Ling Han definitely did not believe Wu Jing’s words.
Perhaps he was merely pa.s.sing on a message, and even he himself was not clear about the true strength of that band of mountain bandits, but Ling Han was sure that since this was Ding Hu’s scheme to target him, how could he possibly allow him to so easily pa.s.s the test?
This band of mountain bandits had to be very strong. Even if they could not kill Ling Han, they would be capable of causing serious damage to his team, and even if Ling Han returned, he would be punished heavily. Then, he could simply find an excuse to get rid of Ling Han in prison.
Ling Han shook his head. As a great Severing Mundane Ancestor, did he have to go to such trouble to deal with him?
This was also because the three great clans impeded each other. Otherwise, Ding Hu definitely did not have to go to so much trouble. He could kill him as he liked, and who would dare say anything?
A military order could not be disobeyed!
The team of 100 set out, and even their military instructor could not follow, which made it clear that this was a trap to the fullest.
Yet Ling Han was filled with confidence.
Ding Hu had miscalculated two points. Firstly, Ling Han’s injuries had healed, and his battle prowess had completely recovered. Secondly, the Empress also had incredible battle prowess. Putting aside the fact that the two of them would be working together, either one of them could easily overwhelm any Genesis Tier.
Unless male and female Saint Tiers of the great sects appeared, who could match these two? They had both formed 10,000,000 stars when they were in the Eternal River Tier.
No matter how fierce their enemy was, one of the two would be attacking, while the other would be on defense, which was enough to perfectly deal with every enemy.
However, though Ling Han and the Empress had confidence, that was not the same for the others!
Rather than running to their deaths, they might as well become deserters. Worse come to worst, they would just have to never return to Dark Moon City.
The moment they exited the city, there were some that planned to sneak away.
Ling Han moved, apprehended 13 people who attempted to flee, and pushed out the two leaders. They were the ones who had established contact with the others, which led to this incident of army desertion.
“I know that everyone does not have much confidence in this mission, but I will make a declaration: as long as I am here, nothing will be a problem. This time, I will only give a light punishment as warning, but if anyone has any further plans of deserting, then do not blame me for dealing with you as per martial law,” Ling Han stated menacingly.
Everyone pursed their lips. ‘You say it so easily, but if we really fight with the mountain bandits, how are you going to guarantee our safety?’
But Ling Han’s aggressive move had intimidated all of them. At least for the moment, no one dared desert the army, but the moment the battle began, they might take advantage of the chaos to flee.
They exited the city gates, and headed towards the Chaotic Wind Mountains. It was a total of seven days’ journey from Dark Moon City, and there was an important trade route at the base of the Chaotic Wind Mountains, which connected Dark Moon City with Bayu City.
And now a group of mountain bandits had set up camp in the Chaotic Wind Mountains, and they would occasionally raid the coming and going traveling merchants.
In truth, there were mountain bandits every year, and the traveling merchants had long since become used to them. Furthermore, most mountain bandits would not kill all of them, and would only ask for some pa.s.sage fees. Otherwise, if there were malicious battles, there would definitely be deaths and injuries, so how could it be that the mountain bandits would not fear death too?
However, this band of mountain bandits was different. They were vicious and merciless, and would kill every single traveling merchant they came across, not leaving a single one alive. Furthermore, they were very cunning too. If the traveling merchants hired powerful guards, they would choose to avoid them, but if they could succeed, they would eliminate the entire group of traveling merchants without hesitation.
Ling Han had already drawn up a strategy on their way there. They would all disguise themselves as merchants, and lure the mountain bandits to make a move on them.
To guarantee that the mountain bandits would move out, Ling Han even had the few peak stage Saint Kings hide in the carriages. However, this was actually unnecessary because there were not many elites among their team in the first place, and there were only a mere six peak stage Saint Kings.
They drove their carriages, and did not hide their ident.i.ties. They showed the banner of the Dark Moon Army, but for anyone who had the slightest bit of experience, they would be able to confirm with a glance that this group were definitely rookies.
Added with their bountiful cargo, this was practically making an announcement to others to come and rob them.
Though this plan was very simple, it was very practical. They had not stepped into the area of the Chaotic Wind Mountains for very long when Ling Han discovered that someone was tailing them. He even deliberately had the fleet of carriages speed up, making it clear that he knew that the situation was not good, and was planning to quickly flee.
This move was very useful. Another four hours later, a group of people had charged out from two sides, blocking their advance and any route of retreat.
“We want only valuables, so obediently submit yourselves to capture. When we leave, we will naturally set you all free!” a bandit declared smilingly. This naturally was a lie. If anyone really surrendered themself to be captured, then their fate would definitely be death.
The Empress stood up. With her prideful personality, she naturally was not suited to protect others, so she was in charge of offense, while Ling Han was responsible for defense.
The mountain winds blew past, and the Empress’s long skirts fluttered. The fabric wrapped tightly around her slender frame, showing her perfect, flawless figure. Instantly, a round of people swallowing their drool was heard.
“Beauty, take off your veil and give us a look,” a mountain bandit demanded with a whistle.
“Ninth, who knows if this woman has an ugly face?”
“Just for this kind of figure, no matter how ugly she looks, I want her! Worse comes to worst, I’ll just cover her face; with the lights out, what would be the point no matter how beautiful she is?”
“Hahaha!”
The mountain bandits all erupted in raucous laughter, staring at the Empress pervertedly. Every time they had a raid, if there were any women among the traveling merchants, they would definitely suffer their various ********.
Xiu, with a flash, the Empress had already charged out. Her life philosophy was extraordinarily simple: if she was not happy, she’d just kill whatever made her unhappy!
A human head flew into the skies, and they could see that the Empress was standing behind that “Ninth”. The latter was only left with a headless body, and fresh blood was still gus.h.i.+ng from his neck.
The mountain bandits were all shocked. What astonis.h.i.+ng speed, and what frightening strength!
“Woman, you are quite courageous to kill one of our own!” A man who looked to be the leader stepped out. He looked at the Empress menacingly. “At first, I planned to spare your life, but you are so determined to seek your own demise!”
He waved his hand, and commanded, “Kill them all!”
The mountain bandits all shouted and charged out. Every five of them were a small team, forming a unique formation, cooperating well with each other, so whether it was attack or defense, their might was greatly increased.
The Empress’s figure trembled, and nine doppelgangers split out. The 10 Empresses danced and flew around like b.u.t.terflies, but wherever they pa.s.sed, they would bring a reign of terror. One after another, the mountain bandits became corpses and collapsed. No one could take a second blow from the Empress, even if she had divided herself into 10 doppelgangers, and they began their respective slaughter.
Seeing this scene, Ling Han’s team finally flared up.
So this band of mountain bandits were actually so weak?
No, no, no, it was not that the mountain bandits were too weak, but rather that the Empress was too strong! Heavens, they had thought that only Ling Han was strong, but how could one person be able to eliminate all the mountain bandits no matter how strong he was? But now with the help of the Empress, it was a different story. With one on the offense and the other on the defense, it was enough to guarantee that none of them would die.
Ling Han’s previous promise had not been the slightest bit false!
“Charge!” They all flared up as well, and charged towards the mountain bandits.