Xu Family

The genuine thousand taels left Xu Yuheng unable to keep his composure. They had happened to bring exactly a thousand taels when they set out. If they really handed it all over, this entire group would eventually starve to death on the road.

After all, the journey was long, and the distance was anything but short.

Xu Yuheng's face was filled with pleading. "Master, a thousand taels is truly too much. Would five hundred do? Look at us—we're all traveling with our families. We only left because we could no longer survive in Anping County."

"Please, show us some mercy."

As he spoke, Xu Yuheng dropped directly to his knees before the scar-faced man and began kowtowing nonstop. It was utterly devoid of dignity, but in front of bandits from the Yellow Banner Gang, was dignity more important than one's life?

"Get lost!"

The scar-faced man's face was full of cold laughter as he kicked Xu Yuheng directly in the shoulder. Xu Yuheng's face twisted in pain. Although he was not yet old, he had gone years without exercising, and his body was hardly in good condition.

That kick made him feel as if his arm were about to be dislocated.

"Do you think I'm negotiating with you? Anyone can tell from your faces that you're running for your lives. A thousand taels—not a single coin less. I'm only asking for a thousand taels to give you a chance to live. If I killed you outright, the money would still be ours."

The scar-faced man's eyes were ice-cold. If his superiors had not ordered him to keep a lower profile these days, saying that the imperial court had been making major moves lately and that they should not attract too much attention at a time like this, he would have