Chapter 98: Mountain Bandits Blocking the Road

"Oh?"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, "What happened?"

The man holding the park knife cursed, "Our village almost every family makes paper. Originally, there were fixed merchants collecting goods, settling accounts every ten days, but the merchant team was robbed by bandits, and even the proprietor lost his life."

"Thief-like, even rabbits don't eat the grass in their own nest!"

"People's lives are gone; how could we be embarrassed to ask for money? But seeing that the end of the year is approaching, other merchant teams don't dare to come, so we can only send it ourselves."

"Sigh, poor Liu Laoer and the others, how should their families live..."

Sha Lifei patted their chests, comforted them, "Don't worry, it's still peaceful from here to Chang'an. We haven't encountered any danger along the way."

"Many thanks."

The man cupped his hands in thanks, then hesitated and said in a dilemma, "To tell you the truth, we are from Ten-Mile Shop. You guys have to pass through Niubei Ridge, so you will definitely pass through Ten-Mile Shop."

"The families are all waiting to eat and drink. We have to continue on the road to Chang'an, planning to leave one person to drive the carriage and send Liu Laoer and the others' corpses back to their hometown."

"I'm afraid of encountering wild beasts on the road again; can he follow you guys?"

Li Yan pondered for a moment and nodded, "Okay."

The bandit disaster near Niubei Ridge was serious, and they had to stop and rest, inquire about news, and find a way to leave. It didn't matter if someone followed.

"Many thanks," the man said with a face full of gratitude.

"No matter, just a small effort."

Li Yan's expression was calm, but doubt arose in his heart.

Bandits are fierce, but they rarely move against nearby villages. First, there is no oil or water, and second, it is difficult to avoid having familiar people.

Some bandit strongholds even have their largest source of manpower from nearby villages. There are those who can't live, so they throw their arms and carry knives up the mountain to become bandits.

And now, the bandit disaster is so serious, neither fearing to attract government suppression nor hesitating to offend the villagers down the mountain...

On Niubei Ridge, something must have happened!

Ten-Mile Post, almost everywhere in the Divine Land has one.

The origin of this name usually has two kinds.

One is the villages and towns around large cities, usually there are also Wuli Pu, Qili Pu, etc. Arriving at such villages and towns means it is not far from the large city.

There is also a kind related to post stations. There is an Yingpan Post Station near Niubei Ridge, which was once a place for Cao Wei to station troops to guard against Han Zhong, and later changed to a post station.

Because wild beasts were rampant on the Qin Mountains Ancient Road, the team didn't delay anymore, continued on the road after sunset, and it was already late at night when they arrived at Ten-Mile Post.

Hearing the report that someone had died, torches lit up in the pitch-black village, quite a few people rushed over, and subsequently, there was the sound of women wailing heartbreakingly.

Others couldn't persuade them, and looking at the incomplete corpse, quite a few people felt a sense of sympathy.

Li Yan and the

Just then, an old man leaning on a cane stepped forward, cupped his hands toward them, and said, "I am Guo Fuan, the village head of Ten-Mile Post. Many thanks to you all for your help. I have already heard—if not for you, I fear many more would have died."

"I have had people prepare some hot food, you all..."

"No!"

Before Village Head Guo could finish, several men loudly interrupted, "Village Head, as the saying goes, 'don't let a cold coffin enter the village, don't let hot filial piety visit the door.' They are a team of Yin-senders. We already have enough trouble in the village lately; what if they bring bad luck..."

"Shut up!"

Village Head Guo shouted angrily, then said with an embarrassed face, "Do not take offense, everyone. The country folk here lack manners..."

"No need."

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Is there a place to rest nearby? We will not enter the village, so there is no need to trouble you."

The village head clearly breathed a sigh of relief, pointed to the southeast, and said, "There is a Bai Longmiao over there. It was originally for worshipping the River Dragon King, but later the river changed course, and it fell into disuse. If you don't mind, you can stay there temporarily."

"Many thanks."

Li Yan nodded, and without further ado, led his team away.

Not long after leaving the village, Sha Lifei sneered, "That village head is quite crafty. Those few who were making a racket were clearly his men. If he didn't want us to enter the village, he could have just said so, but he had to play these games!"

The leader of the porters, Yue Bala, smiled bitterly, "Hero Sha, no matter which village in the Shenzhou you reach, they won't let a team transporting the dead enter."

"If we hadn't saved their people, the old village head wouldn't have been able to save face, and he might have sent people to drive us away from a distance."

Sha Lifei clearly knew this custom and didn't bother to say more.

Although Village Head Guo was cunning, he hadn't lied.

The team had walked less than three miles when they saw the Bai Longmiao.

This temple was near a gully where the river had dried up, overgrown with waist-high weeds. It was dim under the moonlight, and as the night wind blew, it rustled, as if hiding something.

The Bai Longmiao was not large; it was just a small temple built by the village, consisting of only one tiled room enclosed by a brick courtyard.

Although it had been abandoned and even the wooden door had collapsed, the house itself was still sturdy.

"Wait a moment."

Li Yan waved to stop everyone, pinched the Yang Seal, sniffed, and then, gripping his Guanshan blade, strode into the pitch-black temple.

Soon, a cold, murderous aura dispersed.

Everyone shivered, but fortunately, they knew of Li Yan's methods.

After Li Yan walked out of the dilapidated temple, Sha Lifei hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "How is it? Is it not clean inside?"

Li Yan casually threw a rotten hemp rope onto the ground and shook his head, "Nothing much, there should have been a hanging ghost."

"Ah?!"

Sha Lifei felt his scalp tingle, "Could that old thing, the village head, be trying to harm us?"

Wang Daoxuan laughed dumbly, "Don't overthink it. The body should have been dealt with long ago. The villagers might not have understood and didn't clean it up properly. Brother Li, is that all?"

Li Yan nodded, "That's all."

Wang Daoxuan didn't waste words either; he took some salt and cinnabar from his bosom, sprinkled it on the hemp rope, stuck a talisman on it, and ignited it with a spell.

Whoosh~

The hemp rope was damp and rotten, but after being ignited by the talisman, it burned exceptionally vigorously, crackling and emitting a foul stench.

Seeing the curiosity of those around him, Wang Daoxuan didn't hide anything and explained, "Hanging oneself in a dilapidated temple means either the resentment is deep, or they know some evil arts."

"Even if the body is dealt with, the resentment and Yin soul remain attached to the hemp rope, and sooner or later, something will happen. If I'm not mistaken, it would first enter dreams and possess people, making them worship the old temple's Dragon King, attaching itself to the statue to absorb incense."

"Many evil gods in various places are formed this way. Since we've encountered it, we'll just eliminate the future trouble."

"So that's how it is."

The carter, Old Meng, breathed a sigh of relief and sighed, "Fortunately, we have the Daoist and Young Hero Li. If we had encountered this, I fear we would have bumped into a guest in our ignorance."

It was just a small matter, so no one took it to heart.

The journey was tiring, and it was the middle of the night, so Li Yan didn't have the heart to cook. He and the others lit a campfire, and after a simple cleanup, they ate some dry rations and rested early.

In the silent dark night, the firelight in the dilapidated temple flickered faintly...

Under the trees on a distant hillside, several people slowly poked their heads out, staring at the dilapidated temple below the mountain. Although they didn't have clairvoyance, the firelight in the darkness was very obvious.

"What does Granny Black say?"

"It's a team of Yin-senders."

"Big Brother, that horse of theirs is worth some money, and there aren't many men. Should we just pull a job?" "You fool, robbing a team of Yin-senders, aren't you afraid of bad luck?"

"What bad luck? Let's get what we can before we break up. Who knows if the stronghold will still be here next year..."

These words made everyone silent.

"Good!"

A gloomy voice sounded:

"A horse won't get fat without night grass; we can give it a try!"

"Hero, spare my life!"

The torches burned brightly, and a row of people knelt before the Bai Longmiao.

"You bunch of losers!" Sha Lifei's eyes were swollen, and he was furious. He brandished his long blade and cursed, "I finally managed to get a good night's sleep, and you just had to pick this time to rob us. Were you in such a hurry..."

The bandits cowered, stealing glances from time to time.

!.

This big bald guy looked fierce and was shouting, but as bandits, they had seen all sorts of freaks, so why would they be afraid?

What truly terrified them was the fair-faced young man sitting there playing with his blade.

They had only launched a sneak attack under the cover of night, but this fair-faced young man was more like a ghost in the darkness—his movements were swift, his strikes ruthless, and many hadn't even had time to react before their hands and feet were slashed.

By the end, they couldn't even light a torch to see.

There was no other way; encountering such a tough nut, they could only kneel and beg for mercy.

Of course, they didn't know that for Li Yan, as long as it was night, he occupied both the advantage of time and terrain, so why would he fear any sneak attack?

The reason he held back was naturally to gather information.

Seeing these bandits all looking at him, Li Yan glanced at them indifferently, "Uncle Sha, count to ten. Whoever confesses first lives; the rest will be slaughtered!"

"I'll talk!"

"I'll talk!"

"Get lost, I'll talk first..."

Before he could even finish counting, the bandits scrambled forward, even fighting among themselves.

Li Yan: "......"

Sha Lifei burst into laughter, pointed his blade, and said, "You bunch of idiots are quite honest; you really don't have any loyalty. You, go ahead, speak first!"

"Yes! Yes!"

The bandit who was pointed at was overjoyed, but opened his mouth and felt a bit awkward, carefully smiling, "Hero, what do you want us to say?"

Li Yan said in a deep voice, "Why have the bandits on Niubei Ridge been so rampant lately? Did something happen on the mountain?"

"Right, right, the Hero is right, something did happen."

There was no need for coercion; the bandit poured out his grievances, "Hero, you might not know, but this Niubei Ridge is huge and occupies the Qin-Chu Ancient Road, so it never lacks profit. There are at least a dozen large and small strongholds on the mountain."

"Originally, everyone lived in peace, dividing the territory by mountain peaks. Whoever's territory the fat sheep reached, it belonged to them. And we wouldn't go too far, so as not to attract government suppression."

"But just a few days ago, the strongest, Old Dragon Stronghold, suddenly announced that all strongholds must submit to them. If they didn't agree, they had to get out of Niubei Ridge."

"Logically speaking, merging strongholds and sharing incense is nothing, but there must be rules. What's more, this Old Dragon Stronghold doesn't know what kind of madness it has caught; its actions have become barbaric and overbearing..."

"One stronghold leader didn't believe it and personally led a few experts to sneak into Old Dragon Stronghold. He was a master at the peak of Dark Jin, but he was killed directly. Only one survived and ran back, but he was scared out of his mind, constantly saying there were ghosts..."

"After such a thing happened, everyone could only accept their fate. Some decided to join Old Dragon Stronghold, but more decided to leave, so they all came down the mountain, wanting to pull a few more jobs before winter..."

Hearing this person's rambling, Li Yan was lost in thought.

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said, "Looking at this situation, there are not only experts but also sorcerers. Even a peak Dark Jin master was killed. With these skills, what kind of work couldn't they find? Why bother with being bandits?"

"That must be because they have other motives!"

Sha Lifei's eyes lit up, "I've heard that some powerful grave-robbing gangs find large tombs in the deep mountains and don't even bother to hide it, often needing to gather a large number of people to dig. Could it be that there is treasure on this mountain?"

"There's no ancient tomb."

The bandit kneeling on the ground shook his head, "To tell you the truth, some strongholds, besides robbing fat sheep, also try to find treasure in these Qin Ling Mountains. There are quite a few grave-robbers under their command who can locate burial sites, but there are simply no ancient tombs on Niubei Ridge."

When he said this, Li Yan also became interested, "Oh, what kind of treasures are in the Qin Ling Mountains?"

"There are too many!"

The bandit seemed to have gained energy, spitting as he spoke, "The treasures buried in the Qin Ling Mountains are countless."

"Legend has it that the Qin Shi Huang Huang unified the world, collected the weapons of the world, and cast twelve golden men, which were mysterious and unpredictable. Later, during the Qin chaos, they were hidden in these Qin Ling Mountains..."

"There is also the ancient Huaxu Kingdom; it is rumored that it was the residence of immortals..."

"The most terrifying is the Ten Absolute Fierce Tombs, and the Qin King's Undying Palace built by the Immortals' Way for the First Emperor, which hides the secret of immortality..."

"There is also the White Python God of the Qin Ling Mountains. Someone once saw its body wrap around the entire mountain peak. It exhaled, and the rosy clouds filled the air; it inhaled, and the sky and earth became clear. It is rumored that if you obtain its python treasure, you can become an immortal on the spot..."

"Enough, enough!"

Li Yan became more speechless the more he listened.

Sha Lifei was also amused, "You simpleton, you really know how to talk nonsense. Why don't you say that the Queen Mother of the West's Peach Garden is also in the Qin Ling Mountains?"

Wang Daoxuan laughed dumbly, "The twelve golden men were long ago melted by Dong Zhuo. Besides, the locations of some large tombs in Guanzhong have never been hidden, but not a single grave-robber who went in has ever come out. Even if these places exist, no one dares to enter."

"What you are saying is nothing more than rumors among the common people."

"Yes, yes, this little one has no knowledge, please don't blame me."

The bandit nodded hurriedly, but his eyes were full of disbelief.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this."

Li Yan asked in a deep voice, "Can Niubei Ridge be crossed now?"

"It can't be crossed."

The bandit shook his head hurriedly, "If it were yesterday, with your skills, Hero, sneaking through at night would still have a chance."

"But now, the road is completely blocked."

Li Yan frowned, "What happened again?"

The bandit smiled apologetically, "Just today, news came that the former Left Assistant Minister of Shanzhou, Lu Kang, is returning to his hometown to retire. This old man used himself as bait to attract attention, but in fact, he secretly hired several escort agencies from Chang'an to transport a batch of 'red goods' home."

"Because the value of this batch of red goods is astonishing, those escorts didn't dare to make it public, but disguised themselves and took a secret route."

"Right now, the strongholds on the mountain have all united, wanting to swallow this batch of red goods before breaking up. Whether it's the ancient road or the mountain path, there are people guarding it; not even a fly can fly through."

"Not to mention merchant caravans; peddlers, opera troupes, and even two escort agencies have been blocked on the road. Hero, you are carrying such a large coffin..."

"It's impossible not to arouse suspicion!"

Sha Lifei cursed, "Good fellow, blocking the official road and killing a high official—your thief's guts are too big."

The bandit smiled awkwardly, "Anyway, we're breaking up, so we might as well pull a big one."

Li Yan asked in a deep voice, "Where are those people blocked?"

"Seven-Mile Post, Changfeng Inn!"

Recommending a book to friends: it's by a true academic doctor, the results are explosive, and it has created many internet memes. It's interesting and good to read.

(End of chapter)