Chapter 10 Assessment of Subordinates (Revised)

  Listening to Xu Bin's boastful words, Li Chengbing looked somewhat angry and said: "Boss, I know you're young and like to show off, but this is no joke. One mistake and that's a life lost!

  Besides, you're the backbone of the mountain stronghold. If you were to fall here tonight, how would I explain it to Third Master when I return? So, just follow me from now on and let us handle the attack on the stronghold."

  It's rare to speak the truth, but no one believes it, so I'd rather not say it and got scolded instead. Fortunately, Xu Bin knew that Li Chengbing was genuinely good to him, which made his somewhat disrespectful rebuke more tolerable. If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't have dared to rebuke him like Li Chengbing did, as if he were a rebel against the master of the house.

  Xu Bin's face revealed a hint of bitter smile, and he said seriously: "Uncle Li, did you think I was joking with you just now? I'm touched by your concern for me.

  But at the most critical moment of our mountain stronghold, if I, as the head of the household, were to retreat, how would my brothers view me? Moreover, you didn't even let me try, and instead immediately negated my words. Isn't that unfair to me? Besides, with Dogzi and Old Du following me, what kind of trouble do you think I could get into?

  Seeing the confident expression on Xu Bin's face again, Li Chengbing admitted that he was getting more and more confused about this young master. He suddenly had a feeling that the young master who was stunned by the cannon in the afternoon seemed to have changed completely after waking up. Except for his appearance, which hadn't changed, his temperament and tone were completely different from the young master he used to know.

  If Xu Bin hadn't been injured and taken care of by his brothers from the mountain stronghold, Li Chengbing would have really suspected that the young master in front of him was an imposter.

  Compared to Li Chengbing's obstruction, the other small heads seemed more in agreement with Xu Bin's decision, these old slippery fish who were engaged in the profession of banditry. Although willing to follow Xu Bin's management, they would be even more convinced by following a truly powerful head of household.

  This means that at this time, these small heads are more obedient to Xu Bin, the new patriarch, and if they want to make them convinced, they must show some real skills to convince them. Otherwise, in the eyes of these bandit leaders who often walk on the edge of a knife, Xu Bin is just a successor who takes office in name only, and it's not worth their sincere admiration and following.

  Fists are the real hard truth, and this saying is also suitable for bandits. A true bandit leader who can intimidate his subordinates must have extraordinary intelligence and possess exceptional martial arts skills. If a bandit lair is like a wolf's den, then they all hope that Xu Bin has the ability to be the wolf king of this den.

  At night in the mountain stronghold, Xu Bin's unintentionally revealed shooting skills already made these small leaders think that Xu Bin's shooting skills were not bad. But as a bandit in the mountains, the skill of killing enemies with bare hands must not be worse than others. Now that they can finally see the martial arts skills of this young master, how could these small leaders possibly miss it?!

  It can be said that these little bandit leaders are ruthless, and it can also be said that Xu Bin is still a minor at this time. However, from another perspective, if Xu Bin, as the leader of these little bandit leaders, cannot even intimidate them, how can he lead them to fight against external enemies?

  The Xiao Toumu were willing to let Xu Bin go kill the enemy, testing his skills was one aspect, but more so they hoped that this young master would truly mature early. After all, as bandits, if their combat skills were insufficient, they might lose their lives in a battle with others at some point.

  It's better to let Xu Bin experience the dangers of this profession as soon as possible, rather than waiting until he is killed by someone else because he is not good enough. A dog that is pampered every day will never grow up to be a wolf king that laughs at the mountains and forests.

  This is the iron rule in the bandit industry, if you are worse than others or not good enough, it means that you will be eliminated by the industry rules, and what awaits you is a miserable fate.

  Xu Bin wants to live a long life, then he must be strong at all times, otherwise it's better to retire early and become a rich man or a young master, why bother being the boss of Hei Feng Zhai?

  The unanimous silence of the little heads undoubtedly reminded Li Chengbing that this was a reality that Xu Bin had to face in the banditry. If Xu Bin couldn't even pass this level today, then he wasn't worthy of leading these old bandits who only obeyed Xu Bin's father.

  Moreover, it was Xu Bin himself who proposed to conquer Xianglu Peak alone, which made the small headmen even more eager to see Xu Bin's performance. If Xu Bin could really do as he said and become so powerful, not only would these bandit leaders be convinced, but also the other ordinary bandits who followed him would have to look at him with new eyes.

  It seems that Li Chengbing, who also knew that indulgence could not bring peace, finally had to grit his teeth and say: "Alright, I'll hand over Dogzi and Old Du to you. If you can take down the three checkpoints on Xianglu Peak tonight with the two of them, I, Li Chengbing, promise from now on to never question your orders again."

  Li Chengbing didn't say this to Xu Bin, but rather intentionally or unintentionally said it to the other small leaders. This action fell into the eyes of the other bandit leaders, and naturally quickly got their unanimous consent.

  All the heads agreed that as long as Xu Bin could take down the three sentry posts on Xianglu Peak at night, they would never question his orders again. Even if Xu Bin told them to go die in the future, they would face it calmly. This was also the cruel rule that they, as ordinary heads, had to unconditionally obey the orders of this great master Xu Bin.

  This is exactly what you promised!

  The ruthless and merciless performance of these cannon heads made Xu Bin feel for the first time that in this industry of bandits, the cruel law of survival of the fittest was indeed omnipresent. Even he, as the big boss, found it hard to escape this rule.

  Fortunately, Xu Bin, who came from the Chinese special forces, had already understood through his rush journey at night that the boy he borrowed to revive, although his body was not fully developed. However, the boy's usual insistence on exercise still left Xu Bin with a physique that allowed him to exert about 30% to 50% of his ability as a special soldier in his previous life.

  With this good physique, Xu Bin secretly thought to himself 'Tonight, let these guys take a good look at what it means to be a true jungle killer!'

  Although the altitude of Xianglu Peak is not as high as the mountain where Heifengzhai is located, it must have its own steep side to serve as a lair for bandits. Compared with the easy-to-defend and hard-to-attack Heifengzhai, this Xianglu Peak in front of us still needs some effort to climb up quietly. Moreover, those bandits who are generally more timid, they dare not relax their vigilance and defense against that mountain stronghold.

  Although Xu Bin already knew that there was only one road to enter Xianglu Peak, and the mountain road was relatively flat compared to Heifengzhai. However, on this mountain path, he was still worried about being ambushed by the Xu family or other black-hearted people like Ma Liu, so he set up three defensive outposts along the way.

  In each checkpoint, there must be no less than two bandits on 24-hour guard duty. As soon as something unexpected happens, they immediately fire a shot to notify the people in the mountain stronghold to prepare for counterattack or to quickly escape.

  Xu Bin looked up at the moon in the sky, which was almost full. However, finding a suitable path to walk on in the overgrown mountain forest wasn't easy. Even walking on the mountain road leading to Xianglu Peak, there was a possibility of startling those bandits who were keeping watch. Therefore, after observing the situation on the mountain road, Xu Bin could only carefully make his way along the side of the road towards the first checkpoint.

  Two people brought out from under Li Chengbing, Dogzi's age is not more than two years older than Xu Bin, was an orphan adopted by Xu Bin's father when he was a child, and his specialty is archery, which can be said to be 100 meters away. Within the distance, 100 shots are 100 hits, and it is also a famous divine archer in Xujiazhuang.

  As for the other Old Du, he was a hunter from a broken house at the foot of the mountain, skilled in setting traps. Of course, both of them had an advantage that Xu Bin valued, which was their familiarity with the mountain roads, especially walking in the mountains on a big night like this was a common occurrence for them. With these two people following him, Xu Bin didn't have to worry about exposing his tracks.

  Three men, led by Xu Bin, carefully made their way to the first checkpoint of Xianglu Peak, which was naturally more heavily guarded than the next two checkpoints. Climbing up a large tree, Xu Bin used the moonlight and the torches stuck in the ground by the sentries to quickly discover that there were six bandits guarding this checkpoint.

  Six people!

  To avoid alarming the sentry post behind, to silently take out six people alone, Xu Bin also seemed somewhat at a loss. Although when he came, he already had some mental preparation.

  To ensure that the bandits on the mountain are not alarmed, he can only use the short knife in his hand. The shotgun on his waist is basically unusable. Because once the gunshot sounds, it will alarm the bandits on the mountain, leaving them with no choice but to launch a strong attack.