Even if they weren’t trained fighters, they’d been tempered at the edge of a blade.
Steward Xiao Hong explained to him, “No, sir—it’s the people you told me to keep an eye on a few days ago. Those hunters from the mountains, the ones selling wild mushrooms.”
At that, Hong Laowu remembered.
He narrowed his eyes and looked again. The boat hadn’t gone far yet. The men carrying the cargo didn’t resist at all—told to jump, they jumped, one by one plunging into the water and swimming toward shore.
The few still standing really did look familiar.
He didn’t hold much hope. An ordinary person might never encounter river bandits even once in their lifetime. To run into them without warning, have a knife pointed at you, with survival right in front of your eyes—unless you couldn’t swim and jumping meant certain death, who would risk their life to fight back?
On the boat—
Li Feng was utterly baffled, utterly shocked. This was the prefectural city’s dock. Nearby were naval troops, within the city were garrison soldiers, and right here was the prefect’s yamen. Because of the geography, it wasn’t even far from the provincial capital—it all lay along the same canal.
These people were truly audacious beyond belief. In broad daylight, before everyone’s eyes, they came to rob cargo and seize ships—and even threatened to come back again and again.
Li Feng didn’t know what the bandit chief was thinking. He only knew that the bandit chief’s head was worth a lot of money.
A year of hauling heavy sacks wouldn’t compare to capturing this bandit leader alive.
The five of them had honed their coordination deep in the mountains. A few glances, a few hand signals—that was all it took to pass the message.
The bandits didn’t see them as a threat. Only two kept a close watch on them; the rest were busy raising sails and getting the boat moving. The bandit chief himself had his attention fixed on the shore.
They could take a gamble.
Li Feng shifted sideways, feinted with a punch, tricking the eastern bandit into slashing with his knife. Li Feng ducked low, dodged it, then lunged forward, sprang up, and kicked the bandit’s right hand. A heavy punch followed straight to the face. He hooked the fallen knife with the toe of his shoe, snatched it up, and slashed toward the bandit chief.
Wang Meng followed immediately, entangling the disarmed bandit and grappling with him hand to hand.
On the other side, Er Jun and San Miao disarmed the western bandit and moved toward the sail, grabbed two more knives, tossed one to Wang Meng, and held the position.
Wang Meng took the blade and rushed to the east side, joining Li Feng to encircle the bandit chief.
Si Hou was like a monkey in truth. With all their own people gathered near the sail, he scrambled up along a rope, pulled out a slingshot from his clothes, loaded stones, and aimed straight for the bandits’ eyes.
When traveling, they couldn’t carry many weapons. The slingshot was convenient—no one expected it to actually come in handy.
There were only a little over a dozen bandits on the boat. The five struck swiftly, working in perfect coordination. Multiple clashes erupted at once, and they quickly took control.
Li Feng and Wang Meng were both among the top fighters back in their stronghold. Two against one, they beat the bandit chief so badly he couldn’t even escape.
Men who came out of the forest were like untamed beasts. They valued their lives—but every move they made was ruthless, as if they didn’t.
The bandit chief swung his blade wildly and jumped into the water to flee.
That played right into their strengths.
Li Feng didn’t hesitate. He hurled his long knife—one throw, straight into the man’s shoulder blade.
Wang Meng immediately grabbed a rope, threw it forward, looped it around the bandit chief’s neck, and hauled back hard, dragging him onto the deck and tying him up.
When the rope loosened from his neck, the bandit chief coughed violently. Blood poured steadily from the wound in his back, spreading across the wet deck and staining it red in no time.
He looked up, eyes full of savage fury.
He looked at Wang Meng, then at Li Feng, and asked by instinct, “What line of work are you in?”
Li Feng said, “The upright kind.”
Afraid he wouldn’t understand, Li Feng added, “The official road.”
The bandit chief’s glare grew even fiercer. “You’re screwing with me!”
Li Feng kicked him. “You’re the one being a bastard.”
Everything on the boat happened too fast. Not only were the people on shore stunned, even the men by the rail who’d been shouting that they couldn’t swim were dumbfounded.
With skills like that, why do backbreaking labor?
But it was a blessing they had come to haul cargo. If they hadn’t, those men would’ve been forced into the water—who knew if anyone would’ve saved them.
Si Hou shouted toward the shore, “Get over here! None of us know how to sail!”
The dock guards had only just gathered when the two boats slowly leaving port had already been dealt with.
Hong Laowu stared for a moment, then bellowed orders for the other ships to keep moving and for small boats to row over.
By the time they docked, the naval patrol boats had arrived as well.
Hong Laowu pointed at the bandits bound like dumplings and explained the situation in detail, then pointed at Li Feng and the others and explained again.
That battle made the brothers famous—and it made their trading firm, Living off the Mountain, famous too.
Beneath Li Feng’s rugged exterior was a shrewd mind.
When Hong Laowu questioned him, he answered like this:
“We’re just mountain folk, villagers from the wilds. We don’t know anything. It’s only under the Hong family’s protection that we can do a bit of business here at the docks and earn some silver to feed our families. These people came to the docks to rob ships and cargo—that ruins the dock’s reputation. That’s smashing our rice bowl. You might tolerate it, but we can’t!”
Hong Laowu might have had his own thoughts, but as a dock manager, he had to speak well of the court.
Li Feng did the same. “We know our place. We never even get to see the great officials. Right now we rely on the Hong family for our livelihood, and we know what’s what. Steward Xiao Hong has taken good care of us lately—any job, he calls us first. All of us brothers remember his kindness.”
Every word praised the Hong family. Hong Laowu’s brow finally relaxed.
And today really had been satisfying. If the bandits had escaped, the Hong family would’ve become a laughingstock.
This matter was within Hong Laowu’s authority. He spoke with the naval troops, waited for the yamen runners to arrive, and explained everything again—neither hiding merit nor stealing credit.
The naval troops praised Li Feng and the others as heroes. The yamen tore down the wanted notice, paid out the forty taels bounty for the bandit chief, and also called them heroes.
They took the reward—and gained the Hong family’s friendship.
Right there at the docks, Hong Laowu opened twenty jars of wine. Every merchant in the dock market—owners if they were present, managers if not, clerks if even the managers were absent—anyone doing business who received an invitation had to show the Hong family respect. Today, the Hong family was hosting a feast for the heroes who captured bandits.
Two grain merchants also came to toast them, exchanging business names and personal names. Unfortunately, Li Feng had no mountain goods on hand; otherwise, a major deal could’ve been struck on the spot.
The stallholders of the dock market came one after another to toast them, calling them heroes again and again until they were thoroughly drunk.
From that day on, Living off the Mountain had firmly planted its feet at the prefectural docks.
After eating and drinking their fill, they stayed at the dockside inn.
Hong Laowu even thought about calling for some clandestine prostitutes, but after Steward Xiao Hong whispered a few words to him, he dropped the idea.
They weren’t familiar yet, and their background was uncertain. Since they’d said they missed the husbands back home, there was no need to push and create trouble.
The next day, Hong Laowu invited Li Feng and the others for another round of drinks.
The night before, Hong Laowu had reported everything to the family head, who also decided to give a reward.
They were merchants, after all—and merchants valued practical benefits. Nothing beat silver in hand.
The government had paid forty taels for the bandit chief. The Hong family added another forty.
Li Feng knew when to stop. He didn’t mention stall space or try to force a closer relationship.
Winning the Hong family’s goodwill was enough. From now on, anything could be discussed.
Seeing how well Li Feng understood the situation, Hong Laowu smiled even more and asked when they’d be coming next time.
“No need to find a place in the city,” he said. “Just rent a warehouse nearby. I’ll set one aside for you—the price will be easy.”
Warehouses were basically residential buildings. You could live in them, store goods in them—bigger than an inn, better than communal bunks.
Li Feng did the math. It wasn’t yet September. After Mid-Autumn, they’d be back.
Probably around the twenty-first or twenty-second of the eighth month, depending on the weather and how much cargo they had.
Hong Laowu thought it over, nodded, and said, “When you reach the docks, if you don’t see me, just look for Steward Xiao Hong.”
Li Feng agreed and handed him a food box.
“We just captured some bandits, so we want to head back to the village early to lie low for a bit. We’re all big, rough men with no special skills, so we bought some mooncakes. Mid-Autumn is coming—please accept them early as a holiday gift.”
