Chapter 68: Eating, Sleeping, and Beating Qin Hui

  At this time, Yan Jing Sheng and the others returned. 298 soldiers came back chatting and laughing. Yan Jing Sheng's face was pale, sweating profusely, leaning against the tent, unable to say a word. Xu De Long said: "There has been progress, yesterday he ran 2 miles before vomiting, today I heard them say that they followed him until halfway before dropping out."

  I walked up to Yan Jing Sheng and said: "Teacher Yan, from now on you just need to take care of their cultural courses, no need to work so hard."

  Yan Jing Sheng leaned against the tent and panted for another half day before saying: "That won't do, this is a school of literature and martial arts, we must cultivate both. I've found that these students are all in good physical condition and particularly suited to military-style management. I thought about my previous experience with military training and haven't forgotten it yet. Starting today, I'll teach them how to march in step and the enemy capture fist. One of my former classmates is in a cooking squad in the army, I think I'll invite him over as an extracurricular instructor..."

  "Then go ahead and bother with it—"

  I brought that needle to the Liangshan camp, I was surprised that someone had twice explored the camp but the Liangshan heroes were all bewildered and unknowing. To say personal quality, these heroes are of course stronger, and last time's vigilant Shi Qian is still here, this can only explain that even if there really is someone exploring, it is aimed at the Yue family army.

  I first found An Daquan, explained the situation, and An Daquan rubbed his hands and said: "Removing the fire jar is not difficult, but we don't have the tools." Then he went out to find something. I arrived at Lu Junyi's tent, and after exchanging greetings, I showed Wu Yong the needle. Wu Yong used a small stick to move the needle around, adjusted his glasses and said: "According to Li Jing Shui's words, if that person is highly skilled in night walking, he should be proficient in secret calculations, but at such a short distance, he still missed... There must be some inexplicable reasons." He told Jin Maoquan, who was following along to join the excitement, "Go and invite Tang Long."

  Before long, a Han man lifted the door curtain and came in. He had a big pockmarked face. These good men had all seen him before, but he couldn't call out their names. Only today did they match up. Tang Long listened to the story, bowed his head and took a look at the needle, and immediately said with certainty: "This is not a hidden weapon, nor is it something from our era."

  I said: "Are you sure?"

  Wu Yong interjected, "This Brother Tang Long is nicknamed Golden Money Leopard. His ancestors have been making a living from forging for generations, and he's in charge of manufacturing military equipment on the mountain. If he says it isn't, then it definitely isn't."

  Tang Long carefully pinched the needle tail and observed, saying: "From craftsmanship to texture, it's not something from our time. It should be much tougher." He looked at it a few more times and finally came to a conclusion, "This is just an ordinary acupuncture needle. That night walker probably blew it out with a blowpipe, but because this isn't a professional blowpipe, the accuracy and speed are far inferior - a blowpipe should be smaller and thinner, and the needle tail shouldn't have so many patterns. As for what poison is on top, unfortunately my deputy isn't here, he's in charge of poisoning."

  "Wu Yong said: 'Xiao Qiang, apart from our brothers in Liangshan and the Yue Family Army, do you know anyone else who is also from our dynasty?'"

  I muttered: "It's gone." I immediately thought of Li Shishi, but her surname was 100% excluded. Even if she had hidden a body of martial arts skills, it was impossible for her to have the ability to split herself - she had spent the whole night discussing wedding dresses with Baozi yesterday.

  "That settles it, it must be your current enemy, coincidentally knows some martial arts, found out you opened a school and came to cause trouble."

  I nodded, this matter can only be explained for the time being. As for enemies, even if there were any in the past, they wouldn't have hated me to death and used poisoned needles on me. Now, Liu Xuan is one of them, could it be that this kid really has some skills? I need to go settle accounts with this son of a bitch.

  At this time, Andaoquan came back, holding a small fish tank in his hand. As soon as he saw me, he said hastily: "Hurry up and take off your clothes." I asked him what he was doing, and he said: "Aren't you going to pull out the fire cup? Hurry up, this fish tank is borrowed from Dongping, and his fish can't hold on for long in a paper cup."

  I let out a loud "wow" and jumped to the corner, taking stock of the fish tank in his hand, which was as big as a small flower pot. I trembled with fear and asked: "Are you the one who uses a fish tank to perform fire cupping? Were you forced to join the Liangshan Mountain or did you owe so many lives that you had to escape?"

  An Daoquan chuckled and said: "You're making a big deal out of nothing, I've even used wine jars to pull teeth for people before."

  I heard him say so and felt a little relieved, but still couldn't help asking: "Are you really sure?"

  "You don't believe in my reputation as a reincarnation of Hua Tuo?"

  Of all these good men, the one I least dare to offend is Hua San Niang and An Daquan. The former is too ruthless, while the latter is now a doctor for the elderly and wealthy, and in case of minor troubles or difficulties, I still hope he can help me save money.

  I slowly walked up to him and begged: "Spare me, Doctor An!"

  An Daquan impatiently said: "Hurry up, Dong Ping is still waiting."

  I had to take off my clothes, sit up straight, and because I was afraid, sweat dripped like rain. My cold had almost gotten a lot better. Andoan struck a match, lit two pieces of paper, threw them into the fish tank, shook it, and with a "pa" sound, splashed water on my back.

  At first, I didn't feel anything, and I carefully asked: "Anshen Doctor, you said that you used a wine jar to pull out a fire jar, what happened to that person later?"

  An Daoquan wiped his hands with a wet towel and said, "Need you ask? He's dead."

  I sprang up at the words, grabbed a broom and was about to hit the fish tank on my back. An Daoquan pushed me onto the stool and said, "It's the one who died in battle later."

  "Why didn't you say so earlier? It's been 900 years already, of course I know he's dead."

  "Do you know what else?" Andaoquan suddenly discovered the needle, he excitedly picked it up: "Xiaoqiang, let me give you another shot, and you'll get better faster—" As he said that, he aimed at my head and was about to take action.

  I sprang to the entrance of the tent and shouted loudly: "Put it down, it's poisonous!"

  An Daquan looked at me and slowly said, "Just based on your movements earlier, Lin Chong should teach you his spear techniques." He pinched the needle in front of his nose and sniffed it, saying, "What poison? It's just an anesthetic."

  "Anesthetic?" I asked curiously.

  "Hmm, have you heard of Mazhifen? This is it, just with a few different medicinal ingredients and a stronger effect."

  "So you're saying this medicine was concocted by someone from your village?"

  An Daoquan shook his head: "It's hard to say, you people nowadays have a way, it's easy to match with it."

  At this time, the fish tank on my back began to shrink and it was a threaded mouth that pierced into the flesh particularly painfully. I stretched out both arms behind me and said: "Dr. Anshen, can't you take it down now? I feel like I've completely recovered from my illness."

  "It's not working now, it's just when the suction is strongest, and forcibly pulling will damage the aquarium."

  This sentence almost made me so angry that I wanted to knock him dead, he actually worried that the fish tank was more valuable than my life. I picked up the broom again, and An Daoquan shouted: "You hit, you hit! Dong Ping's temper is even worse than Li Kui's. He broke your fish tank, and he will break your head!"

  I slumped down: "Why is my life so bitter?"

  An Daoquan smiled and pulled out two twigs from the broom, helped me scrape down the fish tank, and said: "Put on your clothes, don't catch a chill, don't take a bath."

  I don't know if it was because I was scared and sweating too much or because of the fire cupping, but anyway, after leaving the tent, I felt a lot lighter. I slung my hands behind me and snuck back to the construction site, like a groundhog patrolling its territory. Lai Zi somehow appeared behind me, fawning and saying: "Qiang Ge is here."

  I nodded in satisfaction and said: "You're not bad, you haven't been absent for a single day of work, I'll give you a full attendance award after finishing the task."

  Lai Zi hurriedly handed me a cigarette: "Thanks, Qiang Ge." Lai Zi is actually not a bad person, and he has a family to support, so he can find decent work and doesn't want to get mixed up in anything shady.

  I was smoking a cigarette when Laozi suddenly said: "Qiang Ge, I heard that you offended everyone on the road yesterday?"

  "What? How didn't I know?"

  "I also heard that you refused to show up when several old guys invited you out for dinner. Aren't you afraid they'll come over and give you a hard time?"

  "It wasn't until you mentioned it that I remembered," I saw Lai Zi nodding in admiration, but with a hint of skepticism, and asked him: "Are they all very formidable?"

  "Want to say open array fight..." Lai Zi's heart still had lingering fear as he glanced at the 300's tent, "Then they must not be able to do it, but still need to be careful with sneak attacks from behind."

  "I'm just an ordinary citizen, what am I afraid of them?"

  The bald man nodded in agreement and whispered: "If you are a good citizen, I am a virgin."

  "What did you say?"

  "Ah, nothing, I just said there are some things I need to take care of..." Lazi hurriedly said.

  Was yesterday's exploration related to them? I heard from Lai Zi that these old guys have opened a martial arts hall.

  I think it's time to make a clean break with Liu Xuan, he's like a rotten tooth in my mouth, on the one hand I don't like him, on the other hand I still have to protect him, because if those people from Liangshan help pull it out, they'll definitely pull out the whole toothbed.

  Just as I was thinking this, the kid surprisingly called me with a very formal tone and said: "Xiao Qiang, our matter should have a result now. How about meeting at Tingfeng Teahouse at 3 pm this afternoon? Can you make sure not to bring anyone?"

  "That's settled then."

  He repeated a sentence: "None of them are accompanied by anyone, you want to bring that big fellow here, I won't see you."

  It seems Xiang Yu has already made a name for himself, I said he definitely wouldn't take it and hung up the phone.

  Not taking the big one, you'll have to take two small ones anyway? Dealing with people like Liu Xuan, being too honest is just not getting along with yourself.

  But who to take along? The good guys are all tirelessly digging everywhere, this matter can't even be let them know, Xiang Yu's target is too big, and he doesn't seem to care about my affairs. Taking Er Sha, to be honest, I'm not confident, a person whose thinking is often abbreviated, even if someone were to dismember me in front of him, he might not react, now that I think about it, I'm afraid to take him to meet those recruiters.

  Now the best option is to bring 300 with me, if yesterday's expedition was done by Liu Xuan, this matter cannot be said to have nothing to do with them. The main thing is that Xu DeLong is a man of measure, I trust him.

  It's just meal time, 300 miles away there are 15 people who are specially responsible for cooking, equivalent to a cooking class. These people use brick-built stoves that are quite professional, with iron pots as big as bathtubs on top. One person is standing by the side stirring the big pot of stew with an iron spoon. Yan Jing Sheng is leading the rest of the people in pre-meal appetizer activities: telling jokes.

  Of course, he said, the warriors listened, and everyone sat on the ground. Yan Jing Sheng stood in the middle, excitedly saying: "There was a person who went to interview 100 penguins, asking each of them what they did every day. The answers from the first 99 penguins were all: eating, sleeping, and playing with beans. When he interviewed the last penguin, he found that it was very sad, and asked him why. What do you think he said?"

  The warriors looked at each other in dismay and whispered to discuss: What is a penguin? - I don't know - I heard Teacher Yan say that it's an animal or something. - Can animals talk?

  Yan Jing Sheng saw that the atmosphere was not enthusiastic, so he coughed and said to himself: "That last little penguin pitifully said: 'I am Dou Dou', haha haha, isn't it funny?"

  The warriors looked at me, I looked at them, and we all smiled awkwardly for a while. It wasn't until Xu DeLong shouted "dinner is ready" that the atmosphere finally picked up. The warriors stood up together, saying: "Let's eat! Let's eat!"

  Yan Jing Sheng stood there pitifully like a bean sprout and said to me, "This group of students seems to be lacking humor cells."

  This joke didn't even make me laugh, not that it's not laughable in itself. I just thought of other things: what are these 300 people doing here? Are they waiting specifically for Qin Hui to arrive or something?

  It's not hard to imagine that one day, in a team of 300 people, an extra person suddenly appears, and from then on, the daily content of the 300 is eating, sleeping, and beating Qin Hui. And the name of that extra person is... Qin Hui!

  My flesh is creeping!

  Because I didn't eat yesterday, now my stomach is growling with hunger. I grabbed a bowl and mixed in with the soldiers to start eating, and the food was surprisingly delicious. I finished off a bun in just three or four bites. Suddenly, Song Qing led 4 good men carrying two large barrels of wine over, and he walked by saying: "Every day eating the dishes you all make, it's really making me feel guilty. This is my own brother's brewed wine, sent for everyone to taste, just a small token of appreciation." I held my bowl and ran over, saying: "Brother Song Qing, has 'Three Bowls Can't Get Past the Ridge' been brewed?" Song Qing said: "This is only half-finished product, can only barely drink, the real 'Three Bowls Can't Get Past the Ridge' at least needs to wait three months, but where can you all wait?"

  As expected, the good men on the Liangshan side surrounded dozens of large wine barrels, shouting and drinking loudly. Yang Zhi wanted to join in, but he was afraid that if he did, he would think of another sad thing - if it weren't for him being unable to overpower his subordinates, he wouldn't have gotten drunk and lost the birthday gift.

  I scooped up a spoonful and sent it into my mouth, only to feel the fragrance and slight spiciness. The liquor flowed down my throat and into my belly, instantly warming me up from head to toe. I felt so comfortable that I couldn't help myself, and ended up drinking several more spoonfuls. Song Qing laughed and said, "Brother Qiang, slow down! Good wine is indeed good, but don't be too greedy!"

  I saw 300 still only eating, and actually indifferent to this fragrant wine. I shouted: "You guys come over and try some too."

  Xu Delong slightly shook his head and said: "We usually can't drink, unless there's a huge victory, and we get the Marshal's order, then 5 people can share one liang."

  "Five people drinking for one mao? Is that enough to drink? Today, anyway, there's nothing going on, and your commander is not here, so just drink as much or as little as you want."

  Xu Delong shook his head and said, "Wait until you finish drinking, then I'll have someone carry the wine back for them." Stubborn! Yan Jingsheng highly appreciated Xu Delong's approach.

  I'm really reluctant to part with this wine, so Xiaoming surnamed Zui found a 5-liter plastic bucket for me and filled it up, putting it in the motorcycle basket. The Liangshan side was drinking and singing, while the Yue family army was quietly eating, these bandits and elite troops are just different.

  After finishing dinner, I told Xudelong about the appointment, and he also wanted to figure out the expedition. So he asked me: "How many people do you need to bring?" Only then did I think of it, right, these 300 can't all be brought along, that would be intimidating enough, and it would be a disaster if we were to mobilize 300 people for a fierce battle, the country wouldn't ignore it.

  I thought about it, and the last time Liu Xuan called 8 people to find me trouble, they were easily dismissed. This time, with preparation, I should call at least 20 people. I asked Xu De Long: "How many people can our warriors fight on average?"

  "It depends on the other side's military quality."

  "For someone like me, there may be limited possibilities of being stronger than I am."

  Xu Delong looked me up and down and said: "Oh, you're talking about the common people?"

  In his eyes, Xiaojun is just an ordinary citizen.

  "Conservatively speaking, we can take on 10 at a time. If you think you can handle more, then don't bother - we've never bullied the common people, so I won't guarantee it."

  "You're saying I can take down 20 people with just two of them?"

  Xu Delong said firmly: "Enough - Li Jing Shui, Wei Tiezhu step out!"

  Two little warriors stood up with a "pa" sound and said loudly: "Yes!"

  "Assign you to follow Xiao Zhuangshi, mission: protect his safety, during this period listen to his orders, and can take the initiative to attack when necessary, but cannot hurt anyone." Look, how considerate.

  "Yes!"

  Like this, I rode a motorcycle with Wei Tiezhu, and Li Jing-shui sat in the sidecar, heading to meet Liu Xuan's appointment.

  I arrived at the "Listen to the Wind Tea House" and called two people down. I observed that this tea house was a three-story building, with the tea house on the third floor. As it was a commercial building, its height was much higher than an ordinary residential building. The current problem was how to get these two people in - they didn't have phones and couldn't be summoned at will. For someone like Liu Xuan who had some power, when discussing matters with others, he would definitely clear the area, and pretending to be a tea customer wouldn't work either.

  Li Jing Shui listened to my concerns and said: "We'll lie in wait on the rooftop for you, just smash a cup as a signal and we'll rush in to rescue you."

  Wei Tiezhu said: "Hmm, just two ropes will do."

  I went into the hardware store by the roadside and bought two 10-meter ropes, which I divided between the two of us. Looking at my watch, I said, "Let's go in. Hopefully, the stairway to the rooftop isn't locked."

  Li Jing Shui said: "You go by yourself, we will follow from behind."

  "How did you get up? The house now and your house at that time are different, and it's on the 3rd floor."

  "Then don't bother," Wei Tiezhu said with a silly smile.

  I walked upstairs with a nervous heart, I don't trust these two kids, they are different from the 5-person group and the people of Liangshan, as soon as they came, I took them to the wilderness, isolated from the world, just now all the way my eyes were not enough, let them execute tasks, the possibility of unexpected events will be very large.

  As I walked upstairs, I paid special attention to whether there were any hidden people. The second floor is a song and dance hall, now with iron chains hanging on the door, it's unlikely that anyone is hiding.

  As I went upstairs, I saw a table in the center of the entire teahouse, with tea already brewed and steaming, surrounded by several delicate snacks and an antique teapot. On the other side of a miniature artificial hill, a thin, shriveled old blind man sat on a sandalwood chair, holding a pipa, his fingers plucking out a tune that was very soothing. I had thought he would play "Ambush from Ten Sides". The entire teahouse was empty except for him.

  I sat down, poured myself a cup of tea and took a sip. The tea was slightly yellow in color, dry and fragrant as it touched my lips. I didn't know what kind of tea it was, but I smacked my lips in satisfaction. However, my mind started to wander, making a movie? It's all so ominous and eerie, and the name "Listen to the Wind Pavilion" also seemed to be an ill omen: it had a hint of impending doom, like the phrase "the wind is full of foreboding".

  At this time, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs, and a man with a sinister look in his eyes came up to me. I suddenly let out a burst of laughter. Because I was guessing how he knew I had arrived. Since the second floor couldn't hide anyone, this guy probably hid in the sugar industry wine hotel across the street, holding binoculars and staring at me all along. It's hard enough for him to create a mysterious atmosphere.

  "I am Liu Xuan." The gloomy man's voice was even more unpleasant than it had been over the phone.

  "Alright, Xiao Qiang."

  Liu Xuan looked at the blind man with a strange expression, walked over, and put a 100-yuan bill in front of him on the plate, saying: "Exchange for another 'Ambush from Ten Sides'." I burst out laughing again.

  Liu Xuan was laughed at by me, and he sat down on the chair, elegantly picked up the kettle to wash the cup, and after messing around for half a day, finally poured tea into it. He first picked it up to smell it, and then pretended to be elegant by raising his thumb, I secretly scolded: "Another poseur!"

  Liu Xuan said with a tone of complaint: "Manager Xiao, yesterday those uncles of mine were quite unhappy. You handled things too extremely."

  I said: "I don't know your uncles."

  "We're all just trying to make a living, what's the point? Today I'll give you another chance, but this time it's not as simple as calling me 'brother'. You have to pour tea for me and apologize, then I can still let you take that manager's position."

  "I said, 'I don't have time to waste words with you, neither of us has much time left. I arranged for someone to go to the bar just so my "clients" would have a place to go. You shouldn't have welcomed them if you didn't want to, but instead you hurt my friend...' Just then, I suddenly saw Li Jing Shui climbing up the window like Spiderman, still continuing to climb upwards. He saw me through the glass and looked surprised, even waving at me before climbing up further."

  Liu Xuan saw me talking and suddenly looked stunned, and couldn't help but turn his head to take a look. Li Jing Shui was already gone. He turned his head and said: "What's wrong?"

  "Uh, never mind, let's just continue with our conversation - Ah, actually there's nothing to say, you should hurry up and leave, go hide for a year or so."

  Liu Xuan suppressed his anger and asked: "Why do you always make me leave and hide for a year, what are you trying to do?" I saw Wei Tiezhu also climbed up...

  "I want to save you, those people are looking for you everywhere, they want to chop off one of your arms."

  Liu Xuan was so angry that he laughed instead. He slapped the table and said: "Xiao, I've been scared of you since I was a kid!"

  I knew today's conversation was going to be impossible, fortunately Li Jing Shui and Wei Tiezhu have already arrived, I'm not nervous at all, and I feel like a big villain - just waiting to smash the cup and harm people, people who are usually like this aren't good birds.

  I took out my phone and dialed the number, asking him, "Was it you who broke into my place last night?"

  He saw me making a phone call and said vigilantly: "What are you doing?"

  I held the phone up to him and said, "Just messing around, don't believe me, take a look." As I said that, I stretched out my hand with the phone, Liu Xuan involuntarily leaned over to take a look. I quickly pressed the dial button and pulled my hand back, seeing on the screen: "What's going on? Not good! He's making a call for help, I have to make the first move!"

  Liu Xuan this son of a bitch, really ambushed someone to deal with me.

  But I didn't expect them to be hiding so close! Liu Xuan lifted the table, and with a loud crash, a group of tough-looking men rushed out from the private rooms on all sides. They were dressed in Taoist robes, some with martial arts belts tied around their heads, and they stood in a line, opening up a formation and glaring at me angrily.

  Damn it, I originally wanted to smash the cup and have someone play the big villain for once, but as a result, I was preempted by one step again. This killing aura is not all fake, and this scene is also a bit familiar - especially like Chen Zhen kicking the Japanese dojo in "Fist of Legend".

  Unfortunately, the music didn't match at all. It was only then that I realized Blind's song was actually "Ambush from Ten Sides", but he had somehow switched to playing the erhu and was clearly playing "Yearning"!

  I'm not stupid, I was prepared the moment before Lyu Xuan overturned the table. I dodged the table while keeping my teacup in hand. Now I stand by the window, holding up my teacup, and Lyu Xuan finally looks like a real villain. He flails his two hands simultaneously: "Kill!"

  I saw 12 fierce kung fu men rushing towards me, their voices loud and clear. Before I could even react, "Crash!" Two sounds rang out as Li Jing Shui and Wei Tiezhu burst in through the window, kicking away the two men at the front, one to the left and one to the right, shielding me from harm. I drained the tea from my cup, smacking my lips, and only then did I have the chance to strike a pose like a big villain, shaping my hands into gun shapes and waving them around, saying calmly: "Let him kill..."

  And so, in the sorrowful and mournful Erhu piece "Yearning", a fierce battle began!

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