Lin Mo stood at the bend in the mountain road, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the silent Mountain Stronghold halfway up the mountain.
The outline of Black Wind Stronghold flickered in and out of sight amid the morning mist. Its mixed wood-and-stone walls stood about three zhang high and followed the mountain's contours.
Behind it rose a steep cliff, with only one winding mountain road spiraling upward.
At that moment, only three blurry figures stood on the walls, listlessly leaning against them as they dozed.
"Just as expected, it's practically empty." Lin Yi stood beside Lin Mo, excitement barely suppressed in his voice. "My lord, how should we attack? A frontal assault, or..."
"A frontal assault on what?" Lin Mo glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling into an amused smile. "We're here to take over the property, not tear down the house."
He turned to look behind him at the two captives kneeling on the ground with their hands bound behind their backs—Zhang San and Li Xi.
Both men were deathly pale, trembling all over, their eyes filled with a desperate will to survive.
"Want to live?" Lin Mo crouched down and asked calmly.
"Yes! Grandpa! I absolutely do!" Zhang San hurriedly answered, nodding like a chick pecking at grain. "I have an eighty-year-old mother above me and a three-year-old child below me..."
"Enough." Lin Mo raised a hand to stop his pitiful performance.
"I'll give you a chance. Go to the stronghold gate and call out to the people inside. Tell them to surrender.
"If you manage it, I'll spare your lives, and you can work in the stronghold from now on. If you mess it up..."
"I understand! I understand!" Li Xi hurriedly chimed in. "There are only a few old and weak people left in the stronghold, along with Liu Lao Liu, who handles logistics. They're all cowards!
"As long as we tell them the Great Chieftain is dead, they'll definitely open the gate and surrender!"
"Good." Lin Mo rose to his feet and gave Lin Er a meaningful look.
Lin Er stepped forward and untied the ropes around the two men's bodies, then tied a thin cord around each of their waists, holding the other ends in his hands.
It was a simple "dog leash" to keep them from escaping.
"Zhang San, Li Xi."
Lin Mo looked at the two captives, now untied but still wearing "dog leashes" around their waists. "It's your turn to perform. Call out properly and make the people in the stronghold see reason."
"Yes, yes, yes! Rest assured, my lord!" Zhang San nodded repeatedly, his ingratiating smile practically spilling off his face. "I'll definitely make them open the gate and surrender obediently!"
"Let's go." Lin Mo waved his hand.
The group quietly made their way up the mountain road. When they stopped in an open area about thirty zhang from the stronghold gate, the three old bandits on the walls finally noticed the movement.
"Who goes there?!" A one-armed old bandit abruptly straightened up and squinted down at them.
The next second, he sucked in a sharp breath.
A dense mass of figures filled his vision, all young faces carrying weapons.
Even more startling was the young man at the very front of the group, dressed in fine-iron armor and holding the Mountain Splitting Axe...
"Th-that's the Great Chieftain's armor!" another old bandit with a lame leg cried out. "And the axe! The Mountain Splitting Axe!"
"Could the Great Chieftain have been defeated?!" The third was a hunched old man, his voice trembling. "Look at those two... They're Zhang San and Li Xi! They're being led by ropes!"
The wall instantly erupted into chaos.
The three bandits clung to the battlements, staring fixedly at the approaching group. Each of their faces grew paler than the last.
Just then, Zhang San threw back his head and shouted:
"Brothers inside the stronghold! Don't shoot! It's us! Zhang San and Li Xi!"
As he shouted, he waved both hands forcefully, afraid the people on the wall might not see him clearly.
"Zhang San! You bastards betrayed us?!" the one-armed old bandit roared, though his voice held more terror than anger.
"Brother Wang! Those who recognize the times are heroes!" Li Xi also shouted at the top of his lungs. "The Great Chieftain is dead!! Every brother he took out is dead! These heroes outside... have come to take over the stronghold!"
"Bullshit!" the hunched old man cursed. "The Great Chieftain was a Valiant Soldier! The men he took out were all elites! How could..."
"Look at that armor! Look at that axe!" Zhang San cut him off, his voice thick with sobs. "Brother Wang, see for yourselves! The Great Chieftain's things are all on that man!
"We saw the Great Chieftain's head chopped off with our own eyes! The blood sprayed three chi into the air!"
Silence fell over the wall.
The three old bandits stared fixedly at the iron armor and Mountain Splitting Axe on Lin Mo.
Then they looked at the dozens of identical "Demonic Beings" behind him, their eyes cold and emotionless.
Finally, their gazes fell on Zhang San and Li Xi, being led along like dogs.
The facts spoke louder than words.
"Creak—"
The stronghold gate suddenly opened a crack, and a thin, short old man in his fifties with a goatee poked half his body through.
He was Liu Lao Liu, the steward in charge of logistics within the stronghold.
Liu Lao Liu narrowed his eyes and carefully sized up the group below.
When he saw the armor and weapon on Lin Mo, his pupils suddenly contracted.
"Gulp." Liu Lao Liu swallowed.
He abruptly shoved open the stronghold gate and stumbled out, followed by five bandits who were likewise old or wounded.
When he was still ten zhang from the group, Liu Lao Liu dropped to his knees with a thump and prostrated himself.
"Liu Lao Liu, steward of Black Wind Stronghold, leads the remaining brothers... in welcoming the great lord into the stronghold!"
The five bandits behind him also dropped to their knees, their movements frantic and their postures humble.
Seeing this, the three old bandits on the wall also scrambled down, ran behind Liu Lao Liu, and knelt with their heads bowed low.
The entire process was completed in one smooth motion, so fluid that it almost made one laugh.
Lin Mo stopped, standing before the nine people kneeling across the ground. He planted the Mountain Splitting Axe on the earth, producing a dull, heavy thud.
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