18 Encountering the Marsh Bandits

On the first day of travel, nothing happened.

The group covered a lot of distance and camped on an open plain.

Maybe because of Shen Xu's aggressive rejection, Xiao Weimin did not appear in front of the two that evening. 

Before resting for the night, the two fed their demon horses and arranged a few traps around their tent.

However, the traps did not come to use.

The first night was peaceful, and the journey resumed at dawn the next day.

After travelling for half a day, Shen Xu thought the second day would also be peaceful.

However, just before the group stopped for the day, a buzzing sound reached everyone's ears.

"We can't stop here; this is the territory of the golden-winged honey bees." Someone in the caravan shouted.

"When did the bees settle here? There were no bees when I passed here one month ago." Another shouted.

"What does it matter? It's their territory now, and we can't stay."

"A jar of golden-winged honey bees honey sells for five spirit stones. I want…"

"Rush ahead without stopping." A loud voice interrupted the discussions.

"That's manager Zhang's voice." Shen Xu observed.

As a foundation establishment realm cultivator, manager Zhang was riding at the front of the caravan.

Since they parted, the two had only heard his occasional shouts but never seen the person.

"The honey of golden-winged honey bees is delicious and has a lot of aura. However, the bees live in large colonies of at least one hundred thousand bees. It's right to avoid them." Zhen Yuan said.

After that, the caravan rushed for another hour before stopping at the foot of a small hill.

"Is it okay to camp here? Won't we encounter monsters?" Shen Xu worried.

As someone who had read the original book, he knew there were many monsters in the Canglan continent.

Although a small hill in a remote area wouldn't have high-level monsters, Shen Xu was still worried.

After all, he came from modern times.

In all his life, he had rarely seen live animals that weren't pets or ingredients about to be made into dishes.

"There are no monsters on this hill." Zhen Yuan assured.

"How do you know?"

[Divine sense.] Zhen Yuan answered.

In the qi refining stage, a cultivator could only rely on their five senses to sense the surroundings.

However, after they broke through to the foundation establishment realm, they awakened their divine sense.

Since manager Zhang was a foundation establishment realm cultivator, Zhen Yuan guessed that the man had used his divine sense to check the hill before stopping for the night.

As Zhen Yuan said, there were no monsters on the hill, and the night passed smoothly.

Over the next week, the caravan travelled smoothly and did not encounter any troubles.

However, their luck ran out on the morning of the ninth day.

At this time, the caravan was passing close to the two-reeds marsh.

The Two Reeds Marsh was a recognised dangerous place between Blue Spring town and Two-Reeds town.

"There are close to one hundred people hiding in the marsh." Zhen Yuan whispered.

"Who are they?" Shen Xu asked.

"Bandits."

When Shen Xu heard that, he was taken aback.

At the beginning, manager Zhang warned them that they might encounter bandits.

However, Shen Xu didn't take the matter to heart and never expected they would be intercepted.

Seeing his wife's fear, Zhen Yuan sighed.

After all, Shen Xu came from a peaceful world.

Things like bandits and monsters were new to him.

However, Zhen Yuan didn't plan to spoil Shen Xu.

As soon as possible, he planned to help Shen Xu get used to the cultivation world.

Otherwise, the young double would have a hard time surviving, which is what Zhen Yuan didn't want to see.

"Get ready to fight." He said.

"Fight…" Shen Xu was shocked.

In his memory, the original Shen Xu had only learned alchemy and no martial arts.

If asked to fight, Shen Xu didn't know what to do.

"Didn't you refine three first-level swords? We can each use one for the time being."

"What about my spirit stones?" Shen Xu lamented.

He planned to sell the swords for spirit stones.

Hearing Zhen Yuan's words, he could see his spirit stones flying away from him.

"Don't worry, we will collect a lot of loot from the bandits." Zhen Yuan said helplessly.

"I can only hope."

"Make sure to stay close to me when we start fighting." Zhen Yuan reminded.

"Okay, I will…"

Before Shen Xu could finish, black shadows flew from the marsh and surrounded the caravan.

"It's the marsh bandits." Someone screamed in horror.

The marsh bandits was the name of the group of robbers.

They were called this because they usually hid in the two-reeds marsh.

However, the group usually acted at night.

Knowing this, the caravan planned well and chose to pass close to the marsh during the day.

"Why did they come out during the day?" Someone wondered.

"Are they too arrogant? We have a foundation establishment realm cultivator in our caravan." Another snorted.

"You don't know, there are two."

"Two?"

"One is Manager Zhang of the Myriad Treasures pavilion, and the other came with the town lord's young miss. I heard he is a young talent from the Divine Rainbow Academy."

"Is there such a person?"

"The marsh bandits should not know the news. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare to act so blatantly."

"That may not be the case." One of the merchants said mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

"I recently heard a rumour that the leader of the marsh bandits broke through to the mid-stage of the foundation establishment realm. I didn't think it was true." The merchant frowned and said.

"If it's true, the leader is more powerful than manager Zhang. What about the young talent? How high is his cultivation?"

Whispers floated along the caravan, and some reached Zhen Yuan's ears.

"If you don't want to lose your lives, leave everything and go." A harsh voice resounded in the surroundings.

"Leader, let them leave the women and doubles too. Our brothers have been lonely for a long time." A young bandit spoke with a lewd look on his face.

Hearing the young bandit's words, the other bandits became excited and began to urge the leader.

"Our brothers will celebrate tonight." The leader laughed loudly, and the other bandits cheered.

"One-eyed tiger, don't think I can't beat you just because you have broken through." Manager Zhang roared.

At the same time, a figure dressed in a dark blue robe flew out of a carriage with a spear in hand.

"I will eliminate evil for the people." Xiao Weimin shouted.

"The protagonist is really righteous." Shen Xu muttered and sighed.

"I can also eliminate evil for the people." Zhen Yuan said, feeling a little sour.

"Don't mess around." Shen Xu immediately reacted.

Although Zhen Yuan was powerful, Shen Xu didn't want him to compete with the protagonist for the spotlight.

If Zhen Yuan insisted, he would probably end up as Xiao Weimin's stepping stone, and Shen Xu didn't want to see that.

"Isn't it okay to fight the small ones?" He said and removed two first-level swords from his storage bag.

"Are you worried about me? Worried that I will become cannon fodder?"

"Can I not worry?" Shen Xu snorted, and Zhen Yuan felt a little better.

"Hand over your storage bags." A bandit rushed towards the two.

He saw the two were young and had a storage bag, so he immediately targeted them.

"Take them after you defeat us." Shen Xu said but hid behind Zhen Yuan.

When Zhen Yuan saw this, his lips twitched in amusement.

[His cultivation is only at the seventh level, and yours is at the twelfth. Go ahead and defeat him.] Zhen Yuan said, and Shen Xu looked at the person in horror.

He had forgotten that Zhen Yuan wanted him to fight.

Now that he had already taunted the opponent, he couldn't help but feel frightened.

[Don't worry, I am right behind you. I won't let anything happen to you.]

After thinking about it, Shen Xu nodded.

He also knew that he needed to get used to the Canglan continent.

Most importantly, he vaguely remembered that the marsh bandits were wanted in Two Reeds town.

In the original book, the protagonist passed through Two Reeds town and saw the wanted notices at the town gate.

Since their caravan had encountered the bandits, Shen Xu wanted to take the chance to earn more spirit stones.

With such thoughts in mind, he swung his sword towards the rushing bandit.

Unfortunately, Shen Xu had never learned the sword, and his movements were like swinging an axe.

They were crude and lacked the elegance of a swordsman.

However, Shen Xu didn't care about this.

As long as the sword could chop his opponent, he was satisfied.

"Looking for death." The bandit roared.

At a glance, he could see that the young double did not know how to use a sword.

Combined with the fact that he couldn't see the young double's cultivation level, he assumed the person was a mortal.