The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#576 - dispute

The bandits in the stronghold were quite surprised by the sudden summons, but they still gradually made their way to the council hall.

To call it a council hall was generous; it was really just a hastily erected thatched shed.

It was drafty on all sides, but the advantage was that you never felt crowded standing together, because if you felt crowded, you could always step outside. Theoretically, it could accommodate ten times as many people.

However, when the crowd arrived at the council hall, they discovered that the person sitting in the main seat was not Ge Ping, but an unfamiliar young man. As for Ge Ping, he was sitting to the young man's right, a position usually reserved for the second-in-command.

The bandits exchanged glances, each reading a hint of bewilderment in the other's eyes, wondering what show was about to begin. However, with Ge Ping present, although the scene was chaotic, no one dared to act presumptuously.

GOOGLE search TWKAN

Clearly, everyone was waiting for Ge Ping to speak. Only the gatekeeper, having seen Lu Jing once before, was so shocked that he stumbled back several steps, then rubbed his eyes and pulled the boy aside.

"Good heavens, what kind of bewitching potion did your uncle give to Chief Ge? He's only been in the stronghold for less than a day and he's already soaring! Wait… that's not right. Even if Chief Ge likes your uncle a lot, making him the second-in-command would be a big deal, but how could he give up the chief's position too?"

The boy was currently worried about his actions as a double agent.

What a double agent fears most after joining a new master, besides the new master being eliminated by the old one, is probably the sudden reconciliation and amicable conversation between the old and new masters, which makes him particularly awkward.

Therefore, he had no interest in answering the gatekeeper's questions, and vaguely brushed them off.

However, just because ordinary bandits didn't speak up didn't mean that no one present dared to.

When she arrived, she was arm-in-arm with a burly man whose physique was no less imposing than Ge Ping's. Lu Jing initially thought she was also a pitiful woman who had been abducted to the mountain, but after the woman spoke, Lu Jing observed the two of them again.

He discovered that the man, who looked so imposing, was actually the weaker of the two. Conversely, although the seductive woman appeared to be a damsel in distress, she exuded an air of self-possession that suggested she was in control of everything.

Moreover, the people around her made way when they saw her coming.

Ge Ping was not angry when he heard her question, but simply shook his head and said, "Yu Zhen, what are you talking about? Am I, Ge Ping, the kind of person who would betray his brothers?"

After a pause, he pointed at Lu Jing and said, "Alright, now that everyone is almost here, let me introduce you. This is… uh, the owner of this place."

"What do you mean, the owner of this place?" The woman named Yu Zhen asked, after looking Lu Jing up and down.

"Just what it sounds like. He bought this piece of land, and he has the land deed to prove it," Ge Ping said.

"Chief Ge, are you drunk?" Yu Zhen chuckled upon hearing this. "In this day and age, what's the difference between a land deed and a piece of waste paper? The woman you slept with last month, when her man came to the door with a marriage certificate, didn't you obediently let her go back?"

Her words resonated with the bandits, and everyone burst into laughter.

Ge Ping, however, remained unfazed. "A land deed may be useless to you and me, but it's useful in the county town."

"What, is this little brother planning to take the land deed to the county town to call for reinforcements?" Yu Zhen teased.

"No, he's taking this land deed to discuss building an earthen fort at the foot of the mountain with the government."

As Ge Ping said this, the previous laughter completely disappeared.

Yu Zhen's expression also shifted, but before she could say anything, Ge Ping had already stood up from his chair. He didn't say a word, but simply scanned the bandits.

The people below immediately fell silent, as if silenced by the cold of winter. This was the prestige that Ge Ping had accumulated over the past year as the stronghold leader.

After waiting for a moment, he continued, "Without me saying it, everyone must know our current situation. We've basically plundered all the people and land we can plunder in the vicinity. To get through the winter, I've been running around trying to contact the other groups, preparing to take down an earthen fort."

"However, we still haven't agreed on how to divide the spoils after we succeed, and we've never gotten along well with the Black Tiger Hill gang, so we have to be wary of them when we take action. Furthermore, even if we manage to take down the earthen fort, our casualties will definitely be significant, and we don't know how many brothers we'll lose."

Before Ge Ping could finish speaking, someone below was already shouting, "Chief Ge, don't worry. Since we've taken on this business, we naturally all have that… that…"

"Self-awareness," another person added.

"That's right, self-awareness. Anyway, we're just going to die. We'll just fight them with our worthless lives."

His words were echoed and approved by many people.

Of course, how many of these people were truly unafraid of death was debatable. Anyway, when you're a mountain bandit, you can't lose face.

Ge Ping also praised the person who actively sought battle, but then changed the subject and said, "But even if we take down that earthen fort and get through this winter, what are we going to do next year?"

Hearing this, the people below quieted down. After a while, someone who was probably a loyal follower of Ge Ping said, "Chief Ge, just tell us what you have in mind. I don't know about others, but I, Black Dog, will listen to you no matter what!"

Ge Ping nodded. "Alright, next year, I plan to lead everyone to start growing grain together."

As soon as he said this, there was an uproar below.

The woman named Yu Zhen also revealed a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth, shaking her head and saying, "Clearly a wolf, but insisting on learning to eat grass like a sheep. Truly laughable."

"If eating grass can keep us alive, I don't mind switching to eating grass," Ge Ping said calmly.

"Unfortunately, not everyone shares your thoughts," the woman said. "I believe there are still men of courage in our stronghold."

Perhaps stimulated by her words, many people immediately began to advise Ge Ping, "That's right, Chief, think twice! We're doing so well as bandits, with food, drink, and women. Why do we have to go back to farming? I don't want to be a beast of burden for those landlords and wealthy families again!"