Chapter 39

  "This... Men should not be intimate with each other, I ask you to restrain yourself." Cheng Dairen pried open Li Xingzai's hand.

  Li Xingzai's eyes were still burning with enthusiasm: "Sir, you have great talent. How can a small place like Qingniu Mountain hold you down? You should have a broader world to write your name and leave it in history."

  "Hey, my name is only three words, it can't take up so much space." Cheng Dalai smiled and suddenly asked: "Do you have a way... what kind of way?"

  Li Xingze was at a loss for words and remained silent for a moment: "There is a way for Master Rong to display his talents."

  "Never mind, I have no great ambitions, neither do I want to be a hatchet man for others nor stand guard for them." Cheng Dairen stood up: "While it's still not late, I'll go take a look at how the chili peppers are doing."

  As he spoke, Cheng Dalai walked out of the house, halfway through, suddenly turned his head and said: "Your sword is not bad, why don't you leave it for me?"

  Li Xingze's gaze suddenly turned sharp, with a glint of steel in his eyes, but it quickly dissipated, replaced by a warm expression. He scrutinized Cheng Dairen carefully, as if trying to discern something, but Cheng just smiled and walked out of the house, making it seem like an offhand remark without any deeper meaning.

  Outside the courtyard, several people were grinding peppers into powder. Li Xingzhai had been staying in Hamao Village for over a dozen days and had eaten several dishes made with chili peppers. The refreshing and numbing flavor was something he had never experienced before, even though he had grown up wearing silk clothes and eating fine food. Cheng Dalai said that the red fruit was called chili pepper, which he had not seen before.

  His gaze fell on the table, where a sword was placed. The black scabbard was made of high-quality rhinoceros leather, and a tassel hung from the hilt, which could facilitate grasping the sword and absorb the palm's sweat. Apart from this, it was just an unadorned sword. Some people liked to add various gems, gold ornaments, silver ornaments... but Li Xingze didn't like that.

  At the position of the sword hilt, there is a small character "Lu", if you don't look carefully, you won't notice it.

  "Do you want my sword?" Li Xingzhe smiled lightly: "You're quite bold."

  ……

  Three days is no more than a snap of the fingers.

  It was a fine day with a bright red and white sun hanging high in the sky, the air was so still that there wasn't even a single breeze, and the leaves on the treetops didn't move at all.

  The sound of horseshoes echoed, and a team of people came from the distant road. The team had about 100 people, with ten cavalrymen at the front and back, and infantrymen with swords in the middle. The team protected the horse-drawn carriage in the middle, but it was impossible to see what was loaded on the carriage from the outside.

  The person at the very front of the team was wearing black clothes and riding a black horse, with an iron rod in his hand.

  "Land General!"

  A scout on horseback came galloping from the direction of Qingniu Mountain and stopped in front of Lu Hong.

  "Report to General Lu, just ahead is Qingniu Mountain, the scouts have already reconnoitered it, there are no ambushes on the road, and all the bandits' lairs at Qingniu Mountain are waiting below the mountain."

  Sometimes one or two scouts can solve many problems. If Han Xuanzi were still here, he should know that on the road to becoming a famous general, he didn't even have the most basic awareness.

  Lu Hong raised his head, his skin was a kind of dry yellow that had been sun-scorched for years. Walking in such hot weather, although sweat dripped from his face, he didn't feel any discomfort at all.

  "Re-explore!"

  "Yes!"

  A scout shouted loudly and immediately turned his horse's head, galloping in the direction he had come from. At the same time, on the other side of Qingniu Mountain, another scout was racing towards this side on horseback.

  Two scouts went back and forth, reporting to Lu Hong in the shortest time possible about the situation along the way. If there was an ambush, the 100 elite soldiers led by Lu Hong would clear the road in the shortest time possible.

  But today under Qingniu Mountain, there is no ambush.

  Flying Tiger Fort, Flying Tiger and Leopard Brothers, Apricot Flower Ridge Little White Wolf, Bald Head Slope Bear Big Brother and Second Brother... almost all the mountain bandits of Qingniu Mountain are standing under their respective mountains, and you can see a group of mountain bandits every three to five miles. However, they didn't appear here to rob, but to welcome.

  This trick of killing a chicken to scare monkeys doesn't matter whether it's from Lu Ming or Xue Banquan, but whoever it is, it's very effective.

  With a thunderous method, the Zhu family's village was slaughtered, and all thirty or so people in the Zhu family's village were beheaded. This is naturally very cruel, but cruelty can sometimes be a means of showing one's strength. This made the mountain bandits on Qingniu Mountain see Xue Banjiang's strength, and this group of rabble on Qingniu Mountain was not even an opponent for him. As long as someone dared to strike at this batch of longevity gifts, they had to have psychological preparation to wait for the disaster of exterminating the village.

  So, each family's plan to rob Lü Tong of his birthday gifts also dissipated, and they even had to go down the mountain to welcome him when he passed by.

  This is naturally a very humiliating thing, and the mountain bandits are not lacking in extremely evil fugitives, but in the face of absolute strength, ferocity has no meaning.

  It's all about survival, being fierce is a way to survive, and so is being humble and bowing one's head. When being fierce can't keep people alive, no one minds lowering their heads in humility.

  At this time, Lu Hong's team had already set out for Qingniu Mountain.

  "Here it comes, here it comes!" Gao Fei Bao said in a low voice.

  The various mountain strongholds of Qingniu Mountain almost simultaneously received the news, and everyone's heart was lifted, standing up straight, but their heads were slightly lowered.

  "The head of the household has made it clear that almost all 52 mountain strongholds in Qingniu Mountain are waiting at the foot of the mountain." Yu Qiu said.

  "That's good." Gaofei Hu nodded, and since everyone was losing face together, he didn't feel as embarrassed. He suddenly froze: "What does 'difference' mean?"

  "The Toad's village gate is tightly closed, no one is at the foot of the mountain." Yu Quren.

  Gao Fei Hu suddenly raised his head and said in a daze: "What does he want to do after all!"

  Zhu Jiazhai was destroyed, but in fact, everyone had a breath of anger in their hearts, and this feeling was not pleasant. But what can be done about it? Everyone is unhappy, yet they all hold back their anger, enduring humiliation while guarding the mountain below.

  Everyone else can tolerate this tone, what makes you unable to? Getting angry over something like this and closing the village gates, if that offends Lu Hong, he could wipe out Zhu Family Village, but not your Toad Village.

  Young people, still too immature.

  Gao Fei Hu thought to himself, sending a henchman to the Frog Village, letting Cheng Da Lei also honestly open the gate of the village and welcome them at the foot of the mountain.

  Just at this moment, Lu Hong's team had arrived in front of Gao Feihu. He sat on his horse, blocking the sun in the sky, and his shadow fell on Gao Feihu.

  Gao Fei Hu raised his head and looked up at Lu Hong on horseback, looking up always brings a sense of humiliation, like a crouching slave.

  "What are you doing with a knife?" Lu Hong asked, his heavy iron club raised and placed on Gao Fei Hu's shoulder.

  What a humiliation! A man of iron was grasped in someone's hand like a weak woman.

  Fei Hu's lair had one, with twitching facial muscles and a seething anger in his chest. As long as Fei Hu shouted, everyone rushed forward without hesitation, even if it was like eggs hitting rocks.

  Gao Fei Hu gritted his teeth tightly, slowly lowered his head, and placed the big knife on the ground.

  "Lay down your arms and let General Lu pass through the mountain!"

  Lu Hong retracted his iron rod and smiled with a smirk.

  "Alright, then just follow me from behind."