In the main road of the valley of death, which was a narrow path between a long range of mountains, there were two horses slowly pulling a carriage, behind it there were another two carriages. In the front and back, there were ten strong looking riders protecting them.
The carriage's driver was a middle-aged man with long black hair. With a whip in hand, his eyes looked ahead with fear within them as though he was about to cross the gate of hell.
With each crack of the whip, the horses neighed and the carriage moved forward leaving a trail of dust behind.
Inside the carriage was an old man who had a weird look on his face as he was looking at the couple seating in front of them.
" Skinny Jack, so this lady is your wife." Asked the old man as he was looking at the beautiful woman in front of him. Looking at features of the woman, the old man was into a daze and was overwhelmed by her beauty.
The woman was in her mid-twenties. With an extreme beauty, her pitch black hair was like a waterfall and had tall brows and a pair of mischievous eyes like a nine-tail fox. Her oval face was blessed with beautiful red lips. This woman was seductive while she also carried a gentle feel like water. Just her smile was already enough to charm and steal the soul of any man.
As for her figures, it was even more fascinating. The old man's little brother had been in a coma for many years, however, just a smile from that lady was enough to wake it up from his slumber. The old man had lost all hope for this little brother of his, but that woman was like a divine doctor and her peerless beauty was like a heavenly medicine which gave life to his dead little brother.
In contrast, the man named skinny Jack, the self-proclaimed husband of that angel was, in fact, a fat ass. His cheeks were like two mega-dumplings. Whether it was his look or feature, these two people were like heaven and earth. Skinny jack looked more like a servant than the husband. Not only that, from the way he dressed, he was most likely poor while the lady had noble air around her and her clothing was definitely top notch. The old man was a merchant so he knew expansive stuff when he saw them.
" Yes, grandpa Cao. This is my wife Monalisa, we just got married a week ago, but her parents didn't approve of our relationship so we eloped. We are going to Ozuna city, then from there, we will leave for the Nicholas Empire." Answered skinny jack with an innocent and a sad look on his face.
Looking at skinny jack, the old man couldn't but laugh in his heart. The guy looked like he had just eaten three people and her belly looked like he was pregnant with twins, yet, he had the audacity to call himself skinny jack. If you are skinny jack than what am I? Sexy young Cao!
" Love is blind indeed." whispered the old man to himself.
" Did you say something Granpa?."
" No, I was just talking to myself." Answered the old man.
The man known as Skinny Jack was none other than Shad after he had put the mask and changed his appearance in this chubby looking guy, and the woman was of course Monalisa.
After he left the Lightning Corps behind, Shad had found three merchants carriage ahead of them. He asked the old man within the carriage in front for a ride and pretended that his horse had run away. It was Shad's first time passing to this territory and he knew how dangerous it was, so he had decided to blend in with these people to see how things work.
He used the mask to change his appearance and pretended to be husband and wife with Monalisa. The old man was very amiable and let them travel with them, he had even let both of them sit with him in his personal carriage. However, the old man had trouble believing that Monalisa was his wife. Well, who could blame him, he indeed really looked like a toad wishing to eat sawn meat.
As for Monalisa, she was smiling and giggling all the way which made Shad looked as though he was lying.
" Anyway, skinny jack, we will be arriving at the checkpoint of the valley of death in a moment, I hope you will stay within the carriage with your wife and don't go outside no matter what while the mountain bandit stopped us, especially your wife otherwise I am afraid your beautiful wife will become mountain tigers' snack." Even though he didn't believe skinny jack, he still didn't want them to get caught by the bandits, especially the woman. Besides gold coins, what the mountain tigers bandit like the most was a beautiful woman. He couldn't even count how many women they have defiled within this valley and how many husbands that have lost their wives to them in this checkpoint. Skinny jack must be an idiot to bring a woman like that to pass the valley of death.
" Of course, thank you, grandpa, for being so considerate. I will stay in the carriage with my wife."
" Hehehehe, who told my wife to be as beautiful as a celestial being and me to this handsome with this manly feature," Answered Shad while laughing and looking at his face in the mirror.
The old man almost choke on himself when he heard shad's last sentences. if it wasn't for the fact that he was too old he would have give him a beating for being too narcissistic.
' If you are handsome then all the men in the world are extremely dashing and had the physique of a well-trained warrior.' Thought the old man.
Despite doing her best to hold it, Monalisa burst into laughter. It was the first time she saw her young master acting like that. He was like a narcissistic fool. She had to say, his acting was top notch. He was so serious that one might think that it was his true personality. As for Shad, he was kinda enjoying it. He had spent so much training and worry about other stuff that he almost forgot enjoy himself. Sometimes being too focused and serious wasn't a good thing, one had to learn how to relax and joke around sometime to release some stress.
" Stop the carriages." A voice rang out from outside. Shad quickly titled his head outside and saw a bearded man pulled out his sword from his waist and pointed towards the carriages. Beside the old man carriage, there was another two more that were following them and they all belonged to the old man.
The old man quickly got out from the carriage and said." Boss, we are a small merchant team. We can pay the fee if you can let us pass. I am relying on this trip to make a bit of money to support the family." the old man looked at the hundreds of bandits that stood high above on each side of the mountains as though they were preparing for a big coup with a lingering fear in his eyes. He had never seen them like that, they usually let only ten of them in the checkpoint to collect fees. It seemed like he had come to cross the valley at the wrong time because he could feel there was something big going on today.
" Didn't you know that this valley was off limit today." The bearded man raised his chin as he asked in a cold tone.
" Boss, we didn't know that. We are willing to pay double for our ignorance." The old man's heart sank down as he was looking at the mountains tigers bandits that surrounded the whole valley like a net. He would dare to face a battle if it were ten or fifteen bandits. Some of his guards would die but it would mean his profit would increase as these men were mercenaries. However, not only the mountain tigers bandit were well equipped, there was at least five hundreds of them. That was those he could see, as far as he could tell, there might be more hiding behind the trees with their crossbows waiting to nail him into the ground if he made a wrong move.
The bearded looked at the old man as he said." it seems like business is doing well in the North part of the kingdom. Maybe, I should change my job as a bandit and begin trading instead."
" Boss is wise." The old man quickly flattered the bearded man.
" Trading my ass! It's so good to be a bandit, especially a mountain tigers bandit. I don't have to go for a long journey or go through rain and wind. Robing is the best business and the most promising industry. There is always profit without spending." The bearded man yelled as the old man nodded his head continuously in approval.
" Black beard, quickly get the money from them and let them go. Our target will be there in less than ten minutes, we have to be prepared." said a man with a scary knife scar on his face.
The bearded man took the money from the old man and let them go without even checking their carriages like they usually do.
After they passed the checkpoint, the old man finally let a sigh of relief. It was as though he just came out from a tiger's den.
" Granpa Cao, it's time for me to go. Thanks for everything." As Shad said that, Monalisa open the teleportation portal within the carriage. However, before they left, Shad threw a small bag filled with gold coins to the old man. After plundering the nobles from the royal capital Shad was very rich.
The old man didn't have time to catch it and his mouth was wide open as he was looking at the huge black hole inside his carriage. Not only that, Skinny jack actually transformed into a handsome and dashing young man.
" Granpa Cao, after today you won't have to pay a fee to pass the valley of death. As for the valley of death, its name will soon change into the Mountain Tigers' graveyard." As he said that he walked through the black hole with Monalisa and disappeared within the carriage leaving the old man with his mouth wide open as though he was about to swallow a whole mountain from shock.