From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Lu Jin agreed.

If we can act within the rules and not use our superpowers on ordinary people in the city, that would be ideal.

So the four of them found an inn.

After ordering a pot of tea and a table of dishes, Jiang Liu asked the innkeeper, "Innkeeper, we've passed through many small towns along the way, but your place is the only one that's so deserted?"

Upon hearing this, the innkeeper's eyes flickered slightly, and he hesitated before finally saying, "Young sir, Goose City is different from other places. If you are in a hurry to get going, you should leave first thing tomorrow morning. By the way, don't go through the south gate on the side of the watchtower; leave through the north gate instead, and take a detour."

"Oh, thank you for letting me know."

Jiang Liu clasped his hands in thanks to the shopkeeper.

Why did you stop asking?

Li Muxuan lowered his voice, his face showing confusion.

Lu Jin was the same.

Only Ren Jiating frowned and said, "It seems that Huang Silang is extremely difficult to deal with."

"Yes, troublesome."

Seeing that Lu Jin and Li Muxuan were still confused, Jiang Liu explained to them, "We didn't ask because we already knew the result from the shopkeeper's answer and attitude."

Those who can run an inn, while not necessarily well-connected, must possess a keen and shrewd mind. The fact that even the innkeeper is so cautious can only prove one thing: Huang Silang has many spies in the city, and many of the oppressed people there might even be considering informing on him to gain his favor and escape their plight.

"Hmph, you despicable person."

Li Muxuan scoffed, but he knew that such people did exist, and there were quite a few of them. Even though they were also being bullied, they didn't empathize with those who were being bullied. Instead, they wanted to step on them to rise to the top, and they were proud of it.

"Secondly, judging from the shopkeeper's own fear, Huang Silang is ruthless and probably killed many people who dared to oppose him in a 'reasonable' way within the rules."

Jiang Liu continued, "In other words, there is no one in the city who dares to resist him anymore."

Lu Jin's expression darkened.

If the people do not have the will to resist Huang Silang, then even if they teach Huang Silang a lesson or even give away all his money, after they leave, when Huang Silang goes to collect the money, they will have no choice but to obediently hand it over.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't dare."

Jiang Liu said, "This means that Huang Silang has a lot of men under his command, well-equipped, and most likely has stockpiled a lot of weapons."

"arms!"

Lu Jin clicked her tongue in amazement.

Times have changed. The existence of firearms has given ordinary people the ability to threaten the lives of superhumans...

In ancient times, even the most powerful superhumans could not withstand the encirclement and suppression of an army composed of ordinary people, like Xiang Yu. But in this era, the advent of firearms has made it possible for an ordinary person to kill a superhuman who has been training for twenty years by surprise.

Moreover, Lu Jin, who comes from the long-established Lu family, also knows a secret: gunpowder was the first substance to appear on the land of China.

But it was precisely because the superhumans of that era realized that if gunpowder continued to be researched, it would seriously threaten their status, that they kept pushing their research toward fireworks.

However, while our own people didn't study it, the barbarians in the West began to study it, shattering the Qing Dynasty's dream and affecting the peace and stability of the entire land.

"Look at you, so timid!"

Li Muxuan looked disgusted.

"Don't be nervous. Huang Silang is a bully, but he's also a smart man. Using force is his last resort, and he'll only do it in secret. After all, he's not a warlord. He's making money within the rules, so he has to follow the rules in public as well."

Jiang Liu comforted Lu Jin, "And Huang Silang's home is undoubtedly inside that watchtower."

After all, the shopkeeper reminded us that we couldn't go through the south gate from the watchtower, which must mean that only Huang Silang and the warlords connected to him could go through that gate.

In this Goose City, Huang Silang is the local tyrant.

The emperor would never allow commoners to use the main gate, especially not the main gate of the 'imperial palace'.

"Ridiculous! How many years has it been since the last emperor? And you still dream of becoming emperor?" Li Muxuan couldn't help but scoff, but then asked, "How do you know so much?"

"It's simple. If you had been following my old man around the world since you were three years old, coming into contact with all sorts of people, you would have understood the ins and outs of this place very quickly."

Jiang Liu casually said, "In the future, when you go out on your own, don't keep making things difficult for people. Otherwise, even if you help them in the end, they may not thank you. They might even complain that you're meddling in other people's business."

"They deserved it!"

Li Muxuan knew he was in the wrong, but he still argued with Jiang Liu verbally.

"Guests, your food is here!"

At this moment, the waiter brought out a plate of roast goose and said with a smile, "The roast goose in Goose City is the most succulent. Please enjoy your meal."

"Wait a minute, waiter."

Jiang Liu stopped him and asked, "Do you know where the county government office is in Goose City?"

"The county government office? It's in the area east of the city."

The waiter asked in confusion, "Sir, what do you need the county government for?"

"Well, I had a distant relative who I heard came here to be the county magistrate. I wanted to visit him and see if I could get some travel expenses from him." Jiang Liu made up a story so easily that Lu Jin and Li Muxuan stared at him with their mouths agape, as if they were meeting him for the first time.

"You might not be able to borrow the money. The previous five county magistrates here were all very stingy!"

A hint of disgust flashed in the waiter's eyes, then he added, "Besides, the person is already dead."

"died?"

Ren Jiating was startled. "So, Goose City doesn't have a county magistrate right now?"

"There is no county magistrate. None of the county magistrates who came here to take office are good people. They made us collect money to go out of the city to suppress bandits, and then they never came back. I heard from the brave people who went out of the city to investigate that the county magistrates are all dead. Not one of them survived, and the money was taken by a group of bandits outside the city."

Xiao Er had no good impression of the county magistrate and spoke his mind bluntly, almost cursing him outright!

# Chapter 48: Nurturing Bandits to Enhance One's Own Reputation?

After the waiter left, Lu Jin suggested, "Why don't we go outside the city and wipe out that band of bandits?"

Although bandits are just ordinary people, when extraordinary individuals go to suppress them, they become great heroes that the people talk about with great interest.

Furthermore,

Having achieved merit in suppressing bandits, they gained a reputation in Goose Town. As the local tyrant of Goose Town, Huang Silang would naturally receive them personally.

I will be able to personally verify Huang Silang's background at that time.

"Don't be impatient."

Jiang Liu reassured him, "If what that waiter said is true, then the previous five county magistrates were all killed by bandits. Not only did they lose their money, but they also lost their lives."

It is clear that this gang of bandits is a major threat to Goose City.

If that's true, then as the landlord of Goose Town, Huang Silang should be the most concerned about suppressing bandits, not because he's kind, but because the existence of bandits means he might also be robbed.

But what is the truth?

Although they have not yet met Huang Silang, if Huang Silang truly intends to suppress the bandits, the people in the city, even if they are dissatisfied with his character, will support him instead of being as fearful as they are now.

therefore--

"Is Huang Silang connected with that gang of bandits?"

Li Muxuan guessed.

"To raise an enemy for one's own benefit?" Lu Jin thought of a possibility.

"That's roughly the case. Otherwise, there's no way to explain the current situation in Goose City. Even if Huang Silang is stupid, he should know that only when things are peaceful inside and outside the city can he amass more wealth."

Jiang Liu analyzed the situation of the bandits outside Goose City, "Moreover, if there really are bandits, the nearby towns should also be affected. But along the way, although we have eliminated quite a few bandits, they were all minor troubles and rarely became a significant force."

Lu Jin, Li Muxuan, and Ren Jiating nodded in agreement.

All bandits who gained power had some connection with warlords, or at least had access to firearms.

Ordinary people who could not make a living and had no choice but to become outlaws had no way to buy guns, so they could only use sickles, hoes, shovels, hammers and the like as weapons.

"So what do we do next?"

Li Muxuan asked.

"What do you think?" Jiang Liu asked in return.

"I think? I think the simplest way is to cover his face and beat Huang Silang up, preferably breaking his arms and legs, so he can no longer bully the people of Goose City." Li Muxuan insisted on his opinion, believing that the simplest way was to take direct action.

"No."

Lu Jin denied it.

Even if these supernatural beings attack ordinary people, especially in the city, and even if they have code names and can cover their faces to conceal their true identities, they still cannot actually do so.

Once you cross the line with something like this, it can get very difficult to handle.

Unless absolutely necessary, it's best to follow the rules in Goose City, otherwise it could easily lead to a full-blown conflict between superhumans and ordinary people.

Nowadays, various warlords are vying for territory and all hope to bring the various supernatural forces under their control.

"Don't worry, the line between superhumans and ordinary people is not as clear as you think, nor as fragile as you imagine."

Jiang Liu supports the use of force, and force is necessary.

But whatever you do, resorting to force should always be a last resort, not something you do from the outset.

That's something only a madman would do.

Moreover, it's too domineering.

They stayed in Goose Town because they saw that the people of Goose Town were being oppressed too much by Huang Silang. They were barely clothed and had lost all their dignity. They decided to help the poor and needy and to fight against Huang Silang, this landlord, in order to uphold justice for the people of the town, rather than to suppress violence with violence.

That's meaningless.

"We'll leave the city tomorrow, but not to suppress the bandits. We'll just go and scout out that gang of bandits," Jiang Liu decided.

"If that gang of bandits really has something to do with Huang Silang, wouldn't it be possible to catch him red-handed if we capture him?" Li Muxuan rubbed his hands together, eager to try.

"If only it were that easy."

Caught red-handed?

Even if Huang Silang were caught red-handed talking to bandits, he would be wronged if he didn't confess in front of the people. And if they forced him to talk by force, then in the eyes of the people, they wouldn't be good people either, but at most stronger and more ruthless than Huang Silang!

That's it.