Chapter Fifteen: Establishing a Secret Camp

  Chen Yin, who was standing at a distance, saw that I was heartbroken and walked up to me, saying: "Sir, please control your grief. If Master Li knew you were so distressed, he would certainly blame me for not taking good care of you."

  I glanced at Chen Yin and saw that his eyes were filled with deep worry, and I said lightly: "Do you still remember Xiao Shunzi and Ben Guan?"

  Chen Yin said calmly: "The humble one has never complained about the superior, when the humble one was trapped and his life was in danger, if it wasn't for the superior's rescue, the humble one would have been executed long ago. The humble one is a Shu person, and the superior is an official of Southern Chu, so it's not strange to worry about the humble one's loyalty. Although the humble one was a bit uneasy at first, after all, his life was in someone else's hands. However, over these days, the humble one has always been able to get the antidote on time, without any extra demands or difficulties. As long as the humble one is loyal and does his duty, he will not be harmed, so the humble one has no more complaints."

  I gave him a glance, and he was indeed clever. He continued to ask: "I offered a plan to capture Bazhou and Luocheng, and forced the King of Shu to death. Don't you hate me?"

  "I, Chen Yin, am but a humble spy from Shu. My life and death are but pawns in the game of power and wealth. Even as Shu fell, I remained a spy bound by my duty to survive. As a subject of Southern Chu, it is only natural that you would offer strategies to conquer Shu. Though I am a native of Shu, I bear no responsibility to avenge its downfall. And though I may be heartless by nature, if the state cannot protect its people, then it has no reason to exist."

  I smiled slightly and said: "Your temperament is quite similar to mine. In fact, Southern Chu will only delay its demise for a while longer. What will you do then?"

  Chen Yin said: "Although I don't know what relationship you have with Da Yong, I believe that when the time comes, you can protect your life. Chen Yin is not talented and has already experienced the pain of losing a country. When the time comes, as long as I can live in peace, I am confident that I will not betray my lord for personal gain."

  I shook my head, this kid is clever, not saying a single tactful word, he must have seen through my personality. If he spoke like that in Shu State, I reckon he'd be dead by now. He casually took out a pill and said: "This is an antidote, after you take it, you can eliminate all the toxins, and from then on, you won't need to take medicine every month."

  Chen Yin swallowed the antidote without hesitation and said: "I am willing to serve you, sir."

  I saw him so calm and composed, with a confident air about him, so I asked: "You didn't know all along that the poison was mine?"

  Chen Yin smiled and said, "I knew it was you who poisoned me from the start. People who use poison usually have a lot of confidence. If Master Li is skilled in poisoning, he wouldn't have added an extra restriction on me."

  I thought to myself, this person is so clever, it seems I should be more honest with him. So I said: "Since that's the case, I might as well speak plainly. If you only need one guard, and you must do your best to protect my life, then that's enough. You don't need to be loyal, after all, you're just a substitute for Xiao Shunzi. But if you want to use me to get things done, you'll have to be trustworthy and reliable. From now on, I'm surrounded by wolves, in constant danger of losing my life. If it's not someone trustworthy, there's no point in keeping them around. If you're unwilling, tomorrow I'll let Xiao Shunzi lift the seal on you, and you can leave. But if you truly want to follow me, I will treat you like a trusted advisor. Once I've achieved my goals, I will naturally give you a suitable arrangement, not treating you unfairly, but also not necessarily letting you rise to greatness. What do you think?"

  Chen Yin bowed again and said: "A humble man like me, without a place to rely on, if I leave your lordship, can only do some killing and robbery, and will eventually be caught. I see that you, my lord, handle matters with ease and weight, and certainly won't rot together with the grass and trees. If you don't despise me, I am willing to serve you."

  I helped him up and decided to trust him for now. I asked, "In that case, what should we do next?"

  Chen Yin's expression was somewhat agitated, and he said: "If the master wants to avenge his wife, no matter how he acts, he needs to have absolute control over a force in his hands. Now, apart from me, Li Ye is not free, and his strength is too weak. If he relies on others, if there are conflicting interests, the master will inevitably be restricted in his actions."

  I nodded slightly, and the Shu Kingdom's spy emerged as expected. Now my top priority is to establish a force of my own, protect myself, and eliminate enemies. However, to build military power, I need sufficient financial resources. What should I do?

  In the following days, I hid in my study thinking about how to build this force and how to maintain its survival. While flipping through books with one hand, I was also thinking wildly, not allowing this force to be too large, which would easily attract other people's attention and also consume a lot of money and food. It couldn't be too small either, or it wouldn't have any effect. The most important thing was to have my own financial resources.

  After a few days, Xiao Shunzi came. After learning about my idea, he suggested starting from small things. He and I would take out all the gold and silver we got in Shu State and secretly buy a villa not far from where I lived. Then, we found some 12 or 13-year-old children to train. According to my requirements and his ideas, these children were basically all orphans, strong-willed and stubborn. First, Chen Zhen trained their basic martial arts skills, then Xiao Shunzi organized the combat skills I had taught him before into a training plan. According to his words, if they were trained for about two years, these children could have second-rate martial arts skills. With the addition of special training in assassination and espionage techniques (Chen Zhen's specialty), they would be ready to use.

  I also thought of a way to make money, thinking back to the jewelry I designed at first, not only were the patterns beautiful, but they could be made by top-notch craftsmen, so they were favored. Although I'm not particularly skilled in these crafts, I've read many books on techniques, so I designed many different drawings in batches, some of which were mechanical messages, some were jewelry and clothing, and some were exquisite toys. The most popular one was the clock that I improved using the principle of the cycloid curve, which I read about in a book from Da Shu, I spent a lot of effort making it, and in order to make it easier for craftsmen to produce, I specially unified the units of measurement and tools, according to the drawings and the tools I provided, they could be produced. These drawings were all made under the name of Tianji Pavilion, and I cooperated with people to produce them, taking one percent of their profits as a return. As for the person who came forward, his name was Hanshiji, he was Chen Yin's colleague, after Shu was destroyed, he escaped from Chengdu by chance, because Dayong governed the local area strictly, he went to Nan Chu to make a living, but he only knew how to kill people and scheme, he had almost no ability to make a living, and was almost poor and sick. At first, Chen Yin was ordered to find suitable children everywhere to accept training, and happened to save him, I saw that this person still had some backbone, didn't become a killer or robber to survive, so I let him be the manager of Tianji Pavilion, which actually didn't exist. Let him secretly use my designs and cooperate with people, at first he needed to find people to cooperate with himself, later when there were new works, he would secretly hold small gatherings, inviting qualified businessmen to bid, the winner got the drawings and materials, as long as they kept it confidential, they could produce them exclusively. Tianji Pavilion's reputation was quietly spread in Nan Chu, no one loudly proclaimed it, after all, that would lose the opportunity for bidding, which is also the possibility of making money. The invitation letter from Tianji Pavilion not only became a symbol of strength but also a symbol of integrity, because without good credit, even if you had strong abilities, you couldn't get an invitation letter from Tianji Pavilion.

  It started just for the sake of making money, but later I found it very interesting. Through Tianji Pavilion, I could get a lot of confidential intelligence. In order to get my design drawings, many people were willing to exchange various secrets with me. Of course, I made Han Wuji more cautious and careful, absolutely not losing his hand, nor being followed by others. Han Wuji did very well, and later the power in my hands gradually grew stronger. I even specially assigned a team of twelve people under Han Wuji's command. Tianji Pavilion thus became one of the most famous secret organizations in South Chu.

  After more than a year, I looked at the gains and started to reduce the design, only issuing one symbolic piece every month, and only gathering existing business partners for bidding. Later, those businessmen formed the Tianji Guild, meaning the guild that cooperates with Tianji Pavilion. To participate in this guild, you must get three recommendations, and then be approved by Tianji Pavilion. The Tianji Guild quickly became a very powerful guild in South Chu. Through my stake, I can control 10% of the profits of all merchants in this guild. In the first year, I earned an income of 600,000 taels of silver. These business houses are all reputable, well-funded, and extremely influential. Although I couldn't control their operations, losing me would make them lose so badly that it's unbearable. This point alone is enough to make them do anything for me except betray me.

  Apart from that, I started to train the members of "Secret Camp", a code name I gave to this group of people who will personally grasp power. At first, it was teaching them to read and write, even if they couldn't compose poems or lyrics, they had to be familiar with the carefully selected classical poetry and literature that I chose for them. Since I couldn't let a group of assassin-type characters stay by my side, they had to learn etiquette and how to play various roles that could appear beside me.

  After careful research and discussion with Xiao Shunzi and Chen Yin, I divided the secret camp into four groups. The first group is called the Tiger Group, which is good at attacking and breaking through strongholds, and is the main force of killing and fighting. They are skilled in Jianghu martial arts and can fight against warriors with higher martial arts skills. They can also form a military array to surround and kill enemies or defend themselves. They can take on the role of bodyguards.

  The second group is called the Dragon Group, which has fewer people, all of whom are young men who excel in special skills. I taught them the skills I know, and they are all interested in one or two areas and have studied hard. Some are good at divination and array formation, some are good at underwater martial arts, and some are good at architecture. These people will be able to stand out on their own in the future and are suitable for independent action. They will basically be sent by me to handle different types of external affairs, most of whom will serve as members of the Tianji Pavilion under Han Wudi.

  The third group is called the Dark Group, which excels at sneaking and hiding, assassination, and dark killing. I basically won't let them appear in front of me, only executing the tasks I assign to them. Because this group has no future prospects, I made an agreement with them that they will serve me for ten years without any entanglements or attachments. After ten years, they will receive a large sum of money and can live a normal life. At that time, they can still work for me, but only do some non-dangerous tasks and receive corresponding rewards.

  The fourth group is called the Hidden Group, which consists of trained spies and undercover agents who can disguise themselves as various characters to gather information. Their specialty is not martial arts, but rather disguise and espionage. After completing their training, I carefully selected eight people from within the secret camp, all of whom are outstanding members of each group and can also disguise themselves as my servants. These people are directly under my command, both to protect me and to execute my orders at any time. For convenience, I let them all take the surname Jiang, with names in order: Chi Ji, Dao Lian, Bai Yi, Yu Lun, Shan Zi, Qu Huang, Rao Rao, and Lu Er. The name is also their ranking. If there are losses or replacements, the people who replace them will also be called by these names.

  These children, although still young, have made great achievements in martial arts under Xiaoshunzi's guidance. Although Xiaoshunzi cannot teach them his own martial skills, he has taught them the skills I've compiled and then sparred with them. These children are all pursuing progress and have strong personalities, so they work hard to learn more from Xiaoshunzi. As a result, some of them who don't meet the standards or waver have their martial arts skills abolished by Xiaoshunzi, and their memories erased using the medicine I provided. This was done in front of everyone, as Xiaoshunzi had made it clear to them from the beginning what would happen if they didn't reach their goals. Xiaoshunzi then secretly arranged for these children to take on stable jobs such as being his partners. Under my and Xiaoshunzi's planned cultivation, these children only know how to be loyal to me, without any sense of belonging to Nan Chu or Da Yong. I have finally created a force that belongs to myself.

  After the power was established, it was used. I think the current situation in South Chu is still relatively stable, so I planned and Chen Jin commanded. These children took turns participating in different tasks. Let them grow from tender to mature, become ruthless and merciless, and become calm and emotionless. Among the two largest tasks, one was my cooperative business partner who was blinded by greed and wanted to swallow up my dry shares. In order to make an example of him, I let the secret camp take action. The hidden group was responsible for collecting intelligence, the dark group was responsible for eliminating the high-ranking officials and managers hired by the business partner, and the tiger group made a final lightning strike, killing over 300 people in the business partner's organization. And the dragon group, under orders, used legal contracts to retrieve everything we were owed. This was an action I personally planned, cold-blooded and meticulous, with very obvious effects. No one dared to cheat Tianji Pavilion again, although many innocent people also died inside. However, for me, their deaths had a greater deterrent effect. In this way, when people choose to offend or betray me, they will consider the consequences.

  The most direct consequence of this action is that the Tianji Pavilion will naturally go underground, and people will not be intimidated by its mystery, daring to make such a bloody case. The Tianji Pavilion itself represents bloodiness and cruelty. Expecting to benefit from me and fearing my revenge, the Tianji Pavilion brand will stand firm.

  The second action was a win-win situation, as the spy network of Dà Yōng had noticed the value of Tiān Jī Gé before the Southern Chu court. Liáng Wǎn planned an operation to threaten and bribe a merchant from Tiān Jī Háng, using him to gain entry into the auction house and attempt to control it through cooperation. However, she was too greedy, and although the merchant successfully obtained the opportunity to cooperate, their probing and tailing were quickly discovered by members of Lóng Zǔ. The dark group and hidden group then investigated and uncovered the source. After receiving the report, I arranged a meeting, announcing that the master of Tiān Jī Gé would appear. Liáng Wǎn, who had received the news, sent her capable subordinates to attend, but they were ambushed and killed by me. In this battle, Xiǎo Shùnzi wore a mask and took action, defeating two top masters under Liáng Wǎn's command. The merchant was stripped of his qualification to participate in the association and forced to hand over the profits that should have been distributed to me for the year. As a result, although he did not go bankrupt, he lost credibility and a large sum of money, causing him to quickly decline.

  I protected the reputation of Tianji Pavilion, once again demonstrating its transcendent status and determination to not be invaded, while also severely hitting Liang Wan's arrogance, truly feeling satisfied.

  When I saw Liang Wan's loss, and Xiao Shunzi personally went to investigate, after learning that Liang Wan received criticism and punishment from the Da Ying side, he simply said coldly: "This woman, she forgot her own responsibilities, she is responsible for investigating the military situation and people's hearts of Nan Chu, should not develop her own power arbitrarily. If it weren't for me wanting to spare her life, just one letter to De Qin Wang, Zhao Jue would arrange for the military forces to thoroughly eliminate her.

  "Little Shunzi asked: 'Sir, when are you going to deal with her?'"

  I gazed into the distance and said, "Wait, the right moment will soon arrive. Da Yong can no longer sit still, Xiao Shunzi, this time we also lost some personnel in action. You must strengthen their martial arts skills, and I will continue to enhance their intelligence. We cannot afford to lose any more now, I don't have another year or two to waste."

  Look at the intelligence in my hand, it was sent back by the hidden group members I sent to Dayong. "The King of Yong is winning the battle on the northern border of Han and will return triumphantly soon." "The King of Qi is diligent in training his troops." "The Ministry of War of Dayong is recruiting soldiers." "Emperor Yong has reinstated the former commander of the naval army, Ren Haiwei." Although these messages are trivial, I can see many things. Looking at the dark clouds on the horizon, I know that a storm will come soon. Although this storm is so fierce that even I may be overwhelmed, I am determined to avenge her with my life. Look at the ring on my right middle finger, I smiled faintly.