Volume 1: Turbulent Times as a Bandit Chapter 29: Provocation

  The temporary nest in Zhaojia Fort, after these women arrived here, they became much richer, not only having porridge to drink and miscellaneous flatbread to eat, but also occasionally eating a little meat, and even drinking a bowl of bone soup at night. Moreover, some women made dishes with wild vegetables dug up from the mountain, which, combined with their craftsmanship being much better than that of Jingfu's wife, tasted much better than before. For these people, this was undoubtedly an extremely sumptuous feast.

  So in these days, everyone's mood has improved a lot, and they have all become more harmonious. When it's time to eat, everyone lines up to receive their food, then gathers together to eat and chat. Even the new people who joined, gradually came out of the sorrow of losing their loved ones at first.

  But on this day, after Xiao Tianjian had been busy all day, he lined up with others to receive his own food, and when he picked up a wild vegetable with chopsticks and put it in his mouth, he immediately frowned and called out to Jing Fuzi: "Jing Fuzi! Come here!"

  Jing Fu Zi ran quickly to Xiao Tian Jian's front, bowed his head and replied: "Yes! Boss! What are your orders?"

  "How can this vegetable be so bland? It's tasteless, how can we eat it like this? Didn't I say so? Nowadays everyone is training intensively every day, sweating a lot, shouldn't the food have more salt? What's going on here?" Xiao Tianjian put down his chopsticks and scolded Jing Fuzi.

  Jing Fu's face was filled with difficulty, nodding his head in agreement while stuttering out an answer: "As for the palm-sized dishes, I also know that we need to add more salt! However, our salt is almost gone now! I think we can only use it sparingly, or else this remaining salt won't last two days!"

  Xiao Tianjian's eyebrows furrowed even more, if it wasn't for Jiong Fuzi mentioning it today, he would have really overlooked this matter, only thinking about getting grain and forgetting to gather some salt to supplement their needs. Nowadays, the world is not like it was during the An Ding dynasty, when having money meant you could buy salt. Now, without saying that it's a time of war and chaos, ordinary people can't afford the price of salt. Although they don't lack money now, if they want to buy salt, they won't be able to unless they go to the town or county city.

  No salt is a big problem for them, Xiao Tianjian is in the training department, everyone's exercise volume is very large every day, and now the weather is gradually warming up, during training, everyone sweats a lot, the demand for salt will be relatively high, no salt to eat directly results in people being weak all over, dizzy and lightheaded, severe cases can lead to muscle cramps, and even death.

  So this matter is absolutely not a small problem and must be resolved as soon as possible.

  Xiao Tianjian gathered all his men around him while they were eating and told them about the lack of salt, asking everyone to think of a way to get enough food salt.

  A group of subordinates were chattering and offering their opinions, but normally they would also go to the towns or county seats to exchange goods for salt to eat. Someone suggested that they should just go rob a wealthy household, as wealthy households would definitely have a lot of salt. However, Xiao Tianjian thought that it was better to first train these subordinates until they were somewhat reliable before sending them out to do tasks, in order to minimize losses as much as possible.

  In the end, Jing Fu's son hesitantly expressed an opinion, which was to send someone nearby to buy some salt in the towns or county seats within Xiangyang County, and at the same time sell off the cattle they no longer needed.

  They brought back over a dozen cattle when they returned to Zhaojia Fort, but now they have no land to farm and need to assign people to specifically take care of the cattle. Although it doesn't consume much grain, this isn't a viable solution either.

  Originally, Xiao Tianjian thought that he could just kill and eat the cows, but unexpectedly, this led to unanimous opposition from everyone. Later, after some deliberation, Xiao Tianjian finally understood that in ancient times, ordinary people killing cattle was against the law, and draught cattle had to have official permission before they could be slaughtered by a butcher when they were no longer able to work. Moreover, these people used to be farmers and had an innate affection for draught cattle, thinking it was too cruel to kill them, so nobody was willing to slaughter these draught cattle.

  As for the idea that killing cows is opposed by many people, Xiao Tianjian actually finds it quite laughable. They are all bandits now, and yet they still care about what laws are being broken, when even government soldiers have been killed, why bother with this?

  So Xiao Tianjian didn't care whether they were willing or not, and firmly wanted to keep these cows. After solving the salt problem, he would slaughter them for meat.

  As for Xiao Tianjian's order, although the crowd was not very willing, no one dared to persist in opposing opinions. After all, after killing the cow, the meat would still be eaten by them, so having meat to eat was a great blessing in this era, and no one would dislike eating meat.

  After discussing with everyone, Xiao Tianjian finally decided to let Jin Fuzi, Shi Yan and Feng Gouz go out to buy some salt from a nearby place. The reason for choosing them is that Jin Fuzi was originally an accountant and had some experience in dealing with merchants, and he generally wouldn't be suspected, so it's more convenient for him to do this. Shi Yan, on the other hand, has been observed by Xiao Tianjian to be relatively calm, while Feng Gouz is most familiar with the situation in this area. The three of them going out to do this should be the most suitable.

  After settling this matter, Xiao Tianjian let Jin Fuzi and the other three bring twenty taels of silver and a donkey to go out of the mountain to handle this matter. Meanwhile, Xiao Tianjian continued to lead his men in intense training inside the mountain.

  But things didn't go as planned, and just two and a half days after the three of them left, Shi Rang and Feng Gouzi returned in disarray. As soon as they got back to their lair, they knelt down in front of Xiao Tianjian and begged for forgiveness.

  Xiao Tianjian heard that only the two of them had returned, and was secretly shocked in his heart. He quickly summoned them to his presence and asked what had happened, why they had come back together, and why Jun Fu hadn't returned?

  "Take responsibility! It's all because of this guy. After we left the mountain, we headed straight to Nanfang Town. Nothing unusual happened on the way, but this guy had to go and make friends with someone he knew, bragging about his past exploits. He even told them we were merchants, but it turned out that person was a sly swindler. We hadn't even reached Nanfang Town when dozens of swindlers blocked our path. They robbed us of the silver we bought for salt, and took Ge Erzi hostage, releasing only the two of us. They said if we don't bring 100 taels of silver to ransom him, they'll kill Ge Erzi!"

  Feng Gouzzi was now frightened pale, kneeling on the ground and repeatedly kowtowing to confess his guilt. He hastened to argue: "Zhang Panshi, this matter can't be blamed on me! I met an acquaintance on the road, someone I had drunk with before, and I didn't think he would do such a thing either. He actually had ulterior motives towards us, which is how this happened! Zhang Panshi must stand up for me!"

  Xiao Tianjian suddenly became furious, not because he was angry with Feng Gouzi, but because he had not expected that the first time he sent someone to do something, such a thing would happen. After all, they were also in this line of work, and yet they were blackmailed, and their people were tied up, and they even asked for ransom. This kind of kidnapping was often done by them, but at least they should distinguish between people! How could they not have any sense of morality, and even kidnap fellow practitioners?!

  "Never mind whose responsibility it is, let's not talk about that for now. What's the point of snatching your rods? Are you clear about that? And when they hijacked you, did you show them your bottom line?" Xiao Tianjian interrupted their argument and asked them sternly.

  Shi Rang saw Xiao Tianjian's anger and immediately shut his mouth. Instead, Feng Gouzi hastily replied: "As for the matter of returning the plate, we've already said it! When I first met that acquaintance, I lied to him saying that I was now doing business with someone else. Later, after they captured us, I revealed our true identity and told them that we were also in this line of work! However, their leader didn't believe us at all, still robbed us of our silver, took our donkey, and even detained Zhang Fu's wife, saying that if we didn't pay a ransom, they would make her a prostitute!"

  "Xiao had heard that they were led by a man named Sha Er Bao, who was from the Quanyang County area. He used to be from a wealthy family, but unexpectedly he's now doing this too. Xiao saw that he had at least 70 or 80 underlings. When we left, his underlings secretly called him 'Sha Po Tian', which must be Sha Er Bao's nickname!"

  After Feng Gouzi finished speaking, Shi Rang continued: "Feng Gouzi's words are true. On the way back, I also asked around about the guys who escorted us, and they told me that they are just hanging out in Nanfang Town, nobody doesn't know how fierce they are. Let's be careful, it's best to deliver the silver honestly. However, there aren't too many of them, according to their own boasts, only around eighty people or so!"

  Xiao Tianjian was furious, thinking that this Sha guy was too arrogant. The two parties didn't interfere with each other's business, and his side just wanted to buy some salt, but they were also robbed. It seemed that not all bandits followed any code of honor.

  "So can they tell us where to go and pay the ransom?" Xiao Tianjian asked further.

  "Alright! Second Treasure said, let's take the silver and within three days go to the Mountain God Temple north of Nanfang Town to redeem the person. He also said that if we're late, we'll be waiting for the corpse of Mr. Jing!" Shi Yan hastily replied.

  "Bastard! The tiger isn't showing its might, yet it still thinks we're sick cats! Since he dares to bind our people, if we pretend to be idiots, then we'll have no way out in the future! Everyone gather!" Xiao Tianjian angrily shouted with a smile, turning around and yelling loudly.

  As soon as Xiao Tianjian let out a loud shout, his men immediately swarmed over and quickly formed two rows in front of him.

  "Brothers! Today, someone has bullied us to the extreme. Someone has robbed our silver for buying salt and tied up Xiao Tianfu's meat ticket, asking us to pay silver to redeem him! This is a provocation against us, what do you say we should do?" Xiao Tianjian stood at the front of the ranks, his anger soaring as he loudly questioned his men.

  (Today's second update is here, smash the vote! Strive to update another chapter before tonight!)