Shen Ling shook his head back and forth when he saw the grateful expression Master Shen had on his face.
He was shocked when he saw just how ill Master Shen was. Master Shen's body was so out of shape, he had no idea how he could still be alive.
He must be hanging by a thread. With his life hanging so precariously over the edge, Shen Ling was thankful he was able to get to him in time.
Shen Ling turned to give Master Shen a look and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go ahead and transport the food…"
Master Shen gave Shen Ling a look and asked, "You will go personally? Can't you leave this to the bandits to transport the food themselves?"
Shen Ling shook his head back and forth and said, "I want to keep the bandits in their own territory. And that's because I don't trust them. If something were to ever happen, we can settle things over there."
Master Shen nodded his head. "Okay, then. Be sure you are careful."
"Yes, of course."
Shen Ling nodded his head.
A few minutes later, after they packed up, Shen Ling and a large number of carriages filled with food left the Shen family residence.
The caravan departed from Qi Hua City and stopped at the foot of the Green Mountain after two hours.
In front of them, there were bandits waiting in front of their fortress. When they saw that it was Shen Ling, the chief of the bandits smiled and said, "Young Master Shen, you really kept your word… "
With a smile on his face, Shen Ling said, "Even you bandits won't go back on your word, so naturally I will keep my promise."
The chief smiled and said, "Young Master Shen's words seems to have a hint of prejudice to us."
Shen Ling shook his head back and forth. "You are wrong. There is no prejudice. After all, because of the difficult times, some of you had no other choice but to go down the mountain to steal and plunder for a living. It was all part of your survival."
"I just dislike your unscrupulous way of living."
The chief shook his head back and forth. "If we had a choice, why would we be willing to be a group of bandits on a mountain? If you want to blame someone, then blame the Emperor for not lifting a finger to help. Our kingdom is definitely in a sorry state currently."
"They raised our taxes, took our land and property, and even forced us into a deadend. If we did not turn to a life of banditry, what else can we do? We can't just lie down and wait for our deaths, right?"
The chief's words was very sincere, but Shen Ling could only smile very faintly.
"Maybe you are right…"
Shen Ling turned to look at the bandit leader, then said word by word, "But what about those villagers who were all slaughtered by you, and the villages that were plundered by you? What did they do wrong?"
"Make no mistake, these modes of making a living have their own validity but using such a reason under the disguise of violence and sin is altogether a meaningless existence."
"Why is the name Green Mountain Bandits so notorious in these parts? You and I know full well why."
The chief helplessly shook his head. "It seems that there is no way I can convince Young Master Shen otherwise."
Shen Ling shook his head. "We'll discuss this some more at a later time."
With a wave of his hand, Shen Ling motioned for the servants to move all the food to the side of the road.
The chief nodded his head, and the bandits by his side quickly made their way to check the quality of the food.
Not too long after, the bandit who finished his inspection reported, "Reporting to the chief, the food is in good condition."
"Young Master Shen has proven to us that he is truly a gentleman."
The chief turned to look at Shen Ling and said in a slow voice, "Please send my regards to Master Shen for me. We will meet again when we have the chance."
Shen Ling smiled and said, "I'm flattered. I might not qualify as a gentleman, but I certainly don't want to be a villain."
"As for the future! It's better if we don't see each other again."
Seeing Shen Ling and his servants disappear down the road, the chief of the bandits said in a slow voice, "This young master from the Shen family is extraordinarily courageous. I wonder if such a thing is good or bad."
The bandit standing beside him said, "Then why don't I go after him and kill him?"
The chief shook his head back and forth. "There's no need. That guy just now had his eye on you. Looks like he knows of your existence…"
The bandit next to him scratched his head in bewilderment.
He did not understand what was going on.
"Phew."
On the other side, Shen Ling, who was leaving the foot of the Green Mountain, was frowning slightly.
Just now, standing next to the chief of the bandits, he saw the bandit whom the handbook had marked as extremely dangerous.
He was a crazily obsessed martial artist. Though his intelligence was not all that high, he was very strong. His martial arts talent was extremely fierce. It was rumored that he had cultivated a body refining cultivation technique to an extremely deep level and was the go-to man for martial arts advice among the bandits of Green Mountain.
Shen Ling had no idea why the crazed martial artist stayed by the chief of the bandits' side for more than ten years.
But from the imposing way he held on his body, he would certainly be a difficult opponent on the battlefield.
Luckily for him, this guy wasn't there on the day he first arrived at the fortress.
Shen Ling squinted his eyes.
He did not like this feeling of being controlled by others.
...
Two days later, in the southern square of the sharecroppers' village.
A gust of autumn wind blew through the village.
Shen Ling studied the hundred-odd young and strong sharecroppers standing in front of him. He took off his coat and put it to the side.
"Come forward!"
Shen Ling motioned for the hundred of so young and strong farmers to step forward. His face was full of intimidation.
"I'll volunteer to go first."
A young and strong farmer stepped out of the queue, brandishing a wooden saber in his hand.
"Ah!"
No one had told them they could begin. This was not a competition with rules they needed to adhere to.
Shen Ling looked at the young farmer who was charging at him with a fearless look in his eyes. Shen Ling pivoted and stood in a Regretless Mountain Fist stance.
"Pa! Pa!"
The young and strong farmer and Shen Ling moved past each other. Shen Ling lightly punched the young man on the back and knocked him to the ground.
"You guys should attack together in one go. Otherwise, you will all be goners. This is nothing. I don't feel tired at all."
There was a smile on Shen Ling's face as he watched the young man on the ground get up.
These young and strong farmers saw a huge progress in their combat skills during this time. However, compared to Shen Ling's speed of improvement, they were moving at a very sluggish pace.
Shen Ling did not break a sweat as he fought the young and strong farmer. He had to work to keep himself from feeling bored.
"Attack together now!"
The people holding wooden sabers all ground their teeth.
They admitted that Shen Ling was a very powerful force, but he was obviously turning his nose up at them with these words.
"That's right!"
Shen Ling shook his body mightily and kept right on swinging using the Regretless Mountain Fist stance.
The young and strong farmers all charged forward at the very same time. To them, if they could land a punch onto Shen Ling's body, this would be a great success worth celebrating over.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Ahhhh!!"
"Ouch!!"
For a moment there, strange sounds kept ringing in the air above the southern square of the village.
The villagers, who were watching not too far away, all had smiles on their faces. They could see that the young and strong farmers were being thrown one by one to the side by Shen Ling. Shen Ling kept a calm and composed expression on his face the whole time.
"Young Master Shen, you're really very strong."
An old farmer looked down at his own arm, then looked at Shen Ling's arm to compare the two of them.
He had to admit the mass of muscles bulging on Shen Ling's arm was bigger than the arms of all the number of people who had worked as a farmer in the village combined.
"Yes, yes."
The woman on the side also nodded her head. "It would be great if my husband was like Young Master Shen."
"Stop your daydreaming."
Another woman on the side said in a blunt voice, "Even if your husband had such a body, you would still find him ugly."
For a moment there, the village became a very lively place to be.
On the square.
Even though Shen Ling had already beaten up a lot of the young and strong sharecroppers in the plaza, it did not put a dent in the number of sharecroppers surrounding him.
"Go ahead!"
Shen Ling turned to look at the young and strong farmers surrounding him and did not move a muscle. A strange expression popped up on his face at this time.
His punches and kicks could not reach the wooden knives. If the young farmers did not charge, the distance would put him at a loss.
If he relied on his Iron Shirt to defeat these young and capable farmers, this would be an altogether meaningless move.
After all, he was here today to train his reflexes…
At this moment in time, he could not depend on the Iron Shirt for an easy victory.
