The Bandits’ Trap 

“Has the charismatic leader of the people returned?”

Ard, having finished giving his instructions, returned to his room to review the plan for any flaws. The moment he stepped inside, Yexi’s voice, laced with dry amusement, drifted over.

“Gods, I’m so tired.” Ard collapsed into a chair, closing his eyes. “That almost went south. I never expected the villagers to be so hesitant. Thank goodness for Bucky.”

Yexi, serenely sipping her tea, commented, “And here I thought you had everything under control.”

“I’m no master strategist who can account for every variable. A lot of success comes down to luck. Fortunately, my luck was pretty good this time.” Ard was parched. Just then, a cup of cool tea was offered to him. He took it from Yexi and drank it down in one gulp, the coolness spreading through him.

“They seemed to hesitate?” Yexi had noticed the expressions on Peter and the village chief’s faces.

Ard nodded. “My plans are a bit bigger than what they had imagined. It’s natural for them to have reservations. But I’ve already explained the stakes to them.”

“That’s good.”

“But whether the plan will succeed is still unknown. There’s a lot to consider. I’m going to head to the valley to check on the preparations. Are you coming?”

“Of course,” Yexi replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “It wouldn’t do for you to get yourself killed.”

“I’m not that weak, you know.”

“You’re not that strong, either,” Yexi said, exasperated. “And with that weighted gear on, by the time you get to the valley, the battle will be over.”

Ard had forgotten he couldn’t move quickly, and that he couldn’t even mount a drake on his own. He could only give an awkward smile.

From morning until dusk, the entire village was a hive of activity. The able-bodied went to the valley to set up oil traps, while the rest handled other miscellaneous tasks. Time flew by, and night fell.

In the dead of night, the usually silent village was shattered by the clamor of a large group of men. They were a disorderly, undisciplined mob compared to a regular army, but every man had a ferocious, cruel look on his face. Brandishing their blades, they stormed into the village with savage intent.

But what the bandits hadn’t expected was that the village did not greet them with the usual terrified submission. The entire village was empty, as if no one had ever lived there.

The bandit leader at the head of the group cursed, “A bunch of cowardly turtles! You think you can just hide from us? Search everywhere! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to! Find those dogs who think they have a backbone now! Dammit, we lost so many brothers because of these worthless peasants!”

The bandits scattered, kicking in doors and ransacking houses. But to their bewilderment, as they searched room after room, they found that all the villagers had vanished.

The bandit leader’s face grew darker and darker as his men reported back with no findings.

Finally, a stooped, middle-aged man was dragged forward by two bandits. They threw him on the ground in front of their leader. “Boss, we searched the whole village. This is the only mutt we could find.”

The bandit leader was furious. Without a word, he brought his whip down on the man on the ground, lashing him again and again. “Hide?! You like to hide, do you?! Talk! Where did the others go?!”

The stooped man was Peter. He feigned terror, screaming in agony. “Ah! Ahhh! Stop! Please, stop! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Covered in bloody welts, tears of pain streamed down his face as he groveled for mercy.

The bandit leader stopped whipping him. “Where are they?!” he snarled.

Peter whimpered, “They ran! They said you’d definitely come for revenge, so they packed up and ran after those knights left!”

“Ran?!” The bandit leader was livid. Had they come all this way for nothing? He brought the whip down again, making Peter cry out.

“They all ran. Why are you still here?”

Peter said, trembling, “I… I didn’t want to leave the village. I thought you wouldn’t come back today, and I hid. I didn’t think you’d find me.”

The bandit who had captured him added, “It’s true, boss. We looked for this rabbit for a long time. If he hadn’t peeked his head out thinking we were gone, and if we hadn’t doubled back for a surprise check, we would have missed him.”

“Hide! Hide your f*cking mother!” The bandit leader lashed him twice more, the whip tearing his flesh. “Talk! Where did the others go?!”

Hearing the question, Peter’s eyes darted around evasively. He hesitated, and the whip immediately came down again, a flurry of brutal strikes.

Finally, Peter broke, crying out, “Please, stop hitting me! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! They went to the valley to the north! They’re planning on hiding there until things blow over!”

The bandit leader frowned. “The valley to the north? You mean the Lake Spirit Valley?”

Peter nodded obsequiously. “Yes! They’re hoping the valley’s reputation will keep you away, and they’ll just live on the mountain path north of the valley for a few days. Not many people go that way anyway.”

“Heh, not a bad idea,” the bandit leader sneered. “Too bad they have a spineless coward like you. Take him with us! Patch up his wounds, don’t let him die. Have him lead us to those cowards. And you,” he snarled at Peter, “you’d better behave, or I’ll cut you down myself.”

“Don’t kill me, please don’t kill me!” Peter kneeled repeatedly, banging his head on the ground until it bled.

“Take him away!”

A bandit crudely dressed Peter’s wounds, then hauled him onto a drake, and the group set off for the valley.

The quiet, eerie Lake Spirit Valley at night was a different world from its daytime self. Though misty during the day, the sunlight had given it a certain sanctity. At night, the weak moonlight and the distant stars could not penetrate the gloom. The thin mist swirled in the darkness, making the valley look like the gaping maw of a primordial beast, ready to devour any who dared to enter.

Seeing this, some of the bandits grew fearful. The leader asked, “Are you sure those villagers came in here?”

Peter, however, seemed unfazed, even accustomed to it. “That’s what they said. And the Lake Spirit Valley is always like this at night. It just looks a bit scarier than during the day.”

Seeing the once-timid Peter so nonchalant in the face of the terrifying valley made the hesitant bandits feel ashamed.

“What are you so proud of?!” The bandit leader lashed him with his whip, knocking him from his mount. Peter cried out in pain as he hit the ground.

“Tie a rope around his neck! Make him lead the way!”

With a rope cinched around his neck, Peter was forced to walk ahead as the bandits, holding torches, entered the Lake Spirit Valley.

As expected, they walked through the valley and were nearing the northern exit without encountering any problems. It was just an empty threat after all.

“I knew it! How could those dirt-eaters have the guts to ambush us? Hahaha! Brothers, when we find them, we’ll kill all the men and have some fun with the women!”

“Hahaha!”

The bandits’ raucous laughter echoed through the valley, as if in response to their hubris.

Suddenly, a massive rumbling sound came from both ends of the valley.

The bandits’ laughter died in their throats. A single point of fire fell from the cliffs above. The moment it hit the ground, the small flame erupted, spreading like a tidal wave, turning the valley floor into a sea of fire.

The bandits’ surprise turned to panic. The arrogant smiles on their faces froze, then twisted into masks of terror. The leader yanked hard on the rope tied to Peter, only to find it had gone slack. He pulled it in and saw the end was frayed and cut.

Sometime in the darkness, Peter had cut the rope and vanished.

“Hahaha! You useless fools! You don’t even know who you’ve offended! Now, die!”

Peter’s voice echoed through the valley, but in the chaos, the bandit leader couldn’t tell where it was coming from. But his words sent a chill down his spine. Could it be that these traps weren’t set by those peasant villagers?

There was no time to think. The fire was closing in. His eyes red with fury and desperation, he roared, “Get out! Run!” He immediately spurred his drake toward the northern exit. But the path was blocked by a massive rockslide, impossible to clear quickly.

“To the south!”

“Boss, the south is surrounded by fire!” a man at the rear shouted.

The bandit leader’s heart filled with despair. He looked at the blocked path, his eyes bloodshot, preparing to make a desperate, suicidal charge. Just then, one of his men shouted, “Hey, why isn’t it burning over there?”

The leader looked and saw that in the midst of the sea of fire, there was one area that was untouched. He strained his eyes and, in the flickering firelight, saw the glint of water. “It’s the lake!” he shouted with joyous relief. “There’s a lake over there! Get in the lake!”

He whipped his drake mercilessly, forcing the screeching beast through the flames and into the valley’s lake. The rest of the bandits followed suit, plunging into the water.

High above on the cliffs, Ard watched the chaotic scene through the firelight, a cold, victorious smile on his face.

If the bandits hadn’t fled into the lake, they might have had a chance. The fire in the south was just a small, intimidating ring, and the southern exit was only lightly blocked due to a lack of time and manpower. If they had charged south with all their might, they would have been fine.

But unfortunately for them, fleeing into the lake was exactly what Ard had wanted.