Black Wind Stockade

"Bandits kill without batting an eye. Even if you have some martial skills, sir, two fists can't beat four hands. How could you possibly fight them?"

Seeing the young man's sword and the woman's complete lack of concern for the Black Wind Stockade bandits outside, the thin shopkeeper worried that the two of them didn't know their own limits and were determined to show off, dragging his little shop into trouble.

"Please hide in the back courtyard for now. I'll do my best to stall them."

Zhang Yu rose and said, "Then thank you, Boss."

The two lifted the curtain and had only just entered the back courtyard when the bandits' shouts came from outside.

"Where's Old Wang? Why hasn't he come out to lead our horses yet? Did that dead woman get scared dumb?"

"Coming, sirs."

Wang Laosan wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, forced a smile, and walked outside.

Eight men stood before the eaves. The bald, burly leader sat on horseback with a fierce look on his face, while the other lackeys carried bundles of all sizes and looked jubilant. Four women were also bound by the hands with ropes. They trembled in the snow like quails, terrified and helpless.

The bandits had clearly just finished a raid. The blood on their blades had yet to dry. Who knew what village had fallen victim this time?

Wang Laosan smiled and stepped forward to take the reins, only to be struck across the head by a whip. A bloody mark instantly appeared on his face. He was long accustomed to this and didn't even dare cry out in pain, merely standing beside the horse's head with lowered brows as he pleaded for forgiveness.

"What took you so long? Don't you welcome our brothers?" Song Chang asked with a laugh.

Wang Laosan hurriedly looked up at Song Chang. His face bore a bizarre mixture of smiles, tears, and blood.

"How could that be? Leader Song has graced my little shop with his presence. I'm so happy I could hardly contain myself."

Song Chang dismounted and flung the reins over the shopkeeper's head. With a half-smile, he said, "Is that so? I thought you'd taken on some other honored guests and looked down on our brothers."

Wang Laosan patted his chest. "Leader Song is the most honored guest my little shop could ever receive. Even if the county magistrate came, he'd have to wait his turn."

"I hope your words match what's in your heart!"

Song Chang laughed and lifted the door curtain. Six men swarmed inside, leaving two bandits outside to guard the horses and women.

He looked around the shop and noticed that one table had no bowls or chopsticks, but there were traces of wine on it. He gave a signal, and a lackey immediately went outside and dragged Wang Laosan inside by the scruff of his neck like a chick.

Song Chang sat boldly on the long bench, rubbed his bald head, and said with a laugh, "Boss Wang, where are the guests? Hurry and invite them out. Don't let our brothers disturb your business."

Wang Laosan smiled obsequiously. "Replying to Leader Song, there were two guests, but they left some time ago."

Song Chang sneered. "The people left, but their horses stayed?"

Wang Laosan replied, "I heard they went to Seven-Bend Creek. Riding there would be inconvenient, so they're temporarily leaving their horses at the shop."

Song Chang burst out laughing. "Wang Laosan, you're not being honest! Brothers, search the place!"

The bandits rushed into the back courtyard and began searching, kicking chests and smashing cabinets. They found no wealthy marks carrying fine horses, but they did pull Wang Laosan's wife—a mute woman—from the woodpile.

A lackey reported, "Big Brother Song, we also found plenty of cured beef, smoked goose, white-flour cakes, and three huge pots of rice in the kitchen."

Song Chang stared at the mute woman, who still possessed some beauty, and smiled. "Wang Laosan, who were you preparing all this food for?"

Wang Laosan gave a bitter smile. "Of course, it was prepared... to entertain Leader Song."

"In that case, I won't be polite."

Song Chang pulled the mute woman into his arms. She struggled desperately, but could only make muffled sounds and couldn't utter a complete word. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked toward her husband.

"Leader Song, please let her go. She's only a mute." Wang Laosan fell to his knees with a thump, tears and snot streaming down his face as he begged bitterly.

"Let her go? I'll let her go right now."

Song Chang laughed and reached out with his demonic hand, tearing open the mute woman's clothes and exposing a large expanse of snow-white skin. The bandit lackeys began jeering, urging Big Brother Song to take the woman on the spot. She looked at Wang Laosan in despair and shook her head frantically.

Just then, several screams suddenly came from outside.

Song Chang's expression changed slightly. He shoved the woman away, drew his iron saber, and charged outside.

The tall woman pulled the fire tongs from the bandit's chest. The bandit fell, and two red flowers bloomed across the snow.

These bandit lackeys were far weaker than the disciples of the Dragon Scale Association and Wild Wolf Gang. They were barely stronger than ordinary people, waving their blades around wildly without any method or system.

A black-robed swordsman stood beside the woman who had killed the men with the fire tongs. When he saw Song Chang come out, he gave him a chilling smile.

Song Chang's hand trembled uncontrollably around his saber. He knew he had encountered a tough opponent.

"I am Song Chang of Black Wind Stockade. May I ask which hero you are? Why have you come here to make fun of me?"

"I'm not joking!"

Zhang Yu walked up to the six Black Wind Stockade bandits.

"Put down your weapons!"

Song Chang asked in a trembling voice, "If we put down our weapons, can we live?"

"Not necessarily..."

Song Chang clenched his teeth. "Then... then why should I just wait here to die?"

For the sake of a professional bandit leader's dignity, he raised his iron saber and charged forward. The result was naturally without suspense. The woman swung her fire tongs and smashed the skulls of five bandits in succession, leaving only Song Chang.

The four women knelt in the snow. Seeing the villains who had killed their fathers, husbands, and sons punished, they felt both grief and satisfaction.

Inside the shop.

Wang Laosan held his mute wife and sobbed softly. With so many Black Wind Stockade bandits dead, the inn he had maintained through countless humiliations could no longer continue. He could only pack up his valuables and leave his home behind.

Song Chang knelt before the table. Compared with his earlier viciousness, he seemed like a completely different person. "I'll do anything! I only ask that you spare my life!"

Zhang Yu nodded. "We won't kill you. We just have a few questions."

Driven by the faint hope of survival, Song Chang spilled everything about his stronghold like beans from a bamboo tube.

Black Wind Stockade stood on Cloud Mist Mountain, thirty li east of Bailuo County. It had originally been formed by a group of tenant farmers who had failed in a rebellion against rent. The group had gradually grown, gathering two hundred lackeys. More than fifty seasoned bandits also held positions above the ordinary lackeys.

The stockade lord was Cao Long, nicknamed the Mountain-Drilling Centipede. He wielded a hundred-and-twenty-jin solid iron fork. Ordinary groups of seven or eight men couldn't get close to him, and he was quite renowned around Cloud Mist Mountain.

The eight leaders often followed orders to lead teams down the mountain to plunder property and women. Their merits and punishments were calculated according to how much they obtained. The authorities lacked the strength to suppress them, while wealthy households gathered forces to protect themselves. The only ones who suffered were the common people.

Zhao Xia was puzzled. Her Xuanhua Great Axe was a typical heavy weapon and weighed only around sixty jin, so she said, "A hundred-and-twenty-jin iron fork? What is Cao Long's background?"

Zhang Yu was also somewhat surprised. With a late-stage Dan Energy martial cultivation, lifting a hundred-jin object was naturally no problem, but using it as a weapon while wielding it with ease was another matter.

Weapons valued lightness, agility, and suitability. Forcing a small horse to pull a large cart was no different from joking with one's own life.

Song Chang still held Cao Long in awe, and terror appeared in his eyes. "The great stockade lord came from a blacksmithing background and has formidable martial skills. I saw it with my own eyes—he lifted a stone block weighing several hundred jin with one hand and threw it over his head. He's incredibly powerful!"

Zhang Yu couldn't help frowning. "How are Black Wind Stockade's defenses?"

"Cao Long's fifty personal veteran brothers rarely leave the stockade. The others take turns going down the mountain to raid villages. There are at least a hundred guards. Beside the stockade gate are two wooden towers with ten archers between them. They're all veteran brothers who used to be hunters or deserters. Their leader is Chen Wu, who's quite skilled with a bow and rarely comes down the mountain."

Zhang Yu thought for a moment. There was nothing else he wanted to ask, so he said, "Get lost."

"Thank you, hero, for sparing my life. Thank you, hero, for sparing my life." Song Chang hurriedly kowtowed and expressed his gratitude. Before he could raise his head, he felt his body jolt, followed by intense pain.

Zhao Xia flung the fire tongs, smashing both of Song Chang's shoulder blades, then kicked him from behind and broke one of his legs.

Song Chang fell to the ground and snarled through clenched teeth, "You... you went back on your word!"

Zhang Yu tossed Song Chang's saber with a clang in front of Wang Laosan. "I promised not to kill him myself. Whether he lives or dies is up to you and your wife."

Wang Laosan still held his wife, lost in thought.

Upon hearing this, Song Chang immediately began wriggling forward. Using his one remaining good leg, he desperately crawled toward the door and squeezed out through a corner of the curtain.

"Ah!"

Wang Laosan roared, picked up the saber, and rushed outside, only to see that Song Chang was already dead, his blood staining the snow red. The four young women who had been abducted by the bandits were covered in blood and still hacking at Song Chang again and again. No one knew how many blows they had struck; the blades had all been nicked and rolled.

"Die!"

His eyes red, Wang Laosan walked over. He raised the saber and brought it down, cleanly severing the bandit leader's head from his neck. Only then did the four women seem to break free of a spell. They released their weapons and collapsed onto the ground.

The two walked outside and looked toward the trough, where three horses were drinking water and eating fodder together.

Zhao Xia said worriedly, "A stone block weighing several hundred jin... My lord, if that's true, could Cao Long be a Qi Sea Realm expert?"

Zhang Yu looked at Song Chang, whose eyes remained open in death, and shook his head. "A Qi Sea Realm expert could establish a sect in the martial world. Why would he humble himself by hiding in a mountain stockade and becoming a bandit leader who had to stay out of sight?"

Zhao Xia asked, "What do you mean, my lord?"

"I'll personally go to Cloud Mist Mountain and investigate."