Fate of the Bandits
After putting some distance between them and the inn, Zhao Yunxiao began to draw up a simple array on the ground.
With the long hair from the horse's mane placed in the centre, he planted several array flags in an intentional order, forming a circle with the flags before chanting a simple mantra.
Weng-!
The flags fluttered wildly as the array slowly buzzed into life.
From the base of each array flag, a strand of silver light slowly reached out, crossing the ground in between to come into contact with the horsehair.
The horsehair eventually started to emit silver light itself, as though it had absorbed the light from the array flags and made it its own.
Just like that, the now-glowing horsehair slowly started floating up from the ground.
"Perfect execution of the Star Tracer Array," Chu Han praised.
"Please don't tease me, Senior Martial Brother Chu. It would be my honour to be able to reach just a tenth of your level in array mastery one day," Zhao Yunxiao scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"Don't even try that with me," Chu Han chuckled, understanding that Zhao Yunxiao was just buttering up to him.
"It's nothing but the truth," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "Well then, let's see where our Young Noble Hui has been!"
He clapped his hands together, and the glowing horsehair started to float in a particular direction.
"Let's go," Mo Mian said.
After picking up the array flags on the ground, the party left by following the movement of the glowing horsehair.
The mountains sometimes comprised areas that could prove to be a little treacherous for some, but the party was not too concerned.
As cultivators, they were naturally more than capable of traversing difficult terrains.
Since it was a location that the bandits could access, it made no sense that they would not be able to do so easily.
On top of that, if it was a place that Hui Shajing could visit on his horse carriage, then their spirit horses would surely be more than capable of taking them there.
Indeed, it did not take long before the party arrived at their destination.
The fact that this was the only other location, apart from the mountain inn, where the horse had been also helped make things simpler for them.
As Zhao Yunxiao kept away the glowing horsehair, the party members found themselves standing in front of a huge bamboo gate in a forested region of the mountain.
The bamboo gate was built into a wooden wall, erected with a walkway at the top that allowed guards to remain at a safe distance while looking down at anyone who was seeking to enter. By the sides of the wall were natural stone walls that were far too steep to scale.
They might be bandits, but one had to admit that they made a rather wise choice in choosing the spot to build their hideout.
It was well hidden in the depths of the mountain, in an area where no one would pass through for no good reason.
And even if someone were to accidentally wander into the area, the dense vegetation and maze-like terrain meant that they would not be able to catch a single glimpse of the hideout until they were literally at the doorstep.
By then, it would be too late for them to leave even if they wanted to.
In fact, it might not even be necessary for the bandits to take action every time someone strayed too close. Simply by observing it from the outside, most people would first come to the conclusion that this was the gate to a guarded mountain pass, not knowing that what lay behind was actually a nest for bandits.
Had it not been for the Star Tracer Array, even the party members would probably have to spend a considerable amount of time combing through the mountain if they wanted to locate this place.
Perhaps that was also why Hui Shajing had been so willing to just let them go. He probably never expected them to really be able to find the hideout.
"Do we knock?" Pu Feixiang asked.
"Do you think anyone will be home?" Gui Longcan rolled his eyes.
"Let me break it down then!" Pu Feixiang brought out his spear.
Seeing that Mo Mian and Chu Han were giving their implicit consent by remaining silent, Pu Feixiang proceeded to do exactly that.
The huge bamboo gate was around three metres tall, but that meant little to the cultivator.
Remaining atop his spirit horse, he made a casual swing of his spear, which fired an arc of essence energy towards the gate.
Bang-!
The energy projectile easily tore a hole through the centre of the gate, blowing it wide open.
When the party entered and saw what was on the inside, all of them frowned at the exact same time.
There were three long wooden pikes that came into view right upon entering. The tip of each pike impaled a man's corpse, raising them high into the air and leaving them to rot there.
Dried blood stained the pikes themselves, having flowed down from the men's bodies.
"Those are..." Pu Feixiang's words trailed off without completing his sentence.
He had wanted to ask a question, but saw no point in doing so in the end.
After all, the answer was obvious.
Perhaps it was because these men had not died for long, or perhaps the cold temperature had helped preserve the corpses. But in any case, their features were still clear for all to see.
Without a doubt, these were the corpses of three of the five bandits who had surrendered to Hui Shajing back at the inn.
"I guess this Young Noble Hui isn't too trustworthy after all," Chu Han said with a wry smile.
Hui Shajing had promised that he would spare the lives of the bandits after they revealed the location of the hideout.
In that case, these men's deaths here at the hideout was proof that Hui Shajing had failed to keep his promise, unless a third party had somehow gotten involved.
But judging from Hui Shajing's demeanour back at the inn, the latter was highly unlikely.
"Let's look around some more," Mo Mian's expression was solemn as he spoke. He did little to hide his unhappiness.
As opposed to the impressive-looking gate, the individual houses inside the hideout were rather sloppily constructed.
They were nothing more than huts made out of sticks and straw, just enough to keep out the weather.
The insides of the huts were simple as well, furnished with just the bare necessities.
To a certain extent, this made sense as well.
Unless there were some among the bandits who were gifted in the field of carpentry, it would be quite a logistical challenge to hire skilled craftsmen to build proper houses for them without exposing the location of their hideout.
Yet even these simple houses were all completely ransacked, leaving nothing but a huge mess wherever they looked. There was absolutely nothing of value left to be seen.
It did not come as a surprise that the party did not come across anyone else in the hideout. Or anyone alive, to be exact.
"Here!" Gui Longcan called out to the rest upon seeing a beheaded corpse laid out in front of a huge house.
It was a clean cut at the neck, a testament to the skill of the executioner.
"There's the head," Zhao Yunxiao pointed upwards.
The rest of the party looked up to see the head resting on the roof. Its eyes were still wide open, as though unable to believe that he had already died.
"That's the last one," Pu Feixiang said through gritted teeth.
During their search through the hideout, they had come across quite a number of corpses, all of them laid out to rot in the open. In fact, many of these corpses did not belong to the bandits who had been at the inn back then either.
And among these corpses were those of women and children. Some of these women were even left in a state of undress.
From that alone, one could imagine the horrific events that they had experienced leading up to their deaths.
As for this beheaded corpse lying in front of the house, it marked the last of the five bandits who had surrendered at the inn – the five men whose lives Hui Shajing had promised to spare.
Now, every single one of them was dead.
"This house is much bigger than the rest," Chu Han remarked. "It might be where the leader of the bandits resided."
His words drew everyone's attention away from the corpse to focus on the house itself.
Indeed, the other huts might not be exactly uniform in size because of the poor craftsmanship, but they were still roughly similar in size.
However, this house was at least twice as large as the others.
There had to be a good reason for there being such a significant difference.
"Great Bandit Redblade..." Zhao Yunxiao muttered under his breath as he recalled the name of the bandit leader.
To his credit, this bandit leader was quite an impressive martial artist himself. Unfortunately, that alone was not enough to save him from falling to Hui Shajing's entourage back at the inn.
"I will go take a look," Pu Feixiang stepped forward and opened the door without hesitation.
Just a single glance showed that there was nothing much to look at. Just like the other houses, the inside of this house was nothing but a complete wreckage.
But unlike the other huts, even the walls of this big house had been hacked down at various spots. It was clear that whoever did this had been adamant about making sure that no stones were left unturned.
"Everything has been taken," Pu Feixiang said.
"That Young Noble Hui already got what he wanted, and still chose not to spare anyone," Gui Longcan added coldly.
"Power corrupts," Chu Han sighed.
Zhao Yunxiao nodded in silent agreement.
Many of those in a position of power would succumb to all sorts of atrocities for the sake of personal interests, especially if they believed that they could get away with doing so without being subjected to any real repercussions.
Even cultivators were not exempted from this rule, as could be seen from the many tyrants who had appeared throughout history.
If anything, the capabilities that cultivators possessed over ordinary mortals only made it such that if they were to succumb to their desires, the outcome could be that much more terrifying and drastic.
Even the enslavement of entire nations was not something unheard of!
"Have we seen enough?" Pu Feixiang asked with a tinge of impatience in his voice.
In the first place, the reason they were here was to confirm if Hui Shajing had kept his promise.
What they had seen so far was definitely more than telling enough of that.
Not only did it show that Hui Shajing had not kept his promise, but it also revealed his entourage's lack of restraint, carrying out actions that could only be seen as brutal and immoral!
"You are right. This is more than enough," Mo Mian took a deep breath before continuing. "It is time for us to return and have a good talk with our Young Noble Hui. Let's hear what he has to say for himself."