At that very moment, Chu Zhao rode at the head of two hundred guards, charging straight toward Tigerhead Mountain.
In truth, Chu Zhao had never ridden a horse in his previous life. When he'd first left the capital and realized he would be traveling long distances, he'd decided to learn a few more useful skills, so he'd simply asked Xiao Yan to teach him horsemanship.
In less than half the time needed for a stick of incense to burn, the group reached the stronghold.
The First Chief of Tigerhead Mountain stood at the gate with a saber in hand. Looking at the soldiers below in neat armor, their imposing presence pressing toward him, fear flickered in his heart. Still, he forced himself to shout:
“Who are you? Why have you trespassed on Tigerhead Mountain?”
Chu Zhao urged his horse forward. Polite without losing authority, he said:
“I am Prince Xuan of the present dynasty. I was passing through and intended to rest here for one night. Unexpectedly…”
He paused briefly, slowly swept his gaze over the bandit leader, and gave a cold laugh.
“Your brothers from Tigerhead Mountain were rather too enthusiastic and injured quite a few of this prince's accompanying guards. So tonight, this prince has come uninvited specifically to return the courtesy.”
He enunciated “return the courtesy” with particular clarity. Anyone who heard him knew perfectly well he wasn't talking about an ordinary exchange of courtesies.
From the capital to Liangzhou, there had been several hundred people in their group altogether. Feeding both people and horses required money.
And the gold and silver Chu Li had given him when he first set out was nearly exhausted.
Chu Zhao had been worrying about how to settle everyone next when these bandits delivered themselves right to him.
After all, throughout history, the fastest way to make a fortune was to rob the robbers.
These bandits had spent years killing, burning, looting, and pillaging. Their stronghold undoubtedly concealed plenty of good things. Those supplies could resolve his immediate crisis perfectly.
“P-Prince Xuan?” The bandits opposite immediately erupted into chaos.
“First Chief, that man over there sounds like a prince. Shouldn't we… retreat?” someone advised in a trembling voice.
“Retreat, my ass!” The First Chief slapped him across the face. “Are you stupid? Didn't you hear him? He's clearly here to kill us today!”
The man scratched his head. “Huh? Is that what the man over there meant? I didn't hear him say it.”
“Go to hell!”
Furious, the First Chief kicked him, then still didn't feel satisfied and kept beating him.
“No wonder Tigerhead Mountain keeps falling farther and farther behind Leopard Mountain! It's because idiots like you keep dragging us down!”
The First Chief felt deeply worried. There were simply too many fools in his stronghold! If only he had a few more clever people like the adviser!
“Ow! It hurts, it hurts! First Chief, I was wrong! Please stop hitting me! You're killing me…” The man didn't dare fight back despite being kicked, and could only beg frantically for mercy.
After kicking him around a dozen times, the First Chief finally felt his anger had mostly subsided and stopped.
Panting, he spat in Chu Zhao's direction.
“Bah! What bullshit Prince Xuan?! Anyone sent to this godforsaken Liangzhou was obviously thrown out here by the court! You want me dead? Ask my saber whether it agrees first!”
He had lived in Liangzhou for decades and had never seen any wealthy or powerful person willingly come here.
Liangzhou was poor and dilapidated. Anyone who came here—even a prince—was almost certainly an unfavored man who had been exiled!
Since the other side refused to leave them any road to survival, then he couldn't be blamed for being ruthless!
As long as he killed every one of them, who would ever know that an unfavored prince had died in his territory?
The First Chief swept out a hand and turned to shout the order: “Release!”
The instant he finished speaking, he scrambled and practically crawled back through the stronghold gate.
Sharp-eyed Chu Zhao noticed the bandit leader's movement and was just about to wave his men forward.
Suddenly, the System's piercing alarm sounded in his ear:
[Host is in danger! Dodge! Something is rolling down from the mountain!]
After the System's previous warning, Chu Zhao now trusted its danger alerts completely.
Almost at the same instant the warning sounded in his mind, his body reacted before conscious thought. He shouted at the guards around him:
“Everyone scatter! It's an ambush!”
The guards were well trained. The moment they heard the command, they instinctively scattered to either side.
On the bandits' side, after giving the order, the First Chief immediately shouted at the men closing the gate. “Close it! Hurry and close the gate!”
The small bandit at the gate trembled as he dragged at the crossbar, his face white. “F-First Chief, there are still brothers outside who haven't come in yet…”
“If they can't get in, they can die outside!” The First Chief turned back and slapped him. “I told you to close it, so close it! Keep whining and I'll kill you first!”
“Ow! I'll close it! I'll close it right now!” Clutching his face, the small bandit frantically pushed the gate shut.
“Rumble—!”
Chu Zhao and the others looked up and saw a huge number of rolling logs and boulders hurtling down the mountain, smashing into the very places where they had been standing.
That was close!
The guards' scalps prickled at the sight. If Chu Zhao hadn't warned them in time, they would probably have been crushed into meat paste by now.
“That was close! Good thing His Highness reacted so quickly, or all of us would've died here today!”
“Exactly. These bandits are vicious!”
Xiao Yan also let out a breath of relief. He hurried over to Chu Zhao and asked in a low voice:
“Your Highness, what do we do now?”
“Shh!” Chu Zhao raised one finger and listened to the sounds outside for a while. “Wait a little longer. We can go out once everything is completely quiet.”
So everyone remained hidden in safe places along both sides. They watched as fewer and fewer logs and boulders came down until, finally, there was no movement at all.
Guessing that the bandits had exhausted their stockpile, Xiao Yan leaped out to investigate and returned in less than two breaths.
“Your Highness, there's no one at the stronghold gate. It's completely quiet!”
Chu Zhao still wasn't reassured. He secretly asked the System in his mind. [System, check for me. Are there any more ambushes inside the stronghold?]
System: [Don't worry, Host! The mountain is perfectly safe now. Those bandits are hiding inside the stronghold and laughing to themselves, convinced they've smashed all of you to death.]
Chu Zhao finally relaxed completely. Then he turned and swept his arm forward. “Attack!”
The guards had been itching to move for some time. At the command, they immediately raised their weapons and charged toward the stronghold gate.
They were personal guards selected from the imperial household and were highly skilled. Thanks to Chu Zhao's warning, they had hidden safely and escaped without a scratch. Even so, they were still furious. These bandits were utterly hateful! Right now, they wanted nothing but revenge!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The guards split into two teams, lifted the rolling logs the bandits had thrown down earlier, and worked together to ram the stronghold gate.
Each dull impact made the frame tremble. Wood chips showered down, and even the ground shook with it.
The two bandits guarding the gate heard the noise and went white as paper. Realizing the government soldiers outside might still be alive, they scrambled away and ran wildly into the stronghold, shouting:
“First Chief! Disaster! Those soldiers aren't dead! They're ramming the gate!”
“What?!”
The First Chief had just lifted a wine bowl. His hand jerked, and the bowl crashed to the floor with a clang, splashing wine all over his trouser legs.
His body went weak from shock and he fell rigidly back into the tiger-hide chair, unable to recover for a long moment.
Even after all that, they still weren't dead!
“First Chief, let's run!” A thin bandit beside him clutched his sleeve, voice shaking. “Those soldiers look serious. If we don't run now, we're all going to die here!”
The First Chief seemed to have been frightened stupid and remained motionless for a long time.
“First Chief!” The man called several times without getting a response. At last, he gave up on him. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and fled toward the back mountain.
The moment he moved, the entire stronghold descended into chaos. Bandits stuffed gold and silver into their clothes and followed him toward the back mountain.
The First Chief stood stunned for a long moment before finally snapping awake. He immediately swung his arms, slammed his way through the crowd, and cursed:
“Damn you all! Let's see who dares block my way! Get out of my way! I'll cut down anyone who stands in front of me!”
…
At the same time, Chu Zhao's guards had already broken open the stronghold gates.
“Charge!”
They had been suppressing their fury for a long time. Now they raised their sabers and spears and rushed forward.
When they reached the center of the stronghold, they ran straight into bandits fleeing in every direction. There was no need for Chu Zhao to give another order. Xiao Yan charged first with saber raised and cut down a bandit trying to escape in a single strike.
Seeing his retreat about to be cut off, the First Chief roared in fury:
“Brothers, fight them! These dog soldiers won't leave us a way to live, so we won't make it easy for them either! Twenty years from now, we'll still be heroes!”
“First Chief is right! Everyone, charge together!” One bandit raised his saber and rushed forward.
“Charge!”
Although the bandits had numbers, they had never undergone systematic training. They usually did nothing more than bully commoners and were nothing but an undisciplined mob. How could they possibly match Chu Zhao's rigorously trained guards?
Before half a stick of incense had burned, the ground was covered with bandit corpses. Those who remained were either kneeling and begging for mercy or still resisting desperately, and by the look of them, they wouldn't last much longer.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the First Chief quietly backed away, hoping to slip toward the rear mountain amid the chaos.
Xiao Yan noticed immediately. He hooked a large saber beside him up with his foot, swung his arm, and sent it flashing through the air. The tip struck directly into the First Chief's thigh!
“Ah!” The First Chief screamed and crashed heavily to the ground, his own saber flying from his hand.
Ignoring the pain in his leg, he immediately rolled over, knelt, and repeatedly kowtowed. “Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare me! I'll never dare again!”
Xiao Yan walked over. Seeing such spineless behavior, he only hated the man more for his merciless killing. He stepped forward and kicked him with tremendous force, sending blood pouring from the First Chief's nose and mouth. The man fainted on the spot.
Xiao Yan then called two guards over and had them bind the man tightly with coarse hemp rope. “Watch him carefully!”
With that, he turned to capture the remaining bandits himself.
Within half an hour, Chu Zhao's group had successfully taken the stronghold and captured every surviving bandit.
Xiao Yan came over and reported quietly:
“Your Highness, this general just counted everyone and found that one mountain bandit escaped through the rear mountain. Shall I send a squad after him?”
Chu Zhao raised his head and looked at the deep mountain range, ridge after overlapping ridge. After a moment's thought, he waved a hand.
“Forget it. Do not pursue a desperate enemy. We don't know this terrain, and there may be an ambush.”
He turned to look at the bandits kneeling all over the ground, stretched his waist, and loudly announced:
“Everyone rest for a while. Later, escort all these men back to Liangzhou City and behead them publicly as a warning!”
“Yes!”
The System asked curiously: [Host, why not kill them now?]
Chu Zhao: [You don't understand, do you? This place isn't far from Liangzhou City. For these bandits to act this arrogantly, they must be colluding with people in the government. Besides, isn't that how television dramas always go? Officials and bandits colluding and all that.
And Liangzhou is going to be my base from now on. I've only just arrived, so there will definitely be people who refuse to accept me. Aren't these heads that delivered themselves to my doorstep perfect for killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys?]
…
The next task was to seize the spoils and, while they were at it, check whether anyone else had escaped.
Their search did not disappoint. They really did find many valuable things in the storerooms.
Who knew how long these bandits had been hoarding their loot? The rooms were full of gold, silver, pearls, and jewels, piled together in whole chests.
Rare antiques, paintings, and calligraphy lay casually scattered across the floor as well. There were so many that the sight dazzled the eyes, and it was impossible to estimate their total value at a glance.
Chu Zhao was thrilled at the sight, yet also heartbroken enough to bleed!
These bandits had no appreciation whatsoever! Such excellent things had been tossed around at random. It was sheer waste!
Besides that, there were more than two hundred strong horses, over five hundred weapons and pieces of military equipment, and more than three hundred helmets and suits of armor.
The granary was piled high with food—at least five thousand catties. Even if Chu Zhao lay flat and did nothing every day, that would be enough to feed him for a year!
And that wasn't all. When Chu Zhao and the others went around to the rear yard of the stronghold, they unexpectedly saw…
Pigs!
Live ones!
Fifty fat pigs, all raised plump and sturdy. By sight alone, every one of them weighed around two hundred catties!
Chu Zhao and the others were stunned. They truly hadn't expected an ordinary bandit stronghold to hide so many good things!
“Xiao Luzi, quickly! Record all this property in the accounts!”
Chu Zhao's voice trembled with excitement. He could barely remain standing.
We're rich, we're rich!
He really was just that poor!
He'd been exiled immediately after transmigrating, and the Emperor of Chu had forbidden him to bring anything. If Chu Li hadn't helped him, there was no telling whether he'd even have survived until today. Now, seeing all this gold, silver, jade, and these enormous fat pigs, Chu Zhao was so happy he wanted to burst into song right there just to express how he felt.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Xiao Luzi was just as excited.
No one knew better than him how little Chu Zhao had left in reserve. Seeing so many supplies added all at once, he couldn't help feeling happy for Chu Zhao!
The System couldn't stand watching any longer. [Host, calm down! We're people destined to do great things!]
Hearing that, Chu Zhao wanted to roll his eyes so hard at this lousy System that they turned white.
Calm down?
Listen to yourself. Is that something a person would say?
[You're so noble! You're so amazing! You don't run the household, so you don't know how expensive daily necessities are. Do you know how hard it is for me to feed this huge crowd of people?!]
Chu Zhao was just preparing to properly debate the System some more.
At that moment, Xiao Yan approached with a troubled expression.
“Your Highness, this subordinate discovered that these bandits were also holding quite a few hostages on the rear mountain.”
“What?”
Author's Note:
———————-
Chu Zhao: We're rich, we're rich
