Sincerity Unbroken

Li Banfeng squatted by the mountain road for a whole day, looting several cartloads of grain, livestock, cloth, and daily necessities.

When Li Banfeng took away a cartload of odd jobs, he even exchanged some thoughts with the farmer he had robbed:

"Look at this Snow Cream, the quality is clearly subpar. I'm an expert in this area; the Peddler is my junior apprentice!"

Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying pushed the cart back and forth into the cave, carrying food, drink and other necessities.

The children ate until their bellies were round, Xiao Yeci took out a needle, thread and tape measure from the pile of sundries to make clothes for them.

These children only had one set of clothes, which were covered in mud when they ran away. They had been hiding in the deep mountains and forests for more than a month, and their clothes were full of holes. They hadn't had time to sew them up or wash them, so they looked really tattered.

This was done quite well; Li Banfeng retrieved so much fabric to make clothes for the children.

After dinner, Li Banfeng asked each of the children about their origins.

A child Xiao Suo was playing outside in the yard when he met Medicine Candy. The seller said that business was good that day and he would give Xiao Suo candy for free, asking him to support the business.

After eating the candy, Xiao Suo felt dizzy. The Medicine Candy told him to follow, so he followed and eventually got onto the carriage.

Once they were on the carriage, they wanted to go home, but they couldn't. If they dared to move, the candy seller would beat them to death.

Several other children had very similar experiences; some encountered sugar makers, some encountered Shadow Play, and some encountered puppeteers.

These are all common methods used by Jiang Xiang Gang to abduct children. Li Banfeng has heard of similar things in both Outer State and Pro State.

The remaining children were sent here by their parents, which Li Banfeng couldn't understand.

Their parents were from out of town and couldn't afford to settle down in Jingde Village, so they used all their savings to send their child to Jingde Village, hoping that their child could receive the education of a sage and have the opportunity to make a name for himself.

Don't your parents come to visit you?

The young children remained silent.

An older child shouted, "My dad came once. I told him I wanted to go home, and he slapped me twice. I've never seen him since."

Children who grow up here are used to being tortured.

Children who are abducted are forced to suffer.

What about the children who were brought here voluntarily by their parents?

Li Banfeng was deep in thought when he suddenly heard Lu Chunying shout, "Mom, those scoundrels are stealing food again!"

As soon as Li Banfeng stepped outside, he saw a dozen teenagers standing in the distance, confronting Lu Chunying.

A boy of about thirteen or fourteen, holding a bamboo stick, shouted at Lu Chunying, "We don't need to waste our breath arguing with a mere errand boy like you. Tell your boss to come out and talk!"

Xiao Yeci walked out of the cave.

The young man clasped his hands in a fist salute to Xiao Yeci and said, "When you travel the martial world, you carry the banner of your Grandmaster and rely on the loyalty that is as heavy as a mountain."

"Big sister, you're really good at making money! You've eaten all the delicacies imaginable, so please give your junior brothers a bowl of soup!"

The others followed behind, making a ruckus. Xiao Yeci both angry and annoyed. Looking at these children, she didn't know how to respond for a moment, "Oh, you little rascals, you're out stealing things, and you're talking so rudely!"

Li Banfeng emerged from the cave and responded earnestly, "Which line are you referring to, the 'side-by-side' ones on the box?"

Upon seeing Li Banfeng, the group of teenagers shrank back a notch.

They didn't know what level of cultivation Li Banfeng possessed, but seeing an adult man inevitably filled them with fear.

The leader of the children, mustering his courage, replied, "We are disciples of Seventh Lord. If you haven't heard of Seventh Lord, come and ask around at our house!"

Seventh Lord?

Li Banfeng paused for a moment, then, considering the child's accent, asked, "Are you from Sea Eat Ridge?"

The child nodded and said, "Grandpa has a good eye!"

Li Banfeng said, "Let's throw a vine!"

After thinking for a while, the child answered, "Horns, horns..."

Li Banfeng smiled.

He probably meant to say "horned vine".

"Your surname is Niu. Do you know Pancake Village?" Almost every family in Pancake Village has the surname Niu.

The child nodded and said, "I'm from Pancake Village, my name is Niu Guangda!"

Do you know Niu Fuzhi?

"The Niu family is a good man, blessed with good fortune and ambition. That's my uncle."

Li Banfeng smiled.

How did this kid end up in this place?

"Were you kidnapped by human traffickers?"

Niu Guangda shook his head and said, "I was sent here by my father. He said he wanted me to learn real skills."

Li Banfeng looked at the other children. "Did these children come with you?"

"They weren't from Pancake Village, but like me, they were sent to Jingxian Village by their parents."

Jingxian Village, these are children who escaped from another village.

Li Banfeng nodded. "Call all of you over; there's food here!"

Niu Guangda hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Sir, may I ask your name?"

Xiao Yeci pulled Li Banfeng aside. "My Benefactor, the world is dangerous. There are some things you can't easily tell others."

Should you tell others easily?

Do you know my name?

Xiao Yeci was just like them; she didn't know Li Banfeng's name either.

Li Banfeng looked at Niu Guangda and said, "My surname is En, and my name is Benefactor."

His surname is En...

Niu Guangda turned to look at the children beside him. "Has any of you studied the Hundred Family Surnames? Does anyone know the surname 'En'?"

That night, Niu Guangda took more than a dozen children and stayed in the cave next door. Li Banfeng gave them a lot of food, but also explained the reasons to them.

"The food and drink aren't free; you'll all have to work for me tomorrow."

Niu Guangda, a sensible young man, straightened his back and said to Li Banfeng, "We all understand the principle of 'no reward without merit.' Without your Benefactor, even if we survive today, we'll starve to death tomorrow."

"Since Benefactor have given the order, we entrust our lives to Benefactor. Whether it's climbing mountains of knives or plunging into seas of fire, it's all up to Benefactor."

Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng remained silent for a moment before saying, "There are two things I need to make clear to you."

First and foremost, your lives are your own; don't entrust them to anyone else.

Secondly, don't make promises about going through fire and water lightly. Just do what you can. Don't belittle your promises, and don't belittle yourself. Do you understand?

Niu Guangda didn't quite understand, so Li Banfeng tried to be as straightforward as possible. "Tomorrow I'm going out to do some legitimate business. Have you ever done anything like robbery?"

Niu Guangda dared not boast.

A young man standing nearby, named Fang Lianfu, with bright, piercing eyes, looked at Li Banfeng and said, "My Benefactor, we've considered robbery before..."

Niu Guangda kicked Fang Lianfu, saying that it was as if we only dared to think about it but dared not do anything.

"My Benefactor, we can do legitimate business. I'll bring a few brave guys with me, and you can just give us some pointers from the side."

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "You don't understand who you should rob, and who you can rob. When it comes to actually fighting, it won't be your turn."

Find a few strong men who can push the cart and wait on the hillside. Once I've finished my business, I'll go and bring the things back. If you can get this done, then you haven't let me down.

The next day, Li Banfeng led his men to rob people on the mountain road again. They robbed people for three days in a row, and the news spread to dozens of surrounding villages.

Most villagers dared not go up the mountain alone, but their devotion to the saint could not be broken.

If the intention is broken, the sincerity is broken. Without sincerity, how can there be any hope of pursuing education?

After discussing it, the villagers decided that the six villages should unite and send sixty able-bodied men to escort the villagers up the mountain to deliver the grain.

These six villages made a grand display of strength, preparing a banquet the day before their departure to send off the sixty strong men.

On the day of departure, each of the six villages raised a large flag to lead the way for the procession. The six flags were inscribed with the names of the villages: "Jingde", "Jingxian", "Mu Sheng", "Mingde", "Sixian", and "Huaien".

Standing behind the banner were six middle-aged men, all carefully selected from the village. They were worldly-wise, perceptive, and experienced in the ways of the world.

As they set off, the burly men shouted, "He wu!"

People in the martial arts world call themselves "Lao He," which means, "We're martial arts people; know your place!"

Sixty people formed two teams to protect the villagers who were transporting food and supplies in the middle.

As we crossed the bridge, a middle-aged man standing in the front row shouted, "Hanging the beam, hemp rope, let's do it!"

This sentence has two meanings. First, it tells his people to hurry up, as there might be an ambush in this place.

Secondly, it serves as a warning to the thieves who have set up an ambush: we are experts and have long been prepared.

When it's time to go up the mountain, shout again, "Dangzi, put it together, put it together!"

The meaning is the same as before.

After crossing a hill without incident, the villagers transporting the grain sighed, "To make it in the world, you must understand the rules of the martial arts world; you can't just rely on brute force."

These burly men, seasoned veterans of the martial world, felt a sense of pride. The disciples of the sage usually looked down on people like them, but now that they were able to lend a hand to the sage, they could say they had earned some face.

There was another mountain ahead. After resting for a while, the group climbed the mountain path, maintaining their formation without any loosening.

Halfway down the mountain path, dozens of beautiful young women suddenly appeared and walked down the mountain.

A burly man shouted, "The crowd in the swamp is huge! Join them, join us!"

This means there are many people on the other side, so be careful!

This is really the way people in the world do it, and they don't take it lightly just because the woman coming across from them is a woman.

Several burly men ordered the villagers to make way for the group of women.

The women stopped in front of the crowd, smiling, and refused to leave.

The villagers of these villages had all been taught by sages, so they naturally wouldn't fall for a honey trap. The burly man in the lead stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Our Grandmaster has blessed us with a meal. You sisters have eaten your way through the world, but I, your brother, will only eat one. Please leave me a meal."

The women did not leave, but instead drew their weapons.

The burly man frowned; it seemed that this argument wouldn't work today.

"Sisters, do we really have to break the ice today? Polite words won't work, so let's get started. You're all experts, and we're no pushovers either. Let's get started, everyone grab your weapons..."

Bang!

A young woman swung a stick and knocked the burly man down.

Dozens of girls stepped forward and started hitting him on the head with sticks.

These girls are paper figures created by Li Banfeng. In front of cultivators, they can't be said to be able to fight; they can only play a restraining role.

Seeing such a large formation on the other side today, Li Banfeng assumed there must be at least a few cultivators among them.

Who would have thought that these people were all White Lamb?

The girls fought for more than a minute, and all sixty strong men, along with a group of villagers, were driven away.

Li Banfeng collected all the paper figures, took them back to his Portable Abode, and let them disintegrate on their own.

Niu Guangda, along with several teenagers, followed Li Banfeng's instructions and went up the mountain to collect dozens of truckloads of goods.

These villages have spent a fortune, but they still can't get the goods out. They should give up now, right?

Three days later, more than two hundred people arrived to escort the grain and supplies up the mountain.

This time, the people who came were not burly men, but elderly people over sixty years old.

As the old men climbed the mountain, they shouted, "Heroes of the Green Forest Path, we're all dead meat. If you have the heart to do it, then rob us!"

Li Banfeng laughed in exasperation.

How much kindness has this saint shown you?

What's the point of asking these elderly people to go up the mountain?

Looking at the group of elderly people, Li Banfeng sighed and said, "Alright, considering your advanced age, I'll accept this filial piety on behalf of my son!"

P. S.: Ban Feng is a very honest person.