Yin Bukui's Strategy Guide mentioned very little about the Four Great Bandits. There was only the collective name "Four Great Bandits," and Yin Bukui had even written, "Can't remember their specific names." This showed just how insignificant they had been in the original work.
It was only through Lu Miaozi's account that Ye Weiming and Youyou gained a preliminary understanding of the Four Great Bandits.
Xiang Bantian, Who Leaves No Grass Growing;
Fang Jianding, Who Leaves No Fowl or Dog;
Zhui Maozao, Who Scorches a Thousand Miles;
Cao Yinglong of Wailing Ghosts and Howling Gods!
Just from the doggerel containing the Four Great Bandits' titles, one could tell how cruel and terrifying they were.
According to Lu Miaozi, the Four Great Bandits had originally been roaming bandits active in the southeast, robbing homes and caravans, murdering and setting fires, committing all evils.
At first, they had each operated independently, constantly clashing and feuding with one another. In recent years, however, as Cao Yinglong's ambitions had grown, he had successively overwhelmed the other three bandits and brought them under his command. With tens of thousands gathered beneath him, they had become a force on the southeastern roads that could not be ignored.
This time, the Four Great Bandits surely had an even more terrifying plot than doing business without capital!
At around five in the morning, Ye Weiming and Youyou slipped out of Flying Horse Ranch without alerting anyone. Before they had gone far, they caught two spies sent by the Four Great Bandits.
However, the middle of the night was no time to disturb Shang Xiuxun's pleasant dreams. So Ye Weiming tied up the two spies and temporarily placed them in his room. It was not until breakfast the next morning that he brought them before Shang Xiuxun and had