The fiercest soldier of the border army

On the hillside, hundreds of bandits stood hesitant to move, fearing to harm the enemy.

Clearly, this woman holds a very important position.

In the distance, the dust on the official road gradually settled, and the warhorses stood still, their saddles and bridles still fastened.

The air was filled with the smell of rust and the acrid smell of burnt grass.

"Release her." The burly bandit leader, clearly the bandit chief, spurred his horse forward a few steps and made the decision directly. "We can leave each other alone."

"What a joke!" Tang Shun laughed heartily. "Want to live in peace now? Too late!"

"I'm asking you, who sent you?"

The bandit leader gritted his teeth, "Who cares who they are? Release them! Or we'll fight to the death!"

Tang Shun had known this all along, but in reality, it wasn't hard to guess.

Since he came into this world, he has only had two enemies.

One is Wang Jinda, and the other is Cui Yuanlang.

Wang Jinda was the commander of Datong. Although he had 5,000 troops under his command, he had difficulty assigning the bandits on the border of Lingzhou.

There is only one answer left.

Tang Shun immediately pressed further, "How much money did the Cui family give you?"

The burly bandit suddenly looked up, his pupils shrinking: "How did you know?"

Tang Shun's lips curled slightly, his eyes icy cold. "So it really was the Cui family who paid for it."

The bandit realized he had let something slip and immediately shut up, but his expression was already flustered.

"How much exactly did you receive?" Tang Shun pressed, his tone flat, as if he were simply asking about today's rice price.

"I'm telling you, you release her." The bandit gripped his knife hilt tightly, veins throbbing on his forehead. After a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out, "Three thousand taels of silver."

Tang Shun chuckled softly, a laugh that was loud but clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Three thousand taels?" Tang Shun repeated, as if finding it amusing. "I never thought my life would be worth so much."

The bandits glared at him. "Release him! We've taken the silver, but the mission failed. We won't kill you; you won't lose anything!"

Tang Shun rode his horse slowly towards his own army formation, as if he were on a spring outing.

The bandits along the way glared angrily, wishing they could immediately snatch the woman back from her horse.

However, due to Tang Shun's skill just now and the blade held to the woman's neck, none of them dared to make a move.

"You want her to live? Fine."

Tang Shun didn't even look at them, "Bring five thousand taels of silver to redeem them."

The entire room fell silent.

The burly bandit was taken aback, thinking he had misheard. "What did you say?"

"I said, the ransom is five thousand taels," Tang Shun said calmly. "She's a hostage I captured. If you want her back, you have to pay."

The bandit leader was stunned, then laughed in fury: "I've been robbing others for decades, and this is the first time I've heard of anyone daring to rob me! Are you crazy?"

"Besides, I only got three thousand taels for the job to kill you. You think I'd lose money just because you open your mouth?"

"That's your business," Tang Shun replied calmly. "You take money to kill people, and I'll take people to exchange for money."

"The principle is the same, the difference is—I have the upper hand now."

"You!" the bandit leader roared, raising his foot to charge, and several bandits behind him also became agitated.

Tang Shun held a knife to the woman's neck with one hand and pointed the other at her eyes. "If you go any further, I'll gouge her eyes out right now."

The movement stopped.

The burly bandit was furious, breathing heavily, but ultimately made no further move.

He said in a muffled voice, "Why would I carry money when I'm out robbing people?"

Tang Shun stared at the burly bandit, and said with great consideration and gentle smile, "It's alright, just write an IOU. I'll collect it when I pass through Lingzhou someday."

The valley was silent except for the rustling of the wind through the withered grass.

"You..." the bandit leader practically forced out the words, "Don't go too far!"

"Excessive?" Tang Shun sneered. "You came to kill me, and all I asked for was money. Is that excessive?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room, filled with oppressive intent. "I can kill her right now, even if it means mutual destruction."

"You might be able to rush up and cut down a few of us, or even a dozen."

"But I tell you, my soldiers are all battle-hardened veterans!"

"Even if we win by sheer numbers, it will be a Pyrrhic victory!"

"At most, half of them will make it back alive!"

"Besides, those three thousand taels were for my life; in other words, they were my money."

"In other words—"

Tang Shun raised his chin, "Two hundred lives plus two thousand taels of silver, in exchange for someone important to you? Can't you even calculate this?"

Tang Shun's men stared wide-eyed, unable to distinguish who the bandits were for a moment.

The burly bandit's face was ashen, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

He glanced back at his men, who were all furious but remained silent.

They both knew that the other party wasn't bluffing.

From the battle just now, they had figured out the tactics of this team—their advances and retreats were orderly, their commands were consistent, and their crossbow bolts were so accurate that they could kill riders on horseback.

If pushed too far, the enemy might fight to the death, and we might not be able to break through their defenses.

After this battle, they will suffer heavy casualties.

"Fine!" The burly bandit finally bowed his head, gritting his teeth as he asked, "How should the IOU be written?"

"Write down your name and courtesy name clearly. You owe Tang Shun five thousand taels of silver."

Tang Shun said calmly, "Press your fingerprint and sign the document. If there is any falsehood, I will come looking for you in the future and wipe out the entire village without leaving any survivors."

A soldier stepped forward and handed him paper and pen, which were military documents he carried with him.

The burly bandit took the pen, a glint of cunning in his eyes.

He lowered his head and wrote, his handwriting resembling scribbles. After finishing, he bit his finger and pressed down hard on the bloody mark.

"Niu Juhe? What a nice name." Tang Shun took the IOU, examined it carefully, and put it into his pocket.

It turns out that the bandit leader was named Niu Jida.

"The IOU is written, you can release them now!" Niu Jiju's voice was hoarse.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be going to Lingzhou in a while."

Tang Shun patted his sleeves, as if he had just made a routine deal. "You can wait for me here when the time comes. We'll exchange money for people."

"You're not releasing them now?"

"It depends on my mood," Tang Shun replied softly. "I'm not in a good mood today, so I won't let you go."

"You! You're being unreasonable!"

Niu Jiju stared intently at him, his eyes burning with anger, but due to his limited cultural knowledge, he didn't know what words to use to curse Tang Shun.

"Reasoning with bandits? I'm not used to that." Tang Shun remained calm. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to her during this time. I'll just take her to Tingzhou for a stroll."

Tang Shun ignored the bandits and waved his hand, ordering, "Form ranks, let's set off."

The bandits stood their ground, none of them yielding, clearly unwilling to give up.

Niu Jiju's expression shifted repeatedly, but he finally gritted his teeth and ordered, "Let them go!"

The convoy slowly started moving, its wheels crushing over gravel and bloodstains.

The soldiers stood guard on both sides, their steps precise and orderly, showing no sign of panic.

Niu Jige stood there dumbfounded, feeling that he had never suffered such a great loss before.

He looked up at the departing figures of the group, his hand gripping the knife never loosening its hold...