After observing Mo Mian for a good few moments, Hui Shajing finally leaned back into his seat and smiled. "Fine, we will let them go. But that will only happen after I get the location of their hideout."
"Then I will take Young Noble Hui's words for it," Mo Mian nodded. "Let's go.
With that, the Mystic Cavalry got to their feet.
"No! Don't leave! They will never keep to their words!" one of the bandits pleaded.
"That's right! Take us with you!" another desperately added.
"I'm sure Young Noble Hui will make good of his words," Mo Mian looked back towards Hui Shajing. "Isn't that right?"
"Of course," Hui Shajing answered with a meaningful smirk.
"Cooperate with Young Noble Hui, and perhaps you can at least keep your lives," Mo Mian advised before turning to leave.
"No! Please! These people will never follow through on their promise!"
"Don't leave us here with them!"
The members of the Mystic Cavalry no longer heeded their pleas, following Mo Mian's lead as they exited the inn.
"Really not taking the silver, eh?" Hui Shajing shouted after them, but received no response even as they exited the inn.
"Are we letting them go just like that?" Uncle Hei asked.
"Do you want to try stopping them then?" Hui Shajing scoffed. "Didn't you realise? Out of the ten tables, theirs was the only one that has remained intact despite the fierce fight earlier."
Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai widened their eyes slightly in surprise.
"Even so, we might not be inferior in a fight," Uncle Hei continued.
"I'm not doubting your combat prowess, but this is not going to be easy," Hui Shajing shook his head. "In any case, we have already gotten what we want. Since it doesn't seem like they want to get involved, let's not complicate things as well. For now, get to work. I want to know the location of their hideout by evening."
"Heard that?" Uncle Hei redirected the instruction to the soldiers.
"Understood!" the soldiers answered in unison.
***
No one said a word on the way out of the inn, silently fetching their spirit horses before walking away.
There seemed to be a suffocatingly solemn atmosphere that was looming over the party.
It was only when they were a good distance away from the inn that Pu Feixiang finally broke the silence.
"Do you really believe that they will spare those bandits, Senior Martial Brother Mo?" Pu Feixiang asked.
"I sure hope so," Mo Mian answered. "At the same time, what they said is true as well. Redblade was the aggressor in the first place, so this is a result that the bandits deserved and should have been prepared for."
"If you really think that the bandits deserved it, why did you ask them to spare the bandits?" Pu Feixiang continued to ask.
Mo Mian did not answer.
"Junior Martial Brother Pu, it's not like you don't understand our leader by now, so why bother asking?" Chu Han sighed. "No matter their origins, Senior Martial Brother Mo doesn't enjoy seeing defenceless people being subjected to harm."
"Then shouldn't we have just rescued them?" Pu Feixiang said with a frown.
"In a way, it is their karma as well," Mo Mian shook his head. "But now that the gentleman has promised to let them go, the karmic responsibility has shifted to him instead. If he were to go back on his word, he cannot blame others for the resulting consequences."
"Oh? Does that mean we are going to be the ones enacting those consequences should that happen?" Pu Feixiang smirked.
"We will be passing by again on the way back," Mo Mian did not give a direct answer, but everyone understood the underlying meaning.
"That's more like it!" Pu Feixiang cracked his knuckles. "They'd better not have done anything foolish, especially to the waiter and his cute daughter. Otherwise, I will give those cocky faces a physical transformation!"
"If they really do lay their hands on the waiter and his daughter, then I will surely be the first to support your actions," Mo Mian chuckled, though a tinge of sadness lingered in his eyes. "As much as I hope that will not happen, sometimes one cannot help but remember that men are usually the greatest menace to ourselves."
Zhao Yunxiao let out a faint smile upon seeing this.
Even though he did not quite agree with the way that Mo Mian and the Mystic Cavalry had handled this matter, he did not intend to interfere either.
The only thing he wanted to focus on during this trip was to support them to the best of his abilities and not question their decisions, at least not when they had no material impact on the mission.
However, one thing he admired was the fact that everyone calmly followed Mo Mian's decision despite their disagreements, waiting to talk things out in private only after the incident had passed.
"What do you think about this matter, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Chu Han asked while carefully observing Zhao Yunxiao's expressions. "Or rather, how would you have handled the situation earlier?"
With that, everyone's attention fell upon Zhao Yunxiao.
"Who knows? I usually just go with my gut," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.
"Really? You definitely don't look like the type who would do something without first thinking things through," Chu Han's smirk hinted that he did not quite believe Zhao Yunxiao's words.
"I'm not proud of it, but it's true," Zhao Yunxiao insisted while scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "Didn't you hear about how I got into a fight with Senior Martial Brother Sun just about a week ago? Do you think that would have happened if I weren't the reckless type?"
"That's... true," Chu Han let out an awkward smile.
It was not an incident that Zhao Yunxiao was proud of.
However, it was indeed one of the times when Zhao Yunxiao had acted with an uncharacteristic recklessness. As embarrassing as it was, it actually served as the best excuse to get out of answering this imaginary-scenario question.
"It seems like Junior Martial Brother Zhao is rather similar to me, both being hot-blooded heroes of this era!" Pu Feixiang exclaimed.
"You are definitely hot-blooded, but I don't know about being a hero," Gui Longcan remarked.
"All right, why don't we stop putting Junior Martial Brother Zhao on the spot?" Mo Mian laughed. "East Stream Village is not far now. Let's pick up the pace and aim to arrive by early morning tomorrow."
"Got it!" the group mounted their spirit horses and got on their way once more.
The rest of the journey went by rather uneventfully.
Just like before, they alternated between riding on the spirit horses and practising the Terra Seal Formation while the horses were taking a break.
It did not take long before night fell, and the party camped out in the wilds once again.
A good distance away from the campsite, Zhao Yunxiao's earthen clone stood in a battle-ready stance as he faced the tall tree before him.
There were still some extremely minute differences between this clone's appearance and Zhao Yunxiao's, but it could already be described as nigh undetectable. At the very least, it was definitely far more similar than any of the earthen clones from before.
[Xuanwu Fist Art – Invisible Snap]
Bang-!
The swift punch left a dent in the thick trunk, rattling the tree and causing leaves to fall all around him.
However, he did not stop with just a single punch.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
Zhao Yunxiao continued to assault the tree with a relentless barrage of punches.
Those who did not know better might even think that Zhao Yunxiao was letting out his pent-up frustrations on the tree.
But in actual fact, Zhao Yunxiao was simply trying to refine his control over his earthen clone.
The Invisible Snap that he was executing with this clone was far from good enough, even by Zhao Yunxiao's standards.
And that was considering the fact that his standards for his earthen clones were not even all that high at the moment.
Zhao Yunxiao, however, understood that it was going to take some time to reach a high enough level on his clones.
Therefore, even if the power was still lacking, he was first seeking to make it at least appear similar to how he executed it with his real body.
Otherwise, it would be far too easy for others to differentiate between his real body and his clone!
Underground, Zhao Yunxiao was using the Earth Burrowing Technique to move around the area.
Though his mobility while underground was still nowhere near what he deemed as acceptable, he was slowly starting to get used to moving around while controlling his earthen clone.
At this rate, it might not be long before these techniques become ready for use in actual combat!
After a long night of practice, Zhao Yunxiao returned to the campsite once more.
This time, the members of the Mystic Cavalry no longer questioned him about where he went. It was yet another new site, so they naturally assumed that Zhao Yunxiao had simply gone scouting the area just like before.
The journey had gone smoothly so far, and they would be arriving at the mission location the next morning.
In order to ensure that they were all on the same wavelength, the party spent the night going through the mission details as well as their intended action plan once more.
By the time they were finally done and retired for their rest, it was already late at night, and dawn was fast approaching.
At the moment of daybreak, the party set off once again.
"Make sure to rein in your feelings later, Junior Martial Brother Pu," Chu Han cautioned as they approached their destination.
"I know that! Why do you tell me that every time?" Pu Feixiang complained.
"You are asking why?" Chu Han chuckled. "Did you forget that time when you-"
"Yes, yes, I got it already! So naggy!" Pu Feixiang quickly cut him off. "Remember not to let your feelings show no matter how good you feel later as well, Junior Martial Brother Zhao."
"Worry for yourself!" Chu Han immediately chided. "Do you really think that Junior Martial Brother Zhao is the same as you?"
"I'm just reminding him out of goodwill!" Pu Feixiang retorted. "And you speak as if you know him very well, but isn't this also the first time that you are out on a mission with him?"
"If you can't even tell that much from the amount of time that we have spent together so far, then you really are a poor judge of character!" Chu Han answered.
"Haha, I got it, Senior Martial Brother Pu," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a laugh. "I will be mindful of my behaviour and expressions later."
"See? Junior Martial Brother Zhao doesn't even mind it, so why are you getting all worked up?" Pu Feixiang shrugged.
"This brat..." Chu Han felt the corner of his lips twitch, then turned towards Zhao Yunxiao. "You really don't have to respond to everything that idiot says, you know?"
"Haha..." Zhao Yunxiao could only laugh drily in response.
"All right, everyone, be serious," Mo Mian said. "East Stream Village is right ahead, and we are about to enter their line of vision now."
As he said that, the outline of a small village started to come into view.