The price of passage

In the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness, Qin Shujian sat around, bored out of his mind.

Now that he had taken over Liangshan Stronghold, its bandits were his own men. He could no longer kill them at will.

Besides, even slaughtering them all would not give him enough Life Source to raise the Body Tempering Scripture to the fifth level.

After becoming the stronghold chief, he could no longer leave the Liangshan territory at will, either.

That put an end to the last little plan Qin Shujian had in mind.

So he had plenty of time on his hands.

Other than practicing the Black Tiger Saber Technique and actively cultivating the Body Tempering Scripture, he had nothing else to do.

Suddenly.

Wang Tiezhu hurried in from outside. Upon seeing Qin Shujian, he immediately reported, "Chief, a merchant caravan has entered our Liangshan territory!"

"Where?" Qin Shujian immediately sat up straight.

A merchant caravan!

That meant a source of money.

Wang Tiezhu replied, "On Jingyang Road, about twenty li east of Liangshan Stronghold."

"How strong is the caravan?"

"They have twenty or thirty guards. From what I can tell, they should be about as strong as our men," Wang Tiezhu answered truthfully.

Twenty or thirty guards was certainly no small number.

But Liangshan Stronghold had a full seventy bandits.

So, the moment Wang Tiezhu finished speaking, Qin Shujian stood and ordered, "Pass on my command. Apart from a few men who will stay to guard the stronghold, everyone is to come with me.

"Let's see who dares transport goods through my Liangshan Territory without permission."

"Yes, Chief."

The entire Liangshan Stronghold sprang into action.

These bandits were not particularly intelligent, but they followed orders without hesitation.

Of the seventy bandits, Zhang Tieniu had taken four away with him, leaving sixty-five.

Now Qin Shujian left another ten to guard the stronghold, taking the remaining fifty-five with him.

At his command, the bandits swarmed down Liangshan.

Jingyang Road.

Somewhat steep slopes rose on either side, covered in withered yellow weeds, with a road running between them.

A merchant caravan of a dozen or so horse-drawn wagons slowly traveled along Jingyang Road, escorted at the front and rear by twenty or thirty guards with swords and sabers at their waists.

Rumble!

Several large boulders rolled down the slopes on either side, cutting off the caravan's path ahead and behind.

The tremendous noise of the falling rocks startled the horses, forcing the moving wagons to a halt.

"Kill!"

"Kill! Kill!"

Battle cries rang out from every direction.

A group of ragged Bandits wielding broadswords charged down the slopes and surrounded the caravan.

Shing! Shing!

Swords and sabers left their scabbards. As one, the caravan guards formed a protective ring around the horses and faced off against the Bandits.

"I opened this mountain road and planted these trees. If you want to pass, pay the toll."

Qin Shujian stepped out from behind the Bandits and looked at the caravan before him, his Tiger Head Saber reflecting a dazzling, cold gleam in the sunlight.

"Which of you is in charge? Come out and have a word."

As his words fell.

A slight stir ran through the caravan.

A portly middle-aged man dressed in fine silk stepped out from among the guards. Smiling, he cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Han Jing, a steward of the Chengyun Trading Company. May I ask if you fine fellows are from Liangshan Stronghold?"

"If you know we're from Liangshan Stronghold, why did you enter Liangshan Territory without permission?" Qin Shujian asked evenly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He had never heard of the Chengyun Trading Company.

But seeing jade rings on all ten of Han Jing's fingers was enough to tell him that the Chengyun Trading Company was filthy rich.

Qin Shujian tried to inspect the man's attributes.

Yet the hidden ability that let him inspect anyone he wanted in Liangshan Stronghold proved utterly useless on Han Jing.

And that was not all.

He swept his gaze over everyone from the Chengyun Trading Company, but could not see a single attribute.

That meant he could only view the attribute information of people belonging to the same faction.

Han Jing looked around at the Liangshan Bandits, his smile widening. "I have long heard that Wu Sheng, chief of Liangshan Stronghold, is a renowned expert in these parts.

"May I ask whether Chief Wu has come today?"

"There's no Chief Wu here, but there is a Chief Qin."

Han Jing paused, then laughed heartily. "So I stand before Chief Qin himself. Forgive me for failing to recognize you."

As he spoke, he took a long, flat wooden box from inside his robes and motioned for a guard beside him to hand it over.

"The Chengyun Trading Company is new to your esteemed territory. Please forgive any discourtesy on our part. This modest gift is a token of our goodwill. Please accept it, Chief Qin."

Taking the box, Qin Shujian opened it in full view of everyone.

Ten gleaming silver ingots lay neatly inside.

You have obtained ten taels of silver!

The system notification arrived in his mind right on cue.

The entire Liangshan Stronghold possessed only fifty taels of silver. Han Jing's ten-tael toll was actually no small sum.

But—

Qin Shujian looked at the Chengyun Trading Company's dozen or so wagons. Their wheels had left deep ruts in the road.

He put away the ten taels of silver, a trace of a smile appearing on his face.

"Liangshan Stronghold appreciates the Chengyun Trading Company's goodwill. I see these fallen rocks have blocked your path. Why don't we help your company clear them away?"

"There's no need to trouble you gentlemen over such a small matter."

"No trouble at all." Ignoring Han Jing's refusal, Qin Shujian ordered all the Bandits surrounding the Chengyun Trading Company to move the boulders blocking the road ahead.

At this, Han Jing retained his faint smile, though a cold glint lurked in his eyes.

The Chengyun Trading Company was renowned throughout the country, yet now even a little place like Liangshan Stronghold dared demand a toll from them.

If word of this got out, it would deal a considerable blow to their reputation.

In the future, when traveling through bandit territory, even the most insignificant nobody might dare to stop the Chengyun Trading Company.

For now, however, Liangshan Stronghold had the upper hand. Although he had quite a few guards, a direct confrontation would still carry considerable risk.

So Han Jing had no intention of falling out with Liangshan Stronghold just yet.

Once this shipment reached its destination, he would have plenty of ways to deal with a mere Liangshan Stronghold.

While Han Jing was turning these thoughts over, another tremendous noise came from the slopes on either side.

Rumble!

A dozen or so boulders rolled down the slopes, their trajectories placing the Chengyun Trading Company directly between them.

"Look out!" Han Jing shouted.

The other caravan guards were thrown into turmoil.

The stationary horses seemed to sense danger and began to fidget restlessly, trying to flee.

Han Jing had no time to think. Seeing a boulder falling toward him from overhead, he knew it was too late to dodge. He could only strike out with both palms at full strength, slamming them hard into the rock.

Bang! Boom!