An Yanbing, Xiao Yingkai, and the others were in front, while behind them stood Great Leader Huang Heilong and the others from Black Wind Stockade. From the look of things, it seemed that everything before this had merely been a misunderstanding.
But this sent the villagers into complete despair.
"Why can't Black Wind Stockade still be wiped out?"
"Li Xian's senior brothers and sisters are so powerful. Black Wind Stockade couldn't possibly withstand them! Why did they stop at the very last moment?"
Whether villagers or hunters, all of them wore looks of disappointment and despair. This meant that Black Wind Stockade could continue to occupy Qingliang Mountain and oppress the villagers.
Even Village Chief Yang Baishu, who had always believed in Li Xian, fell unusually silent. He did not say a word, merely looking exhausted, as if he had aged many years in an instant. His body swayed as he left Qingliang Mountain.
If even Li Xian and the others could not eradicate Black Wind Stockade, then whom could they count on?
Thus, even the normally talkative Village Chief Yang Baishu was left in despair. He departed this place in hopelessness.
No one knew what had happened inside Black Wind Stockade earlier. No one knew what Huang Heilong had said to make An Yanbing, Xiao Yingkai, and the others stop and give up.
It was all utterly baffling.
"Senior Brother Xiao Yingkai, Senior Sister An Yanbing, why? Why? Why didn't you destroy Black Wind Stockade? Huang Heilong isn't your match!"
After walking out of Black Wind Stockade's gates, Li Xian could no longer hold back. He had seen the villagers' despairing, broken gazes, and he had also seen the dejected back of Old Village Chief Yang Baishu as he left. All of it was something Li Xian could no longer accept.
Thus, he loudly voiced his doubts.
"Junior Brother Li Xian, Huang Heilong indeed wasn't our opponent. Even the leaders of Black Wind Stockade were no match for us. But Huang Heilong's identity is no small matter. We can't kill him."
Xiao Yingkai's expression was also unsightly. Today's trip had felt like a humiliation, leaving him weary to the bone. They had set out to rid the people of evil, but what had it turned into in the end?
"No matter how extraordinary Huang Heilong's identity is, Black Wind Stockade is guilty of every evil under the sun. It should have been destroyed!"
Li Xian continued pressing him. No matter how extraordinary his identity was, could it possibly surpass that of the Black Eagle Sect? Besides, Black Wind Stockade had committed countless atrocities and deserved death.
"Huang Heilong came from the minor aristocratic Huang Family."
An Yanbing, who had remained silent until now, spoke. Her tone was cool and aloof, as if her words contained no warmth at all.
Yet the moment she said this, Li Xian's eyes suddenly widened. His expression fell apart, and he asked in disbelief, "How could that be? How could Huang Heilong have come from the minor aristocratic Huang Family?"
Li Xian felt utterly powerless.
"That's right, Junior Brother Li Xian. After confirming it again and again, we know that Huang Heilong truly came from the minor aristocratic Huang Family. Even if the reason he came to Qingliang Mountain is unusual, we can't touch him. Behind him stands the Huang Family! Once we act, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
Xiao Yingkai let out a helpless sigh.
Li Xian closed his eyes in despair. He could not accept such a fact.
The minor aristocratic Huang Family was the strongest martial-world clan in Anyuan County Town. Even the authorities had to consider the Huang Family's attitude when taking action. The Huang Family even harbored the domineering ambition of swallowing up every gang and sect in Anyuan County Town, but because of the tangled relationships behind those various sects, that ambition had yet to become reality.
The minor aristocratic Huang Family's strength was terrifying. No gang or faction in Anyuan County Town dared provoke them lightly. The reason the Huang Family had not acted yet was that they were waiting for those gangs to expose flaws and incriminating evidence themselves. Once they seized hold of it, even if the forces backing those gangs came forward, the Huang Family would have a legitimate cause.
This made the Huang Family the most overbearing force in Anyuan County Town.
Huang Heilong was a member of the minor aristocratic Huang Family. If they killed him, then once the Huang Family investigated afterward and found a pretext and evidence, they would certainly trace the matter back to the Black Eagle Sect. At that time, the Black Eagle Sect would bear the Huang Family's wrath. That was something An Yanbing did not wish to see.
Therefore, at the final moment, they had chosen to give up.
Otherwise, Huang Heilong would have been doomed to die.
"No wonder. No wonder Black Wind Stockade was able to take root in Qingliang Mountain and plague the surrounding commoners for years, while the authorities of Anyuan County Town never came to deal with them. It turns out they knew long ago that Huang Heilong came from the minor aristocratic Huang Family, so they turned a blind eye and let him do as he pleased."
Li Xian finally understood why no one had intervened despite Black Wind Stockade committing so many crimes within Qingliang Mountain. Even news of Black Wind Stockade's atrocities was practically nonexistent in Anyuan County Town.
It wasn't that there had been no news—it was that the county authorities had suppressed it long ago.
The fundamental reason was that Huang Heilong, the Great Leader of Black Wind Stockade, came from the minor aristocratic Huang Family.
Even now, after learning the truth, his senior brothers and sisters could only helplessly give up because the Huang Family's might in Anyuan County Town was too powerful, nearly towering above every other sect.
As An Yanbing, Xiao Yingkai, and the others failed to eradicate Black Wind Stockade, the surrounding villagers gradually grew disappointed as well. Their former excitement and fervor had vanished, leaving only fear.
Black Wind Stockade would become a nightmare that followed them for the rest of their lives, until the day they died.
"It seems that the Body Tempering Realm late-stage Major Leader from Black Wind Stockade was right. Their Great Leader Huang Heilong truly has a close relationship with some major power in the county town."
After Su Mo learned of this, he lamented the missed opportunity and felt somewhat surprised. He had not expected that even Li Xian's senior brothers and sisters would be unable to deal with Black Wind Stockade completely. He had already known that Great Leader Huang Heilong of Black Wind Stockade was connected to some major power in Anyuan County Town when he killed a Major Leader among the stockade's fighters in the mountains earlier.
He simply had not expected Huang Heilong's backing to be so formidable that even Li Xian's senior brothers and sisters could do nothing.
Just as all the villagers and commoners were falling into despair, Li Xian's Senior Sister An Yanbing stepped forward. She told the villagers that although they had not destroyed Black Wind Stockade this time, the stockade had promised never again to go down the mountain to collect taxes or forcibly seize the hunters' prey.
This was the compromise An Yanbing had secured. Since Huang Heilong could not be killed, she still had to protect the interests of the villagers below the mountain.
Thus, she had forced Black Wind Stockade to make this promise. Fearing An Yanbing and the others, Black Wind Stockade could only agree under duress.
The news instantly brought the commoners back to their senses. Black Wind Stockade wouldn't continue oppressing them?
As long as Black Wind Stockade stopped oppressing them, their lives could finally improve.
With this promise as a guarantee, the villagers began to look forward to life in the days that followed. The hunters also eagerly entered the mountains to hunt, no longer afraid that Black Wind Stockade would seize the prey they had worked so hard to catch.
And that was exactly what happened. After An Yanbing and the others gave their assurance, Black Wind Stockade indeed stopped taking the hunters' prey and no longer descended the mountain to collect taxes. The commoners became extremely grateful to Li Xian's senior brothers and sisters.
Although Black Wind Stockade still existed, their lives had finally improved somewhat. At least they no longer had to live in constant fear.
Su Mo showed little reaction to this. Uncle Chen Shan from next door had begun entering the mountains to hunt during this period, and Zhang Tieshan's family was doing the same. It was as though the gloom that had hung over the village for years because of Black Wind Stockade had finally dispersed.
Li Goudan, Chen Mazi, and the other skilled young hunters also entered the mountains one after another.
Shuanglin Village was developing in a better direction.
"The sect to which Li Xian belongs, the Black Eagle Sect, has taken pity on how poor our land is. Therefore, during this period, they will be recruiting disciples in Shuanglin Village and the surrounding villages. Anyone with decent bone structure and talent will qualify to enter a major sect in Anyuan County Town, and may even have the chance to become a lofty Martial Artist."
Village Chief Yang Baishu announced this news in the village recently.
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