Chapter 611: Side Story - All About Bandits (IV)
The middle region of the Martial Brilliance Continent was known as the land of bandits. From east to west, out of a hundred thousand kilometers of land, it was said that every meter of it was occupied by a bloodthirsty criminal that was willing to betray a friend or sell a family member to make some money. The situation wasn't truly this bad but it was close.
The relatively peaceful lands to the north and south made no attempts to subjugate the middle. One reason was that the continent was truly massive and nobody had the manpower. Another was that lawlessness and chaos had their own benefits because they created a breeding ground for new talents.
Peace and abundance led to laziness and contentment. Cultivation did not fare well under these conditions. On the other hand, the human ability to survive and struggle, to fight with each other and compete through bloodshed, led to breakthroughs that were otherwise impossible.
And within this land of bandits, there was a specific area that drew the interest of a certain bandit, one named Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong...
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It was a moonless night. Chen Wentian, using Chen Mo's shadow body, and disguised as Lin Huzhong, arrived above a solitary mountain fortress. It was made out of grey stone hewn from the nearby mountains. Situated on a plateau with cliffs on three sides, it seemed almost impregnable. Its size wasn't too excessive but could still house several thousand comfortably. Most importantly, there was also an immortal bandit living inside.
He watched as a large group of people approached the fortress from all sides, silently, stealthily. They were his people, his bandit gang.
The Red Sun Gang took the main road that wound up the southern side of the mountain and towards the main entrance to the west. They came in full force and were armed to the teeth. Numbering over five hundred, they were kitted out with brand-new armor and tall shields. Since they weren't really good at anything, they had been assigned the role of meat shields. But Chen Wentian wasn't a sadist so he had at least spent some money to help them in their task.
The Iron Lock Crew climbed up the cliffs to the north. As experts with chains, they knew how to use them to climb and scale tall cliffs. These professional kidnappers were ill-suited for besieging a city but since their immortal bandit lord had commanded it, nobody dared to slack off.
The eastern cliffs were given to the Blood Hook Gang. They were assassins so they naturally knew how to scale such obstacles. They made even better progress than the Iron Lock Crew and were additionally assigned to set up rope ladders for the remaining gangs of the alliance.
The Diamond Triad and the Red Willow Tower were ill-suited for combat so they were left in the rear but the Black Valley Company and the Yellow Turban Gang followed the others up the cliffs. The Black Valley Company was a powerful group of mercenaries. They were prepared for all kinds of battles and were not afraid of injury or even death as long as they were paid. The Yellow Turban Gang was similarly capable. They made a living robbing other people so they naturally had to be able to fight for their lives.
In a short while, the mountain fortress was surrounded on all sides. Almost two thousand souls from Lin Huzhong's gang alliance were present and ready.
But before they could attack, the fortress came to life. Torches were lit in quick succession, forming a ring of fire around the walls. Shouts and yells filled the air as the inhabitants suddenly popped up from behind the battlements waving swords and spears.
"Red Sun Gang! What are you doing here?" A booming voice brought a sudden silence.
A solitary figure flew into the air above the main gate and faced the largest group of attackers. It was the immortal that owned this place. From a distance, only one word came to everyone's mind to describe that person, rotund. They were almost as wide as they were tall. Their massive belly made them look like a floating balloon instead of a real person.
The leader of the Red Sun Gang, Wang Landi, who was another one of Chen Wentian's souls, strode out of the mass of armored warriors and pointed a sword up at the immortal, "Naturally, we are here to take over this fortress. My Red Sun Gang is in need of a new base."
He didn't even bother addressing the immortal with any respect. Such an insignificant character within the Martial Brilliance Continent was nothing noteworthy.
"Hahaha!" The obese immortal laughed uproariously, their white hair shaking wildly in the wind, "Hahaha! This is the funniest shit I have ever heard!"
After laughing some more, he calmed down enough to point a finger at Wang Landi, "I don't exactly know what happened to you people. In the past, I could have considered the Wang twins, Immortal Red Dawn and Immortal Red Dusk, as friends... well, swine friends. Heh. Anyways, I already know that they died so I really don't know what you all are playing at. I will give you one chance to live. You all can obediently join my Black Mountain Stronghold, the Red Sun Gang and all the little gangs you've brought today. I will give you one chance. If you refuse, I will simply kill you all."
Wang Landi's sword didn't waver as he answered, "There is no need because my lord's blade has already arrived."
"What..."
In that instant, before the rotund beast could explode in rage, a beam of sword light descended from the moonless sky. It came so fast that it formed a bright, straight line as if it was drawn by a divine being. It was only as thin as a finger. From a distance, it was thin as a thread.
The unstoppable sword beam punched through the unprepared immortal's forehead and exited out the back. Quicker than one could blink, it was over. The light disappeared and so did the suffocating sword energy.
And as the excessively fat immortal crashed into the ground in front of the gate, another immortal who was also fat, but not so shamelessly large as the first one, descended from the sky.
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