Chapter 293: The Feud of a Wounded Wife, the Grudge of a Stolen Wife
"Friend, we’re the Tian Family’s convoy from Tianhuan City. Please, take this and treat your brothers to some tea..."
The Steward didn’t want to blow things out of proportion. Seeing Gu Da and his men ignore the commoners walking past, he figured these bandits were only after money, not lives. So, he offered up the Silver he’d prepared in advance.
But when Gu Da heard "the Tian Family from Tianhuan City," his eyes lit up.
’This family is specially marked on the Boss’s list! I can’t believe I ran into them!’
The Steward’s attitude was decent. He hadn’t started cursing or acting arrogant right off the bat. If he hadn’t announced his family name, or if this had been a different family’s convoy, they would’ve just snatched a few things and left. Even bandits have some morals, you know.
Now that the Steward had announced his family name... well, tough luck. If they let this convoy pass, they’d be the ones in deep trouble.
’I have no idea what the Tian Family did to make the Boss hate their guts. Someone’s already gone to get him. My job is to stall for time.’
"You think this little bit of money is enough to send my brothers away?"
Gu Da put on a stern face and said coldly, "Do you take us for beggars?!"
"Of course not, of course not..."
The Steward forced a smile, and just as he was about to offer more Silver to avoid disaster, he heard a SWISH as Tian Rong threw open the carriage curtain and stormed out.
He was fuming.
"Don’t push your luck." He jutted out his chin, his nostrils practically facing the sky. "Take the Silver and get lost. Piss me off, and you’ll regret it!"
Oh boy, Gu Da’s short fuse was lit.
He rolled up his sleeves, waved a hand to the men behind him, and yelled, "Brothers! This old bastard dares to look down on our Overlord Mountain! Get your weapons!"
The CLANG of weapons sounded from behind, and the Steward’s face went pale.
’These supplies are crucial. It’s best if we can avoid a fight. If we fight and the supplies get destroyed, how will I answer to the Clan Leader?!’
"Don’t, don’t attack! Let’s be civil..."
The Steward hurriedly tried to placate Gu Da while signaling his subordinates to pull Tian Rong back into the carriage.
Tian Rong shook them off at once and started shouting again, "Who the hell do you think you are? Just a bunch of bandits! You dare to touch our Tian Family? Forget you lot, the Tian Family could flatten your entire Overlord Mountain!"
Gu Da laughed, a laugh born of pure rage.
A moment ago, he was just momentarily angry. If the Steward had kept up the sweet talk, he would have taken the easy way out and waited for the Boss to arrive and give orders.
But now, he was furious.
Overlord Mountain was home to his wife, children, and parents, as well as his saviors and friends. To Gu Da, Overlord Mountain was the star that had saved his family when they had nowhere else to turn.
Threatening him with Overlord Mountain? They were courting death!
The bandits behind him felt the same way. All of them glared like tigers about to pounce. Though there were only a dozen or so of them, they projected the presence of a million-man army.
The Steward’s heart sank. It seemed there was no avoiding this disaster.
He inwardly felt like killing Tian Rong, but he couldn’t let it show on his face.
Because Tian Rong’s father had died saving the Clan Leader. He was just one of the Clan Leader’s many subordinates. It was obvious who was more important.
The commotion outside was huge, and Tian Rong’s voice was louder than a lion’s roar. It was impossible for Guo Min, inside the carriage, not to hear.
But before Tian Rong had gone out, he had specifically instructed her not to come out no matter what happened. Guo Min sat in the carriage, twisting her handkerchief to shreds, but after much thought, she decided to listen to him.
’Her husband might be a good-for-nothing, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. He wouldn’t do something like this if there were only downsides and no benefits.’
Little did she know, Tian Rong was actively courting death. He was terrified that if the bandits really took the supplies, the Clan Leader would hate him forever when he returned.
But he also couldn’t just stand by and watch this pile of family-destroying stuff re-enter the Tian Family. If the Tian Family members started using the Blood Crystals again, the entire clan would be finished.
Tian Rong truly didn’t understand. Why could he grasp such a simple concept, but the Clan Leader couldn’t?
He didn’t get it.
’Oh well,’ he thought. ’First things first, I’ll just toss this dangerous hot potato to someone else.’
Before the Steward’s men could grab him again, Tian Rong acted fast, using his spiritual power to injure one of the men across from them.
The wound wasn’t large, but it was enough to make Gu Da explode with rage.
Tian Rong seized the opportunity to shout a few more things. The guards behind him thought the fight had started and immediately rushed forward.
With his hands restrained and his mouth gagged, he watched the chaos unfold. Seeing that no reinforcements were arriving for the bandits, he felt even more anxious than Gu Da.
The situation quickly descended into chaos. It was a total mess. The Steward was dumbfounded, his words completely drowned out by the shouts of battle.
The commoners on the side of the road saw the fight break out and scrambled to run back, finding safe places to hide, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
The Steward was anxious at first, but when he saw that the enemy only had a dozen or so men and that no reinforcements were coming, he calmed himself. Steeling his resolve, he decided to kill Gu Da and his men and leave this place as quickly as possible.
Once they were out of Overlord Mountain’s territory, no matter how formidable these bandits were, they wouldn’t be able to harm their convoy.
The Steward’s idea was sound, but just as he gave the order "Kill them all," a powerful wave of Divine level Spiritual Power washed over everyone.
From the once-quiet mountain forest, a group of grim-faced bandits holding weapons emerged, surrounding a man like stars orbiting the moon.
The man was tall and handsome, holding a little girl carved from pink jade in one arm. If not for the timing, the Steward might have thought he was some young master out for a stroll with his daughter.
When the man walked up to Gu Da, the bandits chanted in unison, "We greet the Boss!"
’This person is actually the bandit leader of Overlord Mountain?!’
The Steward’s jaw nearly dropped. Beside him, Tian Rong’s eyes widened even more.
It wasn’t because the bandits had called him "Boss." He was stunned by the appearance of Fuzai, the girl Ao Wu was holding.
’Why does this little girl look so much like the little Demon who wreaked havoc on the Tian Family all those years ago?’
That little Demon was the Little Phoenix who served the Heaven and Earth Stone. She had released the Hidden Guards the Tian Family had painstakingly cultivated and even set fire to the ancestral hall, causing a massive uproar.
After burning the place down, she ran off. But the Heaven and Earth Stone protected her. The Clan Leader had argued for a long time, only managing to get the little Demon punished by sending her to a lower world for "training."
’What kind of punishment is that? It was clearly a reward!’
’This little girl and that little Demon look too much alike. Could there be a connection between them?’
Tian Rong made a mental note of this, planning to tell the Clan Leader about it when he got back.
The Steward felt the pressure of the Divine level Spiritual Power. To minimize their losses, he braced himself and said, "Boss, my Tian Family member was the first to attack. We are willing to compensate you. We only ask that you let us go."
He promised a series of benefits, but under his expectant gaze, Ao Wu slowly said, "No."
"Why?"
The Steward pressed, "Boss, we have no deep-seated grudge. Overlord Mountain is formidable, but our Tian Family is not to be trifled with either."
Seeing that the soft approach wasn’t working, he decided to try the hard approach. His tone became slightly threatening. "Boss, do you think Overlord Mountain can withstand the Tian Family’s wrath?"
"Are you threatening me now?"
Ao Wu sneered. "I’ll be straight with you. The Tian Family is exactly who I’m here to rob."
"No deep-seated grudge? Between the Tian Family and me, there is the grudge of harming my wife and the hatred of having her stolen from me!"