Chapter 20: Gao Yi and Hong Feng

  "Divide a portion of the people to take down these thieves, and have the rest put out the fire in the city and rescue the injured!" A stern voice came. A man wearing silver-white armor, with narrow eyes and a hint of a mustache, spoke coldly. It was he who had kicked Hongfeng over earlier.

  "Yes!" A large group of neatly dressed soldiers rushed up, pressing down Hongfeng and the remaining bandits from Panshan Mountain to the ground. The remaining soldiers then rushed towards the four sides of the city. Under the efforts of these well-trained soldiers, the big fire in Jiayuan County was quickly extinguished.

  After a moment of silence, a young man with an ordinary appearance, wearing the same green armor, came to General Gao's side and said respectfully, "Reporting to General Gao, the casualties have been counted! In this chaos caused by the bandits' attack on Jiayuan County, including County Magistrate Li Fang, there were 475 deaths. As for the injured and destroyed houses, they are too numerous to count!"

  "So many?" General Gao (the man in silver-white armor with a pale face) took a deep breath, "Hong Feng, you're so ruthless!"

  "General, are you going to avenge my grandfather?" The delicate and beautiful young girl rushed up in tears.

  "General, avenge me!" The surviving people of Jiayuan County also knelt down in front of General Gao.

  "Everyone get up quickly, everyone get up quickly, I'm exhausted!" General Gao panicked and hurriedly went forward to help the crowd who had fallen to their knees.

  "General, if you don't avenge us, we won't rise!" The crowd shouted.

  "This..." General Gao hesitated. Although the thieves of Panlong Mountain deserved to die, he was just a military general after all. Catching the thieves and keeping the people safe was his responsibility. However, as for how to deal with these thieves, he didn't have that authority; they had to be handed over to the authorities to be tried and sentenced.

  "General, please take charge for the people and kill these beasts!" The bandits of Panshan Mountain had committed such atrocities that even ordinary soldiers couldn't bear it, and they all knelt down on the ground.

  "General Gao, the people's hearts cannot be disobeyed! The bandits of Panlong Mountain have committed heinous crimes, and not killing them would not alleviate the people's anger!" The man wearing a cyan-purple armor also looked indignant.

  "You... and you... and you, Deputy General Ding..." General Gao looked at all the people kneeling on the ground, each pair of eyes revealing a hopeful gaze. General Gao clearly knew that if he refused their request, it would cause great harm to their hearts.

  General Gao did not speak again, he even disobeyed the people's will! After a long silence, General Gao gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, "Forget it, forget it! The bandits of Panshan Mountain have committed countless atrocities, they are guilty beyond pardon. I, as a general, will take the risk of being punished for exceeding my authority to avenge those who died!"

  "Thank you, General!" Everyone was overjoyed. These scoundrels who had committed all sorts of evil deeds finally got what they deserved.

  "As for this leader, since it's a big deal. General Gao must take him back and let the superior decide!" General Gao slowly walked to Hongfeng's side, staring at his eyes, and said slowly. As for this, Hongfeng responded with a cold smile.

  With the help of these brave soldiers, the gangsters on Panlong Mountain were beheaded one after another and got what they deserved. However, what's even more frightening is that due to the presence of angry civilians in Jiayuan County, the corpses of those dead guys were also brutally beaten. This just proved a saying: good and evil will eventually be rewarded.

  Due to the death of Li Fang, the county magistrate of Jiayuan County, this small county town became chaotic. After eliminating the bandits on Panlong Mountain, General Gao and his troops also had to temporarily station in Jiayuan County to maintain order here. Xiao Chen, who single-handedly fought against the Panlong Mountain bandits and successfully held out until the arrival of reinforcements, became a hero in the eyes of the people of Jiayuan County, and naturally caught the attention of General Gao.

  "Deputy Commander Ding, please take good care of this young hero!"

  "Yes!"

  The people of Jiayuan County finally began to disperse slowly, either burying their loved ones or collecting the remnants of their already shattered homes. Tonight, Jiayuan County was destined to be a sleepless and painful night. "Benefactor, your great kindness, I, Liu Lan, will never forget it in my lifetime, and I will surely repay you heavily someday!" The girl who was saved by Xiao Chen bowed graciously, but she still had important things to attend to - her grandfather was still lying motionless on the cold ground, waiting for her.

  "Ah!" Xiao Chen nodded indifferently, still in a daze.

  In the county government office of Jiayuan City, the lights were shining brightly. General Gao, wearing a silver-white armor, was staring at Hongfeng, the only survivor of the Panshan Mountain bandits, with an expressionless face, without saying a word. If Xiao Chen were still here, he might have noticed that between General Gao's eyebrows, strange stones were slowly emerging, but they were silver-white in color.

  After the white stone emitted a dazzling light, an intangible terror pressure rushed towards Hongfeng. Instantly, Hongfeng's face turned pale and his legs seemed to be unable to support him.

  "You, with the surname Gao, relying on your superior strength, actually tried to intimidate me as soon as we met. I'm asking you, what do you want to do?" Still, it was Hong Feng who broke the silence first.

  "Hongfeng, you have a big nerve, daring to come to Jiayuan City to burn, kill and loot, causing heavy casualties among the military and civilians of Jiayuan County. You are simply a heartless and ruthless villain, unforgivable in ten ways! What else do you have to say for yourself?" At this time, General Gao's face was filled with righteous indignation.

  "Gao Yi, I want to drink tea!" Facing the other's furious anger, Hong Feng appeared extremely calm.

  "What did you say? I am the official army protecting the safety of the people, and you are a bandit who does evil everywhere and is hated by everyone. How dare you speak to me like this?" High Yi's face was inches from Hong Feng's, his anger at its peak. As a bandit, you're too arrogant.

  "Gaoyi, untie me!" Hongfeng's face was expressionless.

  "How dare you!"

  "Untie me!"

  "Don't you want to live anymore?"

  "Gaoyi, I'm telling you again, untie me!"

  "Hongfeng, I'll take you down!" Gao Yi could no longer bear it and struck out with a palm at Hongfeng. But even in this life-or-death moment, Hongfeng didn't show the slightest hint of fear; he continued to sneer coldly.

  But just as Gao Yi's raised arm was about to strike Hong Feng's forehead, it suddenly slid away to one side. With a "snap", the ropes binding Hong Feng were severed.

  "Haoyi, little kid, I want to drink tea now!" Hongfeng moved his slightly sore arm.

  His face turned blue and purple, it can be imagined how deep his anger was. But Hongfeng's arrogant action has not ended yet, he casually put his hand on Gao Yi's shoulder.

  "Lao Gao, don't always put on a long face! Pour me a cup of tea!" Hong Feng said with a smile, but something even more unexpected happened.

  "Hong Feng, little brother, why didn't you speak up earlier? Who are we to each other?" Gao Yi smiled and handed over a cup of steaming hot tea with both hands. Hong Feng accepted it without hesitation. If Xiao Chen were present, he would be shocked. And in his mind, four big words would emerge: official bandit collusion. Indeed, that's exactly what it was - official bandit collusion!

  "Gaoyi, you're so ruthless. You actually killed all of my brothers." Looking at Gaoyi's smiling face, Hongfeng couldn't help but want to slap that detestable face. It was clear that after tonight, Panshan Mountain would be completely finished. However, Hongfeng understood even more clearly that this idea could only remain as a thought, and with his own strength as a Yaoke Wu Zhe, wanting to fight Gaoyi, the Yaoke Wu Zun, to the death would be courting humiliation.

  "Hong Feng, little brother, you also know that in such a situation, I'm also helpless!" Gao Yi said with a dry smile, rubbing his hands together. "Little brother, how about this? You hand over that thing and I'll secretly let you go later!"

  "Will I still be alive if I hand that thing over?" Hong Feng sneered. He, of course, knew exactly what Gao Yi was referring to. Although the bandits on Panlong Mountain were exceptionally ferocious, there existed in this world those who could deal with them. For example, at the nearest military camp to Panlong Mountain, a group of soldiers led by General Gao were stationed.

  However, it was strange that the bandits of Panlong Mountain never clashed with these soldiers. There were also several times when soldiers proposed to eliminate the bandits of Panlong Mountain for the people's benefit, but they were all rejected by General Gao on the grounds that the timing was not yet ripe. However, except for General Gao and Hong Feng, no one else knew that these two had reached a consensus: General Gao would stop his men from finding trouble with Panlong Mountain, and in return, Hong Feng would give General Gao a large portion of the wealth they plundered each time.

  But Gao Yi never expected that the despicable Hong Feng had secretly recorded every transaction time, location and quantity of the two in a small notebook. This was revealed by Hong Feng unintentionally after getting drunk one time. At that moment, Gao Yi's anger reached his crown, he hated to kill this kid on the spot. But Hong Feng's words dispelled this idea of his.

  "Haoyi, my brother, that thing is not on me at all. I've placed it with someone I trust the most. I told him, if anything happens to me, he should hand it over to the county government office!" Hong Feng said with a smile at the time.

  "But as long as General Gao treats Hongfeng as a friend, this account book is nothing but a pile of scrap paper!" At that time, Gao Yi was extremely angry, but he could do nothing about it.

  Now, under the coincidence of fate, Hongfeng finally fell into Gao Yi's hands. Gao Yi took this opportunity to offer a way out for his opponent, hoping that he would hand over his handle. However, Gao Yi was disappointed once again.

  "Hand it over, hand it over, will I still have my life?" Hong Feng sneered, "Surnamed Gao, between us, honest people don't speak in riddles. If I were you, after getting the account book, the first thing I'd do is kill to silence. Right or not?"

  "You, with the surname Hong, don't think you can defeat me just because you're injured now. Even if you weren't injured, as a mere Star Stone Warrior, you're not even a match for me, the Star Stone Venerable!" Gao Yi's face turned gloomy as he was seen through, and an invisible aura of killing intent spread out.

  "Those with the surname Gao, don't * me. I've already told you that the account book is not on my person. If you want to play tough, then we'll all end up in the same boat!" Hong Feng's face was also gloomy. He had made a clean break, he understood that if he didn't hand over the account book, he might still be able to save his own skin. But once he handed it over, he would definitely die without a doubt.

  Gao Yi and Hong Feng stared at each other, their eyes locked in a silent confrontation. The air was electric with tension as the two enemies sized each other up, the atmosphere thick with anticipation of the impending battle.

  At this moment, Hong Feng and Gao Yi burst out laughing at the same time, "Good brothers!"

  "Good brothers!" The two men hugged each other tightly once again.

  "As soon as there's a chance, take down this son of a bitch!" This was the common thought in both of their minds.

  "Gao Yi, little brother, I'll take my leave then!" Hong Feng gritted his teeth.

  "Hong Feng, little brother, I've saved your life at least. Don't you have anything to say?" Gao Yi still didn't let go of the tightly held hand.

  "What's the point of showing off? I've lost so many brothers' lives, and it's still not enough?" Hong Feng glared at Gao Yi with eyes full of anger. "Besides, I've been fighting against Li Fang, that dog official, on Panlong Mountain for such a long time. Your military camp isn't far from here either. With your abilities as General Gao, you should have appeared long ago. So why did you only show up when half of the people in Jiayuan County had already died?"

  "This..."

  "Stop making excuses, Gao Yi. Don't think I don't know what's on your mind? After Li Fang's death, when the people of Jiayuan County were almost in despair, you, General Gao, appeared calmly and unhurriedly. Not only did you minimize your losses, but also brought your reputation to its peak. Moreover, taking over the unmanaged Jiayuan County became a natural thing to do. Although Jiayuan County is a small county town, it's barely considered wealthy and prosperous. General Gao, you're really good at scheming."

  "Hong Feng, indeed a clever person. And between clever people, there's no need for beating around the bush." Gao Yi also sneered, "Leave now, don't let me see you again!"