This Person Is a Bit Unscrupulous

Monkey glossed over the issue of the girl being pregnant: "I've thought about it. But I was seriously injured back then, and it took me half a year to recover. I'm grateful for the villagers' care. Later, when the crops ripened, I witnessed the bandit soldiers looting firsthand. It was really outrageous. The soldiers here are no different from bandits; they basically come to rob us every time the crops are harvested."

Niu Youdao understood his feelings, knowing that Monkey was a former special forces soldier and had some sort of complex. If he hadn't inadvertently helped Monkey's widowed old mother with her old age, medical care, and funeral, Monkey, with his abilities, probably wouldn't have defected to someone like him. After all, Niu Youdao was on a different path. Monkey followed him purely to repay what his unfilial son owed his mother, and later, they gradually developed a brotherhood.

"Later, I thought, I might not find you if I went out. I figured you'd eventually come back to this village to take a look, just like you said you wanted to come back to repay a favor. So, I decided to wait for you here. I also need to repay the villagers. To prevent them from being robbed repeatedly, I stayed and organized training for the villagers. Also, my physical condition wasn't great, so I took these years to strengthen my body. Otherwise, with how chaotic the world is now, if I ran out without any self-preservation ability, I wouldn't even know how I died when something happened."

Niu Youdao nodded. They both understood each other, and it seemed their reunion was inevitable.

"What about you?" Monkey gestured with his chin towards Shang Chaozong and the others, "What's the situation? They came with you, but they don't seem very friendly towards you."

"Heh!" Niu Youdao looked back and realized he had left those people behind. He patted Monkey's back, "Come, let me introduce you."

He brought Monkey over and introduced Shang Chaozong and the others to him. Then he introduced Monkey, "This is my good brother, his name is..." He scratched his head and asked Monkey, "What's your name again?" He had forgotten to ask his current name just now.

Lan Ruoting and the others almost dropped their jaws. Your good brother, and you don't know his name? Their camaraderie was clearly extraordinary, how could they be so deceitful? This person sent by the Shangqing Sect was a bit unethical!

Monkey calmly scanned everyone, "Yuan Gang!"

"Oh! Right, Yuan Gang. I've been away from the village for too long, I forgot your name." Niu Youdao turned back and gave an embarrassed smile to everyone, "My memory isn't very good."

Whether everyone believed him or not was another matter, but they were all carefully observing Yuan Gang. Their gazes subconsciously fell on the daggers tied to his forearms and thighs. His clothing looked like that of a villager from a remote mountain, but his demeanor was clearly not. The obvious look in his eyes that didn't take them seriously was evident.

It would be strange if ordinary villagers from the mountains weren't trembling with fear seeing their entourage, how could they be so calm? A Prince! Don't they know what a Prince is? Shang Chaozong and the others exchanged glances, their hearts filled with suspicion. Could it be that everyone from this village was like this?

Thinking of this, they became somewhat curious and really wanted to see what kind of village this was.

"Tell your people not to move rashly, or don't blame me for being impolite!" Yuan Gang stared at Shang Chaozong and warned him coldly.

The guards around Shang Chaozong immediately showed anger and were about to react, but Shang Chaozong reached out and stopped them.

Yuan Gang gave the guard a disdainful look, turned around, put two fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle.

Immediately, there was movement in the nearby mountains. Five or six young men ran out one after another, approaching cautiously, clearly fearful of the soldiers.

Lan Ruoting and the others exchanged glances again, feeling that this reaction was more like villagers.

"Brother Gangzi, who are these?" the leading young man asked tentatively.

Yuan Gang pointed at Niu Youdao: "Da Bang, go back and tell the village that Niu Youdao is back, I'm not going back, I'm leaving with him. You guys will look after the house according to my instructions from now on. There shouldn't be any problems." Without consulting Niu Youdao, he made the decision for him, not going back to the village!

Niu Youdao nodded slightly and smiled at the few people. He understood Yuan Gang's intention; he didn't want outsiders to enter the village and probe its secrets. As for leaving with him, that was only right.

"Niu Youdao?" Da Bang was stunned, staring at Niu Youdao from head to toe, then his face lit up with surprise, "Ah! Brother Dao, it's really you! You've become rich. Not to mention Brother Gangzi, I wouldn't have recognized you. Brother Dao, I'm Da Bang, the Da Bang who used to play behind your heels!"

"Me too, I'm Meng Zi!"

"Brother Dao, I'm Xiao Gouzi..."

"I'm Da Wan, Brother Dao, where have you been all these years? You disappeared back then, and the village searched everywhere for you. Later, someone came to the village to inquire about you, and someone even saw you in the city..."

Several young men crowded around, shouting one after another, appearing extremely happy.

Someone came to the village to inquire? Someone in the village saw me in the city? Niu Youdao was taken aback, then guessed something, and laughed heartily, pointing at all the young people who had crowded around, "Da Bang, Meng Zi, Xiao Gouzi..." He called out all their self-introduced names. "I remember all of you. Da Wan almost drowned when he went fishing with me in the river..." He didn't recognize any of them, so he made up stories about things mountain village boys might do.

Yuan Gang's mouth twitched. He realized that Master Dao was still the same Master Dao!

Da Wan nodded happily, "Yes, yes!" But in his heart, he wondered, we did go fishing, but did we almost drown?

"Brother Dao, since you're back, aren't you going to see the village? Brother Gangzi said you're leaving, where are you going?" Da Bang asked curiously, completely unaware of what Yuan Gang meant by leaving. In their impression, people from this village couldn't go very far.

Yuan Gang: "To see the outside world. Don't ask so many questions."

It was evident that Yuan Gang had considerable prestige among the young men. When he said this, they stopped asking.

Da Bang scratched his head, "Brother Gangzi, can you take us out to see the world too?"

"It's chaotic outside. Staying in the village and living well is better than anything else. We'll see about other things later." Yuan Gang said, then turned to Niu Youdao, "Do you have money?"

Niu Youdao nodded towards his horse, "In the bag. I was just about to send it to the village."

Yuan Gang walked over, reached into the bag, and pulled out a money pouch. He shook it in his hand, and it jingled. He walked back, opened the money pouch, and saw a pile of gold, silver, and copper coins. The gold and silver were cast in the shape of copper coins, with gold coins being more numerous, shining dazzlingly.

"Wow!" The young men had never seen so much money before and crowded around, all wanting to touch it, showing a clear greed for wealth.

Yuan Gang pulled the drawstring of the money pouch tight, tied it, and threw it to Da Bang, reminding him: "Give this money to the village elders to keep collectively. Tell them that although there's a lot of money, don't go out and buy things randomly. The outside world is in turmoil, and showing off wealth can easily bring disaster to the village. Only use it for urgent needs or essential purchases. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Lan Ruoting and the other two exchanged glances again, their gazes towards Yuan Gang becoming even more interested.

Niu Youdao also nodded, "Yes, if you spend it carelessly, don't blame me for asking the village to repay the money later. My money was earned through hard work, meant to solve problems, not for people to spend carelessly."

The young men nodded repeatedly. Da Bang patted his chest, "Don't worry, Brother Dao. We know earning money is not easy. Your willingness to give so much money to the village is a kind gesture, we won't spend it carelessly. We'll explain it clearly when we get back."

Niu Youdao chuckled, "That's good."

Yuan Gang waved his hand, "Alright, you can all go back now."

His words were quite effective. The young men obeyed and left, waving goodbye with backward glances, "Brother Gangzi, Brother Dao, we're going back now. You two come back soon!"

Niu Youdao smiled and waved. Yuan Gang stood straight, watching them go.

After they disappeared, Yuan Gang turned to Niu Youdao and said, "Let's go!"

Lan Ruoting, sitting on his horse, smiled and said, "Brother Yuan, can you ride a horse?"

Niu Youdao turned his head and chuckled, "Let alone riding a horse, he can even operate an airplane and a tank."

"Airplane? Tank?"

Lan Ruoting, Shang Chaozong, and Shang Shuqing exclaimed in unison, all dumbfounded and extremely bewildered. The three looked at each other, thinking they had misheard. Only when they saw the confused looks on the others' faces did they realize they hadn't misheard.

"What are airplanes and tanks?" Shang Shuqing asked.

Yuan Gang remained expressionless, showing no reaction.

Niu Youdao realized he'd let slip too much and chuckled, "Just country things, you wouldn't be interested, so let's not talk about them."

"It's we who are ignorant," Shang Shuqing replied with a hint of regret. Seeing that he didn't want to elaborate, she didn't press further.

Lan Ruoting, however, gestured towards the end of the mountain path. "Since the pháp sư has returned to his hometown, won't you go back for a visit?"

Yuan Gang, unwilling to engage with them, responded coldly, "Every time the imperial troops come, they raid the village. Villagers can't handle such grand spectacles."

Everyone understood the implication of his words. Lan Ruoting and Shang Chaozong's expressions grew serious, not out of anger, but because they fully grasped the meaning. Not to mention past events, just the journey they had taken so far had shown them many of the tragic situations Yuan Gang described.

However, one of Shang Chaozong's guards was enraged. He pointed his whip at Yuan Gang and shouted, "How dare you! How can a Prince…"

Yuan Gang shot him a cold glance, and Shang Chaozong let out a hum, signaling the man to be quiet.

Seeing the awkward turn, Niu Youdao quickly smoothed things over with a cheerful tone, "Mainly, we don't want to delay the Prince's journey for trivial personal matters. It's fine if we don't go, it's fine."

Shang Chaozong turned back and said, "Get Brother Yuan a horse!" It was clear that, at first impression, he felt more favorably towards Yuan Gang than Niu Youdao. The reason was simple: at a single glance, he recognized in Yuan Gang the bearing of the Yingyang Guard and Wulie Guard, making him feel a sense of kinship. This Niu Youdao, on the other hand, seemed to speak with no truth, not like a good person at all.

Soon after, someone brought a mount. Yuan Gang took the reins and mounted the horse with clean, swift movements.

Lan Ruoting and the others clearly paid attention, recognizing that Yuan Gang was not like an ordinary villager; he was quite experienced in handling horses.

Shang Chaozong made a gesture, and the group halted their advance. The rear guard became the vanguard, and they turned back.