According to Plan…
My Junior Brothers followed Tang Ye to the office to complete their registrations. It didn't take long to complete, since I used my authority.
That night, I snuck into Second Junior Brother's room. He was already waiting when I arrived. Third and Fourth were in there, as well. I didn't waste time and got straight to the point, describing my plan to them.
My plan is slightly complex. Nevertheless, if everything goes according to plan, I'll achieve my goal in the end without it costing me too much.
In summary, I have two goals.
First, I want to take back Night Fortress' Night Net Manual, my concession (read: treasure). Secondly, I want to escape the nightmare of being a Fuma.
"First, we need to deal with Jin Wangsun, but we can't be underhanded. Jin Wangsun is the master of Gold and Silver Sect. Don't make the mistake of assuming he doesn't have any backing and only has a few men with him. He could mobilise three thousand elites here if he wanted to. We have to fight him face to face, unless we're ready to fight Gold and Silver Sect to the bitter end."
My three Junior Brothers nodded in unison, but I wasn't sure if they understood what I meant or not.
"Jin Wangsun snatched Night Fortress and managed to become the master of Gold and Silver Sect thanks to that merit. That's a free lunch. I might not have known all this would happen before the fact. Therefore, it's possible that he has yet to consolidate his position in the sect. Based on what I know, the Patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect is a stubborn old man. Logically speaking, he's unlikely to just let his son seize power. As for Jin Wangsun, he thought he struck gold by capturing Night Fortress. Hng, hng. Laughable."
Frankly, Night Fortress is a piping hot potato, which is why I don't care so much about it being occupied. All that I'm concerned about is Night Net Manual and my treasures.
The Seven Champion White Princes are the most powerful in Jiangnan, with each owning their own respective territory. There hasn't been much change to their territory even when they expanded. Now, as Hangzhou lies outside the circumference of the Seven Champion White Princes' range of influence, Hangzhou is considered a fish that escaped the net.
My Shifu chose to build Night Fortress in that specific location, because of that realisation. I have to admit that he was very sharp with regards to that decision. As expected, we were the first to take a beating as soon as something happened…
After I succeeded the Night Fortress, Night Fortress was able to rule Hangzhou, for the reason that Night Fortress went a different route to Jiangnan's martial world. Night Fortress took the thug route. Night Fortress doesn't adhere to the rules of the orthodox sects. Those who challenged Night Fortress were face slapped back, while those who came to cause trouble had their asses kicked back. In the worst case scenario, we exterminated clans without giving a damn, because somebody looked at somebody the wrong way. Night Fortress accepted members from every walk of life. Most of them were Robin Hood characters.
Those guys excessively follow their own wills. They haven't brought their old temperament under control, so they get into fights whenever they lose it. At one point in time, Night Fortress' reputation became so bad that it was ranked among the top five unorthodox sects in the Black and White Reflection! Literally everyone was shouting, "Fight! Fight!"
The only benefit of recruiting them is that they're formidable fighters. At least we're the boss in Hangzhou…
'Why are we sounding more and more similar to mountain bandits…? That's why I don't want to be the master of this damn fortress!!'
The overlords of Jiangnan, the Seven Champion Princes, left us to our own devices, even when we caused major uproars. The first reason for that was that the patriarchs of the Seven Champion White Princes were cognizant that Night Fortress was a branch of Mount Daluo. They fear my Grandmaster, my Shifu and I, the three thugs, cough, cough, I mean, veterans of the pugilistic world. Therefore, they turned a blind eye to us. The second reason was because Hangzhou is a relatively special place. It's not in the territory of any of the Seven Champion White Princes. They may be in the big city of Jiangnan, but they'd have more to lose than gain. As a matter of fact, they could potentially make themselves the public enemy of the other White Princes. Consequently, Night Fortress became one of the biggest powerhouses in the martial world, thanks to the countless plot-armour conveniences.
In saying that, we had different a different level of authority compared to the Seven Champion White Princes. It doesn't matter how large Night Fortress grows; it's just an ordinary sect in the martial world at the end of the day. It can't compare to the Seven Champion White Princes, whom are granted territory and conferred the title of Princes. We can't collect our own taxes or raise troops. I had to resort to leading my brothers to extort people under the name of protection fees, I mean, collecting alms.
That was the only way Night Fortress was able to prosper. At other times, being able to break even was a blessing.
That's how we were. Jin Wangsun is in the same boat. I'm not convinced that rich boy, Jin Wangsun, can get Night Fortress into great shape. After capturing Night Fortress, he thinks that he's captured a powerhouse in the martial world on the level of the Seven Champion White Princes, acquired Night Fortress' land and gotten a big boost in power.
The reality, though, is that you should say he captured a mountain, and that's a compliment. He can't bring the entire martial world of Hangzhou under his command. He's too young and he lacks good judgement. He's been blinded by Night Fortress' name. He thinks he struck gold. I'll show him that a free lunch that's too big will make you choke.
"Third Junior Brother."
"Present."
"Make a trip to Hangzhou. Go and find our scattered brothers. Tell them to join up to Night Fortress, which has been occupied by Jin Wangsun, again. Speed is of the essence. I want you to complete the task in three days."
Third Brother revealed a grim look, but nonetheless, made a hold fist salute, "Understood."
He left without any nonsense.
I like that about Third Junior Brother. He puts up with hardship himself.
When he first joined me as my subordinate back then, I ordered him go from the west side of the lake to get me the freshest Longjing Tea within half an hour. But, he took an entire day. He didn't make it back from the art workshop until the evening. In spite of that, he smiled and said, "I got lost."
Thus, I returned his smile with a friendly smile, then kindly tied him up to kindly throw him into West Lake, to kindly help him learn to swim. After he went through that several times, he became a sensible boy. From then on, he'd bring me the freshest Longjing sprouts within thirty minutes. When he brought tea to me, it was still piping hot. However, I then heard rumours that every time he brewed tea, he'd beat people with a rod more and more viciously. Apparently, the more enraged he was, the harder he hit them…
After Third Junior Brother left, I went on, "His Majesty wants to select a Fuma, so he wants me to compete with Jin Wangsun, but there's no way I'm being a Fuma."
"Ah?" Second Junior Brother blinked his eyes, "So, you don't want that white-skinned, long-legged beautiful Princess? Don't throw her away! What a waste to give that cunt Jin Wangsun a beauty, like that!"
'Weren't you just firmly protecting Shiyi a few days ago?! Aren't you the number one fan of the Shiyi and Her Childhood Friend club?! Why are you sympathising for the Princess after just one day?!'
"Don't interrupt me!" I savagely said, "I'm not going to be a Fuma, and neither am I going to let Jin Wangsun become Fuma."
I filled the two of them in on my plan. Second Junior Brother touched his chin as though he was contemplating the viability of the plan.
Fourth Junior Brother got sleepy after hearing the entire plan. He pouted, "What's the point of making it so troublesome? We can just charge into his place and smash every man we see. Once we're done, we can plunder and leg it. Whoever could catch up to us?"
'So you still want to be a mountain bandit after everything I said?!'
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