Chapter 53 Recruitment

There is a Temple of the Mountain God situated atop Huxitou Mountain. Ever since One-Eyed Tiger led his men to seize Huxitou Mountain, the temple had fallen into complete ruin, and its main hall had been converted into the bandit stronghold’s council chamber.

One-Eyed Tiger sat in the exact spot where the statue of the Mountain God had originally stood. Two chairs were placed on his left and right, though at this moment, only the seat on his left was occupied by the stronghold’s second-in-command.

"Chief, this is bad! A band of government troops has come down the mountain!" A bandit burst into the main hall of the Mountain God Temple in a panic.

"What are you panicking for? How many government troops are there?" One-Eyed Tiger rose from his chair.

"N—no, not really," the bandit panted heavily, "and they don't quite look like government troops either. They look somewhat like local militia, numbering around a hundred or so, right there in the woods at the back of the mountain."

The second-in-command advised, "Don't worry, Big Brother. If government troops were coming, the Xu family couldn't possibly have failed to send us word. I'd say ten to one these are just local militia raised by the surrounding villages. We've had similar incidents before. Why don't I lead a squad of men to rout them, and while I'm at it, make a tour of a few villages to warn the peasants and keep them in line?"

One-Eyed Tiger pondered this; what the second-in-command said made sense. "Very well then, I'll leave this matter to you, Second Brother. If the people who came are local militia, kill them all, and by the way, make the villages pay another sum of peace silver. If they turn out to be government troops, send someone back to report so we can retreat into the woods ahead of time."

"Rest assured, Big Brother, leave this to me." The second-in-command stood up from his chair, turned, and shouted toward the outside of the hall, "Bring me my armor!"

At that moment, the bandit who had delivered the message spoke up again, "Big Brother, Second Brother, that gang at the foot of the mountain brought quite a few matchlock firelocks. They don't look ordinary. I've seen local militia before, and at most they only carry a few bows."

"Damn you, you useless piece of trash! You can't even tell government troops apart from local militia—they might even just be rival bandits!" The second-in-command strode over and kicked the man.

The bandit tumbled onto his seat on the floor and hurriedly said, "I'm wronged! I truly couldn't be sure, but government troops always have banners and armor. That bunch at the foot of the mountain had neither banners nor armor, and most of their spears had wooden tips. Yet they are carrying dozens of matchlocks, which is why I couldn't quite figure it out."

The second-in-command turned his head to look at One-Eyed Tiger.

One-Eyed Tiger sat back down in his chair, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the armrest. After a long moment, he asked, "You say that crowd at the foot of the mountain has matchlocks?"

"Yes, at least a few dozen of them. The rest are holding wooden spears." The bandit remained seated on the ground, not daring to get up for fear of receiving another kick if he said the wrong thing.

"All right, I know. You may leave." One-Eyed Tiger waved the bandit away.

As if granted a pardon, the bandit scrambled up in a hurry and retreated from the main hall of the Mountain God Temple.

"Big Brother, could that group at the bottom of the mountain actually be government troops? Militia wouldn't normally have so many matchlocks," the second-in-command remarked. "If they really were newly trained militia from the nearby villages, it couldn't possibly have escaped our notice."

One-Eyed Tiger mused for a moment and said, "Do you remember a band of roving bandits wiped out in Tiancheng Guard two months ago?"

"I've heard of it," replied the second-in-command. "The magistrate's office in Lingqiu County even posted public notices about it. Word from the Xu family is that the Regional Commander of Tiancheng Guard was promoted to Assistant Regional Commander of Datong for his meritorious service in suppressing the bandits."

"Indeed," One-Eyed Tiger said. "Yet a force of several thousand roving bandits is not so easily exterminated down to the last man. There are always a few slippery fish that escape the net."

Hearing this, the second-in-command was startled. "Do you mean to say, Big Brother, that this group at the foot of the mountain are the escaped remnants of those destroyed bandits?"

One-Eyed Tiger nodded. "Though I haven't laid eyes on them, I suspect that ten to one, this crowd below is precisely that band of roving bandits wiped out by the government forces."

"A pack of homeless stray dogs, and they dare to come to our Huxitou Mountain? I'll take men down the mountain right now and wipe them out."

"No need to rush. These people might still be of some use to us."

The second-in-command froze, then hesitated before asking, "Does Big Brother intend to recruit them?"

One-Eyed Tiger nodded. "Precisely. Our Huxitou Mountain is spacious enough, and we aren't short on grain or silver, but we have too few brothers under our command. Every time government troops come to suppress us, we can only flee into the mountain forests beforehand. If we had enough brothers, the government troops wouldn't dare approach Huxitou Mountain so lightly. If this group at the bottom truly are outlaws who fled from Tiancheng Guard, their journey here certainly hasn't been easy. With a little coaxing and wining and dining, we can completely absorb them."

The second-in-command hesitated. "The idea is good, but have you considered, Big Brother, that there are leaders among these roving bandits as well? They might not necessarily be willing to join us. Even if they agree, their numbers are no fewer than the men in our stronghold, which could easily threaten your position, Big Brother."

Hearing this, a cold sneer curved the corner of One-Eyed Tiger's lips. "Once they reach Huxitou Mountain, naturally I call the shots. There's no need to keep the leaders of the roving bandits. Once they're up the mountain, we can easily find an excuse to get rid of them."

The second-in-command said, "You mean to trick these people up the mountain, set an ambush, and wipe out all their leaders in one fell swoop?"

One-Eyed Tiger nodded. "Third Brother isn't here; he went to the county town. I'll leave this task to you."

"Rest assured, Big Brother, your younger brother guarantees this will be handled flawlessly," the second-in-command declared. "A pack of stray dogs—throw them a bone and they'll obediently trot up the mountain."

One-Eyed Tiger cautioned him, "Be careful in all things. We are only guessing at the identity of this group at the foot of the mountain. When you go, send your men to test them out first, and only show your face after their identity is confirmed."

The second-in-command nodded, picked up his waist saber, and strode out of the Mountain God Temple.

...

"Captain, we've caught a bandit who came down from the mountain!" A spearmen squad leader brought men escorting a bandit clad in cotton armor right up to Jia Liu.

Jia Liu raised his eyes to examine the Huxitou Mountain bandit standing before him, his gaze instantly locking onto the cotton armor the man wore. He smacked his lips and muttered, "Damn it, I didn't believe it before, but now it looks like those bandits on Huxitou Mountain are rolling in wealth. You grab just any random bandit and he's wearing cotton armor. Aren't they afraid of sweating out a heat rash?"

His words were dripping with envy.

As a company commander leading over a hundred men—a force no smaller than the bandit gang on Huxitou Mountain—he was still stuck wearing tattered, patched short tunics. Compared to the bandit standing before him, he looked no different than a beggar.

"O—Official... Sir..." The captured bandit had no idea what rank a captain was, so he resorted to calling him "Official Sir" to test the waters.

Jia Liu bared his large front teeth and laughed, "What the hell kind of official sir am I? You're a bandit, and I'm a roving rebel; we're both in the head-chopping business."

"Yes, yes, yes," the bandit nodded repeatedly, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

The second-in-command had sent him out precisely to sniff out who this faction was. Now that he had figured it out, he could finally go back and report.

Yang Yuan, standing nearby, spoke in an icy tone, "Since you are a bandit from the mountain and we mind our own business, why were you spying on my camp? Could it be you were scouting the path for your head chieftain so you could come attack us?"

Hearing this, the bandit shivered and hurriedly explained, "I wouldn't dare! This lowly one wouldn't dare! I was acting on the orders of the second-in-command, here to invite the two chieftains and all you brave heroes up the mountain for a gathering."

Ordinarily, the second-in-command would have delivered this message himself, but in order to stay alive at this moment, he could no longer afford to care about such details.