Black Wind Stronghold was surrounded on all sides by water, with an eight-hundred-li stretch of marsh encircling the entire mountain fortress, making it easy to defend and hard to attack from a geographical standpoint.

Ning Qingtian truly admired the foresight of the person who had originally chosen this place to become a bandit, although this natural protection now belonged to his wife.

This was also why, despite Black Wind Stronghold’s terrible reputation, it rarely attracted any encirclement from the authorities.

If too few soldiers came, they simply couldn’t take the fortress. But if too many troops were sent, the cost outweighed the benefit.

Little by little, Black Wind Stronghold became a blood-sucking tick, firmly latched onto the already-faltering Great Song, draining it dry.

When Ning Qingtian first came here, he already felt that this mountain fortress looked familiar.

Very quickly, he recalled a name—Shuipo Liangshan^[1].

However, he had not spoken this name aloud at the time.

Until now, when he finally sat boldly and unrestrained at the head seat of Black Wind Stronghold’s Gathering Hall, looking at the two rows of bandits glaring hatefully at him.

Seeing this scene, for some unknown reason, an image of Zuoshandiao^[2] surfaced in his mind. He prayed this otherworld did not have someone like Yang Zirong^[3].

The thought made him laugh.

And that laughter finally broke the patience of the already furious bandits.

“Pretty boy, you’ve eaten bear heart and leopard gall, have you? You dare sit in the stronghold master’s seat? Get the hell down from there!”

With the first angry roar, the entire Gathering Hall erupted.

None of them took this pretty boy seriously. If not for the stronghold master protecting him every day, he would have died countless times already.

“Get down, get down…”

“You little bastard looking for death, get down from there for grandpa…”

Ning Qingtian did not get angry. He simply looked calmly at the shouting crowd, and then he noticed something interesting.

Most people were yelling just to stir the noise. The ones shouting the loudest were the cronies of the second-in-command.

So, just as Second-in-Command Wang Shuye was yelling the fiercest, Ning Qingtian struck without warning.

A sharp burst of finger force shot out from his fingertip and pierced straight through Wang Shuye’s chest.

Wang Shuye, who had been yelling wildly, instantly froze. He felt pain in his chest.

Lowering his head, he saw blood spurting from the wound.

With countless robbery experiences and countless murders, how could he not know that spot was the heart?

He looked toward the man sitting on the chair, his lips moving as if wanting to say something.

But darkness swallowed his vision, and he toppled straight to the ground.

Thud

Before the eyes of the assembled bandits, their second-in-command collapsed without warning.

Bright red blood pooled beneath him, flowing into a small stream that trickled toward their feet.

These bandits had long been used to bloodshed, yet now they recoiled like avoiding a venomous snake, standing aside with terrified gazes fixed on Ning Qingtian.

Second-in-Command was the stronghold’s only eighth-rank expert, and he had been killed with a single finger by this pretty boy. How could they not be afraid?

The entire Gathering Hall fell into dead silence.

Only then did Ning Qingtian step forward, stopping before Wang Shuye’s corpse.

“My wife has been feeling unwell lately, so she entrusted all matters of the stronghold to me. Do any of you have objections?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Looking at the corpse, who would dare object?

If even the second-in-command was killed instantly, how could the rest—who were weaker—possibly refuse?

Though terrified, many still could not help clicking their tongues inwardly. No one had expected this pretty boy to actually be a hidden tiger disguised as a pig.

And his ruthlessness… truly, one cannot judge a person by appearance.

Ning Qingtian had no idea what they were thinking. Wang Shuye had always harbored murderous intent toward him. If not for Ning Qingtian’s extreme caution, he might already have become a pile of white bones.

“Since none of you object, clean this place up. I have an important announcement later.”

After giving the order, Ning Qingtian walked out.

He had rehearsed this moment countless times in his mind. He had once thought he would never get the chance, but circumstances shifted and a new path suddenly opened.

He did not know how his wife had obtained this method for cultivating the Literary Path.

It seemed she truly had kept his concerns in her heart.

In that case, all his efforts for her rebellion plan had not been in vain.

Of course, before true rebellion, the foundation must be solidified.

In fact, most of the bandits here were children from poor families in the mountains below. Unable to survive, they came up the mountain and joined Black Wind Stronghold.

Of course, a small portion were true killers and robbers, like Wang Shuye.

But since his wife inherited the Wang family’s stronghold, owing them a debt, she could not act against the Wang family.

Ning Qingtian, however, had no such constraints.

This was why he had killed to establish dominance—he had to make the entire stronghold obey.

After circling outside for a while, a lackey soon came to report that the hall had been cleaned.

Ning Qingtian returned to the hall. This time, no one dared criticize or point fingers at him.

Standing at the head seat, he looked at the cleaned hall and the bandits standing with lowered heads on both sides. He coughed lightly to draw their attention and said,

“Now, I have three announcements. I hope everyone will abide by them and not make things difficult for me.”

The bandits said nothing, staring straight at the young man who hid his strength—a man who was, after all, the stronghold master’s ‘husband.’

Seeing no objections, Ning Qingtian extended one finger and said softly, “First, from today onward, the stronghold is forbidden from going down the mountain to rob at will.”

After speaking, he paused, waiting for their reaction.

As expected, the moment they heard he was forbidding robbery, the bandits exploded.

A tall, burly bandit stepped out at once and shouted angrily, “Bandits not allowed to rob? How are the brothers supposed to eat? Starve to death?”

People die for wealth, birds die for food.

These men had gone up the mountain to rob so they could fill their stomachs, make some money, and send things back home.

Now Ning Qingtian forbade them from robbing. How could they accept it?

Even with the lingering smell of blood in the hall, they were no longer afraid.

Just as they were questioning him loudly, a cold, sharp female voice suddenly rang from outside the door—“What do you think you’re doing? Planning a rebellion?”

[1] A famous location from the classic Chinese novel Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh).

“Shuipo” means “marsh waters,” and “Liangshan” is the name of the mountain at the lake’s center.

[2] A fictional (and somewhat comedic) villain from the 1950s Chinese film 林海雪原 (Tracks in the Snowy Forest).

[3] A heroic character from the same story (Tracks in the Snowy Forest) that introduced Zuoshandiao.