The guards hurriedly scattered and started cutting down trees to prepare the area for the camp.
Shen Yuan nodded, seeing them working so effectively. His gaze then landed on the vice leader before moving up to see the other bandit leaders lying down on the ground some distance away.
"Hey, you," Shen Yuan pointed at one of the kneeling bandits. "Go and drag them here, all three of them."
The bandit who was pointed out looked to his left and right to make sure he was the one being addressed before he slowly stood up and went to drag the bandit leaders back.
Shen Yuan looked back at the group of bandits and thought for a bit before commanding again, "Alright, you fellas go and help the guards to make a clearing here."
All the bandits looked at each other and slowly stood up before going to help the guards make a clearing.
Lian Fang looked at Shen Yuan curiously as she asked, "What have you planned for these bandits? I thought you would kill them all."
Shen Yuan thoughtfully looked at the bandits working as he replied to Lian Fang, "Why kill when you can have them do your work? But these... These are not from the Silver Fox Sect."
Lian Fang's face turned confused. "Huh? What do you mean? They have the Silver Fox Sect's identity token on their chest, and why would anyone want to impersonate that infamous sect?"
"That's where you are wrong. First, those tokens are fake. And secondly, from what I have heard, the Silver Fox Sect is a female-only sect that works like an assassin organization. They wouldn't try to act like these bandits, and nor will they have male members among them." Shen Yuan shook his head and pointed out where she was wrong.
"Huh? But then where is the Silver Fox Sect? Weren't they supposed to ambush us?" Lian Fang grew cautious as she surveyed the surroundings warily for a possible ambush.
"Don't worry. No one is here to ambush us." He paused as he turned his head and looked at Lian Fang. "It was never the Silver Fox Sect which was after us, but this bunch of morons. That's why they spread rumors that the Silver Fox Sect is after this caravan, so the stronger cultivators will hesitate before joining our caravan."
Lian Fang nodded her head in realization as she looked at the working bandits. "So, they are a random group of bandits who decided to take on the name of Silver Fox Sect? How audacious of them to do such a thing."
Shen Yuan chuckled, "Audacious indeed, but their plan worked as you were the only person who showed up despite the generous reward."
Lian Fang nodded her head as this was indeed the case.
...
Soon, the bandits and guards finished making a clearing while the guard who went to drag back the bandit leaders also came back with them and dropped the bandits beside Shen Yuan.
"Good work everyone, the guards can go and take a rest, while the bandits will stand guard, spread around in a circle from this point," Shen Yuan ordered while pointing at his foot to make a circle from that position.
The bandits looked at each other for a moment before hurriedly scattering.
The guards looked at Shen Yuan with confusion as they couldn't guess why Shen Yuan ordered them to rest while making the bandits guard the surroundings.
Shen Yuan then dragged all four bandit leaders and splashed water on their faces to wake them up.
The last bandit who was conscious looked at Shen Yuan with fear, dreading what fate awaited him.
The rest of the bandits woke up and looked at their surroundings in confusion before they eventually raised their heads to see Shen Yuan.
Their eyes widened in fear as they hurriedly crawled back to put some distance between each other.
Shen Yuan smiled brightly as he greeted them, "Good morning, did you guys have a good sleep?"
"St-stay back, you demon!" one of the vice leaders shouted.
Shen Yuan chuckled and took one step toward the shouting bandit. "You want me to stay away?" he smiled calmly, yet there seemed to be hidden malice in it.
"G-go awa—" The bandit leader's words stopped as his eyes remained open wide while his head slipped down to the ground.
Shen Yuan sheathed his sword as he shook his head with a look of pity. "Sigh, why couldn't he just listen to me?"
That left the rest of the bandit leaders scared shitless as their muscles stopped moving altogether.
They froze in place while staring at their companion's lifeless body.
Shen Yuan turned towards them as he asked with the same bright smile, "Now, shall we have a little talk?"
...
"UGAAAA!" The last bandit leader screamed as Shen Yuan thrust his sword into his chest.
Lian Fang stood a distance away, seeing Shen Yuan's ruthless action with her own eyes.
She couldn't fathom how someone so young could be so ruthless.
Shen Yuan glanced at her as he wiped his blade clean. "What? I shouldn't have killed them?"
"No..." Lian Fang shook her head lightly. "They deserve death for whatever they have done until now by being bandits. But I wasn't expecting you to be so... decisive at such a young age."
Shen Yuan chuckled softly as he put away his sword. "That is indeed something worth looking at, but doesn't that make me that much more of a genius? The worst mistake of geniuses is they can't hide their edge when they are weak, and I don't want to make that mistake as well."
Lian Fang looked at him for a second before asking, "Aren't you worried that we will—" But before her words could finish, she felt a monstrous killing intent radiating from Shen Yuan that even her breathing stopped.
But it went away as soon as it came as he came closer and said in a soft voice, "I trust you guys are not stupid enough to make this mistake."
The guards and healers who were standing some distance away also heard his words as they audibly gulped.
Without missing a beat, all of them nodded their heads in agreement.
"That's it for the day. We will continue our journey tomorrow and won't stop until we reach the Sacred Valley Sanctuary," he said before moving towards his tent which he had made himself.
The rest of the people stood rooted on the spot as they thought back to his words.
...
[Are you really sure they won't say anything about you to others?]
Yue Lan asked curiously as she wanted to hear his thoughts.
"No, I'm not sure. But it wouldn't make much sense to kill them for this minor matter," Shen Yuan softly said as he lay down on his bed.
"I have not shown them anything that couldn't be discussed; I also haven't shown them my full strength," he continued saying as he looked at his hand.
[That is indeed true. Your Fire Intent can easily be mistaken as a technique since it isn't that strong, and those cultivators are not that strong to know the difference between techniques and intents.]