It Starts With A Mountain - Chapter 43: The Common Man Sword

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On that day, all the bandits saw as the Toad Gang brought back cart after cart of gold, silver, and jewels to the mountain.

A total of ten carts, which everyone confirmed after counting multiple times. Although they couldn’t see what was on the carriages, they knew it was the gold and silver of Liancheng, priceless treasures.

But as they watched the Toad Gang bring back their treasure, no one had the thought to rob them. Through this battle, the Toad Gang had already shown their strength to the bandits of Black Bull Mountains, making those who had plans to attack them give up. And now, whether Cheng Dalei could use the Five Thunder technique or not was no longer important.

All they could do was watch as the Toad Gang brought back cart after cart of treasure to their camp. The only thing they could do was scavenge some armor from the bodies and pick up some weapons that had been dropped in the jungle after the battle was over.

Back at the Toad Camp, Cheng Dalei immediately went to his room to check his information.

Name: Cheng Dalei (a somewhat famous ordinary bandit)

Age: 18

Skill: Three-Axe Technique

Hidden Attribute: A Good Person

Fear Points: 3000

Compared to before, his level had not changed, but he now had a new attribute called “Fear Points.” According to the system prompt he had just received, once his system reached 10,000, he would gain the authority to build a command post.

Cheng Dalei pondered to himself. Based on his years of experience as a gaming enthusiast, the Fear Points seemed like a system currency that could be exchanged for items once a certain amount was reached. And this command post… was it a store for military commanders?

Of course, this was only Cheng Dalei’s analysis, and he could only confirm it once he had built the command post.

His current Fear Points was 3000, and he still needed 7000 more to reach his goal. How could he obtain this Fear Points?

Just then, Xu Shenji entered the room. “Boss, we’ve finished counting the loots we seized. Do you want to take a look?”

Cheng Dalei followed Xu Shenji out, still pondering the matter of the Fear Points. This system was clearly a professional version that didn’t even provide a beginner’s guide. Cheng Dalei had to figure everything out on his own.

“Hey!” Suddenly, Cheng Dalei shouted loudly and slapped Xu Shenji on the shoulder.

Xu Shenji turned around with a look of disdain. “Boss, what are you doing?”

Ding! Fear Points +1.

“It’s nothing,” Cheng Dalei waved his hand. It seemed like scaring people was all that was needed to increase his Fear Points. But Xu Shenji was already familiar with him and wasn’t afraid of him at all. If he wanted to increase his Fear Points, he had to find another way.

He walked with Xu Shenji to the training ground, where Huang Sanyuan was recording the numbers with a pen. Without Huang Sanyuan, none of them would be good at these kinds of tasks.

“The boss, it’s all been accounted for,” Huang Sanyuan said. “We have ten carts in total, three carts of animal hides, two carts of bronze ware, two carts of herbs, and three carts of silk. We also got a few horses and some weapons.”

After the battle, the Toad Gang had made a good haul. Animal hides, herbs, and cotton cloth were necessities for their living. Looking at the small mountain of goods piled up in front of him, Cheng Dalei asked, “Can we use all of these?”

“Most of them can be used, but not all,” Huang Sanyuan said. “The problem now is that the gang has very little food left, and the weather is getting colder. We need to stock up on some winter provisions.”

In fact, the Toad Gang only had six members, and they couldn’t eat too much food. The key issue was that the gang also had several horses, and they had captured some more during the battle, which consumed even more. With the current reserves of the gang, they could not survive the winter.

“Should we trade these goods for food?” Cheng Dalei asked, looking up. “We don’t seem to have any channels, do we?”

“Well, we used to have a way to sell our goods, but the Toad Gang’s power has dwindled, and that route is now closed,” Xu Shenji said.

“In that case, we need to open up a new channel; otherwise, there’s no way to sell the things we steal in the future,” Cheng Dalei said, standing up suddenly. “What about Su Ying’s situation? Her family’s problems haven’t been resolved yet, and the ransom she promised hasn’t been sent. She must think she can walk away from us without paying!”

“Could something have gone wrong on her side?” Huang Sanyuan asked.

At present, it seemed that establishing a cooperative relationship between the Toad Gang and Su Ying was the best option. However, there had been no news from Su Ying since she went back, and they didn’t know how the pepper was received in Fallenleaf City. What was happening on Su Ying’s side? Was her stepmother hard to deal with…?

Cheng Dalei asked everyone to move the goods they had stolen into the warehouse. These things wouldn’t spoil, so it wouldn’t be a problem to keep them for a while.

While they were doing this, Cheng Dalei kept receiving system prompts.

“Ding, received 8 points of fear.”

“Ding, received 10 points of fear.”

“Ding, received 3 points of fear.”

…

Cheng Dalei estimated that this was the result of the news of their robbery spreading to Blacstone City, and rumors might have made him out to be a villain. However, he realized that this wouldn’t be enough to collect 10,000 points of fear.

The next morning, Cheng Dalei hadn’t woken up yet when Xu Shenji rushed into his room.

“Boss, Li Xingzai has run away.”

“If he wants to leave, let him go. Did you really expect him to stay?” Cheng Dalei yawned and sat up. “I guess they should all be leaving soon.”

“But he left a sword in his room.”

“What?”

Cheng Dalei jumped off the bed and grabbed the sword from Xu Shenji’s hand. He unsheathed the sword with a clink, and the blade was as cold as water.

Ever since he arrived in this era, Cheng Dalei had been yearning for a sword. He had even fantasized about wearing a white robe and wielding a sword, roaming the world on horseback. However, after such a long time had passed, he still couldn’t get his hands on a sword. He had figured out why.

In this era, swords were more like ceremonial objects than weapons. With the forging technology of this era, it was impossible to make a double-edged iron sword with great killing power. It would become dull after only a few strikes. Therefore, when warriors went to battle, they mostly chose long spears, big knives, copper hammers…sharpness didn’t matter as long as they were heavy enough to smash people. As for the heroes of the green forests, they preferred to use big knives, whistles, and whatever was available to them. They were cheap and practical for killing and arson, and essential for everyday life.

Swords, on the other hand, were a luxury item. Firstly, they were expensive to make, and they needed to be carefully maintained. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if the sword rusted and couldn’t be drawn from the scabbard. Therefore, in this era, scholars, nobles, and even royalty would carry swords.

Which category did Li Xingzai belong to?

As he held the sword in his hand, Cheng Dalei slowly pondered.

On the official road from Black Bull Mountain to Fallenleaf City, Li Xingzai walked in front, and Li Waner followed behind him with a puzzled expression.

“Brother, why do you want to give him the sword?” asked Li Waner.

“It’s just a sword. What’s the big deal if I give it to him?” Li Xingzai replied casually.

“But that sword…” Li Waner hurried a few steps to catch up with him and said, “It’s a common man sword…”

1. Please skip this note if you don’t want to be exposed to spoilers

The Common Man Sword is one of the 14 imperial swords made by the 22nd Emperor.

The Emperor himself had the Son of Heaven Sword. And the rest were distributed to vassals and princes.

Instead of studying, the 6th prince preferred to hang out with the big merchants and porters and loved to wander. The Emperor liked his nature so he was given the Common Man Sword.

In other words, Lin Xinzai and Li Waner were the imperial prince and princess.

Source: Manhua chapter 90