Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1014 Ambush
The mountain breeze was blowing gently, and the tender green branches and leaves were shining in the sunlight, with mottled shadows gradually tilting. The soil particles were trembling slightly, and then bulging slightly. A mole showed its head under the shade of the tree, turned its head around, and wrinkled its slightly red nose slightly, and then shrank back into the soil as if frightened.

The horses' hooves stepped on the green grass, and the horseshoes with horseshoes broke the grass leaves, which were blown into the air along with the soil. Soldiers with leggings walked over the horses' hoof prints, occasionally saying a few words, and hurried on the road behind the fluttering general's flag.

Zhai Jin rode on his horse and watched the advancing troops in silence. Behind him, a young man who looked 70% like him urged his horse forward and said, "Father, why are you so worried?"

The figure on horseback in front looked back at his son Zhai Liang, then turned his head and asked: "Why aren't you escorting the grain and grass with your uncle?"

Zhai Liang slowed down his horse and lagged behind his father by half a head. "My uncle asked me to come here. The food and supplies have been transported to Yique Town without any mistakes, and no thieves or spies were found."

"Your uncle is cautious, but there are some thieves..." Zhai Jin's smile just appeared on his face, but it sank again. He smacked his lips and said, "There are differences between thieves. The Fangshan thieves can make trouble, but they are just some insignificant desperate criminals. It is rare for the thieves' spies to go fifty miles away from here. This is one of the reasons why my father did not send troops in a high-profile manner this time."

"Then... there must be someone who knows that we are sending troops, right?"

"Only officials in Henan Prefecture knew that officials in the military prefectures around Fangzhou in the province were colluding with the thieves and tipped them off."

The young figure smiled, looked around to see that the soldiers were not approaching, and slowly approached: "Dad, you are talking about the suppression of the Liangshan bandits two years ago, right?"

Zhai Jin glanced at his son, tightened his grip on the reins, and snorted, "Then they can no longer be called thieves."

"Yes, he has established a country and become the emperor." Then the young man teased without knowing whether to live or die: "Dad, do you think that there will be a record in history books that you were defeated by Qianlong?

In the fifth year of Zhenghe, the Song army launched a massive attack on Liangshan. Soon, the army was defeated and the emperor was exiled..."

"Shut up! You're risking your life by saying this here!" Zhai Jin raised his eyebrows, turned sideways and whispered, then raised his arm and slapped his son on the helmet.

bang——

"Why envy someone so much that you keep talking about the imperial court's great enemy? I think you want to be punished by the family law!"

The son shrank his neck and muttered quietly, "I don't say it all the time, but I think it's really fascinating that someone could cross the sea from a mountain stronghold in Jingdong and swallow up most of the Liao Kingdom. Dad, you actually admire Lu Bu, don't you?"

Zhai Jin was stunned for a moment, then turned around and held the reins, his body rising and falling slowly with the horse: "Since your uncle asked you to come here to deliver the message, now that you have delivered the message, go back quickly and tell him that protecting the grain route is the top priority.

Back then, the Liangshan bandits were best at robbing grain roads and destroying food supplies. Although we are not afraid of such tactics in our own country, it will still keep morale down for a while.

It is not only troublesome to re-mobilize food and fodder, but our colleagues in the Western Army are also watching us, so we must not make a fool of ourselves."

Seeing that his father did not answer him, Zhai Liang could not force him. He knew that his father had hit the nail on the head, so he immediately replied, "I know. I'll go back and tell my uncle."

The warhorse turned and went away.

The army continued to move slowly, and the long army formed a winding shape along the road, heading south all the way to Dengzhou.

……

The apricot-yellow flag twisted in the wind, and the four large characters "Tian Xing Dao" appeared in people's pupils from time to time. Casually dressed minions holding knives walked through the road in the village, and were immediately attracted by the sound coming from the Juyi Hall. After walking away, they still glanced sideways, wanting to find out what was going on.

"There's nothing left to rob in Fangzhou."

"Go to Xiangzhou? That's the center of Jingxiang, and there are many merchants and travelers coming and going."

"If you ask me, we should go to Jinzhou. It's close to Yongxing Army Road, and maybe we can get some war horses and weapons there."

"Then it would be better to go directly to Yongxingjun Road..."

"Suizhou..."

Big men of different shapes and sizes sat in the Juyi Hall and expressed their opinions. With blushes on their excited faces, they went out to plunder...

No, if they borrowed food grains once, they could kill as much as they wanted, and as leaders they were also allowed to have a share of the spoils. If they took a fancy to a woman, it was also common for them to have a good sleep with her. As heroes, they had no reason to refuse such a wonderful thing in the world, and they all wanted to join the team going down the mountain.

As for the leadership...

"Brother, what are you interested in this time?" Song Jiang listened to his brothers shouting below, without any expression on his face. He just turned his head to look at the sturdy Heavenly King with the Pagoda in his hand.

Wu Yong looked at Song Jiang, then at Chao Gai, with a calm expression on his face, but he waved the feather fan in his hand a little faster and there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Let's go down the mountain and move around. We don't need to go too far." Chao Gai took a sip of wine and wiped the wine stains on his beard. "Junzhou, Xiangzhou, and Jinzhou are right outside the door. I feel like I can't move around. Yongxingjun Road and Henan Prefecture are too far away, and the Jinghu North Road in the south is not easy to travel. It's better to choose one of Dengzhou, Tangzhou, and Suizhou."

He put down his wine bowl and looked at Song Jiang: "Where do you think I should go?"

Song Jiang said with a smile: "Brother, you should decide. If I get involved, wouldn't it be a lot less fun for you?"

Chao Gai smiled, looking at the leaders who were arguing over there, and said, "Then let's go to Dengzhou. My dear brother has been to Shunyang City before, so I will go to Nanyang. There are many wealthy merchants over there, so it's a good place to go."

Song Jiang raised his bowl and said, "I wish you good luck, brother."

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Chao Gai laughed loudly towards the sky. When all the leaders in the hall heard his laughter, they stopped talking and turned to look at the three of them sitting at the top. They watched Chao Gai and Song Jiang clink their wine bowls together and both drank the wine. Suddenly, they all had hesitant expressions on their faces.

Li Kui scratched his hard beard, which made a crackling sound, and muttered, "Damn it, I look like this now. Doesn't it make me look petty before?"

"What are you talking about, Tieniu." Mu Hong came over and kicked him in the buttocks: "Why are you mumbling to yourself? Talk to me if you have something to say."

"No." Li Kui was thick-skinned and took the kick without taking it seriously. He shook his head and said, "I didn't say anything."

"Damn it, when did you become so unhappy, you black bastard?"

"I didn't say anything anyway."

While the two were bickering, Chao Gai, who was at the head of the group, stood up, put down his wine bowl and said, "My dear brothers, I just discussed with my elder brother that we will send troops to Nanyang tomorrow. We will find the rich and unkind people and enforce justice on their behalf!"

Everyone in the hall was used to listening to Song Jiang's words. Originally, if they had heard this, they would have opposed it. However, now that everyone in Fangshan knew that Chao Gai had abdicated and made way for someone more capable, they no longer had the position to oppose. Looking at Chao Gai speaking so passionately, they didn't know whether they should agree or dissuade him. One by one, they all looked at Song Jiang's expression, but saw that their eldest brother was smiling and nodding.

"What King Chao said is right. I have long seen those unscrupulous merchants and wealthy people oppressing the good people. This time I will kill them to my heart's content."

The voice made everyone feel relieved. They looked hurriedly and saw that the person who spoke had a handsome face and fair skin. There were two dragon heads on his neck, one on the left and one on the right, with their mouths open and roaring. It was Nine-Pattern Dragon Shi Jin who had joined the team not long ago.

"Shi Dalang said it well." Sun Li also stood up and bowed to Chao Gai: "Sun Li is willing to lend a helping hand to King Chao."

Chao Gai smiled when he heard this. Even though he knew that the two men said so at the order of Song Jiang, he was still deeply moved and said "good" repeatedly.

Liu Tang, Wang Dashou, and Bai Sheng were about to speak, but the two of them snatched the opportunity and they immediately jumped up. However, the three of them were not very good at speaking, so they just kept saying, "What you said touched my heart. I support you, my brother."

Li Kui squinted at the three of them and curled his lips: "Now Brother Song Jiang is the brother of the mountain stronghold, you three flatterers."

But no matter what the Black Whirlwind thought, the candidates who would go down the mountain to enforce justice were quickly decided. In addition to Sun Li, Shi Jin and three of Chao Gai's confidants, He Ji, Liu Tong and Shi Jun were selected to follow. They gathered 4,500 followers, and the group marched towards Dengzhou in a mighty manner.

There were many villages, counties, and manors along the way that were looted by bandits. When they saw people coming down the mountain, they hid desperately and waited for them to pass by first. This made Chao Gai, who hadn't been so powerful for a long time, feel very proud. Even Liu Tang, Wang Dashou and Bai Sheng were laughing.

Shi Jin, Chen Da, Yang Chun and others who followed the team could only sigh when they saw this. They were relieved that there was no need for a fight to support Song Jiang to take the position, and they let him dawdle on the road.

Even Sun Li lost his vigilance for a while because he and Song Jiang had always gone down the mountain smoothly, so he only sent out a few spies to explore the area within a radius of thirty miles. However, he didn't know that these spies were even lazier and only ran back after about ten miles, without taking their leader's words to heart.

The group of bandits walking on the road had no idea that there were eyes watching them and reporting their whereabouts.

……

"The bandits have come down the mountain?" Zhai Jin frowned as he looked at the breathless spy. "When did it happen? How many people were there? Who was the leader?"

"Four days ago, we found the bandits in Junzhou. There were less than 5,000 of them, led by Chao Gai, the leader of Fangshan. There were also two teams of scouts following them about 20 miles away."

"Are you sure it's Fangshan Bandit?"

"No doubt about it. We saw their flag and asked the merchants they robbed. It's definitely the bandits from Fangshan."

"Oh..." Zhai Jin narrowed his eyes and patted his outer battle robe. A cloud of yellow dust rose up. He fanned the wind and said, "Come here, go and invite the generals of the Western Army."

"You return immediately and take three more scout teams with you. Report back immediately if you find anything unusual."

"Yes."

……

The team from Fangshan was still doing some private work while marching.

Chao Gai's initial excitement turned into calmness. He couldn't tell what he felt when he saw the excited and noisy minions around him. At this time, he was on horseback and talking to Liu Tang who was walking beside him, "... I know you are not very happy, but firstly, I just want to live happily and have no intention of managing Fangshan. Secondly... I don't want a large number of my brothers to be killed or injured."

He pointed at the minions and said, "Look at how excited they are. When I was still the boss, I would never leave the mountain until I ran out of money and food. How could they be as enthusiastic as they are now?"

Liu Tang was silent for a while, muttering to himself: "Then my brother doesn't need to sit in the third seat. In my opinion, Song Jiang is not a decent person."

"Being the third in command isn't necessarily a bad thing." Chao Gai swayed slightly on his horse, glanced at Liu Tang, Wang Dashou, and Bai Sheng who were walking below him, and said meaningfully: "At least the two people sitting in front of me won't attack us, and will protect us." While he was talking, a spy from the front ran over here, but was stopped by a few personal soldiers loyal to Chao Gai. After a conversation, he was let in: "I meet the third in command."

Liu Tang and Bai Sheng's faces twitched but they said nothing.

"Captain Liu Tong discovered several large manors ahead. The gates of the manors have not been closed yet, and the defenses against the outside world are lax."

"Are there any farmhands inside to guard against it?"

"Looking from a distance, there are people standing on guard, but not many."

Chao Gai was in high spirits: "Quick, speed up, and go inform the two commanders Sun Li and Shi Jin."

"Yes." The spy responded and ran away quickly.

Bai Sheng looked at his back and said, "Brother, this person should have informed Sun Li and Shi Jin before coming here."

"...I forgot that the spies exploring the surroundings are all their people." Chao Gai smiled bitterly and scratched his beard with his hand: "But this kid is quite smart and knew to respond first."

Soon, a signal was given to order the team to speed up. Some of the bloated teams began to turn around under the order. Soon, black smoke came out of a village near the edge of Zhengzhou.

As the sun moved westward, a large number of bandits set out on their journey again, laughing and joking, and the heart-wrenching cries of women were heard in the team.

……

The clock is ticking.

There was no light in the woods. Some unknown night bird was calling. In the silence, there was occasionally the sound of branches breaking, and a figure groping forward in the darkness, making a rustling sound.

Zhe Kecun was quietly dozing with his eyes closed in front of a large, smooth bluestone. He heard the sound of someone breaking dead branches approaching this side. He opened his eyes and watched Xin Xingzong groping his way towards him cautiously in the dark.

"Those thieves won't get addicted to robbing and stop coming, right? General Zhai has sent an order to ride over here, saying that they just robbed two farms." Xin Xingzong spoke in a low voice and sat down carefully against the rock beside him.

Zhe Kecun moved his body and made some room for him: "The bandits have not retreated yet, they still want to enter Dengzhou. The Danshui River is in front of them. If they want to stay overnight, that is the first choice. Otherwise, they will have to run several miles just to get some water."

"I hope this battle will end soon. The men below are complaining after not going back for a year or two."

"Who says it's not..."

The two generals of the Western Army spoke in low voices and sighed together. Before they could find a new topic to talk about, strange bird calls and animal roars were heard in the distance, as if they were sending some kind of signal.

Zhe Kecun straightened his body and said, "Finally they are here. If they march at this speed in the army, they will be punished with a stick."

Xin Xingzong, who was leaning against the rock, grinned: "Aren't we just going to go up and beat them with sticks?"

Zhe Kecun chuckled, stood up, and patted the dirt on his armor: "Notify the commanders of all armies, before the order is issued, anyone who attacks without authorization will be killed--"

The soldier who was carrying the message moved forward quickly in the darkness, and the rustling sound gradually faded away.

Amid the rolling hills, darkness covered everything.

On the other side, a team carrying money and spoils came over with torches.

One after another, figures were walking in the night, the lit torches illuminated the figures, there were a few screams mixed in with the unbridled laughter, and a hundred or so bandits were wantonly bullying the spoils. If the team was not still marching, they would have been doing something shameless.

From time to time, bandits around turned their heads and looked at the group with envy, and from time to time someone would cheer and shout.

The noisy sound made the few women even more frightened and caused the bandits to laugh even louder.

"Get these bastards out of here."

Sun Li frowned as he watched the demons dancing wildly, his hand holding the spear turning pale. If the timing was not inappropriate, he really wanted to drag all these hundred people out and chop them up.

At that moment, someone with equally jealous eyes went over and scolded those bandits, but he would grab people with his outstretched hands from time to time, and then burst into unbridled laughter, which made Sun Li's face three points darker, but this situation also made him feel a little powerless. After all, these people were not soldiers, and the rules in Fangshan could not be as strict as those in the army.

In the distance, among the obscure woods and behind the trees, pairs of eyes were staring at them quietly from between some rocks and behind some tree trunks.

Occasionally, the barking of wild wolves and dogs could be heard in the mountains.

Sun Li turned his head and looked. The team was basically in chaos. The minions in front, behind, left and right were all staring at the woman under the firelight. Even Chao Gai, the third in command, didn't bother to take care of these things. Wang Dashou, one of his subordinates, also snatched a woman and was laughing and teasing her.

"...a bunch of bastards!" Sun Li immediately closed his eyes.

Amid the noise and clamor, a shrill scream of "Ah—" was heard in the distance, and a dazzling light flickered under the torches.

An arrow was shot from the sky above the hill and into the forest, and then fell down. The firelight illuminated the cold edge of the arrow. Below, a minion who was rubbing his crotch and staring at the woman did not react at all. The sound of wind sounded behind his head, and the arrow with rotating force pierced into the back of his neck. A cry of "Uh-ah" burst out from his mouth.

"who!"

"There are enemies, follow me--"

"where is it?"

Chaos spread in an instant, a group of minions shouted, many of them wandered around like headless flies, and some who were proud of their martial arts rushed into the forest. Then more screams of the dying were heard, and one figure after another appeared in the barely visible field of vision, shouting.

"There are government troops in the forest!" Chen Da pointed at the crimson figure that appeared in the forest and shouted.

"Don't panic, line up, line up, blow the horn to meet the enemy!" Shi Jin shouted on his horse, holding a spear, and then a rain of arrows fell from all directions, and the unprepared figures around fell down one after another and screamed.

The figure that rushed out of the woods burst into a hysterical roar: "Kill——"

Countless scarlet figures formed a battle formation while running, and pushed forward in groups of three or five. The minions in front had just drawn out the iron knives in their hands and blocked their shields when a long spear and two swords attacked from all sides at the same time. Only a brief scream was uttered, and the officers and soldiers continued to rush over, stepping on the corpses.

"Brother, retreat quickly!"

"The government troops are powerful!"

Chen Da and Yang Chun grabbed Shi Jin's mount and ran away. The Nine-Pattern Dragon was still on his horse shouting, "Let go, let me kill you back, kill..."

A cold light appeared in his field of vision, and Shi Jin quickly lowered his head. After a slight "chi--" sound, he felt his head loosen, and the hero scarf wrapped around his hair fell down. Then, his hair was freed and scattered in all directions.

Shi Jin exclaimed "Ah!", then closed his mouth, lay down on his horse, and fled quickly with his two brothers.

"You react quickly." Wang Yuan put down his bow and arrow, picked up his knife on his horse, and pointed it forward: "Follow me!"

When the flag was raised, the soldiers of the Western Army burst into a huge shout.

All around, flags of "翟", "者" and "辛" appeared almost simultaneously. The soldiers of Jingxi and the Western Army roared in unison, holding shields and running out with swords and spears in hand. The archers carrying bows in the back pulled the bowstrings while running, put on arrows, and when they looked up at the sky, a buzzing sound was heard.

The Fangshan bandits were in a state of confusion and had not regained their composure. When the rain of arrows fell, large groups of people fell to the ground. Chao Gai pulled the reins on his horse and stared at the scene with gritted teeth: "Go, go back!"

They were originally a marching team, and because of the woman, the formation was disrupted and they were unable to retreat. Even the war horses were squeezed by the fleeing figures and neighed continuously, as if they were also infected by the people's emotions, and fear gradually appeared in their eyes.

"Brother, let's go!"

Liu Tang jumped up and down in a hurry, kicking down several panicked thugs. He wanted to pull the reins with his hands, but the horse was already frightened by being hit. He cleared a space in front of it, and the horse immediately lowered its head and ran out desperately.

Liu Tang cried out "Ah!" and grabbed a few hairs from the horse, watching Chao Gai being carried away by the horse.

"Brother, wait for me!"

"Come quickly, my dear brother!" Chao Gai looked back frequently on his horse, and saw Liu Tang being left some distance behind. He pulled the reins desperately, but the horse was out of his control for a moment, which made him very anxious.

When he turned his head, he saw the soldiers in scarlet clothes charging towards him. Chao Gai was unable to change the direction of his horse. He let out a roar, "Ah--" and stretched out his hand to grab the big knife. As the warhorse and the government troops approached, he chopped forward with a roar like a tiger.

The swinging blade cut through people's limbs, and the stumps of limbs and heads sprayed into the air with blood. The heavy back of the blade hit people's heads and faces from time to time, breaking the skulls of the Western Army soldiers and sending their iron helmets flying.

There were not many Fangshan followers around him, and he immediately attracted the attention of many government troops. Zhe Kecun was commanding the troops in the back to intercept and kill the fleeing bandits. Seeing that he was so arrogant, he immediately raised his spear and rode out on his horse: "Don't be arrogant, bandit, general Zhe Kecun is here!"

Chao Gai was losing control of himself. He looked at him on horseback, holding out his sword and roaring like a tiger, "Zhe, you who are surnamed Zhe, give me your life—"

The blade hit the spear, but was bounced away by the force of the spear. The general's son who was running over there shouted "Kill!" and the spear flipped and stabbed.

When the two horses met, the strong body of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King was hung on the spear and pushed off the saddle.

I shouldn't have gone down the mountain...

This thought flashed through Chao Gai’s mind, and then his vision went dark.

(End of this chapter)