Volcanic Age

After getting his hands on a spiritual medicine and three manuals, Zhou Xuchuan left the office with Zhuge Shengji in tow. The duo opened the door, only to be greeted immediately by the underboss bowing so deep that he looked like he was going to kiss the floor.

Zhou Xuchuan searched every nook and cranny of the bedroom in case the Stockade Boss had stashed something else, but nothing useful turned up.

He scanned the room one more time before saying, "Looks like the situation outside is more or less wrapped up, too. Let's get going, then."

"Huh?! So soon?"

Zhuge Shengji reacted in obvious disappointment. He could still see the Green Dragon's mechanisms he still hadn't studied yet.

"I'll show you better things later, so let's get going. We really don't have a lot of time left."

Zhou Xuchuan would also have loved to stay for a few more days and investigate the Green Dragon Stockade more thoroughly. However, with the situation being what it was, they simply had no choice but to swallow their disappointment and walk away.

"Senior Brother, we're done with our tasks," said Luo Xiaoyue.

The group, led by her and Tang Hui, brought out all the people they rescued from this place's prison, and their number reached almost two hundred.

"We're also finished with our tasks. They are all imprisoned now," said Chu Lian while wiping away the beaded sweat on his forehead with his sleeve.

"We've also destroyed their cultivation, so they won't come after us later," Zhang Xuen added.

Destroyed their cultivation?! The eyes of the underboss nearly popped out of his sockets upon hearing that. The destruction of one's cultivation meant the destruction of one's dantian or the severance of one's tendons. Both were tantamount to a death sentence for these martial artists—no, for these bandits whose livelihood was to rob others of their wealth.

Once one's dantian was destroyed, circulating qi would become impossible. Naturally, accumulating qi would become impossible as well. Severed tendons meant one wouldn't be able to use their limbs properly, and the best they could hope for was to walk upright.

Either way, one would live out the rest of their lives as disabled individuals.

Zhou Xuchuan turned to his group and said, "I see. Since the preparations are done, let's depart right away. Please help me escort these people so that we won't have to leave anyone behind and no one will get injured along the way."

"E-excuse me, Great Hero?" the underboss asked cautiously. His gaze was glued to the ground, and he was rubbing his hands together with an awkward smile etched on his face. "I've shown you around, sir, so… may I be excused now?"

Zhou Xuchuan stared at the underboss.

"I've turned over a new leaf thanks to you, O Great Hero! From today onward, I'll devote the rest of my life to helping others."

"Underboss, do you know the lay of the surrounding land?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. Of course, the underboss was aware of that. How could he not be aware of it?

It had been over twenty years since he joined the Green Dragon Stockade, and he had been living this lifestyle since then. However, he dearly wanted to avoid spending more time with these people.

Thus, he decided to lie.

"No, sir. I've been staying within this mountain stronghold all my life, so I don't know much about the lay of the land outside."

"Sounds like we should cut your tendons off, then."

"I-I know the surroundings—no! I know Chongqing like the back of my hand, sir! Just ask me, and I'll show you the shortest route to your destination!"

"That's great," said Zhou Xuchuan.

The original group was supposed to number only around eighty, including the Zhuge Family.

However, the addition of the hostages ballooned that number past two hundred and eighty.

Since two hundred of that considerable number were ordinary folks with no combat power, the group had no choice but to seek out safer routes. Zhou Xuchuan picked several scouts from the Green Dragon, plus the underboss, and asked them to show the way.

To ensure that there wouldn't be any attempts at foul play, Zhou Xuchuan questioned the bandits separately. Thankfully, it seemed that his threats had worked on them. None of them had tried anything unwise.

"A-are we really saved?"

"Thank you, sirs. Thank you so much…"

"Sob, sniff!"

The hasty retreat proved as tough as expected. The hostages' conditions weren't all that great. Some people remained suspicious of Zhou Xuchuan and his group, while some were in denial of reality.

However, the majority of the hostages celebrated their freedom.

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Most had gloomy expressions, which made it clear that their time in the Green Dragon's prison wasn't a pleasant time. The hostages were still anxious as well, as they had yet to move out of the bandits' territory.

The menfolk among the hostages were more or less fine, but the women were in bad condition, and they were indescribably pitiful.

They were fine when it came to interacting with other women, but a man approaching them would set them off into violent outbursts with plenty of screaming and yelling.

Fortunately, there were women among the members of the punitive force, but their numbers were too few, so things remained troublesome throughout their journey.

Whenever the women were too hysterical to calm down, the escorts had no choice but to force them into sleep by tapping on their acupoints. It meant the unconscious women had to be carried on their backs, but that was better than allowing them to lose their minds in the grip of hysteria.

"Will this be alright?" Luo Xiaoyue asked in passing, but her expression conveyed how worried she was. Obviously, she had no thoughts of abandoning all these people, but she was worried about the potential pursuit of the bandits.

"I'm worried about how slow we're moving."

"It'll be fine," Zhou Xuchuan replied. He smiled gently, putting Luo Xiaoyue at ease.

"The timing is a bit too tight to relax, but I think we can make it out of here safely."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Zhuge Xiuluan chimed in, sounding curious.

Zhou Xuchuan glanced at her and replied, "Because of all the ownerless gold."

"Ah…!" Zhuge Xiuluan gasped softly, seemingly figuring out something just then.

***

The sun disappeared slowly behind the mountains. The horizon burning in the amber glow was soon blanketed by the veil of the night.

Eventually, dawn broke once more; today became yesterday, while tomorrow became today. Today was the second day of the Green Dragon Stockade's downfall.

"W-what's the meaning of this?!" a Green Dragon bandit exclaimed with his eyes wide in sheer astonishment. He had been away from the stockade to carry out an order. He had spent the past few days outside, and he was finally back from his task.

However, what greeted him was a scene of utter destruction. Corpses of his comrades were rotting away in every corner of the hideout, and pitiful screams filled with despair reverberated from the prisons.

This had to be what pandemonium in reality would look like!

"AAAAAH!" the terrified Green Dragon bandit exclaimed and fled frantically without even bothering to take a second look at the ruins behind him. His destination was another bandit camp that he had just visited.

"Say what now?! The Green Dragon Stockade has been annihilated?!" the Stockade Boss of the Jade Mountain Stockade asked back in alarm.

"Y-yes, Boss!"

Could it be… The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss recalled the topic of his discussion with the Red Forest's executives. Their topic was none other than the punitive force.

"No, that makes no sense at all!" the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss exclaimed unconsciously in shock. As far as he knew, the punitive force didn't have even a hundred members. A force that small could never destroy the Green Dragon Stockade's front gate, much less the Green Dragon Stockade itself.

Are you seriously telling me that the impregnable fortress got raided?! The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss tried desperately to deny the reality before him in an effort to get rid of the anxiety gnawing at his heart.

Unfortunately, his efforts were to no avail. In the end, he moved out of his base with his subordinates in tow not even two hours after receiving the ominous report. His destination was, of course, the Green Dragon Stockade.

The Jade Mountain Stockade wasn't as close as the Great Tiger Stockade was to the Green Dragon Stockade. The Jade Mountain Stockade wasn't that far from the Green Dragon Stockade.

"Huh?!" The bandit leader's jaw fell all on its own as soon as he set foot into the Green Dragon Stockade's stronghold. He couldn't quite believe the report, but it turned out to be true! His eyes could see it, but he couldn't quite believe what lay before his eyes.

He could have never imagined that the Green Dragon, once famous for its invincibility, would one day end up in such a pitiful state.

"Uh-huhk?! That's the stockade boss!"

Someone found Meng Gang's corpse while they were looking around the Green Dragon's stronghold.

Wondering whether he was merely someone who looked similar to Meng Gang, the Jade Mountain Boss checked up on the corpse several times, but the corpse truly belonged to Meng Gang, the Red Forest's undisputed boss.

Since the two factions' bases were close by, the two leaders often encountered each other. And that happened for over a decade, so Meng Gang's facial features and physique were rather familiar to the Jade Mountain Boss.

"Boss! We found the Green Dragon boys! They're locked up in their own cells!"

"Say what now?!"

The Jade Mountain Boss immediately rushed to the prison.

"Huh?"

However, the sight waiting for him at the prison was shocking, to say the least. He saw roughly a hundred or so Green Dragon bandits sagging weakly behind the bars. Some of them had clearly lost their minds; they were shouting and throwing fits like lunatics.

"S-save us!" a Green Dragon bandit begged, clinging to the iron bar of the cell.

"What happened here?" the Jade Mountain Boss asked, "Did someone ambush you? Like the government forces? The Murim Coalition?"

"N-no, Boss! Zhou Xuchuan! It was Zhou Xuchuan!"

"It really was the Plum Blossom Order Sword?!" The Jade Mountain Boss stared at the bandit in dismay. "Was the punitive force's size different from what we knew?"

"No, Boss. They numbered between seventy and eighty."

"I have no time for such jokes," the Jade Mountain Boss said with a frown. "Speak more nonsense, and you're dead!"

"N-no, Boss! I'm telling you the truth!"

The story being so unbelievable wasn't that surprising.

After all, it did sound implausible. It was also logically impossible.

"Wait, did one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords help them out or something?"

Then again, the impossible could become possible if an absolute powerhouse were with the punitive force. If that were the case, the situation would become genuinely concerning.

"N-no, Boss."

"Then, who's with them?! Explain everything from the start! And don't you dare leave anything out!"

The bandit proceeded to give a detailed explanation of what had transpired over the past few days. However, his words were so bizarre that the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss had to question the other bandits to confirm the details.

One or two people making a similar statement could be seen as a coincidence, but what if four or five of them were saying the exact same thing? The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss had no choice but to trust their testimonies.

"Okay. So you're saying that there's no one in the base right now?"

"S-sorry? Yes, that's right."

The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss wasn't stunned nor terrified by Zhou Xuchuan's strength. However, it wasn't because he didn't believe the testimonies of these bandits.

He was unafraid, as he simply couldn't care less.

At the moment, the only light in his eyes was the light of boundless greed.

One of his subordinates who had searched every corner of the Green Dragon's stronghold came up to the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss and whispered, "Boss, we've confirmed that their treasures are still around. It looks like the punitive force was in so much of a hurry to escape that they left everything behind!"

"Hehehe!" The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss revealed a distorted smile. Humans, especially those affiliated with the Red Forest, boasted worse greed than most people could imagine.

Thus, the ownerless treasures before their eyes blinded them completely.

The first thing that the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss did wasn't to make a report about the situation and send it to the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest. Instead, he proceeded to steal the Green Dragon's treasures before anything else.

The bandits found wagons and loaded them up with the treasures. They only returned to the Jade Mountain Stockade once the wagons teetered on the brink of collapse.

Their "relatives" from the Green Dragon begged to be rescued, but the Jade Mountain bandits simply tossed some food in their way and abandoned them in the prison.

After returning to his base, the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss organized his thoughts. Then, he sent carrier pigeons to alert the other stockades.

Unfortunately, I can't monopolize everything, but it can't be helped.

The Eighteen Stockade of the Red Forest was a coalition of bandits.

Even lawless men had to adhere to the bare minimum of rules. Monopolizing the treasure of a bandit faction that had just been destroyed wouldn't just end with getting rebuked by the others.

"What? The Green Dragon has fallen?"

"The big boss, Meng Gang, is dead?"

Just as Zhou Xuchuan had predicted, the news of Meng Gang's demise sent shockwaves across the Red Forest. It was truly a stunning piece of news.

Meng Gang had been lording over everything and everyone as the undisputed boss since he showed up two decades ago. He had also entered the upper half of the ranks among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.

"What are you all doing?! Recall our boys outside!"

The attacks on the Gold Will Merchants ceased at once as if they had never happened to begin with. The bosses of the factions immediately got ready for the oncoming storm.

The concerted raids on Li Yicai's businesses had been doing a number on him, but he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The bandits of the Red Bandits causing trouble throughout the land immediately ceased all activities and returned to base.

"Just how did they annihilate the Green Dragons with such a small number of people?"

"That's not what's important, Boss. The Green Dragon Stockade has become ownerless. We must make haste and empty their vaults."

The bandits temporarily set aside the existence of the punitive force. In fact, they entertained not even a single thought of avenging Meng Gang.The bosses of the factions burned fiercely with their ambitions.

The first thing they had to do was split the ownerless riches among themselves, and then they'd enter a mad scramble to become the next big boss of the Red Forest.

Meanwhile, the punitive force finally reached a place where they could rest safely after four days of arduous travel.

The so-called safe place was the base of the Great Tiger Stockade. The local authorities had been alerted, so the base of the Great Tiger bandits was now full of government soldiers.

"Whaaaah!"

"We're saved!"

The hostages finally relaxed upon seeing the government soldiers. They hugged each other and sobbed loudly. It couldn't be helped; they had survived all sorts of terrible pain and suffering at the hands of the Green Dragon, after all, and they were finally safe.

"Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan! Hooray!"

"Mount Hua, hooray! The Tang Family, hooray! The Zhuge Family, hooray!"

"Gold Will Sword Sect, hooray!"

The joyous roars pervaded not just the Great Tiger's base but also reverberated across the nearby mountains. They were so raucous in their celebrations that the local predators were startled into fleeing.

Exactly a week later, the news of the punitive force's heroic feats arrived at the Central Plains. In no time, it spread to all corners of the land.

"Fella, have you heard of the recent news?"

"How would I know what you're talking about if you just say 'recent news'? There's plenty of news to be found across the Central Plains."

"Uh-huh, fella, there's only one topic that's been on everyone's mind these days, is it not?"

"Oh, you mean Zhou Xuchuan, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven? Indeed, he's a heaven-sent chivalrous hero! A genuine Great Hero, I say!"