Chapter Sixteen: Sharpening Swords and Polishing Horses, Strange Changes Emerge

  Shǎo Huá Shān

  Time flies, six days have passed in peace and quietness. Neither Shao Huashan nor Shi Jiazhuang has seen any trace of government soldiers or outsiders. This is a delightful thing, but for the good men, it's another kind of inexplicable eeriness.

  It just so happened that the defensive project was built exceptionally smoothly. By the sixth day in the afternoon, the last arrow tower of Shijiazhuang was completed and accepted one day ahead of schedule.

  At the same time, the project of making weapons in Shijiazhuang is also nearing completion. Now not only do the young people in the village have suitable weapons, but the armory on Shaohua Mountain is also full of equipment. And each arrow tower has stored more than 800 arrows.

  At this time, apart from practicing martial arts and shooting targets, everything is ready. Just wait for the seventh day of Shi Taigong's death, after the funeral, everything can be done freely.

  On the eve of the funeral, according to the customs of Shi Jia Village, the host family would invite relatives and friends who attended the funeral for a banquet. Although Shi Jin had fled to Mount Shaohua, the rules should not be changed.

  Fortunately, the defensive preparations were all done, and they were able to relax and take a break. Shi Jin, with the help of his brothers, set up a banquet in the Shao Huashan mountain stronghold, entertaining the mountain stronghold brothers and the elders from Shi Jia Village.

  That night, Chen Da, who had been stationed at Shijiazhuang all along, was also summoned back, and only his subordinate Wu Sandogou was left to guard.

  Chen Da rode his horse with several brothers from the back mountain, looking at the newly renovated and consolidated Arrow Tower Pass. He felt indescribable joy in his heart, but also inadvertently gave birth to a small sense of unfamiliarity.

  Just like when he fled, there was once a time when he mixed into the city and came to his former residence. The feeling at that time was the same as now. And at that time, he only took a fleeting glance. His original house had long been taken over by the evil official and sold.

  Although the house was still the same, not a single brick had been moved, but the owner had changed. After being renovated, it was just the most familiar stranger to Chen Da.

  That feeling of a broken home and exile, can no longer be hidden under any pretext. In my heart, the concept of home has been shattered by half. The other half is nothing but the accompaniment of Zhu Wu and Yang Chun, where I have poured more and more of my heart and soul into Shao Hua Mountain, gradually pulling the feeling of home along with it.

  Chen Da felt that his final home was on Mount Shaohua. He would eventually be buried beside it as well. This feeling has never changed to this day.

  Chen Da Xin's thoughts turned to this, and he shook his head vigorously, driving all his thoughts out. He tightened his legs under the horse's belly and quickly rode up the mountain. At this moment, Shi Jin and others were already waiting at the gate of the mountain stronghold on the halfway up the mountain.

  Four brothers parted for a few days and then reunited, naturally delighted.

  As they sat down in their seats, Chen Da couldn't help but sigh again and again: "It's really a whole new world!"

  Zhu Wu listened with a smile and didn't bother him, replying: "When doing great things, one naturally can't avoid such matters."

  Shi Jin shook his head slightly and said: "What's the big deal about this? Wait until we take down Huayin County, the earth-shattering things are yet to come!"

  Everyone listened with excitement and immediately downed a bowl of wine.

  The wine cup had not been put down yet, but Zhu Wu had already noticed the slight frown on Shi Jin's brow.

  Before Zhu Wu could think it over, he heard Shi Jing ask: "Has Li Bai Cao arrived?"

  Yang Chun replied: "It's not here yet, I'll go out and take a look." Saying that, he got up and left.

  Just these two sentences, Zhu Wu roughly guessed about 80%, and his face also sank three points.

  Chen Da, however, was unaware of the reason and asked Shi Jin with some doubt: "Brother, you wrote to me a few days ago that your injury was nothing serious. Could it be that something is not quite right again? How did you suddenly think of Li Bai Cao?" He spoke with great concern.

  Shi Jin smiled and said, "This injury is nothing to worry about." He sighed as he spoke, "But there's been no news from Huayin County for a long time."

  Chen Dahsin was puzzled, but instead laughed and said: "Brother, there's no need to worry about that. The officials are already scared of us brothers after we killed them, one governor is dead here, and thousands of soldiers were lost, which county would dare to come and protect him again?"

  Chen Da said with a pleased expression that night, and he couldn't help but talk more: "Recently, not to mention the county, even in the prefecture, there's no movement. Without the protection of the prefectural government, it can be said that those corrupt officials would have packed up and left long ago!"

  Chen Da suddenly realized that his two brothers' faces hadn't changed. He thought to himself and suddenly understood. In a panic, Chen Da slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Ah! What's to be done?"

  Shi Jin and Zhu Wu listened to Chen Da's endless words, but in their hearts they were eager for Yang Chun to return quickly. Unexpectedly, Chen Da slapped his thigh and startled the two of them.

  The two of them also saw through the crux of the matter. Especially Zhu Wu was even more relieved in his heart. It seems that Chen Da has experienced many things and is no longer as rough as before, not to mention Zhu Wu being happy for him.

  Chen Da's face was full of anger as he jumped up and down, saying: "That official is so corrupt, how can we avenge our brother?"

  Shi Jin and Zhu Wu were shocked as soon as they heard it. They didn't know how Chen Da could think of this place.

  Just as Zhu Wu was racking his brains and feeling rather embarrassed in front of Shi Jin.

  At this moment, Yang Chun walked in with big strides and said urgently: "Brother, what's going on? Not only has Lei Baicao not returned, but even the servant who was sent to deliver the message hasn't come back."

  Shi Jin listened and exchanged a glance with Zhu Wu, saying: "Some time ago, there were occasional messages coming out from the county, but today it's like a stone sinking into the ocean. It seems that we are in the light, while the officials are in the dark."

  Zhu Wu nodded in agreement, his brow furrowed, and he pinched his mustache: "Moreover, the officials control the right to speak, and which commoner outside the manor would listen to our explanations? In this way, although we righteous army rise up, we cannot get a fair hearing. As the saying goes, those who lose their way have few helpers, and that's where the danger lies."

  Yang Chun also understood a bit at this time, and said: "Isn't it that those corrupt officials are playing tricks, deliberately cutting off our information channels? And deceiving the people, acting as accomplices to the tiger?"

  Shi Jin said: "Although Du Min's mouth is better than preventing the river, but to block the news, this is also not impossible. It's just using some tactics to deceive heaven and cross the sea."

  "What's this 'deceiving heaven and crossing the sea' all about?" Chen Da was momentarily stunned, unable to wrap his head around it.

  "Shi Jin looked at him and explained: 'It's just that open repair of the plank road, secretly passing through Chen Cang.'"

  "This......" Chen Da still didn't quite understand.

  "It's just hanging a sheep's head and selling dog meat!"

  Chen Da let out an "ah" and suddenly understood. He nodded his head clearly and said: "If brother had said this earlier, I would have understood."

  Zhu Wu thought for a moment and said, "Now I don't know if the county's Li Bai Cao is safe or not. It would be better to let that dog official discover something and put an end to it, making people feel uneasy at heart. We need to find a suitable person to go and investigate the situation in the county."

  Chen Da suddenly understood their concerns and chimed in, "It's just that my subordinate Wu San will disguise himself and sneak in tomorrow."

  Zhu Wu knew this man, Wu San, a former monk from Shaolin Temple who was expelled for eating dog meat. Despite that, he's a capable fellow and handles matters efficiently. Entrusting such an important task to him would naturally be reassuring.

  But then Shi Jin said: "I'm afraid it's not that easy. From the day of the incident, they began to investigate strictly, and now I'm afraid martial law is not out of the question."

  Chen Dadao said: "Don't worry about this brother, Wu San will disguise himself as a wandering monk tomorrow and take the degree certificate away. No one will suspect anything."

  Zhu Wudao said, "It's settled then. We'll set out early tomorrow. Li Bai Cao is either dead or alive, we need to get to the bottom of it." After finishing speaking, he looked at Chen Da with a profound gaze and continued, "He knows a lot about our village, but under no circumstances can he fall into the hands of the authorities!"

  Chen Da nodded. The crowd had another round of drinks, but with too many worries in their minds, no one was in the mood to drink again, so they dispersed early and rested separately.

  Tomorrow is the seventh day, Shi Jin must support Shi Taigong's coffin back to Shijiazhuang, and the next day he will be buried in his ancestral tomb. So he led his personal soldiers down the mountain overnight.