'Hmm, there are two bandits posted here as sentries.' Krune frowned, scouting a bit more through echolocation as he sensed their position around 30 meters away. This was the limit as to which his sound could reach.

If he wished to sense any farther, he would have to shout harder. Naturally, that would alert them.

Having observed their positions, Krune's mind whirred in thought, eventually understanding their reason for standing as sentries here.

First of all, they were positioned atop a large piece of rock that allowed them to look far away, keeping track of everything, able to see the more than six villages in the surroundings.

Even though all villages were pretty far from one another, the ones atop this location were still able to spot the people in the village as tiny moving dots. That was enough for them to know if something had happened.

This way, they'll be able to alert their bandit stronghold in case something happened. Among the six villages situated on this plateau, the village Krune was from was the poorest. As for the rest, they fared relatively better.

In fact, one village among them lived pretty content lives, having a small canal connecting to the well in their village from a river farther away. Thanks to this, they never had to face any water deficit.

Moreover, this village and the bandits had a subtle relationship. Some of the bandits were actually from the village, taking on the role of bandits just to plunder from the other villages in times of necessity.

This way, they ensured their village always had a surplus of food.

Krune knew the reason, thanks to Wang Hu's memories. Rather, everyone in their village was also aware of it. Of course, no one was able to do anything.

After all, the bandits were pretty strong and had capable men leading them. It was not to mention the fact that the village they had relations with was the sole village valued by the nearby town.

So, no matter how much Wang Hu's village protested in the town, no action would be taken against the bandits.

Sometimes, to protect their vested interests, the bandits had even killed a couple of Yin Beasts before. So, they were left to their devices by the lord of the nearby town.

Upon sensing that there were only two sentries placed atop the large rock, Krune hid behind a boulder, gently peeking from an edge before observing their figures.

As it was a boring job, the two sentries were yawning while talking casually. Occasionally, they spared a glance at every village once before resuming their casual chatter.

Krune manipulated the Cloud Whale into gently moving towards the bandits before causing it to hide near them, hovering behind a rock.

In such proximity, their moods were gradually affected. Even they themselves were surprised that their manner of speech became gentler before they realized it. Laughing about the oddity of the situation, they continued to talk about a variety of miscellaneous matters.

After an hour passed in such a fashion, they became tired, falling silent. One of them closed his eyes momentarily while the other calmly looked around for one more round of inspection.

At this moment, the Cloud Whale arrived behind the one that had closed his eyes. As he was currently seated, he was a better target as it calmly poked at a certain location on his neck.

Before he knew it, the man fell asleep.

Slowly, the Cloud Whale arrived before the other man, doing the same when he wasn't paying any attention, causing him to fall to the ground, asleep.

Krune slowly dragged himself over to the top of the large rock, using the Soul Needle to cut some pieces of fabric from their clothes, using it to bind their hands and legs, also covering their eyes, mouth, and even ears once he had stuffed them.

This way, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

He then began to drag them, grunting a lot as he pulled them little by little, complaining to the Cloud Whale from time to time about how weak his body was.

After dragging both of them to a discrete location fifty meters away, he hid them there.

He then waited at the place near the large rock, cautiously seated nearby, soon sensing three more bandits walking towards the place.

It was already evening by now. They were the ones on night duty. Since nighttime was riskier than daytime, there were three of them, holding their respective equipment and rations for the night.

Krune had helped himself to the rations the other two bandits had, hence replenishing his strength a little bit.

'Okay, now comes the tough part.' Krune took in a deep breath, causing the Cloud Whale to stealthily move while hiding behind the rocks.

After making a large circle, it arrived behind the guy that was walking at the back, gently poking at his neck, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud.

Before the other two could react, the Cloud Whale turned around to face the second bandit, unleashing its Air Needle.

Surprisingly, being shot through it was the Soul Needle that pierced through the man's neck, causing him to roar in pain before fainting immediately.

"Haha, you damn bastard! That's what you get for pillaging our village!" Krune suddenly leaped out of his hiding spot and danced on the spot, taunting aloud.

"This crazy!" At first, the last remaining bandit was flustered at the sight of the Cloud Whale. However, before he could process the information, Krune's loud voice instinctively caused him to gaze in the direction, watching a crazy old man dancing on a boulder while taunting him with a string of expletives.

Within a couple of seconds, the bandit's mind was filled with anger. But suddenly, he was alarmed, only now realizing that he had glossed over the Cloud Whale's existence thanks to Krune's loud taunts.

This thought just resounded in his mind when his eyes lost focus, collapsing to the ground, unconscious. The Cloud Needle had poked him on the neck just like it had done to the others.

"Thankfully, it worked as I had planned." Sighing in relief, Krune arrived before the three bandits, smirking. "You're 250 years too early towait, adding Su Zixin's and Wang Hu's ageso, 370and also subtracting the bandit's ageso around 330 yearsargh!"

He then muttered in seriousness, "You'll never be old enough to outsmart me."