Chapter 2995: Chapter 2995
After returning, Ye Liuyun distributed the armbands to his team members and then quietly began cultivating with Tang Xinyao and the others.
However, that very night, Ye Liuyun noticed the bandit group members gathering and boarding a flying vessel.
He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Several other team leaders and martial practitioners also came out to watch the departing vessel. Ye Liuyun stepped out of his tent and went to investigate near the bandits’ main camp, only to find that aside from a few sentries standing guard outside, the tent was completely empty.
The members of the expedition team buzzed with speculation.
"What’s going on? Why did they leave on their own?"
"Did they just lure us here and then abandon us?"
The other team leaders approached Ye Liuyun, seeking answers.
"Liuyun, where did they go?"
"I don’t know either," Ye Liuyun replied honestly.
Seeing that his expression didn’t suggest deception, they didn’t press further.
Puzzled, Ye Liuyun returned to his tent, unsure of the bandits’ intentions. Still, he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he summoned his doppelganger, handed it his armband, and then led Tang Xinyao and the others into the doppelganger’s spatial world to continue cultivating.
If trouble really arose, the doppelganger could simply slip away under the concealment of its invisibility cloak. And if things got truly dire, they could always use the Black Tower for teleportation—there was no way this place could hold them.
Outside, the bandit sentries barked orders, demanding everyone return to their tents and refrain from wandering around.
But before dawn, the doppelganger detected the bandits’ return. Scanning them with golden pupils, it saw that they looked as though they had just fought a fierce battle—their numbers had dwindled, and some bore fresh wounds.
Liu Yan was among them, a blade wound marking his right arm. When he and his men returned to their tent, the doppelganger noted that nearly half his subordinates were missing. The mood among them was heavy, weighed down by defeat.
It was clear that these people had just been through a fierce battle.
Yet, Ye Liuyun couldn’t shake his confusion. *This is their territory—who could they have fought against? Did the Dragonhead Bandits strike ahead of schedule?*
Still, he didn’t send his clone to investigate further. Whatever conflict the bandits were tangled in, he had no intention of getting involved.
But the very next morning, Liu Yan came looking for him unusually early.
The clone received him outside, feigning ignorance. The moment he spotted the wound on Liu Yan’s arm, he immediately asked, “What happened?”
“Ugh, don’t even ask!” Liu Yan sighed heavily, dropping onto a seat as he began to vent.
“You know we went out last night, right?” Liu Yan asked the clone.
“Yeah, I was just about to ask you what went down,” the clone replied.
Only then did Liu Yan explain. “Before we set out, some strong fighters near the city started disappearing. The boss thought it was suspicious, so he sent people to investigate—turns out, they found spies from the Dragonhead Bandits.
“And it wasn’t just our area. Those Dragonhead bastards were planning to ambush our city while we were away. So the chief ordered us to wipe out all the spies before leaving, to cut off any future trouble.
“Since we were all gathered anyway, we went out together last night to deal with them. But damn, those guys were strong. Even though we won, it was a brutal fight—half my men were killed, and even I got banged up.”
The clone pretended to be shocked. “What? They were that powerful?”
“A lot of them were experts at the fifth or sixth level of Guiyi!” Liu Yan shook his head with a bitter sigh.
“And they made *you* fight those kinds of opponents? Shouldn’t your top fighters have handled it?” Ye Liuyun’s voice carried a note of indignation on his behalf.
Liu Yan also explained to Ye Liuyun, "Our job is just to intercept and search. We can handle anyone below the fifth level of Guiyi. But last night was just bad luck—we ran into two sixth-level Guiyi experts before our own reinforcements could arrive, and our men suffered for it."
The clone now understood what had happened and asked Liu Yan, "So, Brother Liu, you came to me to ask for help in capturing more people?"
Liu Yan immediately shook his head. "No, we have enough people from the exploration teams. Lately, we’ve been raiding spies near a different city every night. If this keeps up, not only will I lose all my men, but I might end up dead myself.
"I came to ask for your help—to join my squad. I’ve heard you have a joint combat formation that can hold off attacks from sixth-level Guiyi experts. You don’t even need to defeat them, just stall them long enough for our own experts to step in."
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun immediately recognized it as a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the chaos, so of course he was willing. But the clone deliberately hesitated, feigning reluctance.
"Brother Liu, to be honest, we can’t guarantee success against such strong opponents. If we were that capable, would we even be here taking risks? This job is even more dangerous than exploration!"
Liu Yan quickly responded, "I know it’s risky, and I’m asking a lot. But I won’t let you down—whether you end up fighting or not, I’ll give you two hundred units of origin energy every night. How’s that?
"You’re here to risk your lives for resources anyway, and danger is part of the deal. Besides, with these rewards, you’ll have something to show your men."
He finished with an expectant look at the clone.
The clone pretended to grit his teeth before finally agreeing.
"Alright, since you’ve asked, Brother Liu, we’ll do it. But when we need backup, your men better pull their weight. You can’t just leave everything to us!"
"Don’t worry," Liu Yan thumped his chest in assurance. "This is our fight too—we’ll give it everything we’ve got. We might be bandits, but we don’t back down when it’s time to fight!"
The clone nodded, satisfied. "Good. When do we move out?"
Liu Yan also relaxed with satisfaction. "After dark, I’ll come back to take you to my camp tent, and then we’ll leave together. You all should get ready first!"
The avatar readily agreed. After seeing Liu Yan off, Ye Liuyun informed Tang Xinyao and the others.
"With just our group, can we really stop a martial artist at the sixth level of Guiyi?" Tang Xinyao asked with some concern.
Though their cultivation had advanced by one level, they still lacked confidence in stopping a sixth-level Guiyi martial artist.
Ye Liuyun reassured them, "Don’t worry. You’re just there for appearances. The fourth and fifth-level Guiyi experts will be your targets. Leave the sixth-level ones to me! This is also a perfect chance for us to eliminate more powerful foes and gather higher-tier resources."
Tang Xinyao and the others felt relieved. With their combined attack formation, intercepting fourth and fifth-level Guiyi experts wouldn’t be too difficult.
So they immediately entered a state of cultivation. While only a single day passed outside, inside the avatar’s spatial world, they still had five days—enough time to make further improvements.
