The bald leader of the Treasure Hoarders lifted the eyepatch over his right eye, his two eyes staring straight at Joseph, a wild grin plastered across his face.
Arkz silently grumbled in his heart, "When did Treasure Hoarders start wearing eyepatches? Do people who operate in the dark all like wearing them to show how fierce they are?"
Joseph sensed something was wrong. It was Hu Laosan, an old acquaintance. Although the caravan members were safe now, he, Joseph, would probably have to pay up to avert disaster.
It turned out Joseph and the Treasure Hoarders' leader were old acquaintances.
Back when Joseph was a new recruit in the Thousand Rock Army, Hu Laosan turned to banditry to support his family after his hometown suffered a flood, taking up the dishonorable profession of being a Treasure Hoarder.
Later, Hu Laosan relied on his strength to rise and become a Treasure Hoarder leader. Because he was righteous and never abandoned his subordinates, and because he only took money and never killed during robberies, people in the martial world gave him the nickname—'Righteousness Reaching the Heavens, Hu Laosan'.
That year, Hu Laosan was the leader of the Liyue Treasure Hoarders, and Joseph was still a new Thousand Rock Army soldier.
After a fierce struggle, the final result was Joseph capturing Hu Laosan and throwing him in jail. Because of this achievement, Joseph was promoted to a squad leader in the Thousand Rock Army.
Originally, the story between Joseph and Hu Laosan should have ended there.
But at Hu Laosan's request, Joseph agreed to help look after his family, as Joseph believed Hu Laosan had merely taken a wrong turn and still had hope for salvation.
Even while Hu Laosan was in prison, Joseph often visited him on behalf of his family and delivered letters.
Later, when Hu Laosan's enemies came seeking revenge, it was Joseph who protected his family.
After Hu Laosan was released from prison, he intended to go straight, but unfortunately, he had offended too many people while being a Treasure Hoarder. Being targeted everywhere, he angrily returned to his old ways.
Hu Laosan held back his men and stepped forward alone to negotiate with Joseph: "Old Brother Shi, given our past acquaintance, this toll should be waived. However, my brothers here haven't eaten for several days. I hope you can be understanding."
"I, Hu Laosan, guarantee that not a single person in this caravan will be harmed."
Hu Laosan leaned in and whispered into Joseph's ear, "Brother, just take a bag, put some Mora and Shitou in it as a gesture, and I'll let you pass."
Hearing this, Joseph's tense heart finally relaxed. He was genuinely worried that Hu Laosan would disregard their history and turn ungrateful. Thank heavens.
Joseph also whispered back, "Understood, Old Brother, I won't make things difficult for you."
Arkz, who was eavesdropping by manipulating the plants next to the two men using Dendro Elemental Power, curled his lips and thought, "It seems the relationship between these Treasure Hoarders and Uncle Shi is quite good. I can go a bit easier on them later and spare their lives."
After the negotiation concluded, both the caravan members and the Treasure Hoarders breathed a sigh of relief. At least a fight was avoided, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about losing their lives.
Joseph returned to the caravan and soon reappeared with two subordinates, carrying three large chests of Mora towards the Treasure Hoarders, placing them between the two groups.
Seeing the Mora secured, the Treasure Hoarders cheered. Boss Hu always upheld the code of the martial world, but when one has fallen to being a Treasure Hoarder, what use is the code of the martial world if it can't fill one's stomach?
If it weren't for Hu Laosan's considerable strength and his kindness to his subordinates, along with his strategist, One-Ear, who was cunning yet fiercely loyal to Hu Laosan, Hu Laosan would have long since died somewhere.
The caravan members also relaxed their strained nerves. To put it bluntly, the Mora spent to avert disaster was paid by the caravan owner; they, the employees, suffered no loss.
However, fate is unpredictable.
Just as Hu Laosan and two of his men went up to move the three large chests of Mora, a guard next to Joseph became nervous, tripped over a Shitou underfoot, and the glittering Mora and the dark Shitou tumbled out of the boxes together.
Boom—
The air in the entire area fell silent, yet it felt as if a massive thunderclap resonated in the hearts of everyone present.
Joseph felt dizzy and trembled as he turned to look at the subordinate who had failed him at this critical moment. The guard was now slumped on the ground, staring fearfully at the scattered Mora.
Seeing the furious gazes of the Treasure Hoarders opposite them, Joseph knew that anger now was useless; a major battle was inevitable.
Angrily kicking the guard lying on the ground, Joseph shouted, "Pick up your sword! That is what you need to do right now! Do you think if you lie on the ground pretending to be a coward, this incident will never have happened!?"
Hu Laosan's face darkened as he tried to stop the fight, saying, "Old Brother Shi, you..."
Joseph stopped Hu Laosan from continuing, "Old Brother Hu, I've failed you. But even if this kid is trash, I can't let him die before me."
At this moment, the guard lying on the ground finally mustered the courage to stand up, gripping his spear and facing the enemy.
Murmurs rose from within the caravan, but Joseph remained unmoved.
Some might think that handing over the culprit guard would be a worthwhile trade to avoid a fight to the death. But Joseph had made this choice after careful consideration.
Setting aside whether Hu Laosan could suppress his enraged subordinates after handing over the guard, even handing over a subordinate would severely damage the morale and combat effectiveness of the guard team. Without the protection of the guard team, this caravan loaded with goods would be a piece of fat meat ready for slaughter.
No matter how righteous Hu Laosan acted, Joseph couldn't stake the lives of everyone in the caravan on the brotherhood between the two of them.
A great battle was about to erupt, a fight to the death was unavoidable, and blood and gore would be spilled on this land. Just then, a youth wearing a Scholar's uniform stepped out from the crowd.
No hesitation, no nonsense.
Arkz activated his dendro vision, commanding the Dendro Elemental Power to stimulate the plants around the Treasure Hoarders.
Inconspicuous weeds grew wildly as if they had been fertilized, quickly sprouting into towering trees. The large trees extended long vines that flailed aggressively, binding the hands and feet of every single Treasure Hoarder, hoisting them up.
Among them were naturally those who tried to resist. Scouts tried to cut the grass vines with their blades, and alchemists threw potions to burn the vines, but under Arkz's control, the giant tree's vines moved as flexibly as snakes, delivering two sharp slaps that stunned anyone who dared to resist.
Hu Laosan shouted furiously, "Shi, you have no martial ethics! You actually hid someone with a Vision in your team! Why didn't you say so earlier if you had such an expert!"
What could Joseph do? He was helpless too.
Who knew that the connection the boss had inserted into the team was a Vision holder!
Seeing that victory was decided, Joseph pulled Arkz aside, his face full of gratitude, and whispered, "Brother Lu, thank you for stepping in to help. However, these Treasure Hoarders are not inherently evil; they only turned to banditry out of necessity. Their leader, while robbing, never took a life. I beg Brother Lu not to harm his life."
As he spoke, he slipped a bag of Mora into Arkz's arms.
Arkz felt the heavy weight of the Mora in his arms and said with a smile, "Understood, Uncle Shi. I will release them once the caravan passes."
Hearing Arkz say this, Joseph immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, he was the one who had set Hu Laosan up. They could have parted ways peacefully, but a problem arose on his side, leaving him, the leader, in an awkward position.
Fortunately, Arkz accepted the Mora and agreed to spare Hu Laosan; otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known what to do.
Hu Laosan and his men were, after all, Treasure Hoarders. Even if Arkz had killed them all on the spot, no one would have blamed him; instead, he would have been praised for punishing evil.
Arkz understood Joseph's change in attitude. Living in Sumeru for these years, Arkz had gained some understanding of Teyvat common knowledge and a deep recognition of the status of an allogene as a superior being.
It could be said that Arkz's reputation as a genius Scholar in the Sumeru Akademiya was half due to the mindless praise of his juniors and half due to the dendro vision he held.
In the eyes of the people of Sumeru, anyone who obtained a dendro vision was recognized by the God of Grass. Both followers of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and the Lesser Lord Kusanali deeply respected allogenes who possessed a dendro vision. Of course, they also respected allogenes with Visions of other elements.
This was because most people who obtained Visions were individuals of noble character, and since they could manipulate Elemental Power, they possessed considerable strength, often lending a hand when others were in danger. Thus, the status of allogenes in Teyvat was exceptionally revered. At least in Teyvat's history, there had never been a case of an allogene oppressing ordinary people.
The noble position allogenes currently held in Teyvat was earned by generations of people through steadfast character and tangible actions.
Although Arkz believed his own moral standards were not low, he also couldn't sacrifice himself to protect strangers. He silently prayed to the Little Grass in his heart, hoping he wouldn't lower the average moral standard of Teyvat's allogenes.
Joseph directed the caravan to pass quickly. The Treasure Hoarders crying for mercy overhead made the accompanying caravan members click their tongues in amazement.
Once they realized there was a powerful Vision holder protecting the caravan, the caravan members no longer feared these seemingly fierce Treasure Hoarders.
After everyone in the caravan had passed, Joseph waved towards Arkz, who was lying in the carriage.
Arkz waved back to show he understood, then immediately let down the bound Treasure Hoarders. The original towering tree returned to its former state.
The caravan gradually moved away, leaving Joseph and a large group of Treasure Hoarders staring at each other.
Joseph quickly walked up to Hu Laosan and pulled a huge bag from his chest, tossing it in front of Hu Laosan:
"Old Hu, if I ever find out later that you are bullying innocent commoners, I will fight you to the death, even if it costs me my old life."
With that, Joseph quickly left, hurrying to catch up with the departing caravan.
Hu Laosan looked at the bag of Mora on the ground, silently stepped forward, and poured the Mora out. The glittering Mora scattered across the ground, but no one dared to snatch it.
After a long silence, until Hu Laosan shouted, "Brothers, you all know what to say when we go back!"
The Treasure Hoarders collectively breathed a sigh of relief. The Treasure Hoarder underlings shouted in unison, "Understood!!! Boss is mighty, Boss is magnificent, the Mora is the Boss's achievement!"
"Very good," Hu Laosan nodded with satisfaction and, under the excited gazes of his subordinates, began distributing the Mora.