What he said was shameless, but it made a lot of sense.

Hearing this, the bandit chief was stunned. He turned back to look at his own stronghold, thought deeply for a moment, and suddenly shivered.

That’s right. No one knew better than them, who had already become bandits, just how rampant and cruel the bandits in Ji Prefecture were.

If the officials hadn’t ignored them back then, if they hadn’t been so afraid, would they have completely changed their identities, voluntarily abandoned their farmland, gone into the mountains, and become bandits?

At the time, they figured that since they were surviving outside the city anyway, they might as well become bandits themselves. Occupying a mountain and having the identity of a bandit meant others wouldn’t dare bully them anymore…

As the bandit chief thought about this, he kept listening to the young master speaking.

“…Look at how skinny everyone is—not just the adults, even the kids are still young and skinny like monkeys. Are you trying to starve them to death? Fellow comrade, you’re really doing a poor job as a bandit.”

Everyone usually only minds their own business, and even if someone else’s kids are starving to death, no one typically cares.

The bandit chief grew anxious and looked eagerly at the youth on horseback, cautiously asking, “Yes, our camp truly is a bit messy. Young Master, what is it that you want to do?”

Now that’s playing it smart.

Wei Yu smiled and looked at him.

This big, burly man, who had just been shouting slick words earlier, now seemed to have had all his rough edges ground down, staring up at him eagerly, eyes full of hope and desire—probably without even realizing it himself.

“Well, since you’re asking, I won’t be polite then.”

Wei Yu straightened up on horseback, swung his whip, and pointed at the dilapidated camp with a grin: “We’re all in the same trade here. You know we’re here to set up camp. Now, I think your turf looks pretty good. How about you hand it over to me from now on?”

Bandit chief: …?!

The Eighth Prince beside him was completely speechless.

Wei Yu, this brat, really could come up with the most outrageous ideas.

“Young Master! That won’t do at all!”

The bandit chief panicked. “We’ve already become bandits and can’t go back to our villages. You’ve seen it yourself—our camp is full of the old, weak, women, and children. If you take over our camp, we’ll have nowhere else to go!”

“Who said I was kicking you out?”

The bandit chief was stunned.

Wei Yu smiled at him. “I’m just taking this piece of land. The camp was built by you, after all. If you want to stay, stay. What I want is for you all to listen to me from now on.”

The bandit chief suddenly understood.

So it wasn’t just a takeover of the base—it was the whole group, people and all, being swallowed up!

“Don’t worry. As long as you acknowledge me as the boss, you won’t have to be afraid of being bullied anymore.”

Wei Yu waved his horsewhip at the guards behind him and looked at the bandit chief’s expression, both proud and sympathetic.

“Look at my men—strong, skilled in combat. With guys like you, I wouldn’t have even let you join me before. But now, I’m giving you a chance—so you and your families can eat their fill and not live in fear. If you really don’t want to, that’s fine too. I’ll just pick another mountain. There are plenty of bandit dens in Ji Prefecture.”

Just as the anger at having his home forcefully taken was rising, Wei Yu’s words landed like a soft blow that neutralized it all.

The bandit chief wasn’t very smart, but he at least understood what the young master meant.

If the people of his camp acknowledged this young master as their boss, he’d make sure they were well-fed and safe. If they didn’t… the young master would just go to another bandit group!

The bandit chief’s brain wasn’t very big, but he understood that the young master’s followers were all powerful. If they went to another bandit den and became its new leaders, and later came back to rob them, then what would happen to his camp?

The bandit chief suddenly remembered what the young master said at the start:

“Forget about the money—your old and young might not even survive.”

They were all from the same village back then!

His wife and children were still here!

No way could he let others come and raid his home and hurt his family!

His brain started working fast, and seeing the young master about to turn his horse and leave, clearly growing impatient, he hurriedly nodded.

“Alright, alright, Young Master is right! As long as you can protect everyone in this camp, from now on we’ll all follow you!”

Wei Yu had been about to turn his horse toward the grass at the edge of the road, but was surprised at how quickly the bandit chief agreed.

Still, it was good he agreed quickly—saved him a lot of talking.

Wei Yu smiled, “Alright then. From now on, call me the First Boss. This is my Eighth Brother, the Second Boss. And you, you’ll be the Third Boss of this camp.”

Never imagined he could become a Third Boss— the bandit chief was shocked and delighted.

“Thank you, Young Master! Oh, no—thank you, First Boss! Thank you, First Boss!”

Wei Yu waved, “Alright, enough talking. It’s still early—go gather everyone. I have something to say.”

The bandit chief was let into the camp by Fang Sheng to call the others.

After he left, the freshly appointed Second Boss silently looked at Wei Yu.

“What’s going through your head, becoming a bandit chief?”

A dignified prince, and he actually takes the lead in becoming a bandit?

Aren’t you afraid Father will break your legs when he finds out?

Wei Yu sighed, “Eighth Brother, you just don’t get it. There are so many bandits in Ji Prefecture. We’d barely arrived before someone tried to rob us—that tells you how chaotic this place is.”

He glanced meaningfully at the Eighth Prince. “With things like this, if we pretended to be merchants and kept going deeper, wouldn’t that be like telling everyone ‘we’re dumb and rich, come rob us!’? And if we get by unscathed once or twice, fine—but if it keeps happening, what will the local officials think?”

What would they think indeed?

That the bandits were too weak? Impossible. After a few waves, even the weakest could win through sheer numbers. They’d think this merchant caravan was too strong.

And a typical merchant caravan, even with experienced bodyguards, couldn’t possibly walk through a bandit den unscathed every time.

It’s like a battle between armies—victory isn’t about reputation, but overall strength and the tactics of the leader.

Ordinary bodyguards only have a bit more skill and experience than bandits—nothing more.

And that’s not enough to guarantee zero losses every time.

The Eighth Prince understood. “So you’re worried about alerting the enemy, and decided to just blend in?”

Blend in? That sounds awful!

Did his Eighth Brother have no education? At most, this was just going with the flow!

Wei Yu waved dismissively. “Ah, the process doesn’t matter—what matters is the result. Second Brother doesn’t even know where in Ji Prefecture he is. If we blend into the bandit world first and get into the enemy’s core, won’t it be much easier when we run into Second Brother later?”

Never mind the details.