Night wind blew past, and the flames flickered around. Ning Yi's words echoed from the wooden platform, resonating in the night.

The stories told by scholars might be somewhat difficult for bandits to grasp, but the beginning of this one was easy enough to understand.

"...Many years ago, in a certain city, there was a young man from a less-than-affluent family, but a decent fellow... He went to work as an apprentice in a cloth shop. The owner of the shop thought him clever and deliberately promoted him, providing him with education and eventually making him the shopkeeper... The cloth shop was large, and handling affairs on that scale exposed him to many things. His family's situation also improved quickly. His mother, who was originally seriously ill, was also treated by the owner's generosity, allowing her to live out her years in comfort."

Sitting on a chair, Ning Yi looked down below, speaking in a calm and slow pace, allowing everyone to follow. Under the threat of death, even the valley, where thousands had gathered, was now silent.

"...He was thus heavily relied upon, and gradually, he wanted to live even better... He wanted to become the owner. Then he met some people, devised a plan, and deliberately leaked the cloth shop's commercial secrets to its rivals. Later, he hired someone to assassinate the owner, leaving him severely injured and paralyzed... He wanted to bring the cloth merchant's family down to the bottom, then emerge to save the day... Unfortunately, the plan failed. Their assassination attempt failed, and he and those he knew fled all the way to become bandits, calling themselves... heroes and good men."

Ning Yi smiled. "Such a story is not surprising to you, is it? Your Liangshan is full of such ungrateful scum... You must know the next part even better..."

His voice suddenly rose, and Ning Yi slammed his hand on the table beside him. "Heroes and good men! How can they be humiliated! Sooner or later, they must return to settle the old scores! You say that's right, don't you?"

No one dared to speak at this moment. Ning Yi's gaze swept across everyone's faces, and the surroundings remained quiet for a long time.

"Next, it's just as you imagined. At the end of March, he returned with a group of brothers, intending to kill the old owner's entire family. Unfortunately, there was a slight accident. In the end, out of a family of over two hundred, only over a hundred were killed, and several brothers were lost. They had to return, planning to come back to kill again. I know that's what you think. You are all so smart, you must have guessed... this person is on Liangshan."

"His name is Xi Junyu."

Ning Yi stood up.

"From a cloth shop assistant! To a cloth shopkeeper! And then to a bandit leader, a well-known big brother. Smart people can find a place anywhere. And this... is the reason I came here."

He paused, then smiled, "You may be thinking that I'm talking about how unfair the world is, how ungrateful and unjust this matter is. Just like filing a complaint with the government! Scolding him for being a wolf in sheep's clothing! For doing such a thing, then crying to you about how much I've been wronged... But actually, that's not it. If you think that way, you're completely mistaken."

"My wife... is the daughter of that owner. Most of the time, I'm just a teacher. I don't want to reason with you, because it's useless, it's too late. I'm telling you so much just to make you clearly understand why I came and what I'm going to do next. I didn't come here for the government." He looked at the crowd and said, word by word, "I'm here only to demand a life!"

"In this world, people will encounter all sorts of unfair things. Landlords want to seize your cattle and sheep! The powerful want to bully your daughters! You want to rob and plunder! Shopkeepers want to seize the property of their owners! After things happen, reasoning is useless. Reasoning is only useful before things happen!"

"I am a very simple person. Whether you are high officials or powerful nobles, or evil villains, no matter what you rely on, you only have one life! You put your lives on the line, and I'll put my life on the line! This time I come, not to reason, not to seek justice, I'm not just here to punish the chief culprit! You stand together, giving him courage, acting as his backers, but you enjoy the same blessings, so you bear the same sins!"

"You gather together, uphold justice on behalf of Heaven, drinking from big bowls and eating big chunks of meat. After eating and drinking, you go out together to rob. As long as there is a grievance, you kill the entire family to take revenge. Very good! So this time, I've come to kill!"

"This time, I'm putting my life on the line. If you can take it, you live and continue your evil deeds. If you can't, you will die."

Ning Yi paused for a moment, then smiled coldly.

"Some people think that people's lives have weight. Your sixty thousand lives on Liangshan must be more than two hundred people, but you're wrong. In that family, I taught. That older child grew bit by bit. People went in and came out. There were many children I knew, who were turned into two pieces, or had their heads chopped off. All your lives added together are not worth a single hair of that child to me."

"I'm not the government, and your lives are worthless. You think you are evil people, so you can justifiably burn, kill, and loot in other people's homes. Then I've come to kill. From today onwards, when I start to act, you, your families, old and young, parents, wives, and children, whether it's an eighty-year-old mother or a baby in swaddling clothes, don't let me find you, otherwise they will all die. Since you consider yourselves evil people, I will let you see someone even more evil."

The wind howled across the night sky. The figure on the wooden platform turned around, then sat back down in the chair. Looking over again, his tone began to fade.

"I know that many of your families are on Liangshan. Everyone will be sent back later. After today, I won't say anything more. You take your weapons and go your own way, do whatever you want. Return to Liangshan, continue drinking from big bowls and eating big chunks of meat, then wait for me to attack. Pick up your knives and fight me. Either you kill me, or I kill you and send your entire family down with you."

"You can also leave Liangshan and find another mountain to continue living a life of licking blood from your knife. However, Zheng Biao killed many people near here. Liangshan is now in such a state that everyone is calling for its destruction. See if you can get out of this area. But most importantly... don't let me find you. Once I find you, you and your families are dead. This is a blood debt. Before you die or I die, I can say responsibly that there will be no stopping."

"Don't think that when the government troops attack, you can just throw down your knives and surrender. It's not that simple. I have a thousand ways to make you die unpleasantly. You have already stood on that side, done evil deeds, and the debt must be repaid."

"If you want to write it off with me, there is only one way: use heads to exchange. Exchange your life, the lives of your family." Ning Yi stood up and took out a stack of blood-stained papers from his clothes. "Liangshan has already scattered! These are the surrender letters that some of your leaders shot in during the attack on the Zhu Family Village. But on the battlefield, they couldn't come. When you go back, explain the situation. I guarantee that all of Liangshan will be in chaos. Once it's in chaos, you can strike. Protect yourselves, and use heads to exchange for lives. When the government troops attack, there will be rewards for those who defect with merit. The rules for how much and how the rewards are given are all outside. Take a look and listen when you leave. Once this is done, your identities will be whitewashed. You can go home to farm or become a wealthy man, whatever you want. The family that had half its members killed means Liangshan has to fill it with over thirty thousand lives. The rest may be able to live."

He walked to the table and began to pack up, putting his bracelet back on and picking up his hat.

"I've said a lot, hoping that you can remember it clearly in the end. You can think that I'm making empty threats, or that I don't have the ability to do these things. After you go out, whether you leave or stay is your choice. Picking up your knife to aim at me or picking up your knife to aim at the people around you is all to find a way to survive for your family. There's no shame in that. To kill you all, I still have many arrangements to make, so I have to leave first. Someone will come in later to tell you some things. On your Liangshan, some leaders were framed and forced up by Song Jiang and others. We have investigated everything. The process and the list have already been drawn up. Help me bring a message: those who redeem themselves will still have a future."

He said this, took a step to leave, then remembered something, turned back, and tapped his finger on the table. "Oh, there's one more thing. That Lin Chong was at my house at the end of March. He was originally going to die, but firstly, he was very restrained that day, and secondly, several of his brothers pleaded for him, begging me to spare his life if possible. So he can also live, but whether he can live depends on himself."

Footsteps went to the side of the wooden platform. When he reached the edge, Ning Yi turned his head back and surveyed the more than a thousand people below. "People in the Jianghu can't help themselves. You had no choice but to go to Liangshan, and I have no choice but to come and kill you. I just want to kill you and your families, but I don't know you and I don't have any malice towards you. Please make this clear. If fate allows, we may meet again one day, but after walking out of this door today, everyone should hold their knives steady and fight for our lives. Take care, goodbye."

This solemn and chilling voice echoed in the small square. If Ning Yi had said these words a few days ago, he would have been laughed at, but at this time, these words had a chillingly serious tone. A few days ago, the momentum of the entire Liangshan was at its peak. But after the defeat of Liangshan in three days, after June 8th, the collapse of the entire Liangshan army formation was seen by everyone. And the cause was simply because, among the many major events carried out in these months, they had casually offended a Son-in-Law from a cloth merchant's family thousands of miles away.

The world is full of strange things, nothing more so than this. But when things fall on your own head, no one can laugh anymore...

***************

The last twelve hours of double monthly tickets, everyone, don't hold onto your tickets anymore.

Thanks to Ally Sui Mengmeng for the red reward, thanks everyone for your support ^_^