Insufficient balance

  The bandit leader said with a smile: "Alright, brother, you and your friend can leave now. I'm going to collect the spoils of war. Haha."

  I never thought it would end up like this, it's too dramatic, I actually became friends with the robber.

  The leader of the merchant group, Mr. Meng, saw us turn enemies into friends and was extremely uncomfortable in his heart, constantly scolding himself for being so blind. He hurried over, not daring to find me, but instead ran to Long Meng's side and begged bitterly: "Long Meng, please ask the great archmage to help us out, let these brothers spare our lives, we can't afford to lose this batch of goods."

  Long Meng gazed at him with disdain, saying coldly: "Isn't it too late? Who told you not to trust Long Gong? Blame yourselves. I have no face to go plead for you."

  "Yes, yes, it's all my fault for not having the foresight. I was too selfish. But we have elderly and children at home, many people lost everything in this disaster, please help me beg for mercy." Mr. Meng had already broken down in tears.

  Although Long Meng looks like a rough man on the outside, he is actually very kind-hearted inside. Seeing Mr. Meng's tears, his heart softened and he said helplessly: "Okay, don't do this, I'll go try, but I can't guarantee that Long Gong will agree."

  "Thank you, thank you, you're really a good person."

  I had already overheard their conversation from the side, I thought to myself that businessmen aren't easy either, they're also just trying to survive, forget it, why bother seeing things their way.

  Before Long Meng could say a word to me, I preempted him by saying: "Alright, Long Meng, don't say anything else. I'll go and try to plead with the other party."

  I walked up to the leader of the bandits who was counting his spoils and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again."

  The bandit chief said: "What's there to be ashamed of? If you have something to say, just say it."

  "It's like this, you see, these merchants aren't easy to deal with either. Can't you just let them off this one time? After all, it's my first time receiving a mercenary mission, and I don't want to fail halfway through."

  The bandit leader shook his head and said with difficulty: "It's probably not possible to spit out the fat meat that has already been put in our mouths. Why do you still want to help them? Didn't you see the faces of those treacherous merchants just now? They don't trust you at all, why are you still thinking for their sake?"

  I also felt embarrassed, sighed and said, "No way, first they are my clients, second, they also have wives and children, I just hope you don't do it too absolutely, I know you must have your own difficulties, but everyone should leave a way out for themselves."

  The bandit leader's face sank, and he said in a gloomy tone: "Are you threatening me?"

  I stared into his eyes, taking a step closer. "I didn't mean to threaten you, I just hope you can grant me this request. In the future, I will definitely return this favor."

  Under my firm gaze, he gradually softened, let out a light sigh, and said helplessly: "I really can't do anything about you, but I like your personality very much. I can agree to let them off, but not all of them. I want half of the goods. With so many brothers following me, I couldn't let them return empty-handed. Moreover, I have a condition."

  His answer has already satisfied me, these swindlers should also be taught a lesson, this result is the best. I smiled and said: "Then thank you first, what conditions do you have, as long as I can do it, I will definitely try my best to satisfy you."

  "My conditions are quite harsh, you need to be mentally prepared. If you can't do it, then the agreement we made earlier will all be for nothing."

  I clenched my heart tightly, gritted my teeth, and said, "Tell me, as long as I can do it." Would he deliberately make things difficult for me? He wouldn't want my arms or legs, would he?

  He burst out laughing and said: "My condition is -" He deliberately dragged out his voice, making my stomach drop, "is to invite you to our mountain stronghold as a guest."

  After hearing his words, I felt like a deflated balloon, almost collapsing to the ground. What kind of condition is this? It's too simple!

  "I weakly said: 'Boss, I give up.'"

  "He said in surprise: 'What, you don't want to come to our place as a guest? Alright then, the appointment is cancelled.'"

  I hastily said: "No no no, I'm willing to go, I also want to see what your place looks like, are you going to scare me to death or something?"

  He suddenly burst out laughing, "Haha, you've also been fooled by me, this time I've finally gotten my revenge."

  I'm speechless.

  With the bandit chief's permission, the thieves returned half of the goods to the merchants. These unscrupulous businessmen were so grateful that they almost died from it. I didn't even bother with them and only told Long Meng about the bandits' conditions. I had them escort the merchant group to Xida first, while I went to visit the bandit's lair for a few days.

  At first, Long Meng strongly opposed it, but after my repeated explanations that the bandits would absolutely not harm me, he agreed. He said that from now on, he would follow me and ensure my safety all the way to Xiuda Kingdom. Unintentionally, I had taken in so many younger brothers, which was also beyond my expectation. I told him that we would talk about these matters later, and that once I arrived at Xiuda, I would go find them.

  Watching Long Meng and the others walk away, I turned my head to look at the leader of the bandits, smiled and said: "Boss, let's go too. By the way, I still don't know what your name is, my name is Chang Gong Wei, I'm 16 years old, almost 17."

  "Everyone calls me Zhan Hu, you can call me that too. I don't want to mention my old name anymore. I'm 29 years old, much older than you, so it's okay if you call me big brother."

  I thought to myself, it seems he must have some unbearable past events, so I'd better not stir him up. "Of course," I replied, "you're the big brother anyway, let's go, and I'll get to see your old haunt." With that, I urged on a horse that one of the bandits had given me and rushed out first.

  "Do you know the way? Or should I lead?" War Tiger's horse was clearly much faster, and in an instant it caught up to my side and rode alongside me.

  Their old nest is in the mountains at the border of Aisha and Shuda, it's not a den of thieves but rather a large village, and War Tiger is obviously the head of the entire village. When the elderly, women and children in the village see the bandits bringing back a large amount of wealth, they welcome them like heroes.

  The scale of this bandit village is not small, the mountains have become their natural barrier, the village is surrounded by mountains, it's a basin-like terrain, the whole village and the surrounding mountains blend together, lush and green, if you don't know, you'd really think this is a paradise on earth.