11: Go into the mountains to avoid trouble

"The Bandits these days are too ruthless. Before, they only robbed money and valuables on the roadside, but now they kill people and burn villages at the drop of a hat. Sigh..."

"It's too terrifying. I don't know if we can escape this disaster. If we survive this time, let's pack up and move immediately!"

"Yes, yes, we must move. I think it's better to go to the town. At least the town won't be raided by Bandits."

"But what about the village? After all, this is the place where we've lived since we were children..."

The villagers were chattering away, discussing the situation. Most of them had developed the idea of leaving the village, though a few were unwilling to go.

Seeing that the argument was getting out of hand, the old village chief, who had been talking with Village Chief Chen, had to walk over to persuade them.

"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. Let's wait until we've laid low and weathered this storm before discussing this further. When the time comes, we can decide together whether to stay or leave!"

The old village chief habitually took out his cane and tapped it on the ground a few times to signal for the villagers to be quiet.

Once the old village chief spoke, the villagers quieted down. Now, they could only hope to safely escape this disaster.

Meanwhile, Ye Ming had already brought his things from home. With him were Lin Xiaoyu and her family, as well as two middle-aged villagers carrying Lin Fengqi on a stretcher.

After Ye Ming arrived, his Divine Sense remained locked onto those three people.

Ye Ming would mercilessly kill anyone who meant harm to his village. For now, he would observe them; perhaps it could lead to some clues.

The three people were unaware that they were being watched. They were still speaking in code to each other while scanning the surrounding villagers.

"Big Brother, there are quite a lot of people in these two villages. After we finish this job, the people behind the First Boss will surely reward us, right?"

"That's right. We must keep a close eye on them. By the way, you didn't forget to bring the things those people entrusted us with, did you?"

"I didn't forget. It's on me!"

"Hmm, take it out later when we enter the mountains with them!"

"Alright..."

Ye Ming heard everything they said clearly.

The people behind them? Could they be the masterminds behind all of this?

After hearing this, Ye Ming narrowed his eyes. So, there was a mastermind behind this. It seemed that as long as he captured those people, he could resolve everything.

As Ye Ming thought this, all the villagers had arrived.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, though only two and a half hours had passed, the old village chief didn't plan to stick to the original schedule. He stood up and announced loudly to the people of both villages:

"Since everyone is here, let's set off now!"

After speaking, without further ado, the old village chief turned and headed toward the back mountain first, with his family following closely behind.

As soon as the old village chief's family started moving, the village chief of Chen Family Village hurried to follow, and the villagers behind also began to move, all heading toward the back mountain.

"Back Mountain" was just what their village called it. It had another name, "Hundred Mountains." It was named this because it truly had over a hundred peaks of various sizes, and it was home to many wild beasts.

However, over several generations, the villagers had only explored half of it; the other half remained uncharted. The most dangerous threats along the way were things like large tigers in the deep mountains. Only now, with so many people, did they dare to venture deep inside.

Of course, the place they intended to hide was naturally one they were familiar with. It was easy to get lost in unfamiliar areas, and the Hundred Mountains were vast. Ye Ming didn't know exactly how large they were; he hadn't explored them in the past two years, as he had been busy with his own affairs.

It was precisely because of its size that the old village chief decided to hide there. As long as they hid deep and concealed themselves well, the Bandits would only be able to find them if they thoroughly searched the entire Hundred Mountains. But would the Bandits do that?

No, they wouldn't. That would be a waste of both time and manpower.

Unfortunately, the old village chief never imagined that three Bandits had already infiltrated the group. However, all of this was under Ye Ming's control, and it was enough that he knew about it.

When night fell, the villagers had already walked a distance into the mountains. One more day of travel tomorrow, and they would reach their hiding place.

The journey was fraught with difficulties; some elderly people and children needed to be carried or piggybacked by others in turns.

This caused the group to move quite slowly. Furthermore, they didn't know when the Bandits might arrive, so they tried their best to travel at night.

It wasn't until midnight that the hundreds of villagers stopped to rest on the spot. Thirty villagers volunteered to keep watch, and if there was any sign of trouble, they would immediately wake the others.

Among them, the three young men did not step forward; they simply laid out a sleeping mat and went to sleep.

Ye Ming watched them the entire time. Seeing them fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the ground, he knew the Bandits would not act tonight.

Along the way, other than secretly eating some Medicinal Pill of unknown composition at the beginning, they showed no other abnormalities. Ye Ming couldn't guess what kind of Medicinal Pill it was, so he would just have to wait until the final day to find out.

He wasn't in a hurry. He just wanted to see in what manner they would make their move. Regardless, they were dead men walking once they arrived, so he would let them jump around for a day or two.

Glancing at the three young men, Ye Ming lay down on a rock to doze off. Nearby were several villagers, all neighbors and acquaintances, and Lin Xiaoyu's family was not far away either.

Just a moment ago, Xiaoyu had been chatting with Ye Ming, but now she was curled up in her mother's arms, asleep.

The night passed peacefully, and the thing the villagers worried about most did not happen.

Before dawn in the morning, the villagers were woken up one after another. After eating some simple dry rations, they set off again.

By the morning's journey, they had already entered the inner perimeter of the Hundred Mountains. The number of wild beasts on the road had increased, but upon seeing hundreds of villagers, many of them tucked their tails and ran away.

Of course, there were still those that didn't fear death. A large pack of wild wolves stampeded down from a hilltop, charging straight toward the foot of the mountain and heading toward where Ye Ming and the others were. They had long since smelled the scent of a large amount of prey.

Even with hundreds of people, they didn't take them seriously; after all, their pack also numbered in the hundreds.

However, just as they had charged a short distance, a powerful pressure descended from the sky, crushing them all to death instantly.

Subsequently, Ye Ming's figure appeared nearby. He flicked a wisp of flame, and the traces of the wolf pack vanished completely in a short amount of time.

Ye Ming had known from afar that there was a wolf pack on the hilltop ahead. To prevent them from causing trouble, he used the excuse of relieving himself to leap above the wolf pack, then revealed his Foundation Establishment aura, crushing them to death directly.

After all, the wolf pack consisted only of ordinary creatures. Facing Ye Ming, a great Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, it was simply a dimensional strike; he didn't even need to make a move.

After doing all this, Ye Ming returned to the group.

After walking for the entire day, at dusk, a small valley appeared before Ye Ming and the others.

Looking at this valley, the old village chief stopped. The villagers behind him saw this and also stopped. They knew that the valley in front of them was their hiding place.

"Let's go. We'll arrive in just a few more steps. However, you must follow closely; it is very difficult to walk inside."

After warning the villagers, the old village chief turned around and walked into the valley.

Upon hearing this, the villagers looked at each other. Most of them did not recognize this place and did not know how difficult it was to walk inside; presumably, only the old village chief and a few others knew.