Chapter 56 - Handful Bandits

"What the fuck is wrong with you!!?" the man was at his wit's end.

"A lot probably. I've noticed that I have problems expressing myself. Sometimes I feel so much but then there are times that I can be a complete monster and not give the slightest of shits."

"........"

"..........."

"That was a rhetorical question...."

"........"

"I wasn't actually asking you what was wrong with y-"

"I know what rhetorical means.."

"....oh....." this was by far the strangest of conversations either of these guys had ever been a part of. Neither of them knew what to say at this point.

"Just kill me."

"I would like to if you'd just tell me what you're after. I don't think either of us wants to keep this conversation going for a second more than needed so just talk and we can get it over with," said Hao Xuan trying not to make eye contact with the man.

"We were hired by some rich guy. They wanted three people from the caravan and we would get to keep everything else. There were only five of them. One is their leader who doesn't interact with anyone and the other four monsters are his underlings it seems," the man finally gave up and told him everything he knew.

"So the people that hired you are still here?"

"Yes. There were two people that were missing from the caravan, coincidentally they are the same two that the guy who hired us wants the most. So we're stuck here until we find them."

"What do they look like?"

"They're almost like giants. Much taller than anyone I've ever seen, and extremely powerful. I saw one of them rip apart a spirit beast with his bare hands. But their leader is much smaller. I haven't seen any of their faces though so can't describe any features."

"What? No, I was talking about the two that the guy that hired you wants."

".....oh....um, t-they're supposed to be kids. A young girl and a boy, but we don't know what they look like," the man replied awkwardly. The more they talked, the worse the conversations got. How could two people be on such different wavelengths? It's a good thing this interaction was coming to an end.

"Alright, thanks. How many people are there in total, including your group?" Hao Xuan asked after a few seconds.

Apparently, the siblings he rescued were the royals he was looking for, but there was still one missing. That last person was most probably in possession of the other token that Hao Xuan followed all the way here. When the tokens are within a meter of one another they start vibrating and glowing until they are put together.

"Five of them, and about two hundred of us. But they probably have backup so there should be a few more nearby somewhere. Try not to kill too many of my brothers, as you said, we're just doing our jobs. We don't kill people unnecessarily and only rob the rich. If not us then there would be someone else to take over anyway," the man said with a half-smile trying to justify his lifestyle in his own way.

"Are you alone?"

"Oh, I thought you didn't want to know."

"Alright, let me rephrase that. If there's only you then just give up right now. You won't be able to take on a single one of his guards, let alone all four and then whatever else they're hiding. All of them are extremely powerful. Not to mention two hundred of my brothers."

"You don't have to worry about me," Hao Xuan smiled. He actually kind of liked this guy, he was straightforward and honest, not something you would expect from a bandit.

"What's your name?"

"....Wei Zhi," the man replied, finally putting a name to the face.

"I am truly sorry Wei Zhi. I only wanted some information, all this was not part of the plan."

"Hahaha, you haven't done this before have you? I would still kill you in a heartbeat if given the opportunity, but alas. Don't be so sentimental towards your enemies, it will be your downfall." Wei said and shook his head. How could he even lose to this kind of a rookie?

"Alright, that should be enough now. Get it over with," he said while closing his eyes. At this point, he could only control his body from the shoulders and above. Everything else was paralyzed.

"That's it? Any last words?" Hao Xuan asked while taking out his sword.

"Dude, stop dragging this along for fuck sakes. I got places to be," Wei said with a mocking laugh, aimed at himself.

*sigh*

"I'm sorry, really.." Hao Xuan whispered for the last time and swung his sword horizontally, separating Wei's head from his body.

"We could have been good friends in another life," he mumbled and took out a shovel from his storage ring and starting digging. It was still raining outside and they were in a small cave that Hao Xuan accidentally found while running away.

He dug a shallow grave and put Wei's body inside and buried him with as much respect as could be given in such a situation. This wasn't really going to do anything though. Soon the beasts would smell the blood and dig it back up and eat it. The grave was more for Hao Xuan, so he wouldn't feel too bad after killing an innocent man, although some could argue that no one is truly innocent.

Hao Xuan didn't stay there for too long until there was a loud whooshing sound outside and from the corner of his eye saw a silhouette pass by really quickly. He frowned and peeked outside to see what it was but his eyes constricted as soon as he got an actual look at it.

It was the same huge figure that Wei had described.

"Hmm? Something is wrong with him. The body proportions are all wrong..."