Chapter 100: The Bandit

Duan Danian was originally a fat man standing 1.83 meters tall. Although there had been a period of food shortage, the foundation from the sunny era remained. His previously high and protruding belly had shrunk inward, but it did not diminish his self-satisfied demeanor.

He was originally from Wannan Wucheng. After the great change in the world, he fled to Jinling City alone, unexpectedly awakening on the way and gathering a group of brothers who had narrowly escaped death.

In theory, he had been doing well in Jinling City and had no need to take risks by leaving the city. However, a few days ago, a man known as "Thirteenth Master" arrived, accompanied by a fierce and capable subordinate. He rallied a group of people and brutally beat Duan Danian's gang, causing two deaths.

What was even more infuriating was that this man had connections with both the military and the government, and even the already established awakening organizations in Jinling City supported him. Duan Danian had no way to appeal, and neither the legal nor the illegal channels could stand up to this man. As a result, he lost his territory.

He spent the afternoon in frustration, finally coming up with a plan to rob people at the foot of Qinglong Mountain.

Qinglong Mountain was indeed a good place. At its base was the Shenling Expressway, a key traffic route for at least 30 kilometers around Jinling City. To the north and south were small, rugged mountains, making the road difficult to traverse. As a result, more than half of the refugees fleeing from major cities to the east had to take this route.

To survive, one needed food. The military provided some opportunities to exchange for food, but Duan Danian estimated that these were extremely risky. He lacked the courage to take such chances and could only rob the refugees for food.

"Big, Big Brother, p-people are c-coming!" A thin man, who stuttered, said, holding an infrared telescope.

"Hmm, how many? What's the situation?" Duan Danian pulled his hand out from the clothes of the seductive woman sitting on his lap. His mind was still reminiscing about the young girl he had caught the day before, who was fair-skinned and tender, though a bit too thin from hunger.

"Th-three, f-four, f-five, s-six, s-sixty!" The thin man stuttered.

"You damn fool, can't you count properly!" Duan Danian kicked him in the buttocks, snatched the infrared telescope, and looked through it. "Good! Good! Excellent! They're all old, weak, sick, and injured, mostly women and children. Look at their pitiful state, stumbling and leaning on each other, even carrying stretchers. They're perfect targets! Brothers, get your weapons ready! Let's go!"

As the saying goes, "Looking at a mountain from afar can tire a horse to death."

Indeed, it was true!

Huang Renkuan, upon learning that Jinling City was near, immediately became more spirited. His steps became more vigorous, and the people behind him, who were supporting each other, could hardly keep up.

Even the helicopters they had seen before, when they passed overhead, no longer provoked his anger. He was secretly pleased that there was one less helicopter.

"We're almost there! Everyone, keep going! We'll definitely enter the city before dark!" Zhao Shanhe, despite his injuries, continuously encouraged the crowd.

Lao Cui and his group, although temporarily relieved of their food crisis by Chu Yunsheng's insect meat, had been hungry for too long. Their bodies were weak, and it would take more than a day or two to recover. After walking nearly five or six kilometers, they were all exhausted and out of breath.

Chu Yunsheng walked at the back. The closer they got to Jinling City, the more red-armored insect corpses he found. Although the primordial energy had dissipated, the carapaces were still intact, suitable for Chu Yunsheng to refine into new armor.

He estimated that the red-armored insect corpses he could collect along the way would be enough to refine a second-grade armor!

He also took the opportunity to use a third-grade Primordial Energy Absorption Talisman to absorb the primordial energy from the green fluorescent piercing insects. As expected, the primordial energy from these insects was even less than that of the red-eyed magic carpet, with the most energetic insect containing less than one-sixth of the energy.

Chu Yunsheng had previously used second-grade Primordial Energy Absorption Talismans, which would dissipate after use. When he broke through to the Second Primordial Heaven realm, he only had time to create one third-grade talisman, as he still had a large number of fully charged second-grade talismans.

The third-grade Primordial Energy Absorption Talisman could be reused as long as the talisman body did not collapse, saving Chu Yunsheng from having to waste a lot of primordial energy to create new talismans each time.

Because they were in a hurry and the piercing insects provided very little primordial energy, Chu Yunsheng only managed to fill the third-grade talisman intermittently. The talisman body now displayed eighteen water patterns, far exceeding the six of the second-grade talisman.

At this mountain pass, Chu Yunsheng was surprised to find a broken golden-armored insect corpse surrounded by large craters, likely destroyed by the military's powerful firepower.

He did not have time to study it in detail and directly stored it in a new Object Storage Talisman. The original two talismans were used to store food and supplies, and the bodies of various insects. The golden-armored insect was too large and unique, so Chu Yunsheng created a new Object Storage Talisman to store it.

Suddenly, he heard Huang Renkuan's cry of pain from the front. Chu Yunsheng was shocked. They had been lucky enough to avoid red-armored insects or other monsters for so long, and now, just as they were about to reach Jinling City, they were encountering trouble again. He quickly took Little Tiger and rushed forward.

"You're rebelling! I'm a government official!" Huang Renkuan, spitting blood, struggled to stand and shouted. The group had suddenly ambushed him, catching him off guard.

"Who are you trying to scare? In this world, the dead person next to you might even be a mayor!" Duan Danian laughed, not expecting that among these ragged people, there would be someone with awakening abilities, and even a self-proclaimed government official. However, he was not afraid; officials were everywhere, and killing one would go unnoticed.

"Big, Big Brother, don't waste time, just cut them down!" The thin man reappeared, stuttering.

Duan Danian glanced at them, his face dark. "Leave all the edible things behind, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

In his eyes, these people were already dead. Over the past few days, he had killed countless people and no longer cared.

"Oh, how do you plan to do this?" Chu Yunsheng had already leaped over the crowd, grabbed Zhao Shanhe, and whispered, "When we fight, just protect everyone. Leave the rest to me."

"Damn, are you looking for death? Brothers—" Duan Danian, though he did not see how Chu Yunsheng appeared, relied on his dozen or so awakened subordinates and was not concerned. However, he was suddenly pulled back by one of his subordinates.

"Big Brother, I think we should let it go. We can't afford to provoke this person!"

Duan Danian looked closely and saw Sun Qian, a fire-ability warrior who had recently joined his group. Sun Qian was one of the best among his subordinates. Duan Danian, not wanting to lose face, asked, "Is he your friend?"

"Big Brother, let me tell you, even if we all join forces, we can't match him!" Sun Qian, being short, could not reach Duan Danian's ear and had to whisper.

Duan Danian drew a sharp breath. Although he was skeptical, Sun Qian had never exaggerated, which made him hesitate.

Chu Yunsheng's senses were extremely sharp, and he heard every word. He preferred not to fight, but if a conflict arose, he could certainly kill all the bandits. However, during the fight, Lao Cui and the others would suffer, and many would die.

If it were just him, he would have already killed the bandits without hesitation.

Chu Yunsheng held the Thousand Cleave Sword, pointing the blade downward, ready to use a sword technique. If the bandits made a move, he would maximize the number of people he could kill in the first attack.

"Mr. Chu, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, we'll leave immediately!" Sun Qian, seeing Chu Yunsheng's readiness, quickly smiled and said carefully.

"Do you know me?" Chu Yunsheng was surprised. Although he had heard the conversation, he thought this person had recognized his strength from his speed.

"Mr. Chu, your sword in Kuncheng is known to all. I was one of the over a hundred people there." Sun Qian explained nervously. Duan Danian did not know the power of the person in front of him, but Sun Qian was well aware. A man who could resist a fire illusion bird and kill a flesh insect with one sword was not someone they could provoke.