Chapter 3

Black Wind Cliff is a treacherous terrain, mostly consisting of steep cliffs. Black Cloud Village is built on the steepest cliff top, in a secluded location that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After leaving the back mountain, Lin Qiang did not immediately return to the village. Instead, he found a spot with an excellent view overlooking the entire Black Wind Cliff, pondering the chances of him leaving this place quietly.

According to the book, the structure of this world is somewhat similar to that of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The emperor is weak, the maternal relatives interfere in politics, the Yuan family holds absolute power in the court, and the feudal lords and ministers dare not speak out against it.

The female protagonist, Yuan Luo, is the youngest daughter of an insignificant, remote branch of the Yuan family. Although the Yuan family of Zhao County, to which the protagonist belongs, is as insignificant as an ant compared to the main branch of the Yuan family, no one in Zhao County dares to underestimate them simply because of their blood relation. This demonstrates the immense power and influence of the Yuan family.

A few years later, after the plot officially began, the various warlords launched a joint war under the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials," causing widespread suffering and leading to uprisings and chaos throughout the land.

If he leaves like this, he might not be able to live comfortably in the chaos to come. It would be better for him to stay in the village, gather more men, and cultivate his own power. When the chaos arrives, even if he doesn't fight for the world, at least he will have the ability to protect himself.

After figuring it out, Lin Qiang stopped worrying and got up, nimbly running and leaping towards the village.

"Boss, we've finally found you!"

Just as they arrived at the entrance of the village, a bandit rushed over in a panic.

"Something's happened! The second-in-command's men are looking for you everywhere! You need to come with me right now!"

"What's the matter that you're in such a hurry?" Lin Qiang frowned and strode towards the main hall.

"All the people arrested today who were wearing black are dead! They poisoned themselves!"

Suicide by poison?! Lin Qiang's heart skipped a beat.

"Boss!"

"Boss, you're back!"

"Big brother!" the fourth brother cried, his face contorted with grief. "Second Uncle said we seem to be in trouble..."

Ignoring the group that had gathered around him, Lin Qiang asked in a gruff voice, "Where's the second-in-command?"

"In the dungeon."

Lin Qiang strode quickly across the simple training ground and headed towards the location of the dungeon in the original owner's memories: "I'll go take a look."

Pushing open the stone door, and by the light of the oil lamps on the stone wall, Lin Qiang descended the stone-paved dungeon steps and soon arrived at the dungeon where many bandits were gathered.

"The Boss is here!" the fourth brother shouted as he followed. Everyone turned around and bowed, saying, "Boss!"

"Hmm." Lin Qiang's gaze first fell on an old man dressed in a Taoist robe: "Second Uncle."

"Come here." The second-in-command squatted down beside the neatly arranged corpses. "Everyone else, get out first. Keep your mouths shut, understand? I don't want to hear any exaggerated rumors in the village!"

"Yes, Second Boss."

All the bandits retreated, leaving only Lin Qiang, the second-in-command, and the Yuan family servants imprisoned in the huge dungeon.

Lin Qiang knelt down beside a corpse, pinched its carotid artery, and looked it over: "Second Uncle... this..."

“These are assassins.” The second-in-command stood up, walked to the cell door, and looked at the servants inside: “These people are too.”

Suicide squad?

"Then why didn't these people commit suicide?"

“I think it’s because their master didn’t want them to die that they dare not die.” The second-in-command’s aged face was full of worry. “I’ve tried many methods, but I haven’t been able to pry a single word out of these people. Hei Zi, it seems that the little girl you kidnapped has quite a background.”

Lin Qiang rubbed his fingers, feeling incredibly unlucky. Even a random robbery down the mountain turned out to be a tough one; he should have just let them go!

"Second Uncle, don't worry, I'll handle it."

Although he had caused trouble, Lin Qiang wasn't too worried. He had experienced too many ups and downs in his previous life, and this kind of thing wouldn't make him lose his composure.

"I have something else I'd like to ask my second uncle for help with."

"you say."

Lin Qiang thought about his plans and, imitating the original owner's habit, stroked his beard and made up a few reasons, saying, "The second and third brothers went out to recruit brothers and haven't come back for so long. I'm not feeling at ease. So, I wanted to ask my second uncle to go and check on them and tell them to recruit a few hundred more people."

"More?" The second-in-command looked at him suspiciously. "Why? Can the village afford to feed so many people?"

Lin Qiang grinned, his tiger-like eyes shining brightly: "Second Uncle, trust me this once, I have a way."

The second-in-command stared at him for a while, but Lin Qiang was not afraid at all.

"Hei Zi, you've changed a bit these past few days."

Lin Qiang scratched his head like the original owner of the body and smiled憨厚ly: "Really?!"

Seeing this, the second-in-command burst into laughter and patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction: "Hahaha, Hei Zi has grown up and has his own ideas now."

Lin Qiang's tense heart finally relaxed.

After emerging from the dungeon, Lin Qiang went straight to the main hall. He then sat back on the large tiger-skin chair in the center, closing his eyes to ponder his next move.

The story begins when Yuan Luo escapes death and is sold into the Swallow Pavilion. The author only uses flashbacks and interludes to tell about the heroine's inner pain, hatred for men, and the struggle of love and hate with the male protagonist.

So there are still four years before the story begins.

Now that he has sent the second-in-command down the mountain and found an excuse to sever ties with Yuan Liu Niang, he should be safe from any danger if he sees any characters from the book in the future.

The only problem is that the girl he used as an excuse... seems to be a tough nut to crack...

Thinking of this, he immediately got up, returned to his room, pulled out his dusty brush, ink, paper and inkstone from the corner, and wrote down the names of the most important characters in the book.

This includes the female protagonist Yuan Luo, the male protagonist Yuwen Zhe, the unfaithful Han Zhao Shixian, the general Guan Xiao, the head of the six major warlords Yuwen Ting, the leader of the uprising army Hong Xin, the head of the Yuan family Yuan Su Hui, the eldest daughter of the Yuan family Yuan Qiong, and everyone with the surname Yuan!

These are people you should avoid at all costs! Oh, no, you should avoid them just by hearing their names! Getting involved with one of them could mean not knowing how you'd die someday!

Especially that Yuan Qiong, who is the current Crown Princess, the future Empress, and the ultimate boss. Just hearing that string of titles tells you she's not to be trifled with. Don't be fooled by the fact that she shares the same surname as the female lead, is of the same generation, and even has the character "王" (king) in her name. The difference between them is like heaven and earth.

Yuan Qiong was born into a noble family and was a favored daughter of heaven. She was betrothed to the crown prince by the emperor at the age of one month. She was far superior to Yuan Luo, a girl from a remote branch of the family.

From the reign of the late Emperor Taizong onwards, there was an unwritten rule in the court: the empress of every ruler of Yan must be the eldest daughter of the Yuan family. This meant that as long as the Yuan family remained powerful, even if the crown prince died or was deposed, Yuan Qiong had nothing to worry about. Whoever became emperor would ultimately have to marry her.

Moreover, this woman is ruthless, exceptionally cunning, and possesses the aura of a villainous BOSS, shouldering the crucial mission of tormenting the male lead. She's someone the male lead sees as a mortal enemy, and someone the female lead envies and admires. So don't treat her as a supporting female character; she's the BOSS!

Lin Qiang decided to circle those two characters, so that from now on, even if he heard someone with the character "Qiong" in their name, he would run as far away as possible.

After verifying the key figures, it was almost dark. After eating the dinner his younger brother brought him, he set off for the back mountain before it got too dark.

He was always uneasy if he wasn't sure about the girl's identity. What if she was just another character from the story? Then he shook his head. Characters from the story weren't so easy to come by. He couldn't be that unlucky.

By the time he reached the back of the mountain, it was completely dark.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

"Grandma Tian, ​​are you back?"

The rough male voice was extremely jarring in the night, and the hearts of the girls in the two side rooms of the thatched hut stopped for a moment at the same time.

Immediately, the bells on Tan Xiaoque's feet rang: "Boss, Grandma has already gone to sleep."

"Squeak—" The sound of the door opening was accompanied by a little girl's giggles: "It's so late, Master, which sister are you visiting?"

"Which room is the girl I brought today?"

Coming at this hour does seem like they have ill intentions. Lin Qiang coughed lightly and explained, "I'm just here to ask a few questions, and I'll leave after I'm done."

"Oh~ asking questions~" Tan Xiaoque pointed to the door on the left: "It's in that room~ But~ you have to be careful when you ask questions, be careful not to hurt this older sister any further~"

Lin Qiang tugged at the girl's hair bun with displeasure: "Stop joking around, go knock on the door."

Tan Xiaoque pouted: "Go by yourself! I'm sleepy! I want to sleep!"

After saying that, she skipped and hopped back to the main house.

Lin Qiang tiptoed to the door and knocked twice. He said somewhat awkwardly, "Miss, I have something I want to ask you. If you answer me truthfully, I won't come in."

After a while, a clear voice, slightly weak from injury, replied, "Ask away."

"What is your name, young lady?"

Inside the house, Yuan Qiong, unaware of the bandit's intentions, narrowed her slender, fox-like eyes and said, "His surname is Wang, and his given name is Yao."

Wang Yao?

Lin Qiang recalled that the book did not mention this person at all, so he felt relieved.

"Who else is in Miss Wang's household? Are your servants assassins? And who were the men in black who chased you today?"

This time, quite a while passed, but there was still no answer. Lin Qiang knocked on the door a few more times, then deliberately shouted in a fierce voice, "If you don't answer, I'm barging in!"

That's what they said, but Yuan Qiong inside the house didn't see any big movements from the shadow at the door, so she guessed that he was bluffing.

She chuckled, finding it amusing. Are bandits these days so polite? They weren't like this during the robbery this morning.

Thinking of the bandit leader's lewd actions that morning, she suppressed her smile and said in a mournful voice, "My father was originally an official in the capital, but he was framed by treacherous officials and died a violent death. My mother followed my father, and only a few old servants were left to protect me as I left the capital."

She choked back a couple of sobs at the right moment and continued, "Who knew that treacherous minister wouldn't give up? He even sent assassins to hunt me down! If it weren't for your rescue, Chief, I might already be a victim of your blade. I thank you so much, Chief, for saving my life!"

Forehead......

A life-saving grace?

Lin Qiang, standing outside the door, was a little confused.

Wasn't he abducting a woman? How did it become an act of chivalry?

Seeing the silence outside, Yuan Qiong, who was inside the room, realized that her guess was correct; the burly man might be a bit stubborn.

She forced a smile and said, "It's so late, Boss, you should go home now. When Yao'er's injuries are better, I will definitely kowtow to you in gratitude!"

"I'll personally send you to the Yellow Springs!" A flash of murderous intent crossed Yuan Qiong's eyes.

"Then Miss Wang, please get some rest."

As Lin Qiang walked back, he felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Actually, it's not surprising. As someone who had only been in the 21st century for a few days, he wasn't sure if officials could keep assassins. After all, in novels, assassins always seemed cheap and plentiful.

Looking back in the direction of the thatched hut, I thought, "Such a young girl, she probably wouldn't be lying, would she?"

Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the [nutrient solution]:

10 bottles of Lanluo;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!