On such a rainy night, the dozen or so wanderers did not examine the robber's body too carefully, thinking that he was killed by themselves.
As for why there were no wounded, I guess the wounded had already been taken away, and the rest were dead.
The previous fight was too chaotic, so these dozen or so martial artists naturally had no idea how many people they had injured or killed. This kind of mechanical fighting could easily give people the illusion that they had killed a lot of people alone.
After the guys here searched for a while and found some things they felt were useful, their companions over there also temporarily recovered some strength.
"Everyone, hurry up and move. Although we beat back those bandits, we don't know if they will come again!"
"Yes, quickly find a safe place to stay. Some wounds need to be treated."
Under the encouragement of the turbaned man who was in the lead, everyone stood up one after another. Then he patted the back of the bandit and said in a cold voice.
"Go, point the way."
"Yes, yes, it's in the east-west direction. We should follow the old forest road down the slope of the forest over there."
The dozen or so men were warriors after all. Although they were not in good condition, their hands and feet were still very fast after they recovered their strength. They moved through the forest and up the slope in the mud, and their speed was no slower than those bandits who carried two people on one horse.
The heavy rain was still pouring down. The muddy rain on the rainy night brought a lot of inconvenience to everyone and also consumed more physical energy.
A moment later, the bandit Bazi led everyone to find the old forest road. He wiped his face and pointed ahead.
"My fellow heroes, this is it. This old path is rarely walked. Just keep going straight ahead and you will reach the deserted village."
The man in the turban looked at them and said nothing. After a greeting, the group quickly quickened their pace and walked on. With a path to walk on, their speed increased a lot.
The village that Bazi mentioned was the deserted village where Ji Yuan and his small group of people were.
The distance of seven or eight miles is actually not too far, and soon everyone arrived near the deserted village. When they arrived here, the leading man suddenly stopped.
"Everyone stop, we are almost there, but there is a fire!"
Sure enough, when everyone looked ahead, they could vaguely see the light of fire in the deserted village in the distance.
"Is there anyone there?"
"Could it be that this bastard led us to the bandit's den?"
A man picked up the shivering bandit beside him.
"No, no, I am innocent! That village has been abandoned for a long time, there is no one living around it, and there is no strategic location to defend it. How could it be our village? Maybe someone just happened to pass by and took a rest there!"
"Well, he's right. The firelight is too weak. It doesn't look like a large group of robbers. Let's go and take a look first."
. . .
In the deserted village, Ji Yuan had already heard the noise outside and knew from what he saw in his mind that there were sixteen people in total, both men and women. Although some needed help, most of them walked with a strong step and were probably martial artists.
When those people entered the village, the noise they made also alarmed the seven or eight people in the mansion. Han Ming and the two young men walked to the door nervously and saw Ji Yuan had stood up and was looking outside.
"Mr. Ji, is there another person outside?"
"Yes, some gangsters have come. They must have just fought with others. Many of them are covered in blood and wounds."
Han Ming and his companions looked at some people approaching from the village entrance, and although they were nervous, they couldn't help but look at Ji Yuan again.
"How do you know they are injured, sir?"
Ji Yuan pointed at his nose.
"I have a very good nose. I can smell the blood on them and others."
This nose is too good, isn't it? And he can distinguish others from himself by the smell of blood? But now is not the time to think about such things. Han Ming and others focused their attention on the newcomer.
In the field of vision, more than a dozen figures can be vaguely seen coming in from outside the village, and they are obviously heading straight towards this side, and the distance is getting closer and closer.
"These people will definitely come here. There is no way to avoid them."
As those people got closer, Ji Yuan explained this to Han Ming and then took the lead in speaking loudly to the outside.
"Are you looking for a place to stay? There is only one big house on the side of this deserted village that is relatively intact, and there is a lot of dry firewood here. If you don't mind, come over and squeeze in."
Having said that, Ji Yuan said to Han Mingdao again.
"Mr. Han, please take the two horses to the broken side room for the time being. There is enough space to tie the horses there. After all, this house is ownerless and the other party is in a bad condition. We should provide some necessary help."
Although Han Ming was quite dissatisfied with Ji Yuan's unauthorized decision, he thought about how they got here by themselves and that there were more people outside, so it would be best to avoid conflict. He didn't say much and assigned someone to go and get the horse.
"Xiaojiu, take the horse out." "Hey!"
Ji Yuan spoke directly, firstly to help these people save time and ease possible embarrassment, and secondly, he had already smelled a hint of that strange smell on these people and wanted to understand the situation.
When the warriors outside heard Ji Yuan's words, they whispered to each other and then walked towards the big house without changing their route.
The man in the turban was still walking in front, and he bowed and thanked loudly before he got close.
"Thank you for your help, sir. We just need a place to rest!"
As he spoke, the man walked across the open space in the front yard and came to the front of the house.
This is a house that is about the size of an ancestral hall. Looking inside, there are two fires.
There was a group of people gathered inside, big and small, male and female.
There were three people standing outside, one of them looked like a gentleman, and he was the one who invited them just now. The other two saw the knife in the man's hand, bowed, and then walked inside. The fear on their faces after seeing the knife was also very obvious. There was someone tying up horses in the house outside. The man with the turban knew that they had just been led out, obviously to make room for them.
The more this happened, the more certain the man in the turban was that these were ordinary people. The scholar-like gentleman outside did not show any fear, but he definitely did not seem to have any ill intentions.
Neither Ji Yuan nor the people inside seemed to know any martial arts, which made the man in the turban feel slightly relieved.
"You're welcome. It's inevitable to encounter difficulties when you're out. Ji also hopes that someone can lend a hand when he needs help."
Ji Yuan looked at the knife with some chips in the man's hand, simply returned the greeting, and moved his stool away.
The turbaned man nodded and quickly turned back to his companions who were waiting outside.
"It's safe over there. The people inside should be ordinary people with good hearts. Everyone, be careful and don't disturb them!"
"Huh... That's good!" "Well, I can finally take a break..."
"Go, go faster, it would be better if you could drink some hot water!"
The companions who were a little further away outside all breathed a sigh of relief, greeted each other, and rushed towards the mansion.
More than a dozen people were dressed in wet clothes. When they entered the house, they heard the constant "dripping" sound of water and looked extremely miserable.
After careful observation, Han Ming and others indeed saw that many people had red on their bodies, and they could even smell the bloody smell.
This room is indeed not small. If the two horses were still there, it might have seemed too crowded. Now that the horses have been taken away, although it is not spacious, it does not feel cramped either.
After a brief exchange among the people in the same room, the three groups of people settled down peacefully for the time being.
Considering that there might not be enough firewood, the third fire was not lit. Instead, the fire in Ji Yuan's corner was moved away a little so that most of the dozen people could be roasted.
The conditions did not allow it now, and everyone could not take off their clothes and dry them. They could only take off their outer clothes temporarily and then treat their wounds.
A simple conversation and understanding helped to alleviate a lot of the tension that everyone had at the beginning.
The man with the turban was called Huang Zhixian. While wringing out his coat, he told Ji Yuan, Han Ming and others how they had fought with the bandits before. Han Ming and others could be heard gasping and exclaiming from time to time.
Ji Yuan was sitting in the outer corner. When he heard the robbers retreat and pull someone down in panic, he finally spoke.
"You are all very brave, but I'm afraid there are other reasons why those bandits retreated."
Ji Yuan's words attracted the attention of those martial artists, but no one objected immediately. Instead, Huang Zhixian, who had come to his senses at this moment, also agreed with it.
"To be honest, now that I think about it, it does seem a little strange. Did Mr. Ji hear anything wrong?"
Ji Yuan looked at the guy who was being held in the corner and was obviously very restrained.
"They must have encountered something unclean, which frightened the strong men so much that they had to retreat, and in a hurry they even left their companions behind."
"Unclean things? Sir, are you saying... there are ghosts?"
Huang Zhixian asked this question subconsciously.
Everyone else's attention was also focused on Ji Yuan, even Han Ming. After all, in a place like this, the word "ghost" was too sensitive.
Ji Yuan shook his head.
"It may not be a ghost, but it is something very evil. I have a special sense of smell and I just smelled a strange smell on you."
Hearing this, someone in the crowd asked.
"What's that strange smell? The smell of blood?"
"No, there are many kinds of qi with different flavors. Ordinary people have human qi and yang qi, ghosts have yin qi and ghost qi, and even monsters have monster qi. What you have touched is not included in this category."
After Ji Yuan explained, he looked thoughtful.
"But since this thing didn't follow you, I think it went with the bandits to the bandit camp. It would be easier for you to catch it..."
Ji Yuan talked to himself and glanced at the warriors again.
"Could it be that you feel that I can't satisfy my appetite?"
Everyone felt a little creepy after hearing these words. Even a dozen warriors felt their scalps tingling. Their clothes were already soaked, and now they felt cold even while they were warming themselves by the fire.
"No, this thing is extremely evil and cannot be left alone. Heroes, do I need to take this bandit out?"
Huang Zhixian was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized something.
"Sir, are you going to the bandit's stronghold?"
Ji Yuan nodded.
"Yes, I have seen quite a few evil spirits, but this thing today is particularly special. The criminals deserve to be killed, but we cannot let this evil thing become powerful! It is good at hiding. If we don't get rid of it if we encounter it today, we may miss the opportunity."
As he was speaking, Ji Yuan had already walked past a few people to the side of the bandit and grabbed his gun.
"No, no, no! I, I don't want to go..."
"Come with me, I'll keep you safe."
Ji Yuan looked tall and slender, but his strength made it impossible for the bandits to break free and they were dragged to the door.
When they reached the door, Ji Yuan stopped for a moment, thought for a moment, then took out a piece of yellow paper and handed it to Huang Zhixian.
"I'll lend you this for self-defense. There may not be only one evil thing. I've cast a spell. Remember, if anything goes wrong, bite your finger and use the blood as a guide, then shout 'Call the strong man!'"
"Well… "
"Did you make a note of it?"
Huang Zhixian was stunned and answered subconsciously.
"take note of it… "
"Okay, I'll be back before dawn."
After Ji Yuan said this, he picked up the bandit and walked out of the house.
"Ah... I don't want to go..."
The group of warriors were actually still a little slow to react. When they saw Ji Yuan really carrying the person out, they all found it a bit ridiculous.
When Huang Zhixian and several people nearby looked outside, they didn't see anyone nearby. Looking from afar, they clearly saw a figure far away at the village entrance, and the movement seemed to be walking but not running, but was moving away quickly.
"Gu..."
Huang Zhixian swallowed his saliva and looked carefully at the thing in his hand. It was a paper man cut out of a thin piece of yellow paper.