Chapter 117: Sand Bandits

As the caravan continued forward, when it got dark, they finally arrived at the edge of the desert area, so they camped here to rest for the night.

Compared to the heat of the day, the temperature at night gradually became cold.

On the edge of the desert, the sand on the back slope of a sand dune loosened, followed by churning, and a hand tied with a yellow cloth strip stretched out from the sand. Not long after, a thin, small man crawled out.

He walked on the sand as silently as a cat.

Taking advantage of the night, the man hunched his waist and sneaked up the sand dune, revealing a pair of eyes, staring at the camel caravan not far away, and took out paper and pen to keep recording something.

About half an hour passed.

The man grinned, put away the paper and pen, and dived into the sand, disappearing on the spot as if he had escaped into the ground.

Beside the sand dune that was originally empty, two figures suddenly appeared.

Zhou Yi Yi tilted her head and said, "He seems to be observing the situation of the caravan."

Lu Fang frowned, "Should be sand bandits."

I have to say, the means of hiding the figure of the sand bandit who came to scout just now were very powerful. If it weren't for Zhou Yi Yi, even he wouldn't have noticed.

During the day, Zhao Ya had just said that their caravan would be specially spared by the sand bandits.

Unexpectedly, at night, a sand bandit came to scout.

"I wonder if there are any inside agents for the sand bandits in the caravan."

Lu Fang muttered to himself, looking at the caravan camp not far away.

Zhou Yi Yi nodded, "You should have let me catch that sand bandit just now. Once interrogated, maybe we could have figured out what's going on."

Lu Fang shook his head, "No need to alert the enemy. Anyway, with you here, even if we encounter sand bandits that the caravan can't solve, we won't be afraid."

At the same time.

The Sand Rat, after scouting the information of the caravan, appeared in front of a stone mountain in the desert. Here, there were more than sixty sand bandits, each with a big beard and a fierce expression.

"Boss, this is the personnel and strength distribution of Zhao Ya's caravan."

The Sand Rat handed a piece of sheepskin paper to a burly man.

This burly man sat in the middle of the crowd and was the leader of this group of sand bandits. His name was only one word: "Xiong" (Fierce). The sand bandit organization he managed had only nearly seventy people in total.

Although there were few people, everyone's strength was not weak. The general strength was at the Seventh Rank, and the confidants around Xiong were several Sixth-Rank and one Fifth-Rank existence.

Xiong himself was a Fifth-Rank martial artist.

This group of sand bandits had just emerged in the last two years. Because of their fierce reputation, they had made quite a name for themselves in this area.

"Are there two Fifth-Rank Great Scholars?"

Xiong frowned.

The Sand Rat spoke, "Boss, I don't quite understand. With our strength, we don't need to rob this caravan at all. Not only is their cargo hard to sell, but it's also not that valuable. Moreover, the team leader Zhao Ya has a good relationship with the sand bandits in this area."

"If we need Zhao Ya in the future, we can also go directly to him. I imagine he wouldn't refuse."

Xiong sneered, "Someone in the Buddha Kingdom paid a high price, never wanting Zhao Ya to transport goods from here to the border of the Buddha Kingdom. We just need to take the silver and do the work."

"Remember, everyone moves out tomorrow."

"Rob the valuable goods, kill all the men, and keep all the women, especially the pretty ones."

As soon as this was said, it immediately caused lewd laughter from the surrounding sand bandits.

Early the next morning.

Taking advantage of the cool weather, the camel caravan set off again.

Lu Fang jumped out of the moving carriage, walked quickly to the front, found Zhao Ya, and said, "It might not be peaceful today, tell your people to be careful."

Zhao Ya was startled and hesitated, "Young Master Fang, did you notice something?"

Lu Fang hesitated and nodded, "Yesterday I saw sand bandits scouting the caravan from afar. I'm afraid they have ideas about the caravan. In short, be careful, and you won't make big mistakes."

He gave a reminder so that if they encountered danger, perhaps unnecessary damage could be avoided.

Zhao Ya smiled, "Young Master Fang, don't worry. The situation you mentioned is not uncommon, but please believe me, we can solve all of this."

"Actually, as long as it's not a special situation, these sand bandits won't attack our large caravan, because in the desert, sometimes they also need water and food."

"And all kinds of needs. At this time, sand bandits will trade with caravans like ours. Although very reluctant, this is the rule here."

"Both sides benefit, and we don't interfere with each other."

"Young Master Fang might feel uncomfortable hearing this, but the reason I say this is also to let you rest assured."

Lu Fang shrugged, "Hearing you say this, I am relieved."

After Lu Fang turned and left, an old man from the Western Regions with brownish-yellow eyes beside Zhao Ya laughed disdainfully:

"Truly a guy who hasn't seen the world, look how scared he was."

Zhao Ya smiled, "Bennett, you are right. He is indeed a bit too young, but he is much calmer than I was when I was young. Judging by his behavior, he seems to have some status in Great Zhou."

"Actually, what he said is also correct. There seems to be a group of sand bandits in this area that I haven't dealt with. I heard they are very strong and their means are extremely cruel."

"Just in case we really encounter them, we must be careful."

Bennett shook his head, "The leader of that group of sand bandits seems to be called Xiong. His ambition is very big, I guess he doesn't look down on our little cargo."

Zhao Ya nodded, "I hope so, so I can deal with him a little later."

In the morning, under Zhao Ya's instructions, the people in the caravan were indeed very vigilant, which caused them to walk much slower.

However, after lunch.

Most people relaxed their vigilance again. After all, this caravan could basically solve it even if it encountered sand bandits.

Suddenly, Zhao Ya, who was leading the way at the very front, stopped. He shouted loudly: "Emergency alert!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Zhao Ya in some panic.

Bennett also frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Ya's expression was grave, and he lowered his voice, "The people we sent to scout ahead just sent back a message with a danger word. He might have been controlled."

Bennett snorted coldly, "It's sand bandits!"

There will be no conflict between caravans, only between forces or sand bandits will such a possibility appear.

And if it were other forces, there would be a prompt for a certain force word.

And the prompt for a danger word only happens when encountering sand bandits.

Zhao Ya squeezed out a smile and raised his hands high, "Everyone, don't panic, and absolutely don't make any excessive movements or run away, as that might cause the sand bandits to misjudge."

"Leave other matters to our caravan to negotiate with the other side." ===== CHAPTER 118 =====