The hunt

The hunt

"Hurry up you lazy bones!"

A mid stage spirit qi gathering realm bandit shouted at the five bandits behind him. He was one of the twelve sent out to search for the fifth captain's squad. It had been three days since they left the lair.

"I swear am going to kill you..."

He cursed at the five,who were not just shivering in cold but also fear and hunger. The unit leader was merciless and a man of short temper.

The three days they had been out had been spent leaving a hellish life. Though they were bandits and were used to harsh treatment from their seniors,the unit leader was way worse. He had gone as far as hoarding their food rations and having them stand guard all through the night on empty stomachs and patched throats.

"If you don't stop lazing around I swear am going to punch you out..."

The unit leader said,not knowing that he was the one who was about to be punched out.

Hidden among the canopy of trees,was Zach. He and fifteen of his guards had arrived in the Mamba Bandits region a day ago. Here,the spy bandit had lead them to a grove,where they set camp.

Zach had left one mid stage and six low stage spirit qi gathering realm guards at the camp, while the other team was sent out to hunt for the bandits search parties.

As for Zach,he left on his own.

"Such a man does not deserve to be granted his freedom..."

Zach thought as he saw how the unit leader treated his companions. To Zach,he believed that every person deserved a second a chance, provided that they worked and proved that they could rectify their ways. This is why he let the first batch of bandits he had captured work for him,and the same was going to apply to these bandits.

Despite his beliefs,Zach was not blind,he also understood that strength was paramount,and without a show of power and domination,bad would never change to good. That why he killed the foundation establishment realm bandit leader. This was done as to eradicate future nuisance and sore the seed of fear and respect among the captives and the bandits.

The results of his action were now as clear as day,as the bandits had fully submitted to him,and the captives had agreed to his proposal, leading to a long term relationship between the two settlements.

As the bandits passed the tree Zach was hiding on,they felt an unusual rustle of leaves above them,they only had time to look up,where they saw a man falling towards them.

The mid stage spirit qi gathering realm bandit was the first to be knocked out, followed by his companions.

"Four teams down,I wonder how the rest are doing..."

Zach thought as he tied up the five body forging realm bandits with ropes,as for the mid stage spirit qi gathering realm bandit,he was tied up with a low ranked spirit rope. Zach had crafted plenty of these. They were mostly used by the beast rearing department to retain spirit beasts.

It took Zach a couple of minutes to tie up the six. The tree top in the area he was in was so thick that he could not fly the spirit boat to the ground,and so he had to carry the six on top of the trees,where the spirit boat was. In it were eighteen more bandits.

"Seems I have to drop them off at the grove..."

Zach decided as he was already running out of space, actually,he had by far exceeded the capacity of the low ranked spirit boat. The only thing keeping it afloat was his higher cultivation.

Back at the grove,Zach found that the other team had managed to capture two bandits team and we're still out on their hunt. The bandits brought in were concious,but still tied up.

Zach conversed with the mid stage spirit qi gathering realm guard, they made plans on heading back,after the return of the second team.

It was not until nightfall when the second guard team returned, with them were three teams of bandits. The three bandits team were full of injuries while their leaders,the three mid stage spirit qi gathering realm bandits were unconscious. They were carried on crudely made ledges by they companions.

As for the guards,they were in perfect conditions, thanks to their formations strengthened armors that could defend against opponents two stages above them.

"We discovered these three teams heading back to their lair..."

The mid stage spirit qi gathering realm guard in charge of the hunting team reported,after ensuring that new batch of bandits had been secured.

"We head back tonight..."

Zach informed him as he gulped down his mug of beer. The beer was one of his favourite, fermented from low ranked wild spirit sorghum,that was traded from the Evergreen Settlement.

"The spirit boat capacity is fifteen,take twelve of the body forging realm bandits with you and two other guards."

"Deliver them to the camp and have them bonded in chains and sent to the quarry,the same is to be applied to all the body forging realm bandits,as for the spirit qi gathering realm bandits,have them sent to the iron mine."

Zach gave instructions to the guard,since each trip via the spirit boat took a day,the mid stage spirit qi gathering realm guard would arrive two days earlier,the rest of the guards and the captured bandits would take atmost four days.

"Afterwards,have the lieutenant gather the twelve high stage and the three peak stage spirit qi gathering realm guards.I want them to meet me two hundred metres east of the bandit lair,two days after your return."

Zach planned on scouting out the Mamba Bandits lair after the guards departed. He was not sure on whether the Mamba Bandit leader had acted against the rebellious captains, that's why he wanted to scout their lair,and probably infiltrate it.

With a total of ten bandits teams not returning from the search,he knew it well that the bandit leader would be on edge.

But unknown to Zach,the bandit leader was actually expecting him.

As Zach and his guards were out hunting the bandits search party,Mamba had been busy dealing with the the four captains and their factions.

The fight had cost him alot, despite being a core condensation realm cultivator with the experience of a sovereign,he had yet to solidify his strength after the breakthrough.

The twenty-four bandits who had remained neutral were busy clearing the lair and burning up the corpses of their companions. They had wanted to start on the repairs,but Mamba had stopped.