After coming down from mountain containing the Cliff of Abyss, Xiu Xiang drifted from town to town only to hear that Lotus City was about to hold a festival, which made things even better. She hadn't had fun in ages but didn't have any funds. By chance during her trip, she came across groups of bandits who claimed to be a part of the Black Bandit Group. Since they were bandits who stole from others, she decided to get her funds from them. This group would be the fourth group that she had run into this week.
Not that the current robbery had anything to do with her. She wasn't a saint. But... she's already stolen quite a bit from the Black Bandit Group. What's a little bit more? She would have more funds to have fun. Since she was out and about without any responsibilities, she might as well have as much fun as she could.
Big Brother Yu never thought that they would be robbed during daylight, especially by a young woman who looked like she was from a noble family.
"We're the Black Bandit Group. Do you really want to make an enemy out of us?!" the youth on the horse shouted angrily at Xiu Xiang.
When the circus troupe heard this name, every single person let out a gasp. They heard much about the group during their travels. They were sure that Xiu Xiang was going to die for offending such a dangerous group of criminals.
"Well..." Xiu Xiang disappeared on the spot and reappeared in front of Big Brother Yu within a blink of an eye. She grabbed him harshly by the collar then spoke in a voice only loud enough for him to hear.
"Do you really want to make an enemy out of me?" Xiu Xiang's eyes flickered a dangerous red light.
Ever since her phoenix lineage had awoken, she could change her eyes color and aura at will. She didn't want to use the title of a Demoness so she could only use her look to terrorize the group.
"Of course not. I would never offend you, Miss," Big Brother Yu said nervously. No matter how confident Big Brother Yu was in his skills, he wasn't brazen enough to offend the someone who could give off such a dangerous vibe. Just one look of those chilling red eyes, he quickly released Yao Yao and chuckled lightly. Yao Yao on the other hand, when she saw Xiu Xiang's red eyes, she froze on the spot. Her legs had turned to stone from fright.
Xiu Xiang looked down at Yao Yao and cocked her head to the side, "Why aren't you leaving? Want to stay and become a bandit's bride?"
Yao Yao's eyes widen in horror. At first she thought that Xiu Xiang was a kind hero who had stepped in to help her. She even thought that Xiu Xiang looked extremely handsome. To her disappointment, Xiu Xiang was nothing more than a petty thief fishing in trouble waters. Xiu Xiang's threat was enough to force her frozen legs to move. The moment her legs started moving, she sped as fast as she could toward the circus troupe.
Once that was taken care of, Xiu Xiang eyed the money pouch on Big Brother Yu's waist.
"Hand over all your money," Xiu Xiang ordered. Big Brother Yu quickly took off the pouch from his waist and handed it over to her. Then her eyes trailed over to his men who also had similar pouches on their waist. "All of you, hand over your money too."
The bandits reached for the swords on their waist when Xiu Xiang's aura flared up. Every single bandit felt as if a thousand pounds were being pressed down on their body. Just the pressure alone was enough for them to quickly take off their money pouches and tossed it her way. She quickly put away the money she collected.
Looking around to see if there was anything else she could take, she saw the horse that Big Brother Yu had fallen off from.
"Hm... nice stallion. I'll take your horse too."
Big Brother Yu was about to warn her that his horse didn't take kindly to strangers. However, right when Xiu Xiang went up to it, he could've sworn, the horse lowered its head as if she was its rightful owner.
Xiu Xiang jumped atop the horse and looked down at Big Brother Yu.
"Stealing is a bad habit. Why not make an honest living? Ah, you guys can get lost now," Xiu Xiang told the bandits.
If they had the courage, they would tell her the same thing too. She had stolen from them several days worth of work after all. Not a single one voiced their opinion as they quickly took off in the direction that they had come from.
Xiu Xiang watched the bandits disappear into the distance then turned her sights on the circus troupe. The troupe stared back fearfully at her. They weren't sure if she was going to rob them next or not.
She had seen the whole thing when Yao Yao was captured by the bandits. Not a single person stepped up to the save girl. There was no need to be kind to such people. She already returned the young girl back to her group so there was no need to linger.
Without saying anything to them, Xiu Xiang took off leaving the group looking bewildered. Yao Yao's eyes were glued to the back of Xiu Xiang the entire time.
The sun was dipping below the horizon when a group of men in black arrived at an abandoned temple. It was a sub group of the Black Bandit Group rendezvousing at their meeting point. The first group out of the three was led by Vanguard Xiong Ba. The men under Xiong Ba were excited at the stolen batch of treasures. They littered the ground of the abandoned temple with their stolen goods.
Moments later, another group arrived. This was the group led by Big Brother Yu. Not a single one dared to raise their heads when they jumped off their steeds. Stranger yet, Big Brother Yu wasn't riding his stallion. Instead he was riding his underling's weak stallion.
"Xiao Yu? What happened to your stallion?" Xiong Ba asked.
Right when Big Brother Yu was questioned about his horse, he cried in his heart. How was he supposed to tell his brothers that he had been robbed by a young girl?
His men didn't dare to explain either. Not a single one of them wanted to remember being robbed in broad daylight, much less by a young girl.
"Where's your loot?" Xiong Ba asked when he realized that Big Brother Yu didn't want to answer his question.
Big Brother Yu and his men's face darkened further when the second question was asked. They were spared the option of answering when more of the sub groups slowly emerged from the darkness.
From the show of their faces, their trip hadn't been promising either. The leaders of each of the sub groups came down from their horses, each face looking grimmer than the next.
"What happened to you guys?" Xiong Ba asked them. Each of the leaders of the sub groups looked at one another. Their silence rose the curiosity in everyone.
After a long silence, the lanky youth behind Big Brother Yu could no longer contain his anger. His outburst caught everyone's attention.
"The loot we were going to bring back was stolen!" he shouted.
Big Brother Yu looked over his shoulders and glared at the youth. Almost instantly the youth's neck shrunk back.
"Stolen? You too?" came one of the leaders of the sub group. One by one, the leaders slowly spoke up about their embarrassing situation.
"A young girl in blue took all of the gold that we stole."
"We were robbed too and it was also by a young girl in blue."
"Wait... you too? We were also robbed!"
It didn't take long for everyone to realize that they were all robbed blind by the same girl.
"Robbed?" came a sharp voice behind the group of men.
The main group of the Black Bandit Group had arrived at last. This group was led by the leader of the bandits himself, Situ Long. Situ Long was only nineteen but he was extremely smart. It was the reason he was able to subdue Big Brother Yu and became the leader. The daggers on his waist gleamed in the moonlight, scaring his men in submission.
Hearing that several of his subgroups had been robbed, came as a surprise. He had personally handpicked and trained every single person who entered the Black Bandit Group, so he knew how skilled his men were. For them to be robbed, just how many people ambushed his men?
"What do you mean you were robbed? Are you not part of the Black Bandit Group?!" Xiong Ba exclaimed.
The groups who were robbed looked embarrassed and ashamed. Despite this shame, how were they supposed go up against someone with that crazy of strength? They couldn't even move under the immense pressure that the demon girl had given off.
"Give me a name," Situ Long demanded. How dare they try to steal from the Black Bandit Group? No one has ever dared to offend his group ever since they became infamous in this area.
The leaders of the subgroups went silent. They didn't have an answer to give. Finally, Situ Long's eyes fell on Big Brother Yu.
Big Brother Yu may be a leader of the subgroups but he was well respected by Situ Long.
"Big Brother Yu, do you know who robbed you?" Situ Long asked.
"I don't know. It was a young woman who wore a blue dress. Her eyes... were a blazing red. I think she's part of the Demon Clan so I didn't dare to make a move until we returned," Big Brother Yu explained.
"Demon Clan...?" Situ Long didn't expect to go up against the Demon Clan. Before his group became infamous, he heard rumors of the Demon Clan. They were run by a female demon who called herself the Demoness. These past few years, there haven't been much movement from the Demon Clan. There were even rumors of the Demoness being killed by the Tian Ling Sect years ago.
He smirked at this courageous female demon. How dare she try to steal from him?
The Black Bandit Group was just a small group of unknown bandits until Situ Long took over. He wouldn't be Situ Long of the Black Bandit Group if he let this measly little demon get away with his gold. Where would he hide his face?
"Do you know where she was headed?" Situ Long asked.
"She left in the direction of Lotus City," Big Brother Yu said.
"Well, I can't just let all our hard earn gold fall into the hands of a young girl now, can I?" Situ Ling turned his head in the direction where Lotus City lie. A billowing wind blew harshly in the distance.