"Haven't those horse thieves done enough in these years? Whether it's our village or the nearby villages, or even the caravans passing by here, which one has not been looted by them? Which one has not been harmed by them? What's more, do you think it's credible to prove that he is not a horse thief just by a piece of clothing? Although those horse thieves are crude and martial, they have plundered many caravans coming and going, including some in the silk business. Can't they enjoy themselves? What's more, don't you think they want to use this method to make us relax our vigilance or let us tell him the real situation? Those horse thieves are not stupid. We have greatly increased our vigilance against them in recent years. We even secretly sent the girls in the village to the city when they didn't know, so that they could never find our young girls again. They also know that we have been doing this all these years, so they keep a close eye on us every year. If we didn't have some other ways, do you think we could have been safe for the past six months?"

The middle-aged man suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at Gu Yuan and shouted, "You damned horse thief, I was almost tricked by you. Get out of our village right now. We have nothing left. If you damned horse thieves can even be interested in the small green vegetables in our village, then go ahead and bring your people. We don't have anything valuable in our village anyway, so your trip here will be in vain."

The old man said to the middle-aged man, "Alright, stop wasting time with him. These bandit scouts will make their own assessments of our village's situation. You said he'd already estimated the value of what we have in our village. If our village had anything valuable, he would have stopped wasting time with us."

Gu Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "Old sir, how can you trust me? How about this? You tell me where those bandits are and where their lair is. I'll bring you two of their heads so you can see them. Doesn't that prove I'm not a bandit? I'll help you eliminate the bandits. You call out everyone in your village so I can see if any of my friends are there. What do you think?"

The old man sneered while holding the hoe in his hand, "Killing horse thieves? Humph, would you kill your own fellow horse thieves? We are lucky that you don't harm the people in our village. Don't try to deceive us here."

Gu Yuan shook his head. It seemed that these people really couldn't make sense.

It seems that we can only think of other ways. Just when Gu Yuan was thinking of other ways, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the distance, and it was extremely chaotic. It seemed that a lot of people had come.

The old man and the middle-aged man's faces changed drastically, and they shouted, "The horse thieves are coming, everyone, hide in your houses quickly."

Hearing the old man's words, Gu Yuan raised his eyebrows, then looked behind him. Sure enough, he could see a group of small black dots coming from a distance away from him. Roughly estimated, there were about a dozen people, and they were getting closer and closer.

Gu Yuan couldn't help but be overjoyed. It really was a horse thief! If that was the case, wouldn't that prove his identity?

As long as he could kill two horse thieves and show them, it would prove that he was not a horse thief, and he would be able to gain their trust.

The old man regretted, "I knew you were definitely one of the bandits. Otherwise, how could they have come here so quickly?"

Gu Yuan smiled bitterly and shook his head. It seemed that unless they saw him behead a few bandits, they wouldn't believe he was truly not a bandit. He looked at the old man and said, "Old sir, just wait and see. I'll chop off a few bandits' heads for you, and then you should be able to believe what I say."

The old man looked at the young man with a hint of suspicion. Could it be that he was just passing through? And not an accomplice of the so-called horse thief?

In just a few breaths, a horse team of more than a dozen people arrived outside the village. Gu Yuan looked at those people, a group of ferocious-looking men, some holding knives and some holding pendulums, with their chests exposed.

The man on horseback laughed grimly, "Fellow villagers, we are here again. What delicious food and drinks do you have there? Young ladies, bring them all out to me. Don't let us do anything. Just behave yourself. Otherwise, I will not show any mercy to you."

Gu Yuan looked at the group of people and felt a little relieved. Their strength was not strong. Judging from their aura, the strongest one among them was only a sixth-level spiritual master.

These people were simply a bunch of rubbish employees under Gu Yuan, and they could be wiped out with just a flick of his finger, so Gu Yuan was not worried.

An elder from the village stepped forward and said to the bandits respectfully, "Sir, there's nothing left in our village. You came here half a year ago and took away the beautiful girls. We don't even have chickens or ducks in our village now, so how can we give you anything? If you're interested, we still have some freshly harvested vegetables. I'll get them for you now. Please don't harm the people in our village. After all, they're all old, weak, and sick."

The leader of the bandits was a bald, large man. He grinned and said, "Old man, are there any pretty girls in your village? Let them all come out so I can see what they look like. If they are pretty, I'll take them to live a comfortable life in the mountains. It's much better than living in this shabby little village of yours. It's an honor for them to be liked by me, so why are you so reluctant? Do you think I'm going to make them suffer?"

The old man said with fear on his face, "Sir, there are really no young girls in our village. They have been gone for a long time. Some have already married far away and have no connection with our village anymore."

The horse thief waved the machete in his hand and said, "I haven't visited your village for half a year. I don't believe there are no beautiful girls here. There were some virgins when I came last time. Hurry and get them all out. Otherwise, I will let you taste the power of my knife."

The old man's face was filled with fear and he trembled, not daring to speak anymore. Gu Yuan looked at the bandit leader, then at the old man, and said, "Old sir, now to prove that I am not an accomplice of the bandits, you have to watch carefully."

Then Gu Yuan looked at the bandit leader and asked, "Hey, do you think we know each other?"