Chapter 24

  A forest path, slanting sunlight, a few horses, a group of people.

  "Left... left, right... right." High-flying leopard kept scolding.

  "You can't even get off your horse and walk with them." Gaofei Hu was unbearable.

  "No way, at least I'm a member of the Horse family, if I get off the horse people will think I'm a coachman." - Gao Fei Bao.

  Gao Fei Hu was speechless.

  Gao Fei rode on a blind horse, leading another one, each with one eye blind, and it was easy to walk in circles. After several miles of walking, he was drenched in sweat.

  He wiped away the sweat on his forehead and gazed at the setting sun, letting out a long sigh: "This feeling, this scene, it's really making me want to compose a poem."

  "Shut up, with your limited knowledge, you even dare to compose a poem." Gaofei Hu sometimes couldn't stand his own brother.

  "Big brother, you say there really is a Five Thunder Law in this world?" Gao Fei Bao suddenly asked.

  Gao Fei's heart skipped a beat as he knew they were thinking of the same thing.

  "It's said to be true, we've seen it with our own eyes, how can it be fake?"

  "That day was too far away and there was fog, actually didn't see clearly."

  "Let's wait for the military advisor to return, he is knowledgeable and will definitely know."

  "Now, there's quite a bit of grain at the Toad Village." High-flying Leopard had just finished speaking and immediately said: "Left... right, left..."

  In the distance, in a clump of grass, four people were lying down.

  Li Jiazhuang's wealthy owner Li Zhuangwo was in the grass, had changed into a poor man's hemp clothes, and followed by his three sons.

  "Father, do you think there are really immortals in this world?" asked the eldest son.

  "How could it be? Otherwise, where did the two horses in Li Dog's house come from? They must have been given by the gods."

  "We've been waiting here for so long, but we haven't seen any immortals," said the second son.

  "Wait a minute, this kind of thing requires sincerity to be effective."

  Just as they were talking, a series of horseshoes sounded from the front. Li Zhuang's eyes lit up: "It's here, you three listen well, watch my performance."

  "Second brother, don't be angry anymore, go back and let our mother cook a few dishes, have some wine."

  "Big brother, you think these two horses will be sold, will anyone want them?"

  "Estimated, no one is as stupid as you."

  "Spare my life, Mountain King! Spare my life, Mountain King......"

  Suddenly four figures rushed out and knelt down in front of the two with a thud.

  Gao Fei Bao was startled and angrily shouted: "Who are you people?"

  "Great King, we are all poor people from the foot of the mountain. If you have wheat to harvest and no horses, just give us a dozen or twenty horses..."

  Two sentences, each sentence pierced the heart of Gao Fei. He exchanged a blind horse for wheat, and didn't know how many mountain bandits on Qingniu Mountain were laughing at him. I only have two blind horses, yet you guys are asking me for horses... dozens or even twenty!

  He turned over and dismounted, one foot kicked Li Zhuang to the ground, with his knife pressed against the other's throat: "Say, who sent you to provoke me."

  Li Zhuang's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat poured out as he begged for mercy: "Your Majesty spare our lives, Your Majesty spare our lives... we are all poor people, we have nothing on us..."

  "Wait a minute."

  Gao Fei Hu dismounted his horse, pinched Li Zhuang's face, and tore open the hemp garment on his body, revealing a small silk garment inside.

  "That poor family is so delicate and tender, yet they can still afford silk clothes."

  A ruffian came over, staring at Li Zhuang's face and said: "The master of the house, this seems to be Li Zhuang, the wealthy owner of Li Family Village. Our brothers have trampled on his dishes before, but this old man has high walls and many people, we didn't dare to take action. Haha, how did he end up running into the mountains today...

  "This must be the reward for my good deeds in the past, the gods are taking pity on us. This is indeed a blessing." Gaofei Bao let out a long sigh and waved his hand: "Brothers, tie him up, let his family pay the ransom."

  ……

  A gashapon machine appeared in Cheng Dairen's mind, with the capsules inside constantly rolling.

  Cheng Dalai was so nervous that his heart almost jumped out. Last time he brushed BUG, he really did it a bit too much. He has been worried that the system would intentionally retaliate, and who knows, maybe the lottery would directly draw a "thank you for your patronage". He didn't know when his bad luck would leave him. As for the system, he didn't want anything, BK artillery, tanks, helicopters, just bring one at random.

  A twisted egg was popped out, and at the same time, Cheng Dairen received a system prompt.

  Congratulations, you have obtained a primary shanzhai defense blueprint.

  "Hmm, this time's reward is different from before. Cheng Dairen finally found the system reward's blueprint from the cabinet beside the kang."

  Building a defensive offense in the mountain stronghold is now an inevitable task. In the past, there were only five people in the mountain stronghold, with nothing to their name, and no one bothered to rob them. But things are different now - the mountain stronghold has accumulated over 50,000 kilograms of grain, and being located in Qingniu Mountain, a den of bandits, it's unknown how many people are eyeing the mountain stronghold with envy.

  With a sudden clap of thunder, it's estimated that it won't be long before the mountain bandits are deceived. Although there aren't many clever people among them, there are still some.

  They must set up a mountain stronghold before they become aware, otherwise they will only be a warehouse manager, and the 50,000 catties of grain can only be kept for others.

  Since the system rewarded itself a blueprint, it was just right to build up its own shoddy defense. However, this inevitably brought about a second problem: insufficient population in the shoddy mountain stronghold.

  Counting Huang San Yuan, there are only six people in the stronghold at this moment. Wanting to rely on these few people to establish the stronghold's defensive facilities is simply a fool's dream.

  And I happen to have a task on myself, which is to recruit population and develop the mountain stronghold population to 100. The system will reward another lottery chance again.

  But where can I go to recruit people?

  Thinking of this, Cheng Dairen was somewhat worried, population or labor force has become a limiting factor in the development of the mountain stronghold. Thinking about it, Cheng Dairen opened the system interface to check the information of the mountain stronghold.

  Mountain stronghold: Toad Mountain Stronghold (a dilapidated primary mountain stronghold)

  Owner: Cheng Dali

  Population: 6

  Skills: Unison, Healing

  Deep in the night, Cheng Dairen was thinking alone about how to develop the mountain stronghold and which direction it should take.

  In fact, at any time, the mountain bandits are the most unpopular existence. Cheng Da Lei actually hopes to draw a strategist like Zhuge Liang or a warrior like Zhang Fei in the lottery. Not to mention whether the system will draw them or not, even if it does, would people of their level be willing to support a mountain bandit?

  Hehe, you know Zhou Cang risked his life to get in front of Guan Yu, and eventually gave his life for him. Even at the moment of death, he was still carrying a sword behind Guan Yu.

  He Changdalai doesn't want to be a scapegoat for anyone.

  And this world... Even with just a little understanding of this world, Cheng Dairen knew that chaos was imminent. This isn't to say that Cheng Dairen is particularly clever, but at the very least, he has 5,000 years of history in his belly, and although he can't be said to be well-versed, he can still make out the general trend of history. The current empire, with the Rong tribe eyeing it covetously from outside and various factions vying for power within, is like a dilapidated house that has been riddled with holes, urgently in need of being torn down and rebuilt.

  At the end of Qin, at the end of Han, at the end of Sui, at the end of Tang, at the end of Song... In that chaotic world, it was not people dying, but death after death, endless deaths.

  When chaos arrives, heroes will contend for the world, and as a small mountain bandit, what can I rely on to stand firm?

  He now has a sense of belonging to this stronghold, like a home. Qin Man, Lin Shaoyu, Xu Shenji, Xu Ling'er... These people who are like family to him. He wants to protect this stronghold and not let anyone else touch it.

  The time left for him might really be limited.