Anger felt like the last ember on burned-out charcoal, turning to ashes and desolation. The flash of the blade streaked by. The vision of the gray wolf shattered. Wen Jie's mouth uttered a piercing scream, an extremely shrill cry that pulled Yang Mu back to reality from his grievance, and he saw his always composed and elegant elder brother Wen Jie half-kneeling on the ground, large beads of sweat dripping from his well-maintained face. The ground was splattered with a large amount of blood. In front of him, an arm holding a longsword was still trembling slightly. Yang Mu's eyes widened, his face flushed with excitement, and he clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "Good, good, good, so you have such an end too, good! Heaven has eyes! Hahaha..." Just at this moment, the blade flashed again. Yang Mu felt a sharp pain in his right hand, and his weapon, along with the right hand and arm that had slain countless people, flew away and fell to the ground. He was stunned for a moment, then screamed out, staggered a few steps, and collapsed into a chair. The laughter in his throat hadn't dissipated yet, but it twisted and amplified into a mournful wail. Whether they were lost in self-pity or conceited and composed, all were brought back to reality by a single blade, their emotions never able to influence the world or others. With a resounding cry, the Mo Blade was casually plunged into the ground, and the cloak slightly shook from the counterbalance of Vigorous Qi and wind upon its retreat. The cold-eyed 'Blade Madman' still looked indifferent, saying flatly: "Heaven has no eyes." "I have some questions I want to ask you." Wen Jie, truly capable of managing such a huge enterprise, quickly responded amidst the intense pain and shock, enduring the agony, raised his eyes to the young man in front, and hoarsely said: "Speaking out, can I survive?" The young man's lips seemed to carry a sneer as he said: "Do you have the leverage to bargain?" Wen Jie laughed bitterly twice, closed his eyes, and said, "Then you might as well kill me, for at this point, I will say nothing." Wang Anfeng stroked the hilt of his blade, and after a long time, said indifferently: "If anyone speaks, I will not kill him." Before Wen Jie had a chance to speak, Yang Mu beside him had already stopped his lament, clenched his teeth, and urgently said, "In that case, no matter what, I will tell you everything. I am the second-in-command of the Great Wilderness Stronghold. Over the years, whatever he knows, I definitely know!" Wen Jie's expression changed, and Wang Anfeng had already asked: "Tell the origins of the Great Wilderness Stronghold to someone." Covering the wound on his arm with one hand, Yang Mu immediately said: "This Great Wilderness Stronghold is not the true Great Wilderness Stronghold, not entirely. The Great Wilderness Stronghold is thirteen fortresses sharing the same name, mostly outside the territory, raiding between many small countries, and we are able to enter the Northwest area, therefore receiving greater attention." Wang Anfeng suppressed the urge to frown, his expression indifferent, and said: "How can you survive in the desert beyond the territory?" Yang Mu truthfully replied, "We have no strongholds outside the territory, but we have martial arts skills. Those small national herdsmen friendly to the Qin State, are least guarded against us, serving as the best grain sacks. When hungry, we slaughter their cattle and sheep; when thirsty, we smash their stone houses and tents, invade their villages..." Indeed terrified, he spilled everything out before realizing the mistake, but fortunately, the youth ahead remained coldly calm, like a piece of ice, encouraging him to boldly continue: "This particular stronghold mainly relies on squeezing silver from the caravans traveling to the Western Regions since the profits there are overly abundant. Every year, many people go there, transporting vast goods, and as long as not too many people die in one go, the other merchants won't be scared." "They always believe they are fortunate, returning the next year, and the third year, and the fourth." "Why not come when one or two silvers could turn into five, even ten silvers?" "We only kill two or three merchants annually and do so at different spots, using various identities, not touching others' goods or hurting their people, unless someone from the caravan decides to quit, only then will we harvest them all. The old fortress leader calls this 'cover-up.'" "Those merchants won't be frightened because each time, we ensure they can return having made the most possible money, without being blocked by other sand bandits. Some didn't understand but later realized they were far more foolish than we anticipated." The source of thɪs content is novel※fire.net "Ten taels worth of goods return, prompting a hundred taels of goods to be dispatched the next time." "One hundred taels of money return, turning into a thousand taels of goods, like crazed, obsessed with money, with each transaction larger than the last, lacking understanding to cease. At the end, gathering everything yields far more profit than immediately harvesting initially..." "Years of hard work by those merchants ultimately belonged to the old fortress leader." The voice gradually diminished, and Yang Mu raised his eyes to see this cold youth ahead, noticing the latter's expression unchanged from the beginning, added a sentence, saying: "This time the team leader is Zhou Chao, he said that Sun Ren was an extraordinary wealthy merchant, intending to retire, not leave beyond the territory, hence instructing us to stay in the Northwest region, listening for the call of three short and three long partridges, then ambush." Beside him, Wen Jie suddenly sneered, "So much said, but actually just nonsense." Initially filled with hopeful gratitude, Yang Mu glared angrily at Wen Jie and said: