"Village Chief Yangku, Come out!"
Khanji's chilling voice echoed across the village, causing those hidden away to flinch.
They weren't anywhere near the entrance of the village. Yet they heard his words loud and clear.
And at this moment, their initial fear returned to them.
Gulp
They swallowed hard, holding one another.
Boss Chu should be able to handle them, right?
Doubt soon made many sweat buckets.
But what else could they do but hide away and pray that things went alright?
Yangku, his son Miroku, Cerberus, and the rest of the cultivators all headed out to greet these strangers of the night.
But unlike those hidden away, they knew Boss Chu and Old Fru were watching them somewhere within the shadows. So they had a sense of security in their hearts.
Holding the few items and grains, they humbly walked towards the Flame bandits.
The reason why all this started in the first place was that they couldn't keep up with the constant demands of these bandits.
These bandits were all cultivators, So why did they always need food?
At their level, they could go days, months, and even years without.
But it's said that these bandits used the food gathered to establish trade with ordinary merchants in exchange for coins.
Running a fortress of cultivators meant they needed funds in any way possible to buy pills, elixirs, get cultivation materials at auctions, and even cultivation manuals to increase their strength. And selling the food they gathered from these villagers was just one of the many ways they gathered wealth.
Every coin counts.
But what about them, the villagers?
These bandits were unreasonable, treating them like servants who grew or provided food for them. And as the years went by, these bandits not only grew in number but also became more and more fierce with their demands
So it was only a matter of time before the cup of water finally spilled over. By then, the greed, intentions, and goals of these bandits might be very disastrous.
Who knew what they were planning?
Yangku and the others carried the little grain they had struggled to gather.
To let the enemy not discover their ploy, they had to act as they naturally would if Boss Chu wasn't here.
.
Yangku lowered his head, shaking his shoulders in shivers.
"Good sir… Here… Here are the food supplies you demanded."
Khanji inwardly sneered, looking at the few bags before him. "You call these food supplies? This much is only 1/10th of what we requested. So where are the rest?"
Whoosh!
One of the bags burst open.
Khanji's blade had released sharp wind cuts, dicing and destroying the grains in the bag.
Bastard!
Miroku clenched his fist, trying to contain his rage.
The villagers worked hard day and night, hardly eating the food they got just to gather this much.
So to see their hard work get abused in this manner only fueled his hatred for these flame bandits.
The other bandits leaned back, smiling playfully while watching the show.
Anyone with clear eyes can see that they were here to find fault, But what of it?
"Disobedience shall not be tolerated."
"A mere group of lowlife peasants dares to go against our leader? Courting death!"
The corner of Khanji's lips turned upwards, staring at Yangku and the others who now had their heads down.
"For your disobedience, you should all know the price, right?"
Yangku and the rest nodded their heads very slowly with bitter faces.
Already they were treated as servants to these bandits.
But now, these bandits wanted to make it official, taking them in as slaves.
This went without saying that their women and children would belong to these bandits too.
The men would get separated from the women, and things would only go downhill from now.
Which man, woman, or child can accept to be viciously separated and abused in this manner?
Khanji didn't care much about their emotions
'Once this is done, the leader will start seeing me differently!'
Khanji's face stretched out with a cruel glint.
And soon, the atmosphere became heavy.
No one spoke. Only the sounds of nature could be heard all around them.
.
"Village Chief Yangku, you and your men are cultivators. Unlike the mortal villagers, your situation will be treated differently. So you only have 2 choices. You either surrender or choose to die!" Khanji's vicious words were enough to make many feel their scalps tingling.
Khanji moved his blade playfully, feeling victory near. "Village Chief, Yangku… Which do you choose?"
A smart man would've known that the first option was the better one. Many bandits thought these villagers knew what was good for them But who knew he was so stupid?
Yangku and the rest raised their heads with stubborn expressions.
"We choose… We choose to fight!"
~Pff… Bahahahahah~
The bandits laughed with some brandishing their weapons.
For these weaklings, only 2 or 3 people needed to act to kill them all. And Khanji had decided to spearhead the massacre.
And soon, the men vanished on the spot.
"Village Chief Yangku… Since you and your men have chosen death. Then we will grant your wishes."
Khanji delivered a fierce swing.
Kill!
…
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