Chapter 138: Raising the Banner

Before anyone could figure out what was happening, this gang of bandits had already slaughtered the previous group one by one. After seizing their horses, they plunged back into the forest and galloped away.

They came quickly and left just as fast, seemingly interested only in stealing horses and killing bandits, with not the slightest interest in the commoners' belongings.

Having narrowly escaped with their lives, the young women hugged their families and wept bitterly. Even though their limbs were weak and trembling, they dared not linger and, supported by their relatives, hurried away from the spot.

Chuanwen and his wife watched in utter bewilderment, unable to grasp what had just transpired. Was it bandits preying on bandits, or some kind of internal purge? They couldn't make heads or tails of it!

Yet one thing was certain: this was by no means a place to stay long, and they needed to leave quickly.

The three of them walked until the sky turned dark. The crowds on the road had dwindled to the point where almost no figures could be seen; those who walked slowly had long since been left behind, while those moving faster than average mostly had means of transport, a luxury they currently lacked.

By the calendar, it was actually already the beginning of winter, though the weather was not yet severely cold. The chill was hardly noticeable during the day, but as the sun set and the wind rose, a biting frost crept straight through their clothes.

Xian'er proved indeed to be a fine wife; not only did she show tender concern for Chuanwen, but she also remembered Gao Ning.

"Gao Ning, how much further do we have to walk? It's about to turn pitch dark. If we still can't find a place to stay, surviving out in the wilderness won't be easy!"

Chuanwen was not entirely useless either. Mindful that his wife's clothes were still damp and had not dried during the journey, he knew the night chill would inevitably make her cold, so he urged them on in various ways.

Gao Ning had long seen through his thoughts.

"Don't worry, Brother Chuanwen. When I was travelling with my adoptive father as an armed escort, we took this road once before. If I remember correctly, there should be an abandoned village up ahead. Although it's been deserted for a long time, at least we can find a shelter from the wind and rain. Don't worry, we're almost there!"

After walking for a while longer, as darkness completely swallowed the landscape, an abandoned village indeed loomed ahead.

Quite a few people must have arrived in advance, for wisps of cooking smoke could be seen rising from several spots. Relying on their sense of smell to gauge the direction, the three of them found a vacant and relatively intact dwelling in the village and settled in.

Xian'er quickly got a fire going, then took out some dry rations to warm up briefly, and they had a simple meal.

While Chuanwen and his wife busied themselves drying their clothes, Gao Ning bade them goodnight and went to sleep. It was best not to disturb a newlywed couple; who knew if they would even have the energy for procreation after walking all day.

The black-clad bandits who had appeared during the day were actually released gradually by Gao Ning along the way, slowly aggregating on the outside.

Ten days had passed since his arrival in this world, spent entirely on the road, so the accumulated bandits had all been stored within the stronghold.

To reach Guandong early and avoid the fate of becoming beggars as depicted in the original story, Gao Ning intended to transform his identity—at the very least, he refused to be a refugee fleeing famine.

Being a big chieftain of bandits clearly seemed like a promising career transition. Once they reached Guandong, he could continue this prospective profession. In this era, the troops of the Northeast King, Marshal Zhang, had not yet been assembled; what was wrong with Gao Ning taking a step ahead?

However, dealing with ordinary people conceptually was something Gao Ning found rather tiresome. If the opportunity arose later, he would surely have to recruit some professional talent, or simply cooperate with Marshal Zhang if conditions permitted; that did not seem entirely out of the question.

After all, his purpose in coming to this world was to fulfill his mission, not to carve out a personal domain. Moreover, gaining merely eight or nine soldiers every day meant that even if Gao Ning remained here until his death, the total would only reach 200,000. Scattered across the vast expanse of China, 200,000 soldiers would not even cause a single ripple. Why bother with such a tedious endeavor!

Gao the Second had also been sent ahead by Gao Ning. After seizing the tall, fine horses of the bandits, he had ridden straight for the nearest town. All it took was finding a major bank and opening a few accounts to continuously exchange for currency.

Once Gao Ning acquired the ore refinery, money had become no different from waste paper. As long as there was a channel for exchange, he could get as much as he wanted.

With money in the hands of bandits, growing and expanding power was an exceedingly simple task.

Over the next few days, Gao Ning accompanied Chuanwen and his wife on their continued journey.

Just as anticipated, nearly every hundred li or so brought forth a gang of bandits committing outrages. These people seemed to treat the commoners heading to Guandong like crops ready for harvesting, each carving out their own territory and minding their own business.

The commoners wept tears of blood and met untimely deaths, while the bandits feasted until their bellies were round and stuffed with ill-gotten gains.

Under normal circumstances, nothing could be done; ordinary folk were utterly helpless against bandits holding firearms.

Yet this time was different. The black-clad bandits appeared and vanished like ghosts, seeming to target bandit factions specifically. Whenever bandits emerged to pillage, the black-clad figures would materialize within a matter of breaths.

Sometimes numbering over a hundred, sometimes just twenty or thirty, sometimes armed with machine guns, and other times wielding only daggers, they would swarm forward, quickly cutting down the die-hards before tying up the remaining bandits like zongzi and carrying them off.

Chuanwen and his wife had been terrified at first, but after seeing it happen so often, they instead began treating it like a spectator sport. Every time bandits appeared, the two of them would look around eagerly, waiting for the black-clad bandits to show up.

Though Gao Ning's mouth twitched, he let them be.

In truth, Gao Ning's idea was simple: since his complement of paratroopers was small, he needed to convert the indigenous population.

Bandits were bandits because, besides daring to fight and kill, the majority were fickle opportunists swaying with the wind. Since all Gao Ning needed was a bunch of minions to make a show of force, he would capture them and put them through a brief interrogation.

Those who chose to surrender naturally had their ropes untied in a joyous resolution. For the stubborn ones who resisted to the end, he was never stingy with a blade to send them on their way to the netherworld.

Amidst these circumstances, the reputation of Gao the Second gradually grew, earning him the moniker "Western Buddha Gao the Single-Blade." It was said that anyone who saw Gao the Second and failed to immediately kneel and submit would inevitably be sent by a single stroke of his blade to meet the Western Buddha!

With a fervent penchant for bandits preying on bandits, specifically targeting outlaws and river pirates while sparing commoners, his reputation resounded far and wide within a short period.

Along this journey, while Gao Ning's own elite bandit troops had not increased significantly, he had captured over two thousand miscellaneous brigands. Combined with the intercepted horses and the hoards seized from raided mountain strongholds, his entire force had unexpectedly swollen to three,000 men. The core black-clad troops alone, along with the accumulated various other units, numbered over 500, half of whom were now cavalry.

Miscellaneous provisions like grain had also been gathered to the tune of several hundred shi.

As for silver and cash, Gao Ning cared nothing for them and directly distributed them to the men through Gao the Second. With gleaming silver scattered about, the bandits were overjoyed, their outward obedience turning into heartfelt submission.

Weren't they simply chasing a lifestyle of dividing silver by the large scale, gold by the small scale, drinking wine from large bowls, and eating meat in huge chunks?

Gao Ning had nothing if not an abundance of money!

With his sphere of influence properly established and the three of them about to step out of Shandong's borders, Gao Ning felt the time was ripe.

It was time to make an appearance and change his profession!