Chapter 9: The Way of the Thief

  Night, in the mountains.

  More than thirty people sat around the bonfire, dry firewood crackling and popping.

  Yin Xu and others who were fleeing all the way were deceived by He Kun, and inexplicably bore the name of escaped prisoners. Now they can only hide in the mountains and forests.

  "Gentlemen, I have made it clear that at this moment, it is still because of me that you are all bearing the name of fugitives on your backs. I am very sorry." Yin Xiu stood up and bowed deeply. The reason why He Kun was not burned to death was just to ask questions, and got the answer that had been troubling him for a long time. It's a bit heavy, but in the end, it all started because of himself.

  "What did Donglai say?" Lu Ming spoke first: "It's just a few more days in the mountains, is it harder than when you were hiding in the 'earth mouse hole'?"

  "Yes, after repairing the Great Wall and the long city, how many people can come back?" Pu Jun thought of his father and brother's past affairs, and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

  "Nowadays, there are more and more people becoming bandits. Rather than being watched and treated like an ox or a horse, it's better to be a bandit."

  Yin Xue said with a sigh, "The construction site is definitely not going back now. If you have a place to go, you can leave. If not, let's temporarily hide in the mountains together!"

  "I've already returned to the Wu family, from now on I'll follow Donglai Ge!" Pu Jun spoke up first.

  "I'll follow him too!" Gao Yi spoke up for the second time.

  Lu Ming didn't need to say anything, Yin Xu owed him a debt of gratitude, and Zhou Da didn't even need to mention it, having already made his attitude clear. As a result, more than 20 out of the 34 people were willing to stay, and the few who had other ideas in mind didn't dare to leave either, so they all ended up staying. Many years later, when they looked back on that night's experience, they all coincidentally thought it was the most important decision of their lives, and they couldn't be more grateful, fortunate that they had made the right choice and hadn't left.

  Yin Xuzong bowed and said, "Thank you for your trust, brothers. I have done my best. Please believe me, the days of hiding and fleeing will not be long, no more than a year. Today we share adversity together, tomorrow we will share wealth and honor!"

  "Through thick and thin, share wealth and honor!"

  "Through thick and thin, share wealth and honor!"

  "Through thick and thin, share wealth and honor!"

  In the depths of the forest, a thunderous cry resounded, startling birds and beasts into flight.

  That night, a gang of thirty-four thieves was formed with Yin Xu as the leader. His courtesy name is Donglai. From today on, he who has resumed his original name will surely make a name for himself all over the world. The backbone members are Pu Jun, Gao Yi, Zhou Da and Lu Ming.

  These people were Yin Xu's most steadfast supporters and strongest defenders in the years that followed. It is necessary to mention Gao Yi and Pu Jun.

  For Gao Yi, Yin Xu felt very apologetic. No matter what, he was originally a small official, a "civil servant" who received a meager salary. After becoming friends with him, he became a fugitive thief being pursued, and the change in status was like heaven and earth. But Gao Yi didn't care at all. To use Zhou Da's words, it's better to roam the mountains and forests, and be a free cloud and wild crane, than to be a small official every day looking at people's faces and feeling humiliated.

  Actually, it should be said that Gao Yi was wise and chose a fund with a return of one in ten thousand. Years later, he was proud of this. Gao Yi understood the importance of Yin Xu's early work without needing to say it, so among a large group of people, only he could recognize the characters. As a top student at a military academy, Yin Xu looked at the small seal script of the Qin state with wide eyes and didn't recognize a single character.

  Pu Jun was even more unbearable, and Yin Xu still didn't know he had picked up a treasure. Many years later, he realized that Pu Jun was the famous General Pu in history, who was as famous as Ying Bu.

  Pu Jun was lucky for him, and wasn't he also lucky for Pu Jun? At least this time, the annals of history would proudly record Pu Jun's full name and his glorious military exploits, rather than just the humble and obscure three characters "General Pu".

  Huaiyi bandits can't stay any longer, they have been shuttling back and forth in the mountains for days, quietly returning to Fan County. Qin Ershi will soon come to Huaiyi for inspection, the intensity of defense will increase greatly, the government may pursue them, absolutely cannot stay and wait for death, transfer is imperative.

  However, Fan Township was different. The county magistrate of Fan Township, Wu Rui, was more lenient towards the bandits, and their living conditions were slightly better. Moreover, most of them were from Fan Township and were willing to return to their hometown, where they were familiar with the terrain, making it easier for them to move around.

  Most of the people were rural farmers or mountain hunters, who were hardworking and could survive in the wild. After arriving at Fan County on the banks of Poyang Lake, they gathered materials locally, cut down bamboo and wood, and built several bamboo huts in a secluded area of the forest as a temporary shelter.

  Pu Jun was an excellent hunter and also a skilled craftsman. With his help, they made a batch of bows and arrows using bamboo as the raw material. Although there were no metal arrowheads, after testing them out, their killing power was not much inferior. This time, Yin Xu finally had the good fortune to witness Pu Jun's hundred-step-piercing-the-poplar-tree archery skills, which truly lived up to his reputation. With these, under Pu Jun's guidance, everyone's archery skills greatly improved.

  Yin Xu even imparted his combat skills to the crowd, and under his careful guidance, the crowd made rapid progress, with impressive strength. Adding the twenty long swords collected from the forest fire scene that day, although there were only over thirty people, their comprehensive strength was not inferior.

  At first, the nearby large bandit groups wanted to annex them. After experiencing their amazing strength, they didn't dare to provoke them again. The attempt at annexation failed and instead turned into a great reversal of fortunes.

  The livelihood of over thirty people was also a problem. After finishing the rations brought back from collecting lingzhi mushrooms, the crowd mainly hunted wild beasts in the forest for food. However, this was not a long-term solution, and grain was severely lacking, especially as winter approached, so they were forced to become bandits in name and reality.

  Robbery was unavoidable, but it couldn't be done recklessly or with malice. Under Yin Xu's orders, they adhered to the principle of "robbing the rich", only plundering grain from wealthy households in nearby villages or taking some valuables from passing merchants. Everyone had a hard time, and leaving people enough food was also necessary. Except for killing a few evil tyrants, they never harmed an innocent person, nor did they ever have any **incident.

  In Yin Xu's words, this is called "thievery has its own way", and such behavior makes fellow thieves quite disdainful. After hearing about it, Yin Xu shook his head secretly: This is the difference, you are destined to only be a thief, but I have great ambitions, so I must look far ahead...

  It was for this reason that Yin Xu and others had a good reputation, and there were often villagers who suffered from oppression in the nearby area, as well as former criminals who came to join them. Before winter arrived, the number of people had already reached nearly one hundred. Yin Xu adopted a militarized management style from his previous life, with strict requirements, and a small but not weak "army" gradually grew up.

  Yin Xu was very relieved, as long as he could hold on until the autumn of next year when the uprising in Daze Township broke out and heroes from all over the world rose up to rebel against Qin, he would have made it through. By then, they could also change their appearance, and openly walk out of the mountains under the banner of the righteous army. In the late Qin and early Han dynasties, commoners became nobles, and the land was divided among kings, and there might be a place for them too.

  The autumn wind was rustling, Yin Xu looked up at the horizon and silently recited: Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, you two brothers must be on time!