On Wuji Mountain, halfway between Nanchang County and Hongdufu.

The bandit leader, Zheng Tianlei, looked at the loot his men had stolen with disdain. "Is this all you've got? What are you doing?"

"Brother, the city is heavily guarded lately. All the wealthy families have hired security escorts to guard their homes, so we can't get in at all."

Zheng Tianlei's two centipede-like eyebrows trembled twice, and his long curly hair flew wildly with anger. "Those wealthy families are no good, but what about the others?"

The subordinate said guiltily, "We can only steal these things from the rest."

Zheng Tianlei threw the things on the ground, saying, "What's the use of these things? At this rate, when will we be able to go back?"

The men under him dared not speak, keeping their heads down in silence.

Outside the house, a man dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt was listening intently with shifty eyes. The person inside had keen hearing and immediately knew his movements.

"Who goes there? Get in here!"

The man was so frightened that he dropped what he was holding and went through the door that had been blown open by the wind. The second-in-command, Zheng Tianxiang, grabbed him and kicked him to his knees.

“Say what you’re going to do, or I’ll kill you.”

The man on the ground knelt down, begging for mercy in a panic, "Boss, spare my life! I am Zhang Gouwa, a villager from Heshui Village in Nanchang County. I was driven to desperation by the villagers and came to seek refuge with you, Boss."

Zheng Tianlei's interest was piqued: "Oh? Who forced you to do that?"

Zhang Gouwa said timidly, "She's a widow from our village..."

Before he could finish speaking, the people in the room burst into laughter. "A widow? You can't even handle a widow?"

Although being ridiculed was frustrating, Zhang Gouwa didn't show it at all. He even laughed along, saying, "You gentlemen don't know, that widow isn't an ordinary widow. She's a widow from the capital."

Upon hearing that he came from the capital, Zheng Tianlei immediately sat up straight. "What exactly happened?"

Zhang Gouwa then recounted Liu Huan's behavior during his visit to their village. Of course, he covered up the fact that he had been caught stealing years ago, and instead said that Liu Huan was paranoid.

She suspected him of having ulterior motives towards her, so she had her younger brother beat him up, which resulted in his parents and a child being crushed to death by an earthquake, and they didn't even dare to go back to collect the bodies, so he hated her.

His words were sincere, and his narrow eyes were filled with hatred, which quickly convinced the others that he was telling the truth.

"What does this have to do with her being from the capital?"

Seeing that everyone believed him, Zhang Gouwa said, "I heard from that widow that her husband was a fifth-rank military officer who was killed in battle at the border that year. That's why she came to our village with her big belly. She must have brought a lot of silver with her. I heard that she recently had a falling out with the village and bought a courtyard house in the county for several hundred taels of silver."

Zheng Tianlei's focus, however, was on the fact that she was a general's widow. "You mean she had a child with that general?"

"Yes, they are twins, a boy and a girl, two very beautiful children."

Zheng Tianlei and Zheng Tianxiang exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with unreadable emotions. Zheng Tianxiang waved his hand. "Alright, you can go now. If what you said is true and it works out, you'll definitely get your share of the benefits."

"Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Second Boss!"

His men went to close the door, and Zheng Tianxiang then said, "Brother, let's do something big before we go home."

Zheng Tianlei slammed his hand on the table and said, "Alright, since he is the general's orphan, killing him will avenge my third brother and the other brothers."

"But first we need to get more travel money. Remember, kill that widow and capture the two children alive. I'll take them back to Second Master to be his male prostitutes."

"After all these years, I can finally go home! Hahahaha!"

Zheng Tianxiang interrupted Zheng Tianlei's laughter, "Brother, what about Changning Temple..."

Zheng Tianlei regained his seriousness, "Our mission is to create chaos; everything else is not our concern."

"yes!"

Anzhi and Anran, who were studying at the academy, had no idea that they were being targeted. As they walked out of the academy, Changbai was waiting for them.

“I’ve been coming to pick you up these past few days while your uncle was injured. Let’s go.”

An Ran thanked him politely, while An Zhi walked forward with a cold expression.

Anran stepped forward and grabbed her brother, "Brother, why do you hate Uncle so much? Uncle is my savior."

Anzhi looked at her sister's clueless face, stared for a while, then pinched her cheek and said, "It's nothing, I was just thinking about something. Let's go home quickly."

Xiao Lan and Xiao Hei walked at the very back with their schoolbags, completely unaware that the two men in the tree not far away clearly saw An Zhi's and An Ran's faces.

Zheng Tianlei smiled slyly, "With such delicate skin, Second Master will definitely like you."

The panicked Nanchang County returned to calm overnight, and even passersby stopped looting.

Everyone guessed that the bandits had moved, but only the officials knew that was impossible.

Changbai was very puzzled. "Master, what do you think is their reason for doing this?"

"Is there any movement from Changning Temple?" Su Yi asked.

"I heard that the abbot has invited many masters from other places to give lectures, and there are even more people going today."

"master?"

Changyun said, "Because of the incident at Wuji Mountain, many people believe in Changning Temple and go to the temple to seek the master's blessing."

Changbai frowned upon hearing this, "That's utterly absurd. Does it mean the Bodhisattva protects those bandits from coming down to rob us...?"

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that the bandits really hadn't come down the mountain.

There's no need to speculate; those people are all in cahoots.

"Master, what is their purpose?"

"Make the people of Nanchang County submit to them and become their puppets."

Changyun recalled the people talking outside, "No wonder. I also heard that many families whose children were abducted went to Changning Temple to pray, and their children would return safely the next day."

Changbai said anxiously, "Master, we can't let them continue like this, otherwise it will be difficult to attack Changning Temple later."

Su Yi slowly raised his eyes, "What's the rush? Let's wait until your Third Young Master arrives."

The county's soldiers are already struggling to deal with that mountain, so they can only wait for the main force to arrive.

"But what if Changning Temple finds out?"

Su Yi didn't reveal the inside story he knew, but said, "Send people to keep an eye on both sides. Report back immediately if there's any movement. Don't worry about anything else."

After Changyun left, Changbai tried to say, "Master, Ermo is injured. I have to take care of the children for two days. I was thinking if I could bring them here so I can keep an eye on them."

Su Yi's deep eyes were scrutinizing. After a long while, he said, "Okay, find someone to keep watch in the yard and prevent them from entering the other rooms."

"yes"

QQ

Changbai opened the gate; it was the county magistrate.

"What brings you here, Lord Zhang?"

Magistrate Zhang was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. "Your Honor, no one has come to report any cases recently. They've all gone to Changning Temple. If a temple can handle cases, what's the point of having a government office?"

"Lord Zhang, please calm down..."

"..."