Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 76 There are so many kind people on the road, they even give me silver!
Inside the sentry post, several bandits watched the old man teasing the child and laughed along.

"Tsk tsk, this skill is amazing!" The scarred man spat out a blade of grass. "He pressed his thumb on the baby's skull, and the little brat obediently followed him."

"The old man built a wooden house at the foot of Xiaoyun Village with this skill, and also asked the Changyun caravan to bring him two beautiful concubines, who stayed in the house all day long."

"Hey, so when he goes out to work, doesn't that just benefit Xiao Tun's brothers?"

The bandit chuckled as he chatted: "It's usually cheap, but this old man has a quirk; he likes to be with a group of people."

Another bandit was greatly shocked: "I don't understand. If I had a beautiful woman, I would definitely enjoy her all by myself."

Just as the two were discussing the old man's strange hobby, a shrill scream suddenly came from the middle of the camp.

When they looked over there again, they saw the young man in brocade gripping the old man's thumb with his five fingers like iron clamps, and exerting force with a smile.

The old man's thumb was crushed to pieces.

The old man collapsed to his knees, completely exhausted, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

"who are you?"

"The one who will take your life." Lin Jiang thought for a moment, "No, if I take your life later, those kids are counting on you to find their way home."

Lin Jiang kicked the old man's leg and broke it. When he looked at the bandits next to him, some of them had already picked up knives, while others were running away.

Half of those running away were met by Chen Dajiang, who waved his stick and yelled "Hah!" and "Ha!" before hitting them one by one.

The other half inexplicably fell to the ground, clutching its calf and running around erratically. Upon closer inspection, its calf was bent.

The remaining ones who rushed out didn't last a single round either; Lin Jiang kicked one, and they all died; he punched one, and they all flew away.

A breath or two later, only screams echoed from the whistle.

The most powerful person at the entire outpost is a Second Heaven cultivator, one level higher than Lin Jiang. They can keep an eye on unarmed civilians, but dealing with capable individuals is much more difficult.

After the tiger disposed of the corpse, Lin Jiang walked up to the remaining old man:

"Where did you abduct these children from?"

"Several villages..."

The old man's lips trembled, and his voice was somewhat soft.

Lin Jiang crushed his other hand as well: "I advise you to tell the truth. If you don't, it will hurt even more."

The old man cried and recited the names of several villages. Lin Jiang asked him to draw them on a map, and after he finished, he kicked the old man and broke his neck.

The children, who had been looking dazed, gradually cleared their eyes, huddled together, and looked at Lin Jiang and the others with fear in their eyes.

Lin Jiang immediately changed his expression and went to comfort the children.

Perhaps it was because of his truly handsome face that the children quickly calmed down.

There are six children here, from three villages. They are not too far from this outpost and are on their way to Changyun.

After discussing it with the others, Lin Jiang decided to send the children back first.

After coaxing the children onto the vehicle, which was a bit crowded but still manageable, Lin Jiang decided not to get on. He searched the camp and found the stables.

The few inferior horses tied to the manger were of poor quality, but their stamina was still acceptable.

Besides the horse, Lin Jiang also saw two large boxes. Upon opening them, he found many treasures and valuables inside.

There were gold and silver, copper coins, cloth and grain; there was quite a variety.

Lin Jiang started scratching his head.

He doesn't have any valuables for storage, so he can't carry many with him.

If it's left here, it'll probably be picked up by bandits.

So they simply found another cart and tied the two boxes to it.

As the sun began to set, Lin Jiang and his group stopped in the village where the most children had gone missing.

There was also a small sentry post outside the village, where five shifty-looking thugs lived. They were the kind of people who bullied men and women, and they usually acted like tyrants in the village by relying on their two chipped broadswords. They did a lot of stupid things.

After Lin Jiang arrived, he also took care of them.

After Lin Jiang returned the child, two families were very grateful to him and wanted to kneel down and kowtow to thank him. However, one family looked very blank and hesitated when they said thank you.

The villagers wanted Lin Jiang to stay for a meal, but Lin Jiang glanced at the time and figured he could still take another child home before evening, so he declined the offer.

As they were leaving, the taciturn family did not see Lin Jiang and his companions off.

Niu Man kept glancing back at the village, which had shrunk to a black dot, until it was completely out of sight. Then he whispered to Lin Jiang, who was riding on horseback beside him:
"Young master, that family may have sold the child on their own initiative."

“I can tell.” Niu Man said “Oh” and didn’t say anything more.

Little ginseng poked its head out, clearly a bit confused.

"Lin Jiang Lin Jiang".

"what happened?"

"Why don't they move away? It's so dangerous here; their food will be taken, and they might get killed." Little Ginseng was puzzled. "And it seems like there are more villages here than in those big places!"

The large areas that Xiaoshanshen mentioned are Yuxiang and Baishan.

There are villages around Yuxiang and Baishan, but they are not nearly as densely packed.

“Escape takes strength; some people exhaust themselves just from panting,” Lin Jiang said.

"He's just a cheapskate," Niu Man muttered under his breath.

Xiao Shancan really didn't understand, so he said, "If the heroes in comic books encountered this, they would definitely do their best to deal with those bad guys. Although the common people in comic books have no way to deal with those bad guys, they would take the initiative to ask for help when they see a hero. I really can't see that here."

Let alone the common people in the comic book, if you really put this matter in Baishan or Yuxiang, anyone who was bullied would definitely try to get revenge.

It can only be said that this area is somewhat special.

Lin Jiang could see that these villages could actually become a town if they were connected, but bandits had blocked their way and divided the land.

If a town cannot be established, it will be more vulnerable to exploitation.

However, the main source of income for the bandits in this area should not be local farmers, but rather the merchants who come and go. They either travel by water or by this road from Jianzhou and Yuxiang.

Not all goods can be transported by water.

Is this really something that bandits would do?
It doesn't seem like it.

Moreover, given the vast territory, it's strange that neither Jianzhou nor Yuxiang wanted it.

He simply pulled out a luminous pearl from his sleeve.

"Brother Zhu, do you know what's going on with this area?"

"Brother, this has stumped me. I'm a precious treasure. Setting up a protective home for a region isn't difficult for me, but figuring out the layout is something I really can't see clearly."

After saying this, Zhu Zi lowered her voice and said, "But in my opinion, this area can't be managed without someone of high status behind it. I wonder if this person of high status is currently in Jianzhou or Yuxiang."

Lin Jiang nodded, his mind finally clearing up.

Let's ignore the mastermind behind this for now and send the child home first.

……

As evening approached, Lin Jiang and his group arrived at the second village.

The village was quite different from the previous place; it was significantly larger. Even at sunset, when the moon was just beginning to shine, firelight could be seen throughout the village.

The village was bustling with activity. Looking outwards, one could see several taverns and inns serving food and drink.

If you walk a little further in, you can even see brightly dressed girls waving handkerchiefs at passersby.

This place seems to have been peeled away from a bustling city and placed among the mountains and forests.

Lin Jiang looked at Niu Man, who shook his head: "I've never left the village, but I've heard that there is indeed a special place here."

Manager Liu, who had traveled this trade route before, then began to explain:
"This place is called Zhongzhai Village. It was built by a wealthy family from Changyun. Like Changyun, it is a neutral village. If you buy a travel permit here, you won't be disturbed by bandits on the way to Changyun."

How much does a travel permit cost?

"Two coins for a horse, and twenty coins for its legs."

There are also people doing this business.

Among those walking were knights-errant and merchants. For some merchants, two coins was not a large sum, and many pedestrians were willing to spend twenty coins to avoid trouble.

You can make quite a bit of money every day.

Just as Lin Jiang was calculating the potential scale of the industry behind this trade route, he suddenly heard a voice calling from behind him:

"Hey buddy up ahead, wait a minute."

Lin Jiang stopped his horse and looked back, only to find several young men walking towards him.

The one leading the way went to the cart and pointed upwards:
"Hey buddy, where did you get this box from?"

(End of this chapter)