Chapter 195: Forming His New Squad
Translator: Lam Editor: Hitesh
Reluctant as they were, the Gong Family convoy headed off. At least the mysterious man did not care about the six beasts with them. Otherwise, the loss would indeed be tremendous for the Gong Family.
Indeed, it was their misfortune to have such an encounter while traversing through the death desert. However, given the strength of their opponent, they counted themselves lucky to be able to make it out alive. But they did not know how the man intended to deal with the fourteen Sand Bandits. If he killed all of them, that would be a pretty good thing as well.
After all, without the fourteen of them, the death desert would be a much safer place in the future.
Looking at the Gong Family’s departure, Lin Fan let out a sigh of relief. Whew! What reversing Yin and Yang, non-differentiating men and women... It was all a huge load of bullsh*t on his part. If any of those were true, then he wouldn’t even be looking at Gong Bingye’s marvelous peaks all the way.
But coming to think of it, one could hardly place the blame on him. After all, Gong Bingye was the one who had provoked him in the first place. As a man, how could he be pinned down by a mere woman? For someone like him who was going to reign at the top of the world one day, this would be a smudge on his past.
The fourteen Sand Bandits before him began to stutter, "Plea…please spare us, senior!"
If they were to pick a fight with someone out of their league and be squashed to death as ants, they’d acknowledge that as fate. But right now, all Sha Dulong wanted was to retain their lives.
Looking at the fourteen of them, Lin Fan let out a smile. Looking at his smile, the hearts of all fourteen of them thumped furiously. Was this man thinking of killing them off?
"Big brother, how about we just fight to our deaths!" Sha Miexiong said to Sha Dulong. Even though he was short and stumpy, he did not like the idea of his life being toyed around in the palms of this man.
Lin Fan had a plan in his head. His only destination to head to was the Fiery Hell.
According to the ‘Seven Saints Treasure Map’, the Fiery Hell was the closest forbidden ground to Glory Sect. Based on the records in Glory Sect, Fiery Hell was a pretty unusual place. No matter which sect it was, none of them would choose it for their forbidden grounds expeditions.
It was dark all year round, and there was eternal inextinguishable fire there all the way as well. It was as good as hell on earth.
Even though Fiery Hell was the closest place on the map, the distance was still unusually far. Up till now, Lin Fan had only completed 1/5th of the journey.
As to what he would encounter along the way, Lin Fan had no idea at all.
Furthermore, now that he was not within the sect, no one knew who he was. He would have to depend on himself for practically everything: eating, drinking, sh*tting.
Looking at Lin Fan’s silence and glinting eyes, Sha Dulong was crestfallen. Seemed like today might indeed be doomsday for the fourteen of them.
Looking at these brothers who had followed him all these years, Sha Dulong felt his heartstrings tugging along. With their recognition, he became the big brother for all of them. Now that things had come to this, naturally he had to carry the responsibilities of a big brother.
Suddenly, Sha Dulong threw his weapon onto the sands. He then turned to Lin Fan, "Senior, a man shall reap what he sows. Even though the fourteen of us had slain many men, we had not once touched any innocents. A man only seeks to breathe and feed himself while he’s alive in this world. I implore you to spare my fellow brothers. I’ll shoulder all responsibilities."
"Big brother…! No…!" The other bandits called out in shock at what he said.
"It’s okay, my brothers. Say no more." Sha Dulong waved his hands.
They were vagrants of the desert to begin with. Some of them had abandoned their sects, some of them were here to run away from their enemies, while the rest had their unspeakable reasons as well.
"What’re you guys doing?" Lin Fan was deep in his thoughts. Coming to, he found the fourteen of them in some sort of tug of war, holding on to one another, bidding their final farewells.
"Senior, please spare my brothers. I’ll shoulder responsibility for everything." Sha Dulong repeated without a change of expression.
Looking at these fourteen of them, Lin Fan had a thought. With a stern face, he continued, ‘With your sins, you ought to be paying with your deaths. However, Yours Truly is not a man without mercy. You shall follow me until you have a change of heart. When I have deemed you guys to have redeemed yourselves, I will let you go naturally. Do you have any questions?"
The road to Fiery Hell was long. Definitely, he needed some followers to do the tough work. These fourteen of them had a decent cultivation base compared to the common masses. Even if he were to kill all of them, their experience points would probably not amount to much. He might as well keep them by his side and make good use of them.
Sha Dulong and the other bandits looked at each other in surprise. They had not expected these words from the man.
"I will do anything for Senior." Sha Dulong kowtowed without any hesitation.
Looking at their big brother, the other bandits followed suit.
Sha Dulong was ecstatic at this point. He had not expected the other party to take them in. This was not what he had imagined. To them, this was like a gigantic gift from the heavens.
If one were to submit to another, one would have to consider the other’s position and power. This guy before them was evidently bl*ody strong. They were in luck to be able to follow him!
"Yes, rise then." Lin Fan nodded his head, satisfied. At least these guys were tactful and knew their places. Otherwise, he would just slice them up in an instant.
"Now, let Yours Truly ask you guys. Fiery Hell. Do you guys know about it?" Even though the records back in Glory Sect were pretty detailed, they were written a long time ago. Things might have changed.
Since the fourteen of them were out here for so long, they should probably have an idea or two.
"Senior wishes to head to Fiery Hell?!?" Sha Dulong asked, astounded.
"Yes, Yours Truly has some matters to attend to over there. Why? Is there anything wrong?" Lin Fan looked at Sha Dulong’s frightened look as though there was something wrong.
"Senior, no one dares to enter the Fiery Hell! Hearsay is, a beast which was covered in flames had entered the Fiery Hell a year ago. Wherever the beast passed by, they were all left in flames and char. Many sects had sent their disciples over, but most of them ended up injured or dead. No one knows if the beast is still residing within the Fiery Hell!"
"I see I see. Tell me more along the way." Lin Fan nodded his head. Such news were indeed important to Lin Fan. But at the same time, it pissed him off. Why was the first place he headed to already so bl*ody dangerous!
A beast covered in flames from head to toe! What sort of beast was that? It was not even recorded within the Glory Sect’s records!
Along the way, Sha Dulong continued to update Lin Fan on what he knew about Fiery Hell. Even though he himself was not sure of some facts, it was still crucial for Lin Fan to know nevertheless.
From Sha Dulong’s mouth, Lin Fan also knew about the past of the bandits and the Gong Family. It was unfortunate that the head had died within the death desert.
The Gong Family head’s cultivation base was way higher than the fourteen bandits. But because he was overly extravagant, he attracted the attention of a strong beast within the death desert and met his end there.
And because of that, Sha Dulong lost one of his eyes to the beast as well. He had only escaped barely.
But in their line, they had to make their achievements known in the world for the sake of notoriety. Hence, they proclaimed to the world that they had taken down the head of the Gong Family.
Translator's Thoughts
Lam Lam
Well played boys, we have our new Zhang Ergou here.