Chapter 27: Playing the Bandit

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After the cavalry charge, every remaining member of the Zhang family’s grain convoy lay dead.

Only Wang Wu was still fighting.

The man facing him was none other than Zhao Mang.

No one else could stand against Wang Wu. Those who had crossed blades with him had ended up with broken arms or shattered legs. Two or three of them had already been wounded by him.

Zhao Mang had never imagined that Wang Wu would be leading the convoy. Even less had he expected such an easy victory—especially with an ambush prepared in advance—to come at such a heavy cost. One horse had been killed, and five men injured.

Wang Wu, too, had never imagined that a simple grain-transport mission would bring him face-to-face with Tubo bandits.

What shocked him even more was seeing Zhao Mang among them.

It was only when he saw Zhao Mang that he finally understood.

Damn it—Zhao Mang had brought his men to rob the grain.

Without another word, he had thrown himself into battle with Zhao Mang.

But Zhao Mang was no longer the man Wang Wu had encountered at the government office.

Wang Wu had completely lost his advantage.

Zhao Mang’s soldiers withdrew one after another, making room for the two men and surrounding them in the center.

The two exchanged blows back and forth.

After several rounds, Zhao Mang seized Wang Wu and subdued him.

Zhao Mang had always possessed tremendous strength, and after so much time spent training, he had continued to improve.

Once Wang Wu was captured, Zhao Mang began trying to win him over.

He had no intention of losing such a promising warrior with extraordinary strength.

“Wang Wu, I can see you’ve had a miserable time with the Zhang family. Why not join my ranks and fight the Tubo bandits with me?”

Wang Wu’s face was filled with anger.

Looking at the scene around him, he shouted, “You call this fighting Tubo bandits? You’re nothing but bandits yourselves!”

“You robbed my grain convoy!”

Zhao Mang was entirely unconcerned.

“What difference is there between the Zhang family and bandits?”

“You know that better than anyone, Wang Wu.”

“Besides, how are the things the Zhang family does any different from what the Tubo bandits do?”

“They abduct women, abuse the common people at will, seize other people’s fields, and leave ordinary folk with no way to live.”

“They merely wear the outer garment of an eminent clan.”

“If I hadn’t been strong enough back then, who knows where my sister would have ended up—or whether she would even be alive.”

Zhao Mang’s words plunged Wang Wu into deep thought.

What he said was true.

Ever since Wang Wu had followed Jiangshan into the Zhang family, he had not done a single good deed.

Even this grain convoy was carrying food to the so-called bandits in the mountains.

No matter how one looked at it, they were hardly benevolent men.

Wang Wu was helpless, yet he still clung to the last shred of his convictions.

He roared, “But the men under my command were innocent! Why did you kill every one of them?”

Zhao Mang gave a mocking laugh.

“Innocent? Ask yourself—were they truly innocent?”

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Wang Wu fell into thought once more.

He had never been particularly clever, but the soldiers’ words from earlier kept echoing in his mind.

“Little refugee…”

“What a taste…”

Those few fragments churned in his thoughts, gradually becoming clear.

It was true.

He himself had once been a refugee.

He had originally come from Lanzhou, where his entire family had been wiped out by the Tubo bandits.

Only because his parents had gone to such lengths to hide him had he managed to survive.

Later, he met Jiangshan.

He followed Jiangshan from place to place, drifting through life until they eventually ended up with the Zhang family.

Although Wang Wu was somewhat dull-witted, he had always retained his own kindness.

That was precisely why the people under him respectfully called him Brother Wang.

But when all was said and done, they only addressed him that way because of his formidable strength.

It was not as though he had never seen those men under his command follow the Zhang family in tormenting the common people.

Zhao Mang’s words dragged Wang Wu’s thoughts deeper and deeper into an abyss.

Zhao Mang was right.

Wang Wu had truly served no purpose within the Zhang family. After Jiangshan’s death, the Zhang family had treated him even worse.

They often avoided him because of his slow reactions and withheld his food.

There had even been many times when he could not eat his fill or find decent clothes to wear.

At last, Wang Wu lowered the final defenses in his heart.

The strength drained from his hands.

The instant Wang Wu relaxed, Zhao Mang immediately felt the weight in his grip lighten.

He knew that Wang Wu had finally yielded.

To gain such a fierce warrior—how could he not be delighted?

He immediately released Wang Wu.

“Everyone, check the goods and take inventory.”

“We’re leaving at once.”

At Zhao Mang’s command, everyone sprang into action.

Long years of training had made them disciplined and swift to obey. Zhao Mang’s words were military orders.

Whatever he said, his men carried out.

In only a moment, they had cleared the battlefield.

The group loaded the grain carts and happily set off toward Dunzi Peak.

Before leaving, Zhao Mang glanced unobtrusively toward a patch of grass in the distance.

Someone was hiding there—someone he had deliberately allowed to escape.

Zhao Mang needed that man to carry a message to the Zhang family.

Otherwise, what reason would he have to launch a bandit-suppression campaign?

On the way back—

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The group split into two parts. One veered briefly toward the frontier army camp, while the other turned toward the prefectural soldiers’ camp.

After taking a winding route, they eventually returned to Dunzi Peak.

They had obtained three carts of grain in one stroke.

The people at Dunzi Peak were overjoyed.

They did not care where the grain had come from. All they knew was that Zhao Mang had led them out and returned with such a great haul.

It was a bumper harvest, a glorious victory!

It was their honor!

Whenever they won a battle, this small community would gather together, drinking wine and eating meat, laughing and playing.

That warm atmosphere soon infected Wang Wu as well.

He quickly became part of the group, enjoying himself so thoroughly that he seemed to have forgotten the world beyond the mountain.

He even unexpectedly met a young woman among the craftsmen.

She was responsible for inspecting the weapons and military equipment produced by the artisans.

Because women were meticulous, Zhao Mang never discriminated against them.

Whoever was useful, he employed.

For that reason, many of Jiang Wan’s women and maidservants wanted to come work for Zhao Mang.

Jiang Wan had even complained to him about it.

Zhao Mang had merely smiled and said nothing.

As the sun sank toward the western hills, the Zhang family compound was unusually quiet.

Inside Zhang Shirong’s room, he sat before the table as usual, listening to a servant’s report.

“Master! The grain convoy carrying supplies to Qianmang Mountain was robbed by bandits.”

Zhang Shirong shot to his feet and slammed his palm onto the table.

“Robbed by bandits? Apart from our people, what other bandits are there on Qianmang Mountain?”

“They actually dared to rob our grain?”

“What happened to the men in the convoy?”

The young servant trembled violently, terrified.

“Master, every man in the convoy was killed.”

Zhang Shirong suddenly hurled the bamboo slip in his hand into the servant’s face.

“Then how did you make it back?”

The servant stammered, “I—I—when we reached the destination, everyone stopped to rest. I went off to relieve myself.”

“Who could have known that a group of bandits would suddenly rush out at that very moment?”

“They killed us on sight, without showing the slightest mercy.”

“I followed them for a while afterward. Some of them headed toward the eastern part of the city.”

He paused for a moment, as though he had suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right! They seemed to have been lying in ambush there beforehand.”

Zhang Shirong fell into deep thought.

The conspiracy he had arranged had been extremely well concealed.

How could anyone have found out?

…