The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1637 Tribulation
To become a bandit, one must have access to mountains. This provides ample strategic depth and space for maneuver, allowing one to evade government pursuit. Otherwise, one wouldn't be living in the mountains, but rather begging for food on their knees at the foot of the mountains.

There are only two mountain ranges near Yangzhou: the Dabie Mountains in western Anhui and the Huangshan Mountains in southern Anhui. The distances to these two places are not much different. However, southern Anhui suffered a brutal massacre in the subsequent war, while western Anhui fared much better.

Without leaving the battlefield, the Dabie Mountains, 700 li to the west, became an inevitable destination.

On the dusty road, more than twenty horse-drawn carts loaded with goods were surrounded by their handlers and a group of burly men. Behind the caravan, a long, sparse line of people stretched out.

The caravan looked strong, so the people they encountered naturally lagged behind. But because of the difference in their speed, they were gradually left behind, which led to the situation we see today.

"Judging from your appearance, the four of you are all quite young and well-dressed, you must come from wealthy families. Why are you not accompanied by any adults?"

Those lagging behind in the caravan, seeing the group of four following closely behind, couldn't help but ask them questions out of curiosity.

Zhao Erhu led the donkey, with Liansheng sitting on it and Jiang Wuyang following beside him. Wang Yan, on the other hand, walked unsteadily with a knife across his neck and his arms outstretched.

Jiang Wuyang replied, "We can manage on our own. Look, we all have knives."

He patted the knife he was carrying to indicate that he had bought it in Chuzhou when they stopped there to rest. He and Erhu each had a steel knife, and they were also given daggers. It cost quite a bit of money.

The man threw his head back and burst into laughter, and the others joined in: "You're not even fully grown yet, do you know how to use a knife? Huh? Hahaha..."

Jiang Wuyang was a little annoyed. He was like this when he was young. When others made teasing remarks, it would touch his sensitive self-esteem. Children also have face.

But wanting to avoid trouble, he kept quiet.

Wang Yan chimed in, "Brother, we don't have any adults to take care of us. We were born and raised by nature, and the nice clothes we wear are stolen."

"Stolen? I bet it was stolen. You guys are really bold, a bunch of barely grown-up boys and girls, daring to wield knives and guns and travel all over the country. Aren't you afraid of being captured and turned into meat?"

"Isn't there a knife? If I can't kill someone else, can't I at least slit my own throat and suffer less?"

"That's quite a bold statement," the man nodded in approval.

"Brother, where are you headed?"

"Hefei. What, are you going to come along?"

"We're going to Lu'an, it's on our way. We'll also learn some experience from the older brother about how to make a living in the world."

"Listen to what this silly kid is saying? Experience from the martial world? Hahaha..."

After everyone laughed, the man said, "Silly boy, what kind of martial arts world is this? It's just a dog-eat-dog world. Whoever has the biggest fist eats the most. Let me tell you something else: if you do what I say, you're not too unlucky, and you'll live a long life."

"Please enlighten me."

"Listen more! Observe less! Talk less!"

Jiang Wuyang continued, "Then what did you tell us?"

"Hey, you silly boy, you're asking for it!" Without saying a word, the man slapped Jiang Wuyang on the back of the head.

Jiang Wuyang was furious, and then...

Wang Yan withdrew his gaze, turned back, and asked with a smile, "Brother, how's business with your escort missions?"

"You can read?" The man looked at the flag raised on the caravan, which read 'Zhiyuan Escort Agency'.

"If you recognize a few, you can write one, two, three, four, five, six."

“That’s better than being illiterate. Finally, you mentioned the business of escorting goods…” The man shook his head, clicking his tongue, “Escorting goods involves traveling all over the country, getting to know everyone, which sounds impressive, but it’s hard-earned money.”

Jiang Wuyang interjected, "Shouldn't it be money earned by risking one's life?"

With a muffled thud, the man slapped Jiang Wuyang on the back of the head again.

"You really are naive. Escorting goods is about making money, not risking your life. We make sure to take care of all the big and small fry along the way. Some pay, some do the work, everyone gives each other face, and we don't have to fight. It's peaceful. If we were to fight our way through, how many of us would survive and make money?"

Giving the chubby-faced Jiang Wuyang a disdainful look, the man then said, "But it's true that bloodshed is inevitable. You never know when a strongman might appear. If an acquaintance is beaten to death and driven away, and they block the way, then in the beginning, whoever passes by will be unlucky."

He looked completely calm and collected, waiting for the silly boy to press for answers.

So Jiang Wuyang asked, "Why?"

"What else could it be? They need to establish their authority. They need to let all the people coming from the south, north, east, and west know who's in charge. How can they establish their authority without taking a few lives? There's also the case where there are really some people who aren't very bright. They only know how to kill and rob and never repeat the same business. Such a business won't last long. Once no one leaves their area, they'll learn to follow the rules."

When people travel, they are only after money. This includes murder and robbery, blocking roads, becoming an official, doing business, and even rebelling when they can't survive. If they understand the situation, they can change the world; if they don't, they will be suppressed.

As the people from the escort agency said, escort agencies and highway robbers are essentially in cahoots; they all make money off these businessmen. Even large merchant houses, supporting their own staff, can't possibly handle everything; they always need these escort agencies that are experts in local business. Other small businessmen, with smaller shipments, will find someone to accompany them and hire guards together.

This tacit understanding between highway robbers and road touts has truly created many jobs and boosted consumption. After all, these self-proclaimed chivalrous individuals are quite adventurous and spend money far more lavishly than ordinary people who toil in the fields or work in workshops…

"Don't believe those storytellers who talk about the martial world and loyalty. They're just fooling you idiots. If you actually believe that stuff, you won't even know how you died." This man spoke the golden advice of those who live in the martial world.

Jiang Wuyang remained silent, his neck stiff. Wang Yan chuckled, indicating he understood, and then inquired about the escort business with the man. Of course, he would flatter him; it wasn't a secret, and once flattered, he was happy to reveal it and show off.

Zhiyuan Escort Agency's main business is in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, specifically the Yangzhou-Hefei-Xuzhou-Huai'an-Yangzhou loop. While it sounds like a large operation, they only have a little over a hundred people, making it impossible to cover the entire loop. In fact, they aren't entirely confident in their ability to operate along this single route.

It all happened gradually, through delivering goods to the prayer docks and seeking introductions. But it's impossible for over a hundred people to control such a large route.

Because this area is located on a plain, the robbers are local thugs and bandits. Some of these people would run away after committing one heist, while others were foolishly bold and refused to run, and were soon dealt with by the government.

Therefore, in these places, the escort agency associates with local criminal gangs, who have been causing trouble ever since, and can spread their harm from inside the city to outside the city...

As for the specific revenue situation, that was, of course, a secret, and Wang Yan did not receive an answer.

"Brother, you've been asking so many questions, are you thinking we should also start a镖局 (escort agency)?" Zhao Erhu asked quietly. "Food won't just grow in the mountains, let alone meat. You think just bringing people out will solve everything? Haven't you heard people say that life as a bandit in the mountains isn't easy? It's always good to know more. We'll talk about whether to do it or not later."

Lian Sheng, riding on a donkey, spoke up: "You are all too young. You are inexperienced and unreliable. Even if you opened a security escort agency, you wouldn't have any business."

"Don't speak!" Zhao Erhu glared at him.

So Lian Sheng pursed his lips, looked around at the same scenery.

Jiang Wuyang interjected, "Second sister-in-law is right, eldest brother..."

"Get lost, it's not time yet." Wang Yan waved his hand. "Master Li is a kind man. We still have more than a thousand taels of silver, enough for us to eat and drink well for a few years."

And so, Wang Yan and the others traveled westward with the caravan. After more than a day, just as they were about to stop and rest near dusk, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Jiang Wuyang was only thirteen years old, the age when he was active and couldn't stop talking.

Of course, Zhao Erhu wasn't particularly profound; it's just that many times the questions he wanted to ask were already asked by Jiang Wuyang. He wasn't the eldest brother anymore, so he didn't need to answer Jiang Wuyang's questions and thus remained silent.

The man who had been chatting with Wang Yan sighed, "The highway robbers are here! Don't talk nonsense, or you'll lose your lives. Don't blame me for not warning you."

"Thank you." Wang Yan nodded with a smile.

The procession of more than twenty horse-drawn carriages could stretch for over two hundred meters from front to back. But if something happened, the procession would quickly regroup and compress to within a few dozen meters.

Those who were close to the caravan naturally moved closer to the shrinking circle, while the sparser people further back turned around and ran away first.

After a while, the group had shrunk. Several men dressed in tattered clothes, dragging knives, swaggered around, shaking their heads and scanning the faces of the crowd with sharp eyes. They were extremely arrogant.

No one made eye contact with them; they all nervously avoided looking at each other.

"You! Raise your head!" A robber walked over, leering at Lian Sheng who had his head down.

"You..." Zhao Erhu shouted, about to lash out.

Wang Yan put her arm around his neck: "It's no big deal to look, just look up."

Upon hearing this, Lian Sheng obediently raised her head, her eyes sparkling, looking utterly pitiful.

"This little wench is really pretty." The man chuckled. "This little wench has bound feet; if you could smell her, she'd be incredibly fragrant. You little brats are wasting your time with her. Come with me, grandpa."

“Sir…” The burly man from the escort agency, who had been chatting with Wang Yan the whole way, couldn’t help but speak up, but was stopped by the people around him.

"Big Brother!" Zhao Erhu's eyes widened, and blood vessels appeared on them.

"I can hear you, why are you shouting so loudly?"

Wang Yan glanced at him impatiently, "What did I tell you? You need to stay calm in the face of trouble."

The burly robber burst into laughter, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. However, before he could say anything, he was sent flying.

Wang Yan kicked him away, then swiftly drew his knife and severed the tendons of one of the robbers next to the flying man, then kicked him in the leg. He then attacked the other robbers.

Everything he did, though swift, was still far from his actual speed to onlookers. He was holding back to avoid making it seem too exaggerated.

After he quickly dealt with the two men, the others reacted. Zhao Erhu shouted "Kill!" and drew his knife, rushing forward to slash at one of the robbers in front of him.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) and the bandits, who had been waiting to negotiate, instinctively drew their swords and began to slash, resulting in a direct fight.

Wang Yan didn't want to be a burden to anyone, nor did he want to harm anyone, so he quickly cut down the nearby bandits and ran ahead to support the guards of the escort agency.

The battle progressed quickly, lasting only a few minutes, and this sudden, small-scale skirmish of robbery and resistance ended.

The scene was horrific: blood, severed limbs, corpses, excrement, and wailing. The镖局 (escort agency) personnel silently cleaned up the battlefield, watching the few young men on the other side act like madmen.

“Come on, second brother.” Wang Yan put his arm around Erhu and walked up to the robber who had been teased first. “You’ve never killed anyone before. Let’s kill him to practice.”

He then pulled Jiang Wuyang in front of the robber whose tendons he had severed and whose legs he had kicked: "You too, Third Brother, always shouting about killing and bloodshed. Come on, I'll give you your chance."

……

The people on the sidelines just watched, witnessing firsthand how a ruthless bandit is made.

Even those who work in escort agencies and roam the martial world don't necessarily see blood on their hands. Where do they find so many people for them to kill? There are plenty of people in this world who get killed. These martial arts practitioners aren't anything special; they're just well-nourished, physically strong, know a few martial arts moves, and have a bit of courage, all for various reasons.

But it's the youngsters like Wang Yan who are the same age as him, especially those who, like Wang Yan, displayed such high-level martial arts skills earlier, and whose attacks were swift and decisive, that are truly frightening.

The men who had been chatting idly with Wang Yan the whole way were now trembling. Especially after seeing Jiang Wuyang wiping the blood from his face and turning back to glare at them…

"What are you glaring at? He's teaching us a lesson. He's a good person." Wang Yan slapped Jiang Wuyang, then turned back and smiled at the man. "Brother, sorry, the kid is just being ignorant."

The man shook his head repeatedly: "It's nothing, it's nothing, it was my fault for touching him."

Just then, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) walked over, glanced at the two corpses on the ground, and smiled as he bowed to Wang Yan, saying, "Young...brother, thank you for your righteous intervention, otherwise..."

"Oh, what are you saying, Chief Escort? It was clearly us who messed things up, but we had our reasons. We couldn't very well send my sister-in-law to be defiled, could we? Your brothers were also injured, but thankfully none of them lost their lives, which means we brothers committed fewer sins. This place is less than a hundred miles from Hefei, so we'll travel through the night to avoid causing you any trouble."

“You’ve misunderstood, young man. I’ve come to thank you. These guys are strangers, and they came up to snatch a woman right away. They’re not easy to deal with. Even if we were to settle accounts, the money we’ve already paid for the medicine is far too little compared to giving them silver. Besides, it’ll be easier for these people to die. No one will come looking for them, so we won’t have any trouble. Don’t worry. We’ll have dinner together in a bit.”

"Then thank you." Wang Yan cupped his hands in thanks...

The caravan crew and the guards from the escort agency busied themselves digging a pit and destroying the evidence...

I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!