A Dumb Victim

The next day was the travel day. The Forest Masters marched with the cages they had placed on the big animals. Huan Wei learned that these animals were called Forest Oxen. They were quite big. They had no trouble pulling the cages.

The young man was among the walkers. They did not give him a mount. Ou Yu was at the front. Lan Xifeng and Yun Ying were right behind her. Some of the remaining bandits were leading the Forest Oxen, others were coming from behind the cages.

The path gave Huan Wei enough time to think. He was also able to observe.

Yun Ying seemed impressed by what the young man had said. The hard glare she gave Ou Yu could be seen by everyone except the red-haired woman. The bandits were also walking with a displeased expression on their faces. Xin Hai was the worst. It was as if the man didn't even want to walk.

Huan Wei turned to him. "What happened?" he asked in a low voice.

Xin Hai frowned at him. He had forced this man's arm into acid. Why was Huan Wei still talking to him? Shouldn't he want to kill him?

"What's it to you?"

"I just wanted to ask. It's your decision." Huan Wei turned in front of him. He couldn't help smiling.

These bandits were wanted criminals in the towns. They had joined the Forest Masters because they had to. Now, not getting paid was demoralizing them all. Now that Huan Wei was sneaking up on them and manipulating them, working for free began to bother them even more than before.

"Excellent," the young man thought. "Soon the disintegration will begin. But we need a victim."

Huan Wei looked around the group to choose the dumbest bandit. He couldn't choose Wu Hui and Wu Dong. The brothers would protect each other. So he looked at the others.

"Ni Xiaobo," he thought. "He's brave and stupid enough. If I give him a little push, he'll make Ou Yu pay."

Crunching sounds coming from the trees drew everyone's attention in that direction. The Living Roots broke away from the trees and threw their thorns at the group.

Huan Wei immediately drew his broken sword and struck the thorn in the air. Years of training were paying off.

The leaders did not dismount. Instead the bandits attacked and the Living Roots were killed in seconds. They had also collected their crystals. The forest was green again.

Looking at them, Huan Wei realized why this forest was still standing. This monster called the Living Root was the seed of the forest. They were born from the trees. When they died, they became a new sapling. Probably because they grew faster than normal trees, the forest had always existed.

As everyone was returning to their places, his eye caught the thorns on one of these saplings. He turned and looked at Ou Yu. Then he thought for a few seconds, and without showing anyone, he took about ten thorns and put them in his clothes.

Ai Tung saw this. "Huan Wei has hidden something in his clothes!" he shouted.

The young man looked at him as if he wanted to rip his head off. In fact, he really did. Ou Yu and the leaders turned to look at him. "What did you hide?" Yun Ying asked.

Huan Wei pulled out the thorns and showed them. "Just thorns. I know they're worth nothing, I didn't see any of you picking them, I'm sorry if it's forbidden."

"It was just thorns." Everyone turned around. Huan Wei came over to Ai Tung. He grabbed him through the bars of the cage and pulled him, causing him to hit his head on the iron. Lei Lok and Jiao Bai tried to back away in fear.

"Tonight I will whip you, Ai Tung, even if you have done nothing wrong. And don't think anyone will stop me. Maybe you will learn to keep your mouth shut."

Ai Tung held his sore head and did not answer. Huan Wei left him and went back to his place. After giving him another angry look from a distance, he approached one of Lan Xifeng's men.

"Hey, Ni Xiaobo," he whispered. "Did Ou Yu tell when we'll get our money?"

"No." The man replied in a whisper. "She said we'll get it whenever she wants us to.

"I see. So we won't get it?"

"Of course we will."

"When you joined these bandits, you didn't think they'd make you work for free, did you?"

"I'm not working for free. I'll get paid."

"Yes, you'll get it whenever Ou Yu wants it. What if she never wants it?"

"She's always given it to us. She'll give it to us again."

"You used to get paid every three days at the latest. Things seem to have changed."

As Ni Xiaobo looked at Ou Yu, Huan Wei spoke again. "Look around you. Everyone is disturbed by this situation. But no one can speak out. If a brave warrior had stepped forward and asked Ou Yu for his money, everyone would have sided with him."

The young man took a deep breath. "Yet where can we find such a brave man in such a group?"

Huan Wei's face filled with sadness. "I thought that once I joined you, I would no longer be a slave," he said and turned away from Ni Xiaobo. He was happy to see that the man was still looking at Ou Yu.

The traveling continued until evening. They were about to leave the middle section of the Northern Bright Forest. Huan Wei thought that they would reach the outer section in a few days at most. If he got his moves right by then, he could escape after entering the outer section.

The campsite was set up again. Huan Wei had learned how to pitch a tent. Living with bandits had taught him a lot about survival in the forest. He now knew a lot about getting water from the trees and which plants could be eaten.

After the big fire was lit, Huan Wei cooked the slurry and handed it out to the slaves. Xin Hai remembered to spit in the cauldron.

Ai Tung timidly approached Huan Wei to take his food. He was the only one left. But Huan Wei had not forgotten what he had done during the day. The anger that had been building up inside him all this time came out.

He threw the bowl of slurry in Ai Tung's face. By the time Ai Tung staggered back a few steps, his head covered in the disgusting food, Huan Wei already had his whip in his hand. It was as he thought. The other bandits just laughed and watched. Two of them even went over and grabbed Ai Tung and turned his back.

Huan Wei had a smile on his face that proclaimed his pleasure. He swung the whip several times. Ai Tung was begging.

"Please don't! I swear I won't do it again! Please! I beg you, Huan Wei! Please don't do it!"

"Cry some more."

Huan Wei swung the whip a few more times. Its sound was now traumatizing for the slaves. They reflexively closed their eyes every time they heard the sound of the whip.

"Please! I will do whatever you want! Please don't!"

"I want you to scream more."

Huan Wei whipped Ai Tung's back. The man screamed as if his throat was being ripped open, causing the slaves to look away. Huan Wei enjoyed it.

Ai Tung... First he pretended to be Huan Wei's fan. Then he became his biggest hater. He wasn't afraid to threaten Huan Wei. And bullied those who stood by him. He didn't deserve mercy. Even if he did, Huan Wei didn't have much of it.

Huan Wei continued to whip him until Ai Tung's voice became hoarse. He deliberately didn't hit the whip with all his strength. This ensured that Ai Tung did not feel so much pain that he fainted. The whipping went on for several minutes. Finally Yun Ying shouted.

"Enough, Huan Wei! You've ruined our dinner! Throw him in the cage!"

The bandits threw Ai Tung, who could not walk, into the cage. All the slaves looked at Huan Wei with hatred. Even Lei Lok didn't seem to respect him anymore. Jiao Bai didn't know how to feel. Huan Wei had really dragged out the punishment just for the fun of it.

The thugs who had caged Ai Tung came to Huan Wei. "You've got a grudge, brother," one of them said.

"Indeed you do. You almost killed him trying to knock him out."

Huan Wei laughed. "If I knew the leaders wouldn't be angry, I would kill him."

The three of them came to the big fire and began to eat. Huan Wei happily took a bite of the meat. It felt good to make people he didn't like suffer. It was truly invigorating.

Huan Wei's eyes turned to Ni Xiaobo. Seeing that he was engrossed in eating, he continued to stare at him, cursing inwardly. Finally, Ni Xiaobo looked up to see Huan Wei looking at him with a frightened expression.

Huan Wei slowly turned his gaze back to Ou Yu. Then he began to look at the ground in a demoralized manner. He wasn't sure if Ni Xiaobo could understand the sign, but he hoped so.

After a few seconds, one of the thugs asked, "Has our money arrived yet?"

"No," Ou Yu replied as he continued eating. At that moment, Ni Xiaobo stood up, seeing that the other bandits were also uncomfortable with the situation.

"Are you making us work for free, Ou Yu? We are not your slaves."

Just as Ou Yu was biting into the meat, she stopped and slowly turned her eyes to Ni Xiaobo. Then she bit into the meat and chewed and swallowed it. Ni Xiaobo was also looking at the other bandits. But there was no support from anyone.

Ou Yu threw the meat into the fire. Without moving from her seat, she continued to stare at Ni Xiaobo. Huan Wei was trying hard not to laugh.