Start with a red name

Not long after the group set off again, after traveling about ten miles, they encountered a band of sand bandits numbering over a hundred.

Upon spotting them from afar, the bandit group coming from the east fled northwest like startled rabbits.

This was also the direction that Geng Xuan and his group were heading.

Many people had bulging bundles on their horses.

Song Yang, who was riding beside him, withdrew his gaze and explained to Geng Xuan beside him:
"This must be a group that has just finished a robbery and has come to Wild Wolf Gorge to sell their stolen goods."

He paused for a moment, then said:
"They will surely tell the village about what happened to us, and as is customary, the village will soon send someone to investigate."

Should we keep going, or stop and wait for them to come?

Geng Xuan countered with a question:

"Now that the Wild Wolf Stronghold's dispatched team is returning, and you're the ones making the decisions... In this situation, what should you do?"

"Speed ​​up and keep moving forward," Song Yang said.

Geng Xuan immediately said to Cao Ao and the others behind him, "You all heard that, don't stop, go faster... stay alert."

The team's speed increased again.

Geng Xuan then remembered something, looked at the fourth leader of the Wild Wolf Stronghold who was riding on the other side, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Tong Hui," the middle-aged man replied.

"If anyone from Wild Wolf Stronghold comes later, you'll need to deal with them. Try not to reveal any weaknesses... Is that alright?" Geng Xuan asked.

“…No problem.” Tong Hui paused only slightly before replying seriously.

After the group had traveled about ten miles, they saw a cavalry of about twenty men rapidly approaching them from a distance.

On the other side, Song Yang, who had been pretending to be calm, couldn't help but tremble when he saw the group from afar.

The man in the center was a rough, burly man, naked except for a fur coat, whose hair was disheveled like that of a wild man.

The man rode on the back of a galloping horse, his fur coat billowing open in the wind, his hair flying wildly.

As the group rapidly approached, Song Yang's expression grew increasingly unnatural.

Originally, Geng Xuan's attitude towards him had changed significantly, but another name inexplicably appeared in his mind: Qin Wuyang.

After the other party approached within a mile, Geng Xuan asked Tong Hui, "Who is he?"

Tong Hui calmly replied, "Xiang Jinxiu is the second-in-command of Wild Wolf Stronghold."

"You'll be in charge of dealing with him in a bit."

"Yes, Captain."

As they were speaking, more than twenty riders, led by the second-in-command of Wild Wolf Stronghold, had already approached within a hundred paces of the front of the column.

The naked man in a fur coat glanced casually at Jinxiu, lingering only on Song Yang for a moment before ignoring Geng Xuan and the others, his gaze landing directly on Tong Hui. He laughed loudly:

"Fourth brother, we have received news of the changes at Dicui Beach."

But, did you make a profit or a loss on this trip south?

As they spoke, the two had closed the distance between them again.

Xiang Jinxiu took the initiative to turn her horse around, leading the twenty-odd riders who had come with her to follow on one side of the group, and together they headed towards Wild Wolf Village.

Tong Hui shook his head with a wry smile and said:
"They must have lost money. There were less than a hundred people when they left, but they came back with nearly a thousand mouths to feed."

Resources are scarce in the village…sigh.”

In the end, Tong Hui sighed, looking quite troubled.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Jinxiu burst into laughter again and said loudly, "Let the boss worry about this; you don't need to worry about it."

As he spoke, he looked at the carriages at the back of the procession and exclaimed in surprise:

"Why are there so many carriages and horses?"

Tong Hui said, "On the way back, I happened to run into several groups of people who had robbed the Iron Arrow Mountain Villa together. I then ambushed them and took them all down with me."

Upon hearing his words, Xiang Jinxiu's expression changed instantly.

"So, all of these supplies were looted from the Iron Arrow Mountain villa?"

Tong Hui quickly replied, "Yes, is there anything wrong with that?"

“There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just that Iron Wolf happens to be a guest in the village,” Xiang Jinxiu said.

Upon hearing this, Tong Hui's expression changed, and his eyes involuntarily glanced at Geng Xuan, who was silently riding his horse and following behind.

Xiang Jinxiu didn't notice any of this; he had already turned his head to look to the other side and beckoned to three of the riders, giving them instructions:

"You all go back quickly and inform the chief of this situation immediately."

Be careful not to let Iron Wolf know about this.

After he finished giving his instructions, the three riders bowed and replied "Yes," then spurred their horses and rode off towards Wild Wolf Village.

Xiang Jinxiu didn't notice Tong Hui's subtle expression, but the other person next to him took it all in.

This was a man with a slightly pale complexion and a somewhat thin build.

He had noticed the anomaly even earlier.

What first made him realize that something was amiss was Song Yang's somewhat strange behavior.

Normally, in this situation, Song Yang, who has some of the habits of a rich young master, would be unusually active.

But what about this time?

Since the second-in-command appeared, Song Yang hasn't even given a smile or a greeting.

Moreover, his expression showed some unnatural tension.

Why are you so nervous?

You should be happy!

Seeing how unusual Young Master Song was, he couldn't help but take a second look.

After noticing his observation, Song Yang actually dodged away and looked elsewhere.

His strange behavior instantly put the man, who had initially only found it odd, on high alert.

Something is wrong!
Something is very, very wrong!
After he made this clear judgment in his mind, more unusual aspects of this team began to emerge.

The entire team is not in good form.

Although he did see a few elite members of the Wild Wolf Stronghold mixed in with the crowd, they should have been in a more central position.

Within the entire group, they act as maintainers and supervisors of order.

However, the reality is not like that.

They were just one of hundreds, even thousands, of riders in the vast field, nothing special.

If we're talking about something special, their location was completely opposite to what he had imagined.

They are not the maintainers and supervisors of order in the riding team in front of them, but rather they are subtly being maintained and supervised.

The rest, who made up the vast majority of the cavalry, were a "rabble" that should have come from various small and medium-sized bandit gangs.

Yet, they naturally revealed a consistency and unity in their actions.

It didn't look like a group of unrelated bandit gangs that had temporarily come together.

Moreover, these people treated their "masters" from Wild Wolf Village with excessive distance, even with a hint of scrutiny and wariness.

Besides these, the biggest anomaly was the person riding a horse not far behind the Fourth Master and Song Yang.

Although Geng Xuan deliberately used a rather crude disguise technique to roughly conceal his face in order to avoid his overly striking mixed-race appearance provoking a stress reaction from the Wild Wolf Stronghold.

But his current position is itself quite unusual.

The second-in-command was careless and distracted by chatting with the fourth-in-command, so he didn't notice these things.

The thin man following him only needed to pay a little attention to notice the various unusual signs in the group.

When the second-in-command said, "Iron Wolf is in the stronghold," and immediately arranged for someone to report back, the fourth-in-command's subconscious reaction filled in the last piece of the puzzle for the thin man.

Just as the second-in-command arranged for three fast horses to return, preparing to continue their conversation with the fourth-in-command, the thin man suddenly spoke up: "Second-in-command!"

Xiang Jinxiu turned her head to look at him.

The thin man had already quietly approached him and offered his advice:

"Since these spoils obtained from the Iron Arrow Mountain villa are so sensitive, should we have the Fourth Master and the others pause for now and wait for the Chief to give a clear decision before returning to the stronghold?"

As he spoke, he made a very strange look in an angle that only Xiang Jinxiu could see, out of sight of Tong Hui and the others.

That's usually used when warning someone.

Between words, his lips moved silently a few times.

His silent lip movements meant "something's fishy."

But Xiang Jinxiu, who had no idea about this, was only stunned and didn't react at first.

Just then, another voice suddenly rang in her ears, finally making Xiang Jinxiu realize what was happening, but it was too late.

"I told you it wouldn't be that easy."

The voice suddenly rang in the second-in-command's mind.

His heart skipped a beat as the sound rang out.

This seemingly brief moment actually marked the end of a silent confrontation.

The moment the voice suddenly rang in his mind, the second-in-command of Wild Wolf Stronghold realized the danger and immediately tried to mobilize all his strength.

But at that moment, the voice that rang directly in his mind contained a strange force that caused his heartbeat to be forcibly altered from its rhythm.

His pent-up energy, which was about to be awakened, was suddenly disrupted by this internal disturbance, immediately becoming disordered and scattered, unable to be organized in time.

When he used his immense strength to forcibly seize control of his body and prepared to take action again...

It was all too late.

A gentle breeze blew into my body.

The gentle breeze seemed to contain a fine net woven from dense steel wires, which spread throughout his body, rendering his strength unable to respond to his calls.

If even the second-in-command of Wild Wolf Stronghold is like this, then the others around him are naturally even more wretched.

Before they could make any real reaction, they were all forcibly restrained.

The team continued moving forward without stopping.

The only minor incident was that a carriage sped forward, riding alongside the second-in-command and more than twenty other riders.

Then, under the grasp of an invisible force, all those figures, including the second-in-command himself, who had been forcibly controlled on horseback, were stuffed into the carriage one by one.

After all these people were stuffed into the carriage, Song Yang, who had been stiff and looked unnatural, recovered.

He couldn't help but say:

"Commander, since you've managed to keep Uncle and the others under control, wouldn't it be better to let them stay on horseback?"
If anyone else comes to the village later and doesn't see them, wouldn't they become even more suspicious?

Geng Xuan shook his head and said:
"Let them be suspicious. It would be best if we could easily sneak into Wild Wolf Village."

If we can't get in by bluffing, then let's fight.

If things are to go as Song Yang suggested, in addition to bold action and his and Tong Hui's proactive cooperation, extremely good luck is also needed.

They couldn't reveal anything along the way, and all the people from Wild Wolf Village they encountered were careless and negligent.

If any one aspect is not met, the plan to take over Wild Wolf Stronghold without bloodshed will fail.

Under normal circumstances, it would require not only absolute impossibility but also an exceptionally high level of luck.

Now, the Black Wind Gang is afflicted with seventy-four points of bad luck and misfortune, and instead of good luck, they are "possessed by the god of bad luck".

Under these circumstances, hoping to take over Wild Wolf Village without bloodshed according to Song Yang's plan is wishful thinking.

Moreover, it might not be a good thing if he were to take over Wild Wolf Stronghold without bloodshed.

For the Black Wind Gang at present, appropriate combat is advantageous.

Those aspirations to achieve great things should also be encouraged and fulfilled.

The last time they defeated Tong Hui and Song Yang without bloodshed, it already disappointed many people.

If this kind of drama were to happen again, it would be a significant blow to those who are eager to make a name for themselves.

The cohesion of the Black Wind Clan will inevitably decline.

With this in mind, Geng Xuan made a small adjustment to the specific action plan.

……

next to.

Inside a moving carriage.

Completely restrained, unable to move or speak, Xiang Jinxiu was haphazardly stuffed into a pile of bodies like a large lump of human garbage.

The series of changes came too quickly and too violently.

At the moment he was stuffed into the crowd, he was still in a daze and couldn't fully process what all of this meant.

As he overheard his nephew Song Yang's brief exchange with the "regimental commander," he suddenly realized what was happening.

His once innocent eyes were now ablaze with fiery rage.

……

The group continued forward for a while, and a rocky hill came into view in the distance.

With his keen eyesight, Geng Xuan could even see a winding road and red names, some sparse and some dense, on both sides of the road, starting from the foot of the mountain.

They were like red balloons suspended in the air; in this environment, it would be too difficult not to attract his attention.

"Is Wild Wolf Village on that mountain?" Geng Xuan asked.

Song Yang said, "Yes."

How many roads lead into the mountains?

"Just this one."

"If one desperately wants to escape, there should be other ways to go, right?"

"..." Song Yang fell into thought, an uncertain look on his face.

"Do you not know, or do you simply not want to tell me?"

Song Yang hurriedly said, "I never thought about this. I don't know if there are any other ways to escape."

At this point, he looked at "Fourth Uncle" Tong Hui.

Geng Xuan also looked at him.

Tong Hui's eyelids twitched, and he took a breath before slowly explaining: "This mountain seems to cover a very wide area, but most of it is just bare rocks and steep cliffs."

Those gentle slopes with soil have all been developed and utilized in recent years.

The better plots were turned into scattered farmland and vegetable gardens, while the worse plots were planted with pasture.

More than half of the food and drink for the thousands of people in the village depend on this.

This was made with a lot of effort by everyone in the village, and everyone cherishes it very much.

"...If a battle is truly unavoidable, as long as you, Commander, can secure victory as quickly as possible, it will be easy to get everyone in the stronghold to surrender."

Geng Xuan nodded slowly.

Tong Hui's previous answer seemed completely irrelevant to his question, but Geng Xuan already understood what he meant.

According to Song Yang's revelation, the population of Wild Wolf Village exceeds four thousand.

The bandits' families and relatives were all in the stronghold.

After years of management, Wild Wolf Village has achieved a semi-self-sufficient lifestyle.

The produce from this village is enough to feed and drink more than two thousand people.

The proportion of cultivators among them is so high!
It is common knowledge that cultivators expend a great deal of energy.

Even in the Xuanyou and You states, this is already an extremely rare treasure land.

It is equivalent to at least the combined strength of three or four tribal settlements.

In addition, the remaining amount can be made up by the commercial income from Wild Wolf Gorge.

From this perspective, Wild Wolf Village, which was known as a bandit stronghold, has actually successfully completed its transformation.

Banditry, which seemed like a promising career, ended up as a side job.

In this situation, as long as he can quickly establish a winning position and decisively take control of Wild Wolf Village, as Tong Hui suggested, the villagers' will not be too strong to resist.

They were forced to abandon their families and relatives, their stable lives, and their hard-won wealth, to become rootless, drifting bandits again.

In their haste, they themselves couldn't bring themselves to be so ruthless.

As they spoke, the gate of Wild Wolf Village in the distance drew even closer.

Just then, Geng Xuan's gaze sharpened.

On the winding mountain road, several figures appeared from a bend out of sight.

Then, they rushed down the mountain road at an extremely fast speed.

The person in the lead is the fastest.

Each step involves dozens of steps, and the figure floats lightly as a leaf in the wind.

When he locked onto this person, his pupils dilated and contracted almost imperceptibly, as if adjusting their focus.

Then, the facial features of this person, who was seven or eight miles away, quickly became clear.

He was a rather handsome middle-aged man with a short, dark stubble on his upper lip.

Moreover, this person's appearance is 70-80% similar to Song Yang beside him.

However, he appears more mature and composed.

Because of the great distance, it was impossible to see the details of the "ripples" emanating from this person, and it was impossible to accurately judge his cultivation level.

However, based on his movements and the intensity of the red name above his head, Geng Xuan had already made a basic judgment.

"This must be Song Mingzhu, the chief of Wild Wolf Stronghold."

Before long, Song Mingzhu, who had shaken off the others, arrived at a distance of less than a mile from Geng Xuan and the others.

However, Song Mingzhu, who was originally approaching this side at top speed, slowed down as the distance between them decreased.

Geng Xuan could even see that Song Mingzhu, who was watching them from afar, was becoming increasingly suspicious and uncertain.

When he approached within about 150 paces, he came to a complete stop.

Then, they immediately turned back towards the Wild Wolf Village behind them at top speed.

Clearly, he had already sensed something amiss with this team that was approaching the foot of Wild Wolf Village Mountain, based on his experience.

Just as he turned back and returned to Wild Wolf Village at top speed.

Geng Xuan acted almost at the same time as him. He was still on horseback, but in the blink of an eye, he was dozens of steps away.

The distance between the two sides instantly closed to within a hundred paces.

Song Mingzhu, who was already known for his agility, was so fast that it was breathtaking.

But compared to Geng Xuan at this moment, he suddenly seemed somewhat "unbearable to look at".

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the distance between the two sides visibly closed.

Upon realizing Geng Xuan's presence, Song Mingzhu, who was originally heading back towards the gate of Wild Wolf Village, immediately changed direction, wanting to escape elsewhere.

As if he could anticipate what was happening, Geng Xuan, who could approach quickly, changed direction before Geng Xuan could.

His sudden change of direction not only failed to alleviate his predicament, but instead accelerated the closing of the distance between them.

Soon, before the two, who were chasing and fleeing, had even broken free of the group by more than a mile, the distance between them had closed to within ten steps.

Although Geng Xuan anticipated that Song Mingzhu was about to change direction again, he did not change direction in advance to intercept him as he had done before.

Instead, she pointed a finger at him.

Right index finger.

An invisible force instantly shot out from his finger.

The moment Geng Xuan unleashed the Jade-Refining Sky-Supporting Finger, Song Mingzhu's sense of crisis reached its peak.

He immediately dodged.

Then, if he simply moves forward and does nothing else, the force of the Jade-Refined Sky-Supporting Finger will only glide past his right arm.

Now, with his perfectly timed dodge, he caught the impact steadily with his back.

It's better to catch accurately than to aim precisely.

Instantly, a small hole appeared running through Song Mingzhu's body.

As he fled at top speed, he immediately lost control of his body and lunged forward.

When he fell to the ground in a disheveled state, he rolled uncontrollably forward for dozens of meters, kicking up a trail of dust, before finally coming to a stop.

Geng Xuan's feet had already gently landed in front of him.

Seeing Geng Xuan bend down and reach out to grab him, Song Mingzhu, coughing up blood, had already stopped struggling in despair, letting himself be captured by this terrifying enemy.

"Cough...cough cough...who...who are you?"

Geng Xuan did not answer, but quickly returned to the group with Song Mingzhu in his arms.

Watching Geng Xuan quickly return carrying the coughing blood-streaked Song Mingzhu, Tong Hui, Song Yang, and the other onlookers, in a daze, felt as if they were watching a lion king returning victorious with its prey in its mouth.

They were witnessing a hunt that was both exhilarating and utterly hopeless.

For Geng Xuan, the hunter, it was exhilarating.

Utter despair was the feeling of being the "prey" – Song Mingzhu.

While Geng Xuan was pursuing Song Mingzhu, the group did not stop moving.

On the contrary, because of the order issued in advance by Geng Xuan, all one hundred squads and twenty companies accelerated their advance.

Those carriages that slowed down the journey were all left standing.

Everyone mounted their Azure Cloud Horses and approached the gate of Wild Wolf Village at top speed.

However, their top speed and Geng Xuan's top speed are not on the same level.

When Geng Xuan returned from his "hunt," they hadn't actually gone much further.

Geng Xuan dissipated all his strength, leaving Song Mingzhu extremely weak, and handed him over to Cao Ao.

At this moment, Cao Ao had already arrived at the front of the group and was walking alongside Song Yang.

Geng Xuan handed Song Mingzhu to Cao Ao, but he didn't even glance at Cao Ao. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Song Yang and Tong Hui.

Geng Xuan had no time to mediate this family emotional dispute. After handing over his "prey," he returned to his original mount, Canglan.

At this moment, the group was still about five miles away from the gate of Wild Wolf Village.

The group of figures who had originally descended the mountain with Song Mingzhu had only just left the mountain gate and were still at least three or four miles away.

As they got closer to Wild Wolf Village, the withered grass on the ground grew taller and taller. From their perspective, they couldn't see what was happening there and continued to approach.

On the contrary, those figures who were originally guarding the mountain gate had the advantage of being on high ground and vaguely saw something, but because of the distance and their low cultivation level, they could only roughly judge that some unexpected changes had occurred here.

But they didn't know exactly what had happened.

They could only peer in this direction with inquisitive and questioning eyes.

Geng Xuan, who had originally decided to abandon the team and charge towards Wild Wolf Village alone, changed his mind after discovering these circumstances and led the main force to quickly approach the gate of Wild Wolf Village.

The group moved forward for about two miles, and the several figures who had followed Song Mingzhu down the mountain finally caught up with the group and arrived near the front.

Before they could even see what was happening, Geng Xuan used stones to freeze them in place.

As the galloping cavalry swept past them, Zheng Liangcai, Shen Shangxian, and others, who brushed past them, grabbed the horses and placed them across their backs.

In the distance, the number of heads standing high above the mountain gate, peering out, grew increasingly larger.

More and more people were craning their necks to look in this direction, their expressions becoming increasingly surprised and uncertain.

Cao Ao, Zheng Liangcai, and the others, who were riding alongside Geng Xuan and galloping toward the gate of Wild Wolf Village, had also noticed the unusual situation at the gate and turned to look at him.

At this point, slightly reducing the speed to create the illusion that the entire team would stop in front of the mountain gate would likely have a better effect.

Geng Xuan simply said, "Just rush over there."

Tong Hui, who was also closely following beside him, finally couldn't help but "remind" him:

"Captain!"

Geng Xuan recalled the promise he had made to him and Song Yang, which was also what he had hoped for, and so he added:
"The main approach taken by the villagers encountered along the way was to force them to surrender."

Force surrender through killing; once surrender is achieved, avoid further bloodshed!

"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.

At this moment, the distance between the team and the gate of Wild Wolf Village has been reduced to only about one mile.

Those heads craning their necks at the mountain gate and behind it finally became certain that the cavalry in front of them was definitely not their own team returning.

Some hurriedly retreated and went up the mountain to report.

Some have already sounded the alarm by striking gongs.

Someone wanted to quickly close the heavy, wide-open mountain gate.

The others began to deploy their defenses around the mountain gate, taking advantage of the terrain. Some were drawing their bows and arrows, while others were frantically arranging crude defensive equipment such as rolling stones and logs.

However, perhaps because they had never actually used these things in actual combat, the villagers who were handling them were not only flustered, but also clumsy in their movements.

"Abandon the horse!"

As we got closer to the mountain gate, the terrain rose rapidly.

Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly unsuitable for too many teams to ride at high speed.

Moreover, at close range, the speed of the Azure Cloud Horse is not necessarily superior to that of a cultivator.

At Geng Xuan's command, figures leaped from their galloping horses and, without stopping, rapidly approached the gate of Wild Wolf Stronghold.

When the order was given, Geng Xuan was still nearly a mile away from the mountain gate. By the time all one hundred squads and twenty companies of the Black Wind Gang dismounted and quickly approached, Geng Xuan had already arrived in front of the mountain gate.

At this moment, the heavy mountain gate had not even had time to completely close.

Seeing that the mountain gate was only twenty or thirty centimeters away from completely closing, Geng Xuan stomped his foot hard on the ground and charged towards the heavy mountain gate like a cannonball.

"boom!"

With a muffled thud, the mountain gate instantly shattered into pieces.

Behind the mountain gate, a dozen figures who were struggling to push the heavy gate were sent flying backwards.

As they were thrown backward against their will, they coughed up blood.

In an instant, he smashed the mountain gate, eliminating the biggest obstacle to the following team. Geng Xuan quickly circled the chaotic crowd, casually taking out the toughest ones.

Then, without waiting for Cao Ao and the others to storm into the mountain stronghold, he rushed up the mountain path to the summit.

He did not fight his way to the top of the mountain.

The truth is quite the opposite; he didn't actually take action very often.

By the time he reached the halfway point of the mountain, he had already taken down all the villagers who had set off from the mountain gate to report the news to the top.

The figures who were running frantically just moments before were now all limp and powerless on the roadside.

After that, the villagers along the way posed no obstacle to him, and he didn't even have the interest to continue fighting.

Just as they were about to reach the summit, they saw a late-stage Marrow Refinement cultivator leading a dozen or so figures hurrying down from the summit, bumping right into him.

"who are you?"

The other party was stunned at first, then questioned him warily.

Geng Xuan, who was dozens of steps away just a moment ago, had already flashed to his side after he finished these preparatory movements.

As he passed by these people, more than a dozen of them, including this late-stage Marrow Refinement cultivator, collapsed to the ground.

Soon, as Geng Xuan stepped over the last step, he appeared on a wide-open platform at the top of the mountain.

He swept across the open platform and slipped into the main hall.

Inside the hall, both the host's seat and the seats that should have been for the guests were completely empty; there was not a single person there.

Only the cups of tea, still steaming, are silently telling a story.

"Where are the people? Where did they go?"

With that thought in mind, Geng Xuan slipped out of the main hall and circled the not-so-large group of buildings around the mountaintop platform, but he still couldn't find the target he was looking for.

"They... slipped away?"

Geng Xuan stood on the mountaintop, thinking just like that.

Suddenly, I felt a strange emotion coming from above me.

Looking up, high in the sky, three Xuanqing Sea Sand Sculptures circled and flew, conveying information that only he could perceive through subtle changes in their emotions.

Geng Xuan immediately looked to the west and saw a row of houses blocking his view. He quickly moved onto the roof and looked up again.

"He really is trying to slip away." Geng Xuan chuckled softly. (End of Chapter)