Chapter 66
Chapter 66
If that day had been calm and windless, if she had never appeared in their lives–
Then the bandits of the thirty strongholds on Feng Mountain would not have lost both men and money in a single day.
Quite literally, every man and every coin.
The uncanny child had not only stolen all their weapons and wealth, but abducted every bandit on the mountain.
She had not even spared the livestock in their back courtyards.
Surveying the wreckage spread across the mountain, the thirty-three chiefs gathered together. Wearing nothing but underpants, they hugged one another and sobbed.
The thief had even demanded ransom if they wanted their men returned. Where in heaven’s name were they supposed to find that much money?
She truly meant to leave them no path to survival!
Back at Blackwind Stronghold, Shengsheng could not stop smiling at the wealth piled throughout the storehouse.
The strategist looked at her as though beholding the God of Wealth.
After all these years, his dream of serving an enlightened ruler had finally come true!
“Chief, we have finished counting the hostages brought back from Feng Mountain. Excluding those unwilling to submit, and including our own brothers, we now number one thousand and eight.”
Shengsheng raised an eyebrow.
“Blackwind Stronghold is too rustic a name. Tell the brothers that from now on, this mountain shall be called Mount Liang, and we…”
She swept out one small hand.
“Are the one hundred and eight heroes of Mount Liang!”
The strategist hesitated. “Chief, there are one thousand and eight of us.”
“That isn’t important. What matters is that from this day forward, we are the one hundred and eight heroes of Mount Liang. Understood?”
The strategist nodded.
Shengsheng personally shut the storehouse door and secured it with a special “lock” exchanged from the System. Only then did she seem to remember something and turn to the strategist.
“I forgot to ask. What is your name?”
He answered deferentially, “This humble one is called Yong Wu.”
Shengsheng stared at him. “Don’t tell me your courtesy name is Brightened Wisdom.”
Yong’s face lit up. “Many thanks for the name, Chief.”
Shengsheng gave a dry laugh. She truly had not expected the title “one hundred and eight heroes of Mount Liang” to become so accidentally appropriate.
Such upheaval at Blackwind–no, Mount Liang–naturally drew the attention of court agents secretly watching the bandit dens.
The dens occupied a crucial trade route. The imperial court had long found Blackwind an eyesore and was already preparing to eliminate it.
As soon as news broke, a messenger rode at full speed to report the matter to the emperor.
Meanwhile, Shengsheng reclined against the beauty and enjoyed being fed. It suddenly occurred to her that she had flown out of Zhen and knew only that she was somewhere near a border, not which kingdom she was in.
She casually asked the beauty beside her.
The woman giggled coyly. “Chief, this is Yong Kingdom.”
Shengsheng spat out the grape she had just begun to swallow.
What?
She had flown all the way to Yong?
She was back in Siran Ming’s territory?
What terrible karma.
She absolutely could not let Siran discover that she had entered his territory under an alias to rake in money.
* * *
One week later, deep at night, thirty-three petty thieves dressed in torn sacks slipped into Mount Liang.
“Big Brother, I found out everything. The demon child placed all the treasure in that storehouse, and no one is guarding it.”
At the words “no one is guarding it,” the men grew excited.
She was only an ignorant little brat. Did she think a few demonic arts qualified her to become a mountain chief?
“She must pay the price!”
“When she wakes tomorrow, she should find her storehouse completely empty!”
One man gave a lewd chuckle. “I wonder if she’ll throw herself on the ground and cry until she gets the hiccups.”
The men snickered.
They had not become stronghold chiefs without possessing some skill. No one knew how they had slipped inside, but now they meant to steal the treasure.
They even reached an enthusiastic agreement: once they had the goods, they would burn this ridiculous Mount Liang to the ground.
Did the brat think she was playing house? “The one hundred and eight heroes of Mount Liang”? What a joke.
With those thoughts, they approached the storehouse.
Would you look at that? There really was no one there.
Delight bloomed across their faces, and they rushed over.
At that moment, Shengsheng knew nothing of the thieves in her home. She slept sweetly in bed.
She was a child. Children could not stay up late.
“Thirteen, where are your lockpicks?”
The man called Thirteen stepped forward. “The demon child stole them all.”
The thirty-three chiefs fell silent.
What now?
Thirteen grinned. “Don’t worry, brothers. How could one tiny, shabby lock stop me?”
Before making his own fortune, he had frequently picked the locks on widows’ homes. This little trinket was nothing.
No one saw where he produced the wire. He smirked and slid it into the keyhole.
Then, without warning–
“Besties! We are liiiiterally speechless!”
A shrill voice with a bizarre cadence pierced the darkness, making every man shudder.
“Who’s there?” the boldest chief called, his voice trembling.
The high-pitched voice answered immediately, “Lower your dog head and pull that skinny, insignificant thing out of my butthole!”
The atmosphere was terrifying, yet the more the men considered those words, the stranger they sounded.
Thirteen, who had been picking the lock, suddenly screamed.
The eldest chief kicked him. “Why are you shrieking?”
Thirteen’s face twisted in horror. “B-B-Big Brother… I think the lock is talking!”
* * *
At the same time, a highly disciplined army wound its way up the mountain road.
The man leading them had handsome, deep-set features and a sharply sculpted profile. He possessed first-rate beauty, but the killing aura around him was so oppressive that it overwhelmed his fine looks.
“Your Majesty, Mount Liang lies ahead,” said a woman in a low voice behind him.
The man acknowledged her with a nod.
* * *
Harsh panting rasped along the silent mountain path. Thirteen’s throat worked like a broken bellows. He could barely draw breath, as though he might collapse at any moment.
But he knew he could not stop.
The talking lock monster had separated him from his brothers. He did not want to die. He did not want to die!
After running for an eternity, firelight appeared ahead.
Thirteen found strength from nowhere. Seizing upon this final hope, he wailed, “Help! Help me! Save me!”
No one answered.
Unwilling to surrender, he ran toward the light. His foot caught on a root, and he fell.
The slope was steep and his strength exhausted. He rolled uncontrollably down the mountain.
Just as despair swallowed him, he crashed into something. A man grunted, and Thirteen lost consciousness.
The man he struck tumbled from his horse and flew headfirst into a tree.
With a dull thud, his tall body slowly slid down the trunk.
He, too, had fainted.