Chapter 188 - 145: Assaulting the Mountain
He left Shanyang Prefecture City.
Pushing his horse into a hard gallop, he covered over a thousand li in two days, arriving at a county town not far from his target Bandit Stronghold.
The town was named Sanshui County, so-called because three rivers converged nearby.
This particular county town was quite famous throughout all of Shanyang Prefecture, and was also one of its most prosperous.
With the three rivers converging, transportation was convenient. Furthermore, it was located at the border of Shanyang, Gongzhou, and Yongzhou Prefectures, naturally making it a vital transportation hub.
Combined with its abundant aquatic resources, it was naturally quite wealthy.
It was now dusk. Dressed all in black, with a longbow slung over his back and a Broadsword in hand, Fang Yue was leading his fine steed when he was stopped at the city gates by the guards.
Only after presenting his Nameplate identifying him as a Martial Scholar was Fang Yue allowed to pass.
’The information from those captured Bandits said the main lair is near this Sanshui County Town. A straight-line distance of just over a hundred li... it’s clearly a major threat to the shipping here. I can’t imagine why the local Government Office hasn’t dealt with them.’
As he entered the city and took in the bustling, prosperous sights of Sanshui County Town, Fang Yue’s brow furrowed slightly.
’If there really is a powerful Bandit Stronghold nearby,’ he thought, ’then those Bandits certainly aren’t farming or crafting for a living. They must survive entirely by plunder.’
’So how can Sanshui County be this prosperous? It doesn’t look at all like a town living in the shadow of Bandits.’
’It’s as if the two sides are coexisting in perfect harmony.’
Fang Yue continued into Sanshui County Town, his mind racing as he walked.
’First, I’ll find an inn to stay the night. Then I can start gathering information. That Bandit Stronghold is definitely not a simple operation. I’ll be at a disadvantage if I rush in recklessly.’
Fang Yue soon reached the center of Sanshui County Town, found an inn called the Ke Xianglai Inn, and checked in.
He paid a deposit at the counter, and an attendant led him to his room.
After taking a bath and tidying himself up a bit, Fang Yue went downstairs for a meal.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t have his meal sent to his room; rather, in this day and age, an inn’s main hall was often a clearinghouse for news and gossip.
The ground-floor hall was filled with tables and chairs. For whatever reason, the place was nearly full tonight. Guests were crowded around every table—most of them clearly traveling merchants, accompanied by their Darts Masters and other Martial Artists.
Drinking, eating, and talking about everything under the sun, the entire hall was a cacophony of lively noise.
"Heh heh! I heard that a few days ago, Li the Third of the Fuding Commerce Association was leading a caravan past Boundary Mountain. Don’t know how, but he managed to piss off the folks from Tenglong Stronghold. They seized him and his cargo. His family refused to pay the ransom and even reported it to the authorities. Heh heh, and guess what happened in the end? The very next day, one of Li the Third’s arms showed up on the County Magistrate’s desk!"
"That’s nothing! Just the other day, a strange thing happened over in Fenggu Village by the Lan River. The local Landlord Ma, his entire family, plus all their servants—over a hundred people in total—vanished overnight without a trace. Some say they offended the Water Dragon King and were swallowed whole by the old god himself!"
The guests chattered about recent events and news. Fang Yue, meanwhile, sat quietly, listening in on the surrounding conversations as he waited for his food and wine to arrive.
Sure enough, his decision had been the right one. It wasn’t long before someone brought up his current target: the Bandits of Boundary Mountain.
"Hmph. What Water Dragon King? It was definitely that gang of Bandits holed up on Boundary Mountain," someone retorted immediately, having overheard the neighboring table’s talk of the Water Dragon King’s abductions.
"Bandits? Why would Bandits abduct people? If they take the whole family, who’s left to pay the ransom?" another person shot back, unconvinced.
"Heh heh, I don’t know what they want with the people they abduct. But has anyone here noticed when these kinds of incidents started happening in our Sanshui County? It was only after this King Feng of Boundary Mountain unified all the surrounding Bandit Strongholds and Water Stockades. That’s when it all began.
"Ever since then, a whole family has gone missing in Sanshui County every month or two," the first speaker continued.
Fang Yue couldn’t help but turn his gaze toward the speaker.
He was an old man with a salt-and-pepper beard, dressed in a patched long robe that had been washed so many times it had turned pale. Yet, his complexion was ruddy, and he carried himself as if he had once been well-off, not like someone born into poverty.
"That may be true," someone countered, "but since King Feng of Boundary Mountain took over all those smaller strongholds and water bandits, he’s been known to play by the rules. He only collects tolls from travelers; he’s never once set foot in a village."
"Sigh... if not them, then who else could it be?"
The old man then began to elaborate.
Listening to the man’s story, Fang Yue gradually began to form a clearer picture of his target: King Feng and his band of Bandits from Tenglong Stronghold on Boundary Mountain.
Boundary Mountain was situated at the confluence of three rivers and at the border of three prefectures, so jurisdiction over the area was naturally chaotic.
This, combined with the large number of traveling merchants, gave rise to numerous bandits.
Some of these bandits gathered in the mountains, while others built Water Stockades on river sandbars. All told, there were more than thirty different bands, large and small.
Sanshui County had dispatched its Guard Army to eliminate the bandits on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, the bandits would always get wind of their approach and flee into the neighboring prefectures.
As a result, the Guard Army had little to show for its efforts.
Eventually, as long as the Bandits didn’t attack the villages within Sanshui County, the Guard Army stopped bothering with them.
Then, at some unknown point, a new stronghold named Tenglong Stronghold emerged from among the existing bandit factions.