I worked myself to the bone to become a saint, and survived on a deserted island with a stunning pri

However, making armor is not that simple.

Not only are skilled craftsmen needed to make armor, but also a large amount of pig iron.

This alone is something that a few thousand taels of silver from the village could not accomplish.

"In addition, we must keep a close watch on the movements of Tiger Stronghold and Fire Cloud Stronghold at all times, and send at least three people to keep watch on each stronghold every day."

It is essential to keep track of the enemy's movements; Chu Nan doesn't want to wait until they attack before he reacts.

Time passed by day by day.

For five consecutive days, Chu Nan spent his time not only supervising the bandits' training but also researching the production of armor.

Chu Nan originally intended to make chainmail, which involved bending iron wire into loops, then locking them together to form a single iron cover for the upper body.

Unfortunately, we don't have the necessary technology now, so it's difficult to achieve the same effect as in the previous life.

As a last resort, they could only make it into pieces of iron, and then string the pieces together with wire to form the armor.

"It's still a bit lacking in strength; it'd probably crack easily with a single cut on the battlefield." Chu Nan shook his head, still not entirely satisfied.

After several days of contemplation, Chu Nan realized that the most crucial element wasn't the craftsmanship itself. Although he hadn't specifically studied it in his previous life, he did have some understanding of how to improve strength and toughness.

The most crucial issue, however, was the cost. Chu Nan even roughly calculated that the cost of making a set of armor would be at least 10 taels of silver.

This only covers material costs and does not include time and labor costs.

"We're still short of money..."

The village doesn't have much silver left now. Apart from buying some food and weapons, there are only a little over 1000 taels left.

"We can't exactly make them wear rattan armor, can we?" Chu Nan said with a wry smile.

Just then, a bandit in charge of surveillance rushed over to report: "Boss, I'm reporting on the situation at Tiger Stronghold."

"What's going on?" Chu Nan asked casually.

Chu Nan himself stipulated that the bandits keeping watch should report at least three times a day, as this would make it easier to control their movements.

However, Tiger Stronghold hasn't gone out to plunder much in the last two weeks. Once, they robbed a farmer driving an oxcart, then abandoned the cart, led the ox back to the stronghold, and killed and ate it.

On one occasion, they robbed a passing merchant, stealing more than a dozen bags of grain and killing him.

"I was ordered by the chief to report that this morning I saw the Tiger Stronghold abduct two women on the main road."

"Oh, anything else?"

"Two women are driving a donkey cart, and it seems they're heading towards the capital. They look quite wealthy, though; one of the women is carrying a nice sword," the bandit on watch said.

"A sword?" Chu Nan was taken aback.

The reason is simply because swords are such a rare weapon.

The real killing weapons are not swords, but more often knives, spears and other similar weapons.

Even in ancient times, swords were often used as accessories rather than weapons for direct killing.

"I wasn't far away at the time, and I remember the two women shouting and yelling. One of them even said she was from the capital and that her father was some kind of general, I think her surname was..." The bandit thought for a moment, but seemed to be unable to remember.

"Surname...surname Ling! Yes, Ling!" the bandit said with certainty.

Swish!

Chu Nan suddenly stood up.

The information provided by the bandits indicated that two women were driving a donkey cart, one of whom was carrying a sword and claimed to be surnamed Ling, from the capital.

Ling Hanxue, Ji Menghan!

Chu Nan didn't even consider it; it must be them!

"Cease training, assemble, bring out all grenades, and attack Tiger Stronghold!"

At Chu Nan's command, the bandits immediately assembled.

After more than half a month of training, the bandits' discipline was much better than before. In just a few minutes, the bandits assembled, spears in hand, each one looking sharp and spirited.

"Attention everyone, our mission today is very important!"

Chu Nan's expression hardened, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes: "Destroy Tiger Stronghold!"

"Kill everyone inside except the women!"

Chu Nan was truly enraged.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

The bandits brandished their weapons and charged out after Chu Nan. The mountain stronghold headed straight for Tiger Stronghold!

After walking for nearly two hours, we finally arrived at the foot of Tiger Stronghold.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Nan immediately ordered an attack.

He had been concerned about Huoyun Village before, but now that Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue had been captured, he had to act immediately. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, it would be too late for regrets.

Inside the mountain stronghold.

Inside a locked room, Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue looked ashen-faced.

"Damn bandits!" Ling Hanxue cursed fiercely.

Ji Menghan gritted her teeth: "Sister, if we really can't get out, we absolutely cannot be humiliated by these bandits."

Ling Hanxue nodded: "If they want to humiliate us, we'll set this house on fire and then commit suicide."

Ji Menghan wiped away her tears: "It's just a pity that I couldn't see Chu Nan one last time before I died."

Ling Hanxue also fell silent: "That heartless bastard, he doesn't even know where he's run off to."

Just then, a series of booming sounds suddenly rang out outside.

The two women jumped up in surprise and peered through the crack in the door.

Suddenly, objects carrying flames were seen being projected from all directions. The bandits in the courtyard were blown to pieces, lying on the ground groaning and howling.

Immediately afterwards, another group of bandits wielding spears rushed in, and every time they kicked down a door, they slaughtered everyone inside.

Just then, a figure rushed into the courtyard, causing the two women to widen their eyes.

"Chu Nan, it's Chu Nan!"

"Chu Nan, we're here!" Ling Hanxue shouted loudly.

Seemingly having heard Ling Hanxue's voice, Chu Nan immediately ran over.

"How are you guys?"

As Chu Nan asked questions, he used his red-tasseled spear to smash the lock on the door.

Upon seeing the two women again, Chu Nan couldn't help but choke up a little.

He opened his arms and immediately pulled the two women into his embrace, where they wept together.

After a long while, they stopped crying. Chu Nan didn't rush to ask them anything, but instead turned around and gave an order.

"Slaughter everyone, then burn the bodies, and move all usable items from the village, such as money, food, and clothing, back to Qinglong Village and burn them on the spot."

"Let's go back to Qinglong Village and talk about it there."

Chu Nan, holding the two women's hands, walked down from the Fierce Tiger Stronghold and headed straight for the Azure Dragon Stronghold.

The terrain of Tiger Stronghold wasn't very good, so the virgin had no intention of occupying it. He simply set it ablaze to prevent other lovers from taking over and causing harm to the local people.

After a two-hour trek, they finally returned to Qinglong Village. Chu Nan ordered Wang San and his men to handle the situation themselves, moving all the goods and provisions into the warehouse, with rewards to be distributed the next day.

"Why are you here? Have you returned to the capital?" Chu Nan asked in a series of questions.

"We've returned to the capital and told Father about it. But Father believes that Zhao Wanzhi hasn't been exposed yet, and that Father still needs to make some preparations, so he didn't take him down immediately," Ji Menghan said with a somber expression.

Chu Nan nodded. The emperor was no ordinary person; he wouldn't do anything to undermine his rule on a momentary impulse.

"And you? What are you doing here? And how did you become a bandit leader?" Ling Hanxue asked.

"At the time, I felt that going back to the capital would not be of much help and might even arouse suspicion, so I did not go back. I planned to stay here, gather some strength myself, and then make further plans."

"I sent you a letter, did you see it?" Chu Nan asked.

"A letter? What letter? I didn't see it." Ling Hanxue was stunned.

"Oh no, if your letter gets intercepted, won't we be exposed?"

Chu Nan smiled and waved his hand: "No, I didn't write anything, I just drew a symbol that only we can understand."

"That's good." Ling Hanxue immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do you plan to do now?" Ji Menghan asked.

Chu Nan chuckled, then suddenly reached out and put his arm around the two women's slender waists, lifting them both up and carrying them toward the bedroom.

"Of course, we should have a big battle first!"