Gu Tianxing slapped his thigh and laughed loudly.
"My brothers speak wisely. We are already lost and cannot find our way out of these mountains anyway, so why not make this place our home? With this strange mountain shielding us, government troops will never find us. Ha ha ha!"
The idea spread through the cave like fire catching dry straw.
"What are we waiting for? I will go clear a plot right now!"
"I am coming too!"
Nearly a thousand men rushed out in excitement. When they had first joined the rebellion, most of them possessed nothing but hoes and sickles. Now those same tools were raised once again, not for revolt but for survival.
The land outside Lingwu Cave was uneven and stubborn, but human hands are patient when hunger stands behind them.
Large stones were pried loose and rolled aside. Weeds were hacked down. Young trees were chopped and dragged away. Thin layers of soil were scraped together into small patches that might hold seeds. It was not fertile earth, only scattered pockets between limestone ridges, but to men who had wandered starving through mountains, it looked like hope.
When hunger gnawed too fiercely, they chewed bark. They dug up grass roots. As long as no tax collector or officer stood over them with a whip, even bark tasted tolerable.
Days passed like this.
The once wild stretch before the cave slowly transformed into a patchwork of reclaimed fields, small and uneven but clearly shaped by effort.
Returning to the present.
Gu Tianxing stood before the newly cleared land, chest puffed out with pride.
"Land reclamation is complete," he declared grandly. "We can live here peacefully. No more running around like bandits."
His laughter had barely faded when a scout came stumbling toward him, breath ragged.
"Boss. Trouble."
Gu Tianxing's heart lurched.
"What kind of trouble?"
"There is a large army to the north. They stopped at a distance and have not advanced, but they have sent scouts this way."
Gu Tianxing blinked in disbelief.
"They found us? In these mountains?"
One of the slightly more knowledgeable bandits frowned thoughtfully.
"It cannot be the Sichuan local forces. The Chuang Wang killed the Sichuan Grand Commander. The remaining troops are disorganized. Only the White Pole Soldiers still operate properly, and this does not look like them."
Gu Tianxing nodded slowly.
"Then whoever they are, they are not ordinary."
The younger bandits stared at him anxiously.
"Boss, what do we do?"
Gu Tianxing glanced back at Lingwu Cave. Its entrance yawned like a great mouth in the cliffside.
"What is there to fear? This cave is vast and winding. Five thousand of us will be scattered inside. Everyone retreat into the cave and hide. Once they circle around and leave, we come back out and continue farming."
It sounded reasonable.
Within moments, shouts echoed. Hoes were abandoned. Fires were hurriedly covered. People rushed into the cavern's depths.
Inside Lingwu Cave, small campfires flickered weakly before being smothered under dirt. Darkness swallowed the space.
The entire force vanished into the stone labyrinth.
Outside, Li Daoxuan arrived at the foot of the mountain with a team of scouts.
Lingwu Cave's entrance sat halfway up the cliff, a dark hollow against pale stone. From below, it resembled the open mouth of some ancient beast.
A scout crouched to examine the soil.
"Report. Large scale land clearing. At least a thousand people involved."
Li Daoxuan studied the reclaimed fields quietly.
"Someone intends to farm here," he murmured. "To choose such terrain for cultivation, they must be desperate."
He looked toward Scissors Gorge. The Daning River flowed calmly through the valley below, its water clear and steady. Mountain streams descended in silver threads, providing irrigation. Water was not the issue.
The problem was the earth itself.
He walked closer to one of the fields and crouched.
The soil layer was thin, perhaps only a few dozen centimeters before hard limestone emerged beneath.
"These are triangular scraps of land," he said softly. "Thin soil over rock."
A scout leaned closer.
"There must be many people hiding in the cave. It could be roving bandits."
Li Daoxuan nodded.
"Most likely. Ordinary villagers could not organize such reclamation at this scale in such terrain. Nor would any official plan agricultural expansion in karst rock. The most reasonable assumption is that bandits hide inside."
High above, Gu Tianxing and several loyal men peered cautiously from behind rocks at the cave entrance.
They could not hear what Li Daoxuan was saying. They only saw him pointing at their fields and discussing with his men.
Gu Tianxing's stomach twisted.
If the army camped at the mountain's base, they would be trapped. They could not leave to farm. They could not dig for roots. Hunger would finish what swords had not.
Below, one scout spoke quietly.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun, there may be nothing inside worth scouting. If we block the foot of the mountain, they will starve."
Li Daoxuan nodded slowly.
"Tactically, that is correct."
He gestured toward the small plots carved into rock.
"But consider this. Would you personally choose to clear land here?"
The scouts shook their heads.
"This terrain is worse than the Loess Plateau."
Li Daoxuan continued.
"Would the new Chuang Wang clear land here?"
The scouts answered almost in unison.
"He would raid instead."
Li Daoxuan straightened.
"If people are forced to cultivate barren rock rather than plunder fertile villages, can they still be called roving bandits?"
The scouts fell silent.
Understanding dawned gradually.
One of them spoke first.
"They are not roving bandits. They are displaced civilians. They have suffered disaster and war. They saw our army and fled into the cave out of fear. Their decision to hide instead of flee far away shows inexperience. If they were seasoned bandits, they would not trap themselves in a cave."
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly.
"Good. Then we must treat them according to a different policy."
The scouts nodded firmly.
"For displaced civilians, we send aid, not troops."
Li Daoxuan gave instructions calmly.
"You two return to the main force. Tell them not to dispatch soldiers. Send a rescue team with grain and medical supplies."
He looked up toward the dark entrance of Lingwu Cave.
"As for me, I will go up alone and speak with them."
High above, Gu Tianxing watched the lone figure begin ascending the mountain path.
His heart pounded.
He had prepared to hide from soldiers.
He had not prepared to face someone who walked toward him without armor, without visible hostility, and without fear.