Getting Ready to Hack Someone!

At the dock of Deyang Town, in the hall of a two-courtyard compound, the short, stout middle-aged man who had dealt with Bai Yang and the others reported on the previous events like a grandson bowing his head.

Seated at the head was a gaunt, black-clad middle-aged man, who listened unhurriedly while sipping tea.

He was the steward in charge of dock business for the Che family of Deyang Town. After hearing the fat man's report, he didn't even lift his head and said, "Those useless wretches were butchered by a bunch of mountain folk, and the ones who survived are useless too, right?"

"Yes, Steward."

The short, stout middle-aged man replied.

"Since they were bandits, they deserve to have their heads chopped off. The authorities will surely chop their heads off too, don't you think?"

The middle-aged steward looked up, expressionless, at the fat man.

"Yes, bandits harm mountain folk and commit every evil—they deserve to die."

The fat man broke out in a cold sweat, trembling as he went along.

Because once you lost your value and became useless, you were abandoned, without even a chance to live...!

"And then those mountain folk, wearing sturdy armor, managed to kill nearly ten times their number of bandits without a scratch?"

The middle-aged steward narrowed his eyes at the short, stout man, his tone dark and heavy.

"Steward, there were no mountain folk wearing armor. There never have been such mountain folk, and no one has ever seen them!"

The fat man's forehead was drenched in cold sweat, his gaze turning fierce and icy as he spoke.

"Good, you've got some sense. Remember this: that kind of armor can only be worn by Che family guards. There never were any damn mountain folk in armor. Do I need to teach you that?"

"Your subordinate understands. Those suits of armor and blades will soon be worn by Che family guards!"

The fat man gritted his teeth and said.

The steward nodded, his tone softening slightly, a faint frown on his brow:

"You mentioned earlier, there was also a strangely dressed young man?"

"Yes, your subordinate saw him with his own eyes among those 'dead men,' but he never spoke a single word from start to finish."

"I see. That man never existed either, understand? Go handle your business. I'll wait for your news."

The middle-aged steward tossed a token to the fat man and waved him off.

The fat man clutched the token and left. Soon after, several fast boats departed from the Deyang Town dock, carrying over a hundred black-clad men armed with swords and blades, speeding off in the direction Bai Yang and the others had gone...

Whatever was seen at this dock had to belong to the Che family!

Bai Yang and the villagers made a round trip to the Deyang Town dock and then headed back again...

Ignorance is bliss. Bai Yang finally understood what those words meant.

Seeing the villagers acting like everything was perfectly normal, he laughed—laughed like a madman, tears and snot streaming down his face...

What the hell kind of messed-up world was this? Honest mountain folk were just lambs for the slaughter?

You bastards bully the honest like this—don't you know lightning will strike you down?

Bai Yang's heart felt like a volcano brewing, ready to erupt at any moment.

But he had to endure the torment and force himself to calm down.

He was almost driven to tears by those mountain folk's stupidity, yet at the same time, his heart was filled with sorrow—were fools just meant to be played for fools?

His face dark, staring ahead, his grief turned into blazing rage. Bai Yang felt that if he didn't do something, he'd be struck by lightning!

He didn't claim to be a good man, but he could never do something as black-hearted as the Che family, which practically invited extinction!

"Young master, are you alright?"

Little Cat asked cautiously at Bai Yang's side.

Everyone could see Bai Yang was in a bad mood, but no one knew why...

"I'm fine."

Letting out a deep breath, Bai Yang looked at Little Cat and asked, "Little Cat, if I want to do something that might get a lot of people killed—innocent people—would you blame me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're my young master!"

Little Cat said, staring at Bai Yang with utter seriousness.

Bai Yang laughed, tears streaming down his face. Such a simple, silly girl—how could you be so adorable?

Ignoring the crowd of gawking villagers around him, he lowered his head and kissed Little Cat on the lips...

Hiss...

He sucked in a sharp breath. In his emotional impulse to pull Little Cat into a tight hug, he forgot she was wearing Titanium Alloy Armor and got jabbed.

The surrounding villagers stared wide-eyed, their faces a mix of "what the hell, mouth-to-mouth like that?" and utter bewilderment...

Little Cat's face flushed a little, but she didn't avoid Bai Yang's gaze. Her eyes were watery as she looked at him, her heart racing a bit...

After the raft entered the Mihe Forest waterway, Bai Yang sat on the raft, deep in thought.

"We can't let those black-hearted bastards keep fleecing these ignorant mountain folk. But doing something about it will step on a lot of toes. If you want fairness, you need a hard fist to back it up. Uniting all the mountain folk in Mihe Forest is a must—arm them, and with their knowledge of the forest, no matter how many outsiders come, they'll all kneel. The only real headache is those so-called Martial Artists. That's a tough nut to crack, but tough or not, it's got to be cracked! ...Ah, forget it, I'll figure that out later, step by step."

Honest folk are easy to bully—who told them they can't count? You set the terms for trade, then raise a bunch of bandits to rob them. Do you even have a heart, or is it pitch black?

Some black-hearted scumbags have to pay the price, don't they?

Thinking about it gives him a headache. One move affects the whole game. If he wants to get some benefits for the mountain folk in Mihe Forest, he'll shatter the established order here. One misstep and disaster comes knocking. He could run, but where would the mountain folk go?

He looked up at Zhao Shi and asked:

"How many mountain folk are there in Mihe Forest?"

"A whole lot, young master. Those you saw on the river just now are all mountain folk from the various villages in Mihe Forest, and that's just a tiny fraction."

Zhao Shi answered without a second thought.

Damn it. If that's the case, does the vast Mihe Forest hold at least a few hundred thousand mountain folk?

The stakes are too high. His heart grew heavier by another notch.

"Can you get in touch with those villages?"

"Yes, I can."

Bai Yang understood and nodded, then asked a question that had been bothering him:

"Zhao Shi, tell me—isn't there a single mountain folk in Mihe Forest who knows how to count?"

Those mountain folk had been cheated for who knows how many years, and this was probably the reason.

"Young master, we mountain folk have lived in Mihe Forest for generations. We only come out when we need to trade for daily necessities. There's no place to learn, so no one knows how to count."

Zhao Shi said, a bit lost.

The literacy rate was appallingly low. Not a single one who could count—who else were they going to cheat?

As he grumbled to himself, Bai Yang saw that they were approaching an area crisscrossed with waterways. He stood up, glanced back in the direction of Deyang Town, and said in a low voice:

"Zhao Shi, get everyone ready. Be prepared to cut someone down at any moment."

The villagers were confused. They looked at Bai Yang, not understanding. Why would they need to cut anyone down? There weren't any bandits around.

"Trust me on this," Bai Yang said through gritted teeth.

After seeing those bloodsucking bastards, he finally understood. If the bandits in Mihe Forest weren't connected to that Che family in Deyang Town, he'd eat his own shit live on stream! They'd killed the family's men—of course they'd come for revenge. And the armor they were wearing had probably caught someone's eye too.

Harming others' interests while flaunting something you shouldn't even have—use your ass to think and you'd know nothing good was coming next.

It wasn't that Bai Yang hadn't thought it through. He just hadn't understood the situation here from the start.

"Everyone, listen to my orders..."

(This chapter was a pain to write... begging for recommendation tickets and collections.)