Chapter 272: Just a Casual Inquiry

Chapter 272: Just a Casual Inquiry

For a moment, silence enveloped the entire scene.

Both the raiders and the members of Yangwei Escort Agency involuntarily halted their movements.

Only a few wounded individuals continued to groan in agony.

Escort Zhou, who had lost an arm, was a burly man of strong will. After retreating two steps, he leaned against the escort cart and used his remaining hand to press on his acupoints to stem the bleeding.

With his one remaining eye, he surveyed the scene.

"Well done, truly well done!"

The first to speak were the three figures standing nearby.

With a swift movement, the three of them appeared in the midst of the scene.

This sudden appearance put both the members of Yangwei Escort Agency and the raiders on high alert.

Jiao Wenhao was momentarily taken aback.

He had initially thought these three were part of the raiding group, but now it seemed otherwise?

Instinctively, he glanced in Su Mo's direction.

Just then, he heard Su Mo chuckle:

"Are the three of you here for my sake?"

"That's right."

The three of them had unique appearances. The one who had launched the hidden weapon was a middle-aged man, completely wrapped in a black cloak.

The other two included an elderly man with white hair, a hunched posture, and sparse hair hanging down. He was grinning broadly, revealing a large, yellowed tooth that seemed to defy his age.

The last one was a young boy.

He appeared to be only in his teens, with a face still full of youth. In one hand, he held a stick of candied haws, licking his lips as he munched.

The middle-aged man was the one who spoke, smiling as he said:

"We heard that Chief Escort Su is heading west, and the best place to intercept him is at Guanyue Ridge.

"We just didn't expect that the events at Guanyue Ridge would come one after another.

"Although our brothers don't make a living by robbing escorts, we wouldn't mind making a quick buck."

Hearing this, Jiao Wenhao's face turned pale:

"You bastards..."

But he couldn't find the words to continue.

Escorting goods on the road always comes with risks. Encountering such a situation could only be blamed on their own lack of skill. Could they really blame the others for not holding back?

When it comes to robbing escorts, it's a matter of life and death. It's not about being weak, but about the other side being too strong. What kind of logic is that?

"Youngsters with no manners... deserve a beating!"

As the middle-aged man spoke, a whooshing sound was heard, and a throwing dart shot through the air, heading straight for Jiao Wenhao.

Jiao Wenhao's martial arts were passed down through his family.

In the past, the Chief Escort of Yangwei Escort Agency, Jiao Yongcheng, had built the extensive reputation of Yangwei Escort Agency with his extraordinary "Soaring Snake Nine Appearances" technique.

This set of martial arts was naturally passed down to Jiao Wenhao.

Seeing the throwing dart coming at him, the nine-sectioned whip in his hand immediately rose like a serpent leaping into the air. With a swift twist, before the dart could reach him, it was already entangled by the nine-sectioned whip. With a flick of his hand, he aimed to return the dart to the sender as a thank you for the generous gift.

Yet, to his astonishment, when he looked up, he felt a chill run down his spine!

A second dart had somehow already reached his face.

At that moment, he was mid-motion, his energy flowing, but he had no defense against this sudden second dart.

Besides being terrified, he was also astonished: when had this dart been thrown?

But there was no moment to ponder, as in a flash, he heard a 'ding' sound.

The piercing whistle of the dart slicing through the air accompanied this noise.

The dart that was about to hit Jiao Wenhao was deflected by another dart.

"Young Chief Escort!"

The escorts and escort chiefs around them snapped out of their shock and quickly stood in front of Jiao Wenhao.

Jiao Wenhao frowned, gestured for everyone to remain composed, and cupped his hands in thanks towards Su Mo: "Thank you, Chief Escort Su."

It was naturally Su Mo who had saved his life with the Flicking Finger technique.

Su Mo smiled, appeared nonchalant, and just toyed with the dart in his hand.

Jiao Wenhao, however, cast a stern gaze at the trio:

"Who... who exactly are you?"

The skills with concealed weapons of this person were indeed impressive, but these two moves didn't expose much.

In other words, the opponent had not yet shown their true skills.

Therefore, Jiao Wenhao was unable to ascertain their backgrounds, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of dread.

Without showing their true abilities, they already had such power.

What would it be like if they unleashed their full power?

Why had these people suddenly set their sights on Su Mo?

"Young man, you are not yet qualified to know our names," the middle-aged man said nonchalantly. "I originally intended to take one of your ears as a lesson, to be careful with your words when walking the martial world. But since Chief Escort Su intervened, we'll leave that ear on your head for now."

After saying this, he then looked at Su Mo and smiled:

"Chief Escort Su, please forgive us. There are always some young martial artists who don't understand the rules. They require a lesson in manners."

"Oh?"

Su Mo narrowed his eyes:

"Young Chief Escort Jiao and I are peers. Are you, sir, also trying to lecture me with your words?"

"Certainly not, certainly not."

The middle-aged man laughed heartily:

"We, brothers, are here waiting for Chief Escort Su, not because we are slightly older than Chief Escort Su and can therefore speak carelessly.

"After all, in the entire Eastern Wasteland, who would dare to be arrogant before Chief Escort Su?"

"Then, I wonder what the three of you are truly seeking here? Why not make it clear, so I can understand?"

"Alright."

The middle-aged man smiled and said:

"We have heard that Chief Escort Su has a valuable item.

"This has drawn some foolish and overambitious individuals to vie for it. Today, we boldly intercept you here to request one thing from Chief Escort Su."

"Go on, let's hear it."

"The three of us wish to join the Ziyang Escort Agency and become your disciples, serving you. We respectfully request your approval."

With these words, the three of them suddenly knelt down with a loud thud, showing no pretensions of being masters.

Moreover, they kowtowed three times with resounding thuds.

After the three kowtows, they looked up at Su Mo, each with fists clasped:

"We salute the Chief Escort!"

Jiao Wenhao and the others were astonished. Why would such masters kneel and kowtow?

Was it simply out of respect for the reputation of the top master in the Eastern Wasteland?

Meanwhile, the bandits glanced around, feeling as though they were being overlooked.

However, today's scene was quite different from what they had initially expected. The leader was already contemplating whether to slip away unnoticed.

When these three appeared earlier, they did so in complete silence.

They hadn't paid much attention to them.

But the middle-aged man's two hidden weapon techniques were truly astonishing.

Yet, the most terrifying was Su Mo... The power of his finger flick was utterly horrifying.

If they stayed any longer, they might be in serious trouble!

But as they looked around, they noticed that although most people's attention was focused on Su Mo and the three men,

there was one person who was staring intently at them.

It was none other than Chief Escort Zhou from the Yangwei Escort Agency!

Clearly, if they tried to leave now, Chief Escort Su would be the first to object.

They could only sigh and keep watching the situation unfold.

But the change came faster than expected when they heard Su Mo burst into laughter:

"Though the Ziyang Escort Agency isn’t much, those who join it aren’t deceitful or evil..."

"Chief Escort Su, are you refusing?"

The middle-aged man stared intently at Su Mo: "But we have already knelt and kowtowed. If Chief Escort Su refuses, you must return the kowtows and kneeling we’ve done."

Yang Xiaoyun, hearing this, couldn’t help but laugh in anger:

"You knelt on your own; no one forced you. You kowtowed yourselves; who pushed your heads down?

"Now you want us to return it? What kind of sense does that make?"

"Yang Xiaoyun, you’re wrong."

Su Mo gently shook his head: "They’re not here to argue with us."

"Then what do they want?"

"They... are here to hijack the escort!"

As Su Mo spoke, he suddenly darted forward, lunging at the three men.

By this point, the three were clearly prepared. The old man twisted and vanished into the ground, leaving only a hole.

The young man swayed, then dove headfirst into the hole.

Only the middle-aged man remained, his cloak billowing, revealing countless daggers inside.

With a surge of internal energy, a flurry of daggers shot toward Su Mo and the others behind him.

The move was meant to distract and make Su Mo hesitate.

But Su Mo didn’t hesitate. With a sweep of his hands, he casually caught a dozen daggers.

Still, dozens of daggers flew past him, heading straight for Yang Xiaoyun and the others.

Yang Xiaoyun let out a cold laugh as a dragon’s roar echoed.

A dragon-shaped energy surged from her spear’s tip, and the Canglong Bahuang Dianyun Spear swiftly turned. The daggers that reached her were guided by her spearhead, as if obeying her command, attaching to the dragon-shaped energy mid-air. With a flick of her wrist—

Screams erupted.

The bandits, standing there unsure whether to advance or retreat, were now in trouble.

Yang Xiaoyun, not one to waste anything, sent all the daggers their way, causing heavy casualties instantly.

Jiao Wenhao’s eyes twitched violently. How had this woman’s martial arts improved so much?

He was more familiar with Yang Xiaoyun than with Su Mo, having spoken with her a few times before.

It was mainly because Yang Xiaoyun had challenged the younger generation of Sunset City back then, and as one of the top talents among the younger generation of Sunset City, Jiao Wenhao naturally couldn't avoid being 'challenged' by Yang Xiaoyun several times.

So in their exchanges, Jiao Wenhao's main words were things like 'Teach me a lesson,' 'Enough already,' and 'Go ahead, kill me if you can.'

However, after Yang Xiaoyun started escorting caravans and traveling the martial world, the young experts of Sunset City finally breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no longer a woman who, despite being quite beautiful, was as fierce as a tiger, carrying a Dragon's Spear, beating up anyone in her path...

That's why when he saw Yang Xiaoyun today, he acted like he didn’t see her.

Mainly because he was worried that Yang Xiaoyun might still be the same as before, and if he didn't say the right thing, she might pull out the Dragon's Spear and beat him up again, leaving him with no way to argue.

But on the other hand, in the past few years, Yang Xiaoyun hadn't challenged the young experts within Sunset City.

This had rekindled their fighting spirit, and they all felt that their progress in recent years had been extraordinary, curious about the outcome if they were to compete with Yang Xiaoyun again.

Even Jiao Wenhao couldn't help but hope to finally get the upper hand.

But he never expected that at this moment, seeing Yang Xiaoyun take action again, her martial arts were far superior to what they had been in the past.

Her progress was so rapid it was hard to believe.

If she continued to trouble the young experts of Sunset City, even if they had extra legs, it wouldn't be enough to escape this woman's beatings.

She was downright ruthless!

Thinking of this, he was deeply grateful to Su Mo.

In today's world, the only one who could handle this woman was probably Chief Escort Su.

And as he thought of this, his gaze had already turned towards Su Mo's direction.

Cutting through the barrage of stars shot by the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man had already leapt into the air.

In mid-air, his hands were hurling with precision, and such speed that it left a trail of afterimages.

In an instant, a relentless stream of shooting stars continuously shot towards Su Mo.

Seeing this, Jiao Wenhao suddenly had a thought and yelled out:

"Chief Escort Su, watch your step, these three people are..."

His words had just reached this point when two hands emerged from the ground, reaching out to grab Su Mo's ankles.

A deep bell tolled, but Su Mo paid no heed to the barrage of stars. A shimmering golden bell encased him, and he lowered his head, reaching out to grab the two hands that had emerged from the ground:

"Come out!!"

With a light shout, he yanked hard, and the elderly man hiding underground was forcibly dragged out by Su Mo.

The ground beneath him gave way at this moment, but Su Mo didn't even glance at it. With a lift of his hand, he hurled the elderly man towards the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was still throwing his myriad of shooting stars, but seeing this, his cloak suddenly turned.

In an instant, the barrage of stars came to an abrupt halt.

But even so, several of the throwing stars hit the elderly man, making him yelp in agony.

Without bothering to check his injuries, he turned to look at the ground, seeing Su Mo fall into the ground, and burst into laughter:

"The so-called top dog of the Eastern Wasteland is nothing special!!"

"Even with your unmatched martial arts, once you’re in this underground trap, you’ll be as good as crippled!"

They never intended to face Su Mo directly.

The elderly man’s martial arts are of the Earth Vein lineage, letting him dig and tunnel underground like a pangolin.

He dug underground, carving out a hidden space.

Once the Poison Child was inside, he set up layers of lethal poison.

The moment Su Mo stepped in, he’d be poisoned without fail.

Even with his immense internal energy, he wouldn’t be able to muster his strength quickly.

Then, they could do whatever they wanted, and he’d be powerless to resist.

Earlier, they knelt and kowtowed, betting on Su Mo’s youth and overconfidence as the world’s top figure to make him help them up.

That’s when the Poison Child’s deadly skills would strike, leaving little room for defense.

But Su Mo surprised them—he didn’t bother helping them up, instantly suspecting they were after the escort and attacking without hesitation.

Now, seeing Su Mo dodge the first trap but still fall into the second, they thought their plan had worked.

Thrilled, they jumped down, eager to close in.

But just then, the collapsed ground burst open, dirt flying everywhere.

A figure suddenly shot up into the sky, holding someone by the neck.

It was none other than the young Poison Boy!

The Poison Boy’s face was frozen in shock, as Su Mo gripped his neck, leaving him unable to utter a word.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man and the elderly man were even more astonished:

"How are you unharmed?"

Su Mo glanced at them, didn’t bother to respond.

Should he explain to them that he possessed the *Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield*, making him completely immune to all poisons?

Why waste words? Killing them would do the trick.

With a flick of his hand, he flung the corpse at them.

Seeing this, the elderly man immediately tried to burrow underground again, but there was no time for that.

If he didn’t want to be hit by the corpse, he could only dodge or block.

Blocking was out of the question—Su Mo’s internal energy was profound, and even a light touch could cripple him.

So, he could only dodge!

Once he dodged, he’d use his Earth Concealment skill. The situation was hopeless now, so it was best to leave early.

But the moment he dodged, a wave of scorching heat, blazing like the sun, was already upon him.

Looking up, Su Mo's palm was already right before him.

The elderly man had no time to think; he clawed through the air with his fingers, leaving trails of silver light. This was because he wore peculiar gloves on both hands, the tips of which were made of extraordinary material, capable of splitting mountains and shattering stones.

In this critical moment, his fingers clawed, weaving a web of silver threads, intending to crush Su Mo like a stone.

But he underestimated Su Mo.

An ordinary person would have been torn apart by his grasp.

But Su Mo's body was as strong as steel, protected by his Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield. How could such a feeble force shake him?

In just a moment of distraction, all ten fingers were wracked with excruciating pain and were completely shattered.

Su Mo's palm thrust straight in, piercing his chest.

The force exploded, instantly tearing him apart.

Just then, the middle-aged man's voice echoed:

"The Star Sea Legacy Sand Iron is in Su Mo's hands! It's a treasure of heaven and earth, priceless!!"

With that, he turned and fled.

"A treasure of heaven and earth?"

"Priceless?"

These words struck the bandits who were in a bind, not only bullied by Su Mo's Flicking Finger technique but also by Yang Xiaoyun. Suddenly, they snapped out of it.

The leader bellowed:

"Run!!!!"

What the middle-aged man never anticipated happened.

These once fierce bandits, upon hearing his words, didn't become cannon fodder to block Su Mo. Instead, they all turned and ran.

In that moment, they wished they had two more legs!

What Star Sea Legacy Sand Iron? What treasure of heaven and earth?

Su Mo's martial arts were so formidable, and now he had your daggers. With just a flick of his fingers, we'd suffer heavy losses. How could we care about something priceless?

In an instant, everyone had fled.

Even the people from the Yangwei Escort Agency didn't have time to stop them.

As the middle-aged man stood dumbfounded, a voice came from behind him:

"I'm curious, how many throwing daggers do you have left?"

The middle-aged man instinctively turned his head, only to hear the sound of wind rushing past his ears. The next moment, a throwing dagger had pierced through his brain.

In that instant, his eyes were filled with disbelief...

Weren't you asking me how many throwing daggers I have?

I haven't even spoken yet!

As if seeing the confusion in his eyes, Su Mo smiled:

"I was just asking casually."