As the others were clearing the bodies, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in the northern sky. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a paraglider.
Normally, a paraglider could not achieve long-distance flight, as it relied solely on wind power. Without wind, it would fall to the ground. Only an ability user like Shen Feng, who could control the wind, could use a paraglider to fly freely.
Seeing the paraglider in the sky, everyone immediately guessed that City Lord Shen Feng had arrived.
Luo Qing looked at Qin Xiaogao and asked, "Who told you to contact the City Lord? We could have handled these few bandits ourselves. What you did was completely unnecessary."
Qin Xiaogao also felt wronged. He didn't know that ability users were so powerful, nor did he expect the mercenaries to not scatter but to achieve victory against a larger force. When the fight began, Qin Xiaogao never imagined that his side would resolve the battle so quickly. Led by the ability users, the mercenaries fought with great spirit, eager to prove themselves. Now, the City Lord had arrived, and the battle was already over.
"What could I have done? I was also worried about the grain being stolen. If the grain was taken, it would have truly ruined the City Lord's important plans," Qin Xiaogao said helplessly.
Luo Qing sighed. Since the City Lord had already arrived, they could only welcome him. Fortunately, the convoy in the valley was unharmed.
After Shen Feng landed from the sky, the crowd realized that Shen Feng had not come alone. Chu Chaoyan was by his side. The glider they were using was quite large, more than enough for two people. Shen Feng brought Chu Chaoyan to Wuling Mountain naturally for the sake of area-of-effect attacks.
As long as Chu Chaoyan unleashed her abilities, wouldn't the poisonous gas spread and kill enemies in large numbers? Moreover, with Shen Feng, the God of Wind, present, there would be no issues with the wind direction.
When Shen Feng and Chu Chaoyan landed, Luo Qing and the other four ability users immediately went to greet them. With the City Lord's appearance, a welcome was naturally in order.
However, Shen Feng looked at the mercenaries who had died on the battlefield and remained silent. He could see that the battle was over, but many of their own mercenaries had also died, and some were injured. The casualties were still a bit high.
"City Lord, this time only a little over a hundred mercenaries were lost, but we have defeated over four thousand enemies, killing two thousand directly and capturing one thousand," Cao Fuli quickly reported to Shen Feng, believing the outcome to be acceptable.
This response did not please Shen Feng; instead, it angered him. He said coldly, "Every soldier is painstakingly trained, and now they have been killed by bandits. What good is that? As for the captured bandits, kill them all and take their bodies back to Yuzhou."
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, Cao Fuli immediately fell silent. He knew the City Lord was angry. He couldn't understand why the City Lord should be angry when the deceased were not regular soldiers but mercenaries, whose compensation would be handled by their respective group leaders.
Shen Feng was indeed heartbroken for the fallen mercenaries. They were all strong laborers who had died after being ambushed.
Xu Xing quickly tried to persuade Shen Feng, "City Lord, killing these prisoners is unlucky. They can still work. Why not let these bandits farm? Killing them outright seems too brutal."
Xu Xing had just enjoyed the feeling of being respectfully called a hero and knew how satisfying it was to spare someone. Now that the bandits were captured, and there were only about a thousand of them, wouldn't it be good to use them for farming?
"Nonsense!" Shen Feng said angrily. "Don't you understand the seriousness of the situation? This is Yuzhou's cargo, and not everyone can have designs on it. Those who dare to reach out must have their hands cut off. Besides, these bandits are not good people."
Hearing this, Xu Xing couldn't help but retort, "But in my opinion, many people become bandits out of desperation, forced onto the mountains. If we kill them all, won't we be indiscriminately killing good people?"
Xu Xing hadn't expected to openly contradict Shen Feng, as he was her idol. She wished she could recite his words twice a day. Yet, now, Xu Xing was contradicting Shen Feng.
Shen Feng took a deep breath, wanting to lash out.
At this moment, Chu Chaoyan grabbed Shen Feng's arm and said, "A Feng, don't be angry. Let me persuade him, I will!"
Shen Feng really wanted to scold Xu Xing for her lack of judgment. Since they were bandits, they shouldn't be left alive. If she knew what these bandits had done, she wouldn't have said such things.
Chu Chaoyan then grabbed Xu Xing's hand and pulled her aside, saying earnestly, "Xu Xing, listen to me. Bandits are bandits. Don't pity them, because once you know what these people have done, you will understand how detestable they are. I'll give you a book on banditry later. After you read it, you won't object."
Xu Xing, pulled aside, still felt unconvinced. "Madam Chu, I just met someone who became a bandit out of helplessness. He was crying bitterly at the time, and he seemed very pitiful. Therefore, many people are coerced into becoming bandits. You can't fool me."
Seeing Xu Xing's stubbornness, Chu Chaoyan felt helpless. At a time like this, she was still pitying bandits? She had to find a way to show this naive girl the true nature of bandits.
Chu Chaoyan thought carefully and then saw a group of captured bandits in the distance, kneeling on the ground with dejected expressions, awaiting their fate.
"I have it! Since there are minions here, we can definitely find the bandits' lair. Let's go to their lair," Chu Chaoyan said quickly.
As the saying goes, hearing is not as good as seeing. Persuading someone is very difficult. The only way to convince them is to see it for themselves. After seeing it, they will know if it's true or false.
Chu Chaoyan had seen and heard a lot. When she followed Shen Feng to kill zombies, she had witnessed many unbearable scenes. Xu Xing, on the other hand, had always stayed in the city, rarely venturing out, and her understanding of the outside world was insufficient. Without seeing it firsthand, she naturally couldn't understand.
Thus, Chu Chaoyan found a small minion, broke his hands, and had him lead the way to their lair. Shen Feng thought about it and agreed. The battlefield cleanup would still take some time, and it was an opportunity for Chu Chaoyan to persuade Xu Xing. He only worried that Xu Xing would witness many tragic scenes.
"Let some of the vehicles return to Yuzhou quickly. Guo Pinming and Yang Chang are ready to depart. We can't do without food. Let some vehicles go back immediately," Shen Feng commanded.
Meanwhile, Chu Chaoyan took Xu Xing and headed into the mountains. The minion with broken hands led the way, and the two women followed. With two ability users moving in the mountains, the safety factor increased dramatically. The minion probably never dreamed that he would receive protection from two ability users.
Finally, they were led to a high mountain. Cliffs and precipices were everywhere. The only path was winding and narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass. If two people met, it would be difficult to even squeeze past. This place was the lair of one group of bandits.
On the mountaintop, there was a forest, and beneath the forest were many wooden houses, seemingly built recently. The roofs were covered with straw. This place was very treacherous, and it was truly difficult for ordinary people to ascend.
When Chu Chaoyan and Xu Xing arrived, the minion leading them immediately rushed out and shouted to his sleeping comrades inside the house, "Brothers, save me! Enemies are coming up the mountain!"
In the bandits' lair, there were four or five people on guard. Hearing the shouts from outside, they immediately grabbed their guns and rushed out, not fully dressed. However, when they saw the two beautiful women appearing on the mountain, they immediately became happy and couldn't help but say, "Kid, don't scare us! Where are the enemies? These are two beauties! Are you joking?"
At this moment, these remaining bandits no longer wanted to shoot. They smiled and approached Chu Chaoyan and Xu Xing. They figured that playing with such beauties would be a different kind of pleasure. It was evident that their boss had gained a lot from his trip down the mountain, even bringing back beauties.
Hearing this, Chu Chaoyan's face immediately turned cold. She hadn't expected to be targeted. These bastards were quite bold.
"Xu Xing, it's up to you. Now, you should see their true colors, right?" Chu Chaoyan said to Xu Xing.
The minion with broken hands also shouted loudly, "These two women are ability users! Our boss has been killed, shoot quickly!"
The guards, however, did not believe the minion's words and burst into laughter. "Act! Keep acting! Do you think we'll believe you? Now, we're not holding back."
However, at this moment, Xu Xing rushed forward, her expression grim. If they were truly pitiful people, Xu Xing would have shown mercy. But now, these people staying in the mountain stronghold were clearly not good people, so she didn't need to hold back.
Xu Xing charged forward and, with one punch each, burst their hearts. Before they died, these people couldn't even see Xu Xing's movements clearly. Only Chu Chaoyan, standing to the side, could see Xu Xing's actions. However, Chu Chaoyan's thought was, "Her speed is not as good as Shen Feng's."
After killing the group of guards who had spoken rudely on the mountain, Xu Xing began to survey the buildings on the mountain. In her eyes, these wooden houses were of earth and wood construction, with rammed earth foundations and wooden frames. With just a casual use of her abilities, these houses would all collapse.
Moreover, there was very little land on the mountain, so crops could not be planted. There were only a few scattered vegetable patches. It seemed that there was no place to produce food on the mountain, and life must have been hard.
Just then, eight or nine disheveled women rushed out of the wooden houses. They were unkempt, exuded a foul odor, and had bruises all over their faces and bodies, clearly having suffered abuse. Upon seeing Xu Xing appear, they immediately rushed over, knelt down, and began to recount their experiences in a torrent of words.
It turned out that there were no women on the mountain, but the bandits always needed to vent their surplus energy. Eventually, the detestable bandits turned their attention to passing women. After killing the men, they would take the women to the mountain for their own pleasure.
Furthermore, according to these women, they had been on the mountain for less than a month. There were a few women who had been abducted earlier, but they could not withstand the inhuman torture and eventually died.
Hearing these descriptions, Xu Xing's teeth were almost ground to dust. She had truly believed that many bandits on the mountain were forced into it. But after seeing the scene in the bandits' lair, she finally realized that she had almost protected a group of harmful people.
"All the bandits in this world deserve to die. They kill, set fires, rob, and wantonly defile women. All bandits are bad people," Xu Xing said through gritted teeth.
Chu Chaoyan nodded with relief upon hearing Xu Xing's words. She had seen a lot during the apocalypse. Xu Xing, who had been well protected by her mother, had now discovered a cognitive error and finally formed a reasonable view.
"Actually, there are basically no bandits in Yuzhou, as the City Lord's Mansion frequently issues missions, and mercenaries go to suppress them. However, in this world, whenever the world is in chaos, bandits will appear. This has been the case throughout history. You'll get used to it. Just try not to contradict Shen Feng next time. You are someone he values highly, and contradicting him would make him lose face," Chu Chaoyan said with a smile.