Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

Although it was early spring, the mountains were still shrouded in mist, and the sun had to come out to drive the clouds and mist back into the caves.

The morning mist was slightly chilly, but the group, despite not having slept all night, were still in high spirits.

Especially Wang Xiucai, who was originally somewhat sickly, became increasingly healthy after some rest. He walked the entire way without even breaking a sweat. In the eyes of the servants, he, like Li Xingzhi, became unfathomable!

They cautiously approached the mountain stronghold.

Before the old dog in front of the gate could even bark, it was easily dealt with by Li Xingzhi. The scouts returned quickly; there were no hidden stakes ahead. It seemed these people were truly unsuspecting, perhaps having been too complacent for too long.

Seeing this, Li Xingzhi simply stopped sending scouts. There were only a few dozen thieves, so he wasn't worried about anything going wrong. Besides, they were there for training; if he failed to kill them so easily in their sleep, his trip would have been pointless. He might as well just poison them all.

The group swaggered through the middle of the village as if they were walking down a main street; it's true that like master, like servant.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the house in front, seemingly ignoring them, and walked directly into a small hut beside them, probably to use the outhouse. Li Xingzhi gave a wink to the person next to him, and a burly servant understood and followed.

A short while later, the strong servant who had gone out returned, carrying a person whose mouth had already been gagged.

Li Xingzhi sized up the guy being carried like a bird by the slave. The man had a full beard, a round face, and fear in his small eyes. He didn't dare to move his hands or feet, but his belly was quite large and seemed to have some fat. He looked like a round ball! It was really quite comical.

Li Xingzhi found it somewhat amusing, thinking that this person was indeed very unlucky.

As they drew closer, a mountain breeze carried a pungent, foul odor to Li Xingzhi's nose. A thought struck him, and he chuckled mischievously. "Don't panic," Li Xingzhi said, "we're not thieves, we're here to wipe them out!" "We'll hand over what you're talking about, but don't scream, or else—"

Li Xingzhi didn't continue speaking, but instead showed off the weapon in his hand, which was a fine scythe. The cold, weak moonlight reflected off the blade, causing the fat man in front of him to squint. His already small eyes were now completely invisible.

He felt a chill and an itch on his neck. If his hands hadn't been tied behind his back, he would have wanted to touch it to see if his head was still on his neck!

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Luo San was always unlucky, and he believed it was because his elders hadn't given him a good name. Luo Youfu, Luo Youfu—what good fortune did he have?

Ever since escaping his father's clutches and focusing on perfecting his beloved culinary skills at Lou Wai Lou, his luck seemed to have turned around instantly. He was overjoyed, believing it was destiny's will. However, his happiness lasted only two days before he was kidnapped by thieves during an outing!

He watched as his fellow captives were killed, some even steamed or boiled to make human flesh buns, and he was filled with regret! If only he had listened to his elder brother, none of this would have happened…

Just as he closed his eyes and awaited death, the thieves untied him.

"My Jin Xiangyu is recognized everywhere!" Fatty Luo comforted himself, a hint of joy and pride in his heart. "Look, these people have even kidnapped me just to eat my food."

Actually, he preferred working at Lou Wai Lou restaurant. He could occasionally listen to some music there, and most importantly, any good ingredients would be delivered to him immediately. In this bandit's den, although the bandits treated him fairly politely, the howling of jackals and wolves every night still made him somewhat terrified.

I drank too much water tonight and was about to go to the outhouse when, as soon as I pulled up my pants, a knife was placed against my neck, and the hot soup below made me wet my pants.

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The chubby boy felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know who the handsome young man in front of him and the people behind him were, but he also knew that these people were not easy to deal with. He made two "ooh-ooh" sounds and nodded vigorously, afraid that if he was too slow, he would lose his head.

Li Xingzhi was quite interested in threatening people with a knife. He had seen it on TV many times, but he thought it would be more interesting to do it himself, especially since it would be easier to bully such a chubby little boy.

One of the guards had already taken the object out of the chubby boy's mouth. Seeing the chubby boy's cooperation, Li Xingzhi nodded in approval and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

The fat man with the thick beard started trembling as he watched the flashing blades that occasionally stung his eyes. If it weren't for someone else watching him, he might have collapsed to his knees.

"I...I'm not one of them. I was originally a cook at Lou Wai Lou restaurant, but I was kidnapped and forced to cook for others." He was hesitant at first, but he got the hang of it later.

"Do you know where those thieves are?"

"I..." The fat man hesitated, probably because the thieves' intimidation had put too much pressure on him.

Zhou Da, who was holding the knife, suddenly turned fierce, a sinister smile appearing on his thick, dark face. The chubby boy, who was already shivering from the cold because he was soaked, began to tremble even more, shaking like a leaf. "I...I..." The chubby boy was so scared that he couldn't even finish his sentence.

Li Xingzhi slapped the chubby boy's thigh with his broadsword. The boy was startled and wanted to scream, but dared not make a sound. His face turned ashen, and he seemed to collapse to the ground as if he had no bones. Because of the shock, the yellow urine he hadn't finished urinating all came out at once.

Fortunately, one of his strong servants was quick and lifted him up again.

"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. Now tell me, how many people are still in this den of thieves?" Since the village was only so big, the thieves couldn't have gone far, so Li Xingzhi didn't bother asking any more questions. Actually, they already knew the general situation inside the village from the traitor 'Skinny Stick'. This question was just to verify, and more so, it was Li Xingzhi's wicked amusement at the little fat boy's comical appearance.

"There are... there are about seventy people, but a dozen or so went out a few days ago," the chubby boy stammered.

"Hmm—" Li Xingzhi looked at the little fat boy behind him and said, "Call for help!"

The chubby boy's two small eyes bulged out, thinking he had misheard.

"Shout now, wake everyone up!" Li Xingzhi's purpose in coming here was to train these strong servants, so naturally he couldn't let the thieves die in their sleep. He was too lazy to search each house one by one, and planned to wait for them to come to him. The reason he had gone through the trouble of entering the stronghold before was twofold: first, he was afraid the thieves would escape, and second, if these thieves had set traps in the mountains and secretly shot arrows, even if he had twice as many men, it wouldn't be enough. Even if he won, it would inevitably be a pyrrhic victory!

"Then...then I'll call him." The chubby boy looked at Li Xingzhi cautiously.

"Ah."

"Ah—" the fat man called out cautiously, like a mouse rustling out at night, afraid of disturbing someone.

"Louder!" Li Xingzhi said, slapping the chubby boy directly with the back of his knife, startling him. The boy closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and screamed, "Ah—!" It was a truly pitiful scream; not only humans, but all the birds and beasts on the mountain were awakened, and the mountain suddenly became lively.

"Damn it, who the hell is yelling like that!" One by one, figures of varying sizes, some fat, some thin, some tall, and some large, emerged from the house cursing. Some were still rubbing their eyes, seemingly not fully awake yet. Many of the more cautious ones were already dressed and followed behind, carrying knives and clubs.

The first few people to step out saw the chubby boy not far away and cursed him viciously, their faces contorted and their eyes filled with malice. But when they saw the people behind the chubby boy, their expressions changed drastically!

"Damn it, you fatso, if I don't skin you alive today, I'm not 'Green-Headed Snake'!" A burly man with a limp head, a face full of scars, and a cold gaze, dressed in green, said in a hoarse and chilling voice, holding a sharp knife upside down.

He assumed the chubby boy had betrayed them. After all, their village was built in a secluded spot with several sentry posts below. Without an inside traitor, he couldn't believe that such a large group of people could have entered the village without anyone noticing.

The chubby boy felt as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake; his body stiffened, and he felt utterly helpless and on the verge of tears. He felt like he was being stabbed no matter where he lay!

At this moment, all the bandits from the mountain stronghold emerged, a group of sixty or seventy tall, strong men with fierce faces and menacing eyes. Each of them carried a staff, a sword, and a knife, shouting and eager to fight! In front of these dozens of men stood four men, each with a knife at their waist and a broadsword in their hand, wearing a square scarf on their head; the one in the lead carried a huge bow on his back.

The man in the lead, with a large bow on his back, waved his hand, and the henchmen behind him fell silent. He shouted, "Where did you come from?"

Li Xingzhi's heart skipped a beat, and he casually replied, "From where I came from!" He didn't understand any underworld slang or secret language.

"Heh! Today I'll make sure you come but don't leave!" The leader knew perfectly well that Li Xingzhi was toying with him. Without another word, he drew his bow with his left hand and pulled out an arrow with his right; he pulled the bowstring taut, turned around, and with a glint in his eyes, the arrow shot straight toward Li Xingzhi's neck.

He shot out the arrow without even looking at the result, and shouted, "Children, charge!" He then drew his sword and charged forward.

Seeing the arrow hurtling towards him, Li Xingzhi was startled. He channeled his Longevity True Qi into his eyes, and a blue light flashed in them. He slashed forward with his longsword, and Li Xingzhi felt his tiger's mouth go numb, but the iron arrow had already flown away to another place.

The elder brother was shocked to see this. He had put all his strength into that arrow to intimidate the enemy, but he hadn't expected it to be blocked so easily by such a weak and frail boy. He was taken aback!

At the same time, seeing their young master so brave, Li Xingzhi's servants were greatly encouraged and raised their broadswords to slash at the heads of the bandits in front of them.

By this time, the chubby boy had already collapsed to the ground.

Li Xingzhi was somewhat shaken by the overwhelming bloody and menacing aura brought by those thieves; after all, this wasn't something shown in a movie!

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