With just a few strikes of his saber, Shen Ling had convinced the group of bandits that they were no match for him.
The sharp saber attacked their bodies at such warp speed, it was over before the bandits knew it. Throughout all this, Shen Ling's expression remained as cold as ever.
In face of power and strength, even humans were such lowly creatures.
Shen Ling grabbed hold of the bandit with the eyepatch and looked down at him. He said in a hushed voice, "My blade has proven to you that this one hundred taels is not yours to keep."
The man with the eyepatch knelt on his knees on the ground and said fearfully, "It's not ours. You are right. This one hundred taels is not ours to keep."
Shen Ling quietly watched as this man with the eyepatch groveled on the ground pitifully.
He suddenly took off the man's eyepatch and saw it was an eye without any flaws.
"You're not blind?"
Shen Ling looked at the man with the eyepatch in shock. Seeing the man look back at him without difficulty, Shen Ling was a bit confused.
"No, I'm not blind."
The man with the eyepatch continued to grovel. Gone were the traces of his previous arrogance and dictatorship.
Before Shen Ling could say anything, the man with the eyepatch continued, "We're just a bunch of liars. We're not even Green Mountain Bandits either. I've never killed anyone before, so just treat me as an unworthy passerby who poses no threat. Please let me go..."
"Liars?"
Shen Ling turned to look at the man with the eyepatch, the corners of his mouth twitching out of amusement.
It's no wonder. These guys had no fighting spirit at all. After a few people were struck down by his blade, the rest turned around and ran away.
In the end, they were just a group of swindlers who claimed they were the Green Mountain Bandits.
This was very interesting indeed.
Really damn interesting.
Shen Ling's eyes turned into two frosty points. His knife was already grazing the man with the eyepatch's neck.
Let him go? Well...
He wasn't dumb.
These people had been wolfing down fish and meat and some of the knives were still covered in blood.
The man with the eyepatch said that he had never killed anyone before. Though he might be telling the truth, this group of people probably robbed all the weak villages they came across and cheated the stronger ones.
It was pointless to keep such useless people alive. It was better to just do away with them.
After flinging off the blood on his longsword, Shen Ling said in a calm voice, "Clear up the dead bodies and burn them."
"Yes."
The group of servants nodded their heads frantically.
They had been prepared to put their lives to the side and rush forward to rescue Shen LIng, but they never expected the battle to end so suddenly.
This current Shen Ling was very strange to them, but at the same time, they felt a surge of admiration for their elder young master.
He was really too invincible!
"Wow."
A servant stared down at the corpse in front of him, and with a flick of his hand, grabbed a money bag from under the corpse.
"Elder Young Master, look, I found something."
A servant carried a bag over for Shen Ling to look at it. When the bag was opened, Shen Ling could see a pile of gold, silver, and jewelry.
"Whose is it?"
Shen Ling asked in a curious voice.
The servant chuckled, clearly amused. "This belongs to the 'one-eyed' man. I saw he had a bulge on his waist a while ago."
"You have good eyes."
Shen Ling took the money bag and threw a few taels of silver to the ground. "After you get rid of the body, take the money and buy some delicious food."
"Thank you so much, Elder Young Master."
The servant picked up the silver from off the ground, and a servant in the distance, who was watching this scene, also smiled.
To an undiscerning eye, a few taels of silver didn't seem like much, but it was more than enough for the servants to buy a delicious meal that they wouldn't normally eat.
Elder Young Master was really too generous!
After some time had passed, an old man turned to look at Shen Ling and asked slowly, "Elder Young Master, you want to see me?"
"Yes." Shen Ling gave the old man a careful look and said in a soft voice, "How is your life in the village now?"
The old man said slowly, "Thanks to Old Master Shen, life is alright. But as you may know, in this world, it's not a safe time for farmers."
Shen Ling nodded his head. "How many young and strong people are there in this village?"
The old man bowed his head to think things over for a moment. "I'd say more than a hundred."
Shen Ling nodded his head. "I'm going to get all the young and strong people together and teach them to practice their saber skills. During the farm's busy season, they will plow the land like they always do, and when they are free, I will put them in charge of protecting the village. What do you think about this?"
The old man gave Shen Ling a look while frowning slightly. "This old man had a similar idea before, but I just don't know who should be the instructor."
Shen Ling smiled and said, "I'm game."
The old man said, "Elder young master, you are such an honorable young man. How could you…"
Shen Ling shook his head back and forth. "It's settled then."
After talking to the village chief, the servants of the Shen family also finished getting rid of the bodies.
Although he did not do battle with the real Green Mountain Bandits this time around, Shen Ling also discovered that the village's defense system against outside forces wasn't very strong.
That was the reason why they had that conversation.
That very night, Shen Ling came back to the Shen family home.
Master Shen had also gotten back by now. He turned to look at Shen Ling and asked, "Did you send the money?"
Shen Ling shook his head back and forth. "I didn't give them the money. I killed all of them."
Master Shen furrowed his brows out of consternation. "The Green Mountain Bandits are a very powerful group. If we dare provoke them, this could cause us some trouble."
Shen Ling turned to look at Old Master Shen. "They're not real bandits. They're just a bunch of swindlers. Although they do steal, lie, and cheat, it's nothing compared to what the actual Green Mountain Bandits are capable of. Besides, giving money to them is not a viable solution in the long run. There's no way you can fill a tiger's stomach, is there? It will always be hungry."
Master Shen gave Shen Ling a look. "You're older now and have your own ideas of how to go about things. Tell me your plans. How exactly should we deal with them?"
Shen Ling nodded his head. "I plan to train all the young and strong people from the village and turn them into a militia so that they will know how to protect themselves when something like this happens again."
Old Master Shen thought this over for a moment, then lifted his head and asked, "How much money do you need?"
Shen Ling calculated in his head. "About five hundred taels."
Old Master Shen did not say a word.
To the Shen family, this was not a small amount of money. To add to that, it was not autumn yet, and the grain harvested from the fields had yet to be cashed in.
"Okay." After showing some hesitation, Old Master Shen nodded his head.
He turned to look at Shen Ling and suddenly said in a deep and rumbling voice, "I will provide for you while I'm still alive. You can do whatever you want with the money. Even if it turns out you're wrong, it doesn't matter. The future of our family is in your hands. I should gradually allow you to take over anyways."
"Mmm."
Shen Ling nodded his head in agreement.
Honestly, he did not know what to say to Old Master Shen.
The only thing he could do was live up to Old Master Shen's expectations and leave an opening for the Shen family to continue prospering.
From this point on, the Shen family would see a brand new transformation.
"What's this?"
Looking at the book that Shen Ling had placed in front of him, Old Master Shen asked, clearly puzzled.
Shen Ling said in a soft voice, "This is a book on the Longevity Technique. It can prolong one's life. You just need to follow the instructions. I've written some notes on the complicated parts. If you have any questions at all, you can ask me at any time."
"Alright."
Old Master Shen smiled.
Ever since Shen Ling recovered from that illness, Old Master Shen had been worried about his son.
However, over the past few days, he could see that this Shen Ling was more mature and more reliable than the previous Shen Ling who thought books were his life.
This was not a bad thing for the Shen family.
The next day.
Shen Ling entered the Chennan Trading Company early in the morning. The shopkeeper right away came out to greet him. "Young Master Shen, you're back. Let me know what you need this time, and I'll get it for you."
"I want a hundred weapons."
Shen Ling did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"A hundred?"
The shopkeeper of the Chennan Trading Company had a shocked expression in his eyes. Then he asked in a hushed voice, "Dare I ask, are you going to commit a crime or something?"
Shen Ling shook his head back and forth. "The Green Mountain Bandits were seen in my fields. I want to train some servants to keep my home safe."
The shopkeeper of Chennan Trading company nodded his head. "This is not a decision I can make alone. Please wait a moment here."
Shen Ling nodded his head.
A hundred weapons were no small number. It was not that they were worth all that much, but there was a law that made things difficult for you if you were planning on doing something like stock your home with a small arsenal.
Usually ordinary blacksmiths would not dare to forge weapons recklessly for fear of being beheaded.
A moment later.
The woman who had been assigned to Shen Ling earlier made her way over and said to Shen Ling, "Young Master Shen, it's good to see you again."
Shen Ling cocked his eyebrows.