Skilled Workers

After checking the attributes of all the refugees, Qin Shujian found another dozen or so people among them.

All of them primarily cultivated the Everlasting Spring Technique as well.

It seemed to be a technique passed down through the same lineage.

Their cultivation, however, hovered around the first level of Martial Entry. Apart from Zhao Shanlin and Wang Hu, no one else had reached the second level or above.

Still.

That was enough.

After taking in this group, Liangshan Stronghold's overall strength had at least doubled.

As for the risk of rebellion posed by so many experts...

Qin Shujian silently scoffed.

In his eyes, that was no problem at all.

Among outlaws, strength ruled supreme.

He was confident that his current strength was enough to crush any unrest that might arise.

After accepting Zheng Fang and the others, Qin Shujian immediately had Zhang Tieniu and the rest make arrangements for them.

He also had food brought to them at once.

There was no other choice.

From what Qin Shujian could see, many of these new bandits were so hungry they barely had any strength left. If he delayed much longer, he feared some of them would die.

Once they joined Liangshan Stronghold, they were his people.

Losing a group of them to starvation for no reason would be painful indeed.

After all, Qin Shujian had long wanted to expand Liangshan Stronghold, but he had never had enough manpower.

These refugees arriving at his doorstep were exactly what he had hoped for.

Sometimes...

People were the foremost productive force.

Without enough people, many things simply could not get underway.

Qin Shujian was not naive enough to think that NPCs who starved to death would respawn through the system.

Inside the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

After the arrangements were made, the newly recruited bandits had settled into Liangshan Stronghold.

Qin Shujian summoned Zheng Fang at the first opportunity.

He placed considerable value on this expert at the fourth level of Martial Entry.

"This old man greets the stronghold chief!" After cleaning himself up a little, Zheng Fang still looked sallow, but his spirits had improved considerably.

"Please, sit!"

"Thank you, Chief!"

Zheng Fang did not decline. After thanking him, he took a seat to one side.

Qin Shujian asked, "I have yet to ask where you and your people came from, Elder Zheng."

"Linchuan Market, a thousand li away."

"A thousand li away?" Surprise appeared in Qin Shujian's eyes.

Zheng Fang cupped his hands. "Indeed. I would not hide anything from you, Chief. We traveled a thousand li to escape war and famine."

"I would like to hear the details."

Qin Shujian's expression grew curious and somewhat grave.

Seeing this, Zheng Fang drew a deep breath and said solemnly, "Then allow this old man to explain everything from the beginning..."

As Zheng Fang spoke, Qin Shujian finally learned most of the group's background and understood why Zheng Fang possessed such considerable strength.

The Linchuan Market he spoke of was a small town a thousand li away.

Although it was called a town, it was not much larger than an ordinary village.

Zheng Fang had been both a private schoolteacher and the head of a Martial Arts Hall there.

But war now raged throughout Great Zhao, bringing military devastation and human suffering everywhere. Drought and famine had struck at the same time, driving people from their homes and leaving the populace destitute.

Linchuan Market had already been struggling to survive the drought.

Then, as ill luck would have it, war reached them too.

Deserters from some unknown place had banded together and descended on Linchuan Market, burning, killing, looting, and stealing food.

Though Linchuan Market was a town, it had little strength to speak of. Even an expert at the fourth level of Martial Entry like Zheng Fang stood no chance against large numbers of soldiers.

And so Linchuan Market fell.

Some residents, unwilling to simply perish there, gathered together and fled.

As a private schoolteacher and the head of a Martial Arts Hall, Zheng Fang had already enjoyed considerable prestige in Linchuan Market, so everyone chose him as their temporary leader.

But their group included both the elderly and children, making their progress painfully slow.

With famine and war everywhere, every settlement was preparing for battle and running short of food. None could afford to take in several hundred people.

Thus, Zheng Fang and the others could only keep moving, hoping first to get beyond the reach of the fighting.

But...

Feeding several hundred people each day was an enormous problem.

At first, the provisions they had brought with them allowed them to scrape by for a few days.

Later, they ate whatever they could find in the mountains and drank wherever they found water. They gnawed through plenty of roots and bark, but even that could not keep people from starving to death.

By now, their group of several hundred had dwindled to just over sixty.

Had Liangshan Stronghold not taken them in, the remaining sixty-odd people would likely all have starved to death within days.

That was precisely why Zheng Fang now felt such gratitude toward Qin Shujian.

His decision had done more than merely give Zheng Fang a meal. It had saved dozens of lives from Linchuan Market.

Qin Shujian, in turn, had developed some respect for Zheng Fang.

After all, it took only a moment's thought to understand how difficult it must have been to lead such a group a thousand li to safety.

"Rest assured, Elder Zheng. Now that you have joined Liangshan Stronghold, as long as you do not betray us, you will never go hungry while I have a bite to eat," Qin Shujian promised.

Zheng Fang rose and bowed deeply. "This old man thanks you, Chief!"

Then he took three creased books from his sleeve and offered them with both hands.

"These are the techniques taught at my Martial Arts Hall. I now give them all to you, Chief, in gratitude for taking us in!"

"You're too kind, too kind."

Qin Shujian's eyes lit up, and he accepted the three books with a smile.

When he had seen Zheng Fang's attributes, he had already thought about obtaining the techniques the man had learned.

The Body Tempering Scripture had only five levels, and he had now cultivated it to its limit.

At present, Qin Shujian had no other way to advance further. His best option was to find a higher-level primary cultivation technique and use it to progress.

Though he did not know the grade of Zheng Fang's cultivation technique, having another technique for reference was a good thing regardless.

The final two techniques, in particular, were clearly offensive methods.

Qin Shujian was especially keen on anything that could directly increase his strength without requiring him to raise his cultivation level.

What surprised him was how well Zheng Fang understood what was wanted.

Before Qin Shujian had even asked, he had taken the initiative to hand over all three techniques.

After presenting the techniques, Zheng Fang added, "I noticed that the stronghold is rather rudimentary. As it happens, there are quite a few carpenters and masons among my companions.

"If you have no objection, Chief, they could contribute to the stronghold by renovating the place."

Qin Shujian's heart stirred, and his smile widened.

Talent!

These were all talented people.

He had never expected these newly arrived refugees to include skilled workers.

Before this, Wang Tiezhu, a half-trained carpenter, had been the only one in all of Liangshan Stronghold.

Qin Shujian had noticed the stronghold's crude condition too, but limitations in their circumstances... chiefly their lack of manpower, had kept him from addressing it for the time being.

Now that Zheng Fang had offered, he naturally had no reason to refuse.