Chapter 2797: The Stand‑In Was Seized by the Bandit

Night had fallen, the bonfire burned bright, dozens of bandits sat around it, each gripping a huge slab of roasted meat, hoisting wine jugs and shouting laughs and insults as they drank.

Seeing Jin Chen brought over, many people stopped what they were doing, their gazes snapping toward him.

The bandits escorting him gave him a shove, indicating he should move forward.

Red lanterns hung beneath the porch, swaying gently in the night wind.

The main gate stood open, inside ablaze with firelight.

Jin Chen was escorted inside.

In the center of the room stood a huge fire pit, lighting the whole place brightly.

The leading bandits sat around a table, chatting loudly; when someone entered, they all stopped and turned to look.

Jin Chen's expression didn't change; he merely lifted his eyes slightly, looking straight ahead.

There stood five chairs draped with animal hides, their backs extremely high, carved with ferocious beast heads.

At that moment four of them were occupied; the man in the left‑most seat had a cold, hard expression, holding a wine bowl, his eyes like knives.

To his right sat a young man with a baby‑face, leaning back against the chair, toying with a dagger; when he noticed Jin Chen looking his way, he grinned, showing two little fangs.

The man in the right‑most seat wore a red robe, his features androgynous yet exquisite, playing with a jade fan in his hand.

Beside him was a towering, iron‑like brute, his face covered in a tangled beard, gnawing on a roasted lamb leg, oil dripping from his mouth.

Seeing Jin Chen enter, the burly man shouted in a rough voice, "Yo, you actually brought back a little beauty?"

Jin Chen ignored those gazes, his eyes fixed on the hide‑covered chair in the middle.

It was the only empty chair.

No, it wasn't empty.

Jin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly; in the shadow cast by the chair's back sat a person.

The firelight flickered, revealing his figure bit by bit from the darkness.

The man sat casually, one leg bent and resting on the seat, his elbow on his knee, holding a wine bowl in his hand.

The firelight lit half his face—high brow, straight nose, defined lips—features that should have been peerlessly handsome, yet a scar marred his skin.

A red streak ran beneath his left eye like a mysterious tattoo, instead adding a touch of wild handsomeness.

Jin Chen's gaze lingered on his face for a moment.

And at that very moment he lifted his eyes.

Their eyes met.

Jin Chen saw his eyes clearly.

They were a deep black, yet heavy and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

That was the look of someone who had long weathered battle, trudged through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Gu Fanghe stared at Jin Chen for a long time.

So long that the hall's clamor faded, all the bandits ceased movement, holding their breath to watch the scene.

【Detected world‑line villain, Blackening Value triggered, currently Blackening Value: 90!】

【Mission requirement: Blackening Value to be cleared, change the villain's tragic ending!】

"Chief," said the one‑eyed bandit chief seated to the lower side, "I'm not mistaken, is it? This kid, doesn't he look a bit……"

He didn't finish, but everyone understood.

Like that Young Master Ruan who stayed here for ten days three years ago and saved the stronghold's children.

Like the one who became the chief's heart‑cinnabar mole, Ruan Sutong.

"Indeed," Liu Mianfeng chuckled, shaking his jade‑bone fan which covered the lower half of his face, "He really does."

Jin Chen: "……"

He cursed foully in his heart.

【Calm down, sigh…】 Ling Gun Gun manually cooled him down, 【As the protagonist's beloved, you're blessed!】

After a while, Gu Fanghe finally spoke.

"Come forward."

Jin Chen did as told and stepped forward.

He stopped before Gu Fanghe's seat, no more than three paces away.

Gu Fanghe lifted his eyes, scanning Jin Chen from bottom to top.

"What's your name?" Gu Fanghe asked.

"Jin Chen."

"Do you know why you were brought here?"

Jin Chen said, "Bandits raid the road only for wealth. Though my Jin family isn't rich, I can still afford the ransom; as long as the chief lets me and my attendant go down the mountain safely, money is no problem."

A few snickers rang out in the room.

Gu Fanghe didn't laugh. He looked at Jin Chen, thoughts surging in his eyes, then quickly suppressed them.

"Money?" he said slowly. "The Black Mountain Stronghold lacks nothing in wealth."

"Then what does the chief want?"

Gu Fanghe gripped Jin Chen's jaw, his force not light.

Jin Chen's brows knit, a thin anger rose in his eyes, and he glared.

Gu Fanghe held his face, turning it left and right, his fingers brushing over Jin Chen's cheekbone and the corner of his eye.

After a moment he released him— and it wasn't a disguise.

"From today on," Gu Fanghe leaned back into the chair, elbow on the armrest, fingertips tapping lightly on the hide, "you will live in the stronghold."

"What you eat, what you wear, what you do—all must follow my rules."

Jin Chen lightly inhaled, lifted his eyes to look at Gu Fanghe, "Do I have a choice?"

Ling Gun Gun fluttered the manual in his sea of consciousness, 【Host, I got a good thing from the Strategy Department, Substitute's Rise Manual!】

【First step: Pretend to refuse but actually welcome～】

Gu Fanghe's gaze still lingered on Jin Chen's face, his eyes darkening.

"You have no choice, and furthermore, you are not allowed to cry in front of me."

Jin Chen: "……"

【Oh dear,】 Ling Gun Gun couldn't help but pop out, reciting melodramatic lines, 【You crying makes you unlike him!】

Jin Chen: 【……Quiet】

The influence took effect.

Gu Fanghe saw him silent, raised his hand to signal the two bandits waiting by the door, "Take him to the east wing room to settle."

"Yes!"

The two young bandits moved forward to grab Jin Chen's arms, but before their hands could touch his sleeves, he flung them off.

The two bandits stared, instinctively looking toward Gu Fanghe.

Jin Chen stared straight at Gu Fanghe seated at the head, brows furrowed, very displeased,

"It hurts, I'll walk myself."

Having said that, he didn't wait for Gu Fanghe's response, turned and walked out the door.

The two bandits were dumbfounded, standing there not knowing what to do.

The other bandits in the room also exchanged glances, someone wanted to laugh but, held back by the chief's presence, forcibly suppressed it.

Gu Fanghe watched that straight-retreating back, his face showing little expression.

He really wasn't angry.

He even found it somewhat interesting.