Chapter 8: Money For Safe Passage

Qin Shujian was sitting in the Zhongyi Hall, bored stiff.

He had taken over the Liangshan Stronghold, which meant that all of the Mountain Bandits here were his men. He could no longer kill them as he pleased.

Furthermore, after he killed all of them, the Life Value he got wouldn’t even be enough to enhance the Bodyforge Manual to Level Five.

He also couldn’t freely leave the Liangshan’s sphere of influence after he became the Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain.

This foiled the only plan Qin Shujian had in his heart.

Thus, he was extremely free.

Other than practice his Black Tiger Blade Technique and actively cultivating his Bodyforge Manual, there was nothing else he could do.

Suddenly, Wang Tiezhu rushed into the hall with a hurried expression. He immediately reported when he saw Qin Shujian, “Reporting to the Stronghold Chieftain, a merchant team has stepped into Liangshan!”

“Where!” Qin Shujian immediately sat up straight.

There was a merchant team!

That meant that there was a source of income.

Wang Tiezhu said, “At Jingyang Path, 20 miles east of the Liangshan Stronghold.”

“How strong is the merchant team?”

“There are 20 to 30 guards. It seems like they are about as strong as our brothers,” Wang Tiezhu answered honestly.

There were 20 to 30 guards. It was not a small number.

However, the Liangshan Stronghold had 70 men.

Thus, when Wang Tiezhu finished his report, Qin Shujian immediately stood up and ordered, “Relay the orders of the Stronghold Chieftain. Leave behind some men to defend the stronghold; all other bandits are to follow me to confront the merchant team.”

“I wish to see just who would dare to barge into my Liangshan territory.”

“Yes, Stronghold Chieftain.”

Then, the Liangshan Stronghold erupted with activity.

The Mountain Bandits were unintelligent but knew to execute their orders.

Of the 70 Mountain Bandits, Zhang Tieniu had brought along four Mountain Bandits for his investigation, leaving them with only 65.

Qin Shujian also left behind 10 Mountain Bandits to defend the stronghold. Only 55 Mountain Bandits followed him to the confrontation.

Under his orders, the Mountain Bandits swarmed down Liangshan like a hive of bees.

…

Jingyang Path.

Both sides of the path were steep cliffs overgrown with yellowed weeds. In the middle of the path was a road that people could travel through.

A merchant team had brought along a dozen carriages and were slowly steering through Jingyang Path. There were 20-30 guards with blades sheathed at their waists guarding the cargo at the front and back.

Rumble!

A few large pieces of rubble rolled down the slopes and blocked off the path in front and behind the merchant team.

The huge movement of the falling rocks disturbed the horses. The carriages that were in motion were forced to stop.

“Charge!”

“Charge! Charge!”

Deafening shouts rang out from all around the merchant team.

A group of simply-dressed Mountain Bandits wielding large blades charged out from above the cliffs and surrounded the merchant team.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The guards of the merchant team unsheathed their blades. In unison, they protected the horses within their formation and began to stare down the Mountain Bandits.

“I developed this mountain and planted the trees here. Leave behind some money if you wish to pass.”

Qin Shujian stepped out from behind the many Mountain Bandits and stared at the merchant team in front of him. His Tiger Head Blade reflected a harsh cold glow under the sunlight.

“Who’s the one making the decisions in your merchant team. Why not step out and have a chat with me,” just as Qin Shujian finished his sentence, a small commotion swept past the merchant team.

A middle-aged man dressed in exquisite silk stepped out from within the group of guards. He smiled and cupped his hands together as he said, “I am the manager of the Chengyun Merchant House, Han Jing. I wonder if you guys are the good men from the Liangshan Stronghold?”

“Since you already know that we are from the Liangshan Stronghold, why did you step into my Liangshan territory without permission?” Qin Shujian squinted slightly as he said calmly.

He had never heard about the Chengyun Merchant House.

However, he saw that Han Jing’s fingers were clad with jade rings and realized that the Chengyun Merchant House must be extremely rich.

Qin Shujian tried to look at the other party’s attributes.

However, his invisible technique of being able to observe anyone within the Liangshan Stronghold was utterly useless against Han Jing.

Not only that, but Qin Shujian swept his gaze across everyone from the Chengyun Merchant House and was unable to see any of the opponents’ attributes.

This meant that he could only look at the other party’s attributes if they were from the same faction as him.

Han Jing surveyed the Mountain Bandits from Liangshan and put up an even wider smile, “I’ve airways heard that the Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain, Wu Sheng, was a powerful fighter in this region. I wonder if Stronghold Chieftain Wu is here today?”

“There’s no Stronghold Chieftain Wu, but there is a Stronghold Chieftain Qin.”

Han Jing froze for a moment, then laughed, “So I am in the presence of Stronghold Chieftain Qin. Forgive me for not knowing better.”

After he said this, Han Jing took out an elongated wooden box from within his robes and signaled for a guard by the side to hand it over to Qin Shujian.

“It is the first time the Chengyun Merchant House is stepping into your territory, and we have not been the most polite. We have a small gift here, which represents the sincerity of the Chengyun Merchant House. Please accept it, Stronghold Chieftain Qin.”

Qin Shujian received the box and opened it immediately in front of everyone present.

There were 10 shiny silver taels arranged neatly in the box.

“You have received 10 silver taels!”

A system notification sprang out in his mind.

The entire Liangshan Stronghold only had 50 silver taels in assets. The 10 silver taels that Han Jing gave them for safe passage was not a small sum of money.

But…

Qin Shujian looked at the dozen carriages of the Chengyun Merchant House. The wheels of the carriages had left a deep imprint on the ground as it traveled here.

Qin Shujian kept the 10 silver taels, then let out a faint smile.

“The Liangshan Stronghold thanks the Chengyun Merchant House for your goodwill. These rocks are blocking your way. Why not let us help you clear these rocks off the path for you?”

“We need not trouble you good men regarding this matter.”

“We must, we must,” Qin Shujian disregarded Han Jing’s rejection. He immediately instructed the Mountain Bandits that were surrounding the Chengyun Merchant Team to get rid of the large rocks that were blocking the latter’s path.

Han Jing still had a calm smile when he saw this. However, he now had a faint cold glimmer in his eyes.

The Chengyun Merchant House was famous throughout the country. However, today, the puny Liangshan Stronghold had the gall to ask them for money to guarantee their safe passage.

They would be negatively affected if news of this spread out.

Any small fry might dare to obstruct the Chengyun Merchant House should they pass through a forest in the future.

However, the Liangshan Stronghold had many men. Even though the Chengyun Merchant House also had several guards, it was still a huge risk for them if they were to engage in a full-frontal conflict with the other party.

Thus, Han Jing did not intend to go against the Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain at this time.

He had ways of dealing with the minor Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain after the batch of goods had been safely delivered.

Just as Han Jing was deliberating his course of action, a loud crash came once again from the cliffs on both sides.

Rumble!

A dozen pieces or rubble rolled down from the cliffs. Judging from the rolling rocks’ trajectories, the Liangshan Stronghold was clearly trying to pincer the Chengyun Merchant House in the middle.

“This is bad!” Han Jing shouted.

The rest of the merchant team’s guards also slipped into intense commotion.

The horses that had not moved from their original position also seemed to have sensed a threat. They started to become uneasy and wanted to escape from the area.

Han Jing had no time to think much about the situation. He saw a piece of rubble land in the area. It was too late for him to avoid the impact. All he could do was push out his palms with all his strength. His palms crashed heavily against the falling rubble.

Boom! Thump!