Chapter 905 - Ungrateful

Long Chen and the carriage entered Heavenly Eagle Canyon along with everyone else.

There were the perilous mountains on both sides.

“Everyone, once we pass through this area, we will arrive at Underworld City. I thank everyone for their hard work for the past two months. Please endure for the final stretch of the journey!”

Ji Yan smiled and chuckled.

“Lady Ji, you are being far too courteous.”

Ah Dong and the others hated Luo Wei, but they still had a fairly good impression of Ji Yan. Everyone except for Long Chen.

Long Chen was using Sight to look around. They were halfway through Heavenly Eagle Canyon when he detected two people at the front. He could see that the two people intercepting them weren’t easy foes at all.

So the final bosses are appearing at the final stretch of our journey. As I expected.

Long Chen smiled because he had been waiting for them for a long time. Two months, to be exact.

Because he hadn't fought anyone strong yet, he hadn’t progressed from the Fourth Heavenly Martial Stage.

The path of cultivation was extremely perilous. Even the geniuses of the Three Emperor Territories took two to three years to advance through each stage of the Heavenly Martial Realm, or maybe even longer.

Unlike them, Long Chen had the True Martial Overlord Soul as his third eye. It allowed him to peek at the Martial Dao of others, making him advance much faster than the others.

Long Chen didn’t notify them about the impending danger but instead continued to walk forward. They soon approached the two people on the path.

“Someone’s there!” Wei Zhou was the first to detect the danger. Everyone looked towards the end of Heavenly Eagle Canyon and saw two people blocking their way.

The two people were wearing completely black attires with their faces masked. The only things that were exposed were their blood-red eyes. It was clear that they were murderers who could kill without blinking.

“Boss Jiu, they are here.”

The younger of the two spoke first.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time.” The person was none other than Boss Jiu of the Bloody Misfortune Alliance from Scarlet Sun City.

The Bloody Alliance was a fairly renowned bandit gang around Scarlet Sun City. The other person was most likely a head of the Bloody Alliance too.

“Tenth Brother, you’ve just reached the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage, so you should fight Wei Zhou just to test out your new strength. I will deal with the two ladies. Once I’m done with them, I will join you.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Boss Jiu, I was thinking the same thing.”

The younger one smiled and clenched his fists. He was ready to kill.

Long Chen and the others had already noticed them, but rather than escaping, they continued to walk forward.

This was the first time Long Chen saw them up close. The bandits were releasing their intense essence into the air. Their strength made Ji Yan and the others wince in surprise.

The other escorts also noticed how strong the two were. They had a feeling that they could not win at all.

“Those two are at the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage,” Long Chen whispered to them as a warning. They trusted him and were shocked by the strength of the two bandits. They had never encountered any opponents on that level on this journey, so they were worried.

They were extremely close to Underworld City, and it was not worth it to lose their lives over fifteen hundred Emperor Crystals. If it wasn’t for their sense of duty, they would’ve scattered already.

Wei Zhou was the only person in their group at the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage. Ji Yan and Luo Wei were both at the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage, while Long Chen and the others were only at the Sixth Heavenly Martial Stage. Therefore, they would not be of much help. As for the woman inside the carriage, Long Chen estimated that she was weaker than Ah Dong.

The carriage stopped, and Ji Yan tried to talk to them. “Why are you blocking our path? Our master has connections to people inside the mayor's office in Underworld City. Please move aside.”

Boss Jiu laughed. “Ha! You are mere merchants from the Iron Blood Association. Stop putting up that farce. We are here to take that treasure away. Hand it over and we will let you go, or else Heavenly Eagle Canyon will become your tomb.”

Ji Yan and Wei Zhou frowned. Both of them stepped up together and said, “I don’t know what you are talking about, but since you won’t move away for free, we are ready to offer up to thirty thousand Emperor Crystals. Will you accept our offer and move?”

The two chuckled and waved their hands. “Wei Zhou, stop bullshitting us. I know you very well. This is my tenth brother, Qin Yang. He just reached the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage a couple of days ago. I will let him practice fighting against you today. As for me, I will enjoy myself with the two ladies. Or rather, an old lady and a young one.”

It was clear that Boss Jiu already knew about their plan. Wei Zhou had no choice but to kill the two, or they wouldn’t make it out of Heavenly Eagle Canyon alive.

“Luo Wei, come here.” Ji Yan gestured for Luo Wei to get closer. The two of them were at the same cultivation level, so they could barely handle Boss Jiu.

Luo Wei, however, wasn’t really willing to do so. He had sensed how strong his opponents were. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had been sleeping with the lady inside the carriage for the past two months, he would’ve escaped immediately. Unfortunately, he had to take care of his reputation.

He wasn’t even certain if he would lose to start with. If he ran now, then everything the lady had promised him would be gone forever.

He hesitated before choosing his side and standing with Ji Yan. He wanted to see how the fight would develop before deciding to run or not. If it went really badly, he would run. He wasn’t part of their group to begin with, and his life was more precious.

Ji Yan didn't believe that she and Luo Wei would be able to hold on while Wei Zhou was fighting against the other person.

Just then, Boss Jiu looked at Long Chen and the others.

“You’ve seen that we are at the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage. I’ve been watching you all for a long time. You aren’t their workers to begin with, and they have been humiliating you. I don’t think risking your lives for a little money is worth it, and I’m someone who cherishes the bonds between sworn brothers, so you may leave. I will not stop you from heading to Underworld City.”

Ah Dong and the others hesitated. Boss Jiu was right—there was no reason for them to risk their lives for merely fifteen hundred Emperor Crystals. They had been fighting for the past two months and knew that their duties were over.

But as escorts, they still felt duty-bound to stay.

Ji Yan was planning to use the nine of them as canon fodder. Every second they bought counted, so she didn’t want to let them run now. “Don’t listen to him! How can we lose to them? After we defeat the two of them, I will give each of you another thousand Emperor Crystals.”

Three thousand Emperor Crystals were their entire net worth.

They looked at each other and hesitated. Not only did they feel responsible, but they also thought that the reward made it worth the risk.

“You wimps! You become escorts and they bring you along to Underworld City, yet you are ungrateful enough to think about running? I knew you were cowards!”

Luo Wei tried gaslighting them to stay too.

He refused to let them escape when he himself couldn’t.

“Who says I’m a wimp? Who says I’m going to escape?” Ah Dong and the others shouted at Luo Wei.

Boss Jiu and Qin Yang frowned. They actually did want to let them live, but they didn’t mind killing them.

Long Chen shouted at the last moment, “Everyone, don’t throw your lives away because of your emotions. We’ve already done all that we could. We’ve swept the roads clear of bandits for them and brought them here. We owe each other nothing. There’s no reason for us to risk our lives for three thousand Emperor Crystals. We are not wimps nor cowards, but those who choose to stay and fight are true idiots. If you still think of me as your sworn brother, then follow me!”

Long Chen immediately nudged his Mech Horse to run towards the two bandits.

“Long Chen, you!” Ji Yan had been paying special attention to Long Chen because she thought he was different, but now he was the one leading them to escape!

“Ji Yan, we will not be enticed by your money. My sworn brothers are not your cannon fodder. You cannot buy their lives for merely three thousand Emperor Crystals. Those who don’t want to die, follow me.”

Long Chen turned around and looked at them.

“Long Chen, shouldn’t we return them their Mech Horses?” one of them asked cluelessly, though the others were gradually snapping out of Luo Wei’s gaslighting.

“Why should we? We earned them through our hard work. We didn’t even ask them for the Emperor Crystals we were promised. We’ve already escorted them through 99% of the journey, so they should be the ones paying us at least the corresponding amount in Emperor Crystals.”

Long Chen laughed and continued to run with his Mech Horse. The remaining eight soon followed him.