Chapter Thirty-Seven: Suppressing Bandits and Mergers

Banditry is an illegal profession, and thus, a bandit stronghold is an unlawful institution. For this reason, all such hideouts share a defining trait: from their very inception, even before construction begins, their capacity to withstand assaults must be a primary concern. To put it plainly, they must be easy to defend and hard to attack.

Moreover, these strongholds always establish outposts along the mountain paths to strictly monitor all key points leading up the mountain. The Great Cangshan Stronghold was no different—before the government troops even set foot on the mountain, Li Yun and his men already had precise knowledge of their whereabouts.

The bandit den on Black Crow Mountain was naturally no exception. It, too, was built halfway up the mountainside—a place where an outsider would struggle to even climb, let alone attack. If government forces were to launch a brazen daylight assault, their approach would be detected long before they reached the stronghold, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage, exposed while their enemy lay in ambush.

However! Li Yun differed from the government troops in one crucial aspect—he was also a bandit, and a seasoned one at that, with twenty years of professional experience. He was intimately familiar with all these twists and turns.

As soon as he set foot on the mountain path, Li Yun signaled to the men from Great Cangshan Stronghold. They immediately split into two groups, moving up the mountain in silence. For men raised among the mountains, climbing these paths was no different from walking on flat ground.

Liu Bo followed close by Li Yun’s side. As the chief led the way up the slope, he asked in a low voice, “There should be some key lookout points on this mountain. Are they guarded?”

“During the day, yes,” Liu Bo answered with a quiet chuckle. “But at night, there shouldn’t be. Second Brother, you know our stronghold’s life has improved lately. The government rarely comes to suppress us now, and never by night. The sentries have grown lax.”

“Their numbers aren’t exactly abundant either,” Li Yun replied, nodding slowly. His voice was low and steady. “That’s good.”

As he advanced, he called out, “Old Ninth, remember this lesson. From now on, Great Cangshan Stronghold must have someone on watch at all times, day and night.”

“I understand.”

Their party continued upward along the mountain path for quite a while. By the time night had fully fallen, their group of about twenty had reached the mountainside of Black Crow Mountain. Thanks to prior reconnaissance, they made hardly any detours, inching steadily toward the bandit stronghold.

Li Yun led the way. After scaling a steep slope, a flat expanse appeared before him. He looked up.

In the silvery light of a bright moon, a cluster of low wooden buildings stretched out before them. Faint lights glimmered from within, but all were dim.

On the mountain, nearly all structures were made of wood; in these times, other building materials were nearly impossible to bring up such terrain. The chief, Li Yun, took a deep breath and was just about to give the order when suddenly, a flare of firelight blazed from the tower at the stronghold’s gate.

A shout rang out: “Who goes there!”

A sharp cry echoed from the tower, followed by the clamor of a gong. “Intruders! Intruders—” Before the warning could be repeated, a pained scream cut it short. The sentry clutched his chest, unable to speak, an arrow buried nearly an inch deep in his flesh.

“Well done!” Liu Bo clapped the young archer, praising him. “Good job, Er Leng! When we return, you’ll have ten pounds of beef to yourself!” It was none other than Er Leng, the sharpshooter from Cangshan, whose arrow had felled Black Crow Mountain’s night sentry. Though not instantly fatal, the wound was surely mortal.

Chief Li’s voice was steady and commanding. “We’ve startled them! Huzi!”

“I’m here, Captain!” Zhang Hu answered at once. This was their agreed-upon form of address, for with the presence of the constables, it was no longer appropriate to call Li Yun “Second Brother.”

“Come with me, let’s break down the gate!”

He turned to the assembled constables and barked, “No one is to fall back—stay close behind me!”

With that, he charged toward the main gate of Black Crow Mountain’s stronghold. This was a mid-sized, or perhaps small-to-mid-sized hideout, with a rather crude gate. Being made of wood, with no deep foundation, the frame was anything but sturdy.

Li Yun and Zhang Hu rushed forward, and with a combined effort, rammed into the gate, collapsing both the door and its frame onto the ground.

“Charge!” Li Yun roared.

By now, the bandits within the stronghold, alarmed by the gong, were rushing out with swords in hand. Perhaps due to the suddenness of the attack, fewer than twenty emerged at first—only fifteen or sixteen could be seen. Li Yun drew his long blade and shouted, “Show no mercy—cut your way through!”

Tall and powerfully built, Li Yun lunged forward with explosive force. His blade rose and fell, cutting down a still-dazed bandit in a single, clean stroke.

Zhang Hu and Li Zheng followed close behind, guarding his flanks. Their chief’s prowess was overwhelming for these ordinary bandits—his charge scattered their formation like a tiger descending from the mountains.

Among the constables, only Chen Da and Huang Yong gritted their teeth and kept pace with the Cangshan men. The rest shuffled forward nervously, gripping their blades with trembling hands.

The bandits from Great Cangshan, especially those who followed Li Yun on this expedition, were all hardened by blood and steel—men who had seen death. Seeing their chief charge ahead, they howled and surged forward, fighting with a ferocity matched only by their confidence in him. The disarrayed enemies were swiftly encircled—two against one—and quickly hacked down.

Having been told by Li Yun to show no mercy, they did not hold back. Apart from those who threw down their weapons and begged for their lives in terror, nearly all the remaining defenders were cut down where they stood.

In less than the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the fighting was over.

Li Yun sheathed his blade, wiped the blood from his brow with his sleeve, and turned to Zhang Hu and Li Zheng. “Huzi, Skinny Monkey.”

Both replied at once, “We’re fine!”

Only then did Li Yun nod. He found a large rock and sat down. “Take some men and sweep the stronghold—bind everyone you find and bring them out.”

Liu Bo and the others answered in loud voices, leading both bandits and constables into the hideout. While constables might not be skilled at fighting, they were experts at rounding up captives. In just over half an hour, every last soul in Black Crow Mountain’s stronghold was tied up tight.

A fat, dark-skinned old man in his fifties, hair disheveled, was dragged before Li Yun by Zhang Hu, who kicked him to his knees. “Brother, this is the chief of Black Crow Mountain, known as Old Crow.”

“This brute.” Zhang Hu couldn’t help but give him another kick. “In his room, the walls are hung with scalps!”

At this, Li Yun’s gaze hardened. He strode forward and slapped Old Crow so hard that several of his teeth flew out.

The black, portly old man, eyes wide with terror, lay howling in pain on the ground, not daring to utter a word.

Chief Li returned to his seat, his voice low. “Bind them all and take them down the mountain.”

He called out, “Liu Bo.”

Liu Bo quickly approached, bowing his head and lowering his voice, “Second Brother.”

“Take some men, search the stronghold. Bring back all weapons of good quality. If there’s armor or the like, bring it as well.”

“As for the money and valuables...” Li Yun considered for a moment. “Take seventy percent back to our stronghold, leave thirty percent for me to turn over to the county.”

Liu Bo grinned broadly. “Understood, Second Brother!” He glanced around, then asked, “There are quite a few women and children here—what do we do with them?”

“I’ll take the women and children down to the county. Keep an eye out for boys between twelve and eighteen years old,” Li Yun said calmly, surveying the stronghold before him.

“Bring them back to our place.”