"Gentlemen, according to our observations over the past few days, that notorious bandit has a stronghold in the Tianlu Forest, where he occasionally stays. He is currently in the stronghold, so time is of the essence! Any delay could lead to complications!"
"We implore you both to lead your men and accompany us!"
"Today, we must bring him to justice and return your silver taels!"
Wei Shangren cupped his hands towards the two, pleading.
The middle-aged woman from the Ice Group and the old man from the Demonic Sect both nodded.
They knew that dealing with the matter at hand was the priority.
Compared to that, the conflict between the two of them...
...was insignificant compared to the money.
After all, this was the foundation that their masters wanted to use for great things!
Since it was lost from their hands, they would naturally have to retrieve it!
Immediately, three groups totaling a thousand people, all at least at the Xiantian level...
...marched mightily towards the Tianlu Forest.
"How is it, Brother Niu? Is work going smoothly lately?"
Inside a simple stone house in the Tianlu Forest, the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect was drinking wine, with two fox spirits accompanying him.
One of the fox spirits spoke in human language, looking at the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect, who looked worried.
"It's alright, I guess! Just doing some petty thievery."
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect shook his head.
Becoming a believer of the Land God, although he had a chance to break through to the Saint Realm...
...the orders recently issued by his Sect Leader had gotten him into trouble!
"Petty thievery?"
The two fox spirits exchanged a glance.
"Brother Niu, we can't stay with you for too long today."
"Yes, today is the day the Mountain God Lord preaches, and we beasts must hurry over. Your sisters will come to accompany you another day, is that alright, Brother?"
After a moment, the two fox spirits said softly.
They belonged to the first batch of fierce beasts under the Mountain God's command.
Now, after being enlightened by the Mountain God, they had all gained human nature.
Currently, other than their fox bodies, the actions of the fox sisters were no different from human women.
"Since it's the Mountain God Lord preaching, then you two sisters should hurry over as soon as possible, lest you be late and displease the Mountain God Lord!"
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect said with a stern expression upon hearing this.
The Mountain God Lord was a god and demon of the same level as the Land God he served, in charge of mountains and rivers, the creation of nature, the growth of wild plants, and the fierce beasts of the forest, with vast magical powers.
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect did not dare to delay.
The two fox spirit sisters immediately jumped off the chairs, bowed to the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect, and skipped and hopped up the mountain.
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect quickly got up and returned the greeting.
After the fox sisters had completely left, the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect felt a sense of melancholy.
Before submitting to the Land God, where had he ever seen fierce beasts speaking human language and acting like humans? But now, their entire sect seemed to have jumped from the mortal realm to another mysterious dimension in an instant.
This gave the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect a constant feeling of living in a dream.
"Hmm?"
"They really are persistent!"
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect put down his wine cup, stared at a direction in the mountain forest, and narrowed his eyes secretly.
Because his Sect Leader had ordered him to rob the silver taels from the hands of two half-Saint experts.
He had done it.
But he didn't expect that this would attract the attention of the Dongtian Prefecture government.
For some time, they had been tracking his whereabouts.
"When will the 'settling things' that the Sect Leader spoke of be settled? I can't always be chased like this, right?"
The Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect looked worried.
The next moment, he looked at the wine bottle in his hand, casually placed it on the stone table, and then his body suddenly glowed red. Under this red light, the Vice Leader of the Red Sand Sect's body seemed to turn into water, slowly merging into the hard stone.
In less than three breaths, he disappeared without a trace.
On the other side.
"The notorious bandit is incredibly powerful. When we encounter him or get close to his stronghold later, everyone must be careful, careful, and careful. Do not be reckless or careless."
As the group went deeper into the jungle, Wei Shangren instructed in a low voice.
The peak of the Half-Saint realm was a great expert second only to the Saint realm!
Their strength was far superior to everyone present!
Any negligence could cause casualties.
The middle-aged woman from the Ice Group, the old man from the Demonic Sect, and others nodded upon hearing this.
And to prevent the notorious bandit from escaping...
...their people formed a circle far away from the stone house and advanced towards the stone house, with one person every certain distance, and with an open field of vision.
Unless this notorious bandit became a Saint, it would be impossible for him to slip away from under their noses.
Soon, they found the stronghold that the Dongtian Prefecture government was looking for, the stone house.
But they seemed to be one step late. There was no one in the stone house.
Wei Shangren picked up the half-drunk wine on the stone table, smelled the incense ash in the air, and then saw the two wine cups opposite the stone table, and immediately frowned.
"He escaped!"
The old man from the Demonic Sect and the middle-aged woman from the Ice Group came closer to take a look, and their faces immediately turned ugly.
They mobilized their subordinates and traveled thousands of miles to get here.
They didn't come to see this result!
"You two have both been in contact with that notorious bandit. You must be familiar with the strange incense ash-like smell on him."
"The incense ash smell in this stone house is so strong, plus the wine is still warm, it's obvious that he just left not long ago!"
"But when we came, we clearly blocked all routes, and, obviously, when we came to Tianlu Forest, he was still here drinking with someone."
Wei Shangren pointed to the two small wine cups on the stone table and speculated.
"What are you trying to say?"
The old man from the Demonic Sect and the middle-aged woman from the Ice Group frowned at the same time. Wei Shangren's words revealed other meanings between the lines.
"We have a mole!"
"Someone who is connecting with this notorious bandit."
Wei Shangren took a deep breath and said as his thoughts gradually became clearer.
They had made all the preparations. If someone hadn't learned about their encirclement in advance, it would have been impossible for the other party to disappear just as they were about to see him.
Of course, there was another possibility.
That was that their aura was detected by the notorious bandit when they approached this place, and he left as a result.
But, don't forget, they started forming a circle and approaching the stone house when they were several kilometers away from this place.
Under such circumstances, unless this notorious bandit could ascend to the heavens and burrow into the earth, it would be impossible for him to escape.
But was it possible to ascend to the heavens and burrow into the earth?
Ascending to the heavens was something only Saints could do.
Even the peak of the Half-Saint realm could only fly briefly at low altitude, and with an open field of vision, if the other party flew out, they would definitely see it.
And burrowing into the earth was even more impossible.
Even Saints couldn't do it.
So, why did the notorious bandit disappear?
The result was only one possibility.
"Gentlemen, my people can be trusted 100%. What about yours?"
"Moreover, after you auctioned off the treasures, in order to ensure safety, your whereabouts must have been extremely secretive, but even so, you were still robbed by him. Have you never suspected anything?"
Wei Shangren slowly exhaled, his thoughts gradually becoming clearer as he spoke.
The days of tracking had consumed a lot of his energy.
But he didn't expect that just as he was about to capture the other party, such a thing would happen.
Had he known, he probably shouldn't have notified these two victims.
Or, he shouldn't have let the victims bring their subordinates.
But now, it was too late.
Moreover, he had made such a decision at the time in order to reduce his own casualties, and it might not have been wrong.
While Wei Shangren, the constable of the Dongtian Prefecture government, was thinking about the escape of the notorious bandit...
...the middle-aged woman from the Ice Group and the old man from the Demonic Sect walked out of the stone house at the same time.
They stared at their subordinates with gloomy faces.
In fact, they couldn't completely trust their subordinates.
In the final analysis, these people were all subordinate to the people behind them.
That was, Xuan Xue and Lin Ning.
The two of them were just representatives selected by Xuan Xue and Lin Ning to temporarily be in charge of allocating the work of the Ice Group and the Demonic Sect.
At this moment, after Wei Shangren pointed out a few things...
...they immediately felt that there were some suspicious places.
The two were somewhat suspicious.
But in the end, they shook their heads.
Their own men were all carefully selected by the people behind them, members who had been planted with divine sense seeds and were absolutely controlled by the people behind them. It was impossible for them to collude with outside enemies.
If there really was a mole, it must have been on the other party's side.
The middle-aged woman from the Ice Group and the old man from the Demonic Sect turned their heads at the same time and looked at each other.
