Zhao De's Fury

Black Wind Mountain, the gathering hall.

It was called a gathering hall, but it was really just a widened cave. Dozens of tallow torches burned inside, filling the entire cave with an acrid smell.

Unidentified animal hides covered the floor, and several rough wooden tables stood at crooked angles.

Chen Fan sat sprawled in the tiger-skin chair at the head of the hall, playing with a jade thumb ring looted from Zhao Long's carriage.

Below him, more than a dozen bandit chiefs stood in two rows, every one of them keeping his head down, not daring to breathe too loudly.

The atmosphere was terribly oppressive.

From Black Wind Baleful Intent's memories, Chen Fan knew that these men were the whole backbone of Black Wind Mountain.

The second chief, Iron-Armed Monkey, was small and wiry, and skilled with throwing knives.

The third chief, Smiling Tiger, was a fat man who had once been an accountant. He handled the stronghold's supplies and fenced its stolen goods.

The rest were hardened bandits who had killed and seen blood.

All told, Black Wind Mountain had more than two hundred people, fighters and noncombatants alike.

That made it a considerable force.

No wonder they dared challenge the county yamen.

"Where's the loot?" Chen Fan asked. His rough voice echoed through the cave.

Smiling Tiger, the third chief, hurried forward and bowed.

"Reporting to you, chief, we've counted everything. The gold, silver, and valuables in that Zhao Household brat's carriage came to a little over five hundred taels. There were also some fine silks and pastries, all put in storage."

Five hundred taels.

Chen Fan curled his lip.

When Zhao Long made a single trip to the Azure Yang Temple, he gave three thousand taels in incense money.

Banditry didn't look all that profitable.

"Is that all?"

Smiling Tiger's fat face twitched. "There's... there's also that brat Zhao Long's body. As you ordered, we burned it together with that Daoist."

Chen Fan grunted and said no more.

The cave fell deathly silent again.

He was Black Wind Baleful Intent now. He didn't need to explain himself, much less soothe anyone.

Violence and fear were the only bonds holding this gang together.

After a long while, he rose to his feet.

"All of you, perk the hell up!"

"We pulled off a big job today. Tonight, we'll eat meat by the mouthful and drink wine by the bowl!"

The bandit chiefs' eyes lit up, and the oppressive atmosphere was swept away.

"Oh! Mighty chief!"

"Drink wine! Eat meat! Have women!"

Thunderous cheers erupted in the cave.

Chen Fan looked at the frenzied bandits, then turned and walked into the rear chambers of the cave.

That was the bandit chief's private domain.

He passed through a dim passage, and the space before him suddenly opened up.

There was another world inside: a stone chamber that had been kept reasonably clean.

Soft bedding covered the stone bed, a tea set rested on the table, and there was even a small incense burner, wisps of blue smoke curling from it.

A woman in a pale blue dress sat by the bed, her head lowered as she mended a piece of clothing.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up.

She had a delicate face and looked to be in her early twenties. Though somewhat haggard, she was still visibly pretty.

At the sight of Chen Fan, she visibly flinched, but she stood and gave him a timid bow.

"Chief."

Information about the woman surfaced automatically in Chen Fan's mind.

Yun Niang.

Black Wind Baleful Intent's captive wife.

No, she wasn't the only one.

There were two others besides her.

They were top beauties snatched from a brothel, and they had once been courtesan queens.

Black Wind Baleful Intent hadn't exactly mistreated them. He fed and cared for them well, but he wouldn't let them take a single step outside the rear chambers.

The three women were his private property as the mountain's bandit king.

"Mm."

Chen Fan acknowledged her, walked to the table, and sat down, pouring himself a cup of water.

This body was terribly thirsty.

Yun Niang looked at him, wanting to speak but holding back.

"Something on your mind?" Chen Fan asked after gulping down a cup of water.

"No... nothing." Yun Niang lowered her head. "It's just... I heard that you went down the mountain today and... and the county magistrate's son..."

"Killed him."

Chen Fan finished for her.

Yun Niang's body trembled slightly.

She bit her lip, and after a moment, she seemed to summon tremendous courage.

"Chief, you even dared kill the county magistrate's son. This... this is a disaster that'll pierce the heavens! The county yamen will surely send an army to wipe us out!"

"We... we should make plans early!"

Chen Fan looked at her.

This woman did have some sense.

"Plans?"

Chen Fan laughed. Imitating Black Wind Baleful Intent, he put on a disdainful expression.

"When soldiers come, a general will stop them; when water comes, earth will block it."

"If Zhao De dares send troops, I'll slaughter him too!"

All color drained from Yun Niang's face.

Meanwhile, in Qinghe County, at the residence behind the county yamen.

The Zhao residence.

Smash!

A valuable Ru ware teacup was hurled to the floor, shattering into pieces.

Zhao De wore his official robes, his hair and beard disheveled. His face, usually so careful in its expression, was now streaked with tears and full of madness.

"Dead... Long'er... my Long'er is dead!"

He roared like a wounded beast.

Below him, the county commandant Zhang Cheng and the other yamen officials were silent as cicadas in the cold.

Just half an hour earlier, Zhao Long's carriage had been found abandoned on the official road by West Mountain.

The bodies of the coachman and two guards were already cold.

As for Zhao Long himself, he was nowhere to be found, alive or dead.

But everyone knew that Qinghe County's one and only young master was more likely dead than alive.

"Black Wind Mountain! It was Black Wind Mountain!" Eyes bloodshot, Zhao De seized County Commandant Zhang Cheng by the collar. "I want you to mobilize every county soldier! At once! Immediately! Flatten Black Wind Mountain!"

"Avenge my Long'er!"

Zhang Cheng's face showed his dismay. "My lord, Black Wind Mountain's terrain is treacherous, easy to defend and hard to attack. Black Wind Baleful Intent is even more fierce and valiant. We..."

"I don't care!" Zhao De roared, cutting him off. "I'll give you three days! If I don't see Black Wind Baleful Intent's head within three days, you can bring me your own!"

"The Zhao Household will pay the military expenses for wiping out the bandits!"

"For every county soldier killed or wounded, the Zhao Household will pay ten times the compensation!"

"All I want is results!"

The county magistrate, usually so mild and refined, had gone completely mad.

Tingtao Pavilion.

News of Zhao Long's death swept like the wind into every corner of the Zhao residence.

Liu Ruyan sat before her dressing table, looking at her face in the mirror, still as beautiful as ever. Suddenly, she felt somewhat lost.

The man who had possessed her, given her wealth and luxury, and also subjected her to humiliation, had died just like that?

Her pillar of support had fallen.

In the next room, Su Qingyu hid under the covers, her body trembling uncontrollably.

She wasn't afraid. She was excited, overjoyed.

That devil was finally dead!

She was free!

Meanwhile, in the main room,

Lin Wan'er sat by the window with a book in her hands. She had spent the whole afternoon looking at it without taking in a single word.

When a maid came in to report the news, she merely gave a quiet "Mm" and dismissed her.

Dead?

The beast who had ruined her life was dead.

She should have been happy.

She should have laughed aloud, celebrating her escape from the cage at last.

But why did her heart feel so empty?

Against her will, the many changes in that man over the past month and more surfaced in her mind.

He was no longer that fool who knew only how to brutalize her.

He would barge into her room overbearingly, only to sit quietly beside her and watch her read.

He would grip her chin and say lewd things, but there was a trace of calm in his eyes that she couldn't understand.

He had even... taught the servants in his courtyard to practice the horse stance.

Everything had become so unfamiliar.

Still, it was just as well he was dead. Zhao Long had bullied merchants and dominated the market, committing every evil imaginable. Dying at the hands of bandits was what he deserved.

And she, too, was finally free...