10: The bandits' big move

After Ye Ming's thoughts became clear, he left the cave, casually dismantled the Formation, and upon emerging, found that the sky had already brightened, and it was now noon.

Glancing at the sun overhead, Ye Ming employed his Cultivation Technique, and his aura instantly vanished. He then returned to the village.

Only after returning to his room did he withdraw the Cultivation Technique, and his aura returned to normal.

Just as he was about to make something delicious to satisfy his cravings, someone came looking for him.

"Xiao Ming!"

Lin Hao's voice appeared at the doorway. Ye Ming didn't know why he was looking for him, so with a puzzled expression, Ye Ming went to open the door.

The door opened, and looking at Lin Hao waiting at the entrance, Ye Ming asked, "Brother Lin, what's wrong?"

"You know the village ten li away from us, right?"

Lin Hao didn't directly state his purpose but instead asked him about the location of a village.

"I know." Ye Ming nodded.

He was not unfamiliar with the village ten li away. He would pass by there when going to town and often rested there. The two villages also had interactions.

However, Lin Hao's next words made Ye Ming frown.

Lin Hao first sighed, then his expression turned regretful as he said, "That village was ransacked by Bandits yesterday morning! Only a few people managed to escape!"

Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Those few people ran fast and escaped disaster. They are now resting in the neighboring Chen Family Village. If it weren't for the people from Chen Family Village coming over this morning to tell us, we wouldn't have known that village was gone."

Hearing this, Ye Ming frowned. In the past two years, Bandits had appeared too many times, which was very abnormal. As far as he knew, Bandit incidents generally didn't happen in this area for several years.

However, this appearance gave him an opportunity to wipe out all the Bandits in one fell swoop. Given the Bandits' style, they would probably come to Chen Family Village or their Fengxia Village next, as these were the two closest villages to Shili Village.

So he had to wait for them. When the Bandits came, he would keep their leader to gather intelligence about them, find out all the Bandits in this area, and then eliminate them one by one.

Lin Hao also knew that the Bandits had been very abnormal recently. Without waiting for Ye Ming to speak, he continued, looking helpless.

"I talked with the Old Village Chief all morning, and we finally decided to take you all out of the village to hide in the back mountain. Xiao Ming, what do you think?"

"Hmm, let's hide for a while. If the Bandits can't find us, they'll leave on their own." Ye Ming didn't offer any suggestions, just nodded in agreement with the method.

At the same time, a plan formed in Ye Ming's mind: he would set up a small Formation around Chen Family Village and their village. Once any Bandits stepped into his Formation, he would immediately know of their arrival, and that would be their death sentence.

While he was thinking, Lin Hao was already preparing to leave.

"Then Xiao Ming, hurry up and pack your things. I still need to inform the other villagers. Remember, at three o'clock in the afternoon, gather at the Old Village Chief's house. Once everyone is there, we'll leave together!"

"Alright!"

Seeing Ye Ming agree, Lin Hao turned to go to other villagers' homes.

After watching Lin Hao leave, Ye Ming went back to his room to casually pack his things, then took out eight yellow and red Formation Flags from his System space.

These were the small Formations in his plan, bought at the Loose Cultivator market. He bought two, each with four Formation Flags. Although they were low-grade, as long as his cultivation was sufficient, he could arrange them to cover a large area.

Next, Ye Ming walked out of the room and inserted one Formation Flag each in the north, south, east, and west directions on the outskirts of the village. Finally, he formed hand seals and channeled his magical power into the Formation Flags.

The four Formation Flags were immediately activated, glowing faintly before becoming hidden. At this point, the Formation was complete. Once someone entered the village, Ye Ming would receive a prompt from the Formation.

However, this was the lowest-grade Formation, not very intelligent. It couldn't distinguish friend from foe, so he still had to constantly monitor it.

After setting up the Formation in his own village, Ye Ming walked towards the neighboring Chen Family Village. At this time, he was using the Divine Concealment Art, so no one could see him.

As he reached the village entrance, he saw hundreds of villagers from Chen Family Village about to enter his village. Ye Ming didn't need to guess that they wanted to go to the back mountain with his Fengxia Village to seek refuge.

As Ye Ming passed them, he saw three injured youths, presumably the ones who escaped from Shili Village. The three of them were still talking with the Village Chief of Chen Family Village as they walked.

"Village Chief Chen, how many of us are going into the depths of Baishan to seek refuge?"

One of the three youths, who looked very honest, suddenly changed the subject during their conversation and asked Village Chief Chen.

Village Chief Chen was an old man over seventy. Facing the youth's question, the old man smiled kindly and replied, "Counting the one hundred fifty-three people from the neighboring Fengxia Village, we have a total of three hundred seventy-eight people. With so many people, we don't fear Bandits, but it's still good to hide if we can."

"Is that so? With so many people, we really don't need to be afraid of Bandits..."

After hearing the number of people mentioned by Village Chief Chen, a glint flashed in the youth's eyes, and a strange smile subtly curved at the corner of his mouth.

His expression was well-hidden and not noticed by those around him, while Village Chief Chen was still optimistically talking about the two villages' affairs.

Listening to their conversation, Ye Ming initially didn't pay attention, but his keen Divine Sense made him notice the youth's strange expression and that glint, which his Divine Sense also captured as they brushed past each other.

These three people are suspicious!

Noticing this, Ye Ming's eyes narrowed. He stopped, turned, and carefully observed the three youths, not missing any small expression on their faces.

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, he found the problem with the three of them. Their eyes would constantly glance at the people of Chen Family Village around them, with an inexplicable meaning in their depths.

Like hungry wolves looking at delicious lambs, it was deeply hidden, but he still discovered it.

Ye Ming looked at the expressions of the three and already understood that these three were not here to seek refuge together, but were malicious individuals!

Thinking this, the people of Shili Village were probably all lost, and these three were likely disguised Bandits.

To avoid alerting them, Ye Ming did not act rashly. Instead, he released three wisps of spiritual energy, attaching them to each of the three youths. As long as those three made any suspicious move, he could detonate the spiritual energy with a thought, sending them straight to heaven.

After doing all this, Ye Ming continued to complete his arrangements. It was always good to have an extra layer of preparation.

Chen Family Village was not far. It would take an ordinary person half an hour to walk there, but for Ye Ming, it was just a ten-second flight.

Upon arriving at Chen Family Village, Ye Ming set up the Formation and then left. However, before returning, he specifically went to Shili Village to take a look, only to see a ruin burned by a large fire.

There were no corpses in the ruins, nor any traces of battle. It was likely that after capturing the people, the Bandits set the place on fire.

Next, Ye Ming checked the area for dozens of li around to see if any Bandits were hiding there.

This area had many hills; one could see a mountain or a large forest within dozens of steps.

After searching for about half an hour without finding anything, Ye Ming could only return to the village.

Back in the village, he saw all the people from Chen Family Village gathered in the open space in front of the Old Village Chief's house. Village Chief Chen was talking with the Old Village Chief, and the three ill-intentioned youths were also nearby.

Most of the villagers had also arrived, all discussing with worried expressions.