Chapter 45: Strength Akin to a Prowling Tiger

Chapter 45: Strength Akin to a Prowling Tiger

“Good morning sister-in-law!”

“Good morning sister-in-law.”

The new year for the bandits was worse than corporate drones in the real world. They only had half the day off on New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year off. In total, their break only lasted one and a half days.

On the morning of the second day of the year, the stronghold resumed all its operations. Zhao Changhe headed to the training grounds, gathered the fighters in the stronghold, and personally taught them and trained with them. Those that did not practice martial arts had their own tasks assigned to them. The laying of traps also continued.

Zhao Changhe felt that if he had not been transported to this world, he would have been strung up to a lamppost as a capitalist.

But these traps are related to the safety of everyone here...

While Zhao Changhe was managing things, Yue Hongling walked all around the stronghold mainly to familiarize herself with the positions of the traps and avoid falling into one again... Even though her injury was not that much of an impairment, she did not want to have to leap out of a pit.

In reality, she wanted to take the damn things apart...

Whatever, forget it.

“Sister-in-law, are you taking a look around?”

“Sister-in-law, how did you and boss meet each other? The others say you two met in a mid-grade brothel, but I don’t believe them.”

“If you don’t know how to talk, then you can cut off your tongue by yourself.” Yue Hongling had a blank expression on her face.

A surprising number of bandits did not know how to speak to a normal person, and few were aware of it. There were even some idiots who asked their boss how he had overexerted himself the day before. For such a fierce man to pull a muscle—this sister-in-law is too brutal...

Those idiots were now hanging naked upside down by the side of the training grounds. Their boss did not dare say anything about it, which clearly showed who was really the one in charge of the stronghold.

“Don’t put spikes at the bottom of these traps.” Yue Hongling blocked a bandit that was trying to set up traps in one of the pits. “The stronghold is very big. Not everyone is clear about the position of the traps. It won’t be good if someone steps into one.”

The bandit scratched his head. “It’s useless if we don’t put spikes below. Are we trapping people or letting them inside to take a shit?”

Bang!

The bandit was kicked away.

She had felt that Zhao Changhe was crude, but it was only after interacting with these bandits that she found out what it really meant to shoot one’s mouth off and speak one’s mind. At most, Zhao Changhe would utter a few vulgarities when he scolded people, but his daily speech was still civilized.

Yue Hongling rubbed her head and pointed at the people shuttling around by the side. “You, you, you... You people, go and remove the spikes from the other pits. There’s no need to set lethal traps inside the stronghold. It’s enough to set up more dangerous traps outside, behind the mountain and on the mountain roads. Within the stronghold, it’s enough to just trap our enemies. We’ll avoid accidents this way.”

“Alright! We’ll do as you say, sister-in-law!”

“Even without spikes, there are other things we can put down there. For example, water. In this weather, anyone that falls into it is going to have a bad time. Or maybe a bunch of thorny vines and things like that! There are so many things people can do in this world. Work your imaginations! Whoever sets up a good trap will get a reward! Oh and it’s the beginning of spring. The mountain is so big, there are definitely places where we can grow things to eat. It’ll help a bit with the food, so you don’t end up erasing every animal on the fucking mountain.”

This pair of brother and sister no longer wore the peasant clothes they put on when they first arrived in Beimang. The young lady was covered from head to toe in clothes made from sable fur. Her head was wrapped in a furry hat which revealed her rosy cheeks. It was very cute. No one would be able to tell that she was just a regular traveler with her current appearance.

Knowing how to dress and travel low-key was an essential skill to pick up to wander the jianghu.

Cui Yuanyong wore satin robes and sat leisurely by the window reading a book. He was truly a delicate and refined young master, as polished as jade.

After listening to his little sister’s question, he smiled warmly. “That’s probably not the case. When I fought with Yue Hongling, we acted with propriety and battled until we sustained wounds that would’ve taken at most three to five days to heal. The spectators also saw that we weren’t heavily injured. Even if someone came after hearing the news, they would take weeks to get here... Everyone would know that we’ve fully recovered by now, so why would they come for this reason?”

Indeed, it had been half a month since they fought. Yue Hongling had now been at the mountain stronghold for a month pretending to be the stronghold mistress. No matter how he thought, Cui Yuanyong could not understand why she would do something like that. However, he had seen it with his very eyes. She chose to continue this affair of her own accord.

It’s already been half a month and she’s still there. Zhao Changhe must be strong and vigorous enough to make her so satisfied, right?

A village girl really is a village girl. She might be able to fight, but she’s still crude.

It was good that Cui Yuanyong was not one to gossip. He did not even tell his little sister what he had seen. It would not be good to tell her, a maiden, about this sort of thing. He only told her that Yue Hongling was hiding in the Beimang Mountain Stronghold to recuperate, and in doing so gave her a reason not to go rushing in to eagerly capture a wanted criminal.

Cui Yuanyong thought for a moment and smiled. “Anyway, Lin Feihu’s coming should have nothing to do with us. He’s probably here to give Zhao Changhe some trouble. Zhao Changhe has already crushed everyone in Beimang with his saber. It was about time he attracted some tigers from outside. This person is still chasing after the bottom of the Ranking of Hidden Dragons at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate. How truly shameful.”

After listening to her brother, the young lady harrumphed. “How smart can a crude country bumpkin be? Once this person at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate shows up, will Zhao Changhe get cut down? If that happens, what will I do about my mission?”

Cui Yuanyong was a little speechless. “Yue Hongling is staying at the stronghold and she’s fully recovered. I can’t even defeat her myself, so how do you think he’ll fare? Other than masters from the Rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Man, anyone else can only beg for some miracle to happen...”

The young lady also realized this and laughed. She then immediately knit her brows, feeling perplexed. “It’s already been half a month. Yue Hongling should have long since fully recovered, why is she staying at the mountain stronghold rather than going off on her way?”

Cui Yuanyong continued reading his book and did not raise his head. “Others are free to go where they want. Why do you care so much about where she stays?”

“What about my mission then? How am I supposed to complete it?”

“I told you to break through to the third heavenly layer. What have you been doing recently?”

“...aren’t you injured? I’m supposed to protect you.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I am so in need of your protection. Cui Yuan Yong sighed. “This mission from First Seat Tang—I’ve always thought it was her entertaining your childish...”

“Hmm?”

“...desire to catch wanted criminals. That’s why she chose a random fugitive for you to have fun with. Zhao Changhe’s strength today is akin to a prowling tiger. Normal bandits cannot compare to him. I feel that she’s either underestimated how difficult this mission would be, or she’s trying to probe what our Cui family thinks about certain matters... Anyway, give up this mission. This is not a suggestion. This is an order.”

The young lady’s eyes rolled round and round. She giggled and said, “Strength akin to a prowling tiger, eh? Like how it’s said he was picked up by the stronghold mistress like a cat? Really? A tiger sitting on a balcony?”

“...don’t interrupt me. If I tell you to give it up, you give it up.”

“How boring.” The young lady was seething as she stamped out. Cui Yuanyong had no idea if she took his words seriously.