Grassland, Tiger Roar Slope.
Along both sides of the road leading to the Great Cang royal tent, the Canglan Mountain Bandits divided up territory, then spent the whole night setting up countless traps, tripwires, and animal snares, and dug who knew how many hidden soldier pits.
Scouts from every family kept expanding their search range, hunting for the men of Qingyun Village, but still without result.
However, as the initiator of this alliance meeting, Sand Sea Stronghold's leader Yu Pengcheng behaved nothing like the evil, perverse, and vicious figure of legend. Though he hadn't found the people he sought, he blamed no one for it.
Moreover, he not only shared out the military rations he'd brought from Sand Sea Stronghold among his fellow allies, but even paid out of his own pocket to send people to nearby herdsmen tribes to buy large numbers of cattle and sheep, which were slaughtered for a great feast for all the allied forces.
Such conduct might not register with the leaders of the Sun Shooting Gate, Heavenly Axe Mountain, and Golden Bell Fortress—the other three of the Thirteen Greats of Canglan—who may even have grown wary because of it.
But the people of the other small and medium mountain strongholds truly grew fond of him.
This was what it meant to have a heart for justice and be generous with wealth—nothing more, nothing less. The cohesion of this alliance meeting grew rapidly for the moment.
Sun Shooting Gate Master Wei Zhuang, Heavenly Axe Mountain's Second Boss Tang Sipan, and Golden Bell Fortress Master Jin Tianle—the three leaders of the Thirteen Greats of Canglan—had no mind at present to bother with Yu Pengcheng's efforts to win people over. Their eyes kept darting back and forth over the passing Yellow Sand Army of Sand Sea Stronghold, their expressions gradually growing grave.
They had long known that the Yellow Sand Army of Sand Sea Stronghold was famous among the Thirteen Great Mountain Forts as elite soldiers, but they still hadn't expected the Yellow Sand Army to be elite to this degree—every single one of them carried an aura of iron and blood.
This was an age where military strength ruled supreme, but that strength was divided into individual martial strength and military formation strength.
Before an individual's martial strength broke through the Grandmaster Realm to reach the Martial Saint level—that of an earthbound immortal—no one dared look down on the power of a military formation.
On the surface, all the Grandmaster experts in the world combined couldn't even fill out ten fingers' worth of count.
But as long as three thousand elite armored soldiers, fearless of death, formed ranks and laid siege, in theory, there remained the possibility of bringing down even a Grandmaster.
If besieged by an army of five thousand, then even one as strong as a Grandmaster had no chance of escape.
Such was the might of a military formation!
That was why the three of them were so shocked by Sand Sea Stronghold's elite soldiers now before them.
Their numbers were only two hundred, yet these men weren't Grandmasters either...
Each of the three men's own strongholds actually had their own strong soldiers, but just judging from bearing alone, the gap was already considerable.
It felt like they weren't even on the same level at all...
The three men, each proud and unyielding by nature, looked at each other and furrowed their brows.
This Yu Pengcheng had daring, cunning, and enough ruthlessness and venom to match—not to mention his own martial arts were supremely high—and now he even had in his hands an elite Yellow Sand army like this.
For the Thirteen Greats, this was anything but good news.
Especially for their own three families, whose territories weren't all that far from Sand Sea Stronghold...
For a moment, the three of them grew deeply wary in their hearts.
Yu Pengcheng truly was someone remarkable—he had long since noticed the wariness in the three men, and had someone bring over a wine jug, personally pouring three cups, then pouring one for himself. Under the gazes of the three, he drank first as a show of respect, then refilled his cup and offered it to the three, saying honestly, "How do the three of you leaders find my Sand Sea Stronghold's Yellow Sand Army? Worthy of your eyes?"
Heavenly Axe Mountain's Second Boss Tang Sipan wielded a great flower-engraved battle-axe, but his temperament was as narrow as his stature was broad. Hearing this, he gave a cold smile and said, "Everyone says old Village Chief Yu still has the might of a tiger in his prime—now it seems the rumors weren't exaggerated after all. If Sand Sea Stronghold trains up five hundred more soldiers like these and arms them with sturdy armor, my Heavenly Axe Mountain will have to think about relocating its mountain gate."
Sun Shooting Gate Master Wei Zhuang and Golden Bell Fortress Master Jin Tianle didn't say it outright, but their expressions carried the same meaning.
The Yellow Sand Army looked nothing like mountain bandits—clearly, they had the bearing of a proper elite army.
Such military strength, paired with Yu Pengcheng's viper-like nature, posed far too great a threat.
Hearing this, Yu Pengcheng burst out laughing and waved his hand repeatedly. "My three brothers, none of you are outsiders to this business—why speak such laughable words?"
Hearing this, Tang Sipan's eyes darkened. He rested one hand on the flower-engraved battle-axe at his side and said coldly, "How are we outsiders?"
As if not noticing the killing intent, Yu Pengcheng sighed lightly and said, "If Sand Sea Stronghold truly had five hundred elite soldiers, why would this old man need to ally with all of you to divide up the Zhao Family's merchant caravan? To be honest, this old man has always been confident in his own cleverness, yet on this very matter, he alone made a fool of himself."
Sun Shooting Gate Master Wei Zhuang seemed to realize something. His expression suddenly changed slightly, and he said, "Stronghold Master Yu, these elite soldiers of yours—were they raised on Dragon Blood Rice?"
Hearing this, Tang Sipan and Jin Tianle's expressions changed drastically, and they looked at Yu Pengcheng in disbelief.
Who would be foolish enough to raise war soldiers on Dragon Blood Rice?
For a mountain stronghold, ordinary bandits were like chives—cut one crop and another would grow back on its own.
This world was not at peace, and there was no telling how many people wanted to join up as bandits just to earn a meal.
Bandit minions were worthless.
One tael of Dragon Blood Rice could buy a hundred bandits!
Yu Pengcheng had actually used Dragon Blood Rice to feed minions and raise elite soldiers—how was that even possible?
But seeing him nod, his face full of bitterness, the three men across from him nearly burst out laughing.
No wonder this old viper said he was clever his whole life yet muddled for just this one moment—it really was true.
Tang Sipan's expression turned strange as he said, "Old Yu, what were you thinking? I heard your junior martial brother Sun Zhentian was killed with a single sword strike by that woman from Qingyun Village, and now your stronghold has only you left as a first-rate expert. Instead of using the Dragon Blood Rice to quickly raise up another first-rate expert, why would you use it to feed those minions?"
Seeing his disrespect, Yu Pengcheng didn't get angry—at least not outwardly. He tilted his head back and drank another cup of wine, then shook his head and sighed, "At the time, Third Brother hadn't yet met his fate. Who could have guessed that vile woman from Qingyun Village would be so treacherous and vicious..."
"Pfft!"
Hearing Yu Pengcheng call someone else treacherous and vicious, Tang Sipan couldn't hold back a breath and spat out his wine, then cupped his hands repeatedly, saying, "My apologies, my apologies." But he didn't say what exactly he was apologizing for, still chuckling under his breath.
It was simply too damn funny.
Yu Pengcheng narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his cup again. "What is there to apologize for? We're all people of the jianghu, and neighbors besides—we ought to support one another. As the saying goes, a close neighbor beats a distant relative."
Tang Sipan was utterly speechless at this old viper's shamelessness—Sand Sea Stronghold and Qingyun Village really were close neighbors, separated only by Yi Xian Tian.
And the moment Dragon Tiger had died, Sand Sea Stronghold had marched in force to "support" his orphaned widow and child. Most laughable of all, they'd gained nothing from it—instead, they'd had one of their big teeth knocked out.
And now this fellow had the nerve to bring up how a close neighbor beats a distant relative...
But seeing Yu Pengcheng's face darken, Tang Sipan felt he'd gone a bit too far, so he took the cup back and said, "Let's drink, let's drink." With that, he downed it in one gulp.
Only then did Yu Pengcheng let the matter go, and he offered cups to Wei Zhuang and Jin Tianle as well.
But the two of them declined with smiles. Seeing this, Tang Sipan's expression changed drastically—only then did he suddenly recall that the man across from them had once used poisoned wine to harm Sand Sea Stronghold's old village chief and his son, and had done a whole series of appalling things besides.
When Wei and Jin refused to drink, Yu Pengcheng didn't take offense either, smiling and steering the conversation elsewhere, chatting a bit before moving on to drink with the leaders of some of the other small and medium strongholds.
Most of them drank, and only three or five people managed to decline with various excuses, which Yu Pengcheng also let pass without blame.
Once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, each stronghold master returned to their own tent to sleep soundly.
There was no need to worry about the Zhao Family's caravan suddenly appearing—scouts had long since been riding fast horses back and forth through Yi Xian Tian, and every move of the Zhao Family's caravan was already known to the Canglan Mountain Bandits.
As the night deepened, aside from a group of unlucky small fry still working by torchlight on earthwork, the higher-ups had all gradually drifted off to sleep.
As for the grassland herdsmen who had come to deliver cattle, sheep, and mare's milk wine to the bandits, they hadn't left under cover of darkness either, but had set up a simple camp not far off, waiting to head back once dawn broke...
It seemed everything was as usual.
……
Firelight lit up the entirety of Qingyun Village. Whether or not Fang Lin had sensed it in advance, this attack, which caught the vast majority off guard, ultimately caused no great losses, aside from Qingyun Village's main gate being forced open, and the arrow towers on both sides being set ablaze.
"Li Lao Liu, have you lost your mind?"
Fang Lin's expression was iron-grey. In his heart he was in fact furious beyond measure, and he sternly demanded of a middle-aged man in green clothes standing among a group of men in yellow across from him.
Li Lao Liu—there wasn't a soul in Qingyun Village who didn't know him. He was one of the stronghold's old men, always meek and submissive.
An utterly ordinary man, he'd once had a wife and son. After his wife died young, he raised his son alone, but tragically, that son later lost his life on an expedition.
The stronghold had assigned Li Lao Liu the idle job of guarding the gate, and every month allotted him money and grain to get by on—not a stingy arrangement by any measure.
Yet who would have thought that a man once so weak and timid by nature could turn so mad...
"I'm mad, all right. I went mad the moment Gou'er died!"
Li Lao Liu no longer looked like the kindly old man he'd always been. His expression bordered on the deranged, and he roared hysterically, something between laughter and weeping.
A big man standing beside Fang Lin shouted angrily, "Gou'er died in a hunting formation on the field—whose family hasn't lost someone? Is your family the only one that's not allowed to?"
Li Lao Liu spat hard and cried out, his face twisted with madness, "My Gou'er had such fine natural talent for martial arts! If you'd only been willing to supply a bit more Dragon Blood Rice and give him a good martial art, he could have become a first-rate expert too. If he'd become a first-rate expert, would he ever have died? My Gou'er—he died for nothing! You'd rather feed the Dragon Blood Rice to that useless little beast Lin Xiaoning than give it to my Gou'er—you all deserve to die!"
"All right, all right, no need to keep talking—it's a waste of time."
A young man in yellow robes lightly waved a folding fan, smiling as he said, "Second Boss Fang, what Li Lao Liu says isn't wrong. Your Qingyun Village's family laws are far too backward and unfair. Among us Thirteen Greats, how can nepotism be allowed to rule? Look at our Sand Sea Stronghold—as long as one is loyal to the stronghold, as long as one is willing to endure hardship, train hard, and has talent, it doesn't matter whether one is the stronghold master's son or the previous stronghold master's son—everyone can receive a manual and Dragon Blood Rice. From now on, Qingyun Village ought to be the same."
Fang Lin glanced at the expressions of the surrounding villagers, and his heart sank. Not daring to underestimate the man before him, he asked in a deep voice, "And who might you be?"
The young man in yellow snapped his folding fan shut with a crack and cupped his hands in salute. Though a smile was on his face, there wasn't a trace of it in his eyes. "This unworthy one is Sun Wei. My father was Sun—Zhen—tian."
"Gasp!"
The villagers of Qingyun Village instantly knew who this was—none other than the son of Sand Sea Stronghold's Third Leader, the very man once slain with a single sword strike by Tian Wuniang.
So he had come to avenge his father.
"Second Boss Fang, look at me—I'm not the Great Chieftain's son, and yet I was still carefully cultivated by our stronghold master, and I too became a first-rate expert. Isn't that so?"
As he spoke, Sun Wei gave a savage grin and shouted sternly at the soldiers surrounding Fang Lin, "Today, my Sand Sea Stronghold seeks only to punish the chief culprits—we want only the heads of the Lin, Tian, Fang, Hu, and Deng families. As for the rest of you villagers, so long as you keep to your place, we will not lay a hand on you. Should this oath be broken, may heaven strike us down. And let me tell you one more thing—there's no need to wait for the likes of Tian Wuniang and Hu Dashan to come back. They've already been shattered to pieces some time ago. Did you really think that whatsit Dragon Blood Rice was going to let you go seize anything? Fools..."
"Whoosh!"
Before he could finish cursing, a sharp arrow came tearing through the air with a hissing sound. Sun Wei's figure flickered aside, and he dodged it easily.
The Yellow Sand Army behind him had already been prepared as well—a great oxhide-covered heavy wooden shield was raised, and the sharp arrow struck it with a thud.
Sun Wei looked with contempt at Fang Lin across from him, bow in hand and face iron-grey, then snapped his folding fan open with a flourish. Giving a sinister laugh, he said, "Kill them all!"
"Kill!"
……
✦✦✦