The moon set and crows cawed, spring frost filling the sky.

When the night wind blew, the lanterns in front of the Jia family’s grain estate illuminated the gilded characters on the plaque. In the side room nearby, the gatekeeper slept on a reclining chair, hands tucked in his sleeves, deep in slumber, when he suddenly heard a series of knocking sounds from outside.

The gatekeeper was startled awake. He picked up the blanket that had fallen to the ground, put it back on the reclining chair, carried a lantern out of the side room, and asked through the heavy vermilion-lacquered gate, “Who’s outside?”

Outside suddenly fell silent, as if the earlier knocking had been merely the gatekeeper’s illusion.

In the dead of night, the gatekeeper’s heart jumped, his drowsiness already half gone.

Having heard no answer for a while, he raised his voice and asked again, “Who’s outside?”

Outside the gate remained deathly silent, making the gatekeeper’s heart increasingly uneasy.

His voice attracted the estate guards on night duty. “Jia San’er, what’s wrong?”

The gatekeeper turned to the several guards and said, “I was sound asleep when I heard knocking from outside. I got up and asked for ages, but no one outside answered.”

This estate stored grain harvested just last year. What the Jia family used for distributing porridge was only moldy old rice. The bandits in the vicinity had all been wiped out by Xinzhou government troops. Even if the nearby farmers starved to death, they wouldn’t have the guts to steal from the Jia family. How could such a strange thing happen?

The head guard drew the blade at his waist and said, “Open the door and take a look.”

Seeing that all five night-duty guards were here and armed with blades, the gatekeeper felt more confident.

He removed the door bolt, pulled the vermilion-lacquered gate open a crack, and by the lantern’s dim yellow light looked around outside. Not seeing anyone, he opened the door wider, stepped out with the lantern, examined the surroundings carefully, then scratched his head in confusion and turned to the guards. “Strange, I don’t see anyone outside.”

One guard laughed. “Jia San’er, you didn’t mishear in your sleep, did you?”

The head guard clearly thought the same. He sheathed his blade and walked back with his brothers. “Making a fuss over nothing. Brothers, let’s patrol elsewhere one more time, then we can have those on the second half of the night shift come take over!”

Only the gatekeeper remained unconvinced, looking outside once more and muttering, “That shouldn’t be…”

But the lantern’s light couldn’t reach beyond the night curtain. Everything remained quiet. The gatekeeper could only suppress his doubts for now, retreat into the estate, and prepare to close the gate.

The sudden change happened in that instant. A black shadow leaped down from the eaves, and before the gatekeeper could make a sound, struck him unconscious with a hand chop.

Xiao Li supported the gatekeeper with one hand to prevent him from making any noise, while his other hand gestured toward the gate for those outside to enter.

The head guard heard the sudden absence of even door-closing sounds from the gatekeeper’s direction and immediately realized something was wrong.

His hand on the hilt, he turned around while simultaneously drawing his blade and sweeping it backward.

Xiao Li leaned back to dodge the blade that missed his neck by an inch, hooked his long leg, destabilized the head guard’s footing, making him fall sideways. Xiao Li backhanded and seized the head guard’s blade-wielding hand, forcefully twisted it behind his back, and directly dislocated the head guard’s arm.

All this happened in mere moments. The other guards hadn’t even drawn their blades before Xiao Li chopped them down with hand strikes.

Having survived the ordeal with Pei Song’s pack of hounds, when Xiao Li now fought these ordinary guards, the outcome was nearly overwhelming.

The group of bandits just recruited by Wen Yu had thought this would be another desperate bloody battle, but after rushing through the gate with cleavers and kitchen knives, they discovered they weren’t needed at all—Xiao Li alone had taken down those five guards.

However, the head guard had some experience and found an opening to shout, “Bandits are here!”

With that cry, the entire grain estate that had been silent in the night instantly exploded into chaos.

Candles in the various quarters lit up one after another. Maids and servants didn’t even have time to dress properly before fleeing in all directions.

The batch of guards who should have waited until the second half of the night to take over quickly grabbed their blades and ran out.

But several bandits stood guard outside their room doors. As soon as someone emerged, the bandits—keeping in mind what Wen Yu had said about being able to steal things but not harm lives—swung laundry clubs at the guards’ necks, knocking them unconscious.

The guards who had just emerged were unprepared, allowing them to succeed by chance, but the guards behind were ready, making it much harder to land sneak attacks.

After the short bandit charging at the front was kicked flying by a guard, the tall, strong man who had earlier argued with Wen Yu about his arm strength directly used both hands to restrain the guard’s movements. Enduring the guard’s kicks, he grimaced and shouted to his companions, “Quick, quick, knock him out with one blow!”

After knocking out most of the guards, Xiao Li looked back and saw the bandits had also breathlessly subdued several guards.

Counting Zhao Youcai’s three men and the seventeen bandits he’d brought, they had twenty-one people total on this trip, all with black cloths covering their faces, looking quite intimidating indeed.

Seeing all the guards knocked unconscious, the maids and servants in the estate were so weak-kneed they couldn’t even run, collapsing on the ground crying and begging, “Don’t kill me… don’t kill me…”

Xiao Li instructed the bandits, “Tie up all the guards. Leave five people here to watch them. Take the estate’s servants along to the granary to move grain.”

The government strictly controlled salt and iron, but the Jia family was wealthy and close to the county authorities. The blades these grain estate guards used far exceeded the notched and dull blades the bandits had seen in their mountain stronghold. After knocking people unconscious, they returned to their old trade—not only stealing the guards’ blades but also removing the leather wrist guards bound to their sleeves.

One guard had been struck on the neck but felt intense pain without losing consciousness. Seeing the situation was bad, he simply fell down and played dead.

When he noticed someone removing his wrist guard, he ground his teeth again and again, but given the disparity in numbers between enemy and ally, he decided to continue playing unconscious.

After his wrist guard was removed and his hands and feet bound, he secretly opened his eyes a crack, seeking a chance to escape. Upon looking around, he discovered that the head guard, who was trussed up and thrown beside him, also had moving eyelids.

The young guard was almost moved to tears with joy. Seeing no bandits around, he lowered his voice, “Boss, you’re awake too!”

The head guard’s expression stiffened slightly. Eyes closed, he answered, “Don’t act rashly yet. Wait until they’ve all gone to the granary, then we’ll figure out how to break through.”

The young guard found his anchor and settled into playing unconscious.

After tying everyone up, the bandits shouldered their newly acquired blades and fastened the leather wrist guards. Each one was happier than if they’d stolen silver.

Fortunately, they still remembered their real business was stealing grain. They prodded the estate servants’ backs with scabbards, had them lead the way to the granary, then ordered this group of Jia family servants to load and carry grain to the carts.

Unlike the Jia family’s main residence, the grain estate didn’t have many valuables. Zhao Youcai led people searching everywhere, prying up quite a few gold and silver coins.

While supervising the servants moving grain, he still couldn’t resist saying, “Brother, we’re the Tongcheng military. This grain we’re taking out will be distributed to your local common people and refugees. Do you want to join us?”

He wasn’t greedy for the hundred coins reward per recruitment anymore, but he craved an official position!

The Jia family servants were already terrified. Hearing him identify himself now, their legs went weak and they were directly crushed to the ground by the grain sacks on their shoulders, covering their ears and pleading, “This humble one heard nothing, truly heard nothing. Good heroes, please don’t joke with this humble one…”

Zhao Youcai, frustrated, poked the servant with his scabbard, but each poke made the other person shake. Even more frustrated, he could only say, “Forget it. Don’t lie there playing dead for this master. If you don’t get up, I’m drawing my blade!”

The servant nimbly scrambled up, shouldered the grain sack, and ran toward the grain carts.

Zhao Youcai watched, stunned, and said to Zhao Deng’er beside him, “How did asking him to join the military with us scare him like that?”

Zhao Deng’er thought for a moment and said, “Maybe he’s afraid we’re deliberately saying this to kill witnesses?”

Zhao Youcai spat in annoyance. “I was being kind, wanting to bring them wealth and honor!”

A bandit from the front courtyard suddenly came to report that two guards were discovered playing unconscious. Zhao Youcai hesitated between personally reporting to Xiao Li or having subordinates report to Xiao Li while he went to look first, then chose the latter.

For no other reason—he wanted to try recruiting those two guards as well.

The head guard and the young guard had seen fewer bandits watching them and were helping each other untie the ropes when, unexpectedly, before the ropes were untied, they were discovered.

After subordinates went to report, the two thought a minor officer would come, but instead came someone who looked quite unremarkable.

The person squatted before them and looked at them for a while, then put on a stern face and said, “The Jia family is wealthy but heartless, oppressing the common people. We are the Tongcheng military. Today we eliminate evil for the people. I observe that you two have some martial skills. Are you willing to come to our Tongcheng military and seek a future?”

After these words fell, dead silence.

The head guard and young guard’s faces showed a riot of colors.

Zhao Youcai affected a profound air. Just as he was about to continue persuading, the head guard had already completely freed himself from the loosened knots of the rope on his hands. He raised his hand to strangle Zhao Youcai’s neck but was cut by a long blade that sliced through the deep night.

Xiao Li’s cold blade steadily landed at the side of the head guard’s neck.

Zhao Youcai was scared into falling on his rear, face pale, still patting his chest in lingering fear. “That was close, that was close…”

After sitting up, he quickly bowed repeatedly to Xiao Li. “Thank you for saving me, official! Thank you, thank you!”

The head guard, pressed by the blade edge and not daring to act rashly, was inwardly shocked by Xiao Li’s speed and the blade in his hand. It was a foot longer than ordinary swords. Most martial artists would likely find it unwieldy, yet his movements drawing and wielding the blade were smooth as flowing clouds, clearly using this blade more skillfully than ordinary swords.

Thinking this way, his arm strength must also be quite astonishing.

The head guard knew he’d kicked an iron plate. He turned his head aside and said, “My martial skills are inferior. Do as you will!”

Xiao Li remembered what Wen Yu had said—after distributing part of this grain to local tenant farmers, they would take it to refugee gathering places and distribute it to the refugees. He had no time to waste here. The back of his blade struck the head guard’s neck. This time the man was thoroughly knocked unconscious.

The young guard’s face turned white with fear. Xiao Li merely glanced coldly and ordered, “Knock him out.”

The bandit standing nearby grabbed a club and struck the young guard’s neck.

The grain was almost fully loaded. Another bandit came to ask how to handle the servants who had helped move the grain.

Xiao Li said, “Tie them all up too.”

The remaining maids and old women were locked in the firewood shed.

This was done only to prevent people in the estate from reporting to the authorities in the short term, giving them more ample time to “recruit soldiers” among the refugees.

This trip was a great success. After Xiao Li checked that there were no fish that escaped the net in the entire estate, just as he was about to go to the grain carts, Zhao Youcai suddenly called out to him tentatively, “Of… Official…”

Xiao Li looked sideways at him.

—

As dawn approached, Xiao Li lifted the simple canopy made of broken straw mats and crawled in, saying to Wen Yu, who had also been awake all night inside, “It’s done.”

This was the outskirts of the refugee gathering area. Since Wen Yu wasn’t skilled in martial arts and couldn’t help with the grain raid, she waited here according to plan for their return.

By the light of the fire pit inside the canopy, she had drawn a chess grid on the ground, using pebbles and small sections of dead grass as chess pieces, playing against herself all night.

Xiao Li’s sudden entrance seemed to disrupt her train of thought, yet also seemed to completely dissipate the worry hidden beneath her calm exterior. She no longer needed to use chess to calm her mind. The section of dead grass serving as a chess piece in her hand ultimately didn’t fall onto the drawn board.

She looked up to examine Xiao Li, but her question was bland. “Did it go smoothly?”

Xiao Li said, “Didn’t see a drop of blood. On the way, we distributed several carts of grain to local common people. The remaining carts—Zhao Youcai is now organizing the group he brought to distribute to the refugees and persuade them to join the Tongcheng military.”

Wen Yu vaguely heard the clamor of refugees outside. Twisting the section of dead grass in her hand, she said, “Next, both the Xinzhou Prefect and Pei Song will have headaches.”

Everything was developing as she had anticipated, yet her expression remained indifferent throughout, as if she didn’t feel particularly happy.

Xiao Li noticed this. He pulled something wrapped in a silk handkerchief from his chest and handed it to her. “Oh right, this is for you!”