From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The river surface is bright orange and clear, and the sound of a flute is melodious.

This river is called the Xiang River. Across from it is the area where Dawang Mountain is located. Although it is called a mountain, Dawang Mountain is not very high, only about 160 meters high. The entire area can be divided into two islands, three mountains, and four rivers.

The two islands are located in the Xiangjiang River. The one to the north is called Baxi Island, and the one to the south is called Ezhou Island.

The three mountains are Dawang Mountain, Fulong Mountain, and Shifeng Mountain. Among them, Fulong Mountain is the main body of Dawang Mountain. It is called Fulong Mountain because its shape resembles a real dragon lying down. The reason it is called "Dawang Mountain" is because Wu Rui, the King of Changsha in the Western Han Dynasty, cared for the people's strength.

The four rivers are the Xiangjiang River, the Jinjiang River, the Tongxi River, and the Guanyingang River.

It may not be considered a place of great natural energy, but it is still a place of auspicious feng shui. With proper care and management, it can bring prosperity to livestock and favorable weather.

Unfortunately.

This prime area, however, was occupied by Tall Beard.

at this time.

On the Xiang River, a small boat sailed in and docked. A bearded man stood at the bow, his eyes unusually bright, and asked in a loud voice, "Hailong, Shanhu, why are you back so soon?"

"How dare we neglect the orders given by the chief?"

Obvious.

The man punting the boat must be one of the bandits from Dawang Mountain.

Therefore, Lu Jin reacted quickly, immediately jumped onto the boat, and shouted to Zhang Zhiwei, "Mountain Tiger, quickly move the cage onto the boat!"

He then called out to Jiang Liu, Hong Guniang, and Liu Guniang, "Master Zhenyuan! Qingfeng and Mingyue, please untie the ox and get it onto the boat as well."

"Who are they?"

The boatman squinted and asked Lu Jin.

"That Taoist priest is called Zhen Yuanzi. Don't be fooled by his Taoist attire; he hasn't actually received the ordination." Lu Jin whispered in the man's ear.

"Oh? It's a wild Maoshan! The righteous path is hard to cultivate, and you want quick results..." The man suddenly realized, unconsciously revealing the true nature of the wild Maoshan, but he stopped abruptly, only slightly lowering his guard, and asked, "You've come to seek refuge with my chief?"

"Exactly."

Jiang Liu untied the ropes on the oxcart, reached under the water buffalo's belly with one hand, and used his strength to lift it over his head. He then jumped onto the boat, glanced at the boatman, and chuckled, "I heard that your king and a man named Hu Fangyuan are going to refine a Gu-body Saint Child? Coincidentally, I also have some knowledge of the 'Theory of the Essence of Infants,' and I would like to have a discussion with him."

This seemingly effortless scene startled the boatman, but upon hearing the name "Gu-body Saint Child," he cursed at Lu Jin and Zhang Zhiwei: "You two idiots! How could you tell such a thing to outsiders? If the chief finds out, he'll skin you alive!"

Zhang Zhiwei laughed heartily: "Brother Zhen Yuanzi is trustworthy! Brother, there's no need to worry too much!"

"Whether you can believe it or not, the chief will have to see it for himself to know."

After saying this, the boatman asked no more questions. He simply let the two little girls, Red Girl and Willow Girl, board the boat and then used the pole to push off the bank, heading towards the opposite bank of the Xiang River.

Jiang Liu, however, was not going to let it go. He stretched out his hand and said, "With my abilities, I will definitely be the fourth leader in the future. Why don't you give me some gifts first, so that I can promote you in the future?"

"I'm just a boatman, where would I get money? When we get to shore, you can ask the other brothers for it." The man pursed his lips, but a doubt crept into his heart...

After docking.

The boatman rowed away into the distance.

Lu Jin and Zhang Zhiwei disembarked from the boat, carrying three cages as they walked ahead.

Jiang Liu led the water buffalo, with the two young Taoist disciples, "Qingfeng" and "Mingyue," following behind.

The five people walked into the woods, one in front of the other, and passed through a winding path. In a short while, they arrived at Fulong Mountain and saw the mountain stronghold built halfway up the mountain.

There are about a hundred thatched huts, about ten wooden huts, and only three stone huts.

It was already evening, and wisps of smoke were rising from the chimneys as the bandits in the village were cooking.

When the patrolling bandits saw Lu Jin and Zhang Zhiwei, they hurried forward, bowing and bending over with smiles on their faces, and asked, "Brother Hailong, Brother Shanhu, you two are back?"

"Ah."

Seeing that the bandit carrying a gong and a cloth bag was an ordinary person, Lu Jin was certain that Mount Dawang was a place where extraordinary people and ordinary people were mixed together, and that ordinary people had great respect for extraordinary people. Otherwise, the bandit would not have rushed over so hurriedly after seeing the sea dragon he had transformed into and the mountain tiger Zhang Zhiwei had transformed into, for fear of being punished for neglecting them.

"Take us to the mountain village."

Zhang Zhiwei stood with his hands on his hips, looking defiant. "This time, besides finding the baby, we also brought back three friends."

"Also an extraordinary person?"

The man patrolling the mountain asked timidly.

"if not?"

Jiang Liu grinned, hooked his arm around the man's neck, stretched out a hand, and chuckled, "With my abilities, I might just become the fourth leader of this Great King Mountain. Even if I don't become the fourth leader, I'll still be a steward. According to custom, I'll have to give you some money as a token of my appreciation."

Upon hearing about the money to be paid, the patrolman immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Fourth Master, I have an old woman to support and young children to feed. Where would I get the money?"

Even the head of the gang only gives out coarse grains, and we never see a single silver dollar. How am I supposed to take it out?

# Chapter 973 The Fourth Master's First Order

"Alright, since you're pitiful, let's put aside the meeting fee for now. Once I become the fourth leader of this Great King Mountain, or even the steward, you can lead a group of brothers to serve me."

Why did Jiang Liu say that?

This is because this Great King Mountain is Gao Huzi's territory, and he is a man of the Quanxing clan. How could the friends he makes be upright gentlemen?

Like Jiang Liu, who asked the bandits in the mountains for money before actually joining the Great King Mountain bandits, he wouldn't arouse suspicion!

That was the case on the ship before.

The same applies when we encounter this patrolling man!

"Good, good, good. When you become the fourth leader, or the chief steward of King Mountain, I will definitely bring all the brothers who patrol the mountain to see the fourth leader and give them a proper welcome."

The man breathed a sigh of relief and got up, but then Jiang Liu asked, "How many brothers do you have on Great King Mountain?"

"We have quite a few people in Dawang Mountain, not inferior to some small warlord forces, a total of three thousand people, but only one thousand can fight. The remaining two thousand are responsible for patrolling the mountain, making fires, cooking, purchasing supplies, robbing, capturing women, tomb raiding, and so on."

If it were a stranger, this man wouldn't have said so much; he would have already drawn the gun from his waist.

But Jiang Liu, who went up the mountain with Hailong and Shanhu, is also an extraordinary person. He will surely get along with the leader and may even become the fourth leader.

Therefore, how could he not perform well and strive to become Jiang Liu's confidant later?

"So, there are quite a few people, but they must be having a tough time lately, right? I heard that the Gong faction was betrayed by the Guo faction, yet they are still fighting bandits," Jiang Liu said with a smile.

"Hey, who can argue with that?"

Speaking of the Gong faction, the man sighed, "You don't know, half a year ago, the Gong faction set their sights on the Dawang Mountain area, intending to wipe us out to appease the villagers at the foot of the mountain and distribute the land on the mountain to those poor wretches..."

You're a complete scoundrel!

Aren't we just committing murder, arson, robbery, rape, tomb raiding, and human trafficking?

It's just about surviving.

Everyone: "......"

Is this spoken in human language?

If you want to live, then the people down the mountain deserve to be bullied by you, right?

Suppressing the urge to kill the thing with a single blow, Jiang Liu asked again, "So, you repelled the Gong Sect?"

No, not at all.

The man shook his head. "Because we knew the Gong Sect was coming to attack, our leader ordered his men to tie up all the poor people down the mountain and bring them up the mountain. They only give them one meal a day. They won't starve to death, but they won't have the strength to escape either."

Logically speaking, even though the Gong faction's military equipment was inferior to the Guo faction's, a small mountain like Dawang Mountain had a population of three thousand, but due to the lack of unity among its people, it should have been routed long ago.

The only reason it's holding on now is that the tall-bearded man still has some "courage" and can't arrest a large number of innocent people to use as a threat.

But they only bully the lower-ranking faction.

We must confront the pot-pie faction—

What do you mean by hostages?

Those are all bandits!

Let's just use artillery to bombard the area! We'll wipe them all out in one fell swoop!

"Besides Gao Huzi, who else on this mountain is an extraordinary person?"

Jiang Liu asked again, "If I want to be the fourth leader, I must show some skills and spar with the second and third leaders."

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

Do you know the abilities of the extraordinary people living in the mountains?

"I know! I know!"

The man hurriedly explained, "The third leader is called Huan Yang. He can cut off a head and put it back on. As the name suggests, he can cut off a head and put it back on."

However, we all thought it was a 'flying head'.

The second-in-command is named Hu Fangyuan, a Gu master who wields a powerful black Gu poison. It can bewitch the mind, control puppets, and, once activated, turn a person into pus.

At this point, he added mysteriously, "Let me tell you more about the chief's abilities. He knows the art of summoning gods. After summoning the gods, he becomes invulnerable to swords and spears, and impervious to water and fire."

"Summoning the gods, little Doyle?"

Jiang Liu smiled faintly and asked the man, "How many brothers do you have patrolling the mountain?"

"Because the area around the mountain stronghold is quite large, there are a total of one hundred people patrolling the mountain, divided into ten shifts of ten people each." The man was puzzled, not understanding why Jiang Liu was asking this question.

"Since you told me about the skills of the three leaders, I won't hide it from you."

First, I noticed how quick-witted you are.

Secondly, since ancient times, the patrol team has been the most important for those who have become outlaws, but they are also the least liked by the rest of the village. They do the hardest and most tiring work, and not only are they poorly paid, but if any problems arise and spies get into the mountains, they will be dragged out and killed as a warning to others.

Three times?

If I want to be the boss, I need my own team. You lot, unwanted and unloved, ignored by the bosses who treat you like beasts of burden, are perfect for my use.

Seeing the man's confusion, Jiang Liu explained his reasoning, "So, I want to see you and your hundred brothers."

"plz follow me!"

Upon hearing this, and seeing that the two trusted confidants of the chief, Shanhu and Hailong, had no reaction, the man was shocked and knew that the situation in the Great King Cave was about to change!

This Taoist priest's goal is probably not just to become the fourth leader, but to become the third leader!