The Monster Blocking the Way

At the foot of Cloud Mist Mountain, two great streams flowed past. The locals called the one to the east Flood Dragon Stream and the one to the west Magpie Stream. When the weather grew hot, water vapor rose and gathered in the mountain as vast white mist that never dispersed.

Though it was deep winter, the temperature in the mountains remained relatively high. The swift-flowing Flood Dragon Stream had not yet completely frozen over.

Two people dressed in straw rain capes were hoeing the soil in a tea plantation beside the stream, turning up pests that had burrowed underground to survive the winter so they could freeze to death naturally.

When all things revived in spring and the pests diminished, the quality of the tea leaves would improve.

As the old man straightened his back to rest, he suddenly saw a young man walking this way across the snow. He seemed to be heading toward Cloud Mist Mountain.

The man wore a black robe. His features were refined, and he kept glancing around, looking like an outsider who had just arrived.

When the man drew near, the old man called out a warning. "Young man, don't go any farther."

The man came over and saluted him. "Old sir, why can't I go any farther?"

The old man asked, "You're from out of town, aren't you?"

The man in black clasped his hands. "This junior is from Shuntian Prefecture. My family is in business. I heard Bailuo County produces a famous Cloud Mist tea with excellent sales, so I came here especially to investigate."

The younger man stopped his work as well and sighed. "Alas, every year we see several tea merchants like you come to Cloud Mist Mountain without knowing what's going on, only to fail to make a deal and lose their lives. My father has a kind heart, which is why he warned you not to go into the mountains."

The man in black asked in surprise, "Could it be that a gang of monsters blocking the road lives in Cloud Mist Mountain too?"

A bitter smile appeared on the old man's face. He lowered his voice. "They aren't monsters, but they're not much different."

"What are they, then?"

The younger man sneered. "Demon kings who kill people, Yama who comes to claim their lives!"

The old man waved his hand and said in a low voice, "There's no harm in telling you. There's a Black Wind Stockade in the mountains. Its leader is called 'Earth-Drilling Centipede' Cao Long. He wields a steel fork weighing more than five hundred pounds. Once he starts swinging it, no one can stand against him."

"He leads several hundred bandits who occupy Cloud Mist Mountain, rob homes, and commit every evil under the sun. Even the authorities don't dare oppose them. Everything within ten li belongs to him. If you go into the mountains, wouldn't that be like a fat sheep walking into a wolf's den?"

The man in black asked doubtfully, "A steel fork weighing more than five hundred pounds? Is this Cao Long really that powerful?"

The old man said, "Would I lie to you? He once carried a huge stone block down from the mountain with one hand and walked all the way to Flood Dragon Stream before throwing it into the water. I wasn't the only one who saw it. Judging by that, the fellow must weigh at least... four or five hundred pounds."

The younger man hated the bandits of Black Wind Stockade intensely, but whenever he recalled that horrifying scene, he could only seethe in silence.

The man in black asked, "With Black Wind Stockade so powerful, how can you still cultivate tea here in peace, old sir?"

"That's a long story."

The old man sighed. "Cloud Mist Mountain was originally a blessed land. Tea plantations and medicinal gardens stood everywhere, and it even produced famous varieties like Cloud Mist Immortal Tea and Cloud Mist Silver Hair."

"Ever since the bandits appeared, all those tea plantations and medicinal gardens were abandoned."

"Then, two years ago, Master Huang approached Black Wind Stockade. He paid several thousand taels in land rent each year to take over all the abandoned tea plantations and medicinal gardens at the foot of Cloud Mist Mountain, and hired people to cultivate them again."

"We long-term workers of Master Huang's household are generally left alone by the bandits."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. It seemed that Cloud Mist Mountain truly was a treasure land, provided he wiped out this Black Wind Stockade. Using this place as a base, he could advance to attack Pingyang City, retreat to establish a stockade and protect himself, then slowly develop and build up his strength.

As for 'Earth-Drilling Centipede' Cao Long?

If he really was a Qi Sea Realm expert, he would indeed be troublesome.

Zhang Yu felt that the various rumors were too deliberate. He would have to see for himself just how much weight this expert who loved showing off his strength in public could lift.

After thanking the father and son, Zhang Yu continued toward Cloud Mist Mountain. Naturally, he did not take the mountain path patrolled by the underlings. Instead, he used Flowing Clouds and Water to circle through the forests on either side. Whenever he encountered cliffs or steep slopes, he cast out the prepared grappling claw and lightly climbed up.

"The terrain is indeed perilous. If the people in the stockade took care to set traps, snares, poisoned spikes, and the like throughout the forest, even a martial artist would have to shed a layer of skin to escape."

Half an hour later, Zhang Yu poked his head out from a steep cliff and quietly observed.

A wooden stockade stood on the flat ground at the mountaintop.

A wooden plaque hung above the stockade gate, bearing the three bold, roughly written characters 'Black Wind Stockade' in thick ink.

Beside it stood two wooden watchtowers, six or seven meters tall. A bronze gong hung from each, while two underlings stood atop the towers, watching the mountain path directly facing the stockade gate.

The other three walls of the stockade were even more crude. They were made from logs roughly two meters long and were only slightly sturdier than a fence.

However, a large force attacking the mountain could only come up along the path before the stockade gate. The other sides were all sheer cliffs, so they had never been the main focus of the defenses.

"Open the gate! We're back!"

"Leader Wang, we robbed so many foot-warmers. How about giving one to your little brother first?"

"Have you grown tired of living? The main leader has to inspect all the foot-warmers we bring back first. That's the rule. If you want to die, go die by yourself. Don't drag me down with you!"

"Your little brother was only joking. Why take Leader Wang so seriously?"

"Wu the Second, you already have seven young wives, and you're still thinking about that? Aren't you afraid of exhausting yourself and dying young?"

A group of bandits who had gone down the mountain to raid the villages returned with a full haul, swaggering and shouting as they entered the stockade gate.

Zhang Yu used the grappling claw to return to the bottom of the cliff. After eating two white-flour cakes, he put on the Green Jade Thumb Ring and began circulating his energy through the meridians.

He had practiced internal cultivation for only a short time, and his foundation was shallow. Though he had encountered some fortuitous opportunities, obtaining profound internal power still depended on his own efforts, so he never gave up on using any available time.

After completely digesting the remaining effects of the Golden Monkey Wine in his meridians, Zhang Yu smoothly broke through to the second layer of the Flying Cloud Divine Skill.

In a martial world like this, blades and swords were order, while strength and weakness were the rules. Every additional measure of strength meant one more hope of staying alive.

Night fell, and a full moon rose over the snowy sky.

A black shadow quietly vaulted over the two-meter-high stockade wall and landed in the snow, making only the faintest sound.

From the outside, the place had seemed passable enough, but Black Wind Stockade was extremely lax within. The hastily built wooden houses were as crude as shacks. Excrement was scattered everywhere, and Zhang Yu stepped in shit several times. There was not a single person standing guard or patrolling. He did not know whether they had simply made no arrangements or were hiding indoors to escape the cold.

The few rooms with lights on were either hosting gambling games or groups drinking and making merry. From time to time, the screams and wails of women could be heard, but they were quickly drowned out by the bandits' wanton laughter.

"They're only a band of bandits, after all. Those two watchtowers are probably the full extent of their wisdom."

Zhang Yu sneered inwardly. Having occupied Cloud Mist Mountain, they had become nothing more than low-class thugs who survived by raiding villages and collecting land rent. There was indeed a reason for that. Judging by the chaos before him, the main leader was probably nothing special either.

In the middle of Black Wind Stockade stood a three-story wooden building lit by lamps, completely different from the low wooden huts around it.

"That should be the residence of the stockade leader, Earth-Drilling Centipede."