The young man in the carriage was staring hard at the bandit leader.
"It seems he knows something about the revolutionaries. You know what this means, right?"
"Yes, sir, he won't live long."
This group of fair-skinned young men had already decided the fate of the bandits, but they could not be so arrogant for long because a certain someone had just emerged from the bushes.
He was carrying a small child, and a young woman stood at the front.
Upon seeing them, the leading young man on the carriage almost got the fright of his life.
'What in the world!?'
"Mae!... What happened? Who is that!?"
The three who had just emerged were none other than Li Hao, the young mother, and Emma.
Noticing the look of worry on others' faces, the young mother named Mae averted her eyes.
"This young man behind me has taken Emma as a hostage. He says if we try anything, he will slit her throat."
"What?..."
Upon realizing that she was serious, they were shocked. Each of their expressions appeared as if they had lost their soul.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Hao finally opened his mouth.
"You heard what she said. Now do as I say."
"Hahaha! Now that's our Li Hao!"
After observing the whole event, the middle-aged bandit leader started laughing loudly. All the bandits behind him roared with excitement.
Of course, Li Hao was a young bandit. Someone affiliated with this bunch of savages!
The old guard became worried upon hearing their laughter.
'This is troublesome…'
That fair-skinned young man on the carriage tightened his grip on the handle of the metallic object. The other hand was trembling, yet his expression remained calm.
Seeing his condition, Mae bit her lips.
'It's all my fault.'
Had she been more careful, their daughter would not have been held hostage by a mere bandit.
At this time, the main road was filled with sound of bandits roaring in excitement.
Li Hao was unable to tolerate all this drama. There was visible impatience on his face.
"Shut up!"
The shout filled with impatience shut everyone. The old bandit leader signaled for his brothers to calm down.
Phew…
After sensing the silence, Li Hao breathed out hot air from his mouth.
'Finally, there is some calm.'
He was satisfied with this temporary peace.
No one could understand his dilemma. Suddenly waking up as the son of a bandit leader in some mountain. People would go crazy.
Fortunately, he was not so unlucky due to being an avid reader of those online novels from his previous life. But ever since he woke up, there was nothing else but chaos in his life.
Feeling the slightly cool wind brushing past his face, carrying the scent of wild grass and distant flowers, Li Hao calmly blinked his eyes.
Now, as he stared at everyone, there was nothing but calmness in his heart.
His eyes met the fair-skinned young man, who was standing in the middle of the carriage.
"Give up all the valuables. If I am not satisfied, this little girl might have to suffer."
The words were directed at the young man, but others were triggered by Li Hao's words.
"How dare you!?"
"I can end your whole existence!"
People from the opposite side were enraged at his unbridled arrogance.
Before this escalates, the leading young man signaled with his hands to calm down the others. Afterwards, he made prolonged eye contact with the boy, who was even younger than himself.
It was this boy who took his daughter hostage. There was already a sense of defeat in his heart.
'It's unbelievable, but today it seems we must take a loss.' He thought.
"We shall leave behind all our possessions, but my daughter must not be harmed."
Li Hao nodded his head.
The old bandit leader was all smiles. His son has grown up to be outstanding at robbery.
Although happy, his smile faded quickly because they had some unfinished work to do.
"Some of you! Go and bring both Hao and that kid back here. Hao must be protected at all costs!"
With his order, some burly men rushed towards Li Hao to provide protection, and the hostage named Emma had to cooperate properly.
Li Hao did feel guilty about doing all this, but his background at the moment was such that he could not survive without robbing others.
Everything was set, except for some men who were protecting Li Hao; the rest were taking away all the valuables from the carriage.
These bandits were wise enough not to touch the native guards because these people had nothing to lose. The fair-skinned men were restrained because one of their kin was taken hostage.
Li Hao was calmly staring at everything. His thoughts started drifting in all directions.
How would he survive here? Ever since his transmigration into this world, which struck a resemblance to the ancient period from his past life, Li Hao was mostly absorbed in his own thoughts. Even during this stressful situation, it was the same.
"This world…"
Li Hao's expression did not seem pleasant.
"Am I truly destined to suffer here?"
He was not a native of this world.
Due to an accident, Li Hao had transmigrated.
He recalled the sky suddenly getting dark, filled with dark portals that seemed to gobble up everything, and one of which seemed to have gobbled him up as well.
When Li Hao woke up, it was discovered that he had become a bandit.
After staying here for a month, he has come to realize one thing. The past is the past. Now, he has to look towards what the future holds.
If he continued clinging to the past, then there would not be a chance to survive and thrive in this new world.
Luckily, the body he transmigrated to had the same body, face, and name as his previous world.
Therefore, it took very little time for him to adapt to his new identity.
From the knowledge he acquired through the predecessor's memory, it seemed that this world was behind in terms of technology.
A feudal dynasty was established for thousands of years, without any sign of decay.
When he came to know about this information, the first feeling was surprise.
How could dynasties last so long without any instability?
A mortal dynasty can not last for thousands of years.
There are too many things involved. Especially in this world, it is said that dynasties rule over huge lands. The Qing Dynasty, where he currently resided, ruled over 100 million square miles of land. This is a shocking amount of area to cover!
Even the total land area ruled and managed by any known dynasty or empire on Earth did not amount to much in front of the Qing dynasty of this world! How can a dynasty manage such a big land?
Corruption, infighting, rebellion, and infiltration all become huge parts of any dynasty, and such causes its downfall.
Unless something in this world can help dynasties stabilize their rule over their lands and maintain their sovereignty.
This world contained such a thing.
Martial Arts, a simple yet sophisticated art from his previous world, had a huge influence here.
Martial artists in this world were not weak old men, but powerful warriors who could perform unimaginable feats.
The original owner of this body had heard many stories, and once during his childhood, even managed to see two martial artists exchanging blows in mid-air! It was only a chance encounter, and he never saw them again.
The memories that Li Hao acquired helped him refresh his views regarding this world.
With the existence of martial arts and powerful martial artists akin to those that were described within those novels back on Earth, it should be expected that dynasties could last for thousands of years.
'Well, it seems, I won't be so desperate after today's loot.'
Thinking so, his eyes lost focus, and pupils contracted.