Chapter 465: with translation of chapter title

At "Zhangji Carriage and Horse Firm", they did not stay long.

Although this is a Jing'an Office outpost, it is nevertheless situated in an open part of the town, where eyes and ears are mixed.

Chen Wen and the others merely changed into some clothing better suited to local merchants here, replenished some dry rations and water that were not easy to carry, and obtained from the shopkeeper the latest but relatively rough information about the vicinity of Liangshanpo.

Thereafter, this capable "caravan" set out again, its goal pointing directly to Liangshanpo a hundred li away.

The closer they drew to that vast expanse of water, the more the scenery along the way showed itself to be different.

The official road gradually became narrow and difficult to travel; sometimes they even had to ask local villagers for directions before they could find the correct path leading toward the water.

Villages grew ever more sparse, and most were built with crude earthen walls or wooden palisades, obviously intended to guard against something.

The villagers they encountered also showed less numbness in their eyes, and more vigilance and a hard-to-detect fierce spirit.

In the air, that faint "killing qi" seemed to become more apparent.

Three days later, at dusk.

The party finally reached the outskirts of Liangshanpo.

Although Chen Wen had already prepared himself mentally, upon actually seeing this expanse of water with his own eyes, his heart still could not help but be shaken.

But see:

Mist and water stretch boundlessly, reeds sway wildly.

Distant mountains like dark ink, encircling all around;

Near the water lapping the shore, wave sounds faintly.

Gazing to the farthest extent, where water meets sky, mist twines endlessly, making the horizon indistinguishable.

Large and small harbors crisscross in disorder, like a labyrinth.

Withered yellow reeds grow in thickets, tall enough to submerge a person, rising and falling with the wind, emitting a rustling sound, as if countless secrets lurk within.

What a perilous yet magnificent expanse of rivers and mountains!

"What a fine Liangshanpo!"

Shi Dun could not help but let out a low shout, his eyes showing both a soldier's caution and a hint of delight at sighting game.

"This is truly a place easy to defend but hard to attack! If a stronghold were established here, even with hundreds of thousands of troops, without a powerful navy it would be difficult to prevail."

Qian Gui, meanwhile, carefully observed the terrain at the water's edge and the faintly visible fishing-boat lights in the distance, and said in a low voice:

"According to information from the carriage and horse firm and inquiries along the way, it seems that strongmen have taken refuge on this Liangshan, their leader apparently a white-clad scholar named Wang Lun."

"But his magnanimity is narrow, making it hard to win over the masses; there are few leaders on the mountain, and the bandits number only a few hundred, still not a great force."

"What is truly worth noting are the local strongmen scattered about, such as the Ruan clan of Shijie Village and Chao Gai of Dongxi Village."

Chen Wen gave a slight nod, but did not immediately comment.

He drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly extended his level‑3 perception, especially the enhanced "Fortune Momentum Initial Sense," outward over this vast expanse of water and its surrounding area.

In an instant, his "field of view" became utterly different.

No longer the water light and mountain colors seen by the naked eye, but a field woven of chaotic energy and vague images.

First felt was that killing qi which permeated the air, soaked into the depths of the water, and was almost everywhere.

This killing qi is not from a single source; it mixes the bloody ferocity of river bandits' plundering, the resentment accumulated from official oppression, the despair born of livelihood hardships, and… something even more profound, seemingly emanating from deep within the earth's veins, a vicious malignity.

They are like turbid mist, enveloping the entire water, making one's mind uneasy.

Yet, within this sea of turbid killing qi, Chen Wen keenly detected specks like sparks flashing — "bright points."

These "bright points" vary in size and brightness, most bearing a distinct personal quality — some blazing like the sun (as faintly sensed toward Dongxi Village), some deep like an abyss (as the "Jade Qilin" once marked toward Daming Prefecture), some fluid like water (as toward Shijie Village), and some endowed with change and calculation (as another spot in Dongxi Village)…

They are like scattered stars, not yet fully connected into a constellation, but between them there already exists a subtle, intangible attraction.

Could this be the sprouting of stellar power before the emergence of "Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha"?

What further concerned Chen Wen was that, within this complex tableau of killing qi and stellar power intertwined, he sensed several places of extreme discord — "gloom" and "icy cold."

This is a kind of "Yuneng" pollution that is incongruous with the surrounding environment and bears obvious traces of human artifice.

They lurk like poisonous snakes in the shadows, mainly distributed near several key routes leading to Liangshan, and… in a certain direction deep within the water.

They seem to be monitoring, guiding, and waiting for something.

Iron Crow Army!

They have indeed already laid their pieces here long ago.

Chen Wen could even faintly "see" threads of imperceptible Yuneng energy, like gossamer, extending from those dim pollution points, like a spiderweb, faintly linking certain "stellar power" bright points — especially those whose light is slightly chaotic and thus more susceptible to influence.

One such thread seems to connect toward Yuncheng County.

"Indeed… killing qi and stellar power intertwined, the Iron Crow Army has secretly spread its spiderweb."

Chen Wen opened his eyes, his gaze profound.

He pointed toward the general direction of those several Yuneng pollution points deep in the water, and said to Shi Dun and Qian Gui:

"Those directions require special attention; the Iron Crow Army's feelers have already penetrated this place."

Shi Dun and Qian Gui's faces tightened; they followed the direction Chen Wen indicated, seeing nothing abnormal with the naked eye, yet they trusted their lord's judgment.

"Furthermore,"

Chen Wen continued, his gaze sweeping over the dilapidated fishing villages at the water's edge and, far off, the peasants bent over their fields in tattered clothes.

"Look at these villagers."

"Their faces are sallow, their bodies lack intact clothing, and in their eyes, besides hardship, there is an accumulated gloom."

"The government's taxes and levies, the extortion of clerks, the bullying of the powerful, and even… possible bandit harassment, have reduced the livelihood of this place to this state of decay."

"Such soil is precisely the root whereby the 'Gathering Righteousness' stellar spark can spread like wildfire."

"The Iron Crow Army merely goes with the flow, and may even deliberately worsen this place's suffering to engender the 'variable' they need."

His tone carried a hint of chill.

The Iron Crow Army, in order to uphold the so‑called "historical script," does not hesitate to use the suffering of myriad common folk as nourishment.

Qian Gui sighed:

"Indeed so. What we have seen along the way, the corrupt governance of the False Song's Shandong circuit, compared to other regions, seems especially harsh. Now it appears, it is likely not coincidental."

Shi Dun clenched fists, knuckles turning white.

"Damn it! This bunch of sneaky rats hiding in the dark, using nothing but underhanded tactics!"

"Anger is useless."

Chen Wen spoke calmly, his gaze once again turning to the vast, misty Liangshanpo.

"Only by knowing its cause and understanding its layout can our intervention have direction."

"The Iron Crow Army seeks to use this place's resentment and killing energy to give birth to its 'Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends' script."

"Then we shall do the opposite."

"While we must contend for the leadership of the starfire, we must also…… as much as possible, alleviate the people's suffering here."

"Even if it benefits only a single village and hamlet, it will break the 'deadlock' deliberately crafted by the Iron Crow Army."

He already understood it in his heart.

Intervening in Liangshan, contending for "star power", and improving livelihoods while dispelling resentment are not two unrelated lines.

They are essentially different facets of the same struggle.

Destroying the Iron Crow Army's layout, and in this process accumulating his own "growth", is the purpose of his journey.

The lingering glow of the setting sun dyed Liangshanpo a somber, bloody hue.

The reeds swayed in the evening breeze, like countless shadows of whispered gossip.

Chen Wen stood there, straight and tall, like a spear about to be cast into this great vortex.

An initial foray into the marsh has already revealed only the tip of the iceberg.

The road ahead is perilous, yet it has only strengthened his resolve.

"Find a concealed campsite near Stone Stele Village."

Chen Wen gave the order.

"Starting tomorrow, we will place the first piece from the waterside, at the place of the Three Heroes of the Ruan clan."