Chapter 33 Dreams

The trio immediately rushed into the night and picked the best mounts and headed towards Hummingbird Forest. They arrived on the scene at sunrise but they only managed to see rotting corpses and debris covered in snow. There were even wild beasts still eating cold human flesh.

“What now, brother?” Wilfred asked.

Batista brought out a map and pointed at a location that was in the inner area of the forest.

“This is where the hideout of the Brown Bear is located, as for the Red Skulls, we can just ask them about it. Both leaders are at the middle stage of the Halo Realm, we should pay them a visit before going to Red Sparrow city and ask the fatty.”

Batista’s eyes gleamed, his hatred for bandits could not easily be washed away. Although they know bandits were hiding in the Hummingbird Forest, they could not thoroughly eradicate them. Even if they annihilated one group, another will emerge and the process will repeat, they had no choice but to leave them be and would only hunt them if a major incident happened.

“Let’s go,”

The trio left their mounts and dashed into the forest towards the bandit’s hideout.

.....

“Come brothers from the Red Skull, let’s drink to our heart's content, cheers!”

“I’ll toast to that brother, hahaha”

Laughter and drunken jokes were heard everywhere around the hideout. Almost everyone was drowning in alcohol, it was livelier than usual as the Red Skull bandits were still in the vicinity celebrating their big loot from a joint operation.

The hideout was located on a rocky mountain, it was a great fortress, caves were carved out while houses were built at the top. From the top, you can see the greenery of the Hummingbird Forest and was a great lookout.

At the summit, a man was hanging by a cross, he looked dehydrated and his breath was shallow. His face was bruised and dried blood covered his clothing, he was Kelly, the one who attacked Eznho’s caravan. Due to his failure, he was punished severely, losing Agila was a blow to the group, scouts like him who possessed a special ability were rare, out of the leader’s fury, he was punished severely even though he held a high position.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

Block dots suddenly covered the sky.

“What’s that?”

A scout narrowed his eyes then after a second it became wide as a saucer.

“Ene...”

Before he could shout and sound the alarm, an arrow pierced his head.

“Ahhh!”

Screams sounded out when the rain of arrows arrived, nobody expected an attack while everyone was celebrating their victory.

“Enemies!”

Someone shouted but most of them were influenced by alcohol, making their reaction time slower than usual.

Earth Spike!

Rain of Swords!

Sword energies fell down together with the arrows while the earth trembled and spikes came out from underground skewering the bandits.

“Ahhhh!”

More screams echoed after the series of attacks, it came too sudden and nobody could react in time.

“Who dares!”

A muscular tall man wearing a headdress made out of brown bear holding an axe shouted followed by a man with long grey hair, his mouth was covered by a handkerchief imprinted with a red colored skull, he was holding two daggers on both hands.

They were the leaders of the Brown Bear and Red Skull bandits.

“Hmph! I do!”

A stern voice answered and Batista and Wilky dashed to the top in front of the two making their pupils shrink.

“What?” Both leaders were surprised and started to sweat.

Why is he here?

Of course, they knew who Batista was and even though they don’t recognize Wilky, judging by his armor, he was an officer of the military.

“Dare I ask why would the City Guard Captain personally visit our humble abode?”

The Brown Bear leader asked after gathering his all his courage.

“Hmph! You still pretend to be innocent? Where is my daughter? If even a hair is missing, I will hack you to pieces!”

Batista’s eyes were filled with murderous intent while looking at the duo.

What?

Both leaders got confused and tried to fit in the puzzle pieces.

“I don’t understand what you mean, even if I had a hundred guts, I would never lay my hands on your daughter.”

The Brown Bear leader answered with great anxiety.

“Really? Then why would you dare to attack the caravan that has my daughter? And you even dared to kill my trusted subordinate?”

Batista narrowed his eyes and started to gather energy.

“What? We would not dare! The caravan we attacked was merely composed of the city lords group, I swear...”

Shit! We have been played!

With his years of experience, he realized that their information was wrong.

“We really did not know, I swear on my mother’s grave,”

He was starting to panic together with the Red Skull leader.

“Enough!”

Batista shouted in anger and leaped to attack.

“Fuck it all!”

Both leaders knew there was no way out of this no matter what they say, all they could do was fight for their life but it was useless. The Brown Bear leader was hacked in two while the Red Skull leader’s body was riddled with holes.

“Hmph! Regardless if you knew or not, killing you is an act of kindness for the people you killed.”

Batista spoke in disdain while wiping his weapon.

“It seems this was planned from the beginning and these bandits were just chess pieces.”

Wilky spoke in a somber manner while Wilfred rejoined the group.

“Hmph! That fatty dares to move against me, let’s just see where he can hide.”

Batista was seething with anger and wanted to immediately head to Red Sparrow City and confront the city lord.

“Brother, you know we cannot act rashly inside the city, we have rules, even for the colonel, he cannot just do whatever he wants inside. Especially that the fatty’s family has still some influence.”

Wilfred who was the cool-headed one reminded Batista.

“I know, but I cannot let anything happen to her even if I have to break every rule.”

Batista scowled in answer, he knew how the division of power worked but he did not care when it comes to his daughter.

“Let’s just head their first and inquire, after that, we plan for our next move.”

Wilfred advised, that was the most rational thing to do for now. Batista was suppressing his fury inside and finally agreed. The trio did not bother to stay any longer and immediately left for Red Sparrow City.

From that moment on, the Brown Bear and Red Skull Bandits were no more, only a few members survived. Of course, after some time they would naturally be replaced by another group.

.....

After preparing everything, Eznho had a chat with his aunt and finally revealed about his plan to pursue the road of cultivation. Of course, Minchin was reluctant and did not want Eznho to be put in danger, despite her being a mortal, she had an idea how harsh the life of cultivator was.

After a time of thinking, she finally agreed but of course reminded Eznho of many things, she knows everybody has their own path to take.

Without hiding anything anymore, Eznho was at ease and concentrated on his cultivation, he planned to finish purifying his blood and marrow within a month. With that in mind, he prepared himself and hastened the speed of absorbing the beast blood.

.....

Batista and the group reached the ever busy Red Sparrow City after two days. They immediately used their connections and found out where the city lord was currently residing. He was in the middle district, and this made things complicated.

Rules were much more strict in the middle district. They cannot just barge in at the fatty city lord’s residence and cause a disturbance. According to the agreement, regardless of position and backing, if they broke the rules of the city, it is the Red Sparrow city lord’s decision that would be upheld. But of course there will always be an exception to the rule, sadly, Batista and the group would not have that privilege so they have to tread carefully.

Left with no choice, the group opted to visit the fatty city lord’s residence. The courtyard was wide, at least five hundred meters squared. It was divided into an outer and inner courtyard.

The city lord was not welcoming and just met them in the outer courtyard and did not even offer anything to his guests. His name was Butchog River, the youngest son of a declining noble family.

“What do you want?” He asked coldly while looking at the trio.

“Where is my daughter?” Batista did not bother either with pleasantries.

“Why would I have her? Shouldn’t you be watching your own child? Why don’t you ask your subordinates?” Butchog retorted in a mocking manner.

Faced with Butchog’s mockery, Batista started to emit a strong killing intent. Butchog of course could feel it and started to sweat but maintained his stance.

“Hmph! You musclehead, we are not in Sin city anymore. You think you can throw your weight around here? Why don’t you try?”

“Brother, we will not gain anything here, let’s go.”

Wilfred held Batista’s shoulder and calmed him down but deep inside he was seething with anger as well, he was just good at hiding it.

“Good thinking, you can see yourselves out,” Butchog spoke with disdain in his eyes.

Just you wait, I would like to see how you react when you see your daughter.

Butchog was snickering inside while looking at the departing trio.

.....

“How was it, brother? Did you find anything?” Batista was agitated and started to lose his focus.

“I’m sorry brother, I spread my soul sense around the courtyard but I found nothing except there was an underground area in the inner courtyard where I can’t penetrate. It must have been made by a formation expert, I reckon only the colonel’s level of power can penetrate it.”

Wilfred answered honestly while Batista was getting more anxious.

“See that brother? We can request an investigation and I am sure my daughter is there!”

Sigh.

“Brother, focus, you know we can’t do that. Everyone has there own secret and if we start an investigation due to that, we will be faced with a lot of opposition.”

Wilky was saddened when he looked how his brother acted.

“But you know how filthy that fatty is!” Batista could hold it anymore and wanted to rush back. Butchog has a nasty reputation for being a pedophile.

“I know but Wilky is right, and one more thing, I think Butchog will not be going back to Sin City anymore. Our informant said that his big brother, Killboy, made a breakthrough and became a Seeker Stage expert. Due to that, he pleaded for his younger brother to be allowed to live here in Red Sparrow City until his banishment time was fully consumed. Basing on the situation, there is a high chance that they will approve it. But for the time being, I believe he will not do anything rash until the decision is made.”

“Damn!” Batista was further enraged and smashed the table to pieces.

“With our status, we cannot do anything, there is only one choice left for us,” Wilky spoke in a serious manner.

“You mean...?” Batista was surprised and knew what his brother meant.

“Yes brother, the Thieves Guild, there is even a rumor circling around that one of the members of the Black Crows is in the city.”

Wilky answered with a slight fear in his eyes. The Black Crows, one of the high ranking assassin group, their name was even spread out throughout the whole continent.

“But, even if the said member is here, do you think he will take the mission?” Batista was little skeptical about the chances.

“Haha, don’t worry brother, I have my own ways, I had another life before I joined the army you know,” Wilky grinned and puffed his chest out.

“I trust you brother, thank you!” Batista was moved and bowed deeply but was met with a smack on his head.

“Are you stupid? Are we not brothers? Hmph!” Wilky crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Batista.

“Sorry brother, then for tonight, the drinks are on me,”

Batista’s mood was a bit uplifted and just hoped for the mission’s success before it’s too late. He also knew even if he killed his way to Butchog’s residence, his chance of succeeding was very low.

.....

Eznho spent most of his time in closed-door training and only came out to eat meals together with Minchin and little Aiza. Budoy only joined the meals during dinner but did not yet give any intel, his plan was to collect a lot and submit it one-time big time.

Just like that, fifteen days have passed, the group just finished dinner when Budoy asked Eznho to speak in private. It was time for him to submit his report.

“Here are the things I have managed to collect for the past fifteen days, it is not much but I hope it could help you. Is there anything else you want me to do?”

Budoy handed out some sort of a scrapbook that he made himself.

“No, that’s all for now, you can do whatever you want for the time being. Thank you,” Enzho smiled and expressed his gratitude.

“No need to thank me, just doing my job,” Budoy answered nonchalantly and went to his room.

“Let’s see what we got here,” Eznho did not care and immediately scanned through the scrapbook.

Red Sparrow City was established thousands of years ago and even survived the reshuffling of powers that happened a thousand years ago after a big incident that changed the world.

Big incident?

Eznho was curious but did not dwell on it.

The city was divided into three districts, the outer, the middle and the inner. The outer part was where most of the common folk lived, crime was prevalent and the law was not that strict. As for the middle district, it is where most merchants, rich people and some of the lower nobilities resided.

It was not easy to get inside, the outer and middle district was divided by a river and the only way inside was to cross a bridge that was heavily guarded. As for the inner district, the only thing Budoy knows is that it is where the truly influential people resided. Floating palaces can even be found there according to rumors.

Wow! Floating palaces! How cool would it be to witness such a scenery?

Eznho was dumbstruck when he read that part.

Most of the information was regarding the outer district, as for the middle and inner there was only vague information. Budoy was also able to acquire information on the division of power throughout the outer district.

Most of the power was divided among different gangs but fights between them were common due to conflicting interests. The city lord does not seem to bother about it and just leave them be as long as they know where to draw the line.

As for acquiring residence, Budoy managed to get the information. Acquiring residence was easy as long as you have money. You can enter the middle district as long as you show proof of wealth like a bank card, of course, they have to check if it really is yours and if your card has money in it.

After that, go to the Land Distribution Office and look for a residence that is for sale. The residence would be yours after finishing the necessary procedures.

As for the Batawa Restaurant, it was located in the western part of the outer district. The other information was miscellaneous but with this, Eznho had a rough idea about the city. Eznho’s eyes shined while looking through the window and gazed at the starry sky.

So that’s how it is, the world is really big and this place is just a part of it. What would it be like to fly and travel the world?