Hearing that Shi Ting had a plan, both of the Liu men were unable to hide their excitement.

Faced with the two men’s expectant gazes, Shi Ting spoke at an unhurried pace. “Bandits don’t necessarily have to be wiped out — if we could win them over to our side, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”

Liu Qingnian was taken aback. Once he understood, he could only sigh. “These are hardened outlaws — they kill without batting an eye and don’t listen to reason at all. Winning them over would be even harder than defeating them.”

But Liu Junyuan’s eyes shifted, and he gave Shi Ting a meaningful look. “Father, since Director Shi says so, he must have a plan.”

Shi Ting nodded. “General Liu need not worry. From now on, you don’t need to send out a single soldier. I’ll handle the rest of it myself — just wait for my news.”

Not a single soldier?

After his initial surprise, Liu Qingnian seemed to exhale a long, heavy breath. These days of losses and casualties had left him feeling that all was lost. Now, hearing Shi Ting’s words, his confidence reignited.

Shi Ting, alone and with limited resources — yet looking at this man before him, Liu Qingnian suddenly felt a surge of ambition well up from deep within, like a great torrent that crashed forward with unstoppable force.

A good bird chooses the right tree to perch in; a worthy minister chooses the right lord to serve.

That was perhaps the feeling this man gave him right now — follow him, and a glorious enterprise was surely within reach.

This was presence, personal charisma, the bearing and quality of a true king.

Liu Qingnian’s stirring emotions did not show on his face, but in his heart he had already quietly made up his mind.

“You two hold your positions for now. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

The Liu father and son personally escorted Shi Ting to the door.

Liu Junyuan thought of the bandits from earlier and asked, “Director Shi, was the intelligence our scouts received deliberately leaked by factions within the bandits? They have infighting, don’t they?”

Hearing this, Shi Ting couldn’t help but regard Liu Junyuan with fresh respect. With such a quick and perceptive mind, this young man would surely achieve great things in the future.

As for Wang Hailin…

Wang Hailin had been shot once in the leg and once in the arm. As the enemy’s encirclement grew tighter and tighter, he thought he was done for.

The sounds of fighting that suddenly erupted around him gave him hope. He gripped his one uninjured arm, eyes gleaming. “Reinforcements! Our Mount Dagu reinforcements are here. They’re asking for death coming onto our turf!”

Just as he had expected, reinforcements did arrive. The enemy retreated swiftly, and his life was saved.

Wang Hailin slumped against a tree, gasping for breath. Once things had calmed down, he hurriedly asked his trusted aide nearby, “Whose men were those — Chief Zhang’s?”

The trusted aide said, “I didn’t get a clear look either. Should be Chief Zhang’s men.”

Wang Hailin laughed heartily. “I really am blessed — can’t even die!”

“Chief Wang, you’re injured. We need to hurry back and treat that wound.”

“I know.”

Wang Hailin was just about to have someone carry him back when a clamor of footsteps suddenly came from the undergrowth.

The trusted aide said happily, “Our men are coming.”

People in the forest held torches that drew closer and closer. When the torchlight lit up Wang Hailin’s face, Wang Hailin could also see who had come.

“How can it be you?” His expression immediately turned sour. The trusted aide beside him felt his heart sink, a sense of dread rising within him.

Qiao Yishan’s boots pressed down on the grass with soft, close-set sounds. In the firelight, his face was expressionless, though his eyes were laced with ice.

He walked toward Wang Hailin step by step, until his face came into clear view. Then he suddenly raised one leg and drove a kick squarely into Wang Hailin’s face.

Wang Hailin let out a wretched cry and fell backward. His nasal bone had been shattered by the kick, and blood gushed freely from his nostrils.

“Chief Qiao, you —” The trusted aide rushed to help Wang Hailin up. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? What do you think I can do?” Qiao Yishan gave a cold laugh, fixing his gaze on the blood-soaked Wang Hailin, each word carved out like a knife plunging into the heart: “When you killed my father and mother, when you harmed my wife and sister, did it ever cross your mind what I might do?”

Wang Hailin went pale with shock, covering his bloodied face. “You — you found out everything?”

“So it really was you.” Qiao Yishan glanced at Wang Hailin’s right hand. His right hand had been severed in his youth, and so a metal claw had been fitted in its place — one that could extend and retract freely, like a bladed talon.

The last time they had robbed a Dian Kingdom man, among the goods they had taken were two cartons of Dian cigarettes called “Fuji.” Wang Hailin had pocketed both cartons for himself.

The two leads Shi Ting had given him both pointed, without exception, to the same person — Wang Hailin.

On top of that, Wang Hailin had always disagreed with him. He advocated robbing the rich to help the poor; Wang Hailin believed bandits should steal indiscriminately, taking anything from anyone. Over the years, Wang Hailin had indeed robbed many innocent merchants, to the point that Mount Dagu’s reputation had become utterly foul, forcing the Government Troops to dispatch soldiers to suppress them.

Because of their differing views, the two clashed every time they met, and even came to blows. After Qiao Yishan broke one of Wang Hailin’s legs, Wang Hailin had nursed a grudge for revenge, and eventually found his opportunity to massacre the Qiao family.

“So what if I did it?” Wang Hailin still did not know he was on the brink of death, and continued to bluster. “Qiao Yishan, your wife’s taste was something else. You have no idea what it was like when I had my way with her…”

Qiao Yishan drove another kick into Wang Hailin’s face, this one knocking out two of his front teeth.

Wang Hailin spat out two blood-soaked teeth and looked up at Qiao Yishan. “Qiao Yishan, don’t forget the rules of Gu’an Gang — brothers who kill each other are punishable by death. You can kill me, but you’ll have to die too. If you want to trade life for life, go ahead and do it.”

“You think I don’t dare?”

“I’m not afraid to die — but if I can take your life with me, it’s worth it.” Wang Hailin seemed certain that Qiao Yishan would not dare to kill him, since Gu’an Gang’s rules were strict.

“Who says I’m the one killing you?” Qiao Yishan suddenly smiled, though in the firelight that smile carried a cold edge.

Qiao Yishan snapped his fingers, and the men behind him immediately swarmed forward and, without a word, fired several shots at the people around Wang Hailin.

Of the men Wang Hailin had brought, three or four had still been alive — now they all lay on the ground, their breath gone, including his trusted aide.

Wang Hailin was shaken, and finally felt a chill. “You — you want to do what? You actually killed your own brothers?”

Qiao Yishan turned to Qingyuan at his side. “Tell Chief Wang’s people how these men died.”

Qingyuan said, “Chief Wang went to Shuanghe Town late at night for a visit to a pleasure house and walked into a Government Troops ambush. All his men were killed.”

“And Chief Wang?”

Qingyuan spoke without expression, as if simply recounting facts: “The Government Troops have long harbored a deep grudge against Chief Wang. They didn’t kill him right away.” He continued: “They tied him up and sliced off his flesh piece by piece. By the time dawn came, Chief Wang breathed his last.”

Wang Hailin’s eyes went wide. “You — all of you…”

Qiao Yishan said, “Well, what are you waiting for — tie him up.”

Qingyuan led the men to tie Wang Hailin up tightly and hang him from a tree, stripping him completely bare. Once this was done, Qingyuan took a sharp knife from his body and handed it to Qiao Yishan. “Chief.”

Qiao Yishan took the knife, stroking the sharp blade as he walked to stand before Wang Hailin.

Wang Hailin looked at him in terror — finally knowing fear. “Qiao Yishan, don’t do anything rash. Qiao Yishan, I’m warning you…Ahhh!”

With Wang Hailin’s scream, Qiao Yishan cut off his manhood.

Listening to Wang Hailin’s cries, Qiao Yishan felt a savage satisfaction deep within.

He had originally intended to rush up the mountain and die together with Wang Hailin — kill him, then go accept his own punishment. But Shi Ting had told him that for a man like Wang Hailin, it was not worth throwing his own life away.

It was Shi Ting who had devised the entire plan for tonight. First, using a false message about Miss Liu to lure Wang Hailin out for a meeting. Then leaking Wang Hailin’s whereabouts to the Government Troops’ scouts.

While the Government Troops scattered Wang Hailin’s men, he had led his own people to appear and surround the Government Troops. Then Shi Ting guided the Government Troops to escape from outside.

The Government Troops were not Shi Ting’s people — he had to use this method to gain their trust.

And he also did not want Wang Hailin to die at the hands of the Government Troops. For vengeance, killing the enemy with your own hands was the only true satisfaction.

After he killed Wang Hailin, no one would know how Wang Hailin had actually died. They would all believe he had been ambushed and killed by the Government Troops.

Qiao Yishan felt that Shi Ting was his benefactor. Not only had he saved his son, but he had also pulled him back from a path of no return — letting him kill his sworn enemy while keeping his own life.

Qiao Yishan’s gratitude toward Shi Ting came from the bottom of his heart, reaching deep into his very soul.

In the forest, Wang Hailin’s screams went from loud to faint, until at last he lost consciousness.

Qingyuan brought a bucket of ice water and doused him awake. He could not pass out — he had to endure every bit of this suffering while alive. The lives of over a dozen members of the Qiao family, all the torment they had suffered — every last bit of it had to be borne by this perpetrator.

When dawn came, Wang Hailin finally breathed his last.

Qiao Yishan tossed aside the dagger in his hand and gently closed his eyes. “Throw him in the back hills to feed the wild dogs.”

Wang Hailin was dead, but his loved ones could not come back to life. After his great vengeance was achieved, what remained was an immense emptiness and regret.

“Chief.” Qingyuan saw the sorrow on his face and spoke to comfort him. “You still have your son. You still have Mount Dagu. You still have a bright future ahead.”

“A future?” Qiao Yishan looked up to the sky with a long sigh. “What future can a bandit have? It’s nothing but living day to day.”

Qingyuan’s eyes shifted, and he said softly, “Chief, you’re a man of ambition and foresight. Though you’re a bandit, you’ve never harmed innocent people.”

Seeing that Qiao Yishan said nothing, Qingyuan continued. “Chief, what do you think of Director Shi?”

“Brother Shi is naturally an outstanding man — with long-ranging vision and decisive action.” Qiao Yishan said. “His future is boundless.”

“What if the Chief were to follow Director Shi?”