Chapter 24
On a forest path, under the setting sun, several horses carry a group of people.
"Left...left, right...right." Gao Feibao constantly barks orders.
"Can't you get off your horse and lead them on foot?" Gao Feihu finally loses his patience.
"No way, I am at least a horseman. If I dismount, people would take me for a cart driver." answers Gao Feibao.
Gao Feihu is left speechless.
Gao Feibao is riding one blind horse and leading another. Each of them is blind in one eye, so they kept going in circles on the journey, leaving him drenched in sweat after just a few miles.
Wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead and looking at the setting sun, he lets out a long sigh, "Such sentiment, such scenery, it's making me want to compose a poem."
"Shut up. With your level of education, you are going to compose a poem?" Gao Feihu is occasionally unable to tolerate his younger brother.
"Big brother, do you think there really is such a thing as the Five Thunder Method in this world?" Gao Feibao suddenly asks.
A lightbulb goes off in Gao Feihu's mind. He realizes his brother has the same idea as him.
"It is said that there is, we've seen it with our own eyes, how could it be fake?"
"That day we were too far, and it was foggy, we didn't actually see it clearly."
"Let's wait for the strategist to come back, he is knowledgeable and worldly, he should know."
"Now, Frog Fort has obtained quite a lot of food." Gao Feibao has barely finished speaking when he begins to give the orders again, "Left...right, left..."
At a distance, four people are lying in the bushes.
The owner of Li Family Village, Li Zhuang, is huddled in the patch of grass dressed in the rags of a poor man, with his three sons following him.
"Dad, do you think there really are immortals in this world?" the eldest son asks.
"How can there not be? Otherwise, would Li Gousheng's family have gotten two horses? It has to be a gift from the immortals!"
"But we have been waiting here for so long and we haven't seen any immortals," the second son exclaims.
"Just wait, for matters like this, you need to have faith."
Just as he was speaking, the sound of horse hooves come from the front. Li Zhuang's eyes light up. "They're coming. Listen, the three of you, and watch me perform."
"Younger brother, don't be angry, when we get back, let Mother make us a few dishes and have some wine,"
"Big brother, do you think that these two horses will sell well?"
"I think no one would be as stupid as you."
"Mountain King, please spare us, please..."
Suddenly, four figures rush out and drop to their knees before the two.
Gao Feibao is startled and shouts in anger, "Who are you?"
"Mountain King, we are all poor people from down the mountain. If you have grain to harvest, just give us ten or so horses - that would do..."
Each of their words pierces Gao Feibao's heart. He used grain to trade for a blind horse, and now doesn't know how many bandits in Mount Qingniu are laughing at him. "I only have two blind horses, and you're asking me for ten or so!"
He dismounts, kicking Li Zhuang to the ground, his blade resting on Li's throat. "Speak, who sent you to provoke me?"
A chill runs through Li Zhuang. He breaks out in a cold sweat. This wasn't going as planned. All he can do is plead, "Mountain King, please spare me... We are just poor people, we have nothing on us..."
"Wait a moment."
Gao Feihu dismounts, pinches Li Zhuang's face, then tugs at the hempen shirt he's wearing, revealing his silk inner garment.
"What kind of poor man has such delicate skin and can wear silk?"
A henchman approaches, staring at Li Zhuang's face. "Big Boss, this looks like the landowner Li Zhuang from Li Family Village. Our brothers have dealt with him before. His estate has tall walls and lots of guards, so we never dared to mess with him. Ha, wondering why he ran into the mountains today..."
"This must be because I've done too many good deeds. The immortals have taken pity on us. This is a blessing." Gao Feibao sighs, waving his hands. "Brothers, bind him. Let his family send a ransom."
...
A capsule-toy machine appears in Cheng Dalei's mind, with the capsules inside constantly rolling about.
Cheng Dalei is so nervous his heart feels like it's about to leap out. Last time, he exploited the Bug quite excessively. He's been worried that the system would retaliate intentionally, maybe drawing a "thanks for playing" during the draw. He doesn't know if his bad luck has left him yet. All I need from the system is one weapon, be it a BK cannon, tank or helicopter. Sound the alert and the capsules will start popping out, while Cheng Dalei receives a system alert in his mind.
Bidding congratulates, "Congratulations on obtaining one set of Beginner Fort Defense Plans."
Taken aback, Cheng Dalei realises that this reward is different from the previous ones. Cheng Dalei finally finds the system reward - a set of plans - in a cupboard next to the kang bed-stove.
Construction of the fort's defense is necessary. Back when there were only five people in the fort, there was nothing worth stealing, so no one bothered them. But now things are different; the fort has over 50,000 jin of grain, and they are on Mount Qingniu, a den of thieves. They don't know just how many people are salivating over Mount Qingniu right now.
Relying on the Palm Thunder to fool others might not fool them for long. Although there aren't many smart people among bandits, there are always a few.
They must establish the fort's defense before they wise up. Otherwise, Cheng Dalei will be just a storekeeper, watching over the 50,000 jin of grain for someone else.
Since the system was rewarding him a set of plans, he could proceed to build the fort's defenses. But this leads to another issue: there aren't enough people in the fort.
Taking Huang Sanyuan into consideration, there were only six people in the fort. It was ludicrous to expect these few people to build the fort's defenses.
Cheng Dalei had a task on hand - recruit people and grow the fort's population to 100. The system will then reward them with another chance to draw a prize.
But the question is, where was he to recruit people from?
Thinking of this, Cheng Dalei starts worrying. Either the population or the labor force has become a limiting factor to the fort's growth. Cheng Dalei opens up the system's interface while deliberating and checks the fort's information.
Fort: Frog Fort (Dilapidated Beginner Fort)
Owner: Cheng Dalei
Population: 6
Skills:Unity, Healing
In the dead of night, Cheng Dalei racks his brain on how to develop the fort and in which direction to steer its growth.
Bandits were always on the bottom of society. Cheng Dalei wished he could draw a strategist like Zhuge Liang or a warrior like Zhang Fei from the draw. But set aside whether the system would actually draw them, would they be willing to assist a bandit?
Zhou Cang risked his life to follow in Lord Guan's footsteps and ended up only carrying a blade for him in death. Cheng Dalei didn't want to be anyone's blade carrier.
And this world... Even with his limited understanding of it, Cheng Dalei knew that chaos was brewing. It wasn't that he was particularly intelligent, but he has over 5,000 years of history in his stomach. Although he couldn't claim to be an expert, he could understand the general course of history. The Empire is surrounded by hostile Rong Clan on the outside, and torn apart by internal factions. Great Wu - this decrepit house - was riddled with holes; it urgently needed a makeover.
The late Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song... No matter the era, there were always numerous deaths. People were dying, dying, dying nonstop.
When chaos comes and heroes are vying for dominance, how was a lone bandit like him going to survive?
He has already felt a sense of belonging with the fort - Qin Man, Lin Shaoyu, Xu Shenji, Xu Ling'er... Figures that were almost like family to him. He wanted to protect this fort, and not let anyone else touch it.
But the time allotted to him may really not be much.