1065 Thunder, Purple Lightning, Gale, Bitter Immortal Realm (2)
The guards who went forward to investigate reported back with extremely grave expressions.

Their team consisted of only a hundred or so people, and while there were strong individuals among them, they had no idea how they compared to the slaughtered merchant group.

A merchant group of 300 people couldn’t possibly be without powerful individuals.

Zhao Chen’s gaze fell ahead, and he pondered slightly.

At this moment, they were only a little over fifty thousand li away from Qingyun Town.

If they really wanted to return on their flying swords, it wouldn’t take long.

Even traveling to Sanhuo City wasn’t considered too far, with true sword-flying speed, it wouldn’t take a day.

“Brother Han, why don’t you—”

Zhao Chen’s words came to a halt as he turned around to look at Han Muye.

Because Han Muye was already slowly urging his horse forward.

“In my hometown, there’s a custom of burying the dead. After all, they are human beings. It wouldn’t be right to leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness.”

Han Muye’s voice came.

Compassion of a woman?

Not necessarily.

Zhao Chen turned to glance at the guard, Old Chu, who shook his head.

They couldn’t figure it out.

According to reason, a powerful sword cultivator shouldn’t have such compassionate thoughts.

A sword cultivator should be the most determined, the most skilled in killing, and the hardest-hearted.

Du Sanzhen and the others had already rushed over and, together with Han Muye, collected and buried the corpses, building a mound of earth.

Han Muye also set up a formation on top of it to ward off wild beasts.

Turning around, he took out his sword and split a 30-foot long piece of green stone, then pressed it onto the grave mound.

“When paths cross, it’s all the worldly wanderers.”

Han Muye sighed softly, raised his hand, and the gleam of his sword shone as a line of large characters fell onto the stone monument.

Worldly wanderers.

Who wasn’t one?

Each of those words exuded a sword intent that made one’s heart tremble.

The guards of the merchant group and the cultivators who saw these characters all had solemn expressions on their faces.

Just looking at these words seemed to affect one’s mind, as if one could see sword radiance filling the sky.

“Great words,” Old Chu, who was following behind Zhao Chen, spoke up and uttered two words.

This was the first time he had directly praised Han Muye after such a long time.

Zhao Chen nodded.

These characters were a display of Han Muye’s own power.

He was telling himself that he could move forward with his sword.

That was how a sword cultivator should be!

The merchant group proceeded with caution as they continued on their journey.

The guards who scouted ahead formed two teams and never stopped for a moment.

However, for three consecutive days, they encountered no one obstructing their path.

Not even any demonic beasts.

“Either we are being watched, or…” A trace of fear flashed in Zhao Chen’s eyes as he lowered his voice, “the Gale Bandits have really arrived.”

The Gale Bandits.

The Jujin Trading Company had yet to muster the courage to confront the Gale Bandits head-on.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Many hired cultivators had already lost their confidence.

If they abandoned the caravan, gave up the mission, and fled with all their might, their speed would not be slow.

Fortunately, everything remained normal.

It wasn’t until they saw the massive city stretching for dozens of miles in the desolate plain ahead, with flames soaring and staining the sky, that Zhao Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Not only him, but everyone else also relaxed slightly.

The journey had been too oppressive.

Han Muye turned his head and looked into the distance.

He was also curious why the other party hadn’t made a move.

Combining the memories from the great sword and the subsequent perception, there should be quite a few Gale Bandits on this wasteland, including some strong individuals.

However, these Gale Bandits haven’t made a move against the merchant group, which is unexpected.

Perhaps the caravan was not their target?

Sanhuo City remained familiar to Zhao Chen and the others. It was a city built with red and green stones, with tall city gates.

The main road, paved with red and green bricks, extended beyond the city.

Even the soil and stones on the ground seemed to have a tinge of red and green.

It seemed to be a characteristic of the city.

At the entrance, they saw numerous large carts carrying various spiritual rock ores.

“Oh, Jujin Trading Company, what good things have you brought this time?” A cultivator holding account books welcomed them at the city gate.

These people had been watching early on and approached as soon as they saw the merchant group.

“Black Gold Ore, the quality is good. I’ll take it. 2.3 million spiritual rocks for each cart.” A middle-aged man with a bulging belly lifted a corner of the tarp covering his cart, his eyes gleaming.

“Old Zhu, you’re pushing the price down. Don’t you see who has arrived? It’s Zhao Shaodong.” An elderly, thin man who came from behind saw Zhao Chen and his face slightly froze before he chuckled lightly.

The name Zhao Chen was known to these businesspeople.

Instead of selling the Black Gold ore from the carts at the city gate, Zhao Chen took them to the smelting furnace in the city, where Jujin Trading Company collaborated.

Half of the 20 carts were sold directly, with each cart fetching 2.8 million spiritual rocks. The rest were entrusted to be smelted.

After these ores were smelted, they would be sold elsewhere or used to forge treasures, doubling their value.

After these ores were smelted, they would be sold elsewhere or used to forge treasures, doubling their value.

The remuneration paid to those guards and cultivators did not exceed a million.

Including the losses along the way, the remuneration of the experts accounted for the most.

These cultivators didn’t lose out either. They were just on edge during the journey, but there wasn’t a single battle. Instead, they received some scattered rewards along with thousands of spiritual rocks as compensation.

The hired caravans and cultivators were dismissed, leaving only the guards. Han Muye, Du Sanyu, and the others found an inn to stay in.

Originally, Zhao Chen invited them to the trading company’s residence, but Han Muye said he wanted to stroll around the city.

Besides, the ores from his cart were already handed over for smelting and wouldn’t be ready for a while.

Sanhuo City was truly a city suitable for resident blacksmiths, with several earthfire veins converging.

Unfortunately, these earthfires had low quality and were somewhat violent, suitable only for smelting ores. They weren’t ideal for refining fine artifacts.

“Brother Han, there’s a caravan from outside the wasteland in the city. They are said to have brought many treasures,” Zhao Chen said to Han Muye, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

“They will be selling the treasures in the central square three days from now.”

With a radius of 80 million miles, Zhao Chen considered himself knowledgeable about the Transient Wasteland, but he had rarely ventured outside of it.

A caravan bringing treasures from outside the wasteland meant that they could make a huge profit by reselling them.

A caravan from outside the wasteland?

A spark glimmered in Han Muye’s eyes.

Seeing his expression, Zhao Chen had already guessed something and whispered, “Han Brother, do you think they might be Gale Bandits in disguise?”

Whether or not they were in disguise remained uncertain.

But it was just at this time that Gale Bandits appeared nearby. It was hard to believe there was no connection.

If they were indeed Gale Bandits posing as a caravan and bringing treasures, were they genuinely looking to trade, or did they have ulterior motives?

“Although Sanhuo City is not small, it doesn’t hold much significance in the eyes of the Gale Bandits, right?

“And the city doesn’t possess any real treasures. Would the renowned Gale Bandits pay attention to a small city like Suddenfire?”

Zhao Chen furrowed his brows and spoke in a low voice.

“So, here’s the plan: after we’ve seen their treasures, if there’s anything worth taking, I’ll buy it directly, and then we’ll leave through the teleportation array,” Zhao Chen said, pondering for a moment before speaking again.

“Let’s leave the smelted ores here for now.”

It had to be said that as a merchant, Zhao Chen’s caution and keenness were extremely rare qualities.

If they didn’t take the smelted ores with them, they wouldn’t receive any of the profits from this trip and would incur significant losses.

However, Zhao Chen made the decisive call to leave and abandon that wealth.
However, in Han Muye’s eyes, Zhao Chen still fell short.

If it were him, there were two paths he could take right now.

The first was simple. He had to leave as soon as possible.

The second was to gather the city’s forces and respond immediately.

Unfortunately, Zhao Chen’s insights and judgment were not comparable to someone who had experienced power struggles and ruled over a substantial force like Han Muye.

“Brother Zhao, you can send someone to check if the teleportation array in the city is still functional,” Han Muye’s words made Zhao Chen’s expression change.

“And also, find out the situation with the recent merchant caravans that entered the city.”

Teleportation array.

The caravans that had recently entered the city.

Zhao Chen stood up and left.

After half a day, Zhao Chen returned with Chu Lao, followed by two guards dressed in black robes.

Zhao Chen’s expression was extremely grim.

“Brother Han, the teleportation array had an accident during a teleportation half a month ago, and it’s being repaired. It will take at least 10 more days to fix.”

Indeed.

Han Muye’s expression did not change.

Without damaging the teleportation array, any scheme would be meaningless.

“So, you mean that the recent arrivals in the city, aside from the nearby small caravans, are people we haven’t seen before?”

Han Muye spoke calmly.

Zhao Chen nodded.