As the last ten days of the twelfth lunar month began, Zhang Xing joined Qin Er and Fan Liu in overthrowing the leadership of Immortal Cave and became its master. Then he immediately ushered in a fresh start for the month, setting things in motion on the spot.
What he set in motion amounted to taking out the little gold, silver, money, and silk remaining in the cave and generously distributing it among the cultivators and hardened bandit chiefs to win their loyalty. Then he brought out the grain, but divided it into only three or four portions, letting the idle men in the cave each have a mouthful of porridge... next, he publicly delivered his spiel about making a fortune and left these men to spread it themselves.
Sure enough, after just one night, two earthshaking pieces of news spread through Mount Mangdang, where an atmosphere of lifeless gloom mingled with restless anticipation. They came in the classic pairing of good news and bad:
The good news was that the approaching fleet carried not only grain from the Seven Commanderies of Jiangdong, but also a million strings' worth of money and silk presented by the Eight Great Families of Jiangdong to the court for the construction of golden pillars!
The bad news was that Heaven-Reliant Sword, the leader of the Brocade-Clad dogs guarding the fleet, had already detected the movements on Mount Mangdang and Mount Ji. She had transferred the more portable gold, silver, money, and silk off the ships and set off overland along the western side of the Huan River... the enormous fleet had become a diversion.
These two reports immediately sent great waves through Mount Mangdang, stirring up its entire stagnant pool. Everyone, high and low, was discussing them. Compared with these two pieces of news,