The surrounding villagers took out various things, from simple sticks and farming tools, to some even getting a large hammer. The three bandits beg for mercy, but the villagers have none for the bandits that had been terrorizing them for half a decade.
Soon, screams of pain filled the air, as the bandits were beaten up by the angry villagers.
While the others let up their pent-up hatred to the bandits, the middle-aged man and his daughter walk up to Ryker and bow to him.
"Thank you, esteemed lord. We are in your debt. If you have anything you want, you can ask for it," he said with a lowered head.
Ryker nodded but did not ask anything yet. However, he did ask when he watched the two following him.
"Stop following me, and go back to the village," he told the two, though his eyes fell at the young woman. He did not pay any attention to her at first, to busy getting her away from the bandit's grasp and then killing them.
Right now, he admit that she is beautiful. Her purple eyes seemed to shine, looking at him with some awe. Her brown hair is in a slightly darker tone, being tied in a ponytail currently. He refrain from looking at her below the neck, with her being half nude, even with the cloak covering her but he did get some glances.
He could not describe her body well, but she is decently proportinate, with a medium-to-large breast size, and slender body. As for her face, while her eyes show some form of awe, her face was calm and collected, though he could see some pink dusting her cheek.
Looking away as discretely as possible, to the point the young woman did not notice he was looking at her very closely, Ryker turned towards the old man with a frown.
"Go back to the village. And, as for the anything I want, how about giving me your daughter," he is merely jesting, so when the man nodded, and said, "Sure, I will give my daughter's hand in marriage," he was thrown of the loop.
A look at the brunette did not help as the pink turned to full blown red, feeling both embarrassed and gratified. Seeing this, he decided to not tell them he was joking. After all, it will make the two lose face and while he is strong enough to not care for such thing, his mother would come from the dead to beat him up if she knew.
"Stay at the village, I am going to go check on something," seeing he cannot do anything about his sudden engagement with the young woman, he decided to just roll with it.
"What's your name?" he asked, the young woman looking at him and gulp slightly, "Ina," she answered.
"Ina, eh. What a beautiful name," Ryker lean forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead, Ina clutching her chest as he did so. The silver-eyed man looked at her before turning to the older man.
"I will come back to take her with me," he said before dashing into the depth of the forest, Phantom Breeze Stride was used to expedite his speed.
As for the two people, Ina still clutching her chest, her face become the embodiment of the color red, while her father sigh.
The older man looked at her daughter and asked, "Are you sure of it, Ina?" the younger brunette nodded.
"Yes, Father. This is to pay to the one who saved our village from the bandits. Besides," he face turned even redder, "It is like a dream to suddenly marry a cultivator," she replied with a happy smile on her face.
The older man sighed. While her daughter did not think of the implication of the word "take her with me," likely because her brain stopped functioning for several seconds after the kiss, he did think of what it meant.
Immediately, he could tell that the young man will not remain in the village, likely continuing his journey. When he said he will take her daughter, he meant it literally.
"Let just see where this go," the older man let out another sigh, deciding to take to this son-in-law of his after this.
-x-
Meanwhile, Ryker wanted to slap his face until it turned red.
'Why did I do that?!' he asked in his mind, wondering what he was thinking when he did so. However, even as he wanted to dig a hole and then burry himself in it, he decided against such action.
Instead, he decided to check the bandit's hideout. Sutal had cleared the entire bandit's group, but he did left some running as far as possible without losing their smell, something Ryker ordered.
After all, they likely ran into their hideout in the hopes of grabbing some of the loot before getting out of the area. So, the stallion waited until some of them stopped running and going inside a cave.
The Genesis Beast then waited until the bandit come out with some loot before killing him. He then left a trace of his qi so he could trace back to the hideout before returning to Ryker.
With this, the man and beast easily get to the hideout without any problem.
"So this is it," the stallion snorted, confirming his words. Ryker quickly find the way inside the hideout, though for safety sake, he used his Soul Sense in case there are traps inside. When he did not find anything of sort, he entered the hideout, leaving Sutal behind, seeing he cannot enter the path.
The young man easily entered the path. While the paths wind up and have several turns, Ryker could easily tell the way to go with his Soul Sense. Soon, he entered the hideout, and was pleased by what he find.
Inside the hideout was piles of coins, from iron, to silver, and even some sacks of gold coins. Considering a stay inside the inn of the village is several silver coins, and food only need iron coins, he had found the jackpot.
"How much should I gave to the village?" he asked himself. After all, he still need to pay the dowry for his new wife, but he also need a lot of coins for his stay inside any of the towns and cities of the barony.
While he thought of it, he decided to use his Soul Sense to find if there are any hidden compartments inside the hideout, in case the bandit leader decided keep some portion of the loot for himself.
As he did so, he felt some fluctuation, causing his eyes to open up in disbelief.
"No way,"