Chapter 210: Three Bandits: Lao Bali, Bone, Zanglian, and What Constitutes Insidiousness

Clatter, clatter—the quiver was shaken violently by the Bandit Leader, and as the quiver was intentionally tilted, the little trinkets inside were visibly about to be shaken out.

More than twenty bandits stared intently at the quiver, each person muttering to themselves, and many even pressed their palms together in fists, offering prayers to the gods.

Where is there any god that protects this kind of thing! The prayers of these bandits could only serve a psychological purpose at best.

Plop—a small pendant with beads was the first to be shaken out. Upon seeing this, many people looked toward a certain veteran bandit in the group. This man's face turned pale, his mouth twitched, and his whole body slumped all at once; he began to curse under his breath, complaining about how the gods had failed to protect him, even though he had intentionally let several traveling Priests pass by last year and hadn't even collected their road tolls!

Although he hadn't dared to actually collect road tolls from those Priests anyway.

"Lao Bali! Get some spirit! We're all tough guys who've rolled through blades and fire, real men! How come you're acting like your parents died just because you're tasked with driving away a few Spitting Crocodiles! Toughen up!" While shaking the quiver, the Bandit Leader rebuked his old subordinate with dissatisfaction.

This bandit named Lao Bali was actually not very old, not even thirty yet, but in the bandit trade, if one starts in their teens, that counts as over ten years of experience; wind-blown and sun-scorched, accompanied by snakes, insects, slaughter, and fear, the hardships endured in the mountains for years made this guy's face look like he was forty or fifty.

"Boss, it's not that my parents died, it's that I'm afraid my children will lose their father." Lao Bali wore a doomed expression, and before the task had even begun, he kept spouting dispiriting words.

"Get lost, you 【expletive】 hurry up and get ready, let me see, alright, here it comes." Just as the Bandit Leader finished speaking, another little trinket was shaken out of the quiver; it was a bone shard.

Everyone looked toward a young bandit in the group; this person hadn't even been in the Bandit Group for two years, and no one expected their luck to be this bad.

Experienced bandits knew in their hearts that, unlike seasoned partners, these newly joined companions were often the most likely to die during the first process of luring a Monster. Basically, they all died; only the lucky newcomers who weren't chosen could survive the process of luring Monsters by using the experience they gained from familiarizing themselves with the surrounding area's Monster environment, habits, skills, and abilities.

So, don't be fooled by Lao Bali's "parents-died" look; there was a high probability he could survive the Monster-luring operation. His pessimistic demeanor was actually just a hint to the Bandit Leader that this job wasn't easy and that he would need compensation after he survived!

And the Bandit Leader's urging words, filled with profanity, were the subtext acknowledging that he would provide compensation.

"Bone, do a good job in a moment, follow Lao Bali, do whatever he tells you to do, understand?" After giving these instructions, the Bandit Leader continued to shake the quiver, 'selecting' the last person.

As expected, the old guys' little cheating techniques were still useful; the third person was also a newcomer who had joined less than three years ago. Yes, in a Bandit Group that had been established for over ten years, a guy who had joined three years ago was still a newcomer unless they could survive this Monster-luring operation; otherwise, they had to grind out seniority, get familiar with everyone in the group, or suck up to the Bandit Leader to become a trusted aide, only then could they shed the status of a newcomer.

"Zanglian! You're the same, stick close to Lao Bali, do whatever he says, don't 【expletive】 improvise or think you're amazing or can do better, unless you 【expletive】 really want to die and feed yourself to the Spitting Crocodiles, in which case I'll just have to pick two more guys."

The other bandits' complexions turned even worse; those who had just started to look a bit better became worried again, after all, if all three people died during the Monster-luring operation and the task still wasn't finished, then they would have to keep shaking the quiver to send more people out to lure the Monster.

"Boss, don't worry, they're just Spitting Crocodiles, those stupid things, you can't find a more foolish Monster nearby than them, luring them isn't hard."

Lao Bali, who was leading the team, asked his companions for a goat lamb and also picked up two Forest long-eared rabbits caught on the way; the three of them headed toward a river near the Shanglu.

Which beasts were entrenched near this stretch of Shanglu they were 'responsible' for, and which Monsters existed there—over these ten-plus years, Lao Bali had long since figured it out together with the Bandit Leader and the others. Not only had they personally observed and recorded intelligence on the Monsters, but these bandits had also spent a lot of money to study the Monster books treasured within the Merchant Guild; by comparing the two, they had 'perfectly' mastered the intelligence and countermeasures for almost every Monster in the county.

Of course, there was also the method they had figured out for luring Monsters into a chase.

Knowing the method was one thing, but when actually taking people to lure a Monster, the death rate for this job remained very high; almost every time someone had to die, and sometimes it even required consecutive deaths.

They didn't light any Torches; they were bold bandits familiar with the surrounding mountains and forests, and unlike the weak farmers living in villages and towns, these guys, despite working a line of work that cost them their heads, were actually cunning and clever, having long understood that in such night-time mountains and forests where no one else appeared, carrying a bright Torch would instead make it easy to lose one's life.

After all, while a Torch could drive away beasts that feared light at night, it also easily attracted Monsters that didn't fear light. Furthermore, in some areas, many moths and insects were phototactic; the bandits didn't understand what phototaxis was, but they knew that among those moths that liked to throw themselves into fires, there were occasionally poisonous ones. A campfire was one thing—the intense flames could burn away the poisonous phosphorus powder carried on the moths—but a Torch with insufficient fire couldn't; when the Torch's flame burned the moths' wings, that poisonous phosphorus powder would be blown away by the heat and contaminate a person's face or eyes.

Unknowingly, it would poison a person.

The same went for insects; some poisonous insects, when burned by a Torch, wouldn't die immediately but would bite people randomly while struggling, making it easy for the person holding the Torch to be bitten and poisoned.

So, they cleverly picked some flowers in the mountains and forests that emitted a faint glow, flattened them to remove the stamens, and carried them with them. In this night-time mountain and forest environment, it could provide some illumination for the bandits who had adapted to the night.

Although this illumination wasn't much, it was barely enough, and especially unlike a Torch, these dim glowing plants wouldn't be seen by the night watchmen of distant Caravans, which was very favorable for their sneak attacks.

"Walk, walk, walk, there are wild boars nearby, don't take those animal paths that look easy to walk on, follow me, we'll kick over the bushes and walk straight through."

Lao Bali was a veteran bandit; he had been to this nearby area twice before and knew the distribution of wild beasts in the vicinity, as well as where potential dangers in the mountains and forests lay. He took a small Leather Bag from his pocket and pulled out some medicinal powder, patting it onto the three of them.

"This is snake-repellent powder; those poisonous 'living belts' won't bite us once they smell this. The most dangerous thing in the mountains and forests isn't actually those Monsters, but the snakes in the mountains! Especially this year, it's hot as hell, and those cold-blooded tongue-flickers are very active."

The two young bandits nicknamed Bone and Zanglian hurriedly patted the medicinal powder evenly over their bodies, even unceremoniously grabbing a few more handfuls of powder from Lao Bali's bag.

Lao Bali wasn't stingy either, keeping his bag open for them to take as they pleased, only saying, "Good brothers still have to settle the matter of coins. I won't be polite either; this bag of snake-repellent powder sells for thirty copper coins in Duan Ya Cheng, can you two reimburse me after things are finished?"

"Okay!"

"No problem, that's not a big deal."

The two young bandits immediately agreed.

With the aid of the snake-repellent powder, the three of them traveled through the sparse mountain forest, walked out of the forest along a downward slope, and arrived at the bank of a river nearby.

The terrain here was more open, and the riverbank had no other cover besides smooth Stones of various sizes.

"Be careful, unlike other places, there are Spitting Crocodiles entrenched in this river!"

Lao Bali reminded them once more.

"I've heard people mention intelligence about this Spitting Crocodile, what about you?" the bandit nicknamed Bone asked the other companion. The bandit named Zanglian nodded: "I know about the Spitting Crocodile."

"That's great, good luck today, working with two guys who know the Monster's intelligence. Uh, it would be even better luck if I hadn't been chosen." Lao Bali grumbled, pointing to the smooth surfaces of the large Stones around the river: "Touch them, touch the indentations on the surface of the Stones, and you'll intuitively know that although Spitting Crocodiles are stupid and brainless, what they rely on to entrench themselves in the river and hunt other animals."

"Including us Humans," he added.

The two young bandits approached the larger river Stones and, with the help of the glowing plants on their bodies and the moonlight from the two moons in the sky, personally inspected the marks on the Stones.

The more they touched them, the more shocked they became, because these river Stones were hard as hell, the kind of hard Stones that would spark if you hit them with an axe, and even so, the smooth, rounded surfaces of the Stones actually had many small holes half a finger deep.

If this was the so-called 'spitting' of a Monster like the Spitting Crocodile, then this Monster was too terrifying.

Wouldn't it punch a hole right through a person if it hit them?

"Don't worry, I said it before, that thing is very stupid. Besides the deadly water-spitting, only its biting and ramming are somewhat dangerous. But it's night now, those guys have very poor eyesight; we'll first use the bloody smell of a rabbit to lure the stupid crocodile, then prepare a gutted rabbit on the road, and finally, that lamb—as long as we quietly gut it and throw it near that group's Yingdi, the job is done! Understand? It's very simple, right?"

"Sounds pretty easy?" the bandit Bone said with slight relief.

"Sure enough, it's better to work with the old-timers; if it were just us newcomers, we'd probably have to use ourselves to lure the Monster." the bandit Zanglian sighed.

"That's why you should listen to me, I guarantee you two will go back alive. After this trip is successfully completed, the Boss won't likely let you two come again next time; staying behind to guard the lair and sleep soundly is much better. Let's go, prick up your ears, those stupid crocodiles make a loud clicking sound at night, I hope we can find a few more to give those outsiders who don't respect us a harsh lesson!"

Lao Bali grinned hideously, and with the two bandits also grinning hideously, they followed the river downstream to search.

They didn't walk far before they heard the loud clicking sounds made by the Spitting Crocodiles in the hot night, as well as the sound of heavy footsteps.

River Stones that sounded quite heavy were pushed aside when touched by the legs and feet of the moving Spitting Crocodiles, making clear friction and impact sounds. Just by listening to the noise made by those few Monsters as they walked, one didn't need eyes to realize that the size and weight of these Monsters were not something Humans could contend with.

"Listening to this sound, it seems the Spitting Crocodiles on this river have grown too smoothly these past two years. When I came over to observe with the Boss a few years ago, these stupid, evil crocodile Monsters were only two people long, of course, not counting the tail."

The two young bandits didn't realize how big a crocodile that was two people long (not counting the tail) actually was, but in the pitch-black environment by the river, they could still feel the huge Monsters moving lazily in the night over a hundred meters away.

The three of them hid behind a Stone covered in countless indentations from the intense water flow and discussed the situation ahead.

To the two men's surprise, the old bandit Bali took the initiative to shoulder the task of luring the Spitting Crocodile at the very beginning. He said: "This step is the most important, I don't trust leaving this step to you two kids; if you mess it up, don't I have to do it anyway? So it's better if I do it from the start. According to our current distance, Bone, you go near the riverbank we first approached, you take a rabbit and go; remember when setting the bait, slice open the rabbit's belly and mash up the Viscera inside! Otherwise, the bait won't be stimulating enough for the Monster, and it might wander around in place for a while before returning to where it usually stays. Then we'll have messed it up!"

To make the young bandits pay attention, Lao Bali also intimidated them: "And, maybe that guy won't set its sights on the insufficiently tempting rabbit, but will chase after you instead; even if the riverbank has many Stones and is unfavorable for the Monster's movement, you'll still easily die in the mouth of this stupid crocodile."

"I understand, the rabbit used as bait must have its belly sliced open and the Viscera mashed up. And I have to hide far away, right?" Bone confirmed.

"That's how it is! If there's a problem, you run upstream to Zanglian; Zanglian has other bait on hand too. Right, this Monster has grown quite a bit in size over these past few years, so I'm afraid a single rabbit won't be enough to catch the Monster's attention at first, which means the choice of bait needs to be adjusted. Zanglian, you take a rabbit from your side, same requirements as before, and I'll have to use that lamb on my end! If the Monster doesn't run toward where the caravan is at the Yingdi in the end, you stand out and shout, throw a Stone at the Monster, and lure it to charge toward the Yingdi direction. Once the people in the Yingdi start fighting the Monster, you just escape in the chaos," Lao Bali instructed.

"Don't worry, it's so dark out, I'll just lie flat on the ground and no one will be able to see me," Zanglian said confidently. He even demonstrated it; sure enough, he lay flat on the uneven riverbank, and with the sky being so dark, it was very easy to hide.

"Then that's settled, you two head out. Gutou, you go to the riverbank where we first arrived; Zanglian, you sneak to the riverbank near the caravan Yingdi, and slaughter the rabbit somewhere in between."

Giving one last instruction, Lao Bali asked, "Do you need some more medicinal powder? This stuff not only repels snakes, but it can also repel insects; the riverbank is damp, and there are quite a few bugs."

After speaking, he took out a pouch of medicinal powder, facing the two with a smile on his face.

The two young Bandit could not see what was behind Lao Bali's smile, so they each grabbed a handful, emptied the medicinal powder, and carefully patted it all over their bodies.

"Aren't you using any?" Gutou asked.

Lao Bali put away his smile: "I have some 'cheap' local methods. Want to learn? One Gold Coin and I'll teach you."

"Get lost!"

"You've gone crazy for money!"

Laughing and cursing, the two young Bandit carried the securely bound live Forest long-eared rabbits and walked quickly upstream along the river.

Lao Bali watched them walk away step by step, then expressionlessly raised his arm, sniffed the places on his body where he had previously applied the snake-repelling powder, his expression shifted, and he silently took off the clothes that had been stained with the powder, throwing them into a puddle between some Stone nearby.

He was naked, carrying a goat lamb with its hooves bound and mouth tied shut in one hand, and a sharp Dagger in the other, moving forward step by step, carefully approaching the sounds made by the water-spitting crocodile.

?? Sorry, this is last night's chapter; it ended up being written a bit slowly.