Chapter 497: The Bandits’ Dignity

Not only could they not attack, but they even had to be extremely cautious in defending themselves, lest the opponents resort to even more brutal tactics.
This was the first time Lin Dong had encountered such a situation.
Walking slowly back to the main hall from the backyard, Lin Dong kept thinking about how to identify the bandits and their masterminds as quickly as possible. After much deliberation, his head grew dizzy, making him wish he could return to Lin’s Inn next door and wipe out those bandits with a single blow.
The problem was, if he lost his temper like that, Lin’s Inn would face even bigger problems.
Identity! Identity, nothing but identity!
Lin Dong clenched his fists tightly. With his strength at the seventh level of the Heart Reversal Phase and two peak-level warriors at his side, he could easily intimidate twenty-one sects. Yet here he was, at a loss against a bunch of vicious bandits.
Bandits!
What exactly were these bandits’ identities?
Perhaps…
Lin Dong’s right foot, which had just taken a step forward, stopped mid-air. His mind, once shrouded in confusion and frustration, suddenly cleared up as if a breeze had blown through it.
In the capital, maybe no one recognized these bandits, but in the areas where bandits gathered, there surely were many who knew them.
Should he capture some experienced bandits from nearby to identify them? But they were also bandits, and getting them to cooperate would be difficult. Using force, few would yield; those who did were usually of low status and very likely didn’t know those ruthless men. Using money? Bandits like these had no concept of negotiation. When they saw money, their first thought was to steal it, forcing him to resort to force again.
If things escalated, information might leak.
Was he stuck again?
Lin Dong’s mind raced. Finally, a glimmer of inspiration appeared, and he didn’t want to lose it.
If he captured these bandits and took them to various bandit camps, he might find clues through the eyes of other bandits. Then he could force them to reveal the identities of these bandits. One camp might not yield, but after several or a dozen attempts, he would surely find someone who knew them and wasn’t as ruthless.

This approach might work, but since their identities haven’t been identified yet, the gang behind these ruthless men has already begun to infiltrate Lin Ji Inn to take even more brutal measures in retaliation. Using these ruthless men to lure their backers to intervene and then trying to catch them all at once… the chances seem slim as well. Bandits’ nature is beyond ordinary people’s understanding; in their eyes, their companions are worthless—whether they live or die, few would care. Even if someone does care enough to come to their rescue, just a few people wouldn’t suffice to catch them all, and it might instead alert them to danger.

Lin Dong felt his scalp burning. While these methods weren’t entirely without a chance of success, he didn’t dare take such a big risk. Who knew what kind of nature bandits had? One misstep could bring great trouble to Lin Ji Inn.

Unless all the major bandit gangs could be wiped out at once, the first step had to be identifying their identities, so as not to alert them to danger.

The capital was the center of power and wealth in the Great Han Nation, and undoubtedly the place with the most bandits—there were at least eighty of them. Even if Old Ding and Feng Yue were called in to wipe them out all at once, it would still be hard to ensure none escaped. After all, there were numerous bandits in those major gangs, and surely many more outside them as well.

Lin Dong finally understood why even the most powerful individuals often avoided provoking the Tianwei Pavilion. For a place like Lin Ji Inn, which had two peak-level fighters, everything had to be done carefully for the sake of business. Without Lin Ji Inn, it would just be a matter of killing one bandit for each that came, two for two—identifying their identities slowly before wiping them out all at once. There would be no need to worry about consequences.

If Emperor Qianwei used the power of the Tianwei Pavilion… Lin Dong’s eyes lit up. That could work. The Tianwei Pavilion was extremely powerful; not only could it wipe out eighty or so major bandit gangs, but it might not even be difficult to target eighty major sects at once. Afterward, they could split into two groups—sending people to lurk in the major gangs to catch any who escaped, while simultaneously investigating their spies or bases in the capital. The chances of resolving the threat successfully would be very high.

The only difficulty was that Emperor Qianwei might refuse to agree, fearing that wiping out so many bandits at once could cause unrest in the capital. After all, killing bandits was a good thing, but if all the large strongholds were destroyed in one go, the bandits from the smaller strongholds would surely swarm out. Instead of waiting on mountain paths for unsuspecting victims, they would infiltrate the capital or roam the villages, burning, killing, and looting. If even the smaller strongholds were destroyed, it could panic bandits elsewhere and even cause turmoil throughout the Great Han Empire.

Since Emperor Qianwei refused to agree, Lin Dong had a way to deal with it. He still had the powerful card of Prince Qingliu in his hand. If needed, he could use it to force Emperor Qianwei to agree. As for the potential unrest in the capital, he could assess the situation first before making a decision. It might not be as serious as he thought, or perhaps Emperor Qianwei had ways to control it.

Finding a somewhat viable solution, Lin Dong quickened his pace. After passing through the back yard and entering the front yard, as he headed straight for the main hall, he stopped, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the kitchen.

It was still morning, and Emperor Qianwei wouldn’t arrive until evening. There was plenty of time, and since this method wasn’t guaranteed to work, he could consider improving the previous ideas.

The reason Lin Dong suddenly wanted to improve those low-probability methods was that he remembered there was also a bandit at Lin’s Inn—Cheng Bao! As another bandit, Cheng Bao understood their nature best. Consulting him might yield unexpected results. Using Prince Qingliu to intimidate Emperor Qianwei and then sweeping up all the major strongholds through Tianwei Pavilion—even if this didn’t cause capital unrest, Lin Dong still thought it was overkill.

He walked to the third kitchen and stepped in, immediately hit by a wave of heat. Inside, top chefs like Jiang Kui were busy preparing dishes. Although Lin Dong had held back from introducing Cheng Bao and Li Xun’s spicy dishes and grilled meats, the two of them continued to practice and teach apprentices using ingredients of their choice.

“Cheng Bao, come out for a moment!” Lin Dong called from the door.

Cheng Bao glanced at Lin Dong, handed his spatula to an apprentice nearby without expression, and strode over to him.

Taking Cheng Bao behind the building, Lin Dong explained in detail the newly opened Lin’s Inn next door, along with his various guesses and concerns. He asked, “Apart from asking Emperor Qianwei for help, which of the other methods do you think has the highest chance of success? Or which one could be improved?”

Cheng Bao remained silent, frowning as he pondered for a moment before answering off-topic, “Are you sure those people next door are all bandits?”
“If they’re not bandits, then who else could they be?” Lin Dong retorted.
Cheng Bao nodded and said calmly, “With a strength at the second level of the Mind Realm, one is already qualified to become the leader of a bandit stronghold that dominates an entire county. I’m not familiar with the bandit strongholds in the capital, but with such strength, one would definitely hold a position like second or third in charge in the local strongest stronghold. In a prefecture city, they would likely be a high-ranking leader. As for the capital…”
“You mean these people are from the biggest bandit stronghold in the capital?” Lin Dong exclaimed happily.
Cheng Bao affirmed, “If not the biggest, then at least the second. Otherwise, bandits from other places wouldn’t be able to survive. If even the smallest bandit stronghold in the capital could dominate a region, there wouldn’t be so many small strongholds all heading elsewhere to establish dominance.”
Lin Dong was overjoyed. Consulting Cheng Bao, who was familiar with the hierarchy of bandit strengths, proved to be an extremely wise decision. Narrowing down the target to one or two strongholds made things much simpler, eliminating all kinds of concerns.
It turned out that deducing based on bandit strengths could be this straightforward.
Lin Dong felt ashamed inwardly. He had spent the whole night thinking yesterday yet hadn’t considered this aspect. Undoubtedly, he still had many blind spots in terms of strategic planning.
Actually, Lin Dong’s shame was unnecessary. Only those who knew well about bandit strengths would think of this. Just like Ma Chun approaching Emperor Qianwei, given Emperor Qianwei’s ability to control the minds of the entire Great Han Nation, he wouldn’t have considered this approach unless it was necessary. After careful consideration, he decided that Tianwei Pavilion needed three months to one or two years for investigation.
The idea itself wasn’t difficult; what was difficult was that only those familiar with bandit strengths would think in this direction. Ordinary people would assume that since even low-level bandits had strength at the second level of the Mind Realm, they must belong to large strongholds, without realizing that even in large strongholds, it’s unlikely for a low-level bandit to have such strength.
“Alright, I’ll go arrange it right away. You go back and get busy!” Lin Dong turned around eagerly.
“I have a way to lure out all those scattered bandits or those planted as spies in the capital. There’s no need for Tianwei Pavilion to spread spies everywhere in the capital,” Cheng Bao said, not leaving yet, and adding something that surprised Lin Dong even more.
“What method?” Lin Dong asked quickly.

“As far as I know, all the major bandit camps near the capital are gathered on Chongping Mountain. They capture the bandits from neighboring camps and take them to Chongping Mountain, where they torture them in an open area, easily luring out the leaders of those camps.”
“Do these people really not care about the lives of their companions?” Lin Dong shook his head.
Cheng Bao explained, “Not many bandits care about their companions’ lives, but almost all of them value their reputation, just like scholars value their integrity. For bandits, reputation is more important than life. Moreover, shame known only to one person is just that person’s shame, but shame in public is a shame that the entire camp must avenge at all costs. If someone takes people from their own camp and cuts them to pieces right in front of their door, ignoring it means the entire camp will never be able to hold its head high in front of other camps. One group fights another, and sooner or later, the leader of the opposing camp will be lured out.”
“And then?” Lin Dong nodded eagerly.
“They capture the leader of the opposing camp and torture them slowly. I’m sure everyone in their camp will come to rescue them,” Cheng Bao said calmly. “The reason is the same as before—when the leader is captured and tortured right in front of their door, the other bandits, knowing it’s a death sentence, will still rush in like moths to a flame. They can’t afford to lose face. I doubt you’ve heard of any case where a camp’s leader was captured and killed yet the camp wasn’t destroyed. If such a thing does happen, it’s only because the bandits of that camp avenged their leader.”
Lin Dong felt relieved, his stress fading away.
“Call Li Xun and let’s go to the neighboring camp again!”