48: Chapter 48 The Beginning of Internal Strife

No.

That won't work.

A thought instantly calmed him down quite a bit.

He had always been a suspicious person by nature.

He couldn't trust anyone, including that Chief Leader, Bear Overlord, who seemed boorish but was actually incredibly overbearing.

Although Bear Overlord had courage but no strategy, his desire to control power was extremely strong.

Du Wei was in charge of punishments in the stronghold, held high prestige, and had a group of fiercely loyal bandits under his command.

If he just ran to report this with a letter of unknown origin, would Bear Overlord believe him?

Given Bear Overlord's suspicious nature, would he think this was evidence he had deliberately forged to suppress Du Wei?

Or even, would he feel that the infighting between him and Du Wei had threatened his position as Chief Leader, and thus develop the intent to kill them both?

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Nie Kong's back.

No, this letter must absolutely not be handed over directly.

He had to change his approach.

A more covert, more effective, and more lethal way to finish off Du Wei!

A more sinister scheme slowly took shape in his heart.

He didn't make a fuss, but instead carefully put the letter away again and hid it close to his body.

Then, contrary to his usual behavior, he no longer stayed behind closed doors.

Instead, he began to drag his injured body around the stronghold.

He specifically sought out those small leaders and fierce bandits who usually didn't get along with Du Wei or had been punished by him before.

He didn't mention the letter directly, but just "inadvertently" revealed some "clues" while drinking and chatting with them.

"Sigh, Brother Wang, tell me, don't you think our defeat this time was suspicious?"

"Brother Li, I always feel that there's a mole in our stronghold! Otherwise, how could that Panshi Stockade know our actions like the back of their hand?"

"I heard that the Third-in-Command didn't even lose a single hair on the front line. Unlike me, sigh, I almost lost my life."

He used such ambiguous and insinuating words to constantly fan the flames in the hearts of those who were already dissatisfied.

For a time, dark currents surged throughout Dushan Stronghold.

Rumors that "Third-in-Command Du Wei is a mole" began to spread wildly in private.

Although no one dared to say it openly, those eyes filled with suspicion and doubt were like knives, constantly shooting towards Du Wei and his men.

Du Wei naturally felt this strange atmosphere.

His brothers reported to him several times that someone was bad-mouthing him behind his back.

Du Wei had always been upright and disdained to explain such groundless rumors.

In his view, the innocent would remain innocent.

He believed that the Chief Leader, Bear Overlord, understood his character.

However, he underestimated the terror of rumors and the sinister nature of the human heart.

When the seeds of suspicion were sown.

When the cracks of distrust began to spread.

Then, the disintegration of the entire stronghold was not far off.

And all of this was just the beginning.

An internal disintegration war against Dushan Stronghold, meticulously planned by Gao Feng from behind the scenes, had quietly begun.

And the fuse that would detonate all of this was being firmly held in Nie Kong's hand, waiting for the best moment to ignite it.

Rumors, like invisible poison, spread rapidly through Dushan Stronghold.

Within a few days, the atmosphere of the entire stronghold became eerie.

The bandits who used to call each other brothers now had a bit more caution and scrutiny towards each other.

Especially the factions of the Second-in-Command and the Third-in-Command, which had reached a point of incompatibility, often quarreling or even coming to blows over trivial matters.

Bear Overlord saw all of this.

Although he forcibly ordered that the "mole" matter should not be mentioned again, he could not shut everyone's mouths, nor could he eliminate the suspicion in their hearts.

This made him feel incredibly irritable and frustrated.

He felt that his stronghold was like a wooden house eaten hollow by termites, looking sturdy on the outside.

But inside, it was already riddled with holes and could collapse at any moment.

And the culprit behind all of this was that Panshi Stockade, which had humiliated him twice!

"I can't wait any longer!"

One evening, Bear Overlord suddenly slammed the table and made his final decision.

He wanted to use a resounding victory to wash away his shame, to re-establish his absolute authority, and to shift all internal conflicts to the outside!

He wanted to use the bloodiest and most direct way to tell everyone who the sole master of Ghost Sees Sorrow was!

"Pass on my order!"

He roared at his confidant outside the door, "Tomorrow morning, assemble the troops! This time, I'm going to mobilize everyone! Except for the two hundred people left to guard the place, everyone else, every single one of them, damn it, is coming with me!"

"Chief Leader! You mustn't!"

The military advisor, Liu Chengfeng, hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade him.

"Chief Leader, our army's morale is low and people's hearts are unstable at this time; it is truly not a good opportunity to go on an expedition! Moreover, Panshi Stockade has tight defenses and is full of tricks. If we mobilize everyone and fall into their trap again, our lair will be in danger!"

"Enough!"

Bear Overlord had completely lost his patience at this moment.

His eyes were red, like a crazed beast, and he grabbed Liu Chengfeng by the collar and lifted him up.

"Military advisor! Have you also been scared out of your wits by that Panshi Stockade?!"

He roared, "What bullshit schemes! In the face of my absolute power, they are all nothing but weaklings!"

"This time, I won't listen to any of your strategies! I'm going to use the simplest method to crush them head-on!"

"I'm going to personally twist off the head of that Panshi Stockade's Stockade Master and kick it like a ball!"

"Whoever dares to dissuade me again, don't blame me, Bear Overlord, for not recognizing even my own family!"

He threw him hard, slamming Liu Chengfeng to the ground.

Liu Chengfeng stumbled a few steps, fell to the ground, his face ashen.

He knew it was over.

His Chief Leader had been completely blinded by rage.

He could no longer listen to anyone's advice.

This time, Dushan Stronghold was likely truly doomed.

...

The next morning.

Dushan Stronghold sounded the assembly drum again.

This time, the momentum was greater than ever before.

Except for leaving the necessary personnel to guard the stronghold, Bear Overlord had actually assembled a main force of nearly eight hundred people!

A black mass of people almost filled the entire mountaintop.

Bear Overlord stood on the high platform and gave a highly inflammatory pre-battle mobilization speech.

This time, he didn't mention avenging his brothers; instead, he used wealth and women to nakedly stimulate the nerves of all the bandits.