Chapter 59

When Zhou Lu heard the name Hei Hu Mountain, he had already quickly considered all the causal variables in his mind. Seeing how E’er Tu and the others were as silent as cicadas in winter when it came to Hei Hu Mountain, he knew they were unaware of the more confidential matters within it. After the surging flames of the magma in the earth's core, the fate of the Tie Mi Tao group was unknown. Zhou Lu had no support around him. If he wanted to gather more information about the inside of Hei Hu Mountain, there was only one way—take advantage of Hei Hu Mountain's current large-scale expansion and infiltrate it. Once inside, he would join the bandits and gather information as circumstances allowed.

The current recruitment conditions for Hei Hu Mountain were quite lenient. Zhou Lu was proficient in the language of the barbarians and could learn more about their habits from E’er Tu and the others. It wouldn't be difficult to infiltrate Hei Hu Mountain. The hard part was, once he gathered the information, how the hell would he escape?

This had once greatly troubled Zhou Lu.

Hei Hu Mountain was heavily guarded with checkpoints everywhere. Escaping would be extremely difficult, even with the powerful and mysterious abilities of a Dao Man realm practitioner. But how many nails could one piece of iron make?

When E’er Tu and the others were trying their best to recruit Zhou Lu as their leader, Zhou Lu was actually slowly formulating a plan: how to use these people as support and arrange a way out for himself when he wanted to escape from Hei Hu Mountain.

However, to get their help, he first had to reveal his true identity.

The cave was silent. E’er Tu looked at the fat man in disbelief, while the others stared with wide eyes, breathing heavily, and no one spoke. The air in the cave was almost stagnant.

"Did you fight for so long, and this fat man turns out to be from the Heavenly Demon Clan's Eagle Wing Army, the regular combat force that is at odds with these bandits?"

In the wilderness, he actually dared to reveal his identity?

The bandits were filled with a mix of emotions.

E’er Tu was in awe of the fat man's bravery for daring to enter the wilderness alone to fight bandits.

Zhou Lu wiped the oil from his mouth, smiled at E’er Tu, and said slowly, "If you can't pay double the annual tribute, both Sha Feng Jiao and Hei Hu Mountain will want you dead. Now, you have only two paths to choose from..."

E’er Tu and the others stared wide-eyed.

Zhou Lu paused dramatically before continuing, "The first path is to stretch out your necks and see if their knives are sharper or your necks are harder..."

"Is this even a path?" E’er Tu's eyes turned red with anger.

"The second path..." Zhou Lu licked his lips and said, swaying his head, "If you recognize me as your leader, follow me to pull off a big job, and help me complete my scout mission, you will have also done a great deed. When we return to the clan, I will plead with the elders of the Heavenly Demon Clan to let you make up for your crimes and remove your wanted status. From then on, you can live like ordinary people in the Heavenly Demon Clan."

"How about it..." Zhou Lu's face was full of temptation, "This is a way out that I racked my brains to find for you. Do you want to do it?"

Zhou Lu was confident he could help E’er Tu and his group make up for their crimes, mainly because of his relationship with Xiao Luan. If E’er Tu could indeed help him, it would also be a great deed for the Heavenly Demon Clan. At that time, a word from Xiao Luan to the Second Elder would likely make it easy to remove E’er Tu and his group's wanted status.

The atmosphere in the cave became even more tense, almost filled with a sense of killing intent. E’er Tu panted heavily, his face turning red. Suddenly, he slammed the table, startling everyone. Zhou Lu's back straightened, his leg muscles tensed, and his body was ready to explode with force at any moment.

Then everyone heard E’er Tu shout hoarsely, "Damn it, let's do it!"

After shouting, E’er Tu used up all his strength and slumped in the stone chair, looking as if he had aged five or six years.

The other brothers were all teary-eyed, knowing how difficult it was for their leader to make this decision.

Zhou Lu's face had turned white for a moment. He patted his chest, still shaken: "Damn it, if you want to do it, just do it. Why such heavy breathing? Scaring people?"

E’er Tu's sadness was indescribable. He deeply understood the old chief's state of mind. As a bandit, there was no good end. Rather than die a bad death, it was better to seize this heaven-sent opportunity and take a risk. E’er Tu knew that the fat man's proposal was almost their only chance. If they seized this opportunity and succeeded, his brothers would all have a good future.

...

In the desolate mountain wind, Niu Tou Mountain was left as an empty stronghold. Under the cover of night, Zhou Lu and the brothers of Niu Tou Mountain set out, heading deeper into the wilderness.

The air was damp, and a pale green crescent moon cast a terrifying and eerie light on the desolate mountains. The mournful cries of night owls made the hair on the back of one's neck stand up.

More than ten people walked in a line on the narrow mountain path, only able to see the backs of the worn bandit clothes of those in front. Their footsteps silenced the nearby autumn insects, and a pebble kicked away rolled down the mountain.

Heading to the dangerous Hei Hu Mountain, everyone was somewhat anxious.

Zhou Lu walked at the front, looked up at the crescent moon, and felt a chill. A night breeze blew, and he shivered, muttering nervously, "Damn it, what kind of omen is this? Don't scare me, I'm a coward..."

E’er Tu, with his injured leg, rode a chestnut horse, silent and brooding. The horse's hooves clopped softly, echoing faintly in the quiet mountain. E’er Tu's hands tightly gripped the large saddlebags on the horse's back, which contained all the savings of Niu Tou Mountain.

However, his gaze was not on the saddlebags but on the fat man walking ahead. He admitted that he was shocked by the fat man's wealth.

When the fat man whistled and the chestnut horse galloped to him, all the leaders of Niu Tou Mountain's eyes lit up.

Such a magnificent steed was incredibly cool.

But that was not all.

When the fat man gathered the food they had taken and then made it all disappear into a small ring on his finger, the leaders were almost in tears with excitement.

"Storage ring? Is that really the legendary storage ring?"

The fat man actually had such a magical item? No wonder no one noticed where he had pulled out that large crossbow in the cave that day.

E’er Tu's heart was still filled with excitement, unable to calm down.

A fat man acting as a scout had such a legendary magical item. Life in the Heavenly Demon Clan must be incredibly luxurious. If they could have their wanted status removed and become part of the Heavenly Demon Clan, their lives would be much better than in the wilderness.

E’er Tu was filled with a burning desire, and he vaguely felt that the choice he had made for his brothers was probably very correct.

However, it would take many years for this chief to realize how seriously he had misunderstood. Even in the wealthy Heavenly Demon Clan, the number of people who owned storage rings was almost nonexistent.

They had all been deceived by the fat man's facade.

But at this moment, they were still wholeheartedly helping the fat man with his mission.