Chapter 81: Zim Zam Zoopity Woo
After storing away the merchandise, the mercenaries went off to enjoy their free time, and the merchants went to reorganize their military strength. After spending many days and nights constantly rushing without stop, everyone was tired. So the moment they were disbanded, they immediately headed towards the nearest inn and started to sleep. Those who were injured headed off to a place to heal their injuries.
Jian Chen tied his horse to the stable area and looked around, only to see a single person wearing regular clothes standing around. After another sweeping glance, he quickly walked towards that person.
Arriving behind the person, Jian Chen whispered, “Mu Yun, your battle skill is already known to many mercenaries. Take advantage of this opportunity, and quickly leave. Otherwise, I fear that they might try to do something to you.”
Hearing Jian Chen, Mu Yun turned his head around and smiled at him, “Don’t worry. If they want to take my battle skill, they’ll find out that it won’t be that easy to do.”
Jian Chen frowned as he looked at Mu Yun carefully, “If it’s like that, then I won’t speak of it anymore.” He paused in thought before asking again, “But now that we’ve reached the Blue Wind Kingdom, it is nearly time for me to separate from the mercenary group. From this road on, we will no longer be walking the same one. Brother Mu Yun, please take care of yourself.” He cupped his hands together respectfully. Although Mu Yun and him had only just met, they were on good terms with each other. Plus, Mu Yun had revealed his secret battle skill for the sake of rescuing Jian Chen, so in his heart, Mu Yun was a decent guy. However, this wasn’t enough for Jian Chen to consider him a good friend.
“You take care of yourself as well!” Mu Yun cupped his hands together in response.
“Are the two friends here preparing to leave already? Everyone is exhausted, and so we’ve prepared a top rated restaurant for everyone to enjoy. It’d be better to come eat and drink with everyone first.” At that moment, a deep voice spoke out towards the other two. Mu Yun and Jian Chen turned around to see an older man who had a smile adorned on his face.
Seeing the man, Jian Chen was a little stunned, but he quickly regained his composure. Cupping his hands in respect once more, he said, “This one greets Captain Lang Tian!” Over the past few days, Jian Chen had become familiar with the three mercenary groups. The strong man wearing the black robes was Captain Lang Tian, an expert who had reached the Great Saint Master level.
Seeing Captain Lang Tian, Mu Yun also cupped his hands in respect. Even with a laugh, this was still considered a respectful greeting.
“My two friends, I don’t know what to call you two, but when the Boundless Bandits attacked us, we honestly suffered greatly. It was thanks to you two that our casualties did not get any worse.“ Lang Tian smiled with a face full of benevolence.
“This one is named Jian Chen. Captain Lang Tian is too generous. During the ambush with the Boundless Bandits, the one who had contributed the most was Captain Lang Tian, who had killed many of the expert bandits.”
“Your humble servant here is called Mu Yun. What brother Jian Chen said was correct. The reason why we could successfully push back the Boundless Bandits was Captain Lang Tian. If not for the captain, then I’m afraid all of our lives would have been forfeit.” Mu Yun laughed.
Hearing Jian Chen and Mu Yun, Lang Tian’s eyes flashed with a brief moment of shame before he quickly concealed it. “My friends Jian Chen and Mu Yun are too polite. Whatever the end result of the ambush was, I still have to thank you as the captain of my mercenary group. For the past few days, everyone had been so worried about the Boundless Bandits overtaking us, so we’ve been spending day and night traveling as much as possible and sacrificing sleep. We’ve really placed a burden on the two of you. I’ve already prepared a great feast; it would be great if we were to all eat together with joyous smiles. Afterwards, we can all rest well for a few days and heal from our wounds.”
“Alright then, after eating rations for the past few days I’ve almost forgotten what meat tastes like. I was just about to prepare myself to gorge on a great meal, but since Captain Lang Tian has already prepared a feast, I can save my meal money.” Mu Yun readily agreed. Facing Jian Chen, he said, “Brother Jian Chen, it’d be for the best if we both went. After eating rations for the past few days, you must be sick of it.”
Jian Chen shook his head gently, “I appreciate Lang Tian’s kindness towards this one, but I have some important matters to attend to. I will have to leave immediately and won’t be able to accompany everyone. If I have offended Captain Lang Tian, I beg for forgiveness.”
Lang Tian looked regretful at that, but he didn’t continue to try and persuade Jian Chen into staying. Cupping his hands together, he said, “If brother Jian Chen has some important matters to attend to, then this one won’t hold brother up any longer from his business.”
After Jian Chen bid farewell to Lang Tian, he immediately left the area, now that he had separated from the mercenary group, he no longer had any responsibilities. If he wanted to leave, he could leave without notifying anyone.
After Jian Chen had left, the black robed Lang Tian and a few other mercenaries were quietly discussing something within the room of a restaurant.
“Caleb, you’re sure this mercenary named Mu Yun has a battle skill?” Said a white robed elderly man right next to Lang Tian. He had a head of long black hair that trailed behind his head. His face was bronze in color and had many fierce looking wounds on it. Since there was still blood on some of his wounds, one could tell which wounds were new and which were old.
“Yes, Captain Bai Fei Yun. When the mercenary called Mu Yun used his battle skill, many people around had seen it, so this information is definitely not false.” Caleb replied.
“That’s correct, Captain Bai Fei Yun, Captain Lang Tian. Everyone that survived the ambush can testify this. What Mu Yun used was definitely a battle skill, and it was actually a highly advanced one as well.” Another mercenary said.
Originally this was an important manner that the mercenaries should have reported earlier. Unfortunately when they were ambushed by the Boundless Bandits, the battle skill was the last thing on their minds, since their lives were more important. Even if they were to learn the battle skill, if they weren’t alive to enjoy it, it would be completely pointless in the end.
Moreover, the current situation was different. Since they had entered Blue Wind Kingdom, they were temporarily safe. Now, they could mention the battle skill that Mu Yun had.
Although the mercenaries were all in the same group, life on Tian Yuan Continent was extremely cruel. Even these mercenaries would try to forcibly take an item they were jealous of, just like the Boundless Bandits had. Such circumstances happened all the time in Tian Yuan Continent
Hearing these two mercenaries talk, all the other mercenaries in the room frowned.
The white robed man looked at Lang Tian and said, “Captain Lang Tian, what do you think about this situation?”
Lang Tian knit his brows together in contemplation before slowly opening his mouth, “I am sure Mu Yun knows that his battle skill has been leaked to all of the mercenaries. But what I don’t understand is that with his Great Saint strength, why did he not run away at the first chance he had when he knew that his battle skill was leaked? Could it be that he believes we won’t make a move against him?”
“Taking a step back, even if he trusts us, could it be that he isn’t worried about us trying to force the battle skill out from him? This would bring him an endless amount of trouble, possibly to the point of losing his life.” Lang Tian analyzed. Although he looked to be a straightforward person, he certainly wasn’t a stupid person.
“So that means either the mercenary called Mu Yun is just some mindless idiot, or he is relying on some type of support that makes him so fearless.” The white robed middle aged man muttered to himself.
Hearing this response, Captain Lang Tian asked, “I was previously in contact with Mu Yun. In my opinion, Mu Yun isn’t a mindless idiot. He’s a veteran mercenary that has experience. How could someone like that commit such a fatal mistake?”
“Does anyone know where that Mu Yun came from?” The white robed middle aged man continued.
“That Mu Yun joined us midway, and is of the same occupation as us. I don’t know the exact details though; after all, almost all solo mercenary planning on a long journey will join a caravan, and guarantee that the trip will go smoothly. We can’t really question people like that.” A middle aged man responded. He wore a long, cyan robe, and his face was slightly pale. If Jian Chen were here, he’d immediately recognize that this man was the one who had agreed to let him join the caravan back in Gesun Kingdom.
The mercenaries in the room all grew silent. After a while, one of the mercenaries finally couldn’t hold back anymore, and said, “Captain, are we doing it or not? If we succeed in obtaining this battle skill, then we’d gain quite a bit of wealth. Even if we don’t use it ourselves, we can sell it. Considering how precious battle skills are in Tian Yuan Continent, we can definitely get a sky-high price for it. After all, this battle skill is of a pretty high quality.”
“Captain, why don’t we put our all into this fight?” Another mercenary said, an eager light constantly pulsing within his gaze.
Captain Lang Tian frowned, however he didn’t immediately reply either. Instead, he turned around to look at the white robed man next to him, and asked, “Captain Bai Fei Yun, what do you think about this situation?”
The white robed middle aged man called Bai Fei Yun knit his brows. A light flashed in his eyes, and it seemed as if he was hesitant to reply.
After contemplating for a while, Captain Bai Fei Yun finally said slowly, “Captain Lang Tian, I’m sure that you still remember the battle we had against the experts from the Boundless Bandits a few days ago, and how at the end, a mysterious expert secretly aided us, right?” He said in a serious tone.
Hearing Captain Bai Fei Yun’s words, the expressions of a few of the mercenaries that hadn’t known the situation clearly changed. Aside from the five that had returned, nobody else knew about what had happened earlier. Originally, these mercenaries had naturally assumed that the experts from the Boundless Bandits had been killed by their own elite captains. However, it seemed that the circumstances were completely different.
Captain Lang Tian was slightly moved by this, and said in a voice heavy with emotions, “Of course I remember. If that mysterious expert hadn’t helped from the darkness, I’m afraid that we wouldn’t have survived the ordeal.”