Volcanic Age

After winning the fierce battle against Meng Gang, Zhou Xuchuan placed his foot on the bandit's back. He imbued his voice with qi and roared, "Enough!"

His voice was so loud that it reverberated throughout the Green Dragon Stockade and the mountains nearby, startling the animals leisurely lounging on the branches and forcing them to flee.

"…!"

The punitive force and the Red Forest bandits froze. Even the martial artist about to slit someone's throat gasped in surprise.

The hundreds of martial artists all turned to one place. Their gaze all fell on Zhou Xuchuan standing over Meng Gang's body.

"I-Impossible!" one of the Red Forest bandits exclaimed and trembled in shock upon recognizing the corpse. The ripples of realization swept across the other Red Forest bandits.

Meanwhile, the faces of the punitive force brightened. They were exhausted and were breathing heavily, but their faces were filled with joy at the sight.

"The Stockade Boss is dead! Stop rebelling and surrender!" Zhou Xuchuan exclaimed once more.

The faces of many people changed drastically at Zhou Xuchuan's words, but the underboss vehemently retorted, "Nonsense!"

The stockade boss had shown them miracle after miracle; he had chosen and applied tactics that none of them had ever seen before, and they easily defeated the imperial government's punitive force as well as the experts of the Righteous Faction, who fought their way into the stockade.

The underboss would never be the leader as long as Meng Gang was around, but he could still live a life no less than that of a leader.

"T-this is nonsense!"

He couldn't quite believe that the monstrous stockade boss had fallen, and the thought that he had fallen at the hands of some young brat, who seemed to have yet to come of age, was even more absurd.

"Let's turn our eyes to reality and stop the pointless arguing," Zhou Xuchuan said. He hopped off Meng Gang, and as if to prove his words, he flipped the corpse over with a kick, revealing its face to everyone.

The punitive force erupted into cheers upon seeing Meng Gang's face.

"T-this can't be happening!"

"The stockade boss is dead. R-really…?"

The underboss was stupefied; he couldn't quite accept the outcome.

The upper ranks of the Red Forest bandits reacted the same as him.

Clang!

"I-I surrender!"

"Please spare my life!"

"My eyes have deceived me!"

"I have my aged mother back at home…"

Meng Gang was no more, so the Green Dragon Stockade bandits lost their will to fight. The crisp sound of weapons falling to the ground echoed all over the place.

And just like that, the Green Dragon Stockade, also known as the Number One Stockade Under the Heavens, was no more…

The punitive force had emerged victorious, but it was still too early for them to indulge in their victory. The punitive force had succeeded in the subjugation of the Green Dragon Stockade, but the subjugation of the Red Forest was still ongoing.

The Seven Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs were still out there, after all.

The Great Tiger Stockade and the Green Dragon Stockade had fallen one after another, so the other stockades would surely send reinforcements upon hearing of the news.

The exhausted punitive force had no energy left to fight. Even though the reinforcements would also be, at best mere bandits, considering the state of the punitive force, they'd definitely lose in a fight.

Thus, the members of the punitive force immediately used the Golden Sore Ointment and prepared to retreat.

"Regardless of the force, we'll divide into three groups and move. There should be quite a few hostages tied up in the prisons, so release them all and get ready to leave together.

"Tie up those who surrendered and leave them behind. It's okay to kill them if they resist."

"What should we do about the treasure?"

"Just take away a few taels of gold. Anything else will hinder our movement, so leave them behind."

"Huh? We're leaving all that stuff behind?"

Zhuge Shengji licked his lips in regret.

"We're exhausted, and quite a few of us are injured. Furthermore, we have to prioritize the wounded and those who have difficulty moving among the hostages.

"We also have to move through rugged terrain, so we need to be as light as possible. We should only carry the bare minimum of supplies," Zhou Xuchuan explained.

"I guess there's nothing we can do about that."

Zhuge Shengji wasn't the only one filled with regret.

The tired gazes of the punitive force members were filled with regret as well.

Zhou Xuchuan was worried that their greed could end up in them getting in trouble, so he added, "Regardless of the value of gold and silver, it cannot be compared to human life. Remember that even the slightest greed can kill. You're not just carrying wealth but your own life on your shoulders as well."

"Senior Brother…" Luo Xiaoyue muttered and blinked, seemingly moved. The punitive force members seemed to be somewhat moved by his words as well. Although regretful, they still changed their minds.

Things like this need to be handled properly. Otherwise, something big might happen.

This wasn't Zhou Xuchuan's first time encountering something as regretful as what was happening at the moment. Something like this had happened in his past life.

They attacked the enemy's warehouse and won. Then, they discovered a considerable amount of gold and silver in their enemy's warehouse.

At the time, it was unknown when the enemy's reinforcements would show up, so they had to retreat as quickly as possible. However, everyone, including the commander, was blinded by their greed, and they all looted the warehouse.

They retreated immediately afterward, but they had wasted precious time, so the enemies ended up chasing after them. To make matters worse, the weight of the treasure slowed them down so much that they were almost annihilated.

It was only after losing more than a quarter of their troops that they finally came to their senses and abandoned their treasures to barely escape with their lives.

"This isn't the time to dawdle. The enemy might be approaching us right now, so we must make haste."

"Understood!"

The eyes of the punitive force members changed. Their faces still showed hints of fatigue, but their eyes were now shining with a sense of purpose.

How incredible. Zhuge Xiuluan didn't show it on the outside, but she was in awe of Zhou Xuchuan. She had joined late, so she couldn't see Zhou Xuchuan in action, but his actions and words just now were enough for Zhuge Xiuluan to say that he was impressive.

Zhou Xuchuan didn't hesitate for even a second, and his judgement was both unwavering and wise. He managed to prevent these people from making foolish actions in advance, and he valued the camaraderie of the gangho.

Every word he spoke was like a spell, and above all, his commands seemed to come from a general on the front line.

Whew. Thank goodness I've seen and heard many things before.

This was Zhou Xuchuan's first time giving such large-scale commands. He had survived many battlefields during the war, but he had only ever been in the position of receiving orders.

However, he had traveled to many places, so he had seen and heard from countless heroes and talented monks of Buddhist Temples. During the era of peace that had come later in his previous lifetime, he had also accumulated a ton of knowledge through books.

"Underboss."

"Yes."

The underboss' face was a mess. One of his eyes was swollen, his nose was crushed, and several of his teeth had been knocked out. He had tried to run away as soon as he realized that defeat was certain.

However, Zhou Xuchuan caught up to him and gave him a beating.

"I'm a little impatient right now because we don't have time. When people get impatient, their tempers get a little worse, right?" Zhou Xuchuan remarked.

"Yes, that's right."

"I have a few questions to ask, so I'd like you to speak straight away without hesitation. If you lie at all, I'll break your bones here and there. Oh, since you have to talk, I won't aim for your mouth."

"How could I ever dare to lie to you? Please ask me anything, Great Hero."

"Do you know any places that the stockade boss frequents, or are there places that might be his cache? If there are, tell me. Tell me everything."

"Understood."

They didn't have much time, so before anything else, Zhou Xuchuan made sure that the underboss wouldn't dare to entertain the idea of fighting back. Once he was satisfied with his efforts, he then urged the underboss to speak.

If the underboss were to attempt any surreptitious tricks or make a deal, Zhou Xuchuan would use some serious violence on him.

"This way," the underboss said, obediently guiding Zhou Xuchuan somewhere.

Just in case there were any mechanisms, Zhou Xuchuan brought Zhuge Shengji with him.

The underboss led them to the room next to the stockade boss' office. The stockade boss' office was where they'd usually bring a woman to vent their carnal desires.

Disgusting traces of their dirty acts were still everywhere.

There weren't any corpses, but there was blood all over the place.

"Wait outside," Zhou Xuchuan said, gesturing to the underboss. Then, he added, "You know what's going to happen if you run away again, right?"

"O-Of course."

The underboss trembled and closed the door behind him.

"Big Brother, this seems to be the right place," Zhuge Shengji said as soon as the door was closed.

"And how the hell do you know that?" Zhou Xuchuan asked curiously. While he had studied the basics of mechanisms, he didn't couldn't sense anything strange.

"...?" Zhuge Shengji tilted his head, looking confused. "Can't you just tell by looking at it? The structure of the room is strange."

"Whatever. It's my fault for asking."

While there were many geniuses, Zhuge Shengji was the worst of them all. They all took what they understood for granted, and they couldn't understand how someone else couldn't understand something in the same way as them.

Most importantly, they were the worst tutors out there. Zhuge Shengji could explain the basics, but everything else was too vague to understand.

Zhuge Shengji walked to the wall in the center and said, "Look here. If I press this with a needle…"

Zhuge Shengji took out a needle from his bosom and pressed the wall with a needle.

Crunch!

Something amazing happened. The wall in the middle caved in and moved to the side, revealing a secret space. He hadn't tapped the wall with his fingers or anything to examine it. Zhuge Shengji just looked at it once and immediately knew that there was something amiss.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't figure out how Zhuge Shengji knew that there was something strange on such an unassuming wall.

As expected of a genius… Zhou Xuchuan sighed and decided not to think too deeply about it. There wasn't much time, and he didn't have the luxury to concern himself with it. What could be hidden here?

Most people at the top of an organization had skeletons in their closets, and skeletons in the closets tended to be important things.

This was especially true for the Red Forest bandits. Meng Gang could trust no one, so there was no way he'd entrust his secrets to anyone. Thus, Zhou Xuchuan guessed that Meng Gang had to have stashed something nearby, and he was right.

"And the traps?"

"We've already passed it."

"Passed?"

"This wall is both a mechanism and a trap. If the door is opened the wrong way, the trap will get activated. Now, let's see what type of trap…"Zhuge Shengji trailed off and tapped his feet a few times on the ground. Then, he nodded and said, "The ground below us is hollow, but I'm not quite sure what's underneath. Judging from the echo, it's about five to six zhang deep…"

"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered.

Zhuge Shengji had figured out the type of trap underneath them just by tapping the ground a few times with his feet. The more Zhou Xuchuan thought about it, the more absurd it became.

Zhuge Shengji clearly had superhuman senses, but for some reason, they'd only manifest when he was in the middle of something related to mechanisms.

"It looks like the stockade boss has been maintaining the mechanisms properly. There's a chance of triggering the mechanisms by going near it, so people usually won't approach something like this. When they absolutely have to approach it, they'd take advantage of the designated safe areas.

"In other words, the mechanisms would normally accumulate dust due to the lack of use, but he has actually been cleaning them regularly. I guess it must be to avoid attracting any suspicion."

Meng Gang had been cleaning the floor thoroughly to avoid any suspicion and to ensure that everything would look natural.

"And…" Zhuge Shengji trailed off, entering the secret space without any hesitation. "What are these? I thought there'd be something else inside, but that's it? Hyung-nim, there aren't any more traps here."

For some reason, Zhou Xuchuan felt a tinge of regret in Zhuge Shengji's voice. It seemed that Zhuge Shengji had been expecting to see more mechanisms. He truly was of a different breed.

Zhou Xuchuan looked at Zhuge Shengji in disbelief. Then, he entered the door and looked around. The secret space wasn't large; there was only a table with a box on top.

Let's see… Zhou Xuchuan opened the box, and it opened smoothly, making it clear that it was being maintained regularly. The large was pretty large, so he was excited about what was inside.

Huh? There was a small wooden box inside the box, and there were several books with yellowed and discolored covers beneath the small wooden box.

Zhou Xuchuan checked the contents of the wooden box first.

Is it a spiritual medicine? Zhou Xuchuan thought upon seeing a pill that was giving off a pungent scent. There was only one pill inside, but the pill itself looked pretty precious.

Worried that the pill would lose its effectiveness, Zhou Xuchuan closed the wooden box and placed it into his sleeve.

"Just please don't disappoint me."

The pill wasn't bad, but it couldn't meet his expectations.

It wasn't like he was lacking in spiritual medicines. Zhou Xuchuan grew more curious about the books, so he took them out and read their covers.

Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.

Iron Shirt.

The technique manuals were just techniques, so what really caught his interest was a book without anything written on its cover. It seemed to have been opened quite a few times, as its yellowed cover was quite tattered.

Setting aside the other manuals, Zhou Xuchuan flipped open the nameless book.

This is it! Zhou Xuchuan immediately grinned.

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