Chapter 49

“My lord, we’ve scouted the area! There are no caves nearby, and along this road, many people are searching for traces of the stolen wagon!”

“Then press deeper into the Viscount Beckert’s territory!”

Gravys did not return with the supplies because he had come for the stolen cargo mentioned in the intelligence.

That fifty grams of mithril was a true treasure—he would not miss it!

Notably, before setting out, Gravys had asked Lukas to confirm that this Quke Earl family caravan was indeed the same one he had escaped from.

The Quke family regularly sent caravans to the Chaos Wasteland.

Of course, since mithril, like iron, was a kingdom-controlled good, it was forbidden to sell to the Chaos Wasteland.

So this mithril was certainly illicit—and that was likely why the Quke Earl family offered such a high reward.

As Gravys and a few knights gradually entered Viscount Beckert’s territory and confirmed the surrounding population had thinned, he ordered Lei Meng and the others to wait where they were, then mounted Zhuiyue to soar into the sky for reconnaissance.

With Zhuiyue’s aerial search, the results came immediately.

Five li ahead, amid a chain of rolling hills, Gravys looked down and spotted faint smoke rising from a hollow.

Though no cave was visible, this remote wilderness lacked even goat paths—yet there was smoke. The answer was obvious.

Gravys returned at once and led his men toward the hollow.

But two li from the hollow, the horses could no longer proceed.

Tying the Huolie horses to the trees, Gravys’s party began walking.

Though the forest was dense, Zhuiyue guided them, and they soon reached the edge of the hollow.

Looking down from above, they indeed spotted a cave beneath a rock wall tangled with vines.

At the cave’s entrance, eight men were eating, their short axes and long swords laid beside them.

“Boss Caro, how long are we stuck here? We were promised a good feast after this job, but now we’re trapped in this godforsaken mountain eating black bread every day!”

“Relax! We got fifty grams of mithril—that’s worth at least five hundred gold coins. Once the heat dies down and the searchers leave, you’ll have wine and meat in abundance—and plenty of beautiful women too!”

“Boss Caro, you promise that!”

“I said it! Five hundred gold coins—after we get back, even Scorpion Boss won’t dare deny the boys a share. That’ll keep us living well for a while!”

“Hah! Boss Caro, you’re a legend! Just thinking of those seductive little whores at the tavern, I can’t wait!”

“Who?!” Just as the bandits were lost in fantasy, Boss Caro sharply turned toward the bushes beside him.

As the third-in-command of the Scorpion Brotherhood, he was a Bronze Knight.

His sharp senses had detected movement in the bushes.

Under his gaze, several figures slowly emerged from the foliage.

……

Scorpion Bandits again?

This caught Gravys off guard.

He didn’t fear these bandits.

One Bronze Knight, one Senior Knight, and half a dozen common bandits—his own five men could crush them easily.

But their identity as Scorpion Bandits reminded him of the assassins he’d slain before.

That guy named Kun Tuo—he was also with the Scorpion Bandits, wasn’t he?

“Guys, who are you? We’re the Scorpion Brotherhood, here to hunt a beast. Be smart—leave now, and we’ll pretend this never happened!”

Boss Caro’s pupils shrank—he sensed the young man leading the group was a Bronze Knight.

The attire and bearing of the men behind him clearly marked them as at least formal knights—he felt threatened.

So he dared not escalate immediately, instead trying to deceive them into leaving.

“Hunt a beast? But I heard there’s a gang hiding in these hills who stole mithril—fifty grams of it, worth five hundred gold coins!”

“How do you know that?” Boss Caro gasped; the bandits instantly gripped their weapons tightly.

“Don’t ask how I know. I advise you to hand over the mithril—maybe then I’ll give you a quick death,” Gravys said.

Boss Caro dropped the pretense: “Damn you! I advise you to leave now—or I’ll cut off your heads and use them as chamber pots!”

Damn! Gravys was genuinely impressed.

Yesterday he’d dealt with a guy who liked to twist heads off and kick them like balls.

Now here’s another who wants to use heads as chamber pots.

Do these bastards have some weird obsession with human skulls?

Gravys smiled and shook his head: “Redneck, I don’t like twisting heads off to kick them—or using them as chamber pots—but I love beating bastards like you until even your mother won’t recognize you!”

Boss Caro froze for a moment, then realized it was an insult—he exploded in rage: “Kill them all!”

Saying this, Boss Caro charged straight at Gravys.

Gravys kept smiling, not dodging or moving as Boss Caro lunged.

But before Boss Caro could even grin, Lei Meng surged forward with aura.

CLANG! Their swords clashed.

Boss Caro shuddered, his body and sword flung backward several paces.

He stared at Lei Meng in shock: “You’re a Bronze Knight too?!”

As Lei Meng had said earlier, weaker titled knights sometimes cannot perceive the true strength of stronger ones.

Boss Caro was barely stronger than Gravys—he hadn’t seen through Lei Meng’s true power.

Lei Meng said nothing, his sword continuing its howling slash toward Boss Caro.

“Brothers, fight them to the death!”

Seeing Lei Meng press forward, Boss Caro shouted to his men while swinging his sword.

“Kill!”

Knowing this was their only chance to survive, the bandits rushed forward.

But as they charged, Boss Caro blocked Lei Meng’s second strike with a clang, then used the force to flip backward and darted into the bushes beside him.

“Boss Caro!”

The other bandits stared in horror—he’d just used them as bait.

“Don’t worry—he won’t get away,” Gravys smiled. Lei Meng infused aura into his legs, his speed visibly surging as he chased Boss Caro.

WHOOSH! Lei Meng caught up behind Boss Caro—the man was pitifully weak, far weaker than the Wolf Boss.

PTH! The sword slashed into his shoulder.

With a scream, Boss Caro collapsed to the ground; Lei Meng stepped forward, placing his blade against his throat—but didn’t strike again.

The bandits watched, their hearts filled with grim satisfaction—then they were swiftly cut down by Gravys and the other knights.

“Noble lord, spare me! I’m sorry!”

Boss Caro, one arm severed, was dragged like a chicken before Gravys by Lei Meng.

“I still prefer your earlier defiant attitude!”

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Heavy slaps rained across Boss Caro’s face.

“And I said—I love beating bastards like you who play with other people’s heads!”

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! Blood and teeth flew from Boss Caro’s mouth as he gasped for air, barely breathing.