Raise a sword!

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed quietly.

Jiang Peng set off from Lan Yingying's boudoir in Fu Feng, leaving the mountain gate and arriving at the black market in the valley.

With the token given to him by Liu Qinghe, he successfully joined the caravan of the Mutual Aid Association and became an ordinary guard.

His public identity was that of an outsider cultivator making a living in the black market, with a cultivation level of the fourth level of Qi Refining, which was considered respectable among independent cultivators.

After the report, Jiang Peng was arranged to wait in the shop.

Before long, a caravan consisting of camel-drawn carts appeared in front of the shop.

The camel-beast is a type of monster with a thin lineage of demon blood. It resembles both a horse and an ox, stands over nine feet tall at the shoulder, and has a robust physique.

These kinds of monsters are generally below the first rank, but they are extremely fast and have great endurance, making them the main mounts for the Northern Foothills caravans.

Of course, valuable goods were stored in storage bags and personally managed by the caravan manager.

What camels can pull are mostly ordinary goods that can't fit in storage bags and aren't particularly valuable.

Soon, a middle-aged man stepped out of the camel caravan.

Jiang Peng was surprised to discover that this person was actually Liu Chuang, the sworn brother of Sun Yinxi and Lan Yingying.

This was the first time Jiang Peng had seen this person since confirming the merchant's share in the market last time.

Back then, Liu Chuang often hunted demons in the Earthly Roaring Mountains, so he had a bloody aura about him and a ruthless demeanor.

In just two or three years, Liu Chuang has become quite wealthy, wearing fine brocade clothes and displaying a more shrewd and business-like demeanor.

Liu Chuang chatted with the shopkeeper for a few minutes, and then the shopkeeper instructed the shop assistants to load some goods into the camel-drawn carts.

Jiang Peng mingled in the crowd and offered his help. After asking around briefly, he learned that the shops operated by the mutual aid association were actually doing business together with the chamber of commerce managed by Liu Chuang.

Not long after, the caravan set off again, and Jiang Peng successfully infiltrated the guard team.

...

Two days later, on the main road in the mountains.

Seeing that it was getting late, Liu Chuang gave the order for the caravan to set up camp and rest on the spot.

A young man in his early twenties gave orders to Jiang Peng: "Jiang, set up the tent."

"Understood, young master," Jiang Peng replied.

The young man's name was Hu Fei. He used to be a member of Liu Chuang's demon-hunting team. Now, he was traveling with Liu Chuang as a merchant and had become the head of the guard team.

That is, Jiang Peng's current boss.

After spending two days together, Jiang Peng found that this person was quite meticulous in his work, but he was a bit harsh on his subordinates and his attitude was not very good.

Seeing that Jiang Peng was a newcomer with only the fourth level of Qi Refining, this person had been making Jiang Peng handle many trivial matters these past two days, leaving Jiang Peng with very little free time.

She wasn't punished, but the endless orders were still getting to her.

However, in order to prevent her concealment of her identity from being exposed, Jiang Peng eventually endured it and gradually went from being a guard to a servant in the caravan.

The caravan's dinner consisted of a fasting pill.

After a short rest, seeing that the camp had been set up, Hu Fei arranged for the guards to patrol in batches.

Among them, only Jiang Peng had to patrol with two guard teams continuously.

"We're short-handed, thank you for your hard work, brother." When Hu Fei was explaining this, he didn't forget to pat Jiang Peng's shoulder heavily, as if he had placed a heavy burden on Jiang Peng's shoulders.

"It's my duty. Now read Chapter 127, 'Trading Merchants,' and start today's exciting chapter." Jiang Peng replied expressionlessly.

...

Being a traveling merchant is hard work, that's Jiang Peng's experience over the past few days.

The camel-like beast could travel for a whole day at a time, and it moved at an extremely fast speed. Even cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining would need to use some of their spiritual power to keep up.

Late at night, Jiang Peng returned to the camp with the first patrol team, and then immediately joined the second patrol team.

Because they travel at full speed during the day, most of the caravan members choose to rest at night. In the latter half of the night, the caravan is usually at its weakest.

Jiang Peng followed the patrol team through the nearby mountains and forests, pondering to himself.

If he wanted to take action against the caravan, this would be the best opportunity.

That's what I was thinking.

Suddenly, Jiang Peng's hidden divine sense detected two uninvited guests appearing in the forest and quickly approached her location.

Before anyone could offer a warning, a thud was heard from the front of the patrol.

The guard quickly took two steps forward to investigate, but ultimately only found a corpse at the very front of the group.

"Oh no, an ambush!" shouted the guard who was scouting the situation.

Jiang Peng immediately activated a lighting talisman, illuminating the surrounding mountains and forests as brightly as day.

But it was this photo that allowed Jiang Peng to see what the front of the patrol team looked like.

There lay two corpses lying haphazardly, both killed by having their necks severed by a sharp weapon, the blood still steaming from their wounds.

"The enemy is in the open while we are in the dark. We don't know how many of their plans are hidden in this forest. Let's go back and rejoin the caravan!" Jiang Peng said quickly.

His divine sense could detect the figure of the person who made the move, but Jiang Peng was not in a hurry to deal with the other party.

If we don't find out who's behind this, killing more of these low-level employees won't help.

Therefore, Jiang Peng remained still and only offered a word of advice.

Jiang Peng's suggestion was quickly agreed upon by the remaining guards.

As for the captain of the guard... he was lying on the ground with his head split open; given his unfortunate state, he probably couldn't say anything.

Soon, the patrol team headed towards the camp.

Just as she got close, Jiang Peng discovered that someone in the camp had already made a move and was currently entangled with Liu Chuang.

When the guards finally returned to the camp, they discovered that more than a dozen masked bandits were besieging the camp, and some of the guards had already been killed or wounded.

This time, Jiang Peng didn't need to say anything more; the guards all joined the battle.

For a moment, only Jiang Peng remained silent, his gaze fixed on the person fighting Liu Chuang not far ahead.

At this point, the caravan's situation was already precarious.

Liu Chuang, who had blocked the enemy's strongest fighter, was also at a disadvantage and looked like he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

After a moment's thought, Jiang Peng decided to capture the bandit leader and force the many robbers who were besieging the caravan to surrender.

Jiang Peng had already decided to keep the bandit leader alive as a spoil of war to gather information.

So Jiang Peng quickly moved towards the front of the caravan.

Jiang Peng had only taken a few steps when Hu Fei stopped her again.

"If you're not going to help, where are you going?" Hu Fei's face was cold, and his tone was sarcastic.

Jiang Peng was about to explain, but before he could speak, Hu Fei had already drawn a large knife.

Then he raised his knife and slashed at Jiang Peng, muttering incantations as he did so.

"I knew there was a spies in the caravan!"