Chapter 9: The Bandit Lord (Part 1)

De Da looked grim as he said, “I know him… I spent some time at the Essen Camp before leaving for Edlu Fort and becoming a hunter.” He really didn’t want to anger Essen, but he knew it was a necessary route to reach the depths of the Karabaza Trail—there was no way around it.
Guo Shieru patted De Da’s shoulder and smiled, “Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you.”
Essen’s anger flared as he shouted, “De Da, what’s going on? Do you want to die?”
De Da didn’t dare answer and retreated into the crowd. Essen was his former boss, and in front of him, he simply couldn’t muster the courage. Though his nickname was “Tiger,” he now acted like a sick cat.
Guo Shieru said cheerfully, “You’re Essen? You can surrender now.”
Essen stared at Guo Shieru in surprise. After a while, he asked, “Are you an outsider?”
Guo Shieru nodded generously, “That’s right, I’m an outsider. Essen, I don’t want to kill anyone, so I’m giving you a chance—surrender.” He acted as if he were thinking of his own benefit.
Essen was furious. With a cold laugh, he said, “Who do you think you are? An outsider daring to make me surrender?”
Guo Shieru replied, “Don’t cry until you see the coffin. Ezek, go!”
Ezek muttered, “I already said I don’t care. Why do you still want me to go… Fine, I’ll go. I’m bored anyway.” Everyone shuddered at his words. Guo Shieru couldn’t help but laugh—this guy was like punishing a child on a cloudy day; he was just idle.
Essen also grew angry. He shouted, “Kill them all!” and charged forward with his axe.
De Da and the others were already terrified, completely devoid of courage, and couldn’t help but take a step back. If they were sent in alone, it would be suicide.
Ezek said, “Trouble!” He dashed out like lightning, arriving instantly in front of Essen. Without any fancy moves, he threw a punch.
Essen was still a fourth-level Barbaric Spirit expert, and he quickly swung his axe. He roared, “Take this axe!”
To everyone’s horror, Ezek didn’t dodge. His massive fist met the axe head head-on, striking the blade directly, ignoring its sharpness completely. In an instant, Essen’s Barbaric Spirit energy surged into the axe, causing it to emit a dazzling green glow. Ezek snarled and slammed his fist hard against the axe blade.

According to Eisen’s thinking, even if this axe couldn’t shatter the opponent’s fist, it could at least block it. But then, an astonishingly powerful force surged forward, causing the axe he swung with all his might to fly back. It felt as if it had hit a steel wall—with a loud clang, the axe slammed back fiercely. Eisen had no chance to dodge; it hit him right on the forehead. With a snap, he fell to the ground, unconscious before he could even utter a sound, his eyes rolling back. He couldn’t block a single strike.

Eisen’s subordinates were all terrified. This was utterly insane—the fist was even more powerful than the axe, knocking out the strongest fighter in the camp with just one punch. What hope was there in fighting against such a force?

Since Aizek had started fighting, he wouldn’t hold back. Like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep, he struck randomly, knocking many people to the ground in an instant. His brutality far exceeded what anyone here could imagine.

De Da stood there with his mouth wide open, drool streaming down. Bannilu muttered, “Is this… still a human?” He was right—Aizek wasn’t human at all. He was a typical humanoid aberrant beast.

Guo Shier repeatedly cried, “Don’t kill them, don’t kill them…” Thankfully, he shouted fast; otherwise, Aizek might have killed a few by accident. It wasn’t that he intended to kill them—his punches were simply too powerful. A slight carelessness could shatter someone’s skull.

Aizek rushed back, grumbling, “This kind of fighting isn’t satisfying! I’m done!” Even though he stopped fighting, in just that short time, he had already knocked out most of them. A few others trembled like leaves in the autumn wind, terrified.

Guo Shier turned and shouted, “De Da, drag Eisen over here.”

De Da was so scared he was almost catatonic. Bannilu pushed him hard from behind, and he finally snapped out of it, saying, “Wh… what?” Bannilu hurriedly said, “Drag Eisen over here.”

De Da immediately called two of his subordinates to drag Eisen over.

Eisen had been hit by his own axe. Fortunately, it wasn’t the blade part; otherwise, it would have split his forehead open. His forehead was covered in blood. Though his skull wasn’t shattered, the blow left him completely unconscious.

De Da took out a water pouch and poured water on Eisen’s head. The cold water snapped him out of his daze. Deliriously, he muttered, “Kill…”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He slapped him and scolded, “I’m trying to save your life! Wake up quickly!”

Eisen finally came to his senses. He widened his eyes and asked, “Where am I?” Immediately, he saw Guo Shier’s smiling face, which made his heart freeze. He suddenly realized he had been captured. Deflated, he said, “What do you want to do…?”
Guo Shier didn’t beat around the bush. “Nothing much. Join my team, just like De Da and the others. As long as you follow my orders, your life will be safe.”
Eisen, being an experienced veteran, immediately understood that De Da and the others had also joined after being defeated. He sighed and said, “How could I refuse?” Ezek’s attack had completely shattered his confidence. If the opponent were only slightly stronger, he might still have fought, but since they were far too powerful, he had no desire to struggle.
Guo Shier replied indifferently, “No!”
Eisen said, “Okay, I’ll join.” He was very decisive. Since he had already lost, and the opponent only wanted him to join without killing him, it didn’t matter.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Good. Here’s a pill for you… One pill for each injured person.” In fact, he wasn’t sure if these pills would work on the people here, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Many of those people had broken legs or arms, and it seemed they didn’t have any special treatment methods, so he gave them the pills for healing.
Eisen held the pill bottle and wondered, “Pills? What are these?”
Guo Shier said, “Don’t worry about what they are. Just give them to the injured people. You can take one too.”
Eisen hesitated for a moment before opening the bottle and taking out a pill. He examined it curiously for a while, glanced at Guo Shier, and, not daring to disobey, decided to take it first. It was a healing pill, though of low grade. It wasn’t that Guo Shier was reluctant to give higher-grade pills—he just couldn’t be sure if the people here could benefit from them, so lower-grade pills were safer; even if they didn’t work, they wouldn’t cause harm.
As soon as Eisen swallowed the pill, a warm sensation spread through his body. Instantly, he felt better—the dizziness in his head subsided greatly, and his severe headache faded quickly. He immediately realized it was a precious thing and said happily, “So it’s a healing medicine… It’s incredibly effective. Thank you…”
Guo Shier was pleased. He knew the pills worked. This was significant—it meant that even if these pills were taken to the greater world, they wouldn’t be useless. After all, he had accumulated many different kinds of pills.
Eisen called a few people over and handed them the pill bottle to give to the injured.

The effect of the magic pill was excellent—better than even Guo Shier had expected. Even if someone’s leg or arm was broken, as long as it was reattached and they took the pill, they could recover quickly. Although full recovery didn’t happen immediately, everyone noticed that the swollen area was shrinking fast and the intense pain was subsiding rapidly. A few of the screaming robbers, after taking the pill, were able to stop crying out.

This completely subdued the group of robbers. Their formidable strength and the miraculous magic pill made them dare not think of resisting anymore.

Eisen said, “Please, sir, come into the camp.”

Guo Shier replied, “Alright. Let’s rest for a day first. Ezek, let’s go.” Accompanied by Eisen, the group entered Eisen’s camp.

It was a small valley with a stream flowing out from the entrance. At the top of the valley was a sheer cliff, from which a narrow waterfall cascaded down, making a soft rushing sound. Below the cliff was a small pond, the source of the stream, with some wooden huts built nearby.

There was also a small open area in the valley, filled with many damaged carts and a row of simple wooden sheds housing dozens of horses. The entire camp was dirty and messy, with a faint stench in the air, and chickens and ducks wandered around. There were no families in the camp, only many disabled men missing limbs.

Ezek said, “It stinks so much… Hey, Eisen, can’t you keep the camp a bit cleaner? It’s too dirty…” In his heart, he thought, “It’s even dirtier than my own den. The stench is unbearable—worse than a beast’s lair.”

Eisen’s face turned slightly red as he said, “They’re all men—who cares about cleanliness?”

Soon, Eisen gathered everyone together and shouted, “From now on, we’re all under this sir’s command. Does anyone have any objections?” There were people of various heights and weights in the camp, plus a dozen disabled individuals—about eighty or ninety people in total. Adding in De Da’s group, there were around a hundred people in all, and none dared to object.

Eisen said, “Good. Since no one objects, then this sir is our leader. Now, please, sir, speak to everyone.” He still didn’t know Guo Shier’s name.

Guo Shier stepped forward and said, “You can call me sir, or leader, or captain… It doesn’t matter to me. But my only requirement is that you follow my orders. If anyone dares to disobey, they won’t survive. That’s all I ask. As for everything else… just do as it should be done.”

Whether it was Ei Sen or De Da, they both thought to themselves: Is this really the only requirement? There are countless kinds of orders, so this so-called “only requirement” becomes a joke. It means that as long as Guo Shier opens his mouth, it’s an order! This requirement is deadly. But Ei Sen and De Da didn’t dare say no at all. At this point, they had no choice but to follow Guo Shier’s orders, unless they wanted to die right away. The two said in unison, “Yes, sir.” Guo Shier said, “Select fifty of the strongest fighters. The rest should stay in the camp to guard it. Tomorrow, we’ll go look for other bandits. Hehe, I want to bring under my control all the bandits and outlaws in this area!”