The Silly Alchemist

The Robbery (2)

That's right. The raids were never successful, which meant the Ai La Empire had conducted raids but could never wipe all of the robbers out!

After all, this mountainous area had a very complicated terrain so hunting down the mountain robbers who were familiar with the landscape was a very difficult task!

It made sense. The existence of these robbers and thieves had their purposes- at least to some people, it was very reasonable for them to be there!

The most powerful, influential people controlled one, two or many bands of thieves here. They attained their goals by force.

It wasn't just because of money, but often for secrets that can never be revealed!

To pass through such a risky location, people would usually have guards with them unless they were very poor commoners.

And if they were aristocrats, they'd definitely have guards!

In a carriage sat a rich young man and a lady. There wasn't anybody around the carriage, just the 3 people, including the coachman.

The carriage looked very old and worn out from the outside, but both the young aristocrats were wearing very luxurious clothing!

If they were disguising themselves as commoners, then they should've changed into something more regular. That way, they might have a chance against the robbers.

This meant that both had no intentions to hide their identity. Why would they want to come here alone, without any escorts? And why would they use such an old carriage?

It's simple. You'll see!

They weren't just anyone, they were Ye Lang and his spirit girl. No one knew she was a reanimated spirit though, and Ye Lang had given it something a rich lady would wear.

Ye Lang had received many looks along the way, constantly attracting attention. Of course, it was the spirit girl that was turning heads.

Under regular circumstances, Ye Lang would call it Little Xin!

He seemed to give nicknames that started with 'Little'...

"Sir, Ma'am, why didn't you hire soldiers and bodyguards," asked the coachman nervously. He was driving the carriage at top speed, terrified.

The coachman had never seen anyone who wouldn't hire soldiers for a journey like this!

"We don't need to. Don't worry, if anything happens, we'll be here to protect you!" said Ye Lang casually, while Little Xin sat next to him without moving, she was so calm!

Hmm. The coachman thought they were perhaps too calm!

Especially the girl, she didn't move at all!

He didn't know that without instructions from Ye Lang, she wouldn't move even if the mountains fell unto her.

"Sir, please don't blame me but if we're found, I'll be the first one to run," said the coachman directly. He was being very honest.

"I won't, but I'd suggest you stay because you might provoke someone when you run. The consequences would be even worse!" reminded Ye Lang very kindly.

What Ye Lang said was the truth. If they were surrounded and the coachman did something like that, he'd definitely be slashed to death.

Then again, no one would care if it came down to that. Even now, the coachman felt like staying with them was too dangerous…

"Staying would be the same as dying. I might have a chance if I run!! I hope the heavens will protect me so the robbers will stay far away from us. I hope they don't target such a worn-down carriage!" The coachman begged and prayed to the heavens.

If Ye Lanyu and the rest were here, they'd definitely feel like he should be begging Ye Lang for protection instead. Making Ye Lang promise his safety would probably be much more practical than praying.

That didn't mean Ye Lang would protect him. It's just Ye Lang's luck that no matter what he needed, it would come and he was more accurate than any fortune teller.

Ye Lanyu and the rest would also stop Ye Lang from talking, i.e. about how he wanted to see what the robbers looked like…

"Perhaps they would not notice us, but we might meet someone who's being robbed. Now that would just mean it was meant to happen to you, you can't escape!"

Yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing they'd stop him from saying!

Wait…

Ye Lang was the one who said it!

Oh no!!

"Sir, you must be joking. Even if we see someone being robbed, what would that have to do with us? We could watch from afar or turn around and run the other way!" The coachman had no idea how powerful Ye Lang was.

"Worst-case scenario would be them not letting us leave. If that happens, you should run far away, I'll deal with them!" Ye Lang said casually, "To be honest, I want to see how robbers look like. I also want to be a robber if I could! A very meaningful job indeed!!"

"..." Even if the coachman didn't know how Ye Lang's capabilities, he didn't dare speak after hearing this. If he did continue, the man might actually act on his thoughts and rob him first!

Soon, Ye Lang the fortune-teller's predictions came true!!

"Uh… Sir, Ma'am, we should run!" said the coachman to the both of them, suddenly bringing the carriage to a halt. He saw a band of thieves surrounding several carriages.

Upon closer examination, there didn't seem to be anyone in the carriages. More like no one alive. Most of them were dead, other than a youth about Ye Lang's age. He was at the centre of the circle, fighting them.

The youth looked like an expert. Every move he made was powerful, expertly dodging and attacking. Even if the coachman didn't know what was going on, he knew he'd met an expert.

Not only was the youth fighting so many people alone, but there were also many bodies lying around his feet. They were obviously killed by him.

If these robbers were only amateurs, then they wouldn't be a problem for the youth. However, based on their moves, they didn't look like regular thieves either!

There were two possibilities. Perhaps it was a powerful band of thieves robbing this area and coincidentally met this other expert. Or they knew this youth was an expert and were targeting him- or something he had.