Chapter 56: Storm Clouds Gathering

“Mastery is too strong a word—I merely recognize a few characters. But Commander Shi, this price of yours is rather unreasonable.” With a smile, Hu San took a sip of wine and continued, “Manufacturing a spear is actually quite simple for us here. All we need is a spearhead; the rest of the materials are commonplace. There’s no way it should be worth so much as a tael of silver. Moreover, you’re running a no-cost business here. If you price it as you would in our country, isn’t that a bit too much?”

“The price of sabers is also high, but as we need them, I won’t haggle with you over that. However, the armor and strong bows are simply too expensive. I find it hard to imagine why bandits would need armor and such bows in battle.”

“Heh.” Commander Shi took no offense, only chuckling as he replied, “Ordinarily, armor and strong bows wouldn’t be necessary, but you must know what’s about to happen. Without these two items, no matter how elite your troops are, they’ll become cannon fodder in the coming chaos.”

“If Commander Hu cannot accept my price, perhaps you’d care to offer yours?”

“Naturally.” Hu San nodded, cleared his throat, and said, “Since this is your first time here and you are my friend, I won’t haggle either. I’ll raise the gold for this transaction to two thousand taels. The spears remain at two thousand, and the sabers at one thousand. However, I want half of the armor, a thousand sets, and all the strong bows and iron arrows. What do you say?”

Commander Shi hesitated slightly. Had this been an offer made outside, he would have refused outright without a second thought. But as Hu San had said, this shipment was being transported without cost, and as long as he completed the delivery, the army would never know exactly how much was sent.

Rather than send the goods to Wolfheart Mountain and get nothing, it was better to sell them to Hu San and keep all the profit for himself.

As Hu San guessed, Commander Shi’s martial cultivation was only at the second stage, and he was well into middle age with no hope of further advancement. He had secured his position through connections rather than merit, and as the days slipped by, having abandoned his martial ambitions, a new desire grew in his heart—one for enjoyment.

But to enjoy life, one needed money. While martial artists were rare outside as well, they were nowhere near as valued as in the Qilian Mountains. As the saying goes, “Year after year the rain falls on the rivers and lakes, and with each passing generation, the new replace the old.” Countless martial artists died every day. Thus, outside, martial artists did not hold particularly high status.

Naturally, their earnings were limited. Coupled with the restrictions of royal law and the power of the various factions, many fallen martial artists ended up destitute.

Two thousand taels of gold was no small sum—it could easily hire a top-class expert in the outside world.

“Commander Hu is forthright, and I should not be petty. But the stakes here are high. How about this: add two hundred taels of gold, and you can have all the weapons. What do you think?”

After some deliberation, Commander Shi could not resist the lure of gold and asked for two hundred more taels.

“That’s acceptable. But could those two hundred taels be paid in silver instead? To be honest, our stronghold’s gold stores are running low—two thousand taels is no trivial amount.”

Hu San did not haggle further, merely proposing a change in the mode of payment.

Commander Shi had no objection, and his prior suspicions vanished. Hu San’s response was perfectly reasonable; otherwise, he might have started to question the origin of that much gold.

Thus, the two parties reached an agreement: one eager for weapons, the other desperate for gold. They struck a deal almost instantly and, not bothering to finish their meal, went straight down the mountain to oversee the exchange.

Beside the carts, Hu San’s men loaded the weapons, while Hu San and Commander Shi went aside. Commander Shi took out a set of armor and said, “Commander Hu, take a look. This is Tiger Rhinoceros Hide Armor, the finest type of inlaid leather armor. Out in the world, it would fetch at least thirty taels apiece, with buyers scrambling for it.”

He then presented a strong bow, explaining, “This is an iron-cored bow strung with Fire Horse tail hair—superbly crafted. Outside, it would cost no less than fifty taels.”

“And these spears and sabers are all forged from refined iron, far superior to the crude goods made elsewhere.”

“Commander Hu, you will not suffer a loss in this trade. With these weapons, a little training will raise your troop’s combat effectiveness by fifty percent.”

Hu San, testing the tension of the iron-cored bow, smiled at these words. “I’m grateful for your favor, Commander. If there’s another opportunity like this, I’ll certainly buy from you again.”

“However, I have a concern. There are only five thousand arrows for these bows—what will I do when they run out?”

“Haha, you may not know this, Commander Hu.” Commander Shi shook his head and drew an iron arrow from the side. “These arrowheads are forged from refined iron, the shafts are carved from the finest cedar—smooth in flight and deadly. The craftsmanship is excellent, but the cost is exorbitant. Only a kingdom could afford to use such arrows.”

“In the Qilian Mountains, those who use iron arrows are few and far between. I was surprised to see them included in this shipment. Normally, we only deliver longbows; as for arrows, they’re made locally—oak or bamboo works just as well, and the mountain folk are skilled at making them.”

“So that’s how it is.” Hu San pondered this and resolved to have bamboo arrows made, keeping the iron ones in reserve for critical moments.

He did not know that the inclusion of the iron arrows was due to one man’s intervention—the now-dead Second Chief of Wolfheart Mountain, Chen Zhou.

Two hours later, the exchange was complete. Hu San’s men transported all the weapons up the mountain, while the two thousand taels of gold and two thousand taels of silver were handed over to Commander Shi.

Dozens of carts were suddenly half-empty, carrying only the relatively light and space-saving gold and silver.

Only then did both sides relax and enjoy the celebration together. Commander Shi and his men stayed the night, departing at dawn the next day.

Hu San, with no time to bask in the atmosphere of Wolfheart Stronghold, began distributing the weapons as soon as they left. Though he now commanded five thousand bandits, most were from small gangs and severely under-equipped—most used bamboo spears or wooden pikes.

As for bows and arrows, there were barely a dozen; armor was nonexistent.

This shipment finally filled the last gap in Hu San’s forces.

With a thousand sharp longbows and iron arrows, Hu San personally selected the best archers among his men to form an eight-hundred-strong archer unit.

The remaining two hundred longbows and other specialized weapons were allocated to special squads to further enhance their adaptability to varied terrain.

The thousand suits of armor were issued to elite squads, fully equipping them as the core force—much like the Bear Squad of Black Bear Stronghold.

While Hu San was busy drilling his troops, at Wolfheart Mountain, Commander Shi was handing over the weapons to the Third Chief. When he learned of the death of the Second Chief, he was stunned into silence and lost all interest in further conversation.

Regret gnawed at him—had he known the Second Chief was dead, he could have given more weapons to Hu San and made more money. If not for the Second Chief’s sake, he might have sold everything to Hu San.

The thought of the thousands of taels in gold that had slipped through his fingers made his heart ache. It was no wonder he was in such a foul mood.

But now that the exchange was done, regret was useless. As for the Third Chief’s questions about the number of weapons, he ignored them and simply took his leave.

The Third Chief could do nothing but curse in frustration.

Another ten peaceful days passed. One day, while Hu San was watching the archers’ training, Lin Hu came running up, breathless. “Third Brother,” he panted, “Liu Lang’s scouting team reports a force moving toward us from the direction of Stone Pavilion Village.”

“They look quite formidable—uniformed, disciplined, nothing like the usual bandit rabble.”

“They’re even flying a banner, but Liu Lang and the others can’t read, so they don’t know what it says.”

Hu San’s heart lurched. He hurriedly set down the longbow and asked, “Did they see how many there were? What about their equipment?”

“Liu Lang says there were so many that he couldn’t see the end of their line—at least five thousand, all with matching weapons: spears like a forest, sabers in neat rows, and moving in perfect step. They’re not to be trifled with.”

“So they’ve finally come!” Hu San’s eyes twitched. He immediately ordered, “Send word to all squad leaders and above—assemble in the great hall. Also, keep close watch on that force’s movements and report to me at once.”

“Yes, sir!” Lin Hu dashed off to relay the orders.

“A storm is coming,” Hu San murmured, gazing into the misty mountains. The fate of Wolf Fang Stronghold would be decided by what happened next.

And that fate was now deeply tied to Hu San’s own. With his internal energy stuck at a bottleneck and knowing much about the situation, a new resolve was forming in his heart: to stake everything on Wolf Fang Stronghold and fight for his future.