Banditry 012

Xiao Hei scouted the path, and he followed behind with his soldiers, heading east from Xicheng all the way to Bingcheng and west to Yanzhou. The bandits were either dead or had fled. Along the way, Fang Zhiyi expanded his forces considerably, while many common people also began to flock to Xicheng. They knew there was no banditry or oppression here. To live a peaceful life, the people were always willing to take some risks.

The major warlord heard about Fang Zhiyi's movements and felt somewhat disdainful. "All he knows is to hide in the mountains, pah, what a pathetic loser."

Only Fu Yunshen vaguely felt something was amiss, but looking at the Grand Marshal drinking and making merry, he knew anything he said would fall on deaf ears.

It wasn't until two small towns belonging to General Chen were attacked by Fang Zhiyi, with the garrison almost completely wiped out, that he realized the severity of the problem. Fetching a map, he saw that although Fang Zhiyi's area of operation was in the mountains, it subtly formed a trend of encircling him.

As subordinates came to report that the routes previously used for transporting provisions, ammunition, and medicine had completely fallen under Fang Zhiyi's control, General Chen finally had a moment of clarity.

But he was, after all, a Grand Marshal, and he quickly launched a counterattack.

The army set out shouting slogans of exterminating Fang Zhiyi, but they were ambushed on the road, with the vanguard beaten into a frantic retreat.

General Chen dispatched troops into the mountains to suppress them, yet couldn't even find a trace of the enemy.

Then something even more astonishing happened. Some of the formerly treacherous bandit strongholds had been transformed by Fang Zhiyi into solid fortresses, firmly controlling several crucial routes. Even a direct assault couldn't capture them.

General Chen had never felt so powerless. He continuously sent out troops, but the enemy seemed to know all his moves, engaging him in a cat-and-mouse game. His army grew weary, and fear of Fang Zhiyi gradually increased.

With no solution in sight at the front, uprisings emerged within his own territory. Young people with new ideas, supported by mysterious forces, began armed seizures of power, and several cities changed hands in succession.

General Chen's mind was a muddled mess. Out of habit, he turned to ask Fu Yunshen what to do, but when he looked back, he was met with the dark muzzle of a gun. General Chen died without understanding why the subordinate he had taken in had betrayed him.

With the Grand Marshal dead, the army's morale immediately collapsed. Some scattered and fled, some simply surrendered to Fang Zhiyi, while Fu Yunshen led a portion of the men and also vanished into the mountains. He had started as a bandit; what did it matter if he returned to being one now?

Yan Qi had been extremely busy lately. When he received news of the clashes between Fang Zhiyi and General Chen, he was stunned. Such a big matter, and no discussion? But then he successively received news of General Chen's defeat and death. Yan Qi felt somewhat bewildered. This... is this reasonable?

But in the blink of an eye, new tasks were assigned to him: overseeing the territories Fang Zhiyi had swallowed up, including reorganizing the new armies and other duties. Yan Qi swore he had never been this busy in his life, while that superior of his was still darting around in the mountains, completely ignoring these matters.

If he hadn't left behind a cadre training class before leaving, Yan Qi estimated he would have died from the workload.

With General Chen's territory absorbed by Fang Zhiyi, it meant Fang Zhiyi's area of operation had expanded further.

The ones still suffering were the bandits. Initially, they had just been laughing at the misfortune of their peers around Xicheng. Now the fire had finally reached their own heads. Some refused to believe the rumors, but after several strongholds were burned to the ground one after another, with all the bandits beheaded and hung up, they finally knew the rumors were true.

Simultaneously, a rumor began to spread among the bandits.

"Really?"

"Absolutely true!"

"So you're saying this guy named Fu Yunshen has always been a spy for that tyrant Fang?"

"Yes, look. First, he went to Xicheng and joined them, then soon after, all the bandits around Xicheng were wiped out. Then he joined General Chen, and General Chen died too. Now I hear he's gone back to the mountains to be a bandit again..."

"Damn it!"

Such rumors kept spreading. The already terrified bandits turned their hatred towards Fu Yunshen.

They didn't dare attack the fiercely rising Fang Zhiyi, but they dared attack a traitor.

Fu Yunshen was also caught off guard. He had just settled his men and was about to give a morale-boosting speech when gunfire and explosions rang out one after another. A dust-covered subordinate reported that at least six or seven bandit groups had joined forces and attacked!

Fu Yunshen had no choice but to grit his teeth and engage them. Fortunately, they held a favorable position. The fighting grew fierce, and both sides saw red. This brutal battle lasted a whole day, with heavy casualties on both sides. The bandits vented all their fear and hatred of Fang Zhiyi onto Fu Yunshen, who fought desperately for his own survival.

When both sides were utterly exhausted, the sound of footsteps echoed all around. Only then did they realize in horror that they were surrounded.

Fu Yunshen, covered in blood, watched the figure slowly stepping out from the crowd. "Fang... Zhi... yi!" He had never been able to figure out how that neighbor had become like this.

Watching Fang Zhiyi's men begin to execute the surviving bandits one by one, Fu Yunshen let out a long roar to the sky. "I, Fu Yunshen, only ever wanted to be a good man, yet you pushed me relentlessly! That I became like this is all your fault!"

His voice clearly reached everyone's ears.

Fang Zhiyi looked at him with some amusement. "You wanted to be a good man? You think helping someone carry a bag of rice makes you good? You think giving a beggar a bowl of porridge makes you good?" His voice suddenly rose. "Then let me ask you, what about that family you skinned and had drawn and quartered seven years ago? Also seven years ago, for ransom, you didn't even spare the children, how do you account for that? When you slaughtered that merchant convoy bringing medicine to the people of Xicheng and placed their heads by the roadside to terrify those people, why weren't you being a good man then?"

"I... you..." Fu Yunshen was at a loss for words.

Fang Zhiyi stared at him. "Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot? I spit on that! That's not how it works with me! Tell him, how should blood debts be repaid?"

"Blood debts must be paid in blood!"

"Blood debts must be paid in blood!"

The unified shouts echoed through the mountain forest. Within those simple four words lay thick killing intent and hatred.

Many of these people were specifically chosen by Fang Zhiyi—survivors with deep-seated hatred for the bandits, willing to follow him day in and day out, darting through the mountains and forests.

"Want to be a good man now? Tell them. If they agree, you can be a good man." Having said that, Fang Zhiyi turned and walked away.

Fu Yunshen looked at those sickly eyes filled with hatred, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

"You... you... I won't let you off even as a ghost!" Fu Yunshen shouted the classic line.

Fang Zhiyi didn't even turn his head. "Being a ghost is good. I'm a specialist in that."