidable and are not opponents we can directly confront."

Once these words were said, the dozens or hundreds of people around split into two halves. Half of them clamored about robbing, saying never mind how many people there were or how formidable they were; they had more people on their side, and as long as they contacted the other few Bandit Groups in the surrounding area, the seven large groups plus the three small Bandit Groups would have nearly a thousand people combined when everyone gathered together. Wouldn't those few dozen people be trampled to death by everyone just kicking them once?

Easy.

Therefore, facing a caravan led by a young Knight with thirty armored Refining Qi Warriors as guards, this portion of the Bandits was shouting to take them down.

But another half felt that this matter was a bit difficult to handle. After all, they were dozens of tough nuts to crack, plus a more formidable Knight leading them. If they wanted to take down such a caravan, they should be able to do so by uniting with other Bandit Groups, but as for the losses, it was hard to say.

By then, they might lose over a hundred people in total, and there would be even more injured. They had no medical technology, and the surrounding churches were even less likely to perform Prayer healing for people like them who had no status. By then, the injured would probably die too.

And to lose so many people for a tough caravan, many felt it was not worth it. It was more likely a scheme by those insidious merchants in Duoen Town to drive tigers to devour wolves.

The two sides argued back and forth and could not convince anyone, so everyone placed their focus on the five group leaders.

It just so happened there were five leaders; they would ultimately decide whether to act, and everyone else would look to their intentions.

The inside man chuckled, knowing he should play his due role.

So he first patted the fifth leader beside him, a fat and sturdy man, letting him express his stance.

?? Welcome everyone to subscribe to this book, follow this book, add this book to your collection, and give this book recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and support with tips. Thank you all.