Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“The four great neighboring sects are starting to mobilize. The first batch of men has already taken their positions. They’ve already scouted Swallow’s Hill for a good ten days, but no luck.”
“Heishui Sect and Qingyang Sect are already on the way. We’re talking about sects who possess Celestial Luck Banners; those two bandits will surely meet their end soon.”
“That’s right. These two bastards need to be eliminated as soon as possible; they need to die!”
“Damned right you are!”
“Too greedy, too extreme, absolutely too bold!”
“I brought nothing with me but a truckload of iceworm silk the other time I took that route, and those two bastards had the nerve to take ninety percent of it as toll fare — what cutthroats they are!”
“Well, that’s iceworm silk! I only had twenty pieces of low-grade spiritual jade in my pouch when I passed that area, but I was still stopped. They left me with two pieces — and took the rest as toll fare! That’s twenty pieces of low-grade spiritual jade they seized; it wasn’t even top-grade or medium-grade spiritual jade pieces… Did they even have to do that?”
“They’re completely void of morals!”
“That’s totally inhumane!”
“Dear God, witness this with your eyes of justice — may your judgment fall heavily upon trash like them!”
“Sigh, I’m out of ideas. I need to start doing business again within these few days, or else I won’t be having food on the table. If I don’t have any silver on me and riled up a fight with those men at the restaurant, I’ll be turned into a pile of ash with just a single strike of lightning…”
“Me too. Sigh, let’s think of a way, shall we?”
“When these two bastards are captured, I’ll definitely spit on their corpses! They are such intolerable bullies!”
“That day wouldn’t be too far away.”
…
The martial folks of Dongye City had collectively lapsed into a state of panic.
Every day, men would travel to Swallow Hill to look for the two bandits, but every day, someone would surely be robbed!
Even those who purposely went out with the intent to seek revenge on those thieves were still plundered!
Those involved continued to lose face from these unfortunate events.
Everybody’s highly-anticipated, successful plan of revenge — the day where their corpses would be satisfyingly desecrated — still did not happen.
At most, what ensued was wave after wave of the martial world’s top experts marching into Swallow’s Hill, either intending to seek revenge or exhibit their righteousness, helping the heavens do the job.
In the beginning, some experts remained quite reserved about it as their reputation was at stake, unwilling to go out there in fear of being the laughing stock. Even if they emerged victoriously, it would be one void of glory.
The men that were first deployed were men with levels of Honor Level One or Two… however, they kept being slain in return. This did not seem like an operation to apprehend the bandits, but more like an offering of tribute; they were plundered all the same every single time. If this wasn’t an offering, what else could it be?
Among them, some were plagued with even more misfortune. They had their own spatial rings stolen from by those bandits, and could only return in an awful, pitiful state.
Hence, those of Honor Level Three or Four could no longer sit tight — they buckled up and took off.
However, they ended up being nothing more than another round of tribute.
Furthermore, those who returned this time were in worse condition. Besides being beaten black and blue from head to toe, they even suffered both internal and external injuries — wounds that refused to heal without recuperating for a good amount of time.
The few small clans who were looted simply took it upon their entire clan to seek revenge, but what they had done was simply turning in their entire reserve of property, placing them in a state of despair where there were no more tears to shed.
Saint-Level experts only arrived after half a month; only then did the situation improve slightly.
However, by the time the Saint-Level practitioners and the two great sects who owned Celestial Luck Banners arrived, a few hundred people had already fallen victim to the murderous bandits.
The number of items robbed was enormous — it was sufficient to tempt the hearts of many!
Hence, numerous experts silently entered the vicinity of Swallow’s Hill. They had even agreed on a secret signal with each other.
The vicinity of Dongye City had not seen the likes of such brazen thieves for a good few thousand years! Those two vile creatures must be eliminated this time!
The judgment of heaven shall be executed — justice shall prevail!
After upholding the peace, wouldn’t it be natural to receive a little service fee?
This was perfectly logical — everybody had the same thought!
…
“Boss, don’t you think your actions are a little overdone?”
Shi Wuchen was starting to feel a little more hesitant and jumpy this time.
Throughout the entire course, he had tailed after Yun Yang; he truly felt that this new boss of his was devilishly and unspeakably daring!
He was simply being completely unscrupulous and arrogant to the core!
They had been robbing resources and materials without a care in the world as if his eyes and judgment were completely clouded. In just a month, their own rings aside, the twenty spatial rings they had with them was completely filled to the brim. Left with no other choice, they began to start stealing even the spatial rings themselves.
It was precisely due to the filching of the rings that they had managed to seize seven million low-grade spiritual jade pieces, one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand medium-grade spiritual jade pieces, a hundred pieces of top-grade spiritual jade, and a variety of precious metals and minerals that filled up three whole spatial rings.
Iceworm silk, Skyworm silk, Stellar Jade, a myriad of medicinal herbs, a variety of robes, all sorts of precious ingredients fell into their hands… they even got hold of an entire box of Crimson Jade Root.
However, the most valuable of them all was most probably the Thousand-Year Winter Root they got from Qingyang Sect!
The cluster of Thousand-Year Winter Root of that particular haul caused the two men to be ecstatic for a pretty long time.
However, Shi Wuchen began to seem increasingly fearful, for he could feel that his new boss was blatantly a psychopath that had no regard for anything or anyone.
He already had himself completely immersed in the ecstasy of mindless plundering.
There was nothing else he cared about.
“It’s almost time.” Yun Yang adjusted the cloth concealing his face. “The experts must all be gathered here already.”
“Boss, what are you saying?” Shi Wuchen was truly afraid that Yun Yang would say: Let’s rob’em all the same!
He would really be reduced to tears if that happened.
In the fights before this, with a full-restored Saint Level practitioner like him holding the line and Yun Yang’s passably formidable cultivation base, they had managed to pull off anything without trouble. However, soon they would be facing top opponents who were Saint Level and above — individuals who far exceeded the league of their capabilities!
“Let’s just try to avoid their advances.” Yun Yang remained calm and unruffled. “Wuchen, if a profession as a bandit exists, surely a complementary profession such as a dealer that disposes of these stolen goods would exist, right? It’s time for us to rid our hands of these.”
Shi Wuchen did not know whether to laugh or cry. “There is definitely a channel like that, but we’re getting rid of a high volume of items, not to mention a chaotic variety of them. Not only will it be hard to guarantee that this way is completely safe, but we also can’t guarantee that others wouldn’t catch wind about this.”
Yun Yang replied in a lowered voice. “Perhaps you should tell me where do we do this? We’ll plan from there.”
“The black market?”
Black market? What a simple, direct and violent term — straight to the point!
Yun Yang’s frowned. “Actually, now that we’ve stolen so many things in this period of time, I’m afraid we ourselves might be the targets of ill-intentioned figures. If we put these items up for sale, our identities will be blown for sure. Whether or not if it’s the black market — that’s not the key point.”
Shi Wuchen nodded. “That’s true.”
“Therefore, the thing that we have to brainstorm about now is this; what is the quickest way to get rid of these items? Of course, it must be a way that will not shed any suspicion on us.”
Shi Wuchen frowned and thought deeply. “To get rid of these items without being discovered, what more in the fastest way possible — we can’t possibly handle one matter without neglecting the other. I can’t think of anything.”
“No worries, let me come up with an idea.”
Yun Yang expressed a fleeting smile. “Tonight, we shall pay the black market at Dongye City a visit to seek out our options.” He announced this in an undeterred manner.
Shi Wuchen’s eyes glinted with interest.
Now that all the attention was focused onto the vicinity of Swallow’s Hill, this was the best chance for them to make their escape.
Even if the black market was being monitored to some extent, the pinnacle of their forces would still be inevitably centered at Swallow’s Hill — they could not possibly place equal emphasis on two places at the same time.
Someone would have stayed behind to monitor the headquarters of the black market, but their forces were not believed to be that strong.
The two men reverted to their original selves. They removed the cloth covering their faces and marched out confidently. After removing their disguises and body-shrinking skills, the two of them looked no different from ordinary martial men.
“Who’s there? Halt!”
Before even walking a few feet further, an accusatory tone could be heard ringing out from up front.
“Swoosh!”
“Both of you treacherous thieves! Give us back the things you’ve stolen!” Yun Yang demanded with a sword in hand.
He wore a face full of rage and a mouth full of wrath. Shi Wuchen gaped in astonishment, almost believing that it was real.
Boss, what kind of show are you putting up now?
At that precise moment, two men emerged from the throng of trees in front of them, their faces clouded with suspicion as they glared at Yun Yang and Shi Wuchen. “Don’t act brashly, the two of you — pray tell which clan are the both of you from? Please don’t misunderstand — we’re here to capture the bandits too.”
Yun Yang’s brows furrowed as he stared suspiciously at the two men before him. “Is that the truth? You’re here to go after those men?” He demanded with a lowered voice.
“Of course! Why would we lie about it? We’re here to capture the men!”
Yun Yang slowly sheathed his sword, but the caution on his face did not waver. “I see. Did the two of you notice any tracks left behind by those two vile thieves? Please give us a hint or two if you have stumbled across some clues.”
“Clues? Tracks? Not even the slightest traces of them were found. Those two vile thieves seemed to have vanished into thin air — there was no sign of them at all,” replied the two men before them.
Yun Yang uttered through a clenched jaw. “The two of you have no leads at all? My brother and I have been circling this area ringed by the three-hundred-mile circumference for two whole days and there was nothing to be found. Is it possible that those two thieves have finally left?”
The two men smiled ruefully. “Both of you have truly underestimated them. They just did another round of plundering today at the borders — how vicious.”
“Wicked!” Yun Yang spat with fury. “Those two scoundrels — how dare they act so brazenly, so heartlessly, so unscrupulously!”
“Don’t lose hope. Those two will surely be caught soon.” The two men smiled. “At such a blown-up scale, what skills do those two scoundrels have that could possibly let them escape the clutches of justice?”
Yun Yang nodded. “Thank you for the encouragement. However, both of us have been wandering here in search for them for three whole days and nights, so we’re feeling a little exhausted. We plan to return now to rest up a little before apprehending the bandits. You’d never know — we might just put these two evil bastards to rest!”
“Haha… alright… take care and be on your way, the two of you.”
Brushing past those two, Yun Yang and Shi Wuchen left and went on their way.
The two men only smiled as they shook their heads, paying no mind to them taking their leave, even waving them off as they took off. Only after taking a few steps one of the two questioned, confused, “Say, didn’t those two first said they’ve been wandering here for two days? Why did they suddenly say that they had been searching for three days and three nights? Why would they do that?”
The other man sniggered. “Their words don’t match up at all. They just wanted to show how hardworking they are and how much they’ve suffered. From how I see it, whatever they said was just a boast, inflating their own egos… Think about it — the Black and White Ruthless Duo have brought so much chaos to an uncontrollable state — what can those weak cultivation bases of theirs amount to? How dare they still make their participation known without shame… I’m guessing they must be finding somewhere to hide, waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of this…”
“A bunch of scums who can’t gauge their true levels… I won’t even bother wasting time on them. Let them be on their way…”
Yun Yang and Shi Wuchen’s little journey was a smooth one without any further obstacles. They did bump into seven or eight men, yet nobody ever suspected that these two were the horribly infamous Black and White Ruthless Duo.
Not a single person had imagined that these two fellows striding before them with mouths full of bullshit were the legendary bandits — the bandits who would stoop as low as they could go.
Also… in these few days, there was no need for the two of them to make themselves known. The friends they made along the way had already given the two despicable creatures a number of nicknames.
‘Black and White Ruthless Duo’ was the most common one, named after the color of their clothing. ‘Nine-Feet Heavens’ was another, tacked on after how the two would leave no stone unturned as they would dig three feet after three feet, and this would persist for three years. Another one was ‘Feathers-Off-A-Swallow’; picking feathers off a goose was already a description of people who would not let any opportunity slip past their fingers. Picking feathers off a swallow, however… was used to describe people who would make a move towards the slightest benefit or opportunity they could get their hands on. Well, it was true — that two would stoop as low as swiping even low-grade spiritual jade, so how was that not picking the ‘feathers off a swallow’?
However, their most notorious and popular nickname was ‘Raiders Of All But God’!
True to the name, it was literally saying God aside, it was needless to say these two would make no exceptions when it came to their plundering activities — everyone would be robbed all the same!
