The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#573 - Get away with it

The bandit guarding the gate saw the boy from afar and cursed, "You little bastard, slacking off again! I told you to keep watch, why are you back so early?"

After saying that, his gaze fell on Lu Jing, a stranger, and a hint of vigilance appeared. However, because Lu Jing wasn't carrying any weapons and didn't look like a government soldier, he wasn't too nervous. He just frowned and said, "And who is this?"

"He... is a distant uncle of mine," the boy said, thinking quickly. "Things are getting tough back home, so he came to seek me out."

On the way back, he had been pondering the best course of action, but since Lu Jing showed his skill in sound recognition, the boy abandoned all hope.

He completely understood that he had no other choice but to perform well in front of Lu Jing.

So, without Lu Jing even needing to speak, he took the initiative to cover for the man.

"Seeking you out?" The bandit guarding the gate chuckled. "What, does your family know you're a bandit?"

The boy nodded. "Of course, my uncle and I have been very close since we were little. I don't hide anything from him."

The bandit guarding the gate scoffed at this. "How close could you be? You were a beggar in the city before, how come he never helped you then?"

"Back home, I told you about it, right? My uncle is back home… pretty far from here. It's normal that he couldn't help me. I never blamed him."

The bandit guarding the gate waved his hand, seemingly not wanting to dwell on the issue any further. He just said, "Then he's probably made a wasted trip. You know, we don't have much food left in the stronghold. The Big Boss has already announced that he won't accept any more refugees."

"But he's not just anyone, he's my uncle!" The boy put on an anxious look. "I'll go talk to the Big Boss right now. Besides, my uncle is good at farming. As long as our stronghold takes him in, we'll definitely harvest more food."

The bandit guarding the gate didn't think much of it. "That's next year's problem. Better to think about how to get through this year first. We've already plundered this area bare. If there's not enough food, everyone will go hungry this winter."

The boy fell silent when he heard this.

However, the bandit guarding the gate didn't continue talking. He opened the gate and let them both in.

Seeing that they had passed the first hurdle, the boy didn't relax at all. Instead, he became even more nervous, because according to Lu Jing's request, they had to go directly to the Big Boss next.

And thinking of the Big Boss's terrifying marksmanship, the boy couldn't help but swallow.

He had been fortunate enough to witness the Big Boss in action. There were hundreds of government soldiers, but the Big Boss was like he was in an empty field, one man and one spear, directly killing the one at the very front.

Then, instead of retreating, he advanced, jumping into the crowd, his spear like a dragon, stabbing seven or eight people in a row.

Although those government soldiers still had the advantage in numbers, they were being forced to fight bandits, and they were owed several months of back pay. After witnessing the ferocity of the bandits, their morale quickly disappeared, and they scattered, each fleeing for their lives.

The Big Boss chased after them, putting on a good show of slaughter. In the end, probably not even half of the government soldiers escaped back, and that battle raised the Big Boss's prestige in the stronghold to the extreme.

Even now, the boy still felt that figure was incredibly tall and imposing.

The thought of becoming enemies with that man made it impossible not to feel apprehensive.

However, he stole a glance at Lu Jing, only to see that the latter was still calm and collected. After entering the stronghold, he was even in the mood to look around, as if he was curious about everything.

"How many people are there in your stronghold?" Lu Jing asked the boy.

"When I first came, there were less than thirty people, but now, there are already two hundred and nineteen people. No… Ah Wu and Brother Fu Bao were stabbed to death by someone a few days ago, so now there are only two hundred and seventeen people."

The boy spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube. "Most of these two hundred and seventeen people are men. There are less than thirty women. Except for four old women who cook, the rest were all snatched. There are basically no old people or children."

"I'm the youngest person in the stronghold. I was allowed to stay because I joined early. They won't accept anyone my age anymore."

"In the words of the Third Boss, we're weak, can't fight, and only waste food." However, the boy seemed a little indignant when he said this.

Lu Jing asked, "What was that about Ah Wu and Fu Bao being stabbed to death? Were they fighting each other?"

"No, it was because of a conflict with another group of bandits. They were killed by people from the other side. Our chieftain doesn't allow his own people to fight."

"For territory?"

"Yes." The boy nodded.

"Are there other groups of bandits around here?" Lu Jing raised his eyebrows.

The boy nodded again. "Yes, there are many. Too many people can't survive in this world. But the only ones with more than a hundred people are us and another group of guys. We have the most conflicts between us."

"More people have died at each other's hands than at the hands of government soldiers."

As they spoke, they arrived at the Big Boss's residence. This was one of the few tile-roofed houses in the entire stronghold, although it was still somewhat simple.

But it looked much more impressive than the nearby thatched huts.

Lu Jing gave the boy a look, and the latter immediately understood and went forward to knock on the door.

"Who is it?" A rough voice came from inside.

"It's me, Big Boss," the boy said respectfully. "I came back from the foot of the mountain with important news and hurried back to report to you."

"What news?"

"This… it's really important news, so it might not be convenient to just say it like this."

"You little brat, when did you learn to be so mysterious!" The voice inside was a little annoyed.

But after he said that, there was the sound of rustling clothes from inside the house, mixed with a woman's soft moans.

After a moment, the door was pushed open, and a burly man with a strong build came out. His image was almost exactly like a bandit leader from a TV drama.

He said impatiently, "What is it? Hurry up and say it."

But before he could finish speaking, he saw an unfamiliar person pointing at his chest.

The man was shocked and quickly put his arm in front of his chest, managing to block Lu Jing's casual finger at the last moment.

However, he was sent flying backward and rolled back into the house.