Divine & Bizarre: Increasing Points to Invincibility-Chapter 1003 - 271: The Astonished Crowd
"Ladies and gentlemen... why hasn’t Daoist Fan Wu returned yet? It’s already daylight!" The person who asked this with a tone of considerable anxiety was none other than the Village Chief of Kannan Village. He hadn’t slept all night and had been constantly watching in one direction from the head of the village, but to no avail; he hadn’t seen anyone return. If he weren’t a cultivator, staying up all night at such an age might very well have led to something unfortunate.
"Rest assured, Daoist Fan Wu will definitely come back," Yun Jiuqing was not at all worried, and she addressed the old Village Chief, "Daoist Priest Fan himself is highly skilled and his abilities reach the heavens. It’s impossible for him to capsize in such a place. Even if those bandits in their dens have some kind of trump card, it would be useless. Even if they worshiped a deity, it would still be useless, for Daoist Priest Fan will surely deal with them."
"This... sigh! I hope so! He has been gone all night, it’s still quite worrying," the old Village Chief sighed. Although these people were just travelers passing through Kannan Village, staying only for a night, since they were willing to help clear the bandits around the village, it meant they were good people, and the Village Chief didn’t want to see good people fall to bandits.
That was why... he was so concerned about the safety of Fan Wu. As time ticked away, it wasn’t just morning anymore; it was even past high noon, with the scorching sun directly overhead. Yet, the old Village Chief guarding the entrance to the village still hadn’t caught sight of Fan Wu returning. He couldn’t help but express his concern in a mutter, "It’s been a whole night and a morning now."
However, at that moment, a blurry figure suddenly appeared in the distance, which made the murky old eyes of the Village Chief instantly light up, his eyes widening considerably. As the vague figure got closer and closer to Kannan Village, the Village Chief finally recognized who it was—the same Daoist Fan Wu from last night!
"I knew it... Although there are many bandit dens nearby, for Daoist Priest Fan, mere bandits are nothing," said Yun Jiuqing, who, like the old Village Chief, had been guarding the village gate for an entire night and morning. The old Village Chief was worried about Fan Wu, while Yun Jiuqing was worried that the old Village Chief, due to his age, might not be able to hold up.
Fortunately, the old Village Chief seemed very robust, perhaps because he was a cultivator. As for Yun Jiuqing, why didn’t she worry about Fan Wu? Because in her eyes, worrying about Daoist Priest Fan was an insult to him, an underestimation of his strength. Of all the people in their group, Daoist Priest Fan was probably the last person who needed to be worried about.
"Hey there! Daoist Fan Wu, you’ve finally returned. This old man has been worried about you all night!" The emotion mixed in this sentence from the Village Chief didn’t seem feigned. Then he noticed that Fan Wu had no injuries on him, just some scorched marks on his clothes, which left him somewhat astounded.
Before he could articulate the questions in his mind, Fan Wu spoke bluntly, "Within a hundred li centered on Kannan Village, all the bandit strongholds have been eradicated by yours truly. There are quite a lot of valuables and food in those bandit dens, if you’re interested you can take them out."
After saying this, Fan Wu walked past the old Village Chief and found Old Blue Ox within Kannan Village. After all, it was already noon the next day, and it was time to hit the road. The only reason they had stayed in the village was to give Old Blue Ox a break.
People like Yun Jiuqing, Xing Fengzi, Bai Sheng, Yan Dalong, and Yan Dahu... weren’t at all surprised by the unscathed return of Fan Wu. They would have been truly surprised if Fan Wu had returned wounded. Of course, at this moment, they did feel a bit curious.
After leaving Kannan Village in the morning and not having walked a few li, they couldn’t contain their puzzlement and curiosity any longer. It was Yan Dahu who broke the silence first, "Brother Fan Wu, did you encounter any formidable characters on your excursion last night?"
""Formidable characters?" Walking alongside Green Ox, Fan Wu replied without a second thought, "I suppose I did encounter quite a few... and there were many, certainly over a hundred, nearly two hundred."
"Hiss! Over a hundred, nearly two hundred that many?" Yan Dahu couldn’t help but inhale a breath of cold air, his face displaying sheer shock. In his mind, characters labeled "formidable" by Brother Fan Wu would surely be stronger than he, Yan Dahu, himself.
Were there really so many formidable characters among the bandits? Has this era really changed so swiftly, become something he no longer recognized? Since when did bandits become so fierce? They are just a group of bandits hiding in the mountains!
It was as if Fan Wu could see what was on the other’s mind, he shook his head and said, "The formidable characters I speak of aren’t the mountain bandits; they are not worthy to be called formidable."
