Wild Wolf Valley

After handling the matter concerning the chieftain's wife, Lin Mo, guided by Liu Lao Liu, began searching the rooms of the Three Leaders one by one.

"Please come this way, my lord!" Liu Lao Liu bowed as he led the way, his steps light.

The rooms of the Three Leaders were all in the North Courtyard, each occupying its own wooden building.

Lin Mo first entered the bedroom of the Great Chieftain, Zhao Tieshan.

The bedroom on the second floor was unexpectedly neat and elegant.

A large carved wooden bed hung with plain-colored curtains stood inside. On the writing desk by the window, the Four Treasures of the Study were arranged in perfect order.

Several well-prepared animal pelts hung on the walls as decorations.

The entire room exuded a refined scholarly air that did not suit a mountain bandit's identity.

"Zhao Tieshan could read?" Lin Mo asked, somewhat surprised.

"He knew a little." Liu Lao Liu hurriedly explained, "His family was fairly well-off when he was young, and he attended a private school for several years. He only joined the army after his family fell into decline."

Lin Mo signaled to his Clones to begin a careful search.

Before long, they discovered a hidden compartment beneath the bedboard.

After prying it open, they found several items inside:

A stack of Silver Notes, ranging in denomination from fifty to five hundred taels, totaling roughly three thousand taels;

Several pieces of jewelry, of even better quality than those in the silver vault;

A small wooden box. Inside were five golden pills the size of longans, their medicinal fragrance filling the air;

[Item: King Kong Pill ×5]

[Quality: Purple]

[Effect: After consumption, the skin will become as hard as iron and stone for half an hour, and Defense will increase by 50. Side effect: After the effect wears off, the skin will temporarily lose sensation for two hours.]

When searching the writing desk, Lin Mo discovered that one of the drawers was locked.

"Where's the key?"

"This... I don't know." Liu Lao Liu shook his head. "Zhao Tieshan never let anyone touch the things he kept on his person."

Lin Mo could not be bothered to look for the key. He simply drew the Mountain Splitting Axe and brought it down!

Crack!

The lock broke with a sharp snap.

When he pulled open the drawer, the topmost item inside was a sheepskin map, drawn with remarkable precision.

Centered on Black Wind Stronghold, it clearly marked the mountains, rivers, villages, and roads within a hundred-mile radius...

Even the strongholds of several other mountain bandit forces were marked in perfect detail.

"Now this is useful!" Lin Mo's eyes lit up.

With this map, whether he wanted to expand, raid, or avoid danger in the future, everything would be much easier.

Beneath the map were more than a dozen yellowed deeds.

[Linshan County West Street Three-Entry Courtyard House Deed ×1]

[Linshan County East Market Silk Shop Deed ×1]

[Two Hundred Mu Fertile Farmland Deed by the Qingshui River, Thirty Li Outside Linshan County City ×1]

[West Mountain Foothills Twenty Mu Tea Garden Deed ×1]

The deeds bore the government's vermilion seal, and the name signed on them was unmistakably "Zhao Tieshan"!

That Zhao Tieshan fellow had actually acquired so many properties at the foot of the mountain!

Courtyards, shops, fertile fields, tea gardens... How was he a mountain bandit? He was clearly a hidden landlord!

Lin Mo picked up the several letters as well.

The sealing wax had already been broken. He pulled out a sheet of letter paper and unfolded it.

The handwriting was neat, and the letters used the format of official documents, but their contents were horrifying:

"...The matter Brother Zhao entrusted to me has been completed. The residence on Lin East Street has been transferred into your name. Arranging matters with the County Magistrate requires five hundred taels of silver. I hope you can prepare it soon..."

"...The credit for suppressing the bandits last month has already been reported. The Ministry of War's reward of eight hundred taels of silver will arrive shortly. As agreed, four hundred goes to you, and the remaining four hundred comes to me..."

"...A new shipment of military weapons has arrived. I can sell you thirty strong bows and five hundred arrows. The price is three hundred taels. We will trade at Ten-Li Slope outside the city..."

The signature merely read, "Your Brother, Bowing."

One of the letters was especially shameless:

"...The prefecture has recently issued an order for every county to eliminate banditry. The County Magistrate has already devised a plan. Under the pretext of suppressing bandits, he actually intends to eliminate his political enemies.

"The list is attached. It contains eight merchant households, all of whom have old grievances with the County Magistrate.

"You may rob them at an opportune moment. We will split the spoils fifty-fifty.

"Remember, it must be done cleanly."

Attached to the letter was a list detailing the addresses, family members, and estimated wealth of the eight merchant households.

At the end, there was even a special note: "The Zhang family has a daughter, sixteen years old and beautiful. She may be kept alive and presented to the County Magistrate."

The people mentioned in the letters—the County Magistrate, the County Lieutenant, and the frontier army commanders—were all powerful figures in the surrounding area.

"Officials and bandits working together..." Lin Mo sneered. "No wonder Black Wind Stronghold has run rampant for so many years. It turns out they have so many protectors behind them."

He carefully put the letters away.

These were all leverage. They might prove useful in the future.

He then searched the rooms of the second and third Leaders, and found quite a lot as well:

Gold, silver, and jewelry; privately hidden weapons; several books of Erotic Art...

There were also two green-quality skill books—Consecutive Arrow Technique and Wind Breaking Saber Technique.

Lin Mo learned both skill books immediately.

A vast number of profound secrets concerning archery and saber techniques instantly flooded his mind.

By the time the search and sorting were complete, it was nearly noon.

Lin Mo ordered Lin Er to sort all the items they had obtained by category, putting what belonged in storage into the treasury and keeping what they could use.

What interested him most, however, was still that sheepskin map.

It was a hand-drawn map covering an area within a hundred miles of Black Wind Stronghold.

The mountains, rivers, villages, towns, Official Roads, and minor paths were all marked clearly. Several locations had even been specially marked with red circles.

One of the red circles was in the rear mountains of Black Wind Stronghold. Beside it, in small writing, was a note: "Wild Wolf Valley."

"Wild Wolf Valley?" Lin Mo looked at Liu Lao Liu. "What kind of place is that?"

Liu Lao Liu leaned over for a look.

"My lord, this place is a valley in the rear mountains.