Chapter 335 – Brilliant Method
Zhao Hai looked at the situation and relaxed, “Looks like these people were waiting in ambush since this morning, just waiting for some fat sheep. But do we really look like fat sheep?”
When Shue, Blockhead and Rockhead hear what Zhao Hai said, they couldn’t help but chuckle. Shue smiled and replied, “We’re not, but Ruyen does.”
The trio’s reaction made Zhao Hai ask, “Why? Everything seems to add up, we only have a few people, while Ruyen has a hundred guards. What’s wrong with that?”
Shue smiled faintly and said, “All travellers inside Lifeline know that only those with absolute confidence in their strength travel without guards. Our group only has two carriages and seem to have n.o.body acting as guards. Thus, for these mercenaries, only an idiot would not think that an expert was present inside one of the carriages. If these weak mercenaries provoke a hidden expert, they would only be courting death. Because of this, they didn’t target us. But Ruyen was the exact opposite, she had a hundred guards with her, along with several carriages. Moreover, the mercenaries could see that the strength of her guards are only on par with them, so they branded Ruyen’s group as fat sheep.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said to Shue, “I didn’t think that there’s such a thing, but it seems right. Not counting anybody else, you alone number more than the group outside, if they come attack us they would certainly be courting death.”
Shue smiled, to be honest, he was very satisfied with his capabilities. In the entire continent, the name Shue of a Thousand Shadows was very well-known.
At this time, the tent’s curtain moved slightly, then Shun’s form appeared inside. He told Zhao Hai, “Young Master, I’ve already informed Jill of the situation, they had prepared but they are not optimistic.”
Zhao Hai thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go out, make sure to prevent your weapons from making any noise, we don’t want to alarm too many people.” Shun nodded and held the tent curtain up, Blockhead and Rockhead walked out first, then Zhao Hai, and finally Shue.
When the group went out of the tent, Zhao Hao waved his staff lightly and a one meter diameter Fireball appeared at the top of the staff. Zhao Hai made the Fireball rise in mid-air, making sure the vicinity of their camp was well lit.
The mercenaries didn’t expect Zhao Hai to immediately reveal his hand. While they were overwhelmed, Zhao Hai calmly said, “Dear friends, no need to hide, I want to speak to your representative.”
The mercenaries made a ruckus, then a fully bearded man came out of the crowd. He glanced at Zhao Hai and then the Fireball. The man had extraordinary vision, and he can see from the Fireball that Zhao Hai had the power of at least a 7th rank mage. And 7th rank Fire element mages were especially an absolute nightmare for small mercenaries.
The bearded man walked up and bowed to Zhao Hai, “This one didn’t know that mister is here. I ask mister to forgive us, we’ll immediately retreat and not disturb mister’s rest anymore.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Good, very good. You and your people also didn’t have it easy by coming out at night. Shue, give them 1,000 gold coins to buy drinks with.
Although Shue didn’t understand what Zhao Hai was plannig, he still turned around towards the tent and fetched a bag of coins. Inside the bag was exactly 1,000 gold coins. Shue took the bag and headed for the bearded man, then he placed the bag full of coins on the ground.
The bearded man examined Shue and finally wasn’t able to stop himself from asking, “I’m not sure, but is mister Shue of a Thousand Shadows?”
Shue looked at the man and knit his brows. He doesn’t seem to remember this person. He couldn’t help but ask, “You know me?”
When the man heard Shue’s confirmation, he couldn’t help but reveal a panicked expression, “So it really was Mister Shue. Please forgive us Mister Shue. We really didn’t mean to bother you this time.”
Shue faintly smiled, “Forget it, this is a gift given by the Young Master. Go buy yourselves some drink. The young master’s mood is good today and your responses have satisfied him, otherwise you people wouldn’t be able to go back alive.” Then he returned to Zhao Hai’s side.
The bearded man didn’t know if he should take the coin bag or not, the other people in his group were also helpless. Zhao Hai looked at the bearded man and said, “I have kindly given you this money, but you cannot just take it. I don’t want to be bothered this evening anymore. I’ll have to trouble you to be my night guards. Are you willing?”
The bearded man froze, then he immediately said, “Of course, of course we’re willing. Mister can rest a.s.sured, we guarantee that even a mosquito wouldn’t be able to enter mister’s tent.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Good.” Then he returned to his tent in silence.
Zhao Hai’s move attracted the admiration of the other people in Lifeline Canyon. His move was too brilliant. First, he used his strength to shake the minds of the bandits then not only did he bribe them with money, he also hired them to be his night guards. This was a very clever method.
All the merchants who travel here knew that you shouldn’t offend thieves and bandits inside Lifeline Canyon. Even if you are strong, it’s also best not to offend them. Even if they weren’t capable of fighting strong people, they had a lot of crooked ways to annoy you.
They can hara.s.s you at night, and even if you managed to defend, they could still make you suffer some losses. They could also find a way to direct magic beasts down the mountain to attack you. Without even using a single person, they could still make you suffer. One could say that these bandits were like insects, unless you exterminate them in one fell swoop, they would annoy and attack you constantly until you feel very uncomfortable.
There was also another reason why these merchants didn’t dare offend the bandits inside Lifeline Canyon. These bandits were linked to some people inside Cold Wind Fortress and Hundred Battles Fortress, if you push them back too much, the garrison troops of the two fortresses may even cause you a bit of trouble, causing you to suffer more losses. So the general travellers in the canyon didn’t dare to offend these bandits. They would regularly send some protection money to them so that they wouldn’t be attacked.
This time, in this area, there were seasoned travellers of the canyon, and they could see at a glance that Zhao Hai’s group were newcomers and had never pa.s.sed by the canyon before. And looking at the strength of Zhao Hai’s group, they wanted to know how they would deal with the bandits. Therefore, there were quite the number of people keeping track of Zhao Hai’s campsite, looking at how they would deal with the situation.
These people didn’t expect Zhao Hai to make such a brilliant move. With a thousand coins, they didn’t only erase the crisis, they also developed some connections with the bandits. If they pa.s.s through this canyon again, these bandits would certainly give them some face.
Because of Zhao Hai’s action, he managed to attract a lot of attention. They wanted to see where these people came from, their way of doing things was very unique.
That evening, nothing else happened inside Lifeline Canyon. The next morning, Zhao Hai got up and saw that the mercenary bandits were really acting as his night guards, moreover they were very spirited while doing so.
This was especially true for the bearded man, when he saw that Zhao Hai had come out, he immediately welcomed him with a salute, “Mister, you’ve woken up. We brothers should also leave now. I ask mister to take care, I can guarantee that as long as mister continues to use the same carriage to pa.s.s through, n.o.body would disturb mister.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Good, you’ve worked hard. Right, I have something to give you, Blockhead, go get two bags of rations.” When Blockhead heard the command, he went to their supply carriage and fetched two big bags of food, weighing a few hundred jin each, sufficient for these group to stuff themselves full a couple of times.
Blockhead placed the bags in front of the bearded man. Zhao Hai smiled and said, “These rations were made by the beastmen. If you want to consume it, just take a piece and add it to a pot to boil, then you can eat it. Don’t underestimate these two bags of rations, the two of them were made from four agralis worth of meat each. These two bags should be enough for your brothers to eat for three or four meals. Take it, it’s my small gift to you.”
When the bearded man heard Zhao Hai, he couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment. Then he gratefully said, “Thank you very much, Mister.” Although these bandits weren’t far from Cold Wind Fortress and Hundred Battles Fortress, they still need to control the roads and perform raids. So generally, they would live their lives in the wilderness, feeding on dry flatbread for food. Hearing about Zhao Hai’s rations, they couldn’t help but get happy, for them these rations were rare delicacies.
Zhao Hai didn’t care about their reactions and only smiled, “Good, you can go. We should also be hurrying along.” The bearded man called two brothers over to get the bags of food, then they bowed to Zhao Hai and retreated to the mountains.
At this time, Laura and the others walked out of the tent. Laura looked at Zhao Hai and smiled, “For bandits to be like this, it’s my first time seeing it. Interesting.”
Zhao Hai didn’t say anything, he faintly smiled then replied, “It’s not that easy. Forget it, let’s eat something then let’s get ready for the road.”
At this moment Jill arrived, he bowed to Zhao Hai and said, “We thank Mister Wales for last night, the young lady has sent me to represent her in expressing our grat.i.tude.”
Zhao Hai waved his hand, “Forget it, it’s only a small batter, no big deal. You guys should also get ready. We’ll be on our way soon.” Jill nodded then returned to their camp to get ready as they needed hurry along to arrive at Rosen Empire’s territory.