Chapter 16: The Most Unscrupulous Bandit in History!

  With a light touch, Xia Ye's offensive was rendered invisible, leaving him almost vomiting blood, and Xia Man's overbearing nature was exposed without reserve.

  I just disagree with you, what can you do about it?

  Because changing the rules of the mountain stronghold requires at least the consent of Xia Man, and then submitting it to the elders, there is a possibility of passing. But looking at Xia Man's intention now, wanting to add this rule to the mountain stronghold rules, at least not in this lifetime.

  "Yes." Xia Ye retreated helplessly and looked at Xia Lin in the distance with a calm face, saying nothing more.

  No experience, no strength, relying solely on a hundred knockoff disciples to rob? No matter how many people there are, without strength, I'm afraid they can't even stop Xia Cheng alone!

  At this time, the mountain stronghold finally stopped growing, and the troops in front of Xia Lin finally stopped expanding.

  Finally, Xia Lin looked at the crowd one by one as they walked towards him, a total of three hundred disciples, each with red lights flashing in their eyes staring at him.

  Summer arrived and gazed for a moment, then started her own selection.

  It's a bit strange that Xia Lin didn't choose based on strength, but rather relied entirely on his own intuition, choosing whoever caught his eye.

  When Xia Lin chose one hundred new disciples, the mountain stronghold was in an uproar.

  "So many strong ones were eliminated."

  "The young master is indeed a playful person, and he chooses people at random."

  "It's a pity for those who follow him."

  "It doesn't matter, anyway it's all for those ten taels of silver."

  For a moment, everyone was talking about it, and Xia Man looked at Xia Lin, who seemed quite calm, but in her heart, she felt a bit strange. Her son had such a big ambition!

  Others didn't know, but he could see clearly that the people Xia Lin chose were mostly young and had good qualifications, with not so heavy hearts. If they were well-trained, they would definitely be the most qualified subordinates.

  It's just that this is naturally something that requires becoming an heir, otherwise these hundred disciples will scatter and return after the Mountain Retreat trial, who would still bother with you.

  So all I can say is, Xia Lin, you're really very confident!

  At this moment, the scene has become very clear. The strength of the 100 disciples recruited by Xia Lin is surprisingly similar to that of the 100 disciples recruited by Xia Cheng, while the other three are slightly inferior.

  On the mountain stronghold, Xia Man looked at the five disciples each of them had recruited and were now standing behind them. He opened a brocade box, took out five envelopes from it, and then walked forward.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, the village has provided five tasks, this is the second stage of the village trial, which must be completed by each of the trialists! Only after completing their respective tasks can they proceed to the final competition! After completing each task, you will all receive a generous sum of money, perhaps that's the foundation for winning first place."

  The five men respectfully stepped forward, each drew an envelope, and then retreated.

  "Alright, when you all return, whoever obtains the most resources will be the winner of this year's Mountain Stronghold Trial and become the next leader of Hei Feng Zhai!"

  Xia Man said calmly, then waved his hand and gave the final order: "Go, one month later, at noon, take stock of the spoils of war!"

  "Yes, Chief."

  The five men responded in unison, then turned around and returned to their respective teams, opened the envelope, checked the direction, and led their teams out of the stronghold, heading towards their own destinations.

  ……

  It has to be said that the locations of these several tasks are indeed good, distributed in various directions around the mountain stronghold. With five teams, at least they won't run into each other at the start.

  The first goal is the information indicated by the envelope in your hand.

  As soon as they left the mountain stronghold, each team went into hiding and dispersed, but Xia Lin was here, swaggering and striding forward with momentum, rolling towards the target.

  A complete outsider's appearance.

  If that's all, it would be fine. What's even more infuriating is that Xia Lin also brought the servant girl who serves him along!

  Still bringing maids out?

  Are you here to rob or to travel?

  For a moment, everyone was speechless, and those who still had a glimmer of hope finally gave up. They could only adopt the attitude of not seeking merit but avoiding fault, and for the sake of that ten taels of silver, it would be enough to protect this pampered young master.

  Xia Lin and Lü'er sat in the carriage, Sun Zhong sat in front driving the carriage, leading many mountain village disciples, rushing towards the distance.

  Xia Lin followed Lü'er with a gentle smile, occasionally touching her little head, making Lü'er pout in anger.

  The carriage didn't stop until a long time later, after they had been having fun all along the way.

  "What's going on?"

  Xia Lin poked his head out and asked faintly, if he wasn't mistaken, there was still a long way to go from here to their destination.

  "Master, it seems we've encountered a merchant caravan." Sun Zhong said respectfully.

  "Hmm." Xia Lin's eyes lit up in front of him, and then he turned his head to glance at a certain place. There, the feeling that had been stuck in his throat since he left the house finally disappeared.

  Finally, it's over. Xia Lin let out a sigh of relief, but he felt somewhat strange in his heart. His second uncle had been unusually active recently, even sending someone to monitor him.

  In that case, I'm afraid it's either you leave on your own or someone sent by Father will take care of you.

  The Xia Man is not an easy-going person!

  He came out to participate in the trial, and his father's affairs were not something he wanted to get involved in. He also believed that his father could handle it, so he handed over these trivial matters to his father with peace of mind. What he needed to do was to go all out for the war.

  Looking back, some of them looked tired. The hundred or so disciples who had been following him all the way were mostly listless and unenthusiastic. If it weren't for those ten taels of silver, they probably wouldn't have come along willingly either.

  Following the most hopeless young master, what's there to be excited about? As long as you follow him steadily and quietly, that's all.

  Xia Lin smiled slightly, did he rob resources to get first place?

  If that's really the case, then ambushing and robbing along the way would be enough; why go to such great lengths to march openly through the central plains?

  It's not that simple!

  From the moment he stepped out, he had made it clear what his goal was. First and foremost, he had to be the number one in the Mountain Stronghold trial. He had to get it, competing with a few 14 or 15-year-old kids. If he lost, he would have no face left. And before that, there were these hundred Mountain Stronghold disciples. What he wanted was their absolute submission.

  Having crossed over, Xia Lin was very familiar with the situation of chasing stars in his previous life. Here, for these disciples who licked blood from their swords tomorrow and lived at the bottom of the mountain village, as long as you showed your charm and strength, letting them see the hope of following you would be enough.

  Sometimes, it's just about calming down.

  "It's finally time to let go and have a good fight." Xia Lin's mouth slightly curved upwards, "Sun Zhong, you protect Lü'er, I'll go keep them company for a bit."

  "Yes." Sun Zhong said respectfully, with a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes, he really wanted to know how strong the young master's strength was.

  A hundred people stood still in the middle of the road, staring at a merchant caravan approaching from afar.

  A little brother next to him looked at it for half a day and couldn't bear it anymore. He ran to Xia Lin's side and suggested, "Young master, shouldn't we ambush...?"

  "What's going on?" Xia Lin asked with some curiosity.

  "Huh?"

  The little brother was somewhat bewildered and rubbed his head, what ambush is just an ambush, "ambush the merchant team, this can reduce the loss to a minimum."

  "Don't worry, this time you don't need to take action, just watch and make sure they don't escape." Xia Lin said calmly.

  "Oh." The younger brother responded with a sound, really didn't know what the young master wanted to do, had no choice but to give up.

  Crack!

  A merchant caravan in the distance stopped, a caravan of over a hundred people, facing them head-on.

  As Xia Lin looked around, this was not a small merchant group. Four horse-drawn carriages were protected in the middle, except for one that was obviously luxurious and provided for the leader of this merchant group. The other carriages were all fully loaded with goods, which were valuable at first glance.

  Just as Xia Lin was sizing them up, a guard riding at the head of the opposing group came forward on horseback. He looked quite handsome and shouted at them: "Which merchant caravan are you? Can you please clear the road and let us pass first?"

  Xia Lin was shocked and stunned upon hearing this, "Are all the merchant teams in Linjiang City so stupid?"

  Thinking of this, he turned his head and glanced at Sun Zhong: "It seems we didn't pretend to be anything, how did they take us for a merchant group?"

  Sun Zhong smiled wryly, what else could it be? Of course, it was because of Lü'er. Who would rob a house with a maid?! Looking at Xia Lin's appearance again, he wore brocade clothes and had a slender figure, completely looking like a young master.

  Moreover, he had already instructed his mountain bandit disciples to put away their weapons beforehand, and now they looked just like a certain merchant's son touring the mountains.

  To say nothing of the fact that robbers always lie in wait from above and then rush down, how can there be such a stupid robber standing in the middle of the road staring blankly?

  This is literally the most ridiculous robbery in history!