Chapter 82: Green Forest

Amid the rustling in the forest, two people were burying something.

Chu Danqing and Da Bao stepped closer and saw it was fuse.

“You two are burying gunpowder.” Chu Danqing spoke at once.

The two men jumped in fright, turned their heads, and glared at Chu Danqing with murderous intent.

But their gaze softened when they saw Da Bao.

“We were just playing with mud,” one of them stammered in explanation.

Yet this excuse clearly treated Chu Danqing like a fool.

“Little Chu, he’s lying.” Da Bao extended his paw, pinched the man’s head, and lifted it up: “Lying to Little Chu is bad.”

Chu Danqing also thought it was too blatant—even Da Bao could tell it was a lie, so lazy and careless.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Chu Danqing said coldly.

Burying explosives in the wilderness? It couldn’t be for fun.

If it were firecrackers, he might understand.

“We… we were ordered by the Boss of Longmen to ambush here,” the man whose head Da Bao gripped stammered.

“You must have heard of the Boss of Longmen,” the other man said: “We’re all comrades on the road, we—”

Before he finished, Da Bao reached out with his other paw, clamped it over the man’s head, and lifted him up too.

“Why interrupt him? Can’t he finish speaking?” Chu Danqing glared at the man.

He didn’t believe it was an accident to suddenly mention a key name like that.

“We’re killing the great traitor Xiong Zhigang. The court ministers have said this traitor returned to office by bribing with three thousand taels of gold.”

“Our Boss of Longmen aims to eliminate the traitor and seize the gold, restoring clarity to the world!” the man declared at once.

By the end, he was even passionately impassioned.

Chu Danqing found it absurd—if they only wanted to eliminate the traitor, he could accept it, but clearly their boss coveted the gold.

Moreover, he kept noticing something odd about this story.

The sequence of bribery and reinstatement didn’t make sense.

Usually, you get paid first and then do the job—yet here, the man was appointed before the money even arrived? What kind of conscience does this merchant have?

And to make matters worse, the whole affair was loud and public, with no attempt at secrecy.

So Chu Danqing remained skeptical of the man’s claims.

“When will he arrive?” Chu Danqing asked.

“I don’t know. We only respond to the Boss of Longmen’s whistle.” These two were mere lackeys—they had no way of knowing.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp birdcall rang out—but it sounded unnatural.

“That’s the Boss of Longmen’s whistle.”

Chu Danqing looked at Da Bao. Da Bao understood immediately, listened carefully, then pointed in a direction.

“Let’s go see.” He moved toward the spot Da Bao indicated.

Da Bao bundled the two men together, clamped them under one arm, and followed behind Chu Danqing.

Following the sound, he saw two groups facing off beside the road.

Clearly, the two men Chu Danqing captured were not the main force—they were a backup to prevent Xiong Zhigang from escaping.

The two factions were sharply divided: the dominant group was brutal, filthy, and numerous—the so-called Boss of Longmen.

The other side was better off, totaling only three people.

One was a young man with noble bearing and a touch of arrogance, riding a tall steed; another was a burly middle-aged man in coarse linen, seated in a cart with an unpleasant expression.

A third was an old servant driving the cart.

“That middle-aged man must be Xiong Zhigang,” Chu Danqing asked.

But the two lackeys knew nothing—there was nothing to be done.

Fortunately, the Boss of Longmen spoke first to the middle-aged man: “Xiong Zhigang, hand over these three thousand taels of the people’s blood and sweat—it’ll be better for everyone.”

At once, the boy on horseback sneered: “Hah, fool.”

He pulled out a slingshot, fired one shot, and struck the Boss of Longmen right in the Hukou.

The pain made him drop his long knife; tears welled in his eyes.

“Get lost. Greed will kill you sooner or later,” the boy said with arrogance, yet held back his blow.

With his aim and skill, hitting the eye would be no harder than hitting the Hukou.

“Good, good, you bastard really won’t take the wine—you want the punishment!” The Boss of Longmen gritted his teeth: “You really think your slingshot can match my brothers?”

“Attack! Kill this bastard!” The Boss of Longmen snatched up his knife and charged forward with his men.

The boy’s expression shifted slightly, but he wasn’t afraid—he dismounted, drew his long sword, and moved to fight.

Beside him, the man called Xiong Zhigang sighed, then pulled a long knife from the cart.

Chu Danqing now understood the situation.

One side were bandits seeking to kill and plunder; the other side held back—clearly who to help.

“Da Bao, act.” As Chu Danqing spoke, Da Bao hurled the two men he’d been carrying into the crowd.

They crashed right into the midst of the fighters.

This drew everyone’s attention—they saw Da Bao charging, and Chu Danqing with the divine shrine on his back.

“Hey! Where did this brat come from, daring to ruin our Boss of Longmen’s business!” The Boss of Longmen was furious.

Even a young pup dared to interfere—it was like stomping his face into the dirt.

Chu Danqing remained silent, summoning the crossbowmen.

“Snipe him right between the eyes,” Chu Danqing had no patience for him.

The crossbowmen immediately raised their weapons and fired straight at the Boss of Longmen’s head.

Chu Danqing casually used the Spirit Eye Chain’s Spirit Eye Technique to scan his stats.

【Boss of Longmen】

【Attributes】

【HP: 100%】

【Internal Qi: 50】

【Strength: 7】

【Agility: 5】

【Constitution: 5】

【Spirit: 5】

【Perception: 5】

【Skills】

【Mountain Splitting Axe LV.5】

【Melee Basics LV.1】

【Axe Technique Basics LV.1】

At first, Chu Danqing felt disappointed—these stats were only slightly above an ordinary person’s.

But then he saw the basic skills—and was stunned.

The crossbowmen’s bolts flew, following their trajectory and piercing straight into the Boss of Longmen’s eye socket.

Then, everyone fell silent.

The Boss of Longmen was killed instantly by a single arrow.

The crossbowmen couldn’t grow—but Chu Danqing could.

LV.9 Summoning Basics boosted all attributes and talent skill effects by 9%, and shared 10% of Chu Danqing’s average stats.

Before the bandits could react or flee, Da Bao had already torn through them like a tiger among sheep.

Under his rending claws, limbs and severed arms flew everywhere.

The bloodshed was so gruesome that even the arrogant boy’s face turned pale.

Yet Xiong Zhigang remained calm, raising his knife to assist Da Bao in slaughtering the bandits.

He radiated the aura of a battle-hardened general—his technique wasn’t as refined as the boy’s, but his movements were clean and efficient.

Soon, the dozen or so bandits were wiped out completely.

(End of Chapter)