His entire family perished in battle; he rose from the ashes to conquer the world.

Along the way, they hadn't gone into the mountains. Combined with what Wang Mazi had said, Mu Yuan immediately thought of the saying "the darkest place is under the lamp"!

In the early years, during the suppression of bandits on the border, the mountain bandits in this area were almost completely wiped out.

Black Cloud Village was the only one that was not found.

Then there's only one possibility: the bandits of Black Cloud Village played a trick on those in the dark!

Half an hour later.

Mu Yuan followed Wang Mazi to a village.

It's true what they say, the darkest place is under the lamp!

It was known as Black Cloud Village, but in reality, it was a village built by bandits to cover their tracks.

No wonder the Western Army suppressed bandits in their early years.

Black Cloud Village has not been found!

Just then, Wang Mazi took out a strip of cloth from his pocket and handed it to Mu Yuan: "Just to be safe, you all need to be blindfolded!"

He kept his promise and didn't blindfold Mu Yuan along the way, but now that they had arrived at Black Cloud Village, he had to at least maintain appearances to avoid arousing suspicion.

Mu Yuan did not refuse.

Since he had already arrived at Black Cloud Village, he had secretly left marks along the way.

Mu Yuan and his group of six dismounted, blindfolded themselves, and Mu Yuan put his hand on Wang Mazi's shoulder. Following this gesture, Wang Mazi led the way on foot into the village.

I don't know how much time passed.

When the blindfold was removed.

Mu Yuan and his group were already inside an ancestral hall.

In front of.

There were three armchairs standing there.

At this moment, three elderly men are sitting in these three chairs. They have kind faces and give off a refined and scholarly air.

Mu Yuan looked at the three people sitting in the armchair.

Based on their appearance and demeanor, Mu Yuan couldn't help but begin to suspect that Wang Mazi was deliberately deceiving him, and that this place was not the so-called Black Cloud Village.

"Big boss!"

Wang Mazi bowed to the old man sitting in the middle.

The old man nodded slightly, his gaze shifting between the two women, Qin Hongxiu and Lin Xueshang, as he spoke in a voice incongruous with his age:

"Hey, who's that stunning beauty?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Mazi became exceptionally cautious, pointing at Qin Hongxiu: "It's this one."

The old man's gaze locked onto Qin Hongxiu, a satisfied expression appearing on his face:

"good!"

At this point, he looked at Lin Xueshang again and said with a puzzled tone, "This person looks...someone familiar!"

Lin Xueshang remained expressionless, though a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes.

Mu Yuan stepped in front of Lin Xueshang and said to the old man, "Boss, this is my beloved. I can't sell her to you."

"Interesting." The old man smiled knowingly, his gaze returning to Qin Hongxiu. He asked Mu Yuan, "How much do you plan to sell such a stunning beauty for?"

"One thousand taels!" Mu Yuan said bluntly.

The old man narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and was about to nod in agreement.

Mu Yuan added:

"It's gold!"

A cold glint flashed in the old man's eyes, and his tone was somber:

"Boy, aren't you being a bit too greedy? Even if the woman you brought is beautiful, she's not worth a thousand taels of gold! Are you here to trade, or to cause trouble?"

The words fell.

A large number of people carrying weapons emerged from all around the corners.

Their eyes were fierce, and many of them wore heavy armor.

Seeing this, Mu Yuan was secretly shocked. He hadn't expected that many of these bandits were wearing armor.

It should be understood that for someone outside the Great Qian army to possess armor privately is tantamount to treason, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their family.

Furthermore, armor isn't something you can just make whenever you want.

It requires highly skilled craftsmen.

The armor worn by these bandits was clearly in the style of the Great Qian Dynasty, which indicated that they had master craftsmen who could make armor.

Are they bandits?

They are clearly traitors with the ability to rebel!

Since arriving here, Mu Yuan's doubts have not only not been resolved, but have instead deepened, leaving him shrouded in a thick fog of mystery.

Suppressing his doubts, Mu Yuan coldly replied to the old man, "Is the chief planning to seize it by force?"

Noticing that Mu Yuan showed no fear, the old man became more interested. He waved his hand, and all his men, who were holding weapons, retreated.

"What's your name?" the old man asked.

"Mu Yun".

To avoid suspicion when questioned, Mu Yuan used a pseudonym. From the moment he arrived in Diancheng, he presented himself to the outside world under the pseudonym Mu Yun.

"You're bold and have a big appetite. I admire you." The old man looked at Mu Yuan with satisfaction.

As he spoke, he grabbed his hair with his right hand and yanked it sharply.

Tear off the mask that was stuck to your head.

The lineup was revealed.

The man who had just been an elderly man has now shed his disguise and is now a middle-aged man in his prime.

He had a mustache, sharp eyes, and a menacing aura.

The two elderly men on the left and right sides also tore off their disguises one after another.

The two men revealed their true appearances; their ages were similar to the man with the thick mustache, both being middle-aged men in their prime.

The middle-aged man on the left has a full beard and wide, bulging eyes like a leopard, looking fierce enough to scare a child to tears.

The middle-aged man on the right has no particular features; his gestures and movements suggest he is a schoolteacher.

Mu Yuan was not surprised at all that the three men had disguised themselves. The moment he heard the gang leader speak in a voice that did not match his age, he had already suspected that all three of them had disguised themselves.

Now that the three have shed their disguises, it confirms Mu Yuan's suspicions.

"This is Zhou Bao, the second-in-command of my Black Cloud Stronghold." The head leader pointed to the fierce-looking middle-aged man on the left, then to the man on the right who looked like a schoolteacher: "This is Qi Jingchun, the third-in-command of my Black Cloud Stronghold!"

After listening to the foreman's introduction, Mu Yuan politely clasped his hands in a fist and nodded to the two men, then looked at the foreman:

"May I ask your honorable name, Master?"

"Li Tai!"

When asked his name, the head constable Li Tai raised his head, his brows revealing a strange sense of superiority over his surname.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries.

The head clerk, Li Tai, suppressed his smile: "Mu Yun, if it weren't for your courage, I certainly wouldn't have kept you here. However, shouldn't you lower your price a bit?"

Although Li Tai was a bandit, he knew that business was business.

He could lead a group of henchmen to burn, kill, and plunder elsewhere, but buying and selling were different from robbery.

If you ruin your reputation during a buying and selling transaction, once the news gets out, no one will come to trade with you anymore, which is equivalent to losing a way to make money.

"No bargaining!" Mu Yuan showed no intention of backing down.

His offer of an unacceptable price was clearly an attempt to buy time; he couldn't possibly sell Qin Hongxiu to Li Tai, the bandit leader.

Seeing that Mu Yuan showed no room for compromise, Li Tai's face immediately darkened: "I'm only willing to talk to you because I appreciate you, and I've even shown my true colors to demonstrate my sincerity. Don't be ungrateful!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan smiled:

"Appreciating me is your business, boss. I didn't ask you to reveal your true colors!"

These words were spoken.

The atmosphere suddenly...