A gentle breeze blew, and the leaves rustled in response.
Wang Chong stood behind a red maple leaf at the top of the mountain, slowly circulating his energy to regulate his breathing. Inside his body, waves of blood-colored Origin Qi surged and surged like serpents. In the end, Wang Chong reeled it off like silk from a cocoon and stored it in the depths of his dantian through a special circulation.
This blood-colored Origin Qi did not belong to Wang Chong, but to the Little Yinyang Technique, which he extracted from the bandits.
Over the past few days, Wang Chong had been able to absorb the Origin Qi of the bandits almost every day. As the Origin Qi filled his body, Wang Chong's aura grew stronger and stronger. Even the Little Yinyang Technique had broken through its bottleneck and reached a small peak.
Now, under the nourishment of the various Origin Qi, Wang Chong could clearly feel that the Little Yinyang Technique was extracting much more energy than before.
However, it was a pity that Wang Chong had not broken through to the True Martial realm, so he could not use this energy.
All of the absorbed energy was stored by Wang Chong in a special way, in a special part of his dantian at the bottom of the sea.
This was a secret Qi storage technique from Wang Chong's previous life.
The advantage of this Qi storage technique was that when one's Origin Qi reached its peak and could no longer be raised, it could store extra energy in the body in case of a rainy day.
Although Wang Chong's current strength could not be compared to before, this Qi storage technique could still play an important role.
"Milord!"
Just as Wang Chong was resting under a tree, his eyes closed, a loud voice rang out. Wang Chong opened his eyes and saw a high-spirited cavalryman of the Tang dynasty striding out through the broken wooden gate of the stronghold, a long saber at his waist.
"Milord, the battle is over. Miss Bai has personally taken action and captured a bandit. However, Miss Bai wants you to go over personally, saying that she has something to discuss with you. "
The cavalryman walked up to Wang Chong and respectfully reported.
"Oh?"
Wang Chong raised his eyebrows slightly, a little surprised. Miss Bai was naturally Bai Siling. Because Bai Siling was a woman, Wang Chong's bodyguards called her Miss Bai in private.
Bai Siling usually wouldn't call him over. Since she invited him over, something must have happened. This made Wang Chong secretly curious.
"Got it. I'll head over now."
As soon as Wang Chong said that, he removed the pouch from his waist and opened it, revealing the soybeans inside. He placed it in front of Little Shadow and patted its neck. Watching Little Shadow happily stick its mouth into the pouch, he then turned around and walked inside.
After passing through many gates, Wang Chong saw Bai Siling in the deepest part of the stronghold. The young lady of the Bai family sat on a large tiger skin chair, surrounded by seven or eight armed cavalrymen. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was heavy.
"What's wrong?"
Wang Chong smiled as he walked in from the door. It was rare to see such a serious Bai Siling.
"There's a problem. This guy is the leader of the bandits. You can ask him yourself."
Bai Siling raised her snow-white sleeves and stretched out a white finger, pointing at a man tied up on the ground.
"Oh?"
Wang Chong's attention shifted from Bai Siling to the man on the ground. This man was about thirty years old and about seven feet tall. He looked very righteous and had a heroic spirit.
"How rare! There's actually such a person among the bandits! "
Wang Chong raised his eyebrows, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The appearance was born from the heart. The bandits were involved in robbing, killing, and arson. Therefore, they never had a good aura. They were used to having angry eyes and fierce looks.
It was rare to see someone like this man.
Wang Chong immediately had a good impression of him.
"You're the chief of this bandit gang?"
Wang Chong walked over and asked.
"Yes!"
The man straightened his back and replied straightforwardly.
"Even though we're bandits, we've never robbed the Han or harassed the imperial army. You shouldn't have captured me, and you shouldn't have killed my men."
"Hahaha, it's rare to see a bandit like you acting so righteously. Bandits rob and rob, this is their livelihood. What other tricks can you come up with? Furthermore, the imperial court has always placed great importance on the road to the west. You should know how the imperial court deals with robbers, right? Do you think that you'll be spared just because you didn't rob the Han? "
Hearing those words, Wang Chong was amused.
The man fell silent.
"I can tell you a piece of information in exchange for the lives of me and my brothers."
The man said after a moment of silence.
"Tell me, what information can save your life?"
Wang Chong replied noncommittally.
"A piece of information that can save your lives."
The man said.
Wang Chong didn't say anything. He shot a glance at Bai Siling, only to see Bai Siling's calm expression. Clearly, she had already heard of it.
"Continue."
Wang Chong retracted his gaze and looked at the chief of the bandit gang.
"Didn't you exterminate a large number of bandits previously? Didn't you notice that many of the bandits were completely empty? Don't you find it strange? "
"Then what do you want to say? Are you saying that we're in danger because the bandits escaped? "
"Hehe, what if I were to tell you that all of the bandits that escaped went to seek refuge with a single person? What would you think?"
…
The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Wang Chong's lips parted, but he couldn't say a single word. He turned to look at Bai Siling, only to see Bai Siling nodding seriously.
No one said anything. The man stared at Wang Chong. The atmosphere was solemn.
All of the bandits that escaped went to seek refuge with a single person!
— — Only those who had personally experienced it would understand the weight of these words.
Along the way, especially in the recent period of time, Wang Chong had noticed that many of the strongholds were empty.
There wasn't a single bandit in sight.
In truth, Wang Chong had noticed this a long time ago. However, Wang Chong didn't take it to heart.
— — It was normal for the bandits to flee when they knew that the army was coming.
But now, this man was saying that all of the bandits that escaped went to seek refuge with a single person. The nature of this matter was completely different.
The bandits of a dozen or so strongholds added up to at least several hundred people. This was a significant force.
"Continue!"
Wang Chong said grimly. He wouldn't believe the words of another just because of a few words. At the same time, he wouldn't overlook some important information just because of his arrogance.
"I don't know if you know of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, but their leader, Iron Cloak Li, is a vicious and powerful martial artist. More importantly, he has mastered the Iron Cloak Technique, making him invulnerable to swords and spears. He's the true number one expert in the region between Longxi and the capital.
"Moreover, this person is lawless and unrestrained. He is extremely dangerous. As bandits, robbing is nothing out of the ordinary. But no matter how formidable a bandit is, he knows that he's no match for the army. But the Iron Cloak Highwaymen are different. They even dare to rob the army. Before this, at least six to seven groups of soldiers have died in Iron Cloak Li's hands. As a result, Iron Cloak Li's reputation has soared, and he's extremely respected among the bandits and highwaymen.
"On top of that, Iron Cloak Li is a highwayman who comes and goes without a trace. The royal court has tried to apprehend him before. However, as soon as the royal court gets stronger, Iron Cloak Li will immediately flee to the northwest and hide in the depths of the mountains. Once the matter blows over, he'll appear once more. On the other hand, if a small group of soldiers were to appear, Iron Cloak Li would just wipe them out to bolster his own prestige. "
"All of the highwaymen and bandits in the region between Longxi and the capital view him as their leader. Right now, it's said that he has gathered four to five hundred highwaymen and bandits under him. "
"You've gone too far in your operation to exterminate the bandits. Not a single one of the bandits managed to escape. Most of them were so frightened that they ran over to Iron Cloak Li's side. They wanted to pull Iron Cloak Li over to deal with you. Some of the bandits even invited me to join them, but I'm just disdainful of Iron Cloak Li's character. As the saying goes, 'Commoners shouldn't fight with officials'. As bandits, robbing and robbing is just for the sake of riches, but Iron Cloak Li kills for the sake of killing. That's why I didn't join them.
"However, not too long ago, I received an invitation from the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, requesting for the highwaymen and bandits in the area to deal with the official army. The operation will be taking place in the next few days. I believe that you'll be the only group on the road to the west. If I'm not mistaken, you should be Iron Cloak Li's target. "
As the man spoke, he swept his gaze across the crowd in the room. This was especially so for Wang Chong and Bai Siling.
Clearly, the man also knew that these two youngsters were the main characters of this operation.
"Where's the invitation?"
"It's here!"
The one who spoke wasn't the man but Bai Siling, who was seated on a chair made of tiger hide. With a flick of her finger, she took out a red invitation from her voluminous white sleeves and passed it over with two fingers.
On the surface of the post, there was a black evil spirit protruding out. It had a fiendish expression and an evil appearance. It looked extremely terrifying.
"Iron Cloak Token!"
Beneath the malevolent ghost, Wang Chong saw three bold and majestic words that seemed to have been carved out by iron hooks.
"The sun, moon, and universe, clear air above and turbid air below. Snakes have their ways, and rats have their ways. Today, eighty soldiers disregarded military orders and oppressed the Greenwood Forest, resulting in countless casualties among us. We hereby invite the heroes of the world to join us to uphold order in the Greenwood Forest and uphold the authority of the Greenwood Forest. We shall execute eighty rebellious soldiers to uphold the law. "
Inscribed, Iron Cloak Li!
Looking at the words on the invitation, Wang Chong frowned. The man had said that the leader of the Iron Cloak Bandits was a vicious and unscrupulous person, but the words on the invitation didn't seem to be written by an ambitious person at all.
"The invitation was written by the military advisor of the Iron Cloak Bandits, Zhou An. Iron Cloak Li's documents have always been written by him. The same goes for the Iron Cloak Token. "
Seemingly knowing what Wang Chong was thinking, the man kneeled on the floor and explained.
"For eighty soldiers to know how many of us are here, this isn't a good sign!"
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