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Duke Baihu was no longer polite and nodded, "In that case, Mr. Du, you will be responsible for receiving everyone."
Wang Yan bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency the Duke."
"Well, let's wait until you finish your mission."
Duke White Tiger took one last look at Huo Yuhao and then turned back to the tent.
Huo Yuhao watched his figure disappear, his eyes remained cold and without much emotion.
Old Du led everyone to another tent, prepared food for them, and went out to sort out the clues. Before leaving, he seemed to look back at Huo Yuhao.
When Elder Du walked out of the tent, a young White Tiger Guard who followed him asked curiously, "Elder Du, who was that young man just now? Why did the Duke have such an expression?"
Mr. Du was not angry, but pointed a finger at him and said, "You guys, when it comes to matters related to the Duke, don't ask about things you shouldn't. We work for the Duke. Is it good for you to know the Duke's secrets?"
"Yes." The young White Tiger Guard didn't ask any more questions.
In the tent.
Wang Yan said: "Everyone, take a rest for three hours. Once we get the intelligence, we will set out to enter the Mingdou Mountains."
After a day of traveling, everyone was a little tired.
Wang Dong secretly asked Huo Yuhao: "Yuhao, you actually know the Duke of White Tiger?"
Huo Yuhao said calmly: "Isn't it natural to know each other? It's not like you don't know my identity."
"But...but...do you know what his attitude towards you was just now? Even Senior Dai Yuheng was so respectful in front of him. How could you...he...that's the Duke of White Tiger!" Wang Dong was so surprised that he was a little incoherent.
"Who knows? Maybe he feels guilty."
Huo Yuhao walked out of the tent calmly: "I'm going out to get some fresh air."
Wang Dong stared blankly at Huo Yuhao's disappearing figure, when suddenly Xu Sanshi's voice came to his ears.
"Wang Dong, you also think that Duke Baihu's attitude just now is not right, right?"
Wang Dong nodded quickly: "Yes, it's too outrageous. I heard before that Yuhao was an orphan of the White Tiger Guard, but I didn't expect that the White Tiger Duke would be so... gentle to him?"
"The orphan of the White Tiger Guard?" Xu Sanshi looked puzzled. "If you hadn't mentioned this relationship, based on what happened just now, I would have thought Yuhao was the illegitimate son of the White Tiger Duke."
Dai Yuheng's face changed when he heard this, and he shouted in a low voice: "Xu Sanshi, what nonsense are you talking about!"
His tone was filled with anger. Xu Sanshi realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly shut up.
Ma Xiaotao looked outside the tent, wondering what she was thinking about.
Outside the marshal's tent, the White Tiger Guards were patrolling diligently, but no one noticed that the tent cloth at the entrance suddenly moved.
Duke White Tiger looked in astonishment at a figure that appeared out of nowhere in the tent, but did not shout "enemy attack" or make preparations for battle.
Huo Yuhao looked at Duke White Tiger and said coldly:
"You are a marshal, but you can't even deal with a group of bandits?"
"Your Majesty the White Tiger Duke."
Chapter 124 Preparing to Suppress Bandits
"Yuhao, how...how did you get in?"
Duke White Tiger looked at Huo Yuhao who suddenly appeared and asked in surprise.
Huo Yuhao said calmly: "It's just a trick of the soul skill."
"Okay, okay... Yuhao, it's only been over a year since we last met, and your cultivation has already reached such a high level. I really didn't misjudge you."
Duke Baihu said in surprise: "I didn't expect you to be able to represent Shrek Academy in the Fighting Spirit Competition. I also want to have a good chat with you later. Let me..."
He was interrupted by Huo Yuhao before he could finish his words.
“Forget about reminiscing about the past, let’s get down to business.” Huo Yuhao looked at him coldly. “You are a marshal, with 500,000 troops in the Western Army and 100,000 troops in the Central Army under your command, but you can’t even deal with less than 300 bandits?”
Duke Baihu put away his smile, was silent for a moment, and said: "Yuhao, you don't know that this group of bandits are very familiar with the Mingdou Mountains. There are many caves, hills and dense forests in the mountains. It is really difficult for our army to find them."
Huo Yuhao was a little angry. He raised his head and looked at Duke White Tiger with a mixture of indifference and suspicion, and stretched out three fingers.
"Three hundred people, do you know what three hundred people mean? Some villages don't even have three hundred people. Do you think three hundred people can be hidden?"
"Their daily food and drink alone costs a lot of money. How often do they have to rob to support these three hundred people? You're telling me they can't find it?"
As he spoke, Duke White Tiger's brows furrowed more and more.
Huo Yuhao asked again: "How many people have they killed?"
Duke Baihu replied, "They attacked several villages and the merchants traveling between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire. There are already 300 to 400 confirmed dead. If you include the missing, there are definitely far more."
Huo Yuhao sneered, “Oh, Dai Hao, you are so shameless. You have led troops for decades, and you can defeat the army of the Sun Moon Empire. You can’t deal with a mere 300 bandits, right?”
Duke Baihu said in a deep voice: "In fact, I have also been paying attention to this group of bandits for a long time, but after all, this is the border between two countries, and it is a bit sensitive to send out a large army."
“If you don’t mobilize the army, you must go find Shrek. Don’t you have any men under your command?” Huo Yuhao said coldly, “You’re playing hard to get. Find a few people to pretend to be merchants and lure them out of the mountains. Capture a few minions and coerce and bribe them. Is it difficult to get the location of the base camp?”
"You have so many Soul Saints and Soul Emperors under your command. Is it difficult for you to form a crusade team and go into the mountains?"
"If you were afraid of the Sun Moon Empire gossiping about you, wouldn't you have your men pretend to be another bandit group and rob each other?"
"At worst, you should be able to smell their location with two dogs!"
The more he spoke, the uglier Duke White Tiger's expression became.
Huo Yuhao finally asked coldly: "You keep so many White Tiger Guards under your command but don't use them. Are they afraid of death or are you reluctant to let them go? Or do you keep them because you want to have more power for yourself?"
Hearing this, Duke Baihu's face turned cold, and his originally kind tone also took on a hint of majesty: "Yuhao, don't talk nonsense. My Baihu Guards are not cowards, they are all good men of the Xingluo Empire."
The majestic aura of a Soul Douluo emanated from him, and he felt a little unhappy when he heard Huo Yuhao's repeated scoldings.
Huo Yuhao remained motionless in the face of the pressure, and just looked up at him indifferently.
"Who dares to trespass into the marshal's tent?"
At this moment, a shout broke the silence in the tent. Du Lao rushed into the tent and was about to take down the rude man who provoked the White Tiger Duke, but he was stunned when he saw Huo Yuhao.
He opened his mouth and after a while uttered a few words: "Second... Second Young Master..."
Huo Yuhao simply glanced at him calmly and said, "Mr. Du, long time no see. But you don't have to call me that in the future."
Duke Baihu put away his pressure and waved his hand gently: "I am just discussing the suppression of bandits with Yuhao, there is no need to be surprised, Mr. Du."
Huo Yuhao asked again: "Have you contacted the Sun Moon Empire to discuss the matter of joint suppression of bandits?"
Duke Baihu shook his head: "No, although we have signed a ceasefire agreement and the private trade between the two countries has been normalized, they are not willing to send troops to fight the bandits with us."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and began to ponder.
Old Du looked at the two of them, gritted his teeth, and suddenly said, "My Lord Duke, Second Young Master, I am willing to sign a military order and lead a small number of White Tiger Guards into the mountains to wipe out the bandits. You don't need to bother the students of Shrek Academy."
Huo Yuhao said calmly: “No need, Mr. Du. Let Shrek handle it.”
He turned towards the tent exit and said something back.
“I don’t think it’s that simple.”
After he finished speaking, ripples appeared in the space and Huo Yuhao’s figure disappeared.
Looking at Huo Yuhao who disappeared out of thin air, a trace of surprise appeared on Old Du’s face.
Duke Baihu felt melancholy for a long time and then he let out a long sigh.
It had not been long since Huo Yuhao returned to the tent where the Shrek people were, but Wang Dong was already extremely anxious.
"Yuhao, where did you go just now? I couldn't find you near the camp, I thought you were lost. This is a military camp, don't wander around!"
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I have spiritual detection, so I can't get lost."
Everyone began to rest, and Huo Yuhao kept thinking.
Detailed information about the Death Hand Bandits has also arrived. There are about 300 people in total, almost all of them are young and strong, and nearly one-tenth of them are soul masters. Half a month ago, they robbed a group of merchants and hid in the Mingdou Mountains.
The leader of the bandit group is an evil soul master at the Soul King level.
The amount of information was not large, but Huo Yuhao found it very suspicious.
A mere bandit group could actually reach an astonishing size of 300 people. He didn't believe that there was no one to support it.
He suspected that this bandit group was actually supported by the Sun-Moon Empire.
Thinking about those Holy Spirit Church members who were heading to the Star Luo Empire to cause trouble, Huo Yuhao felt that this was entirely possible.
There was another detail that gave him a chill.
Among the three hundred people, only one tenth are soul masters, so the remaining nine tenths are ordinary people?
Three hours passed quickly and everyone in Shrek was ready to set off.
Looking at Huo Yuhao who was keeping his head down and remaining silent, Ma Xiaotao asked, “Yuhao, it’s time for us to go. Don’t be afraid. This time, it’s mainly our inner court disciples who will be responsible for annihilating the bandit group. You, the reserve team, don’t need to participate too much in the battle. You just need to protect yourselves.”
Huo Yuhao said calmly: "I'm not afraid of fighting."
He sighed in his heart.
They are just weak ordinary people, but they become members of a bandit group. Did they do it voluntarily or were they forced?
Chapter 125 Hand of Death
“There are quite a few people at the foot of that hill.” Huo Yuhao released his spiritual detection, sensing the situation in the distance, and said to everyone.
After they entered the Mingdou Mountains, they began a careful search.
There was no need for a carpet search. With Huo Yuhao's penetrating mental detection, any possible clues or traces in the woods and on the ground were revealed.
Footprints, bloodstains, chopped trees... all told everyone that someone had passed by here. And the deeper they went, the more frequent these traces appeared.
Finally, when it was completely dark, Huo Yuhao discovered a gathering of human presence that shouldn’t have appeared deep in the mountains.
He pointed in a direction and said, "There are a lot of people over there. Judging from their attire, they should be the Death Hand Bandits."
Wang Yan nodded: "Okay, in that case, the enemy should be at the bottom of that hill. That cave below should be where they are hiding. Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yuheng, you two take the inner courtyard disciples with you. I don't need to teach you what to do. The reserve team should stay with me."
"The Shrek Supervisory Group is ready to go!"
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yaoheng responded: "No problem."
Their eyes were filled with excitement and they couldn't wait to annihilate these evil villains.