Chapter 151 The Dark Fang
To the south of Birch City, lay a vast jungle. Thick foliage of the trees blocked the majority of the sunlight from falling on the ground. The silence of the peaceful forest was only broken by an occasional chirp of a bird or a deafening trumpet of an elephant.
Through this dense forest, passed a path leading to the Beech City. As the only road connecting Birch City to Beech City, all of the trade between the two Cities took place via this route.
This wide road had prospered a decade ago. However, in recent years, the road had fallen into disrepair. Ever since the City Lord of Beech City had gone missing, this road saw sparse traffic, almost as good as none.
The reason? A notorious group of bandits had taken residence in this forest.
The prosperity of the route had always attracted bandits and thieves, but they were soon taken care of by the City Lords of the two Cities.
When the City Lord of the Beech City went missing in the Planar Rift, the tight surveillance on the road weakened. The City Lord of the Birch City also got embroiled in the internal fight for dominance, completely neglecting this path.
Within a few years, this entire path became a haven for bandits and robbers. They fought for dominance. From the chaos, the Dark Fang emerged victorious.
As the members of an exiled mercenary group, they had a few advantages in terms of techniques and discipline. They swiftly eliminated the smaller gangs and assimilated them into their group.
Within a few weeks, they became the sole rulers of this trade route. But they didn't understand long term gains.
They massacred and looted any caravan passing through the forest. The Dark Fang became the merchant community's biggest headache.
No merchant dared to step foot on this route after the first few caravans faced their demise. When the traffic entirely dropped, wisdom came to the Dark Fang.
They tamed their methods and started to charge a toll. But they were too late. Merchants would rather take a longer route around the forest than meet these Bandits face to face.
Now only a sparse few merchants who were on deadline took the road through the forest.
"Tsk… Pussies. We just killed a few and they dare not step into the forest anymore!"
Two bandits who were on scout duty chattered.
"Hmph! These rich people are all vicious cowards. So what if our Boss killed his client and took his woman, was there a need to exile us from the Beech City?"
The second bandit grumbled. Suddenly, they heard the sound of horse's hooves falling heavily on the ground. The two scouts became alert.
The sounds of the carriage were still far and they had not seen the target yet. As they waited, the first bandit spoke with longing.
"I haven't touched a woman in so long. I hope there is a broad with nice breasts and plump rear in this caravan."
Disgusted by his perverted grin, the second bandit spat at him.
"Ptui! All you can think of is sex. You would fuck a tree, if it had a hole!"
Before the first bandit could reply, the second one shushed him and pointed at the road.
A large carriage pulled by three brown sturdy horses quickly sped towards the depths of the forest. The two bandits nodded to each other and approached the carriage stealthily.
In the carriage, they saw two old men, a couple and a few kids.
The kids chatted about inane things. Sometimes they teased the little fox sleeping in the lap of one of the girls.
Like a couple of love birds, the young man and woman sat next to each other, quietly whispering something and smiling.
The overprotective father shot a stinky glare at the duo while the other elder tried to prevent him from doing so.
To bystanders, the group seemed like a harmless family out on a trip. The scouts had also mistaken them as such.
There were no weapons in sight and no guards who would protect them.
The scouts grinned at each other, happy to have found easy prey. They quickly disappeared in the forest, to inform their brothers of the juicy target.
—-
Hearing the rapidly rustling leaves, Ikasa smiled. He immediately understood they had been spied upon.
"Everyone, the Bandits have detected us. Be alert, they may launch an attack at any moment."
Xin Ruo's shoulders tensed upon his warning. Feng Yan quietly reached for the Bloody halberd hidden behind the window of the carriage.
Elder Yi looked relaxed with his hands in his sleeves, but they actually held tiny bottles filled with poisons.
The kids vigilantly looked around the trees but couldn't find anyone. Their restless movements had only annoyed Moony.
Grr Gru.
He complained and made himself comfortable on Hei Ying's lap again.
After a few tense minutes, nothing happened. The kids lowered their guard but the adults didn't. They knew that the bandits would come out soon.
As they expected, the carriage suddenly began to slow down. The coach man frantically knocked on the window. Feng Yan immediately opened it.
"B- Bandits… They have surrounded us!"
Soon after his warning, an arrow shot towards him. Feng Yan quickly pulled the man aside. His timely action saved the man's life. The arrow that should've hit the driver in heart, merely grazed his left arm.
"Hahaha! There are still ignorant fools who dare to travel through the Dark Fang's territory without any guard!"
A raucous laughter followed the man's ridiculing words. Ikasa opened the door and jumped out. Feng Yan and Xin Ruo followed him out.
When Xin Ruo came out, the bandits began to cat-call and whistle. They openly leered at her, drooling at her beauty. Feng Yan and Ikasa frowned and remembered every mouth that made a sound.
As soon as his eyes fell on the man in the lead, Ikasa identified his target; Jin Ya, the leader of Dark Fang.
He was a giant of a man. His hair was unwashed and untamed, reaching his chest. Upon seeing Xin Ruo, he smiled a toothy grin, exposing the gold tooth in his mouth.
Ikasa's eyes moved to his wrist where he saw a dirty bracelet. It had long lost its shine, but he could tell it was the Spatial storage item mentioned by the City Lord.
Yes, Ikasa had chosen this route despite knowing the dangers, all because of the rumors about this bracelet.
Noticing Ikasa's gaze, Jin Ya proudly showed off the bracelet.
"Like what you see? Don't worry, you will also meet the same fate as the owner of this bracelet. Dead and your woman taken."
Jin Ya jeered and his 30 or so subordinates joined in the laughter. Ikasa paid no heed to his words. At this time, the kids peeked out from the window.
"Come out."
Feng Yan commanded them. His order brought on another wave of jeering.
"Look, the old man wants to use kids to melt our hearts…"
"Should we show them mercy since they have such tender flesh…"
Ikasa's blood boiled as he noticed a few perverts looking lasciviously at Luo Qiqi and Hei Ying. He released the Serrated Sun Disc tied on his waist and threw it like a shuriken at one of the men who was about to make a lewd comment.
Before he could understand what happened, the disc embedded itself in his throat, silencing him for eternity.
Ikasa's sudden attack took everyone by surprise. The bandits were slow to realize that one of them had already fallen. They followed Ikasa's hand to see a man lying in his own blood.
"You are dead!" Jin Ya roared and charged towards Ikasa. An ax had appeared in his empty hands as he raised it to chop the young man in two.
"You are not the only one who has a weapon!" Feng Yan jumped in to parry the blow.
Ikasa wisely gave Feng Yan the stage as he retrieved the Serrated Sun Disc. Then he stepped back and kept an eye on the situation of the Kids and Xin Ruo, ready to help in case of emergency.
Even though they were surrounded by opponents with twice their number, the kids did not flinch back. However, Xin Ruo's situation was not so good.
At this moment, where they might die, they were still thinking with their dicks. They attacked Xin Ruo, trying to grope a feel!
She valiantly avoided all their advances, but she could not focus on any one person and attack. But she was also not in any danger as none of the men tried to harm her with fatal attacks.
Ikasa almost laughed at their stupidity.
"These five idiots still haven't realized that they are facing a Sense Realm Expert!"
His expression quickly changed when one of the men came too close to Xin Ruo and almost hooked his finger in her robe.
"Don't you dare!"
Ikasa shouted, throwing his disc and relieving the man of his offending hand. Unable to hold back his anger, he jumped into the fight.
With a Chop to the neck, he first finished the armless man. His sweeping kick imbalanced the other opponent, letting Xin Ruo claim his life with a 12 to 6 elbow smash on his heart.
Horrified by the quick deaths of his comrades, the other man tried to flee, but he missed Ikasa's Serrated Sun Disc. His head saw his headless body fall to the ground before life extinguished from his eyes.
Xin Ruo easily took care of the other two men, giving them a taste of Nutcracker Kick.
She was not the only one to burst the balls in this battle. Luo Qiqi also let the perverts experience a pain they would never forget.
Chu Qing and Yan Xiao acted as sturdy shields as they used defensive techniques to prevent the perverts from ganging up on the girls. Pei Yuan stabbed the bandits in their backs as they faced off against the two shields.
If any of the men slipped past, Luo Qiqi and Hei Ying let them experience hell by using their kicks and punches.
Nonetheless, except Pei Yuan, none of them killed a bandit. They left them incapacitated and immobilized. Still, none of the bandits had a chance to live.
Moony took care of them with a slash of his claws or just chomping on their throats. The black and red fox was becoming red and brown from all the blood matting his fur.
After ensuring the safety of the kids and Xin Ruo, Ikasa looked at the leader of the Bandits. Unbelievably, Feng Yan had not managed to subdue him yet!
In fact, Feng Yan was barely holding up against him!