The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 205

The leader nodded, indicating that his curiosity had been satisfied.

"I can't take it anymore. It would have been better if I hadn't said anything. Now that I'm talking about it, I feel a chill down my spine."

After the bandit finished speaking, he couldn't help but shiver.

"Brother, now that you mention it, I have the same feeling. I always feel like King Ning is watching us."

The other person also felt a tickling sensation on their back and shifted uncomfortably.

"Brother, my eyelids start twitching whenever you mention Yama. Do you think Yama might have come to Jiangnan? I feel a bit cold, like Yama is about to arrive."

The bandit who had previously mentioned dreaming about Jiangning couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Brother, do you think that King Yama might really be coming to Jiangnan to find us?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The bandit called Lao Hu waved his hand and immediately retorted, "Shaanxi is thousands of miles away from Jiangnan, and he doesn't even know we're here."

Old Hu glared at the bandit and said, "Don't be so paranoid. Back in Luoyang, you kept saying you dreamt that the King of Hell was going to Luoyang, which is why we left Luoyang and came here. Jiangnan is so far from Shaanxi, how could he possibly come here? Besides, even if he really came to Jiangnan, so what? Could he possibly come here? Is it really that much of a coincidence?"

"We call him the King of Hell, but he can't really be the King of Hell, able to take our lives from thousands of miles away, can he?"

Although the bandit felt uneasy and had a bad feeling, he also felt that what his elder brother said made sense.

Seeing how terrified these bandits were of one person, the leader couldn't help but chuckle to himself, but he didn't mock them.

"From what Brother Hu said, it seems that Ning Yama is quite an extraordinary figure. If I have the chance, I would like to meet him and see if this living Yama can send me to see the real Yama."

Upon hearing their leader's words, the bandits from Shaanxi wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

Oh well, if the boss is happy, let him brag a little. Anyway, he won't run into the real person.

"Come on, have a drink."

One of the bandits raised his bowl and clinked glasses with the others. After drinking the bowl of wine, the inexplicable chill he had felt earlier was slightly dispelled.

The hall was immediately filled with laughter and cheerful conversation again.

……

As soon as it was light, Jiang Ning got up.

"You can go around that way. It's a bit further, but there's no danger to your life."

The old man stood outside the house and pointed out the way to Jiang Ning.

"Thank you."

Jiang Ning bowed and thanked him, saying, "Please take good care of yourself, sir."

The old man waved his hand casually and then went inside.

Jiang Ning turned and left, and at the village entrance, he saw the same child from last night playing in the mud.

"Are you leaving?"

When the child saw Jiang Ning, he also stood up.

"Ah."

Jiang Ning nodded.

The child waved towards Jiang Ning.

"Have a nice trip."

"hehe."

Jiang Ning smiled slightly, took some candied fruit from his pocket, and waved to the child.

The child's eyes lit up, and he ran over quickly.

Jiang Ning took out a pill and put it into the child's mouth, then put the rest in his arms before leaving. After taking a few steps, he turned back and waved to the child.

"Goodbye."

The child also waved to Jiang Ning.

"Goodbye."

Chapter 285: Leading the Way

After leaving the village, Jiang Ning ignored the old man's advice to take a detour and continued in the original direction. After walking for two more days, he arrived at a mountain range.

This is the mountain the boatman mentioned earlier. After crossing these mountains, you can continue by boat on the other side to reach Jinan Prefecture.

Spring flowers gradually awaken in March.

It's already March, and the mountains are beginning to show signs of spring. Green vegetation covers the mountains and fields, making it a pleasing sight to behold.

Jiang Ning began climbing the mountain in that direction. When he reached the halfway point, several loud shouts suddenly rang out from ahead.

"Stop! Robbery!"

Several burly men jumped out from the woods.

"This mountain is mine, these trees are mine, so if you know what's good for you, hand over your life-saving money!"

A burly man brandishing a gleaming knife shouted loudly.

"Boy, hand over everything of value on you. If you refuse, I'll kill you on the spot!"

Another burly man said sternly.

At this moment, these people were all looking at Jiang Ning with longing.

This outfit and this demeanor clearly indicate a fat sheep.

Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the men blocking his way. After sizing them up, he asked, "Are you bandits from the nearby mountain strongholds?"

"Be bold!"

One of the bandits shouted, "What bandits? We are the heroes of this place!"

Jiang Ning, too lazy to argue with them about how to address each other, went straight to the point: "What's the name of your stronghold? Where is it located?"

Jiang Ning's overly familiar manner caught the bandits off guard, and one of them was even about to speak.

"Call……"

"none of your business!"

Another bandit interrupted, shouting sternly, "Stop trying to get close to your grandfather! If you don't hand over your valuables, you might lose your life!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning said nothing more and took two steps forward, walking directly toward the group.

Seeing him like this, the bandits didn't waste any words and started slashing him with their knives.

Jiang Ning raised his leg high and delivered a whip kick to one person, then grabbed another by the neck and slammed him to the side, hitting another person on the head, killing three people instantly.

These bandits numbered five, and before they could even make a move, Jiang Ning killed three of them in the blink of an eye, leaving the remaining two dumbfounded as they watched the scene unfold.

Gudong.

The two couldn't help but swallow hard and immediately turned to run away. The next second, they found Jiang Ning, who had been behind them, standing in front of them. This scene almost made them scream.

"Grandpa, don't kill me!"

One of the bandits immediately knelt down and kowtowed frantically.

"I was blind and offended Your Majesty's might, please don't kill me!"

Seeing this, another bandit also knelt down and kowtowed to Jiang Ning.

"Take me to your mountain village."

Jiang Ning didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.

"Yes, yes, I'll lead the way for you, Grandpa."

The two bandits trembled like leaves, and nodded hastily after hearing Jiang Ning's words.

At this point, they didn't care what Jiang Ning would do after he came to their stronghold; all they wanted was for him not to kill them.

"Grandpa, this way please."

The two bandits stood up tremblingly and led the way for Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning followed the two up the mountain, winding east and west, and after about half an hour, he finally saw houses built deep in the mountains.

Qingshui Village.

Jiang Ning saw the three characters written on the entrance to the mountain stronghold.

It seems there's more than one fake village here.

"Hey, Wang Er, you've caught a big fish!"

As the two bandits led Jiang Ning into the mountain stronghold, several more bandits approached and laughed at the two men.

These people didn't notice anything amiss with the two bandits; they only saw Jiang Ning's extraordinary demeanor behind him and immediately burst into laughter.

"hehe."

Hearing his companions' teasing, one of the bandits revealed a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Without much reminiscing, the two men trembled as they led Jiang Ning into the mountain stronghold, much to the surprise of the other bandits there.

"Wang Er, why did you bring people back? Where are Cao Wei and the others?"

At this moment, a man came out of one of the houses in the mountain stronghold, frowning as he spoke.

"Boss, we..."

The two bandits' lips trembled uncontrollably; they didn't know what to say.

Ok?

The leader of Qingshui Village noticed something was wrong.

Looking around at the bandits in the stronghold, Jiang Ning drew his sword.

Upon seeing Jiang Ning draw his sword, the leader of Qingshui Village's expression changed.

"No, there's something wrong!"

The leader shouted.

The other bandits also noticed something was wrong and surrounded Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning glanced around, casually flicked his sword a couple of times, and charged towards the group in the next second.

After a while.

Tick, tick.

Jiang Ning sat atop a pile of corpses made up of several bandits, his gaze calmly fixed on the kneeling leader of Qingshui Village, blood dripping from the tip of his sword onto the ground.

"Heroes, spare their lives, heroes, spare their lives!"

The leader trembled and kowtowed repeatedly to Jiang Ning, his body shaking violently.

At this point, apart from Jiang Ning, he was the only one still alive in the mountain stronghold; all the other bandits were dead.

How many bandit strongholds do you have here?

With a tearing sound, Jiang Ning ripped a piece of cloth from a corpse, wiping the blood off his sword as he asked.

"This... heroes, I don't know exactly how many there are, I only know a few."

The leader said tremblingly.

These bandits all controlled their own mountain strongholds and rarely checked how many of their rivals there were. At most, they only knew about the nearby ones, and they didn't dare to visit their rivals' homes. Qingshui Village was just a small mountain stronghold.

Jiang Ning asked, "Do you know Tianfeng Village?"

"I know."

The leader nodded hurriedly: "Tianfeng Village is not far from us."

His Qingshui Village was just a small mountain stronghold with few people, while Tianfeng Village was a large stronghold with over a hundred people.

"lead the way."

Jiang Ning sheathed his sword and got up from the corpse.