Lookout

With less than an hour, 'The Hunters Plateau' team together with the other teams in the group reached the forested area which was said to lead them to the gorge.

"Alright," Shu Wu urged, "from here on, be on your guard.. you'll never know if the bandits are waiting ahead in ambush."

They consequently halted their advance and took out their weapons.

All the members of the group were earlier instructed of the strategy so they were all aware of the possible surprise attack.

Shu Wu then called another group of three cultivators which specialized in scouting as all of them were of Wind Element at Earth stage Sage realm. They initially agreed to reconnoiter the gorge of any bandit presence so they knew what the summon meant.

"Take my younger sister and brother with you," he said.

Shu Wu then hopped out of the War Horse and got close to the other team's leader.

"My younger brother has a special eye skill," Shu Wu whispered. "He will definitely be of help.. but remember not to engage."

"Alright," the leader of the team answered and gestured to his team members to proceed, to which the two other members together with the Shu Siblings and Shandian heeded.

**************

Meanwhile, the two other Han Valley groups had taken a detour to avoid any detection by the bandits.

The Mo Clan lead the team which was to take care of the leaders' encampment while the Han Valley chief herself lead the other group that will the main bandits' encampment.

Midway to their advance, the two groups stopped and huddled for instructions.

"Remember..," the chief Xing Yi urged, "..when we get there we have to wait and see if there would be movements in the bandits camp."

The leaders of the teams surrounding her nodded. They were already aware of the backup plan earlier suggested by Qai.

"If the bandits appeared to be moving to make a defensive formation," the chief said, "we shall then take them by surprise by attacking from behind.

Mo Clan's Elder Long had the same reminder to the the teams under his group.

"Anyone who does not follow," the elder arrogantly said, "shall die by my hands."

The other teams' members were obviously frightened by the threat. They had already seen in the earlier battle what the Mo Clan elder was capable of so they had no qualms about the elder's show of attitude.

****************

Several meters away from the Pixie Gorge, behind thick bushes..

"Young master," the leader of the scouting team called Qai's attention.

Qai approached to listen to what he had to say although he already knew what his task was.

"Can you so your thing from here?" the leader asked.

Qai nodded and instantly activated his 'Hawkeye' skill from where they hide. The leader who was beside him was amazed how his pupils adjusted evidently showed the skill as Qai's aura suddenly concentrated in his eyes.

'Amazing,' the leader thought.

As a scout himself, he knew how valuable it was to equip such skill but he also knew how rare it was to find such scroll.

'Good thing I'm still in the sage realm,' he thought. 'I got plenty of opportunity to find one.'

Qai thoroughly inspected the gorge and was surprised to see that there was no ambush set up but only the presence of around seven bandits who were obviously there as lookouts.

"I guess we're proceeding with the back up plan," Qai soflty reported.

"What do you mean?" Shu Liang who was near them asked.

"There are only seven bandits patrolling..," Qai said. "Three sages and the rest are experts."

"Let's take them on," Shu Liang said.

"Wait," the leader suddenly urged. "Shouldn't we tell the group."

Qai grinned and told the other members.

"Look..," Qai said. "Those enemies are unaware of our presence.. we know where they are but they don't where we are.."

Indeed, Qai and the team had the advantage of the situation. And to make sure that the team leader would be convinced, Qai said that they would equally distribute the spoils.

"All we have to do is to ascertain that none of the seven would escape..," Shu Liang said.

"Yeah," the leader replied. "But with all seven of them, it might be a difficult task.. unless all of them decided to stay and fight.."

"Not if they don't know where the enemy is coming from..," Qai said. "Let them believe that there we are 'more' than them."

"Eh."

Qai then told them what was in his mind. With most of them with Wind Element, they could utilize their speed to kill the enemies.

The plan was for the leader and his two other companions to attack the three sages while Shu Liang and Shandian will take on anyone who would escape among the Expert bandits.

"Let's start off with the three sages..," Qai said.