"Ah!"
The miserable screams were shrill and filled with excruciating pain.
Then came several more screams in quick succession, as blood gushed from the mouths of a few men.
Most of the people present showed clear fear on their faces, their eyes barely daring to meet Li Daoqiang's gaze.
Li Si and the others continued, their eyes fierce and their strikes merciless.
Amid the voiceless, agonized roars came the sound of bones cracking, blood flowing more and more.
Gradually, many in the square turned their heads away, unable to watch any longer.
Only then did Li Daoqiang wave his hand. Li Si and his men understood, stopping the bleeding for those men before dragging them toward the back mountain.
Since he had said they would be fed to the wolves, naturally they couldn't be allowed to die just yet.
The painful roars faded into the distance until they could no longer be heard.
But the square remained dead silent, save for a few heavy breaths, all filled with fear.
Li Daoqiang's expression didn't change, his eyes calmly sweeping across the crowd.
He felt quite satisfied inside—the goal had been achieved.
From now on, the fear the Black Dragon Stronghold's members held for him had risen to another level.
And in a den of bandits and outlaws, fear was the best foundation and tool for rule.
There was no benevolence, righteousness, or so-called loyalty and gratitude here—those were all nonsense.
Here, only a few naked words existed.
The strong prey on the weak.
Man eats man.
To rule these bandits and robbers, you had to make them fear you, fear you to the bone.
That was all, very simple.
Anything else was merely supplementary.
Fear was the foundation of everything.
"The matter of the traitors ends here for now. Next, I hope all brothers will work together with me, the chief, to strengthen our Black Dragon Stronghold," Li Daoqiang said slowly.
Hearing this, the crowd immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, even those with clear consciences never wanted to see their own treated this way—who knew if it might be their turn someday?
"Long live the Great Chief!"
...
Shouts rose under the lead of a few, gradually becoming orderly.
Only when Li Daoqiang felt satisfied did he raise his hand to signal a stop, then said seriously, "Good, I, Li Daoqiang, will surely lead all brothers through thorns and brambles.
But before that, there are some things that must be said.
Every family has its rules, every stronghold its regulations. Our Black Dragon Stronghold is no longer what it was, so naturally, new rules must be established."
With that, he glanced at Wang Lin below.
Wang Lin, who had long been prepared, nodded immediately, stepped forward two paces, turned to face the crowd, and said loudly, "By order of the Great Chief, from this moment on, our Black Dragon Stronghold will add three new regulations.
First: Brothers in the stronghold must not kill each other. Violators will be executed.
Second: Without orders, no one may descend the mountain to rob or kill, and especially not to rape women. Violators will be executed.
Third: All brothers in the stronghold shall supervise each other. Those who report will be heavily rewarded; those who know and do not report will be severely punished."
Before the words had even settled, the expressions of those in the square shifted again, as if a disturbance was brewing.
The first rule was normal, the third acceptable, but the second was hard for them to understand.
No robbing or killing without orders, and no raping women—what kind of bandits were they then?
Even the leading few looked at Li Daoqiang in confusion.
"Enough." An unclear voice rang out, immediately suppressing the brewing unrest. Li Daoqiang swept his gaze across and said calmly, "These are the three rules. If any brother is dissatisfied, step forward and speak."
As he spoke, his eyes swept the crowd again.
No one dared to meet his gaze. Dissatisfaction and reluctance were buried deep in their stomachs; no one truly dared to step out.
The bloodstains on the ground were still there, and those men from earlier weren't dead yet.
Li Daoqiang didn't care about their thoughts at all, decisively concluding, "Good, since no brother has objections, it's settled.
The leaders, follow me. Everyone else, disperse."
As that burly figure walked into the Assembly Hall, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, the four leaders and Wang Lin stood respectfully before Li Daoqiang.
Through the martial contest, the stronghold's two hundred-plus able-bodied men had been divided into four squads and a personal guard.
Each squad had forty-five men, one leader, and four minor leaders.
The personal guard had only twenty-five men, but each was an elite of the stronghold, second only to the four major leaders and a dozen minor leaders, currently commanded by Li Si and Wang Lin.
"Now that the stronghold is initially settled, you must manage your brothers well and avoid any mistakes," Li Daoqiang said calmly.
"Yes." The five immediately responded.
"Mm, don't slack on your own martial arts either. If someone surpasses you, then you'll have only yourselves to blame," Li Daoqiang nodded, speaking bluntly.
The five felt a chill in their hearts, understanding the meaning perfectly.
If their martial arts were surpassed, their positions would have to shift.
Though they felt a bit uneasy inside, they dared not say much, only nodding in agreement again.
Li Daoqiang paid no mind to their discomfort. This situation was normal.
No one wanted their position to be overtaken by someone later.
But this was a good way to quickly strengthen the Black Dragon Stronghold, so he made it clear now, establishing it as a rule to avoid future trouble.
Everything was based on strength.
As for the merits earned by stronghold members, they would be rewarded with money, martial arts manuals, and the like—no one would be shortchanged.
Positions would only be decided by martial skill.
Of course, this method had many drawbacks. For example, it would cause more people to eye his position, making it hard to gain loyal subordinates.
But in his view, these were nothing.
This was a den of bandits. Talking about loyalty here was asking for death.
In the end, everything came down to strength.
And since he had the system, if someone truly surpassed him, it would only mean he was incompetent and deserved to die—nothing more to say.
"Except for Wang Lin, all of you may withdraw," Li Daoqiang said after a few more instructions, waving his hand.
"Yes, your subordinate takes leave." The four leaders bowed and left the Assembly Hall.
"How is the matter of setting up informants going?" Li Daoqiang looked at Wang Lin.
For any force, intelligence was of utmost importance.
Wang Lin was relatively meticulous and someone he could barely trust, so two days ago, Li Daoqiang had ordered Wang Lin to consolidate the Black Dragon Stronghold's original intelligence network.
"Great Chief, I've placed four brothers in Jingzhou City and have begun investigating two nearby strongholds," Wang Lin said, his face showing some difficulty as he looked at Li Daoqiang's calm expression, then cautiously added, "It's just that we're short on manpower, so it might not be of much use for now."
Li Daoqiang wasn't angry and said calmly, "No need to rush. Your task now is to feel out the methods. As for manpower, it will come."
Given the Black Dragon Stronghold's current scale, investing too much in intelligence was unrealistic.
So for now, his demands weren't high—just having it was enough.
"Yes." Wang Lin nodded thoughtfully.
"Keep a close eye on Xu Zhi as well. If anything seems off, report to me first," Li Daoqiang added.
Xu Zhi was also part of the intelligence network, currently second only to Wang Lin.
"Yes, your subordinate understands." Wang Lin nodded heavily.
"Alright, you may withdraw too. Don't slack on your martial arts," Li Daoqiang waved a hand.
"Yes."
With no one else in the Assembly Hall, Li Daoqiang sat alone in contemplation, reviewing and filling gaps.
For now, everything that could be done had been done.
Next, he just needed to wait a little longer—until the stronghold members had somewhat adapted to the new rules—then it would be time to act.
His eyes fixed on a direction, a faint, barely concealed eagerness flashed by.
Soon!
In the blink of an eye, another five days passed.
Over those five days, the atmosphere in the Black Dragon Stronghold had changed drastically compared to before.
Nearly a quarter of the members were now diligently training in martial arts.
Don't underestimate that ratio—it was actually quite high.
After all, people content to laze around and do nothing existed everywhere, let alone in a bandit den where they were abundant.
With this ratio, Li Daoqiang was fairly satisfied.
Five days had also convinced the stronghold members that the new rules were here to stay.
Li Daoqiang himself was growing impatient.
…………