Chapter 894: Here

He added: "The islands where pirates are stationed don't have karst caves and are far from the main island, so they can barely accommodate people. But the islands are mainly reefs, the terrain is complex, and they can't grow any food, so it has to be transported from the land. Over the years, the stationed troops have been withdrawn, repeatedly, and the Does Bailie people are also annoyed." He Lingchuan nodded.

Simply put, the management cost of the Yangshan Archipelago is far greater than the benefits, leading its owner, the Lu clan, to be too lazy to manage it.

The Lu clan's act of buying this archipelago is truly a textbook subject, fully illustrating the truth that wanting to take small advantages often leads to big losses.

He Lingchuan asked casually: "Where is the largest source of Yin evil?"

Lu Xun was stunned. Why is Commander He asking this? As if he could go there.

But he had a good temper and still answered: "Southwest of Dragon Spine Island, there is a huge sinkhole called White Abyss. The Yin evil that surges out from there every night is so thick it's visible to the naked eye. My ancestors went to this island, but didn't stay too long. Two attendants who went with them died."

He Lingchuan kept it in mind.

Lu Xun took out a water bag to drink some water and brought the topic back: "Then, isn't the inside of Longchuan a mess now?"

Part of the water bandits were recruited, and part refused to surrender and wanted to make trouble; are they going to fight each other first? He Lingchuan smiled: "Who says it isn't?"

The leaders of the two major bandit groups, Thousand Gold Stronghold and Ball Flower Gang, went back to discuss repeatedly with their subordinates and still accepted the conditions He Lingchuan gave them. After all, Jade Balance City still gathered troops, maintained strong suppression and high-frequency patrols on the Longchuan trade route, and even ignored the Jin Tao Nation, which was constantly provoking trouble in the east.

The bandit groups' scope of business continued to shrink, and their income was also falling day by day, no longer a business without capital.

And the conditions He Lingchuan offered, no matter how they calculated, they didn't lose out. So the two groups of bandits transformed and became glorious road tax audit specialists and trade route security guards.

They even did quite well.

He Lingchuan placed two small officials from Jade Balance City at each checkpoint to specifically verify road taxes and prevent bandit groups from raising prices indiscriminately.

These reformed bandit groups saw that the road money could really be collected, and immediately became motivated, patrolling the road sections more actively than the Jade Balance City army. When they encountered other bandit groups coming to take advantage, they immediately moved to drive them away, without a word.

This matter naturally caused a huge uproar within Longchuan.

Except for the Xiji puppet army, the two largest bandit groups suddenly surrendered; this sudden change in wind direction inevitably led to other bandit groups being excited and wavering.

Fu Shanlie was furious and led the Xiji puppet army to raid the Ball Flower Gang at night.

He lurked in Longchuan but didn't annex all the bandit groups because he was afraid of oppressing them too much, leading other bandit groups to surrender directly to Jade Balance City.

If only the Xiji puppet army remained in Longchuan, how could Jade Balance City be polite to it? Now the Thousand Gold Stronghold and Ball Flower Gang were going to surrender, so Fu Shanlie had another plan, which was to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, letting the surrender faction see the fate of the Ball Flower Gang!

Jade Balance City's move of recruitment and division was very vicious; if he didn't do something quickly, there would be no need to do anything later.

This battle was exceptionally fierce, and the Ball Flower Gang was beaten back steadily, fortunately, the Thousand Gold Stronghold came to the rescue in time.

By dawn, the Xiji puppet army retreated, but the Ball Flower Gang leader Xu Zeshou was seriously injured and died after half a day.

Fu Shanlie's assassination of Xu Zeshou was to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, threatening all bandit groups: dare to surrender to the authorities, and you'll be done for! He Lingchuan knew that this guy was also capable, otherwise the Xiji puppet army wouldn't have grown bigger and bigger within a few months, vaguely rivaling the Thousand Gold Stronghold. Now that even the Ball Flower Gang was no match for it, other small bandit groups were silent in fear.

Using Longchuan water bandits as chess pieces, He Lingchuan and Fu Shanlie fought across the air, playing a game calmly.

After Xu Zeshou died, the Thousand Gold Stronghold, under He Lingchuan's instruction, supported the Ball Flower Gang's number two figure, Ding Mi, to take the position that very day, barely stopping the Ball Flower Gang's collapse, and the two major bandit groups stood together.

At the same time, a large number of unfamiliar faces mixed into the two bandit groups, all strong men in their twenties or thirties, powerful and muscular, with a temperament different from ordinary bandits.

The Xiji puppet army soon recognized that these were Jade Balance City soldiers in disguise! Some were even familiar faces who had fought with them on the trade route.

The infiltration of the Jade Balance City army into Longchuan began so openly.

Later, the Xiji puppet army and the Thousand Gold Stronghold fought several more battles, none of which gained any advantage.

If it were a few months ago, even the Thousand Gold Stronghold would have drawn dissatisfaction from other bandit groups if it dared to bring official troops into its lair, or led to joint resistance; but now, where are there any "other" bandit groups? After the Jade Balance City army's strict crackdown and patrol, the number of small and medium-sized groups dropped sharply from over fifty to over twenty, originally just gasping for breath; now the Xiji puppet army killed the Ball Flower Gang, forcing them to take sides.

This is good, another seven or eight bandit groups scattered, their subordinates either joined the Thousand Gold Stronghold or defected to the Xiji puppet army, but the choice of most bandits was unexpected by both sides, actually taking their families and leaving Longchuan, going ashore to be human again! I don't want to take sides, I'm leaving, not playing with you. Is this okay?

People are attached to their native land, but they can also flee from famine.

Anyway, the Longchuan bandits have been tossing and turning inside for so long, and they haven't stopped until recently.

For the Longchuan trade route, this is a good thing, because the bandit groups standing with the Thousand Gold Stronghold also accepted Jade Balance City's recruitment. Expressed externally, there are more toll checkpoints on the trade route, and fewer robbers.

Until He Lingchuan welcomed Lu Xun back north this time, there were only eleven bandit groups left in the whole of Longchuan, and six of them had surrendered to Jade Balance City.

And the extinction and annexation of the groups were still happening at the same time.

The fewer the number, the greater the pressure on the remaining bandit groups. Even for the Xiji puppet army, it is the same.

Of course, the travelers on the Longchuan trade route didn't know how much intrigue and bloody fighting were behind this, only knowing that the environment of the trade route was getting better day by day.

Passing another checkpoint, He Lingchuan said to Lu Xun: "From now on, we enter the Thousand Gold Stronghold section."

That is, the section managed and collected tolls by the Thousand Gold Stronghold.

At the same time, he also ordered the guard behind him: "Full alert, no relaxation!"

Everyone responded in unison and adjusted their weapons and equipment.

Lu Xun was puzzled: "Isn't this Thousand Gold Stronghold already recruited? Why do you need to strengthen the alert on this section of the road?"

"In the past month, the Xiji puppet army has been robbing in the Thousand Gold Stronghold's territory." These two have been fighting anyway, from Longchuan all the way to the trade route, "On one hand, to cause trouble for them, on the other hand, the Thousand Gold Stronghold is responsible for the safety of this section, and if they neglect their duty, their salary will be deducted. Fu Shanlie also wants to use this to provoke the relationship between the Thousand Gold Stronghold and the authorities."

"Fu Shanlie?" Lu Xun was shocked when he heard this name, "Is it the *Ba* of Beijia?"

"Mr. Lu knows him?" The Does Bailie people's news is quite well-informed; Beijia and Does Bailie are separated by a large Mu Nation, but Lu Xun also knows the rising demon general of Beijia.

Most people in this world live in seclusion; villagers in the mountains may never leave the mountain they were born on in their whole lives.

"I've heard of him, he's a rising star in the last thirty years." Beijia has a history of nearly four hundred years, and demons generally live longer than mortals; for Fu Shanlie's age, he can indeed be considered a junior among the demon generals of his country, "Beijia has many talents."

He Lingchuan noticed that while he was saying words of praise, his brows were furrowed tightly.

Encountering a river on the road, because of the continuous heavy rain recently, the river was rapid and muddy, and the water level was also very high.

A wooden bridge was built over the river, about ten *zhang* long, and the bridge deck could accommodate three horses side by side, for passing pedestrians and merchant teams.

The Thousand Gold Stronghold originally set up a checkpoint here to collect tolls.

Road tax is also called bridge toll or road toll; the authorities usually collect fees near such bridges or passes, and don't let people pass if they don't pay. Otherwise, if they block the road to collect money on a thoroughfare, others would see it and bypass it from afar.

However, this river had a very explosive temper, and whenever it acted up, it flooded both banks, so the Thousand Gold Stronghold had to move the checkpoint elsewhere.

The merchant team in front had already finished walking, and the guard team could still see their backs walking toward the forest.

The formation remained unchanged when crossing the bridge, with He Lingchuan and Lu Xun in the middle of the team, surrounded by people in front and back.

Everything was going well in front, but when He Lingchuan and Lu Xun were halfway across the river, a sudden change occurred!

In the dense forest on the opposite bank, arrows rained down like rain, shooting at the guard team.

Because it was a high-angle shot, the guards had time to roar "Enemy attack!" He Lingchuan's order was one word:

Charge! Cross the bridge first, everything is easy to talk about and fight.

The guards immediately increased the speed of their horses, while lifting their shields, and faint red light emitted from their bodies.

Unfortunately, the width of the bridge deck was limited, and the horses couldn't grow wings and fly over.

The arrow rain arrived, not causing major casualties; the Yuan power on the people and horses could unload a lot of damage. But the opponent's main target was not them at all:

Hearing a few earth-shattering bangs, a few special arrowheads exploded, blowing the wooden bridge into pieces!

Over thirty riders and horses on the bridge fell into the water immediately.

A whistle sounded in the forest, and then dozens of people rushed out; the merchant team in front also changed their faces, turned around, raised knives and axes, and greeted the guard team.

The guard team of ninety riders led by He Lingchuan had twenty-odd riders on the opposite bank, thirty riders in the water, and the rest hadn't gotten on the bridge yet.

Crossing the river without crossing, hitting the middle of the journey, the attackers were well-versed in the advantages of the terrain.

"Great Commander!" Liu Tiao, who was responsible for the rear, hadn't gotten on the bridge yet. She rushed to the shore in two steps, and with a flick of her hand, shot a crossbow arrow, *xiu*—shooting toward He Lingchuan.

The special arrowhead had a hook rope behind it, originally for flying over eaves and walking on walls, but at this time it became a safety rope thrown to those who fell into the water.

At the moment of falling into the water, He Lingchuan had already grabbed Lu Xun's arm to prevent him from being rolled away by the water.

But there was nowhere to exert force under his feet, and he couldn't throw Lu Xun ashore.

Liu Tiao's arrow landed accurately; He Lingchuan grabbed it, wrapped the rope around Lu Xun's waist twice, held the arrowhead, and shouted: "Pull him up!"

Liu Tiao pressed the mechanism on the crossbow, and the spider rope shot out automatically retracted.

This set of machinery was also the result of careful debugging by Panlong City for several generations, and it could withstand dragging two or three living people.

During the process of her "recovering" Lu Xun, arrows were also shot from the opposite bank toward Lu Xun. Those who could be protected by He Lingchuan and prioritized to go ashore must be big figures and could not be let go.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 895 =====