"I never heard Lin Ling and the others mention night bandits before. How did they end up here?" Fang Yue asked curiously.

"It's normal that they didn't mention them. The activity range of night bandits is usually around Qing Si County because our villages are relatively closed off. If truly vicious people appear, they're killed on the spot, and it's not even reported. But Qing Si County, being a big place, is much more troublesome. All sorts of procedures have to be followed, and various forces are involved. Even if someone is sentenced to immediate execution, they can escape Qing Si County by trickery and go outside to become a night bandit. At most, they'll be on the wanted list, unable to enter villages, and without a place to settle down."

After a pause, Lord Han said, "But for De Yun Village to be invaded by night bandits, and even occupied, is something I didn't expect. This is very unusual… but never mind, it's not something we need to investigate. Wu Wu, stay here to protect the remaining people. Xiao Ye, you go after the guy who escaped earlier, find out where they came from, and eliminate them if necessary.

"Remember, night bandits are wanted criminals, vicious criminals who have no bottom line in their actions. If we don't die today, they might leak information about their whereabouts, which means they'll remember us. They might come to our door one day!

"So, you must be ruthless, more ruthless than them, and react faster than them!"

Fang Yue rarely heard Lord Han say such harsh words.

It seemed that night bandits were truly hated.

He instructed Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu to tie up the guards outside the tent who had fainted, and wake up the others.

After Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu responded, Fang Yue left the tent and rushed into De Dao Village.

As soon as he entered De Dao Village, Fang Yue immediately understood why the fat and skinny night bandits had refused to let them enter the village.

The section of road from the village entrance was fine, seemingly cleaned up on purpose, with no flaws, and no different from an ordinary village.

But as he went further inside, a large amount of dried blood appeared on the ground, along with various severed limbs and a chaotic street.

The entire village was like it had just experienced a village-exterminating raid!

The more Fang Yue walked inside, the more intense the anger in his heart became.

The entire village was now terrifyingly quiet. Fang Yue didn't know how many people were still alive inside, but judging from the traces of the shops being smashed and the sight of the items sold inside being swept away, the situation was likely dire.

Night bandits only plunder resources; they don't traffic people. Useless people have only one fate.

As he walked, Fang Yue noticed that there were gradually more figures around him.

He ignored them, just continuing to walk towards the guardhouse with a gloomy face.

In a village, the most important location is the guardhouse. It might not have the most resources, but it definitely has the best.

The best weapons, the best armor, the best supplies…

The night bandits should be there too!

Finally, when Fang Yue approached the guardhouse, he heard voices.

It was the sound of singing and dancing, playing music.

As the distance closed, the sound gradually became louder.

On the surrounding walls and trees, villagers were hanging, dead.

Rows of villagers, rows of people, seemed to be silently narrating something.

And when Fang Yue arrived in front of the guardhouse, he finally saw the night bandits, and… the dancers.

It was a huge stage.

He didn't know where it had been moved from, but it was placed at the entrance of the guardhouse, with a huge human soul brazier next to it, providing light.

On the stage, in the very center, sat a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a muscular body, and a nine-ringed broadsword on his back, eating peanuts and drinking wine.

In front of him was a group of scantily clad women dancing.

They were wearing shackles, their bodies covered in whip marks, cowering as they danced to the music. Some lackeys stood beside them, holding whips like guards. If they found someone dancing poorly, they would whip them.

"Oh? A guest has arrived?"

The man on the stage raised his eyelids and said indifferently.

Beside him was the skinny night bandit who had been guarding the village entrance and ran away after hearing the commotion.

At the same time, the black shadows that had been following Fang Yue all the way, hiding in the dark, slowly emerged from the shadows.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… counting them, there were a full fifteen people!

And judging from their ability to keep up with him earlier, at least three of them had entered the martial path!

Entering the martial path meant that they had learned internal cultivation methods and officially entered the Third-Rate Realm of Houtian. In Gu Yue Village, this meant they were qualified to contend for the position of captain!

But from Fang Yue's observation, all three of them were inferior to Lin Ling.

In other words, they had only barely reached the Third-Rate Realm of Houtian, and their foundation was far from solid.

"Save, save us!"

"My lord, save us!"

The women on the stage knelt down and spoke one after another, but they were greeted with the cracking of whips. The sound of the supervisor frightened the girls, who trembled and hesitated before standing up and continuing to dance.

Fang Yue calmly watched all of this, then shifted his gaze upward, looking directly at Knife Leader (Dao Laoda).

"Release them."

"That depends on whether you have the ability."

Knife Leader lazily raised his wine cup, took a sip, and gave his subordinate a look of instruction.

"Kill!!"

Almost at the instant Knife Leader gave the order, the dozen or so people around Fang Yue rushed towards him.

The three who had entered the martial path were particularly prominent, taking the lead!

But all of this was too slow in Fang Yue's eyes.

When the first martial path night bandit arrived in front of Fang Yue, stabbing his dagger towards Fang Yue's chest, Fang Yue only made one move.

Reach out, clench a fist, and smash down!

Dong!!

The martial path night bandit didn't even understand what had happened. He only felt his head explode as if it had been bombed, and the pain was unbearable. His body fell uncontrollably, his chin heavily impacted the ground, dislocating it directly, teeth flying out, and blood gushing out of his mouth as his consciousness gradually faded away.

Silence.

Deathly silence!

The music stopped, the dance stopped, and Knife Leader stood up!

He suddenly clenched the nine-ringed broadsword in his hand, his pupils contracting, looking at Fang Yue below with shock and uncertainty.

In the instant of the previous attack, even he only saw a blurred afterimage!

Knife Leader's face gradually became ferocious, revealing a desperate madness.

"I wondered how there could be such a righteous person in this remote place? It turns out he's a dog of the Qing Si!"

The faces of the night bandits changed drastically, and panic appeared on their faces.

"A Qing Si person?! He's actually a Qing Si person?"

"How could they have tracked us here so quickly! It doesn't make sense! And didn't Skinny say that he was with the team outside? Did he mistake him for someone else?"

"No! He's definitely a Qing Si person. Only the Qing Si know our whereabouts, only the Qing Si have the kind of strength he just displayed!"

"Knife, Knife Leader, what do we do? Do we retreat?"