northernbook Chapter 352: Winning over the Bandits
Chapter 352: Winning over the Bandits
Seeing this, his men kicked Zhou Dazhui on the ankle and shouted, "Come and see Lord Long!" The kick was so powerful that Zhou Dazhui felt pain and fell to his knees with a thump.
"Greetings, Lord Long!" Zhou Dazhu lowered his head and said in a trembling voice.
Long Ye responded, narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Zhou Dazhu, and said with a hint of suspicion: "I heard that you are a bandit from Black Tiger Mountain?"
Zhou Dazhu quickly raised his head and said with his neck stiff, "Yes, I am the second in command of Black Tiger Mountain!" Zhou Dazhu tried hard to look fierce.
Long Ye smiled, looked Zhou Dazhu up and down, and said sarcastically, "You look like the second-in-command? It doesn't seem like it. Have you ever killed anyone?"
Zhou Dazhu gritted his teeth and said viciously, "Of course!"
"Oh? Then how do you prove it?" Long Ye had a dagger hidden in his smile. His half-smile expression made people shudder. He looked at Zhou Dazhu with a sharp gaze, as if he wanted to see through him.
Zhou Dazhu ripped off his fake beard without hesitation, then quickly removed his eye patch. He said with a confident look, "There are wanted posters all over the city now. Lord Long just needs to find the portrait on the poster and take a look at it to find out."
Zhou Dazhu raised his chin with a hint of arrogance in his eyes, and was not at all intimidated by the situation before him.
"Hmph, you're quite confident." Long Ye snorted coldly, waved his hand, and said to his men, "Go, bring us the wanted warrant."
After his men brought the wanted poster, the butler took it and carefully compared it with Zhou Dazhu. The butler's eyes moved back and forth between the wanted poster and Zhou Dazhu's face, comparing their expressions nervously and attentively.
"Master, it's him! He killed his father-in-law and kidnapped a child before. He has committed so many crimes!" The housekeeper's voice trembled as he pointed at Zhou Dazhui with horror on his face.
Lord Long said calmly: "Do me a favor now. After the favor is done, all your gambling debts will be written off." Lord Long's tone was calm, but it carried an authority that could not be refused.
"What's the matter?" Zhou Dazhui asked with his eyes wide open and a look of vigilance, his body involuntarily tensed up.
"Kill two people!" Long Ye's voice was cold and ruthless, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
"Who to kill?" Zhou Dazhu's voice rose a few degrees, and the blue veins on his forehead throbbed slightly.
"The owner of the sweet potato noodle shop on East Street." A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Long Ye's eyes. He stared at Zhou Dazhu closely, observing his reaction.
Zhou Dazhu agreed without hesitation. But then, his eyes flickered, and he said, "But first, you have to give me one thousand taels of silver." Zhou Dazhu's eyes revealed eagerness and greed, and he licked his lips.
"The leader of Black Tiger Mountain is injured and won't live long. I saved his life, and he originally wanted me to take over. But the third and fourth brothers of Black Tiger Mountain disagreed. They agreed that as long as I return to Black Tiger Mountain with 1,000 taels of silver to prove my strength, then..." Zhou Dazhu paused and clenched his fists, "they would support me as the new leader!"
"When I become the boss of Black Tiger Mountain, killing not only two people, but even two hundred people will be no problem!" Zhou Dazhu opened his eyes wide, patted his chest towards Long Ye, and said confidently.
Long Ye hesitated for a moment, frowning, and looked Zhou Dazhu over and over. He said coldly, "I won't do business that will lose money."
"Master Long, don't worry! I, Zhou Dazhu, keep my word. As long as you give me money and help me now, I will definitely go through fire and water to do whatever you want in the future!" Zhou Dazhu took a step forward eagerly, trying to persuade Master Long.
Lord Long narrowed his eyes, his gaze became deep, and he began to ponder.
Let these bandits help him do things secretly, without anyone noticing. This can help him get rid of his opponents while avoiding the attention of the government and unnecessary trouble.
Moreover, if he could recruit these bandits from Black Tiger Mountain to serve him, who in this area would dare to oppose him in the future?
Lord Long winked at the butler and said, "Go, ask the butler to get some pen and ink." After a while, the butler hurriedly brought the pen and ink and placed them respectfully on the table.
Lord Long picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and quickly wrote the receipt. Then he pushed the receipt in front of Zhou Dazhu and said, "This one thousand taels is my loan to you. You don't have to pay it back after the matter is done." There was not much expression on Lord Long's face, but his eyes were shrewd and calculating.
Zhou Dazhu quickly replied, "Okay!" He grabbed the pen, but paused awkwardly, unable to write. He scratched his head, a faint blush spreading across his face. "But the characters 'Black Tiger Mountain' aren't uncommon in the village."
Zhou Dazhu frowned, trying hard to recall the appearance of these words when he saw them in the mountain village, then he sketched the appearance of these words according to his memory, and then happily took the silver back to Heihu Mountain.
Three days later, Brother Liu and Sister Liu from the sweet potato shop were still safe and sound, jumping around and shouting at the door of the shop. Business seemed to be even more prosperous than before.
After hearing the news, Long Ye finally couldn't sit still anymore. He paced back and forth in the room, his face terribly gloomy, and he kept cursing.
"Butler, why don't you go to Black Tiger Mountain? Could it be that the kid was so busy fighting for power that he forgot about it?" Lord Long stopped and turned to yell at the butler.
The steward set out with the document and several strong servants. They crossed mountains and rivers on the way, and everyone's face was full of fatigue.
After a lot of effort, they arrived at the gate of the stronghold, only to find that it was tightly closed. Several ferocious-looking guards were standing at the gate, holding weapons and watching them vigilantly.
The housekeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a deep breath, and summoned his courage to shout, "Call your boss out!"
He straightened his back, trying to make himself look more imposing, and the servants behind him also shouted in unison.
"Where did this fool come from! Our boss can only be seen when you say so?" The guard's eyes widened with anger, and he shouted at the butler and others.
"Our boss is busy with all kinds of things, so he doesn't have time to deal with you unknown people!" Another guard also shouted, not taking these people seriously at all.
When the butler saw the guard waving the big knife in his hand, the bright blade flashing a terrifying light in the sun, he immediately became intimidated, his legs trembled involuntarily, beads of sweat the size of beans instantly appeared on his forehead, and his originally arrogant expression disappeared without a trace in an instant.
"Good man, calm down, calm down! We are old friends of your master, and we would be grateful if you could inform us," the butler said hurriedly, smiling and bowing. His voice was clearly flattering, and his body unconsciously bent down.