Chapter Fourteen: The Chieftain of the Village! (Happy May Day!)

This matter indeed left Li Yun quite vexed. Whether he was truly angered or merely influenced by Li Mazi’s temperament, he felt a genuine urge to fight Zhou Liang. However, Li Yun had been unmatched throughout Cang Mountain since he was thirteen or fourteen, and now, in the prime of his youth, to fight him was almost tantamount to courting death. Even though Zhou Liang was a generation senior, he dared not confront him and could only kneel in submission.

The reason Zhou Liang knelt so quickly was primarily because there were no outsiders in the hall at the moment; had the old brothers been present, he might not have knelt so easily.

Seeing the elder kneel and admit his fault, the chieftain, Li Yun, did not hurry to help him up. Instead, he sat on his tiger-skin chair and spoke in a deep voice, “Third Uncle, our mountain stronghold has its rules. One cannot bring outsiders up the mountain at will, especially at a time like this.”

“Erlong Stronghold, not much different from our Cang Mountain stronghold, was wiped out completely in such a short time.”

“That so-called lucrative escort, who it was truly meant for is hard to say.”

Li Yun spoke in a muffled tone, “If those were government troops who destroyed Erlong Stronghold, who knows whether Peng Hai and his men have been recruited by the authorities? Might they be scouting the mountain on behalf of the government, acting as informants?”

“Third Uncle, there are over thirty brothers in the stronghold, and counting their families, about fifty people.”

“If anything happens,” Li Yun slammed the table hard, his strength immense, causing the table to thunder.

“Who will bear this responsibility?”

“To speak bluntly,” the chieftain grunted, “If the government troops really arrive at our doorstep, I am confident that in these mountains, no one can catch me. Even if I stay and fight to the death, I have no children yet. At worst, I die. But you, Third Uncle, have family here in the stronghold.”

“How could you be so careless?”

Zhou Liang’s face flushed red as he lowered his head and said, “Yes, I broke the rules!”

“Chieftain, please punish me as you see fit!”

Li Yun’s face remained cold. “You tell me, how should you be punished?”

Zhou Liang stood up, drew a dagger from his waist with his right hand, placed his left hand on the table, and gritted his teeth. “Chieftain, leave me two fingers, is that acceptable?”

Li Yun said nothing, merely stood and looked at him.

Zhou Liang clenched his jaw, closed his eyes, and was about to bring down the dagger when a large hand firmly seized his wrist, rendering him immobile.

“At a time like this, what use are your fingers to me?” The chieftain grunted, then said, “Third Uncle, you brought these people up the mountain, so you will be responsible for them. Change their clothes, search every item they brought, and let them eat, but within a month, they are not allowed anywhere else in the stronghold.”

Zhou Liang, gripping the dagger, gritted his teeth. “Chieftain, I’ll just kill these troublemakers myself!”

“No,” Li Yun shook his head. “Since they’re already on the mountain, we can’t kill them. If word gets out, the reputation of our Cang Mountain stronghold will be ruined. Watch them closely, and don’t let them contact the outside world.”

“Everything… will be decided after I’ve settled matters.”

Over this period, Li Yun had already grasped the situation of this world.

Because the realm was far from peaceful, many were forced to become bandits in the mountains. Just in the area surrounding Cang Mountain, dozens, nearly a hundred miles, there were a dozen or more strongholds, large and small.

Though each stronghold had few people—no more than fifty at most—combined, they formed a considerable force.

Li Yun had already gained some fame among the outlaws.

Since he was now a bandit, he aimed to grow stronger, to become the greatest of them. He could not afford to sully his reputation.

Otherwise, expansion would become increasingly difficult.

Though he might not necessarily aspire to be the leader of all outlaws, having more options was always better. Besides, these four people posed no threat to him or to Cang Mountain Stronghold at present.

Zhou Liang replied quickly, “Alright, I… I’ll go watch over them right away.”

“Go on,” Li Yun said with his hands behind his back. “This concerns the stronghold’s survival. Third Uncle, be vigilant.”

“Yes!” Zhou Liang turned and strode away.

Li Yun watched Zhou Liang’s departing figure. When Zhou Liang was out of sight, a smile finally appeared on his face.

With a mixture of intimidation and persuasion, he had managed to win over this key figure in the stronghold.

From now on, as long as he performed his duties well, Zhou Liang would only become more loyal, a devoted follower of the chieftain.

Combined with his recent deliberate elevation of Zhang Hu and Liu Bo, as well as his own established authority, the entire Cang Mountain Stronghold was now firmly in his grasp.

This was a solid step forward for Li Yun.

Though the stronghold was small, with only a few dozen people, from this moment on…

It truly bore his name.

…

As evening approached, Li Yun, exhausted from a day’s work, returned to his small courtyard.

It was summer, and the courtyard was still bright. Miss Xue sat on a wooden stump, holding a book, turning its pages one by one with intense concentration. She was so absorbed that she did not notice Li Yun approaching.

Standing behind her, Li Yun watched for a few pages before suddenly speaking softly, “Did you sneak into my room to steal a book?”

The words startled Xue Yun’er, who jumped up. Seeing it was Li Yun, she first breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a bit embarrassed. “Steal? You make it sound so awful…”

“Your door wasn’t even closed…”

The chieftain rolled his eyes at her, replying irritably, “My door doesn’t even have a ring; it can only be barred from the inside with wood. If I’m outside, how could I close it?”

“It’s always left ajar. You little thing, you won’t admit you stole my book.”

Xue Yun’er blushed, lowering her head, saying nothing.

She was indeed at fault.

She had simply been too bored and sought a book to pass the time.

She was about to explain when the young man before her smiled freely, “But stealing books doesn’t count as stealing. I won’t hold it against you.”

With that, the chieftain turned and walked to the large water vat in the courtyard, beginning to draw water to heat for Miss Xue’s bath.

He himself intended to bathe as well.

Perhaps feeling guilty, this time Miss Xue did not linger nearby. She set aside her book and went to gather some firewood to place beside the iron cauldron.

She moved slowly, and while she had only gathered a little, Li Yun had already finished pouring water and was preparing to light the fire.

Xue Yun’er stood awkwardly nearby, unsure what to say, so she found a topic herself.

“When… when will you take me down the mountain?”

Li Yun looked up at her.

“Didn’t we agree on a month? If you count the days, it’s about twenty more days.”

He thought for a moment, then added, “These past two days, a stronghold was wiped out. I suspect it was either your father’s men or those sent by your betrothed’s family.”

He smiled, “But it seems they were just venting their anger. They weren’t searching for you.”

“Then…”

Xue Yun’er clenched her fists. “Then it must be the Gu family. They… they care so much about their reputation…”

Li Yun uttered an “oh,” then continued, “Speaking of which, your fiancé is truly no good. When you return, break off the engagement and don’t associate with their family anymore.”

Xue Yun’er nodded absent-mindedly, lost in thought.

Soon, the water was heated. Li Yun helped her carry the hot water into her room.

Miss Xue closed the door, preparing to undress, when someone knocked again.

She hurried to cover herself, looking back at the door, flustered. “Wh-what is it?”

The person outside did not reply, but slipped two brown cattail stems under the door.

“These can be lit to ward off mosquitoes, it seems,” came the chieftain’s lazy voice.

“I had someone find them; there are too many mosquitoes on the mountain.”

Li Yun yawned loudly and walked toward his own room, muttering as he went,

“They’re like man-eaters.”