Chapter One: The Mountain Bandit Chén Jiǔ

  "Get up, get up! The master of the house has spoken. From today on, the mountain stronghold must strengthen its defenses to prevent the imperial army's collection troops from coming in. If there is even a slight mistake, everyone's lives will be lost together."

  A small-headed man wearing a floral shirt kept kicking and punching the bandits in front of the mountain stronghold.

  Not bad, it's just bandits. In the eyes of ordinary civilians, this is a den of wolves. In the eyes of the imperial court and jianghu knights-errant, this is a lair of dragons and tigers.

  The little boy looks quite delicate, but that gaudy outfit makes him look out of place.

  Looking at the still lazy bandits, the little leader couldn't help but go up and kick them again. These bandits were used to being lazy every day, but in the past month, they didn't know what madness the big boss had, and they had to be on full alert.

  These bandits are used to a life of ease and idleness, spending their days on unprofitable ventures. They can't bear such hardships; after a month of constant vigilance without incident, they've grown complacent, each one as limp as a noodle, leaning lazily against the wall, unwilling to stand up.

  "Little old big, you don't know our hardships. We've been standing here day and night, drinking the northwest wind, and in a month we've lost three catties of weight. If this continues, our lives will be gone. And you, elder, also know that nothing has happened in this month, this vigilance is really unnecessary, it's just tormenting people."

  A somewhat chubby mountain bandit looked at this little head, this guy's weight was not three hundred pounds, but two hundred and fifty or sixty pounds were still there.

  Chen Jiu, also known as this little rascal, looked at this guy who was acting recklessly and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

  Although the mountain bandits have a strict hierarchy, in their daily lives they are all together drinking from large bowls and eating meat with big bites, just like their own brothers. If they really scolded each other, it would be absolutely unacceptable, as this would hurt their feelings.

  Chen Jiu rubbed his nose, then smiled slyly: "You're sneaking around here, I can still let it go, but if the master finds out, you'll probably get a good beating, and three hundred lashes with a whip are unavoidable."

  As soon as they heard the three hundred taels of silver, several door-keeping bandits quickly jumped up, then looked around cautiously like thieves, and turned their heads to look at Chen Jiu: "Little boss, based on our relationship, you won't go to the master's place to report us, will you?"

  Chen Jiu rolled his eyes and then said seriously: "We're familiar with each other, but this time it's really different. This time it's the big master who has repeatedly warned and instructed us that if we make a mistake and the big master finds out, no one will be able to protect you."

  Several bandits stood up upon hearing this, and the fat one quietly poked his head over: "Little boss, you said that something big happened in our stronghold, otherwise our mountain stronghold was never so strict before."

  Chen Jiu's eyelid twitched, and he gave the fat man a cold glance: "Fatty pig, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't pry into what you shouldn't pry into. This matter isn't something you're capable of knowing. Be careful your head gets moved to a new home."

  The chubby mountain bandit shrank his head: "It shouldn't be that we've offended the imperial court, right?"

  Chen Ji shook his head: "Our mountain stronghold may be far from the imperial court, and even disrupts the peace of the imperial court, but the imperial court looks down on us with disdain. As long as we don't really provoke the imperial court, we will naturally live in peace and safety."

  Chen Jiu looked around and then lowered his voice, saying: "This time we're in even more trouble than offending the imperial court. If you feel something's off, hurry up and slip away, I reckon this time it's not going to be easy to get out of".

  After saying this, Chen Jiu seemed to have said nothing at all. He looked at the bandits who were barely mustering up their spirits: "Not bad, not bad, this is more like it. You can rest assured that I will plead your case in front of the master."

  After finishing this sentence, Chen Jiu turned around and slowly walked towards the mountain stronghold.

  Staring at the white clouds in the sky, Chen Jiu was dazed for a moment. Chen Jiu didn't know how he came to this world, and even spent eight whole years as an outlaw.

  In his past life as a top-notch assassin, Chen Jiu was well-versed in all sorts of miscellaneous studies and had no weaknesses. However, during one of his missions, he inadvertently arrived in this world.

  At that time, Chen Jiu felt he was going to die, no, almost froze to death.

  Possessed by a six-year-old beggar, and still a beggar who has fainted from hunger three times, with no strength to walk, let alone go begging or doing something to make money.

  Just as Chen Jiu was dazed and confused, about to leave this world again, a horseshoe sound came from afar, then he met the master of the house, came to this Qinglong Mountain and became a small bandit.

  Qinglong Mountain, a peak that is neither big nor small, this place is a natural barrier, easy to defend and hard to attack. I don't know how these bandits found this place.

  Qinglong Village, this name may sound rustic, but it has more than 1,700 bandits who are all proficient in murder and arson. The notorious thieves are also emerging one after another, making this place a den of evil.

  Within a hundred miles around, no matter what merchant team passes through here, they have to pay "taxes", but the taxes are not much.

  It's okay, this Qinglong Mountain is a thoroughfare that runs north and south, and it's a must-pass route to go outside the domain. Although each merchant team only takes out one percent, the profit is still very sufficient, and it can support all the big and small bandits on the mountain.

  Chen Jiu took root here, no, it's rooted.

  Extremely unfamiliar with this world, Chen Jiu didn't know what else he could do besides killing people. Whether the skills from his previous life could be applied in this world was still a question mark. At least on Qinglong Mountain, he wasn't worried about starving to death.

  What, you say you can still be an assassin?

  No organization gives you a mission, who takes care of you afterwards? The profession of an assassin is not feasible for one person alone. Moreover, in this world there exists extremely high martial arts skills. Chen Jiu had once personally witnessed the Eldest Young Master punch a green stone into powder with just one fist. If that were to land on a human body, even nine lives would be insufficient.

  Chen Jiu had some killing skills, but his physical strength was very low, and this body had already accumulated many hidden diseases due to years of hunger and starvation.

  The only thing that can be relied upon is one's own extraordinary insight, and for the past eight years, Chen Jiu has been making a name for himself as a strategist for the master of the house, planning case after case of robbery, all of which have been carried out flawlessly, without the imperial court suspecting that it was the work of Qinglong Village.

  Then Chen Jiu became famous and was invited by a big landlord to be his military advisor, staff officer, and then Chen Jiu began his own mountain bandit journey.

  It's hard to be a mountain bandit, especially one without martial arts skills. If not for Chen Jiu's wisdom far surpassing others, he would probably still be a small-time thug.

  A soft sigh, Chen Jiu shrank his head, this time the big master got into trouble again. Last time when they robbed the goods, he thought it was just an ordinary customer, but unexpectedly there was a tribute to Fang Xian Dao's goods and gifts in it.

  Chen Jiu didn't know what kind of terrifying force this Xian Dao was, but the fact that it could make Da Dangjia, a powerful and arrogant hero, feel fearful meant that its power was not small, and even the imperial court did not inspire such fear in Da Dangjia.

  Now that batch of goods is still in the warehouse of the mountain stronghold, and the master does not dare to move it, or rather, he is still hesitant, unsure whether he can return this batch of goods to Fang Xian Dao, and then everyone will cover up this matter.

  Climbing up a stone staircase, Chen Jiu gazed at the distant Silver Pond where mountains and rivers danced in the snow-white landscape. It was almost New Year's, and there were hardly any traveling merchants coming and going; everyone was waiting for the holiday to pass, after which the accumulated snow on the mountain would melt away, making it safer to travel across the continent with fewer dangers.

  No matter what those merchants thought, Chen Jiu only knew that the mountain stronghold was about to run out of food and supplies, and if they didn't distribute the goods from Fang Xian's sect, everyone would have no way to celebrate the New Year.

  There isn't a single good person in this bandit village, no New Year's goods or perhaps they have them but won't distribute them. At that time those mountain bandits and great thieves will think what? Even to the point where everyone becomes disheartened and rebellion is possible. Only when there is a leader who can make sure everyone has enough food will people acknowledge him as the head of the household.

  New book is not easy, seeking recommendation, seeking collection, please everyone support more, thank you again for the heavenly fate.