CH 281

“Follow me. There might be something interesting going on nearby!” Mister Bu said before heading in a certain direction.

Shang Xia followed behind the man hastily. 

Not too long after they emerged from the forest, Shang Xia noticed a small hill that was covered in a layer of wilting weeds. 

Gesturing for Shang Xia to remain silent, Mister Bu carefully climbed up the hill. When Shang Xia arrived beside him, they used the tall weeds as cover to stare at the scene below. Several Scarlet Cloud Horses were strolling about as they munched on the grass below. There was a small fire burning nearby, and several cultivators were huddled around it as they discussed something among themselves.

From their appearance, it was clear that many of them were weary travelers who just completed a long journey. 

As they spoke to each other, some of them would look in the direction of the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range as though they were expecting someone else. 

Shang Xia’s eyes widened in shock when he saw two familiar faces among them and his reaction was clearly noticed by Mister Bu. “Brat, do you know who they are?” 

Without turning his head, Shang Xia muttered, “Eighteen Horsemen of the You Continent…” 

“Huh?!” Mister Bu gasped lightly. “How do you know about them?” 

Shang Xia chuckled softly, “I’ve heard their name so many times in the past few days that my ears are about to rot from hearing about them.”

Grunting softly, Mister Bu continued, “Oh right, you probably heard that their third in command was captured by Yang Hu. You should be able to guess their objective then. They’re probably gathered here to start their rescue operation…” 

Shang Xia noticed several riders coming from another direction, and he quickly ducked into the weeds. “Hehe, they might even start fighting among themselves…” 

“How do you know that too?!” Mister Bu stared at Shang Xia in shock. 

Realizing something, Shang Xia turned his head to look at Mister Bu with his eyebrows raised. “Mister Bu, are you planning to take these guys under your command?” 

At this point, Mister Bu was no longer surprised that Shang Xia had guessed his intentions. He replied Shang Xia with a question of his own. “Why not? Yang Hu has been controlling the Changfeng City for twenty years. Now that he chose to work with the White Deer Paradise and the Changbai Holy Land of the Azure Spiritual World, we need all the help we can get, don’t you think?” 

“You’ve been hiding here for so many years. Don’t tell me you don’t have subordinates of your own!” Shang Xia snorted in disbelief.

“Do you think I’ll be able to hide anything from Yang Hu if I manage to bring up my own power?” Mister Bu sneered.

Even though Shang Xia didn’t quite believe the man, he couldn’t do a thing about it if Mister Bu was adamant about not spilling the beans.

Seeing as only thirteen of the Eighteen Horsemen had arrived, Shang Xia knew that they wouldn’t be starting anything soon. Sighing softly, Shang Xia turned to Mister Bu. “Mister, how do you know that they will be of use to us?” 

“Do you know their identities?” Mister Bu didn’t answer his question immediately. 

Shang Xia thought about it for a second before he continued, “Are you referring to their backer? Because I know now for a fact that it’s the Tongyou Institution…” 

“That’s not exactly true. All of them were criminals who were released by the institutions. In order to make up for their mistakes, they were sent out to become part of the Eighteen Horsemen.” Mister Bu explained.

In that instant, a lot of Shang Xia’s doubts cleared up. He continued to ask, “Won’t that mean that they would bear a grudge against the Tongyou Institution? With the current troubles we’re facing, Yang Hu finally found a chance to convert them to his side…” 

“It’s just trouble we’re facing. The Tongyou Institution seems to be unable to protect itself any longer. To everyone who thinks they understand the situation in the Tongyou City, all of them feel that the institution is finished. Even the four other institutions feel that the Tongyou Institution is too stubborn and domineering. They won’t be willing to lend their full strength to help them tide through their troubles.” Mister Bu sighed.

Shang Xia wanted to ask some more, but his train of thought was interrupted by Mister Bu. “They’re pretty much all here. Let’s take a look at their preparations before deciding what we should do.” 

Shang Xia turned back to the party sitting around the fire and saw several figures coming over.

Looking at the group, he discovered that there were only sixteen of them in total. Who would have thought that everyone would get to their feet when the last person arrived? All of them are wearing a thick cape, and they quickly wore a mask to block off their facial features. From afar, they looked like some sort of cultish presence.

“Huh? Why are there only sixteen of them?” Mister Bu’s confused voice rang in Shang Xia’s ears.

Even though he already knew the last person who was missing, he maintained his expressionless face as he turned to Mister Bu, “Do you know who hasn’t arrived?” 

“All of them covered their facial features. I can’t be certain who hasn’t arrived…” Mister Bu replied after a short hesitation.

Shang Xia raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he didn’t say anymore. He turned his attention to the gathering below.

At that moment, things played out like Shang Xia said. They broke out into an argument.

Even though Shang Xia and Mister Bu couldn’t hear their conversation, the body language they were using made it obvious. 

From the way they were standing, Mister Bu could tell that the sixteen horsemen gathered there were split into three groups. One of the groups had four people, the other had five. Those were the two groups that seemed to be arguing the most intensely. The rest seemed to be neutral for the time being.

All of a sudden, one of the leaders of the group tore off his mask and revealed his large bald head that had two scars running across them. He roared with rage, “I said all that should be said. All of you know the repercussions of any choice made. Let’s make the decisions now.”

He turned to another person and asked, “Boss Sha, what do you say?” 

Even though the argument seemed intense earlier, Shang Xia could barely make out a few words. Once the bald man took off his mask, his voice was projected out instantly. It seemed as though their masks weren’t ordinary items either. Coupled with their capes, there seemed to be a barrier surrounding them to hide their voices.

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“Tranquility Cape?” Shang Xia muttered to himself.

Mister Bu’s voice rang in his ears once again. “Not really. The capes on their body might be able to isolate their voices, but that’s not the real Tranquility Cape. The actual Tranquility Cape is said to belong to their third in command. The woman you saw at the restaurant the other day spying on those people should be the daughter of their third in command.” 

Shang Xia nodded his head silently in response. However, Mister Bu didn’t stop there. “That bad guy is the fourth horseman. His cultivation has already reached the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. He’s a good fighter.” 

“All eighteen horsemen were punished by the Tongyou Institution, and they were sent to cause trouble in the Ji Continent to make up for their mistakes. However, most of them didn’t like using their real names. They eventually started referring to each other from their ranking order. The baldie is ranked fourth, and the person he called Boss Sha is the leader of the Eighteen Horsemen.” 

As the words left Mister Bu’s lips, the person the baldie referred to took off his mask to reveal his appearance. He was a middle aged man who wore an eyepatch.

Grunting once, there was still a trace of hesitation on his face as he said, “We definitely have to save our third brother. However, what Second Brother and Fourth Brother said makes sense. This… We need to make another plan. Regardless, Third Brother won’t be in danger for the time being… Sixth Sister, what do you think?” 

A helpless expression appeared on the baldie’s face, but he turned to their Sixth Sister for her response.

She didn’t think that she would be used by their leader to take on the pressure, but she eventually took off her mask to reveal her pale face. A chuckle left her lips. “You guys can discuss among yourselves. I’ll follow whatever arrangements you come up with.” 

The situation turned awkward in an instant. The attitudes of both the bald expert and the leader were clear. The leader wasn’t willing to offend anybody, and the baldie wasn’t able to come up with a decision.

“The Eighteen Horsemen of the You Continent might be considered a cohesive team. However, most of the power lies in the hands of the six Martial Intent Realm experts among them. Out of the six, their leader, Boss Sha, might have the highest cultivation level among them, but he’s not a good decision maker. Their sixth sister just condensed her divine sense, and she is unable to rally the rest of the group with her limited authority. Usually, the second to fourth ranked members of the Eighteen Horsemen would make the decisions. Now that their third in command has been captured, there’s only three of them with actual power in the group.” Mister Bu introduced the Eighteen Horsemen to Shang Xia. At the same time, he summarized the power structure to Shang Xia.

Two more people took off their masks at that moment and Shang Xia recognized one of them as Uncle Cen who came to visit Hai Min earlier.

The last person who revealed his appearance looked slightly younger than forty, and he had a gentle demeanor. Shang Xia could tell that the man was probably the most meticulous one among the group from the profound look in his eyes. With the explanation from Mister Bu earlier, Shang Xia guessed that he was the second in command of the Eighteen Horsemen.