The Level of Robbers

On the road to Cactus, a caravan of more than 200 people was moving forward. Based on past experience, they could reach Cactus in five days. 

The leader of the caravan was Derek. 

Derek was a typical person from the Western Territory of the True Kingdom. He was tall with long arms. His facial features were scattered on his long face. His tall nose was in the center, commanding his narrow eyes to guard each side. He had a pair of protruding ears, a big mouth, and eyebrows as lush and thick as weeds. 

Yesterday, Lee and Tang met this caravan. Lee asked to join them, knowing traveling with a large caravan would be much safer. At first, Derek rejected them directly. Then Tang secretly gave him a silver nugget. Derek's attitude turned friendly. Lee could still remember what Derek said after taking the silver nugget skillfully.

"We are all from the True Kingdom, and we should help each other in the desert." 

How touching!

Derek's family lived in Aalto, the capital of the Western Territory. Derek said that his ancestors were senior officials in the Flood Dynasty and had a good reputation. However, their descendants lacked ambition and were extravagant, squandering the family property. 

When it came to his father's generation, the whole family was in poverty. It was not until Derek started the caravan business that his family's situation improved.

Derek told Lee and Tang that he had been working in this caravan for more than ten years. 

"I've faced a lot of dangers, but I've made it through," said Derek.

The destination of this caravan was to Rakshasa, located to the west of the Big Desert. Derek and his caravan planned to stop in Cactus for two days to rest and trade. 

Lee knew little about Rakshasa but its spices and jewelry. There was once a Rakshasa fad in the City of Victory. At that time, ladies had to wear Rakshasa jewelry before going out, otherwise they would be laughed at by others. A well-known anecdote involved George, the Minister of the Transportation Department, who gave his wife a necklace, claiming it was made of Rakshasa jewelry. His wife was very happy and showed it off everywhere. However, on a rainy day she attended a banquet wearing the necklace and got wet. Then she discovered the jewels on this necklace had faded. George had lived a "good life" since then.

On the road, Derek told Lee a lot of his brave stories in the Big Desert. Lee was quite interested and didn't feel bored listening to Derek's endless talk, although he knew that Derek was making up. 

"Lee, robbers are rampant in the Big Desert, and I can't count the robbers I have encountered. Look, I divide them into different levels," Derek said. His face was rosy. He hadn't met such a qualified audience in a long time.

"Different levels?" Lee asked.

"Some ruffians can't make it in their hometowns, and they want to make a living in the desert. They can only rob single travelers relying on the advantage of numbers. They are the lowest robbers. "

Lee nodded.

"Then there are some robbers who come from the army or escort agencies. They have some fighting skills, are cruel to others. They are the common robbers," Derek continued.

"If the robbers are fighting masters. They usually act alone or in a small group. Although these people have become robbers, they think highly of themselves and follow some rules in their minds. They generally do not harm lives. When we meet such robbers, we can just give some money to keep safe."

Lee thought of Rissan. The old man took his token and was indeed a robber. Lee was somewhat skeptical about this. Many businessman and nobles wanted to hire people like Rissan to protect their safety, which was expensive. How much can they rob in the desert?

"Besides, if you meet robbers who do not care about their lives, the only thing you can do is to be more reckless than them, otherwise they will certainly kill you." 

"Yeah, you are right," Lee deeply agreed after experiencing the fight with those white-robed men. 

"Your caravan is large, how dare ordinary robbers attack you?" Tang asked.

"My caravan has grown step by step. Those days were hard," Derek laughed and didn't answer Tang. 

Someone happened to call him. Derek responded and quickly disappeared from Lee and Tang's view. 

Tang came close to Lee and whispered: "General, I have looked around. There are not many real guards in this caravan." 

The caravan had hundreds of people, but there were probably not even quarter of them who were truly capable of fighting. Lee doubted that Derek was a fighting master. 

The caravan silently moved forward. Looking down from the sky, a group of black spots were approaching this caravan quickly.

"Enemy attack!" 

With a man's heart-wrenching scream, the whole caravan stopped moving forward. Arrows were shot from the right side of the caravan one after another, and people kept falling down. 

The whole caravan was in chaos for a while. Lee and Tang were on the left side of the caravan, where fewer arrows could reach them. Lee pressed down with his left hand, signaling Tang not to act rashly. 

"Arrow attack. Classic," Lee thought.

"Shield!" On the other side, Derek shouted. His voice reached the ears of everyone in the caravan. The guards held shields and quickly moved to the right side of the caravan. Soon a shield wall was formed and blocked the flying arrows. 

Then the arrow rain stopped, and there was a strange silence. 

"Derek, you coward!" A rough and heroic voice came, breaking the silence. 

Derek's face turned dark. 

"Masai, you are not dead yet?" Derek's voice was not as rough as Masai's. But everyone could feel his fury. 

"You will die before me," Masai's voice was getting closer and closer. 

Lee saw a group of robbers rushing over on horseback. The leader of the robbers, who was riding at the forefront, should be the owner of the voice. Masai stopped in a distance and ordered his men to continue to charge.

The galloping horses rushed in and broke through the shield wall. The robbers laughed out loud, waved their weapons and charged into the caravan. For a moment, there were continuous cries and screams, and blood was flying everywhere.

Derek's eyes turned red, and he rushed directly to Masai in the distance.

Lee and Tang stayed away from the chaotic crowd.

"What level of robbers are they?" Lee asked.

"According to Derek, they are just common robbers," Tang thought and said.

Lee agreed. This time he did not need to risk his life. He just watched the show of swords and blood.