Mino was
kneeling by the bed
, her
hips slightly raised
, as she
stuck her head underneath
, rummaging for something.
The moment Mu Liang
stepped into the wooden shelter, carrying two barrels of water
, this was
the sight that greeted him
.
He raised a brow and asked,
“What are you doing?”
“Ahhh!”
Mino
jumped in shock
.
“Bang!”
The next second—
Her head slammed into the bed frame.
She
winced
, rubbing the
back of her head
, and
crawled out
from under the bed with a
pitiful expression
.
Mu Liang’s lips
curled into a smirk
.
“You okay?”
Mino
glared at him
, her
cheeks puffed up
.
“Where the heck did you go?!”
There were
so many questions she wanted to ask
, but she didn’t even know
where to start
.
“Just went to get some supplies.”
Mu Liang said it as if it were nothing.
Mino
narrowed her eyes
.
“Some supplies?”
Her gaze
lowered
and finally noticed—
Two large barrels sitting on the ground.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed,
“You call
this
‘some supplies’? What, did you rob the camp leader’s house?”
“No.”
Mu Liang denied it without hesitation.
Then,
after a pause
, he added,
“There’s still a lot left to take.”
Truthfully, he was
a little tempted
to go back for more.
But by the time he had left,
people were already heading toward the leader’s house
.
Which meant—
A’Gu had done his part.
Mino
covered her face with both hands
.
“You actually did it…”
She had
thought it was just a wild guess
—but
Mu Liang really had robbed the place
.
She
stepped closer
, cheeks still puffed up.
Her
expression turned serious
as she warned,
“Next time you do something like this, tell me first! I need time to prepare!”
She had been
stressing over how to hide everything
, nearly
driving herself crazy
.
Mu Liang
shrugged
.
“It wasn’t the plan. I only went to get water.”
But then… he had overheard the leader’s twisted schemes.
So, he had simply
dealt with the problem at its root
And
took a little extra on the way out
.
Mino
lowered her voice
, worried.
“They’re going to notice the missing supplies soon.”
She thought for a moment, then suggested,
“Let’s hide everything on Xiao Xuanwu’s back. That way, we won’t get caught.”
Mu Liang
shook his head
.
“No need.”
Mino
stomped her foot
, her
small frame filled with urgency
.
“Why not?! They’ll send people to search our shelter!”
“They won’t.”
Mu Liang’s voice remained
calm
.
“The camp leader is already dead.”
“Eh?!”
Mino’s
blue eyes widened in shock
.
She
stared at Mu Liang
, searching his face for any sign that he was joking.
“It’s true.”
Mu Liang
briefly explained
how the leader had been working with Bloodbeard to betray the camp.
Mino’s
expression turned fierce
.
“Good! That scumbag deserved to die!”
Mu Liang
chuckled softly
, watching as her
cheeks puffed up with righteous anger
.
She looked…
Surprisingly cute.
Mino suddenly
felt his gaze
and hesitated.
“W-What are you looking at?”
A
slight blush
crept onto her face.
Mu Liang
looked away
, his tone gentle.
“The camp residents will be leaving tomorrow.”
Mino’s
eyes brightened
.
“So we’re leaving with them?”
“No.”
Mu Liang shook his head.
“We’re staying for two more days.”
Her
smile faltered
.
“That’s too dangerous! Bloodbeard’s men could attack any time!”
Mu Liang’s lips
curved into a mysterious smile
.
“That’s exactly why we’re staying.”
Mino
froze
.
A
bad feeling
crept up her spine.
“Wait… what are you planning?”
Mu Liang
calmly
stated,
“I’m going to rob Bloodbeard’s base.”
“……”
Mino’s
brain stopped working
.
She
blinked, then blinked again
, convinced she had misheard.
“Say that again?”
“I’m going to hit the bandits’ base and grab some good stuff.”
Mu Liang had
decided the moment he overheard the leader’s plan
If Bloodbeard’s gang was coming
to rob this camp
, then why not
return the favor?
Now, he just needed to
lure them here
Then slip away and
loot their base
while they were distracted.
A
classic bait-and-switch.
Mino
turned pale
, gripping his
arm tightly
.
“Mu Liang, you’re insane!”
“That’s a gang of over five hundred bandits! If they catch you, you’ll die!”
Mu Liang
raised a single finger
, shaking it lightly.
“No, there won’t be five hundred people there.”
He spoke
patiently
, walking her through his plan.
“The scouts we killed today—
They never reported back.
Which means tomorrow, Bloodbeard will send more.”
Mino
nodded slowly
.
“But their base is more than a day’s journey from here,”
Mu Liang continued.
“So those scouts won’t arrive until the day after tomorrow.”
That was
the key
.
Mu Liang had gathered
enough intel
while interrogating the scouts.
“On that day, we’ll make it look like the entire camp just recently fled.”
He smiled.
“Mino, if you were Bloodbeard, what would you do?”
Mino
hesitated
, thinking.
“I guess… I’d send people to chase them down?”
“Exactly.”
Mu Liang nodded.
“So when the scouts see an abandoned camp, they’ll rush back to report it.”
He spread his hands, his
tone lighthearted
.
“And when Bloodbeard hears that he was tricked by the camp leader, he won’t be happy.
He’ll bring his men to ‘settle the score.’”
Mino
slowly nodded
, understanding.
“And by the time Bloodbeard arrives, the camp’s people will be long gone.”
Mu Liang
grinned confidently
.
“And while most of his gang is chasing ghosts… his base will be nearly empty.”
Mino
gulped
.
“That’s when we strike.”
Her
mind raced
.
It actually
sounded like it could work
…
But—
“Are you sure?”
she asked anxiously.
Mu Liang
shrugged
.
“Even if it fails, we’ll just lose two days.”
This was
a calculated risk
.
If it worked—
They would get
a huge haul of Beast Cores
.
Maybe even enough to
evolve a beast to Level 4
.