Things started in Xiao Liang County.

A group of True Truth sectarians, responsible for a dozen villages and towns in the southeast area, had already made a long sweep here. The grain collection process, although with some twists and turns, was not too difficult, and they successfully escorted dozens of carts full of grain back.

They could have gone directly back to Ming Prefecture city to report, but unexpectedly, when they rounded a mountain bend, they happened to see more than a dozen farm households nestled here, so they steered their horses over to collect grain.

This was a village with few people, but those who dared to reclaim and cultivate land here were brave and fierce. They didn't rent land from landlords, nor did they recognize the authority of officials. Seeing someone coming to seize their grain, they immediately grabbed spears, sticks, and hoes to fight back.

With the villagers' courage, even mountain bandits would suffer losses if they invaded, but unfortunately, the villagers were doomed. The team leader happened to be a vice altar master of the True Truth Sect.

Seeing the villagers attacking, he sneered, and suddenly opened his mouth with a "waa" sound, actually spitting out a black child from his belly. The child was covered in slime, squealing and crying, and its fierce aura made people's hair stand on end even in broad daylight.

The vice altar master, sitting on his horse, shouted, "My son, if we had this grain earlier, you wouldn't have starved to death..."

With this shout, the black child was immediately filled with resentment, charging straight at the strong men in the village, waving its small hands and legs, and scratching at them. No matter how brave these villagers were, they were terrified by the little ghost.

"My True Truth Sect acts according to the rules, with tax officials accompanying us. Anyone who disobeys will face our blades."

The vice altar master watched with satisfaction as the little ghost attacked the young and strong men who dared to fight back. Sitting high on his horse, he shouted sternly, "If you obediently hand over the grain, we'll only take four *dan* (a unit of dry measure) from every ten in your granary. If you don't hand over the grain and dare to use weapons, we'll execute you on the spot and confiscate everything."

With this shout, the sect members behind him, as well as the local ruffians and soldiers who had been scraped together from various states and counties to transport grain and run errands, swarmed forward, attacking the village, smashing jars, breaking tiles, overturning bedding, and leaving nothing of value behind.

The villagers were already terrified, but watching their grain being taken away, they knew that they would starve to death if this continued, so they knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.

Seeing them crying and wailing, even the small tax official who had been forced to come along by the True Truth Sect couldn't bear it and turned his head away. But the True Truth sectarians didn't care. Instead, many of them raised their knives, staring intently at the villagers, waiting for them to lose control and attack again.

They had seen this kind of thing countless times along the way. There were plenty of people who didn't want to hand over their grain, but how could these ordinary people compare to the True Truth Sect's vice altar master, who possessed extraordinary abilities?

The first time they encountered resistance, they were still hesitant, but time after time, after killing more and more people, their eyes had turned red. Not only were they not afraid of these people jumping up to resist, but they actually hoped that they would jump out, just to add a little excitement.

However, this time, it seemed that the vice altar master had used his ultimate skill directly, which made these peasants fearful, only caring about kowtowing and not daring to resist. This made them feel somewhat bored.

But at that moment, a loud shout suddenly rang out: "Where did these妖人 (yao ren, monstrous people) come from, daring to impersonate tax officials and rob our fellow villagers of their livelihood?"

Following the shout, from the other side of the mountain bend, they heard the sound of rushing footsteps mixed with the clatter of hooves. As the sound died down, a man riding a horse rushed out like lightning.

The horse was extremely fast, and the rider was exceptionally fierce and agile. Holding a gleaming saber, he borrowed the momentum of the horse, his entire being exuding a ferocious aura. He swung his blade, and before the vice altar master could react, he had already passed him.

"Chih!"

The rider lopped off the vice altar master's head, catching it in his hand. The blood spurting from the headless corpse splattered all over him.

The remaining True Truth sectarians and the small tax official who had come to the village with them were dumbfounded.

By the time they reacted and wanted to attack, they heard a roar from the other side of the mountain bend. An entire troop of men and horses charged out, with dozens of horses and three to five hundred men, each holding weapons, following closely behind.

Half of them were even wearing armor, and they held standardized swords or spears in their hands, emanating a chilling murderous aura. They directly surrounded the grain collection team, pointing their crude crossbows, bows, spears, and pitchforks at their faces.

"Great... Great King, spare us..."

The small tax official was terrified to see such a force appearing in the mountains.

"They actually killed our vice altar master?"

The sect members under the altar master, seeing their own man killed, were shocked and enraged. They didn't dare to attack in such a disadvantageous situation, but instead gritted their teeth and glared at the man on horseback:

"Good, very good. I didn't know that such a hero had emerged in Ming Prefecture, but since you've made your move today, you must know the consequences!"

"..."

"We just can't stand things like this."

Yang Gong, sitting on his horse, narrowed his eyes slightly, drew his saber, and placed it against his neck, saying, "You won't be able to collect the grain from these mountains. Even if you do, you won't be able to take it away."

"If the altar master comes, he'll die. Even if your so-called general comes..."

"...he'll have to leave his head behind!"

"..."

The man who spoke was expressionless and said, "I will deliver these words."

"Brave man, at least leave your name so that we can report back to the general."

"..."

"Go ahead!"

Yang Gong snorted coldly, "This master's name is Yang Gong, with the nickname 'Grain Protector General'. I'll be waiting for him in these mountains. I'm just afraid he won't come!"

The man nodded, showing no intention of attacking. The dozen or so carts of grain that had already been collected were left unattended, and he turned and left. The villagers, who had been stunned for a long time, suddenly cheered.

Yang Gong, carrying the altar master's head, ordered his men to distribute three carts of the grain, while the rest were escorted back to his own village. When he arrived, he went directly to see his old father-in-law and said, "The matter has been settled."

"I killed the altar master with the most lives on his hands, made my name known, and snatched back the grain."

"Should we pile it in the granary, or..."

"..."

"What's the point of storing it in the granary?"

Yang Gong's old father-in-law said, "The grain that our village has saved up in recent years is enough to eat. Let's not be greedy for this little bit. Distribute all the grain you snatched back to the villages that were robbed clean."

"Let them have a full meal first, but don't leave them too much surplus grain. Just tell them that outsiders will come to rob again. If they're men, they should come and help."

"..."

Yang Gong understood and smiled, agreeing as he walked out. He had already done similar things many times in the past few days. But unexpectedly, his old father-in-law suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Wait a moment."

"How about the thing I asked you to think about carefully some time ago?"

"..."

"Are you thinking about how many times I've risked my life in recent years, and how many times I almost lost it?"

Hearing this, Yang Gong smiled bitterly and said, "Old man, I haven't hidden anything from you. I come from the Red Aroma sect and have always risked my life for wealth and status. I've almost lost my life countless times."

"However, if we're really talking about being on the verge of death, about to die, there were two times. One was at Niu Jiawan, when I snatched blood food from the Green Robe Gang, and the other was at Qing Shi town when I fought bandits."

"Both times, I closed my eyes, but I was lucky enough to have good brothers help me. Not only did I not die, but I even benefited from it. After the Niu Jiawan incident, I was valued by the goddess when I returned. After fighting the bandits, didn't I become your old man's good son-in-law?"

"..."

"Not really a good son-in-law. Otherwise, why didn't you listen when I taught you to read, write, and learn military strategy?"

The old father-in-law snorted coldly and shook his head, but Yang Gong's words did indeed stir some thoughts in his mind.

With a major event approaching, he had asked a fortune-teller to calculate his son-in-law's fate.

But the result was terrifying, saying that his son-in-law had a light and worthless fate, like a weed, not at all like someone who would achieve great things.

However, just as he was starting to think that he had chosen the wrong person, the fortune-teller said, "It's precisely because his fate is so light and worthless that he was still able to survive, and even live to such a prosperous state. Things have become strange..."

"You should also ask if this child is accompanied by a benefactor."

"..."

The old father-in-law thought slowly. There were some things he wanted to say, but ultimately felt it was better not to speak them aloud. He only asked, "If I remember correctly, the same person helped you both times?"

"This time, the one who sent us a message, saying to be prepared, that someone would come to rob the grain, was also this brother of yours, right?"

"..."

"Isn't that him?"

Yang Gong laughed, "Old man, do you have any hidden daughters?"

"I can't have all the good things for myself. I want to share one with him."

"..."

"Get out!"

The old father-in-law pointed calmly outside and said, "Also, in the future, be bolder in whatever you do!"

Yang Gong happily went out. The old father-in-law sighed, "What a pity, I'm too old and can't have any more children, otherwise..."

"Tsk..."

"..."

"..."

Yang Gong went out and did as his old father-in-law said, which immediately caused the young and strong men from several surrounding villages to become extremely excited, grabbing their weapons and wanting to follow the Grain Protector General to deal with those grain-robbing True Truth sectarians.

Similar things were spreading. The True Truth sectarians' grain collection had originally created a chaotic atmosphere in Ming Prefecture, but now, it was as if the people had suddenly been invigorated, their courage had suddenly increased greatly, and it even became a trend, with people flocking to join.

At the same time, the news of the True Truth Sect's vice altar master being killed in the mountains quickly spread throughout Ming Prefecture. Hearing that someone was actually openly resisting and robbing the True Truth Sect's grain transport team, they felt an incredible sensation.

Finally, the Heavenly Mandate General in Ming Prefecture issued an order, and the troops scattered throughout Ming Prefecture to supervise grain collection and taxation began to gather in these mountains.

As more and more people gathered, a murderous aura arose, surging and clashing.

(End of Chapter)