At the entrance of the hall, a woman’s figure stood in the doorway, coldly looking at everyone inside.

At once, everyone fell silent again.

There were quite a few womenfolk belonging to the bandits in this stronghold, but at this moment, apart from the stronghold master, not another woman would dare to come here.

As Wu Qianlan walked in, the people in the hall immediately opened up a path and she reached Ning Qingtian’s side without the slightest obstruction.

Ignoring the stares of the bandits, even though she was now weaker than an ordinary person, she still carried herself with the bearing of a third-rank Martial Path expert.

After all, compared with those old foxes at court who would swallow people whole and not spit out the bones, these hideous, fierce-looking bandits were nothing more than harmless little sheep in her eyes.

At the same time, she could not help but marvel at the prestige the original owner of this body had enjoyed.

Even without knowing any management methods, she had relied purely on overwhelming personal strength to keep every bandit in the stronghold pinned down.

This was obvious from how not a single bandit even dared raise his head as she walked past.

“Madam, you’re here. Did something happen?”

Looking at his wife coming to stand by his side, Ning Qingtian asked in some confusion. They had originally agreed that the stronghold’s affairs for the next few months would be left to him.

“Nothing, I was just worried you might not be able to handle it. Go on.”

Wu Qianlan glanced at Ning Qingtian, then sat to the side and signaled for him to continue.

Seeing this, the bandits all looked at one another. Only now did they fully believe that the stronghold’s affairs were really being handled by Ning Qingtian.

Ning Qingtian looked at the bandits who had fallen silent again the moment his wife entered and could not help but feel many emotions.

Even though he had killed Wang Shuye right in front of them to establish his authority, they had still dared to question him at a critical moment.

Yet his wife only had to sit here without saying a word and not a single bandit dared speak up.

That was the difference between them.

Taking a deep breath, Ning Qingtian stopped paying attention to his wife, looked back at the crowd and said, “In truth, I’m not saying you absolutely can’t rob at all. After all, everyone came to the stronghold in the first place just so you could get a full meal and I, Ning, am not so heartless.”

After he said this, the bandit leaders in the hall finally relaxed a little, though they quickly turned doubtful gazes on him again.

Ning Qingtian smiled and slowly began to speak of the question he had pondered for three years.

“Right now, the Empress has ascended the throne but is unable to control the government and the court is completely in the hands of treacherous officials and villains who only play power games and do not care at all whether the common people live or die. On top of that, the Great Song has long been crushed under Northern Liao and Western Xia and in recent months Jiangnan has suffered floods, the northwest has suffered drought, and disaster victims are everywhere across the Great Song.”

As Ning Qingtian spoke, not only did the bandits’ faces change, even Wu Qianlan beside him grew grim.

But Ning Qingtian did not notice this. Seeing everyone’s expressions change and knowing he had seized their emotions, he judged the timing was right.

He suddenly raised his voice and shouted angrily, “Yet even in this situation, the local tyrants at the foot of the mountain and the greedy officials of the Great Song are still living lives of utter luxury by squeezing the common people dry.”

The bandits’ eyes slowly turned red and Ning Qingtian continued to roar at them, “Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot, while on the road lie the frozen bones of the poor. Since we are going to rob anyway, why can’t we rob those greedy officials and bullies who oppress the people? Why should we rob ordinary folk who are just like you and me, brothers in the same misery? There are so many corrupt officials and local tyrants down the mountain, so why can’t we rob them instead and act in Heaven’s name?”

Those three whys exploded over their heads like thunder.

Most of the stronghold’s bandits had themselves once been ordinary people driven up the mountain by the oppression of corrupt officials. Ning Qingtian’s words jolted them awake.

So after a brief silence, it was as if people who had been groping through the dark suddenly found a way out. Everyone in the hall began to shout, ““Act in Heaven’s name! Act in Heaven’s name…””

When the cries spread outside the hall, the lackeys outside, though not knowing what had happened, joined in the shouting too.

In no time, shouts echoed throughout Black Wind Stronghold, rising and falling without end.

With a single wave of Ning Qingtian’s hand, everyone fell silent and looked at this pale-faced scholar with worship in their eyes.

He really was a learned man. With just a few words, he had pointed out a bright path for them.

Ning Qingtian looked at them solemnly and said, “Since everyone agrees with my proposal, have someone take the best apricot-yellow banner and write the four characters ‘Act in Heaven’s Name’ on it. From now on, all of the stronghold’s actions will follow this standard and must not violate it.”

““Understood.””

Seeing the bandits agree, Ning Qingtian’s expression finally eased a little and he moved on to the second matter.

“The second thing is that the stronghold must be renamed. Since we brothers will be acting in Heaven’s name from today on, we can no longer use the infamous name Black Wind Stronghold.”

The bandits all nodded in agreement. Indeed, the name Black Wind Stronghold could no longer be used and fortunately, their reputation for robbing passing merchants had not spread too far yet.

They turned their gazes to Ning Qingtian. Since they needed a new name and they themselves could hardly recognize any big characters, they would have to rely on this scholar.

Ning Qingtian did not decline and spoke the name he had long since decided on, “Since the stronghold is surrounded by an eight-hundred-li stretch of marsh, we’ll call it Shuipo Liangshan. From now on we are the Heroes of Liangshan, specializing in killing corrupt officials and local tyrants and acting in Heaven’s name.”

When the bandit leaders heard this, their eyes all lit up. The title ‘Heroes of Liangshan’ sounded much better than being mere lackeys of Black Wind Stronghold.

All at once, everyone was overjoyed and could not help shouting over and over, “From today on, your grandpa is a Hero of Liangshan…”, “Heroes of Liangshan, acting in Heaven’s name, specializing in killing corrupt officials…”

Ning Qingtian did not interrupt their excitement. He only watched them with a smile, feeling the literary qi in his heart grow even stronger.

He had not expected that just by reciting that line ‘Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot, while on the road lie the frozen bones of the poor’, the speed at which his body absorbed literary qi had more than doubled.

He felt as if he had found a shortcut for cultivating the Literary Path.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, he had confidence he could climb to the peak of this otherworld.