Immortal Travel of Longevity

Yunxiang continued, "Actually, it's quite ironic. There are plenty of nobles and aristocrats in this world who will go back on their word a moment after making a promise. Yet these mountain bandits, who can barely read, mean what they say. Once they agree, they don't change their minds."

Hearing this, Lihua blinked. "Sister Yun isn't smart."

Yunxiang asked with a smile, "How am I not smart now?"

Lihua said, "You got robbed, yet you're praising them. Not smart."

Yunxiang covered her mouth and laughed.

Lihua's words were always simple and clear. The logic was sound, but hearing it put so plainly always made people laugh.

Seeing them all laugh, Lihua asked, "What are you laughing at? Did Lihua say something wrong?"

Chen Changsheng rubbed Lihua's head and said, "You aren't wrong. None of us are smart. Only Lihua is the smartest."

In truth, the reasoning wasn't quite that simple.

But whether it was the former or the latter, neither choice was wrong.

Having a choice was a good thing. What was truly terrifying was having no choice at all.

Yu Hongjin sat in the horse carriage. She blinked at Chen Changsheng, then glanced at Sister Yun, still unable to wrap her head around it.

"Mister."

"Hmm?"

"Hong Jin doesn't really understand. Why not just level the mountain? They aren't good people to begin with, so why bother reasoning with them?"

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment before replying, "There are many ways to solve a problem in this world. Resorting to violence is truly the worst option for This Chen. Then again, fighting is still a solution, but grudges in the jianghu—and the world at large—are rarely clear-cut. A man kills someone, and years later, the victim's son returns to avenge his father, leading to more killing. It is an endless cycle. Karma is inherently difficult to sever."

Yu Hongjin nodded thoughtfully. "So what you mean is, either don't act at all, or if you do, make sure to kill every last one of them?"

Chen Changsheng paused. "Is that what This Chen said?"

Yu Hongjin blinked her innocent, sincere eyes. "Isn't it?"

Yunxiang rapped Yu Hongjin lightly on the head.

Yunxiang said, "Mister Chen is telling you to avoid entangling yourself in karma."

Yu Hongjin blinked, still lost.

Karma and the like were completely beyond her grasp.

Coming back to her senses, Yu Hongjin said, "Speaking of which, that guy from earlier mentioned we'd run into several more groups of bandits."

"We likely will," Chen Changsheng said.

Yu Hongjin said, "This place is such a mess."

Chen Changsheng sighed. "It wasn't like this in the past."

He remembered a time when the bandits in this region had been wiped out. But just as a wildfire cannot destroy the grass before the spring breeze revives it, the chaotic times had allowed the bandits to run rampant once more.

The horse carriage continued onward.

An hour later, they were stopped again.

Unsurprisingly, it was another demand for toll money.

However, they demanded quite a bit—two hundred silver taels. Someone among this group had likely noticed the carriage's fine trimmings and figured they were wealthy, thus demanding a steeper price.

They tried to negotiate the price, but the bandits refused to budge.

"Two hundred silver taels to pass, not a copper less! But I'll give you lot a chance. If you don't have two hundred, pay one hundred and you can turn around and head back where you came from."

Chen Changsheng asked, "No room for negotiation?"

"None!"

The group's attitude was uncompromising, their blades already drawn.

Chen Changsheng decided to act.

However, seeing the escalating tension, Yunxiang suddenly spoke up. "Gentlemen, our employer's surname is Tang. We represent the Tang Family Trading Firm, and we are traveling to Yan Land for business. There's no need to make things so difficult, is there?"

"What Tang Family..."

One of the bandits was about to hurl a curse, but the leader stopped him.

The leader frowned, eyeing the horse carriage before asking, "Are you really from the Tang Family Trading Firm? Can you prove it?"

Yunxiang had Hong Jin hand over a Waist Token.

The man took it and examined it.

He then shot a very reluctant glance at the horse carriage.

After a moment, he sighed and tossed the Waist Token back. "Pardon the offense."

With that, the group of bandits simply cleared the way.

Not a single word more was said about the toll money.

The bandit leader was clearly unwilling, yet completely helpless, left to simply watch them ride away.

After they had put some distance behind them.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Is the Tang Family Trading Firm's influence truly this far-reaching now?"

Yunxiang explained, "Years ago, Young Master Tang ordered a shopkeeper to travel to Yan Land to negotiate trade routes, but the man lost his life while passing through this area. Young Master Tang had thought highly of that shopkeeper and planned to promote him once the matter was settled. To lose him so senselessly... in a fit of rage, Young Master Tang sent his men to make a trip here. I heard they killed quite a lot of people..."

"Quite a lot?"

"Several thousand, I'd say. Roughly half the bandits in the area."

She spoke of it lightly, but back then, this entire region had echoed with agonized wails. The mountain streams had been choked with corpses; saying it was a river of blood wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Yunxiang let out a soft breath. "Actually, Young Master Tang had probably planned it all along. Bandits were rampant across the realm, constantly disrupting the trading firm's business. Ultimately, the bandits were just too fearless, so he used this incident to make an example of them. Once word spread, bandits from all over no longer dared to trouble our firm, making business much smoother."

For the Tang Family Trading Firm, it was a highly profitable move.

Opening up new trade routes was something that simply had to be done.

Since the Local Government wouldn't deal with it, they had to take matters into their own hands.

Chen Changsheng said, "Paving these trade routes is certainly no easy feat."

Yunxiang nodded. "I was afraid you might think Young Master Tang had become bloodthirsty, Mister."

"Hardly."

Chen Changsheng said, "He had an upright character when he was young. Though it's been many years since I last saw him, he likely hasn't changed too much."

Yunxiang said, "You'll know for sure when you see him in Shangjing, Mister. I haven't seen Brother Tang in years, either."

"Mm."

The horse plodded along, snorting from time to time. They rested for a brief spell on the road before setting off once more.

Their path was blocked a few more times, but the moment they dropped the trading firm's name, the bandits would obediently clear the way.

There was fear in the eyes of those bandits, yet a lingering resentment remained just beneath the surface.

After all, a blood feud was not so easily settled.

But even so, they dared not raise a hand.

Even with this single, isolated horse carriage right in front of them, they dared not act. They knew all too well that the moment they struck, they would face absolute annihilation.

In this world, the Tang Family Trading Firm had long since become an unshakeable behemoth.

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