At night.

Ning Que and others sat on the roof.

There was a jug of fine wine in front of each person.

There are also the salt and pepper potato chips that Ning Que had fried.

"Now that Ximen and Senior Brother Yi are here, I can finally relax a little. With you here, I'll be more confident in what's to come."

"Haha, just tell me what you have to say." Ximen Jie laughed heartily, quite happily eating potato chips. "To be honest, I've actually grown tired of being a killer these days. I was thinking of following the example of my fellow apprentices and traveling around doing good deeds. I didn't expect that you'd be in need of help right now, so we can definitely help out."

"Um."

Yi Suiyun just nodded in agreement.

"If you have any requests, you can tell me."

"We came to Lingnan just to help you."

"We can do any dirty work, no matter how hard it is."

"Right now, Lingnan's biggest shortage is definitely people." Ning Que smiled and continued, "Now that you're here, I can relax a little."

"Short of people?"

Ximen Jie frowned and said thoughtfully, "I've been in the martial arts world for many years and know quite a few rogues. Most of them still owe me favors. If you need me, I can call them over."

"The gangsters... that's not appropriate, right?" Shen Qinghe frowned and whispered, "Most of them have probably violated local laws. Even if they moved to Lingnan, I'm afraid they wouldn't necessarily obey Xiaoning."

"Haha, Senior Sister is wrong."

"oh?"

"I'm not saying these people are all good, but those I've come into contact with often had compelling reasons, and many were forced into prostitution." Ximen Jie waved his hand calmly, "For example, I know a bandit who started out as an honest farmer. He lived through his twenties and thirties and never had a quarrel with anyone. Unexpectedly, a wealthy businessman took a fancy to his wife and later raped and killed her."

"He was filled with grief and indignation, and immediately went to the police. He never imagined that the local county magistrate and the wealthy businessman were in cahoots, accusing the farmer of false accusations and sending him to prison. Forced to do so, he took up his hatchet and hacked the businessman to death, ultimately choosing to become a bandit. Senior Sister, please tell me, what exactly did this man do wrong? Did he disobey the law, or was someone forcing him to do so?"

"I can't blame him for this..."

"Over the years, I've seen too many people who protect each other. This world is just like that; it's inherently unfair. Many people are forced to become bandits out of desperation. I've seen them in both Dafeng and Dashang. Of course, there are also some bandits who deserve death, and I've killed quite a few. Those I've befriended are absolutely fine. They simply became bandits because they faced injustice."

"Senior Brother Ximen certainly knows his limits." Ning Que smiled and picked up the wine pot, saying, "I'll leave this matter to you. But there's no rush. You can rest for a few days before leaving. Right now, South Vietnam is in ruins and needs manpower everywhere. If we want to prepare for the future, we must have suitable generals. For example, Senior Brother Yue..."

"Senior Brother Yue followed your instructions. He went to the Great Shang Dynasty first, and his clan members are all in the capital. He was wrongly accused and only released thanks to Master's mediation. However, he has been demoted to a commoner and expelled from the royal city. His clan members have had a relatively good life over the years and have not been oppressed. Senior Brother Yue finally got to see them after all these years, so he will stay in the Great Shang for a while longer."

"Well, no rush."

Ning Que smiled and nodded.

Yue Zhongmu might be a bit weak in martial arts, but he possesses a high talent for military command. He excels at commanding large-scale military operations, and even led the Great Shang Dynasty to a duel with the old King Ning.

Dafeng was completely helpless, and the previous emperor had no choice but to resort to a tactic of sowing discord. However, he had not expected the Shang emperor to be so foolish as to actually believe the rumors and even want to execute Yue Zhongmu's entire family. Fortunately, Bu Suanzi happened to be in Dashang and intervened to save Yue Zhongmu.

With Yue Zhongmu's arrival, Ning Que would have a much easier time. He could focus on domestic affairs and improving productivity. As for leading the troops in battle, he could leave it entirely to Yue Zhongmu. With his abilities, it would only be a matter of time before he could wipe out all of Lingnan. With the support of his fellow apprentices, Ning Que wouldn't have to worry about anything.

"We can't eat your food for free."

"Since Senior Brother Ximen is bringing people here, I have to do something. But I don't have many friends. See if you have any tasks for me."

"Haha, don't worry." Ning Que smiled and waved his hands, eating potato chips and said, "Lingnan is still in its development stage. If you have time, you can go teach those soldiers how to use swords. It can be regarded as a disguised training. With a sword master like you around, their strength will definitely be improved."

"Okay, as long as they can handle it."

Yi Suiyun nodded calmly.

He was a renowned swordsman, having clashed with many over the years. His swordsmanship was so masterful that even Ning Que couldn't match him in a head-on confrontation. Of course, this was only in terms of swordsmanship. If Ning Que used a spear, Yi Suiyun wouldn't be his match either.

This was the result of Yi Suiyun's years of hard training, and his training methods were quite rigorous. Someone had once considered becoming his disciple, and seeing that he had good aptitude, Yi Suiyun considered accepting him as his disciple. However, the other person couldn't handle the training after just three days and ran away. That day, Yi Suiyun realized he wasn't suited to being a master...

"Take it easy."

"They lack talent, but they win in hard work."

"But don't train yourself to death."

"Yeah, okay."

"Also, there's something else I need you to do." Ning Que casually put down the wine jar and whispered, "East of Nanyue is Minyue. We had a long-standing feud with Nanyue. But we didn't expect the Japanese pirates to land in Minyue and slaughter them without a single survivor, wiping out the local population. They killed all the men in Minyue and subjected the women to all kinds of abuse. Last time, they sent people to Nanyue, but I led my team and slaughtered them all."

"Japanese pirates?"

"Are they coming to Lingnan too?"

Ximen Jie was stunned.

Ning Que looked at him in surprise, "Brother Ximen, have you ever dealt with Japanese pirates?"

"Well, as an assassin before, I came into contact with many killers. At that time, there was a jonin named Iga or something. He was the best at assassination and also good at using hidden weapons. He and I once took on the same mission, but I completed it first. This guy wanted to steal the credit, but I ended up crippling his right hand with a sword. I wanted to kill him, but he ran away so fast, and I haven't seen him since."

"That's perfect." Ning Que smiled. "Senior Brother Yi happens to be free, so we can go to Minyue first to find out the situation. The main thing is to see how many people they have and what the condition of their weapons and armor is."

"no problem!"

Yi Suiyun nodded calmly.

He still likes this job more!