Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1742 1742: Finding the Bandits

Ningʼs group follows the rushing river, the pathway running down the side of it. The gorging riverʼs loud sound was drowning and permanent, causing many to stay in constant fear of it suddenly rushing up the side of the banks into where they were.

Thankfully, the river itself was getting calmer by the minute as rainfall to the north had died down a lot. It was still dangerous for a person to cross on their own, but it was low enough now that even the southern bridge would be of no real threat.

”That the fortress,” one of the men said, pointing far away to the distance where beyond the canopy of the trees, the broken walls of the old fort could be seen.

Ning had been in the middle of teaching when he heard the noise. ”Weʼll continue this later,” he said and stuck his head out of the window. He could see the fortress walls nearly an hour away at the rate they were going.

The way he had understood, the river flowed down to the right side of the keep and bent a little, moving southeast. The road next to the fort separated away from the river, so they could go to the bridge that was to the eastern side of the fort.

So the fort was in between the river and the pathway to the bridge, which meant if there were bandits, they were going to most definitely going to come out.

Especially when they would have to have been short on proper food due to the constant rain for the past few days.

”Iʼll be back soon,” Ning said. ”Donʼt tell anyone Iʼm missing.”

”Huh?” Shara looked confused. ”Where are you going?ʼ

”To check on the bandits. See if they are waiting for us,” he said. ”Donʼt worry and just get ready to fight. Save those other people if you can.”

Shara was confused for a bit but she nodded.

”And Iʼm taking the golden spear. You use mine,” he said, pointing to the black and red three-pronged spear, that could almost be called a trident.

As he walked out the door of the carriage, his presence vanished completely, making him invisible to even people who were looking for him. To those who were not, they would never even see him.

He tried not to get anyoneʼs attention by making any large noises and instead got onto one of the free horses that were brought dragged with them and encased it into his concealment as well.

Using the Talisman of Concealment on anyone other than himself dropped its effectiveness, but at such a small distance, it almost didnʼt matter.

It would still be very high.

”Letʼs go!”

The horse took off, rapidly making its way south far ahead of their group. Ning planned on reaching the fort long before the group reached there so he could scout everything.

The horse ran as fast as it could. The noise caught peopleʼs attention and many tried to look for the sound, but they couldnʼt locate Ning so easily thanks to his concealment.

Once he was far enough, the sound of the flooded river was too much for them to listen to as well.

With the golden spear in hand, Ning made the horse gallop through the muddy road, splashing water as it went. About 15 minutes later, he had crossed the distance that would take the carriages an hour to take.

He had come to the fortress where the bandits would be waiting for them. He looked back at where their group was. Even from his lower vantage point, he could already see signs of them making their way here. From the fortress at the hill, the bandits should have a much higher visibility.

ʼAnd on such a bright day, they wonʼt miss anything,ʼ Ning thought.

He tied the horse to a tree on the side of the road and made his way up the hill to go into the fortress.

The old fortress was incredibly broken down, with plants growing out through the cracks and the stones that were used to build it falling apart, no longer being held together by the mortar.

Ning walked in further, stepping around chunks of rocks that were just there, most likely for decades at this point. He saw bits of paper and other rubbish, enough for him to tell that there had been people here recently.

As for whether they were still here, he couldnʼt tell.

He walked in further, looking all around. Even without looking, his 30-meter radius Life Sense shouldʼve picked up people by now, but he hadnʼt.

ʼThatʼs odd,ʼ he thought. ʼWhere are they?ʼ

He noticed a stairwell that went down into the cellar of the fort. He went into it, realizing it was surprisingly deep.

A musty wet smell hit his nose the further down he went. To no surprise of his, there was a puddle of rainwater at the bottom, coming up nearly knee-high. If not for his Life Sense telling him there was nothing in the water, he wouldʼve worried about snakes or even crocodiles, regardless of how stupid that thought was.

The water splashed as he moved around the place, looking to see if the bandits were hiding in there. He saw nothing, but he walked around just in case they were hiding further away than…

He stopped suddenly, sensing people 30 meters below him. They were stacked together, right at the edge of his Life Sense.

ʼThere you are,ʼ he thought. ʼThese bastards are hiding quite deep. Iʼll find you.ʼ

He began searching for the stairway that would lead down there but he couldnʼt find it. He went back upstairs to see if there was another way to go there, but he couldnʼt find any other stairway than the one he had already been using.

He went around the fort multiple times, but there was no stairway.

He couldnʼt fathom why he couldnʼt find an entrance to go down there for a long time before thinking of something.

ʼWait! There must be a hidden entrance here.ʼ