Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 3.13: BaiXue

She waited among the umaintained tall grass growing right by the lake that was almost as tall as LongFei. LongFei sat on the ground further behind her, staying hidden behind more tall grass. Soon, the lion appeared through the tall grass in front of BaiXue. 

"Can you prove that your information is trustworthy?" He went straight to the point without bothering to greet her.

"I don't have to prove anything. You can see it for yourself. If nothing comes up, feel free to join in the fun of the raid."

The lion stared warily at her. "Why help me then?"

"Aren't you the strongest and the best? Isn't it a waste of talent to send someone as majestic as you to his death just because of some lowly scheme of a lowly person?"

The lion beamed with satisfaction at the praises she piled on him. His tone became more amiable as he asked her, "What do you get out of this?"

BaoBao mocked the lion for being so easy to manipulate while LongFei was feeling a little peeved that she sung praises of someone else. Even if he knew that she did not mean it, he still did not like it. I must get stronger so that she doesn't have to resort to such trickery and deception to get what she wants. 

"Just a personal grudge. I don't want her to get things her way." To make it more convincing, BaiXue had put on a face full of unbridled hatred.

"You know the one who ordered us to attack?"

"It's FenFang isn't it?"

The lion nodded his head. "Seems like you're trustworthy." He turned away to leave without excusing himself. BaiXue did not mind it as long as she got what she wanted.

Upon reaching back to the bandits who were all resting near the edge of the forest before their attack, the bear asked him. "Hey, where did you run off to? We're about to start the attack."

"Why do u need to know. I'm back, aren't I?"

The bear shook his head as he thought about how their poor teamwork and chemistry was the reason they have never worked together on raids before. These two are such a pain in the ass.

As they got up to commence their attack, the bear noticed how the lion had not assumed the position at the front. The lion had loved to brag about his bravery back in the village so everyone knew that he was always at the front lines. "ShiJiao, aren't you always at the front?"

"Maybe he's scared and he was lying all along." The tiger said with a smirk.

"You're serving as my meat shield." ShiJiao said to the tiger.

The tiger wanted to argue but the bear said, "Shut it. It's time." The bear took off with his group before the tiger could busy himself with another argument with the lion.

BaiXue was watching everything from atop them without their knowledge. She knew that this group was taking it seriously and was of a different caliber from the previous ones. They had decided to use the night as a cover for their attack and rested well before attacking instead of rushing headlong into the village in an overbearing way like the previous ones all did.

ShiJiao followed them but swerved at the last minute to hide behind a tree in his human form without breaking momentum once they left the cover of the forest. No one noticed that ShiJiao was now missing. 

The bandits crept up on the people on the outskirts of the village and killed them with a swipe to the head or bite to the neck. They managed to slay some people before a woman came out of her house to get her son and saw his mangled body instead.