“Mr. Clark, here is the contribution money for the second half of the year.” William Clark came up to Old Clark, opened the wooden box and took out two gold coins engraved with dragon designs, handing them to Mr. Clark so the old man could verify the purity of the Tenglong gold coins. Then he took out four more identical Tenglong gold coins from the box. “Fat Tiger and Ergou’s father was injured by a dragon beast while hunting in the mountains last time. He’s still recovering and needs money for many things, so I’ll cover their contribution money.”

“This…”

“Mr. Clark, just take it.” William Clark forcibly stuffed the Tenglong gold coins into Mr. Clark’s rough, age-spotted hands. “Today is the day those bandits come. If we can’t scrape together the protection fee, it’s our village that will suffer in the end.”

Chapter 2: Robbery and Chaos

Old Clark shuddered involuntarily at the thought of the bandits who came to loot every six months. The leader of those guys was a degenerate among the Longxuan, and the strong men in the village were no match for him.

“These two coins are my contribution for you.” William Clark took out two more gold coins and stuffed them into Mr. Clark’s hands, not giving him a chance to refuse. “You’re getting old, and it’s inconvenient for you to handle many things. I’m still young.”

Eight Tenglong gold coins! Old Clark held the eight coins in his hand, nodded silently, and felt even more admiration in his heart. Many adults could only save up four Tenglong gold coins in a whole year, but William Clark, while treating his sister’s illness and supporting the family, could still save up eight coins to use at his discretion. The hard work behind this was something even many able-bodied men could hardly achieve.

“Xiao Shang…”

At that moment, a heavy and chaotic sound of horse hooves rang out, coming closer and closer. Then came a shrill neighing of warhorses, tearing through the snowy sky above the village. Both Old Clark and William Clark’s faces darkened.

They’re here! The bandits who came to the village every six months to collect so-called protection fees were here again! And this time, there seemed to be even more of them than last time!

William Clark’s ears twitched several times as he silently counted the number of bandits: thirty-seven people, seventy-four fast horses, half of which had no riders—obviously spare mounts.

“Brick Kiln Village scum! All of you, get out here!”

The arrogant, bandit-like roar echoed over the village, and even the howling cold wind seemed to cower before the tyranny of these bandits, temporarily suppressed by their shouting.

“Sigh…” Old Clark let out a sigh.

William Clark quickly supported Old Clark. “Let me go with you.”

Old Clark looked at William Clark and nodded. His health was getting worse and worse; if he really died one day, someone would need to continue negotiating with those bandits. There were plenty of adults in the village, but this just-turned-eighteen William Clark had a steadiness and composure that many middle-aged men lacked.

Over thirty fast horses snorted restlessly in the snow, spraying out clouds of white mist that melted the falling snowflakes. Their huge hooves stomped and turned in the snow, the drum-like sounds pounding in everyone’s chest.

William Clark supported Old Clark out of his house and soon saw the thirty-some bandits in the snow. In the middle was a man draped in fiery red fur, with a long, hideous scar running from the corner of his eye down to his chin on the left side of his face.

The warhorse under him was very calm, unlike the restless mounts of the other bandits. The man’s strong body exuded a fierce, bloody aura—the kind only found on the bloodthirsty dragon beasts of the mountains.

Who is this man? Wasn’t the leader of these bandits Henry Cooper?

William Clark knew very well about the bandits ruling this place. Rumor had it he was a true Longxuan, and a Long Warrior at that—he could easily cleave a man in two with a single stroke, and even unleash scorching power from his fists to burn people to ashes!

That wanted Longxuan was named Henry Cooper!

But the man before him, clearly the bandit leader, was not the Longxuan Henry Cooper he’d seen before.

Old Clark was also stunned to see the bandits. More than half of these bandits were unfamiliar to him; only about a third were familiar faces.

“Old Bolton, what are you looking at? Hurry up and hand over the protection fee!”

A bandit with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks tugged on his reins and came up to Old Clark with a nasty tone, bending down to grab the clay jar in his hands.

Old Clark instinctively took a step back, clutching the jar of gold coins tightly to his chest, not letting the other man take it. “Mr. Harris… what are you…”

David Harris! This was a bandit Old Clark knew—he used to be Henry Cooper’s most loyal lackey, but today he was following a new bandit leader.

David Harris missed grabbing the jar and immediately felt embarrassed. Hearing Old Clark’s words, his face grew even longer. He snatched the whip from his waist and lashed it fiercely at Old Clark’s head. “Old fool! How dare you resist! Looking for death!”

Crack!

The whip made a sharp, ear-splitting sound in the air, snapping straight toward Old Clark’s head. William Clark quickly pulled Old Clark into his arms and turned to shield him with his own back from David Harris’s whip.

Bang! The whip struck William Clark’s back with a dull thud, as if hitting a sturdy wild ox. William Clark’s clothes were torn, and a burning pain shot through his back, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t cry out.