Chapter 123

  This is a wild dock outside the city of fallen leaves, where winter has withered all the grass and snow seals the thousand miles. The cold wind blows in, cutting like a knife on my face.

  Cheng Dali wrapped himself in a large cloak and leaned against a big tree, with the ghost-faced axe beside him, within easy reach. At this moment, the handle of the axe felt colder than ice to the touch. Cheng Dali couldn't help but wonder how people fought in such weather in this era.

  As soon as the boat landed, Cheng Dalai dispersed the people on the boat and formed a warning circle with the grain boat as the center. In this way, if someone approached, Cheng Dalai could be alerted at the first time.

  The sound of dry grass being trampled by shoes came from behind, Cheng Dairen subconsciously gripped the axe and turned around to see that the approaching person was Su Qing.

  "It's so cold outside, how did you come out?" Cheng Dairen asked.

  "I'll come and keep you company." Su Qing said softly, squatting down beside Cheng Dairen, and sighed in a low voice: "The sky is so cold!"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Aren't you cold?"

  Cheng Dali thought to himself: Aren't you just spouting nonsense?

  Suddenly he felt his left hand being grasped by Su Qing's small hand. He lowered his head and breathed out: "Still cold?"

  "Actually... your hand is even cooler."

  "...Sakura."

  "You'd better go back, staying here will disturb the morale of our troops."

  Someone has been secretly looking over here, thinking that he is the master of his own camp, not accompanying his brothers to suffer from the cold, but instead being affectionate with a woman, what kind of appearance is this.

  At this time, he suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes ringing, and Cheng Dalai immediately came to his senses, gripping his axe tightly.

  Whether he be a friend or foe, that's what they say: If a friend comes in, there is good wine; if an enemy comes in, there is an axe.

  "The Grand Master, the Military Adviser is back!" someone brought the news.

  All that could be heard was the sound of horseshoes, and all that could be seen was a flurry of snowflakes. A large group of people rushed into the forest. It's hard to tell exactly how many people came, but it looked like there were hundreds, though the actual number may have been even more.

  Gao Feihu, Xiong Daxiong Er... The leaders of the various strongholds on Qingniu Mountain almost all arrived at the same time. Not having seen each other for a month, they had all lost weight, and when they saw Cheng Darui, their eyes flickered with green light.

  "Big shot!"

  Everyone almost simultaneously fell to their knees, shouting loudly with voices that blended together, and the snow on the tree branches seemed to be shaken off.

  "Stop shouting, stop shouting, or you'll attract more people." Cheng Dalai stamped his foot and jumped up.

  Gao Fei Hu rushed to Cheng Da Lei's side and knelt down again: "Cheng Dang Jia, great kindness doesn't need to be thanked. From now on, this life of mine belongs to Cheng Dang Jia."

  "Never mind that for now." Cheng Daire pulled Gao Fei Hu up, and suddenly noticed the bandage on his arm: "What's wrong, are you injured?"

  "Alas, never mind. Yu Qianran was about to leave with a group of people, and when I argued with them, my arm scraped against something and the skin was broken."

  Cheng Darui walked for a month, and although the journey was relatively smooth, he also encountered several dangers. As for what happened at Qingniu Mountain, Cheng Darui had no idea.

  The grain in the mountain was controlled by Liu Bei, who was pessimistic about it from the start. He was pessimistic about everything. The remaining grain in the stronghold was managed by him, and it barely lasted for twenty or so days.

  Later on, everyone's daily food became less and less, so people's minds began to become disordered.

  As for Cheng Dairen being able to bring back food, many people didn't have much hope. Some people had families to take care of and couldn't leave even if they wanted to, while some mountain bandits were lone wolves who thought it was unnecessary to die with everyone else, so they quietly slipped away.

  It happened three days ago, Yu Juran gathered a hundred or so people to withdraw, and before leaving, he wanted to take away the remaining grain. A battle broke out between the two sides, with casualties on both sides. In the end, Yu Juran knew he was no match, took advantage of the chaos to burn the remaining grain, and escaped with his men.

  Gaofei Hu was injured in the battle, but not seriously. The key is that Yu Rou's betrayal deeply hurt this rough man's heart. It's hard to paint a tiger's skin without painting its bones, knowing people by their face but not their heart, he never thought Yu Rou would betray him.

  The granary was burned down and the mountain village was completely cut off from food supplies. Everyone ate whatever they could, and if Cheng Dailei didn't return soon, people would resort to cannibalism.

  "Don't be too sad, it's just that the time hasn't come yet, there will be opportunities." Cheng Dalai comforted Gao Feihu.

  "My stomach is so hungry that it doesn't have time to feel sad. Cheng Dangjia, how much grain did you bring back?" Gao Feihu asked.

  Cheng Dalai stuck out four fingers: "400,000 catties."

  "What!" Gao Fei Hu stared at Cheng Da Lei in shock: "Cheng Dang Jia, you're not fooling me, are you?"

  "Do I have nothing better to do, towing two ships back?"

  Someone on the side heard it and suddenly shouted: "Cheng Dangjia brought back 400,000 kilograms of grain."

  The exact number of Xu Shenji had not told them, after learning the news, a group of people burst into strange cries, some with red eyes, excited to tears.

  "Don't call, don't call!"

  Cheng Dalai hastily shouted and scolded, but could not stop the madness of these people. It wasn't until much later that the crowd finally calmed down.

  "Don't call for now, the top priority is how to transport the grain back."

  "Rest assured, Master Cheng. I'll carry it on my shoulders if I have to. I can bring the grain back up the mountain without a single grain falling to the ground." Gao Feihu patted his chest.

  It's true that it's said so, but here is 70 or 80 miles away from Qingniu Mountain. It's really letting Gao Fei carry the grain back on his own, unless he's treated like a beast of burden.

  "Hurry, we must hurry, all the grain must be transported back to the mountain stronghold before dawn, otherwise if the news leaks out, none of us can withstand it." Cheng Dalai said to Gao Feihu.

  "I understand." Gaofei Hu nodded and said.

  This time, Gao Fei Hu brought 500 people with him, and there were about 50 or 60 horses. Immediately, he sent someone back to the mountain stronghold to send more people, and the horse-drawn carriages were converted into sledges on the spot, loaded with fine rice.

  They had been starving for days, and normally these mountain bandits wouldn't even see such good rice, let alone eat it. Although they were hungry for several days, each person seemed to have endless energy, carrying hundreds of pounds of sacks as if they weighed nothing. In the midst of their busy work, bursts of loud laughter erupted from time to time.

  Cheng Dalai couldn't laugh at this time, the entire Qingniu Mountain was packed with over a hundred horses, most of which were sold to them by Cheng Dalai. Even if each horse could pull one ton, that would be two thousand catties, and it would take at least two trips back and forth. Not to mention how much time would be wasted, it's hard to say whether the horses could withstand it or not.

  It won't be long before dawn now.

  Cheng Dalai made up his mind and decided that if the horses couldn't pull it, he would get people to pull it. He had to transport all the grain at once.

  Qingniu Mountain, as long as you can breathe, everyone is called up. Felled trees are made into sleds, horses are not enough to pull, and people are used to pull them. The old, the weak, women and children, even eight-year-old children, have to carry a bag of grain on their shoulders.

  Cheng Dali, Gao Feibao, Xiao Bailang, Zhang Fei and dozens of others who followed the boat were in charge of security work.

  After a busy day, the sky was already bright and hazy, a team of people left the seaside in a mighty manner, heading towards Qingniu Mountain.