Chapter 35 | Ink East

Your Highness

Since the mountain thieves made such a big commotion, almost all the men from the Black Tiger Gang immediately knew there was a woman in their campsite. Right away, the gang seemed to have came back to life. For awhile now, they had been wrapped with fear from the Imperial Court. Now, all the men were recharged and excited. All of them were discussing amongst themselves. They wanted to see what the woman looked like.

But He Lao San just stated, he would tear the skin off of whoever that dared to mess with Lin Shan. Therefore, the rest of the mountain thieves were too afraid to come in. All they could do were watched from afar, as they stretched their necks to peek in.

A little while later, He Lao San appeared wearing a different outfit. He was beaming from ear to ear, and his hand was holding a folding fan.

All the mountain thieves started analyzing amongst themselves.

“What happened to second boss? He is smiling like a blooming flower!?!”

“Look! He’s holding a fan, and there are words on it!”

“What does it say?”

“Distinguished and elegant…”

“No, graceful and confident!”

“You’re both wrong. It must be handsome and free!”

“Second boss, what does your fan say?” Someone asked.

He Lao San glared at them: “How would I know? I just copied from the book. It can’t be wrong!”

“Second boss, is that woman really a woman?”

“Nonsense!” He Lao San snapped.

“Is she beautiful?”

He Lao San blushed: “Beautiful! More beautiful than a Goddess!”

“Second boss. You must work hard and marry a beautiful Goddess wife for us!” Everyone chirped in.

He Lao San’s face was turning more and more red. He started fanning himself with his fan and pretended to look calm: “Not a problem, not a problem….”

At this moment, Lin Shan came downstairs. She had just changed into a woman’s outfit. This was the first time she had ever dressed as a woman in this world. She was not used to it. She was afraid she would trip over her skirt, when she noticed a bunch of men staring at her fixedly. The way they gawked at her looked as if they hadn’t eaten in years. It was giving her goose bumps.

He Lao San knew Lin Shan was beautiful, but he didn’t expect drop dead gorgeous! After Lin Shan had changed into a woman’s attire, she looked even more alluring. His heart felt like it was going to pop out .

He straightened out his clothes and twirled his folding fan as he walked up to Lin Shan.

“Dear, are the clothes suitable?”

Lin Shan nodded: “It fits well. Thank you, third brother.”

Oh my goodness! A hot babe called me third brother! He Lao San turned scarlet: “Dear, do you notice anything different about your third brother?”

Lin Shan looked left and right, up and down, and shook her head.

“Look again!?” He Lao San was anxious. He purposely washed his face, combed his hair, changed his outfit, and took out a fan from the bottom of a chest. He even copied some words onto it.

Lin Shan stared again but she was still clueless. Then, she looked at the fan that He Lao San was spinning around and suddenly came to a realization: “Oh! I know!! One of the Chinese characters is missing a stroke! And where did you buy this fan? Horrible writing, and the words are backwards*! You got cheated!”

He Lao San’s expression turned stiffed as he awkwardly smiled: “Dear, good eye, good eye….”

Behind him, all the brothers hollered in laughter. After this incident, whenever someone saw He Lao San, they would tease: “Third brother, you didn’t bring your fan today?”

There was a saying that behind every successful man is a woman. But actually, behind a successful mountain gang also required a woman; especially a very fine looking woman.

Ever since Lin Shan joined the Black Tiger Gang, the spirits of the men have changed completely! How could it not? After all, most of the mountain thieves were thieves because they felt like they had no other choices in life.

Imagine. A group of men joined together on the mountain and had no one to rely on for food and other things. There was no one for them to impress. Sometimes, they didn’t even bother to put on clothes.

But now it was totally different. There was a woman on the mountain. Not only that, it was a stunning woman! How could they still act the way they did before? No matter what, they must make some effort to look clean!

Hence, all the men started to become hardworking. They started washing their clothes and tidying up their rooms. Within a few days, the whole campsite looked brand new. Even the crude members have became more refined.

Wang Hei Hu was so overwhelmed by the change, he nearly cried as he looked at Lin Shan: “Miss, if you only came a couple years earlier, what a difference it would have made?”

Actually, Lin Shan’s appearance not only changed the gang’s spirit; their meals also took a big leap.

When Lin Shan had first arrived here, she discovered that the food was not made for humans. The men would randomly hunt a wild boar or pheasant to eat, but the meat would only be half cooked. How was that made for humans?

Therefore, on one hungry night, Lin Shan decided to take control and cooked the chicken using her own method; known as the Hua Ji method.

Initially, she only planned to fill her own stomach. But the smell of her chicken awakened the entire gang and by the time she was done roasting it, she was surrounded by a pack of weasel-liked eyes. Lin Shan was startled, and asked: “Do you want some?”

Before she was done talking, her chicken was already finished. She watched the half naked men fight over the chicken. Once in a while, someone would exclaim: “Mother! This is too good!” “Mom, your son must be dreaming!!”…..

Lin Shan watched as sweats started to drip down. It’s just a chicken, guys…

After that, Lin Shan was responsible for the meals of the gang. Although she was responsible for the meals, all she had to do was cook. All the other tasks such as chopping firewood, lighting a fire, washing the dishes were arranged for others to do by He Lao San. She was definitely given special treatment.

After a few days later, Lin Shan came to the conclusion that although she lost her position as a female Prince Consort, being a female mountain thief was quite satisfying too.

But it didn’t last long. Soon, she was very troubled.

The issue was He Lao San. Lin Shan honestly believed he hadn’t come across a woman in eight hundred years. He was extra attentive towards her, and expressed his adoration for her everywhere.

In fact, all the brothers knew He Lao San was interested in Lin Shan, and they supported him by calling her “sister in law”. It was stressing Lin Shan so much, she felt constipated.

Although He Lao San looked alright after he washed himself, he was definitely not Lin Shan’s cup of tea. Lin Shan wasn’t too picky with love, but how could she be with someone for the rest of her life if she had no feelings towards that person?

Therefore, Lin Shan was distraught and decided to find an opportunity to leave the gang.

The opportunity occurred about half a month later. Since the Imperial Court had been pressing down on the gang so harshly, the Black Tiger Gang hadn’t left their site to loot for a long time now. This was starting to become an issue as there were nearly a hundred mouths to feed in the gang.

At that moment, news spread that on the fifth of the month, the Capital’s richest man was going to transport a batch of valuable goods into the Capital. In addition, they will be passing by Black Dragon Mountain.

The entire gang felt a surge of energy. They had been oppressed by the Imperial army for too long. Wang Hei Hu could barely sit still. If they were going to die regardless they steal or not, they might as well go for it.

That night, he gathered everyone to scheme how to seize the goods.

Since Lin Shan was now part of the gang, she was also in the meeting. As she listened, she realized that while the gang was busy looting, it was the perfect opportunity for her to escape. Thus, deep down, she was plotting…

*It wasn’t until the 20th century that Chinese characters were written from left to right. In the past, it was always right to left. I have a feeling Lin Shan didn’t know this…lol

Previous Chapter Next Chapter