Chapter 37

The eyes of the five people were all focused on Jiang Jinshi, and Jiang Jinshi added: "I have medicine on me."

The four standing people knelt down in an instant, shouting in unison: "Please, benefactor, save my brother."

Jiang Jinshi didn't dawdle, taking out the golden sore medicine, a must-have for robbery, and walking toward Xiao Niu.

The few people hurriedly made way, afraid of delaying Jiang Jinshi in saving the person, but in fact, they had no certainty; at this moment, they were drowning people grabbing a life-saving straw, unwilling to let go of a glimmer of hope.

Jiang Jinshi suddenly felt that he didn't look like a bandit, but more like a doctor, saving people wherever he went.

Even his technique for bandaging wounds began to become increasingly proficient.

Getting it done in a few strokes, looking at the little golden sore medicine left in the bottle, Jiang Jinshi tossed it to Xiao Niu's Fourth Brother.

"That... you're called Xiao Si, right! You guys split it and use it."

Xiao Si took the golden sore medicine in a flurry, still not forgetting Xiao Niu lying on the ground.

"Benefactor, how is my brother's condition?"

Jiang Jinshi had absolute trust in the good medicine produced by the system, waving his hand: "Don't worry! After applying the medicine, he won't die."

Getting a positive answer, Xiao Si finally felt at ease, and the few people then applied medicine to each other.

Jiang Jinshi was very curious about the relationship between the few: "Are you biological brothers?"

Xiao Si shook his head: "We were from the same village before, and after fleeing here, we swore an oath to become bandits."

After finishing, he introduced to Jiang Jinshi that his real name was Wang Sixi, the one lying on the ground was Wang Xiaoniu, and the other three were Wang Mazi, Wang Chang, and Wang Duoyu.

Wang Mazi was just like his name, his face full of pockmarks, looking a bit ugly.

Wang Chang had an honest look, didn't talk much, but was quite ruthless when hacking people.

Wang Duoyu was a bit silly, considered the slowest to react among the few, and his physique was also relatively weak.

According to Wang Sixi's description, the dozen or so of them were all childhood friends from the same village, fleeing all the way here from the border further north; they didn't want to break their heads for a bowl of thin porridge at the city gate, so after a discussion, they swore an oath to become bandits.

At first, they went to Lianhuan Shan, wanting to join one of the Five Poisons Strongholds, but they didn't expect that joining the Five Poisons Stronghold would require a fee, one tael of silver per person to join.

And every month, they had to pay the "stronghold fee" and "food fee" on time; only ten percent of the money obtained from robbery belonged to them, the reason being that the stronghold provided everyone with housing and shelter, ensuring that the government wouldn't cause trouble for the stronghold.

The stronghold provided them with protection, and if you went to rob under the name of the stronghold, you needed to hand over ninety percent of the income, and the remaining ten percent was used to pay the "stronghold fee" and "food fee."

That's right, the Five Poisons Stronghold didn't provide free food; if you wanted to eat, you could, but bring money to exchange for it; the stronghold had no obligation to feed you for free.

And even if you paid the food fee, the food distributed was only the worst, and the amount was pitifully small, mostly not enough to eat.

If you wanted to eat better, or even eat meat, you needed to pay more fees.

Even if the conditions were a bit harsh, they thought that at least they wouldn't be surrounded and suppressed by the government.

But they never expected that this official road had been divided up by the Five Poisons Stronghold; this merchant caravan gave money and couldn't be robbed, that escort agency had cooperation and couldn't be robbed, and the government's team was even more absolutely not to be touched.

If you were ignorant and made a move, the head leader would chop off your hand and send it to the other party, then throw you off the stronghold to fend for yourself.

It could be said that nowadays, the major families in Li City and Jiangcheng all had cooperative relationships with the Five Poisons Stronghold, and without these big households, there were only a few that could be robbed.

This made the few who were often hungry have a discussion, thinking it would be better to go out and work alone, so one night, they took advantage of the deep night and ran down the mountain.

The few only dared to rob stealthily, and their base was changed every two days, for fear of being caught by the people of the Five Poisons Stronghold.

The Five Poisons Stronghold didn't allow other strongholds on Lianhuan Shan, and if caught, they would be sent directly to the government.

They had only done a few jobs when they encountered today's incident, and Jiang Jinshi knew the rest.

After hearing this, Jiang Jinshi pondered slightly; no wonder the entire Lianhuan Shan had several mountains next to each other, yet the Five Poisons Stronghold was the only one that was big; this set of things was connected together, and outsiders couldn't get in at all.

It was feared that even the government was colluding with them; if other bandits appeared, they would be caught and sent to the government, and the government would behead them in the city, on one hand buying people's hearts, and on the other hand, it could be considered an explanation to those above.

And those major families were even more so; the Five Poisons Stronghold was like their black glove, helping them deal with those unspeakable things.

Interlocking, cooperating with each other, and looking after each other, the entire city and outside were their one-word hall.

After figuring out the key problem, Jiang Jinshi asked: "Then which stronghold in the Five Poisons Stronghold were you in before?"

"Spider Stronghold! Just now I heard the benefactor say something about Yangguangzhai? We have never heard of this stronghold."

Jiang Jinshi responded: "Yangguangzhai is not on this Lianhuan Shan, it's normal that you don't know."

Wang Sixi nodded as if he understood, looking at the brothers around him; now he was the oldest among the brothers and had to plan a good future for them.

So Wang Sixi asked tentatively: "I don't know how this Yangguangzhai of the benefactor is? And what are the rules!"

Jiang Jinshi was waiting for the other party to take the initiative to ask, immediately inserting the knife beside him and sitting on the ground: "Our Yangguangzhai is naturally good; first of all, you don't need silver to join, we only want brothers who are loyal and dare to fight."

Wang Sixi and his brothers all had their eyes light up; just this point alone beat the Five Poisons Stronghold.

Jiang Jinshi continued to brag: "After joining our Yangguangzhai, you don't need to pay any fees to have food to eat, and it's unlimited, ensuring that every brother can eat his fill."

Now Wang Sixi couldn't hold back, jumping up from the ground, unable to believe his ears: "Really... is it really true?"

Jiang Jinshi was calm, his tone full of disdain for the Five Poisons Stronghold: "That's for sure, our Yangguangzhai is not like the Five Poisons Stronghold; if even the brothers who join can't eat their fill, then what kind of bandits are we?"

The few people widened their eyes, listening carefully to every word in Jiang Jinshi's mouth.

"Besides, if the brothers can't eat their fill, where would they get the strength to rob?"

Jiang Jinshi became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, only praising his Yangguangzhai.

"However, our Yangguangzhai is divided into external members and internal members; external members only have food to eat, and the gold and silver from robbery must be handed over in full, while internal members receive different salaries every month according to their position. Oh, that means silver money."

"What? Then what if there's no business this month, do we still get money?" Wang Mazi really couldn't help but interrupt.

"Of course, the higher the position, the higher the monthly salary. Issued on time, never in arrears." Jiang Jinshi nodded affirmatively.

Once these words were out, even Wang Duoyu, who was usually quiet, stared at Wang Sixi with burning eyes, hoping his Fourth Brother would speak up quickly.

Even though the few were very tempted, they still gave the decision-making power to Wang Sixi.

Actually, without waiting for the few to look at him, Wang Sixi had already swallowed his saliva secretly, then licked his lips and asked: "Benefactor, I don't know if Yangguangzhai is still recruiting people?"

Jiang Jinshi had been waiting here for a long time, immediately nodding fiercely: "To tell you the truth, I see that you brothers are also brave people who value loyalty, that's why I jumped out to save you, I just don't know if you are willing to join my Yangguangzhai?"

Wang Sixi was overjoyed, hurriedly cupping his hands and bowing his head: "Today, the benefactor first spoke to save my five brothers, and later gave medicine to treat our injuries; if we refused, wouldn't we be ungrateful? From now on, the lives of us few will be left to the head leader to deal with."

Wang Mazi and the others hurriedly followed suit, cupping their hands: "Thank you, head leader, for taking us in; from now on, we will go through fire and water, all depending on a word from the head leader."

Jiang Jinshi nodded with satisfaction; although he didn't believe such words, as long as he was consistent in his words and actions, he believed that the few wouldn't easily betray him.

"Good! You brothers are now external members of my Yangguangzhai, and now Wang Sixi is the temporary small squad leader of your squad."

Wang Sixi hurriedly asked: "Head leader, what should I do as this small squad leader? I just joined Yangguangzhai, why not promote a brother from the stronghold?"

Jiang Jinshi smiled but didn't smile: "Why? Afraid you won't do well? Or afraid other brothers will have opinions?"

Wang Sixi gritted his teeth: "I'm afraid I'm stupid and will ruin the head leader's good deeds."

"It doesn't matter, the positions in our Yangguangzhai are always held by those who are capable; work hard, I think highly of you." After finishing, Jiang Jinshi also patted Wang Sixi on the shoulder.

Wang Sixi, flattered, had his eyes become firm: "I will definitely not fail the head leader's expectations."

So Jiang Jinshi greeted the few to sit down: "Which stronghold in the Five Poisons Stronghold do you think has the weakest strength?"

Although the few didn't understand the intention of the head leader's question, they still thought carefully, and finally, Wang Mazi said: "Head leader, I think it's the Viper Stronghold."

"Oh, tell me about it."

Wang Mazi said with a gloomy face: "Actually, at the beginning, the stronghold our brothers planned to go to first was the Viper Stronghold, but we heard that the head leader of the Viper Stronghold was too cruel and domineering, so we went to the Spider Stronghold."

Jiang Jinshi nodded, signaling Wang Mazi to continue.

"When I was in the Spider Stronghold, I heard people in the stronghold say that the head leader of the Viper Stronghold, Viper, was irritable and punished the brothers under him at every turn, causing disability at the lightest, and death at the worst." Wang Mazi paused and continued.

"Over time, Viper's reputation for cruelty was known outside, and people who became bandits would prioritize other strongholds, so it had the fewest people in the Five Poisons Stronghold."

"Then do you know what cooperative partners the Viper Stronghold has?" In fact, this was what Jiang Jinshi cared about; it wasn't enough to just rob the stronghold, he also had to take over their business, otherwise, he would have to let them eat their fill when so many brothers needed to be fed.

Wang Sixi shook his head and took over the conversation: "I don't know about this; generally speaking, which major family the stronghold has cooperation with is not something we can know, and even we only knew today that the Centipede Stronghold and the Tang family had cooperation."

So Jiang Jinshi made a major decision.

"Since that's the case, I'll take you to the Viper Stronghold to have a look."

Wang Duoyu exclaimed: "He... head leader, there are only six of us in total, are we going to attack the Viper Stronghold?"

Hearing this, the few rolled their eyes, and Wang Sixi couldn't help but pat Wang Duoyu on the head: "You elm-headed fool, the head leader means we're going in as undercover agents."

After finishing, he turned to look at Jiang Jinshi: "Head leader, I don't know if I'm right."

Jiang Jinshi nodded, casually pulling up the Ghost Head Knife, touching the blood groove on the blade with his hand.

"Black eating black! It's normal to use some means."

Then the few discussed various details in the dense forest, lasting until dark before setting off.

"Big Brother, the manpower in our stronghold is getting fewer and fewer; now there are only over a hundred people, and there's no one to do many things."

In the empty hall, a man with inverted triangular eyes, looking through the bamboo slips in his hand, couldn't help but complain to the man in the head seat.

The man in the head seat was hugging a trembling woman, touching the woman's cheek with great interest, and facing his brother's complaint, he responded without caring at all.

"Then don't let them go out to rob; anyway, that little bit of stuff is not as much as the silver money the Chen family gives every month."

The man hugging the woman was like a drug addict, his cheeks and eye sockets were sunken, and the loose skin on his arms proved that he once had a strong body.

If anyone else were here to see it, they would never have thought that the Viper, who made many people hear his name and tremble, would be in this state.

The inverted triangular man heard his Big Brother's answer and couldn't help but hold his forehead and respond: "If we don't go out to rob, how would the Chen family show respect to our Viper Stronghold."

Being disturbed one after another, Viper waved his hand impatiently: "Then you handle it, I'm going to do something."

Sighing, the inverted triangular man walked out of the hall, carefully closing the door by the way, completely ignoring the shouting coming from behind.

In fact, among the current Five Poisons Stronghold, the Viper Stronghold was indeed the weakest.

The inverted triangular man was the second head leader of the Viper Stronghold, nicknamed Pit Viper.

Pit Viper hadn't reached his residence when a lackey came to shout: "Second head leader, a group of people came outside the stronghold, saying they want to join our Viper Stronghold."

Pit Viper stopped his steps, turning around with interest: "Lead the way, let's go see."

He didn't expect that this Viper Stronghold, which was infamous, would still have people willing to join; Pit Viper naturally had to go see.

After all, the relationship between the Five Poisons Strongholds wasn't as friendly as it looked from the outside; if the few were spies sent by other strongholds, then kill them!

Even without seeing the people, Pit Viper had already regarded the few as people from other strongholds in his heart, and going to see them was just entertainment before going to sleep.

This group of people was exactly Jiang Jinshi and the five Wang brothers, currently standing at the entrance of the Viper Stronghold, looking at the watchtowers on both sides across the wooden door of the stronghold.

Jiang Jinshi couldn't help but praise: "This location is really hidden enough, I almost got lost in the mountains."

Wang Sixi nodded helplessly: "If it weren't for the firelight at night, it would be really hard to find."

The more Jiang Jinshi looked at this stronghold, the more satisfied he was; it was located deep in the mountains, and even if there was firelight at night, it wasn't obvious.

And this place was just at the waist of the mountain, but it was exceptionally flat, and the stronghold built according to the terrain also looked very imposing.

As for how big it was inside, he would only know after Jiang Jinshi went in to check.

Wang Mazi was muttering in his heart at this moment, asking in a low voice: "Head leader, can this really work?"

Jiang Jinshi turned his body and responded in a low voice: "The specifics depend on it, but you all remember, don't call me head leader after going in."

Hearing this, the few nodded imperceptibly.

The next moment, the door of the stronghold was opened, and more than twenty people rushed out with torches, surrounding the few in the middle.