Jianghu Knows Him as Full of Courage

In the spacious courtyard room, Jiang Dali, accompanied by five catties of sliced cooked beef, heartily drank his shaodaozi.

The room was filled with the aroma of wine, causing the two disheveled bandits standing by the door to twitch their noses and swallow hard, their Adam's apples bobbing.

"Ha!"

Jiang Dali let out a burp, feeling he was already half-drunk. He then ate a couple more mouthfuls of beef to accompany his drink.

Drinking alcohol wasn't easy, and drinking a lot without getting drunk was even harder.

Drinking was about constitution.

Jiang Dali's constitution was naturally exceptional, so his alcohol tolerance was also good.

However, he also knew that his current tolerance was still far from the standard required to complete that future task.

That heroic swordsman's alcohol tolerance was said to be a thousand cups without getting drunk; he drank by the jarful.

To catch that heroic swordsman's eye, one first needed an extraordinary tolerance for alcohol.

Lost in thought, Jiang Dali's slightly lowered eyelids suddenly brightened. He finally saw the new posts about Black Wind Stronghold that had appeared on the Jianghu Forum.

"Brothers, heroes, is anyone else born near Mengyin County in Huizhou? Come quickly and save us. We've been captured by a group of NPC bandits and locked up in their stronghold. We can't even commit suicide. What should we do?"

Jiang Dali looked at the poster's name – Central Plains Eyeing Cracks.

"Hmm? I didn't expect there to be a skilled player among this batch of players captured this time."

Jiang Dali was somewhat familiar with this peculiar name.

In his previous life, this Central Plains Eyeing Cracks had truly become a disciple of the Golden Buddha Miao Renfeng and learned the human-tier martial art "Miao Family Swordplay." He had been quite famous for a while.

However, it was a pity that once he gained success, he became arrogant and complacent. After a short period of fame, he was reportedly hunted down by his enemies and disappeared.

As Jiang Dali's thoughts raced, many players had already responded below Central Plains Eyeing Cracks' post.

Players born in other cities and regions came to reply and watch the show.

Some expressed confusion, and immediately other players captured by Jiang Dali replied to confirm, dispelling many doubts, but also sparking more curiosity and schadenfreude.

"Hahaha, you guys are really lucky to be captured by the Great Mountain Lord of Black Wind Stronghold and brought back to the stronghold. This is a great opportunity. None of us have experienced this."

"Be a good person upstairs, don't celebrate too early. This shows that this Jianghu world is much more dangerous than we imagined. Even ordinary bandits know to capture us at the City God Temple resurrection point.

This means that if we offend any powerful NPCs in the future, and we get cornered at the City God Temple and killed repeatedly, then we won't be able to play anymore."

"Exactly, exactly. Black Wind Stronghold sounds like just a small faction in the early beginner villages, yet they already know to stake out the City God Temple. If we provoke a major sect in the future, won't we be walking into a dead end?"

The players chattered and discussed. Some found it interesting, while others felt worried.

They were all professional players who had entered during the beta test. Many sensed a dangerous message from this news, while others were surprised.

Mount Hua.

In a small courtyard on the North Peak.

A man in a black and white martial uniform, with a distinguished bearing, was intently reading the posts on the Jianghu Forum, his expression one of surprise, lost in thought.

"The native NPCs in this world actually know to blockade the City God Temple? That's interesting. This is something we hadn't tested at all before.

It seems there are still many secrets to uncover in this world. However, I wonder if this special case is a misunderstanding or an accident, or if the problem lies with this Black Wind Stronghold."

Lost in thought.

The man turned and walked into the house, ground ink, and wrote a letter. It read: "Deputy Hall Master Fengying, I hope you are well. I am not sure if you have successfully joined Lingjiu Palace? Lingyun has received news today that the bandits of Black Wind Mountain Stronghold in Mengyin County, Huizhou City, actually know the secret of the City God Temple. Hall Master may have already paid attention."

Flap flap—

The white dove was released and quickly disappeared into the sky.

Jiang Dali watched as more and more players paid attention to the post on the Jianghu Forum, learning about Black Wind Stronghold in Mengyin County, Huizhou City. He secretly thought that its reputation had indeed spread.

If the official experts saw this news, they would definitely notice his Black Wind Stronghold.

Perhaps some experts would come to test and check the situation.

At that time, it would be his opportunity to harvest a batch of leeks in advance.

Jiang Dali didn't entirely hate or oppose the experts cultivated by the officials.

It was just that their positions were different, and they had to fight.

To survive and to prevent the officials from completely controlling this world, they had to suppress them as much as possible in the early stages, otherwise, they might not be able to suppress them later.

This was mainly because many of the officials' experts had entered this Jianghu world long before the beta players.

Even Jiang Dali didn't know who the earliest official experts to enter the Jianghu world were, or when they entered.

But he was clear about which of the familiar powerful official experts from his previous life were.

Seeing that there was nothing else worth noting on the Jianghu Forum.

Jiang Dali stopped paying attention.

Currently, he had seen many familiar names on the forum and wished he could immediately pull some of these excellent leeks to his stronghold to cultivate them.

But currently, within his sphere of influence, it seemed only Central Plains Eyeing Cracks was a promising seedling.

Other professional players might not be bad, but the Jianghu was a great sieve.

His potential as merely a second or third-rate expert in the future wasn't something Jiang Dali paid much attention to.

Seeing that the moon was now high in the sky, it was getting late.

The players who had been captured were likely all in a state of panic and unease. He had certainly given them enough of a scare.

Jiang Dali immediately walked out of the courtyard and headed straight for the stronghold's black prison.

The black prison was damp and filled with all sorts of foul odors, with rats scurrying about. It was hardly a place fit for humans.

After a group of players were thrown into the black prison, many were bound with their faces pressed against the damp, foul-smelling ground, feeling so sick they were about to vomit.

Worse still, their mouths were stuffed with cloth strips, preventing them from vomiting or speaking. They were all quite miserable and desperate.

This wasn't like playing a game; it was like the game was playing them.

Many players had already logged off, unwilling to experience such disgusting torment.

However, a few players hadn't fled and were instead waiting for an opportunity, observing their surroundings, hoping for a turn of events.

As professional players, some of them had sharp instincts.

They figured that since the bandits hadn't killed them, nor even wanted them to commit suicide, but had merely captured and imprisoned them in the stronghold, there must be a reason.

Therefore, if they could just wait for that reason to appear, perhaps it would be their chance.

And so.

When they heard the respectful calls of "Great Mountain Lord" from the bandits in the prison corridor, the few players who had held out felt their spirits lift, their eyes shining brightly.

"Someone drag Hu Ling out and prepare the torture."

After entering the black prison, Jiang Dali merely glanced at the players, ignored them, sat down in the grand chair, and issued orders by banging on the table.

Two bandits acknowledged his command and immediately went to drag Hu Ling out.

The players, their hearts filled with apprehension and curiosity, secretly observed Jiang Dali.

In their eyes, despite the Great Mountain Lord of this stronghold wearing a simple tiger-skin shirt, the bulging, powerful muscles beneath that garment exuded a sense of hardness, ferocity, and dominance, as if he were filled with an indescribable power.

Even when sitting still, the intimidating aura he exuded was like that of a fierce tiger, making him impossible to ignore. They all began to murmur to themselves, abandoning any mischievous thoughts they might have had.

Just then, the bandits dragged out Hu Ling, who was bound and heavily injured, and propped him up.

"Hehehe, when our Great Mountain Lord asks you questions later, if you old geezer don't answer honestly, I'll let you taste what 'mala tang' is like!"

A bandit patted Hu Ling's face, grinning sinisterly as he began to heat up an iron rod.

Hu Ling's facial muscles twitched, and he glared at Jiang Dali with a weak pretense of defiance, "Villain, your good days are numbered. If you dare to torture or kill me, your entire stronghold will be buried with you! Just you wait!"

"Hm?"

Jiang Dali glanced at the bandit subordinate beside him and moved his fingers slightly.

The bandit subordinate, quick-witted, immediately stepped forward and delivered several sharp slaps to Hu Ling's face, causing Hu Ling's skin to almost split. He cursed loudly, "Old geezer, be polite! Our Great Mountain Lord is a man of integrity, known throughout the Jianghu as 'Full of Courage.' Do you think you can scare him with your words? Speak less nonsense and suffer less!"

"Ptooey!"

A mouthful of bloody phlegm was suddenly spat from Hu Ling's mouth. With his hair disheveled, he glared ferociously at Jiang Dali and sneered, "Hehehe, Great Mountain Lord of Black Wind Stronghold? You probably don't know what powerful figures you've offended! Do you think your Inner Qi Realm strength allows you to run rampant in the Jianghu?

Ridiculous, you frog in a well!

I was sent by that person to test you. Compared to him, I'm just a nobody.

If you untie me now and speak to me politely, I can help you avert disaster.

Otherwise, you'll just wait for death!"

"Oh?"

Jiang Dali's eyes turned cold, his brows slightly raised. He stood up and walked in front of Hu Ling.

The two bandits immediately and cleverly propped Hu Ling up.

Hu Ling looked down condescendingly, "Hehehe, are you scared? It's right for you to be scared. If you're scared, then ahhh!!!"

A piercing scream erupted in the prison, startling the group of players.

"Sss!"

Holding the red-hot iron rod with tongs, Jiang Dali viciously applied it to Hu Ling's body, emitting wisps of smoke, as if roasting meat.

"Ahhh—"

Hu Ling writhed in agony, struggling and crying out, snot and tears streaming down his face.

Jiang Dali said calmly, "Are you scared? It's right for you to be scared. I'll give you another chance, tell me, was Du Dajin the one who sent you?"

Hu Ling, gritting his teeth in pain, broke out in a cold sweat at his words and stared at Jiang Dali in disbelief.

"How... how did you know? If you knew, why would you treat me like this?"

(My child turned one today, and I was busy with the celebration for a while, so the update is a bit late. Also, there are too few fans for the work right now, and I don't know if everyone likes it. If you do, please become a fan. Thank you.)