In the spacious courtyard room, Jiang Dali heartily drank his burning knife wine while devouring the sliced five catties of cooked beef.
The fragrance of the wine filled the room, luring the two bearded mountain bandits, who stood at the door, to repeatedly twitch their noses and swallow hard.
"Ha!"
Jiang Dali let out a burp from the alcohol, feeling he was about half-drunk, so he took a few more bites of beef to accompany his drink.
Drinking was not an easy task, and drinking a lot without getting drunk was even harder.
Drinking tested one's constitution.
Jiang Dali's constitution was naturally extraordinary, which meant his tolerance for alcohol was also commendable.
However, he knew that his current capacity for liquor still fell far short of the standards for that future mission he had in mind.
The hero from that mission was reputed to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, consuming wine by the jarful.
To catch the hero's eye, one first needed an extraordinary ability to hold liquor.
Musing over this, Jiang Dali's slightly drooping eyelids suddenly brightened as he finally spotted a new post about Black Wind Village popping up on the Jianghu Forum.
"Fellow brothers and valiant men, is there anyone also born near Hui City Mengyin County? Come and save us please. We've been captured by a bunch of NPC mountain bandits and taken to their mountain village. Now we can't even commit suicide; what should we do?"
Jiang Dali looked at the name of the person who posted -- Zhongyuan Miao Renfeng.
"Hm? I didn't expect among the captured players this time, there would be an expert."
He was somewhat familiar with this peculiar name.
In his previous life, Zhongyuan Miao Renfeng actually managed to become a disciple of the Golden-faced Buddha Miao Renfeng, learning the Human Rank Martial Arts 'Miao Family Swordsmanship', and had his moments of glory.
Unfortunately, the man became haughty with success and didn't strive to advance further. After his short-lived fame, it was said he vanished after being pursued by his enemies.
As Jiang Dali's thoughts churned, more players started responding under Zhongyuan Miao Renfeng's post.
Players born in other cities and regions came to check out the commotion.
Some expressed their skepticism, and soon other players captured by Jiang Dali confirmed the story, dispelling the doubts of many but also arousing the curiosity and schadenfreude of others.
"Hahaha, you guys are truly lucky, to be captured by the Great Master of Black Wind Village and taken back to the stronghold--that's a big opportunity. We haven't encountered such a thing yet."
"Don't celebrate too soon, be a good person upstairs. This shows that the Martial World we imagined is far more dangerous if even the ordinary mountain bandits know to go to the City God Temple resurrection point to capture us.
Doesn't this mean that if we offend some powerful NPC in the future and happen to be continually killed upon being cornered in the City God Temple, then we wouldn't be able to play anymore?"
"Exactly, exactly. Just by the sound of it, Black Wind Village is clearly just a minor force for newbies; yet they know to camp out at the City God Temple. If we offend the big sects later on, that would be a one-way ticket to death."
Players chattered incessantly, some finding the situation intriguing while others were concerned.
They were all professional players who had entered during the internal testing phase, and many sensed danger in this news but were also amazed.
...
Hua Mountain.
In a small courtyard on North Peak.
A handsome man dressed in black and white martial attire was concentrating on the post on the Jianghu Forum, his expression one of surprise as he fell into deep thought.
"The native NPCs of this world even know to blockade the City God Temple? That is interesting, something we have not discovered before.
It seems there are still many secrets to uncover in this world. However, whether this particular situation is a misunderstanding or accident, or if there's something peculiar about this Black Wind Village, remains to be seen."
Pondering.
The man turned and entered the house, grinding ink and writing a letter that read--"Vice Hall Master Feng Ying, I trust you are well. I am unaware if you have successfully joined Lingjiu Palace yet? Today, I received news that the mountain bandits from Black Wind Mountain Village in Hui City Mengyin County know the secrets of the City God Temple. The Hall Master might have taken notice."
Fluttering wings--
The doves were released and quickly disappeared into the sky.
...
Jiang Dali watched as more and more players on the Jianghu Forum paid attention to the post, becoming aware of Black Wind Village in Hui City Mengyin County, and he quietly thought this notoriety was quite a gain for the Village.
If the high-level officials saw this message, they would surely take notice of his Black Wind Village.
Maybe some experts would come to probe and check the situation.
When that time came, it would be his chance to harvest a batch of naive players early on.
Towards the experts cultivated by the officials, Jiang Dali was not entirely hostile or disdainful.
It was just that differing stands necessitated conflict.
To survive, to prevent the officials from completely controlling this world, it was essential to suppress them early on; otherwise, it might not be possible later.
This was mainly because many of the official experts had entered the Martial World much earlier than the Internal Test Players.
Even Jiang Dali was unclear about who entered the Martial World first among the official experts and when exactly that was.
But he was well aware of some of the powerful officials from his past life and knew who they were.
Seeing nothing else of interest on the Jianghu Forum,
Jiang Dali no longer paid attention to it.
Currently, he had seen many familiar names on the forum, wishing he could transplant some of those promising players into his Mountain Village right away.
But for now, it seemed the only promising newcomer within his sphere of influence was Zhongyuan Miao Renfeng.
Other professional players might not be bad either, however, in the Martial World, it's a survival of the fittest.
So-called "not bad" simply means they potentially could become second- or third-rate experts in the future, something Jiang Dali didn't pay much attention to.
Looking up, he noticed the moon was high in the sky and it was getting late.
A bunch of players who had been captured must have been restless and in a state of panic, enough psychological torment had probably been inflicted by now.
Jiang Dali immediately left the courtyard and headed straight for the Black Prison of the Mountain Village.
...
The Black Prison was damp and filled with various stinking odors, with rats scurrying around—it was hardly a place fit for humans.
After a group of players were thrown into the Black Prison, many were tied up, their faces pressed against the moist, rotten-smelling ground, almost to the point of throwing up.
To make matters worse, their mouths were gagged with cloth so they couldn't vomit or speak, each one in a pitiful and desperate state.
This wasn't playing a game, it felt more like the game was playing them.
Many players logged off directly, unwilling to endure this disgusting torture.
But there were also a few players who didn't run away and were instead constantly waiting for an opportunity, observing their surroundings, hoping for a turn of events.
As professional players, some of them had a keen sense of smell.
They felt that since the mountain bandits didn't kill them, and didn't even want them to commit suicide, but instead captured them and locked them up in the Mountain Village, there must be a reason for it.
So as long as they waited for this reason to appear, perhaps that would be their chance.
Therefore,
When they heard the respectful calls of "Great Master" coming from the corridor of the Black Prison, the few players who had held out all perked up, their eyes lighting up.
"Bring Hu Ling out, prepare to execute the punishment."
After Jiang Dali entered the Black Prison, he simply glanced at the players and disregarded them, sitting down on the Taishi Chair and issued orders with a slap on the table.
Two mountain bandits responded and immediately dragged Hu Ling forward.
The players were all nervously and curiously sizing up Jiang Dali.
In their eyes, despite the cliché tiger-skin shirt, the bulging muscles beneath it conveyed a sense of solidity, valor, and dominance, as if his entire body was filled with an indescribable sense of power.
Even seated motionlessly, the intimidating aura that emanated from him was like that of a fierce tiger, commanding attention and making everyone internally waver, quelling any mischief they might have been considering.
Just then, the bandits had already dragged out the severely injured Hu Ling, who was bound tightly.
"Hehehe, when our Great Master asks you questions later, if you, you old codger, don't give honest answers, I'll let you taste what's called a hot and spicy torture!"
One of the bandits patted Hu Ling's face and began to heat up the iron with an evil smile.
Hu Ling's face muscles twitched, and he glared at Jiang Dali with intense malice, "You villain, your good days are over. If you dare to torture and kill me, your entire Mountain Village will bury with me! Just you wait!"
"Hm?"
Jiang Dali glanced at a mountain bandit subordinated beside him and flicked a finger slightly.
The subordinate was quick-witted and rushed forward, delivering several heavy slaps across Hu Ling's face, causing it to nearly split open, and cursed, "Old man, be more polite. Our Great Master is a man of honor, known in the Martial World as someone with guts. He's not someone you can scare easily, cut the crap to suffer less!"
"Ptooey!"
A mouthful of bloody spit suddenly flew from Hu Ling's mouth as he glared intensely and snickered at Jiang Dali, "Hehehe, Great Master of the Black Wind Mountain Village? You probably have no idea whom you've offended, do you? You think your strength in the Inner Qi Realm allows you to run rampant in the Martial World?
Ridiculous, just a frog in a well!
I am here under the instructions of that person to test you, and compared to him, I'm nothing but a mere minion.
Untie me now, and speak to me politely, I might still be able to help you turn danger into safety.
Otherwise, just wait for your death!"
"Oh?"
Jiang Dali's gaze turned cold, and he arched an eyebrow, standing up and walking over to Hu Ling.
The two mountain bandits immediately propped up Hu Ling ingeniously.
Hu Ling looked down upon him, "Hehehe, are you scared? You should be. That's right. If you're scared... Ahh!!!"
A shrill scream burst out in the cell, startling all the players in an instant.
"Sizzle!"
A red-hot iron branded by Jiang Dali with tongs fiercely pressed against Hu Ling's body, emitting curling smoke, resembling the cooking of meat.
"Aaahhh—"
Hu Ling writhed in agony, screaming in pain, with snot and tears streaking down his face.
Jiang Dali said indifferently, "Are you scared now? Good. I'll give you another chance. Tell me, is it Dou Dajin who sent you here?"
Hu Ling, grimacing in pain, was shocked at the words and stared at Jiang Dali incredulously.
"You... how do you know? And knowing that, you still dare to do this to me?"
...
...
(Today is my child's first birthday, I've been busy organising the celebration, so the update is a bit late. Also, there are currently too few fans of the work, and I'm not sure if everyone likes it or not. If you do, please become a fan. Thank you.)