I Shall Bless You (Part 3)

Pig Lord’s death caused a massive stir. Territorial lords were high-ranking people in the Western Regions. Territorial lords who were nobility were practically monarchs of a small state. They collected tax, collected supplies, raised their own militaries and could pass down all their privileges in the family. As stupid as Pig Lord was, he was a Duke, a relative of the royal family.

Numerous territorial lords raised their alarms before the monarchs flew off the handle, strengthening their security. It was the first time in ages that someone had dared to openly challenge the authority of nobles; not even Divine Moon Cult would challenge nobles so brazenly in spite of Pig Lord’s disgusting behaviour and idiocy. Only the law, three cardinal guides and five constant virtues in the feudal ethical code were the most important for the territorial lords’ glory.

Citizens of the various cities were uneasy due to armoured mercenaries flocking to the cities. The lords spent copious sums without an end date in sight, yet none of their apprehensions came to be.

Pig Lord’s demise was a big shock, but it passed quickly. The monarch returned to his indulgent lifestyle after realising his rage didn’t have much impact. The lords started to mock Pig Lord’s assassin for being a wuss after their panic settled, and they started assuming one of his concubines got lucky and managed to assassinate him out of spite. Then, their conversations started taking a lustful turn and filled with laughs as if the real culprit never existed. They never cared who died or who was alive as long as they weren’t affected. They all forgot about the bloody symbol on the wall.

A new lord was assigned to the town, and the mercenaries who flocked there moved to other places in search of new clients. It took less than two months for the entire event to die down as if it never happened. The only noticeable change was that Jie’er’s family no longer resided there, and Mora Pharmacy was gone.

One day, a twelve-year-old boy showed up at Devil Den, a gathering spot horseback bandits used. They were a group of people who turned to banditry due to circumstances, descendants of bandits, or people who lived proper lives during the day and bandits at night. Horseback bandits didn’t use sheer power to commit crimes. Instead, they relied on a drop-and-go style. After raiding cities, they’d flee hundreds of miles into the desert where nobody resided, and they’d vanish before militaries or religious groups could reach them.

If the military chased them, the soldiers would either perish in the desert or be taken down once they were fatigued from their travelling. The bloody historic events taught their nemeses that the best strategy against them was to guard against them before they could strike. In other words, develop a patrol system, and deploy large forces to deter them. At the same time, they had to redirect the bandits to another target.

Since the bandits were statistically successful, their arrogance grew, but nobody dared to search for their den in the desert.

Due to the bandits’ unique nature, it was uncommon for them to collaborate or even speak. Despite them sharing different affiliations, though, they had a place to convene to contact each other.

Horseback bandits employed mobile attrition tactics in combat and used combat as a means of training. When they went out on jobs, they ransacked cities and towns for supplies rather than bringing their own along. That made it easier to deal with any pursuers, but those in their industry patronized them. Horseback bandits seldom followed carefully-crafted plans – and carefully-crafted plans tended to turn out for the worst. They usually decided on jobs without much thought, but that frequently resulted in them finding out other bandits also had their eyes on the same target when they arrived. Such encounters were typically destructive. Why would a bunch of bandits out for money call it quits just because they ran into a hassle or two? They didn’t even fear the religions and royal family, let alone another bunch of horseback bandits. Their solution to the problem was primitive but effective – violence. However, a consequence of the approach was that the loser would be badly damaged, while the victor wouldn’t have time to replenish their supplies before fleeing. As a consequence, the military often managed to catch and destroy them. Once it became a recurrent problem, the bandits decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a word with other groups before making a move. That was where Devil Den entered the picture.

The heads of the gangs would meet up at the secret hideout that the military had been unable to locate. The only certain knowledge about the hideout was that it wasn’t fixed, was hard for ordinary men to reach and that the bandits could flee at the drop of the hat. The heads met up there to discuss their upcoming plans for the future months and years so that they could ensure nobody stepped on anyone’s toes. Naturally, dividends were divided based on power. They were people who used violence to have their ways. Plus, none of them could pillage the entirety of the Western Regions alone. Thus, virtually none of them had any issue with splitting in accordance with power.

Twenty-seven leaders gathered at Devil Den that day and had determined there was no need for another meeting for the next two years, so everyone was supposed to go their own way in a few days. Never did they expect a runt to scoff and mock, “I thought bandits were supposed to be some fearsome folks, but you’re all just a short-sighted bunch of hooligans.”

The leaders were ready to show their hare feet upon hearing him, but the blonde teenager managed to stop them. The fact that he managed to sneak in without anyone detecting him until he spoke up was a testament to his skill. There were multiple paths to exit the stone cavern, but humiliation wasn’t the worst outcome. Losing their heads without knowing why would’ve made them walking punch lines, yet they halted in their tracks.

He didn’t move or say anything after he “introduced” himself. Instead, he tossed some stuff to the ground that drew all eyes to the objects. They all recognised the golden glow even though the sound might’ve been foreign. He picked up a golden bowl that rolled down to his foot to examine. The level of gold purity in the items and the number of items was enough to motivate people to kill. One item after another dropped to the ground as though it was raining gold. He flashed all that wealth purely for an opportunity to speak to them. Having learnt to understand humans, he had also learnt how to motivate humans to take actions he wanted them to take.

The small coins could be traded for a lot of things and could mislead people into believing they voluntarily made purchases. As for the source of his wealth, he obtained it the same way the bandits did. Prior to tearing Pig Lord’s head off, he looted all of Pig Lord’s wealth, leaving the latter’s successor with nothing more than an empty city.

He mocked the twenty-seven leaders for being incompetent, being unambitious and short-sighted in one breath. Once they were ready to draw their weapons, he presented them with a map displaying the location of the biggest treasure trove in the Western Regions – Divine Moon Cult’s hidden stash.

“Every single one of you will be able to live lives of luxury if you could get your hands on the stuff here. It all depends on whether your leaders are willing to take it or not. I have limits as only one man, so I can’t trigger the entry mechanism. With enough people, I can.”

Every resident of the Western Regions was aware that 70% of the seven states’ wealth was in the hands of the cult, while only 30% was in the hands of the people. Every literate individual was affiliated with Divine Moon Cult. Every wealthy family, every noble, every member of royalty believed in Divine Moon Cult. One only needed to take one glance at the golden city to end all debates on Divine Moon Cult’s prosperity.

The bandits were fully aware of the fact because, as daring as they were, they only ever dared to steal from the 30%. Even if their brains were dead, they wouldn’t have dared to touch the other 70% with a 10-foot pole. They were able to survive for so long as they remained between the conflicts between the religions and royal family. If they convinced Divine Moon Cult to look their way, they’d have been toast in moments. Was it surprising, then, that they were shaken when they saw a map of Divine Moon Cult’s treasure trove? The fact that he had his hands on something so valuable also cemented his abilities.

“I know you’re cowardly dunces. You don’t have to believe me. We’ll have a chance to meet again.” After unleashing his verbal barrage, he left them with the stash.

Every demon who saw Endian bragged about the rarity and value of the items he left as well as the map that guaranteed a life of luxury. The leaders were sure that Endian was plotting something, so they prohibited discussions on the topic. Problem was, they were never a disciplined group to begin with, so there was no censorship, and the information reached every corner of the Western Regions.

He appeared again two years later at Devil Den. Instead of meeting with twenty-seventy bandits, however, he met with one hundred and thirty-six bandits. Suffice to say, not every bandit group participated in the meetings at Devil Den, but there were undoubtedly multiple times more. He showed up as suddenly as his first visit and never exchanged a word with anyone. He opened his blue eyes and asked, “Gentlemen, are you ready to enjoy the riches with me?”

Nobody wanted to wait for another two years, so they unanimously responded supportively.

Endian was a man of action. He led the bandits into the bandit without much clarification and eventually found the legendary ruins of Divine Moon Cult. There were many contraptions built into the ruins, so it was true that there were quaint items belonging to Divine Moon Cult in there, except there were no valuables.

“Because you’re greedy,” Endian suddenly remarked to the terrified leaders. “No matter what you threaten greedy people with, they won’t make any compromises, but a treasure trove that doesn’t exist will motivate them to travel to the end of the world. I couldn’t capture all of you even if I was ten times stronger than I am now, but haven’t you all gathered up before me? You think you can escape?”

Unless the difference between “subduing” and “killing” didn’t matter, then Endian subdued them without even using his hands.

Despite a hundred and thirty-six groups losing their leaders overnight, they didn’t disband. Instead, they assembled before the young man sitting on the throne in the ruins no differently to vassals assembling before their ruler.

“We are bandits. It is in our nature to pillage. We are supposed to be bloodthirsty lions, wolves and tigers; not dogs and cats. Why are we waiting to be fed? Why are we hoping for a stable life? I have already removed the foolish heads. Bandits ought to steal. They ought to use their teeth and bones to get their prey in their mouths.”

He spoke in a gentle voice, yet their souls were set alight. One of them asked, “Who is the target?”

With a smile, Endian replied, “That, of course, would be the biggest sheep.”

In under three years, Endian assembled practically all of the bandits in the Western Regions and initiated the largest and most violent robbery in the history of the seven states. The bandits attacked civilians, vandalised property and violently robbed the masses, but they suddenly seemed harmless compared to Endian.

In their first raid, they raided three shrines at night, taking all items, money and lives, then set them ablaze. The blood of every shrine member formed a swirly moon on the ground outside the shrine. Not even the boldest of people dared to challenge the cult during their lowest period to that extent.

The cult responded with haste and tenacity that made all the statements about bandits being hard to locate nothing more than myths. As long as they could capture the bandits, all the disturbances would be nothing more than mere words. The cult had the most talent, the most informants and people who could traverse the deepest parts of the desert that others couldn’t. Their informants wouldn’t miss if the bandits tried to run. Therefore, the cult had more experience than anyone and was more qualified than anyone to capture the bandits. Alas, the bandits didn’t flee. Instead, their new leader led them on a counterattack expedition.

The rag-tag group of bandits that were usually only good for bullying innocent civilians had the cult baffled. The bandits coordinated their actions and showed no fear in battle. Their superior numbers on top of that gave them another advantage. While the bandits suffered quite the number of casualties after a month of fighting, they were able to wipe out the cult’s forces. The only belongings of the cult that made it back to their city were the bloody heads of the twelve priests dispatched.

The royal families were shaken up the most following the event. They had never dared to oppose the cult no matter how much enmity they harboured. For a long time, the cult overlooked the bandits so that they could disturb the peace. Needless to say, the cult was furious about the “betrayal”. Though the royal family members didn’t discuss the matter, they all offered the new bandit leader an olive branch explicitly and inexplicitly, hinting they wouldn’t deploy troops to oppose the cult. In other words, the government wouldn’t stand in their way and would help.

Naturally, the one conflict that the cult and the state monarchs couldn’t come to a middle ground on was the distribution of authority. Who’d allow another to overstep their authority? Regardless of what shape the world was in, the two factions constantly competed to be the ultimate authority. It was particularly important for the royal families as the cult leader of the generation bossed around the royal families based on his whims. Cult leader Ximen once publicly bashed Lizhe’s monarch. If it wasn’t for his position, the monarch would’ve burnt down the shrine before the bandits did. Hence, the cult deploying a second force to exterminate the bandits promptly was expected.

Even though the cult had just been smashed, they were able to pull together an elite squad, which included heavily-armoured cavalry, numbering over three thousand in no time at all. If they needed, the seven states could’ve put together another army or two of the same calibre, but only Divine Moon Cult had the ability to pull one together as if nothing happened in such a short time frame.

Since the bandits received gestures of friendship from the monarchs, they were on cloud nine. After all, those were prideful monarchs who were now backing them. As such, the second clash was pivotal for them. They had never been willing to risk their lives, but the opportunity spurred them on.𝒊𝒏𝙣𝒓𝙚𝒂𝒅.𝙘𝒐𝙢

Endian continued to command the bandits with equanimity. In one battle, he appeared in a quiet camp, walked through a hail of arrows without a scratch and beheaded the enemy cavalry commander, crushing the enemy forces’ morale. In the second battle, the victor was decided in a mere three months. Having said that, both parties came out with lots of casualties.

From the bandits’ perspective, they had raided over a dozen shrines, killed innumerable troops of Divine Moon Cult, walked off with a huge paycheque, survived the vengeance of the cult and successfully hidden themselves away in the desert, so they didn’t see it as failure no their part. From the cult’s perspective, they had finally forced the bandits into their own turf. Neither side acknowledged their failures, but they both failed to realise that they had recognised each other as equally-competitive competition. If anything, the biggest gain was that the bandits no longer viewed the cult as untouchable; the best proof of the fact was that the monarchs had expressed friendship a second time.

The bandits didn’t manage to destroy the cult’s forces; however, they had proven themselves a force to be reckoned with in the Western Regions. When they asked their leader if they should accept the olive branches, Endian chortled and agreed to grant the seven envoys an audience. The meeting started the same way he met with the bandit leaders – a promising start and headless end. On the same day, he mobilised a force into the heart of Lizhe, burning any shrines on the way and charging into any military camps he passed. Had he not encountered the neighbouring state’s backup forces, he would’ve slaughtered his way into the royal palace of Lizhe to spank their monarch. They gained an abundance out of it, but it was an awfully short-sighted decision because he simultaneously triggered Divine Moon Cult and the states. It was only then that the bandits realised their new leader was a mad man.

Endian always targeted territorial lords, monarchs, the militaries, Divine Moon Cult… Basically, the less he was supposed to challenge them, the more he challenged them. The consequences of his actions were written on the wall – fast. They had lost members at an alarming rate; their rate of recruitment wasn’t remotely close to their rate of loss. Their leader hadn’t shown any care for their lives in spite of the worrisome problem. Instead, he had continued to rob the seven states with reckless abandon. They never noticed that, though they were getting richer and richer, they were losing more and more members, as well. Compared to prior to Endian’s leadership, they were less than 25% of their prior size. No faction could continue fighting the way they had been fighting.

When the bandits questioned their leader, he responded, “Are your lives valuable? Why wouldn’t you risk them?” His gaze was innocent, yet he pushed them towards hell again.

Henceforth, Endian adopted a more low-profile attitude whilst doing his utmost to reduce the number of bandits. One day, a rather unique guest paid him a visit. Ximen Chuideng piqued his interest in humans again.

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