Chapter Fifteen: Recruiting Talent

“Master, it seems like someone else is coming down.” Chu Chunqiu whispered.

Jiang Li squinted and looked up. Sure enough, two guards were cautiously climbing down the vines.

“Su Yang, take a shortcut around above. Don’t let those two climb up here.”

As Jiang Li spoke, he grabbed a wooden spear from the ground.

The cave entrance was about five or six meters above the ground. When the two men were halfway down, Jiang Li immediately raised the wooden spear and pointed it at one of their backsides.

“Don’t move! If you keep climbing, don’t blame me if you get hurt.”

“That’s right, Master is right. If you keep going down, I’ll stab you through!” Chu Chunqiu mimicked him.

“Y-You, you’re Da Sha Chun?”

The two above were both shocked and angry. On flat ground, they could have fought or fled, but now, suspended midair with a spear pressing against their backsides, they couldn’t even jump down.

“Hmph! You call me Da Sha Chun?” Jiang Li snorted coldly.

He didn’t know these two, not even their names, so naturally, he showed no mercy.

“Master…”

The two trembled as they spoke, afraid Jiang Li would settle scores now.

Jiang Li pressed the spear upward again. “Now you know to call me Master? What took you so long?”

“Master, it’s not our fault. We didn’t collude with Qin Lang. Since you had no food, we didn’t want to burden you, so we acted on our own.”

“Yes, Master, we never did anything to betray you.”

They spoke bravely while subtly starting to climb upward.

Just then, the vines covering the cave entrance above were suddenly pulled aside, and Su Yang appeared, holding a long blade.

Now the two were trapped with no way to advance or retreat.

“Master, we…”

“Master, we truly never betrayed you. No need to be so ruthless.”

Their voices trembled with tears.

Jiang Li curled his lips. They hadn’t really done anything to wrong him.

But as guards of the Jiang family, paid with its silver, to run at the first sign of trouble was no different from being traitors.

“Alright, throw down your long blades. No tricks, or I’ll stab you to death right now.”

“Alright, Master, watch closely.”

They immediately tossed their blades down.

Seeing this, Jiang Li withdrew the spear. “Jump down. I have some questions for you.”

As the two climbed down the vines, Chu Chunqiu immediately held the spear before them.

“How did you find this place?” Jiang Li asked anxiously.

This hiding spot had been carefully chosen and generally unnoticed. If these two had found it, it meant Qin Lang and those natives could come any time.

If that were true, it might still be possible to flee.

“Master, we… we don’t know. We were chased by the natives and Qin Lang. Then Zhao Hua carelessly fell. We didn’t know anything,” they said.

Jiang Li breathed a sigh of relief. So the cave was still relatively safe.

But why were the natives chasing them?

Yesterday, they had lured the natives to Qin Lang’s camp. Why chase them now?

Thinking this, Jiang Li feigned surprise: “Natives? What do you mean?”

“Master, you don’t know. There’s not only our group here, but also a native tribe. They’re all dark-skinned and rush forward yelling whenever they see people.”

“They also shout Qin Lang’s name, clearly conspiring with him to harm us!”

“Yes, Master, we must unite now and not let Qin Lang succeed.”

A cold smile crept across Jiang Li’s lips. Now you want to unite—where were you before?

“Enough nonsense. What’s the situation between those natives and Qin Lang now?”

“Master, we truly don’t know. We were too busy running for our lives to care about them.”

Seeing no useful information forthcoming, Jiang Li sighed.

He could kill these two, but manpower was scarce. If the cave was discovered, moving all the supplies with only five people would be impossible.

He would keep them, but remain vigilant.

“What are your names?” Jiang Li asked calmly.

“Master, I’m Xu Lei, and he’s Xu Ming. We’re brothers.”

Jiang Li nodded casually. “How old are you?”

“Master, our zodiac signs are Monkey and Rooster.”

As they spoke, Zhao Hua, still lying on the ground with eyes closed, suddenly shouted:

“A rooster? Where’s a rooster? Can we do a deep throat? Let me go first!”

Jiang Li’s mouth twitched helplessly. Damn it, you even make a mess of this path!

“Zhao Hua! Get up right now!”

“Ma-Master!” Zhao Hua hurriedly stood, looking timidly at Jiang Li.

“Why are you here?” Jiang Li snapped.

“How dare you ask me? Look at yourself. You brought people crashing into my camp.”

Zhao Hua scratched his head, then knelt decisively on the ground.

“Please, Master, take us in!”

“We’ll work hard from now on, willing to face fire and water, willing to die a thousand deaths!”

Jiang Li smiled faintly. Hoping these fair-weather friends would die for him? As if he was that gullible.

“Chu Chunqiu, collect all their weapons.”

“And keep an eye on them here. Anyone tries to run, kill them on the spot!”

With that, Jiang Li turned and walked out of the cave. He had to keep a close watch on these three.

A moment later, Jiang Li returned carrying a red herb, tossing it in front of the three.

“Eat this if you want to live.”

“Master, what is this?” Zhao Hua asked cautiously.

Jiang Li lowered his head and smiled. “Good stuff. Eat it quickly, or I’ll kill you.”

Under Jiang Li’s threat, the three swallowed the red herb grimly.

Once they finished, Jiang Li spoke directly.

“This herb is called the Seven-Day Gut-Breaking Powder.”

“Every seven days, you must take a pill I prepare, or your intestines will rupture. To convince you, I guess your stomachs will start hurting soon. Believe it or not, that’s up to you.”

After speaking, Jiang Li swaggered to one side and watched the three intently.

Soon, Zhao Hua broke into a sweat and knelt, clutching his belly.

“Master, save me!”

“Ah! Master, save me!”

Xu Ming and his brother also looked pained.

“Heh,” Jiang Li sneered, tossing three black pills to them.

“Take these. You’ll feel better shortly.”

Suddenly, Su Yang slid down the vine from the cave entrance above.

“Master! I’ve spotted Qin Lang!”