The bandit leader had been waiting on this mountain path all day, finally getting his first business deal today. But in this day and age, there were too many experts, so the bandit leader habitually looked over the two people pulling the cart as they walked over. One was a white-clothed pretty boy, looking quite good, but seeming weak and scholarly without any strength at all - clearly a bookworm. The other was a kid dressed in black, also very delicate looking, and at most seemed to only be ten years old. Even if he had started learning martial arts skills in his mother's womb, he would have only practiced for ten years at most, definitely not enough to be a match for the bandit leader's high-level skills, plus he still had over twenty subordinates.
This was an easy score!
Looking at the cart behind the scholar in white, the bandit leader lamented: As expected, being a bandit still has good prospects!
After the bandit leader finished his opening remarks, he raised his hand, saying to his followers behind him: "Brothers, we have business today. Come with me and take this score, bringing us one step closer to fulfilling our dreams of going back home, buying a house, and getting married!"
The band of bandits responded vigorously:
"Alright!"
"We'll follow Big Brother!"
The bandit leader was very satisfied with his subordinates' fighting spirit. Now he just needed to threaten them with some words and...
Before the bandit leader could think further, a burst of raucous laughter suddenly rang out from the cart, interrupting his train of thought on what to say.
The laughter came from Wang Xiaoer. Wang Xiaoer said to Zhang San, "Master, Master, look! There really are bandits, our luck is too good! The book must be right!"
The bandit leader was stunned for a moment. He couldn't help but look down at himself.
With this getup, the knife in his hand, his fierce expression, burly physique, and previous opening remarks...was there a problem?
Was his bandit image not obvious enough?
But the reaction of that melon-headed kid...
The bandit leader asked the bandit on his right, "Brother, is my image normal?"
Bandit A also found it very strange, answering: "It's totally normal Big Brother, same as always."
The bandit leader asked the bandit on his left, Bandit B: "Brother, was there anything wrong with my opening remarks earlier?"
Bandit B scratched his head, saying: "Very normal Big Brother, you always say it like that."
The bandit leader couldn't help but think: Since everything was so normal, then clearly the current situation was very abnormal. Looking at the smile on that brat's face, was that the normal reaction a kid should have after running into such a normal bandit like himself?
Could they be experts in disguise?
The bandits looked at the two people doubtfully.
Soon after, Zhang San pulling the cart moved!
Not only were the bandits caught off guard when he moved, they were thrown into chaos.
"Big Brother, what should we do? He doesn't seem to be afraid of us."
"Big Brother, should we test out his skills?"
The bandit leader stamped his foot and said in a low voice: "Don't panic! If the enemy doesn't move, I don't move! Wait until he gets closer."
The bandits all nodded in agreement.
Zhang San pulling the cart just felt extremely tired...
Having just found out this morning about the bad news of the Hei Shanhu gang putting a bounty out for him, and now inexplicably running into this group of incompetent bandits with no future prospects in their career path, he was truly exhausted.
Especially after observing them for a bit, Zhang San directly eliminated the possibility that they were experts in disguise trying to catch him off guard.
The reason was simple. It was very possible for experts who grew tired of the struggles in the jianghu to retire into the mountains.
But for that kind of person, they might become farmers, fishermen, wandering doctors, but no matter what, it was impossible for them to become bandits!
Even if there really were some experts with such peculiar tastes, the chances of randomly running into a reclusive expert on a mountain path were already tragically low. And now for him, Zhang San, to just randomly walk onto a mountain path and bump into those eccentric masters, the probability was so low it couldn't even be described in words.
So Zhang San really didn't want to continue bothering these foolish-looking people, who took one look to know they had no future prospects in the bandit career path.
Zhang San pulled the cart and took a turn, wanting to circle around these bandits on the mountain path.
Seeing his hard-earned business about to slip away, the bandit leader quickly yelled: "Hey bookworm, what are you doing! We're professional bandits, the kill-without-blinking type. Take this seriously!"
Zhang San let out a sigh, impatiently asking: "So you want to rob us?"
The bandit leader had actually been observing Zhang San all along, but with his few decades of martial arts training only at the superior level, he truly could not see any traces of Zhang San having any martial skills from his scholar appearance.
Thus the bandit leader started thinking Zhang San was just all talk trying to scare him, and cursed: "Can't you see clearly enough from my getup?!
Zhang San retorted: "Then may I ask where your certification is?"
"Where is your certification?"
When these words came out, the bandits' faces clearly revealed traces of panic.
As an aside, out of occupational safety concerns, Zhang San had taken odd jobs in many underground organizations, mainly to rely on his own lightness skill and stealth technique to obtain inside information of the underground societies. After all, if you're going to be involved in the underworld, how could you not understand it? So Zhang San was a seasoned researcher into the black market industry.
The bandit leader smiled stiffly, saying: "You damn bookworm, has reading made you silly? In this day and age, bandits need certification?"
Zhang San scolded back: "This town seems to be territory of the Hundred Kills Hall. Judging from your looks, you all couldn't have obtained their qualification certificates either. You dare to operate as bandits without certification? You call this unlicensed operation, do you know?!"
That's right!
In this day and age, being a bandit also requires certification! (Although it is certification issued by the underground societies)
But please, don't think this is too outrageous or ridiculous. Actually, looking at the history of development of the underground societies, certified bandits who are officially employed is truly a trend of standardized operation in line with the times.
Starting from ancient eras, all the way till present times, and even in many wuxia novels, bandits and the underground societies have been equated.
And this understanding...is clearly correct.
But first we must recognize what bandits are, and what kind of underground industry they belong to.
Bandits, as the name implies, are mountain thieves who make a living through robbery, with their main means of survival and income coming entirely from robbing money and goods from passersby.
That is to say, they belong to the “predatory” type of underground industry.
Compared to the “operating” underground syndicates running brothels, gambling dens, and selling Five Stones Powder (opium), the income means of predatory underground groups is more straightforward and more violent.
In fact, over twenty years ago, when the powers of both white and black societies were still quite balanced, as part of the black industry and occupations, mountain bandits and horse bandits were still very welcomed by their underground peers. At that time, some larger-scale mountain strongholds and horse bandit gangs had even been invited to become members of the black societies alliance.
Even just over ten years ago, after the decline of the white societies and rapid development of the black societies, coupled with increasing corruption of officials, these predatory black societies that purely relied on plunder had wildly thrived for a period of time. Back then, you could randomly go out to visit a relative, and come back robbed of even your pants.
However, around seven or eight years ago, a purge of bandits was formally carried out by the underground network.
Yes, you heard correctly!
The underground societies purged bandits!
The reason was very simple. In the context of the rampant development of the black societies, and the huge profits to be gained from properly running black market operations, the existence of mountain bandits and horse bandits had become an impediment to the development of the underground network.
As it turned out, no matter whether mountain bandits and horse bandits were once members of the black societies alliance, anyone who stood in the way of the tidal wave of this historical trend would be crushed to smithereens.
In recent years, over the past decade or so, all those newly emerging mountain bandits and horse bandits that had once wantonly proliferated, as well as all other predatory black societies, were completely wiped out. The ones remaining now were all approved bands, which was what Zhang San had previously referred to as “certified” bandits.
In simple terms, in this day and age, it's not necessarily only officials who need certification to be employed, bandits may also need it!
As for why mountain bandits and horse bandits became obstacles to the development of the black societies, Zhang San actually understood very well!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
