Chapter Twelve: Gaining Renown Among the Outlaws

After the yamen runners caught the little beggar, they interrogated him fiercely before bringing him before Magistrate Xue.

Master Xue, propping himself up despite his illness, questioned the child a few times but gleaned nothing useful. With a sigh, he waved his hand. “Let him go. Just let him go.”

The officers obeyed, escorting the little beggar away.

Madam Xue poured her husband a cup of hot water, placed it before him, and sighed. “Those mountain bandits truly are hateful. Now, our Yun’er’s marriage has been disrupted as well.”

Magistrate Xue clenched his fist tightly when he heard this. “To my mind, perhaps this is not such a bad thing after all—that boy from the Gu family! I entrusted my daughter to him, and before they’d even reached halfway, a few bandits appeared and he ran for his life! My daughter’s whereabouts are unknown, yet he remains unscathed! To this day, only their third son has come by to ask about the situation. Neither father nor son has come to offer any explanation! Truly, I must have been blind to arrange such a marriage!”

His breath came in short bursts as he ground his teeth. “It’s just as well the engagement has fallen through. With the character of those Gu men, if Yun’er were to marry in, I fear the rest of her days would be miserable.”

Madam Xue helped her husband drink the hot water, sighing. “No one could have foreseen such an event. The Gu family is a prominent household, with high officials in the court. We had hoped our daughter would live a good life there, but who would have thought...”

“The youngest son of the Gu family is utterly disgraceful.” Madam Xue’s temper flared as well. “When I see him in the future, I won’t let him off easily.”

“A prominent household...” Magistrate Xue set down his cup with a snort. “Prominent, my foot. The Gu family climbed up the ladder through marriage and now think themselves so grand!”

Hearing his words, Madam Xue sighed softly and said nothing. After all, their own family had initially hoped to climb through marriage as well. No matter how one looked at it, the Gu family’s status was higher than theirs. If the Gu family were to intervene, even the provincial soldiers would have to show them some respect and would never have failed to take down a mere bandit stronghold.

The reason the Gu family had remained inactive was, first, because the groom had abandoned the bride and fled, which was a disgrace if word got out. Second, with Miss Xue lost to the bandits, she was, in their eyes, irredeemably sullied—the Gu family would never accept such a daughter-in-law. After all, if the Gu family rescued her, should she be brought into their home or sent back to the Xue family? Awkward, with no easy solution.

Thus, the Gu family simply pretended nothing had happened, trying to sever all ties. This was why Magistrate Xue had fallen so ill with anger.

So-called prominent households... they were simply bullies!

...

At the Cangshan stronghold.

Chief Li spent two days, drawing on the experience of some of the older men in the camp, crafting a batch of whistles that could mimic bird calls. He gathered the sentries, distributed the whistles, and spent half a day training them to convey messages using fixed tunes. With this, any news of people ascending the mountain could be relayed far more efficiently.

In truth, the bandits already had a few unique skills—some could imitate bird calls just with their voices, lifelike and convincing. But standardizing the process with whistles was faster and more reliable.

Originally, Li Yun had considered using bamboo tubes for transmitting sound, but after some trials, he realized those required a tightly stretched string to carry sound, which proved impractical in the mountains. Whistles were far more useful.

After training a few of the young “second-generation” bandits, Li Yun summoned all the young men in the camp, those in their teens and twenties, and began organizing a training regimen to whip them into shape. This way, should anyone invade the mountain again, the Cangshan stronghold wouldn’t be left defenseless or in disarray.

And as an incentive, he put up the two sets of armor he’d won previously as prizes—the two best fighters after a month’s competition would receive the armor. As Chief Li now held great authority in the stronghold and managed the armory himself, handing out supplies far more generously than before, the men, though initially grumbling, soon fell in line and began training earnestly.

With the training underway, Li Yun returned to his “office” in the main hall, sat down with a miscellaneous book, and began to read.

Third Chief Zhou Liang quietly entered, and upon seeing Li Yun reading, smiled. “Chief, I remember you didn’t know many characters before. Now you can read books?”

Li Yun set the book aside languidly. “I picked up a few words from others.” He glanced at Zhou Liang. “What brings you here, Third Uncle?”

“There’s work.” Zhou Liang produced a letter from his sleeve, laid it before Li Yun, and said, “Just now, a messenger from Erlong Stronghold arrived. They say there’s a fat convoy passing near us in three or four days. Erlong can’t handle it alone and wants to join forces with us for the job.”

Li Yun frowned. “Didn’t we agree not to take any jobs for three months?”

Zhou Liang chuckled. “That’s what we said, but Erlong’s men are reliable—they’ve never tricked their fellows. If they say it’s easy pickings, and if we split the loot... there’s at least a thousand strings of cash in it.”

Li Yun put his book down, looked up at Zhou Liang, and asked coolly, “And your opinion, Third Uncle?”

“It’s worth trying.” Zhou Liang lowered his voice, “You may not know this, Chief, but ever since we snatched the magistrate’s daughter and fought off the troops, your name has become legendary in the greenwood. Now, mention our chief, and the heads of a dozen strongholds in these hills all give a thumbs-up. If you take this job, success is almost certain.”

Li Yun interrupted him, his tone flat. “So, if I refuse, the others will say I’m a coward, and no one will follow me again?”

Zhou Liang nodded honestly. “That’s more or less it.”

“Rubbish.”

Li Yun curled his lip. “Go tell Erlong’s people that I’m newly married and have no interest in work for the time being. If they want that fat convoy, let them take it themselves. If they want to bad-mouth me behind my back, so be it.”

With that, Chief Li rose and strode out, not looking back. “My word stands: without my orders, no one goes down the mountain. Anyone who does is no longer part of this stronghold!”

Zhou Liang hurried after him. “Chief, this is a golden opportunity to make your name. If your fame grows, you might even become the leader of all the bandits one day...”

Chief Li stopped and glanced back at him. “Third Uncle, have you ever heard the saying: ‘Do not display your wealth’?”

Li Yun spoke slowly and clearly. “If this haul were truly as fat and easy as they claim, would they so readily invite us in? And it just happens to pass right by our doorstep?”

He snorted. “Just wait and see. Those Erlong fellows won’t get anything good out of this.”

Zhou Liang’s face changed as he realized something. “Chief, do you mean someone’s trying to lure us down the mountain?”

“I don’t know,” Chief Li said dismissively. “But no one goes down the mountain.”

Zhou Liang nodded, then asked, “Should we warn Erlong?”

“No need,” Chief Li replied, hands behind his back as he strode away. “Let them live or die as they wish.”

He chuckled. “If they end up falling flat on their faces... perhaps that will be my chance to make an even bigger name for myself.”

Zhou Liang watched Li Yun’s receding figure and couldn’t help but call out, “Chief, you…”

Li Yun looked back at him. “I’m getting smarter, aren’t I?”

With that, Chief Li turned and continued on his way. “I’ve finally wised up.”