"Silence."
In the front hall of the Village Head Residence, Wang Chen raised his hand and spoke in a solemn voice.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it struck each person's ear like a clap of thunder, and a group of villagers who had co for help instantly clamped their mouths shut, revealing expressions of panic and unease.
They seed to suddenly realize that this young village leader was the Purple Mansion Superior!
The entire room turned silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Wang Chen observed everyone's expressions and, with a flick of his robe sleeve, snapped his fingers and launched a Healing Pill.
The pill was supported by an invisible force and hovered in front of one of the villagers.
"Take the Healing Pill first, then tell the details about the bandits."
There were matters of urgency to prioritize.
Compared to the loss of cattle and the discovery of Burrowing Rats, the kidnapping of two villagers by the bandits was the most pressing issue.
Since crossing over the Jade Dragon Mountain Range and settling in Datian Village, Wang Chen had always felt the environnt here was very peaceful, people lived without worrying about food and clothing, and were even leisurely and affluent.
There were no threats from Evil Wraiths, nor were there signs of Demon Cultivators or Evil Cultivators. Although where there were people, there was the Martial World, with its inevitable intrigue and infighting, overall, it was much better than his old land in Cloud Sun.
Especially in Wan City, one rarely saw beggars and refugees.
But now, Wang Chen realized that beneath the calm surface, there could be hidden undercurrents. He hadn't been here long enough and had t too few people, making him quite out of touch with current affairs and only scratching the surface of understanding.
"Many thanks, Village Leader," said the ashen-faced villager, covering his chest with his right hand, coughing intermittently.
It was this man, who, while chopping wood in the mountains with his companion, encountered the bandits. Although he escaped by luck, he was struck by a palm from afar, causing serious internal injuries.
After consuming the Healing Pill given by Wang Chen, the villager's injuries visibly began to recover at a speed perceptible to the naked eye.
A hint of color returned to his face, and his voice grew much stronger as he spoke.
He told Wang Chen that they had encountered a group of grey-clothed, masked bandits who didn't reveal their allegiances but started to rob and attack upon approach, very fiendish in their actions.
This villager, having so training in evasive techniques, detected the danger and fled the fastest, thus narrowly escaping with his life.
After listening, Wang Chen asked, "Have you encountered bandits here before?"
The villagers looked at each other, none daring to answer.
Wang Chen's gaze flickered, and his face grew stern as he said, "Don't dare to say or don't want to say? Could it be that you're in collusion with the bandits?"
This wasn't a baseless accusation; in the Loose Cultivators' fortresses of the Outer Domain of Dongcang State, at least eight out of ten had murky dealings with bandits.
So of the smaller fortresses were even bandit dens!
Although the West Sea Spirit Domain was under the control of the West Sea Sect, the number one Immortal Gate, there was a saying: "The mountains are high, and the Emperor is far away." This area, tens of thousands of miles from the Western Sea Sect Mountain Gate, was at the very edge of the edge.
In villages like Datian Village, the actual rulers were affluent gentry like Elder Huang.
The existence of bandits nearby wasn't at all surprising.
And when Wang Chen dropped this heavy accusation, it imdiately frightened the villagers, one of whom stamred in reply, "Your excellency is wise, I wouldn't dare!"
Bandits have been around since ancient tis, and around Datian Village there was more than one group.
To the south of Datian Village lay the Jade Dragon Mountain Range, where the nurous mountains and forests provided a pri hiding place for the bandits.
Normally, bandits from the mountains wouldn't easily attack the villages below.
The precondition was the paynt of a protection fee.
However, sotis, so bandits would commit the vile act of kidnapping villagers in order to replenish their forces.
Those villagers taken away would disappear without a trace, and the chance of them returning safely was slim to none.
In the past when bandit activity was rampant, Wan City had dispatched Battle Cultivators to suppress them, and even the Purple Mansion Superior had been mobilized.
As for the results, no one was clear, and it eventually faded into obscurity.
Datian Village had faced such incidents before, and while recent years had been peaceful, it was unexpected that it was happening again.
Peaceful?
Wang Chen sneered in secret.
His predecessor had disappeared for two years!
If there was no trickery involved, he'd write the Wang character in his last na backwards!
"Take to the scene of the incident right now," he said.
Without allowing the villager, who had co to report, to explain, Wang Chen directly grabbed him: "The rest of you go back and wait for news."
He walked out of the hall and stimulated his mana to rise into the air.
The villager clenched in Wang Chen's hand was terrified, with his mind a blank slate, he numbly pointed the way for Wang Chen.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wang Chen flew over the village and the Spirit Fields, entering the continuous, undulating mountains.
After flying for roughly ten li, he landed in a forest.
This forest was a place where villagers often ca to cut firewood, with stumps growing mushrooms everywhere.
"I rember they ca from that direction."
The villager who had just landed pointed northwest with trembling hands: "I saw, there were six or seven people."
"Good," Wang Chen nodded: "Go back on your own, I'll pursue them."
No matter how strange this matter was, these bandits plundering Datian Village's villagers was an overt provocation to him.
If Wang Chen ignored it, he would no longer have any reputation or authority left in the village!
And forget about passing the West Sea Sect's entrance examination.
The villager swallowed hard and said, "Please be careful, sir."
"Hmm," Wang Chen glanced at him, then suddenly vanished from the spot.
The next mont, he appeared a hundred steps away.
He instantly entered the dense forest.
Wang Chen did not just search in one direction but circled around nearby, looking for traces left by the bandits.
He soon made a discovery.
Geese leave their call as they pass, people leave traces. Unless one was flying high, a group of people moving through the forest would inevitably leave marks.
Wang Chen found the footprints the bandits had left on the ground.
Although the footprints were shallow, they would have been difficult to find if not for his divine sense scanning and probing.
Wang Chen did not follow these footprints to track them, as it was too inefficient and slow.
He concentrated his mana at his fingertips and drew a Tracking Talisman in the void.
The Tracking Talisman was a mid-tier tier-one Magical Talisman. Because few people bought such talismans and the usage was very low,
Wang Chen had never crafted one before.
But he had long mastered the basic talismans, and his Primary Talisman Making Skill had reached the level of Great Perfection.
Drawing in the void, condensing qi into talismans, was re trifling!
"Duō!"
Wang Chen suddenly slapped his palm, and the newly ford Tracking Talisman abruptly burst open. Specks of Spiritual Light instantly rged into his eyes.
Wang Chen's eyes shone with spiritual light, and the traces on the ground beca vividly clear.
And they extended deep into the dense forest.
Following these traces, Wang Chen looked ahead, his gaze becoming sharp!
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The first update is here, more to follow soon.
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