Ultimate True Lord

Jiang Ming stuffed the silver into his pocket, got up, and walked towards the herb-gathering team.

After this fierce battle, everyone only suffered minor injuries. Thanks to the ambush at the beginning that killed two people first, and the overwhelming force made the rest of the battle much easier.

Lin Fei slowly stepped forward, his eyes filled with turbulent emotions as he looked at Jiang Ming, no longer showing any of his previous disdain.

From the moment Jiang Ming returned home at dusk, he used lime powder to detect an intruder, then set up an ambush to subdue the enemy first. Just now, he single-handedly used every trick in the book to head-on kill the experienced and ruthless bandit leader.

Such composure, caution, and ruthless methods are hardly those of a seventeen-year-old boy.

At this moment, he no longer held any contempt in his heart, but was filled with shock and admiration, as well as a sense of relief and lingering fear.

If Jiang Ming hadn't succeeded in his plan, their entire herb-gathering team would probably have perished in the wilderness tonight, killed by bandits.

Lin Fei looked at Jiang Ming, raised his hands in a fist salute, and said gratefully.

"Jiang Tou, if it weren't for your meticulous planning and foresight today, and for single-handedly holding off that bandit leader, our entire herb-gathering team would have perished here! I will never forget your great kindness!"

At this moment, his address to Jiang Ming had changed from "Little Brother Jiang" to "Head Jiang." After this battle, Lin Fei was completely and utterly convinced of Jiang Ming's worth.

"Thank you, Jiang Tou!"

"Thank you, Jiang Tou!"

The other members of the herb-gathering team also expressed their gratitude, their eyes showing considerable approval of Jiang Ming. The initial unfamiliarity among them quickly transformed into trust and respect.

Afterwards, if the team goes into the mountains to collect herbs again, probably no one will doubt Jiang Ming in the slightest, let alone look down on him.

The group then cleaned up the battlefield. Although Jiang Ming had a feeling that things were not so simple, he still made sure to destroy any traces of Ren Lie's body to prevent the characteristics of the Red Sand Palm from being recognized.

They then searched for a deserted slope deep in the mountains that night and disposed of all the corpses. Not long after, the low howls of wolves echoed through the forest.

Inside the hut, the remaining survivor was being interrogated.

After several rounds of questioning, all the people learned was that Black Stone Stronghold was responsible and that the deceased was their third leader, Ren Lie; they knew nothing else. Clearly, this person was just a low-level henchman, incapable of accessing the secrets of the conspiracy behind the scenes.

With everything settled, no one dared to linger and they returned overnight.

Traveling day and night, the group covered a distance that took two full hours.

In chaotic times, there are no hard and fast rules about city gates. They identified themselves as the Wen family's herb-gathering team, and with the guards as witnesses, the city soldiers quickly opened the gates and let the group into the city.

That night, candlelight was lit at Wen's Pharmacy.

Wen Jin was awakened by the noise in the middle of the night and rushed to the square. When she saw Jiang Ming and his group covered in blood and looking exhausted, her expression changed immediately.

Lin Fei immediately stepped forward and briefly explained how they had been ambushed by bandits in the mountains, and how Jiang Ming had seen through the conspiracy and turned the tide.

As soon as she finished speaking, Wen Jin looked at Jiang Ming with deep shock in her eyes.

He initially offered Jiang Ming a hefty sum to win him over, mostly out of spite and to compete with Fang Heng. He never really took this mediocre young man, who only managed to break through at the very end, seriously.

At most, they were just treated as a useful follower, someone to be helped casually, but not as equals.

But he did not expect that this usually taciturn boy was actually quite resourceful and had personally killed Ren Lie, the third leader of Black Stone Village, a ruthless and experienced martial artist.

A young body, but shrewd and experienced.

The contrast was striking, like a normally docile and calm house dog suddenly baring its fangs and transforming into a ferocious tiger, instantly killing any formidable enemy. That fleeting glimpse of ferocity was chilling.

In the courtyard, the group had a conversation.

Jiang Ming was always cautious, so his first instruction was to keep everything that happened that night a secret and not let anyone know that Ren Lie had died at his hands.

He didn't know how much the Black Stone Village knew about the inside story. The only thing he could do was to keep the news down as much as possible to avoid causing himself more trouble due to the rumors.

Wen Jin nodded immediately without the slightest hesitation: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Even if Jiang Ming hadn't said anything, he had planned to suppress the matter. The Wen family's newly formed herb-gathering team had been ambushed by bandits. Even if they successfully protected them, word would still damage the reputation of the pharmacy, raise concerns about their safety, and create unnecessary trouble.

Both for public and private reasons, blocking the news is the best option.

The two understood each other perfectly and quickly devised a plan. Wen Jin immediately gave orders that the herb-gathering team accompanying them today be strictly forbidden from revealing anything about their experience in the mountains, and that it be treated as an ordinary return from herb gathering.

In addition, to keep everyone quiet, Wen Jin immediately ordered someone to bring silver and distributed it to everyone present as a form of appeasement.

In reality, it was hush money, which both appeased the public and prevented the possibility of the news leaking out.

Afterwards, the group counted the several fine iron knives seized from the bandits, which were then taken by Wen's Pharmacy for resale, with the proceeds distributed according to merit.

Jiang Ming and his three guards took the lion's share, while the other herb gatherers also received their share. Everyone was overjoyed to have benefited.

Jiang Ming, on the other hand, kept Ren Lie's sword, which was of excellent quality, sharp and easy to use, and was perfect for self-defense.

This time, Jiang Ming made a great contribution, saving the entire team. Wen Jin even offered him thirty taels of silver, half a year's salary, as a generous reward.

However, Jiang Ming declined the silver and asked Wen Jin if the reward could be exchanged for a proper martial art that could be cultivated to a high level of skill.

A proper martial arts lineage that can achieve powerful and vigorous results is quite rare, and is highly sought after but not readily available, depending entirely on whether the martial artist is willing to teach it.

However, given the Wen family's large and powerful influence, and Jiang Ming's significant contributions this time, Wen Jin still gifted him the Azure Luo Hand technique cultivated by the Wen family's guards.

They even gave Jiang Ming an extra ten taels of silver as a reward.

Jiang Ming was overjoyed and bowed in thanks. To him, this cultivation technique was far more valuable than silver.

Time flew by, and everyone dispersed.

Just as Jiang Ming was about to leave, he slowly walked up to Wen Jin and lowered his voice to remind him, "Senior Brother Wen, please be more careful in the future."

"I just fought Ren Lie. I lied about my martial arts background, but he saw through it immediately. He knew my identity all along, so he must have specifically investigated the Wen family's herb-gathering team..."

He paused, then guessed, "This ambush is probably not a random attack, but rather aimed at our team. Things aren't that simple; we must be careful."

Wen Jin's expression darkened slightly, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, and her face became solemn.

"I understand, Junior Brother Jiang, thank you for reminding me."

At 9 PM, Jiang Ming returned home laden with his loot.

He carried more than twenty taels of silver in his pocket and held a transcribed copy of the "Azure Silk Hand" manual in his hand, and hurried back to the Red Sand Martial Arts School.

"An unexpected surprise! I've actually obtained a powerful martial arts technique ahead of schedule."

Back in the tent hut, Jiang Ming couldn't wait to light the oil lamp and, by its dim light, spent the whole night studying the secret manual, carefully reading its methods.