It was a dark, windy night—the perfect night for murder.
Eighty li outside Canglan Prefecture City, deep in Black Wind Ridge.
The mountains here were steep, and strange rocks jutted everywhere. Only one winding, twisting mountain path led to the summit. There stood Fierce Tiger Stockade, a den of greenwood bandits feared by merchants within a hundred-li radius.
It was already deep into the night, yet Fierce Tiger Stockade blazed with lights and echoed with deafening clamor.
Inside the Hall of Loyalty, the sounds of drinking from great bowls and devouring huge chunks of meat rose and fell. Dozens of tables filled the hall, where hundreds of bare-chested bandits, their bodies steeped in murderous intent, were drinking and carousing.
In the central seat of honor sat a giant of a man, burly as a bear and sporting a full beard. He held a kidnapped village girl in his arms and clutched a roast chicken in one hand, eating until grease coated his mouth.
This was Fierce Tiger Stockade's chief, Wang Bantian, nicknamed "Descending Mountain Tiger." His body-cultivation skill had reached the peak of the Bone Refining Realm. In the Black Wind Ridge area, he was a veritable local emperor.
"Chief! That batch of goods the Li Family sent over this time is top-notch!"
Below him, the second-in-command, a sharp-faced man with a crafty look, held up his wine bowl and said obsequiously, "With these weapons, Fierce Tiger Stockade will be stronger than ever! When the time comes, even the escort agencies in the Prefectural City will have to steer clear of us!"
"Hahahaha!"
Wang Bantian threw back his head and roared with laughter. He shoved the woman out of his arms and wiped the grease from his mouth, his eyes glittering with greed and cruelty.
"Those hypocrites from the Li