Lord of the Desert

Chapter 497 Loyalty
The men on the carriage gathered around one after another and were unloading the goods under the light of the stars and the moon when they saw a figure striding towards them against the wind in the distance.

Lao Ma exchanged glances with his brothers and sisters.

Ordinary people would not choose to travel overnight in such weather.

What's more, I'm alone.

The unloading process was slow.

The twelve men each took off their gloves and tucked them into their belts.

Unexpectedly, the person on the other side shouted loudly before he came close.

"Are you salt smugglers?"

Lao Ma suspected that there was something wrong with his ears, or that the other person was speaking in dialect.

"Who are you?"

he asked.

"You are the He family's salt transport team, right? I'm here to look for you."

The visitor answered in a hurry, and although his steps were unsteady, he had already approached to within dozens of meters without anyone noticing.

"Coming for us."

There was a fierce look in Lao Ma's eyes and he gave a low order. The twelve men then drew out swords and knives from the carriage frames, and there were even three crossbows that had not been unstrung.

"Hand in hand, don't let him get away."

In just one sentence, the salt merchants had divided into four teams, nine of whom were knifemen, and advanced in three groups, ready to capture the man and chop him into mud.

The target is in the mountain and the string sounds for the first time.

The arrow must have hit, but there was no sound, and the man was still moving forward.

"It's because the night is too dark and unlucky."

The crossbowman cursed inwardly and quickly reloaded.

The string sounds the second and third time.

At this time, Lao Ma was only three feet away from the oncoming person. He could see clearly that the three crossbow arrows were not missed, but were easily caught in his hands.

"It's too cold, the bowstring is brittle and has no power."

The visitor commented.

Under the moonlight, he grasped the neck of the arrow with one hand, and exerted force with his thumb, making a "ding" sound, and unexpectedly broke the steel arrowhead, as easy as picking vegetables.

Then all the salt merchants saw that the three arrowheads were kneaded into the palms of their hands and squeezed together. They heard the metal groan for a while, and when they let go of their hands, the three arrowheads fell into the snow as a whole.

There was a pop.

Lao Ma's scalp tingled and he knelt down decisively.

He has mastered the basic level of cultivation, and that is why he knows exactly what kind of technique and brute force this is.

"Hey guys, we are a serious business team!"

Lao Ma glanced at his brothers and sisters and saw that they had all dropped their weapons and lay on the ground, so he quickly pretended to be weak.

"Why would a serious merchant caravan carry crossbows?"

Hong Fan asked playfully.

"My dear, the knife is for self-defense, and the crossbow is for hunting."

Lao Ma kowtowed as he spoke.

Hong Fan said nothing, stepped over the moon on the steel knife in the snow, walked to the carriage, put his finger into the bag, tasted it and it was indeed salt.

"Are there any differences between legitimate and dishonest salt smugglers?"

He turned around and taunted.

Lao Ma stammered and was unable to speak.

"Okay, come here, I'll ask you something. If you answer truthfully, you won't have to suffer."

Hong Fan wasted no more time.

"First, where did the goods come from and where did they go? Second, what is the name of the person in charge? Third, where is he now?"

Everyone looked at Lao Ma.

The latter gave a smile that was uglier than crying.

"Don't waste your energy, my dear. We are all loyal people who have received favors from our master. Let you..."

The man spoke harsh words, but his knees bent down again unconsciously.

Hong Fan shook his head and punched the liver area.

Lao Ma covered his stomach, took a few steps back and fell to the ground, drooling from the corners of his mouth, but he managed to hold on without begging for mercy.

The other salt merchants were both frightened and shocked, and dared not speak - they had never thought that the boss, who was usually sneaky and cunning, would be so courageous at the critical moment? !
"Hiss, so there are loyal salt smugglers among them?"

Hong Fan raised his eyebrows and rolled up his sleeves.

"Okay, then try my method again!"

Upon hearing this, Lao Ma widened his bloodshot eyes and watched the other party approaching. He finally spoke before he made a second move.

"I confess, my good man. I have always been willing to confess!" These words had been lingering in his mouth for a long time.

"Are you making fun of me?"

Hong Fan spoke with a hint of anger.

"I was in so much pain just now that I can't express it in words. How dare I tease a hero?"

Lao Ma turned over like a turtle and knelt in the snow.

"We are the He family's subordinates who are responsible for transporting salt. This trip is to pick up the goods from the warehouse in Motan County and transport them to Bin County outside Yunque City."

Before coming to Juzhou, Hong Fan had already memorized the entire terrain and knew that Motan County was 200 miles east of here.

"Who was your last family, and where did you live?"

"The previous family's surname is Lin, and their name is Lin Xiangming. The Lin family mansion in Motan County is here."

Lao Ma said carefully, breathing heavily.

The horses stamped their hooves in the snow.

The salt merchants carefully looked at Hong Fan's expression and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that he had no intention of regretting killing people.

"If you just cooperated from the beginning, you could have received fewer punches."

Hong Fan made a mocking remark, unharnessed all twelve horses, and then pointed at each of the salt merchants.

As the blazing fire essence poured into them, their limbs that had been frozen in the snow suddenly felt warm. Just as they were about to express their gratitude, they found that they were too weak to move their entire bodies.

"As long as my true energy remains, you don't have to fear the wind and snow even though you can't move. Motan County is only 200 miles away from here. If the information is wrong, I will come back to take your lives."

Hong Fan said casually, striding eastward, but was stopped before he had walked ten meters.

"Please spare my life, my dear, I was confused just now!"

Lao Ma's face was full of regret.

"We are from Motan, but I got it wrong. Lin Xiangming is the leader of our rival family. Our boss is He Hongfei, who lives in Room A, No. 1, Mingzhen Restaurant in Motan County. He and the county lieutenant are brothers."

Hong Fan didn't look at him again and asked the others.

"Is he right this time?"

Everyone nodded hurriedly.

"Well, don't say I didn't give you eleven a chance then."

Lao Ma realized something was wrong when he heard this. He was swept away by an invisible red tide and burned into a blazing torch with a bang.

The frightened horse ran into the woods beside the road.

The salt merchants were silent.

The night stretched out deeply in the faint moonlight, like a tunnel with unknown edges.

Hong Fan took out his pocket watch.

At 2:30 a.m., we were 110 miles away from Yunque City.

······
Motan County, Mingzhen Restaurant.

The moon rests on the eaves.

In the outer room of Suite No. 1, candles were brightly lit, and the charcoal stove made the room as warm as spring.

He Hongfei, the seventh master of the He family, held ivory chopsticks and tapped the wine table to keep the rhythm for three wide-sleeved dancers.

"Master He Qi, my eldest brother has been famous in Feiyu City for many years and is familiar with the government. Usually, he can settle the matter by just mentioning the name of 'Qian Jin Yi'. It is not a big deal that he accidentally killed three people without paying attention."

At the bottom left, a young man in brocade robe said.

"But this time we didn't have the support. The local martial arts academy reported that we had provoked the Red-robed Cavalry, so we had no choice but to come out and hide."

When He Hongfei heard the word "Tiqi", he glanced at him, stopped chopsticks, and used his eyes to drive the dancers out.

Once the door is opened, the room becomes much quieter.

"If it weren't for Third Brother's persuasion, I wouldn't have thought of running away."

The man who was speaking was sitting opposite the young man in brocade robe. He had a big beard and a big belly, and had already eaten up all the food and wine on the table.

"Actually, what's wrong with fighting those red-skinned people in Yunque City? Maybe we'll be on the evil list, and then we'll be famous all over the world!"

He put his hands on his knees, seemingly casually.

"Well, you are worthy of being Feiyu Qianjinyi, so heroic!"

He Hongfei gave a thumbs up.

"Now that you are in Motan County, you can rest assured about the outside world. County Magistrate Cao is Mr. He's closest brother."

As he spoke, he took the hand of the middle-aged man in a red robe beside him, who was obviously "County Lieutenant Cao".

"With your three pure meridians, how about hiring me as the guardian of the He family for eight hundred taels of silver a year?"

"Dare to disobey orders?!"

Qian Jinyi was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly poured wine into the empty glass.

At that moment, the four people in the room looked at each other and laughed, and were about to drink.

(End of this chapter)