Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"Lu... this is..."

On the second floor of the backyard, Shi Qian, who was sitting lazily against the wall, sat up straight the moment he finished reading the letter. The wine he drank instantly turned into sweat all over his forehead. His hands, which were steady while he was stealing, kept shaking, and the letter paper made a crisp sound.

The sun was trying hard to radiate its heat in the sky, but in the warm weather, a thief felt like he was falling into an icy cave.

"It's fatal..."

Muttering something, the flea on the drum took the letter away, raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and swallowed hard: "Master is right, you can't drink with money, and you can't drink with money."

Looking at his own hand, he slapped his other hand hard: "Why are you reading the letter for no reason? I shouldn't have learned to read in the first place, I really should have..."

Suddenly, the thief's ears twitched. Shi Qian shrank his body without even thinking, and hid behind a wooden pillar. His face turned red and white, and he turned his face slightly to the side, looking down carefully.

Ma Lin and Yang Lin walked into the backyard with gloomy faces.

Yang Lin was standing alone at the back door leading to the front. Ma Lin threw the bag to him, held the sharp knife upside down in his hand, placed it against his forearm, and walked in slowly.

What to do...

Shi Qian's heart was pounding. He turned around and looked at the pale wall in his sight. His breathing was a little disordered. Below him, the rustling sound of footsteps was very clear to his ears. This reminded him of the first time he stole, and also the scene of being caught by Yang Xiong today. He gritted his teeth.

Am I going to be a thief all my life?
The short and thin man clenched his fists involuntarily, glanced at the letter, and rumors about Liangshan swirled in his mind.

perhaps……

This is also an opportunity!

In the courtyard, Ma Lin walked to the center of the backyard and stood there, slowly looking around. There was no one behind the rocks and trees. On the side of the kitchen, there were only waiters and cooks carrying fruits and vegetables walking back and forth. Diners and guests of different sizes occasionally came from the toilet, looked at him and Yang Lin standing at the door curiously, and then walked into the lobby.

Ma Lin turned around and pointed towards the toilet over there, looked at Yang Lin and nodded, then tiptoed over.

Above, Shi Qian shrank his body again, his back was wet with sweat, and his clothes stuck to his body, feeling uncomfortable. He turned his eyes around twice, suddenly gritted his teeth, and was about to stand up.

"Not inside." The sound of quick footsteps reached my ears.

"Where could that be?" Another strange sound of footsteps approached.

The short and abrupt sound made his bones feel even weaker. His hands that were supporting the ground went limp and he was unable to stand up.

“Is there a back door here?”

"Brother Yang, please wait here. I will go to the back door to check."

"Okay, go ahead, brother."

The sound of talking continued to be heard. Shi Qian gasped for breath, suddenly twisted his thigh hard, and hammered the floor, "Bang——", the two Jianghu men below hurriedly looked over in the direction of the sound. The flea on the drum shouted to the bottom: "Are you brothers from Liangshan? I have been waiting for you two for a long time. Wait, I will come down soon."

"You..." Ma Lin pointed his fingers upwards, and as he listened to Shi Qian's words, he bent his fingers and didn't know how to continue without finishing his sentence.

Yang Lin pressed his arm down and said, "Let's hear what this fellow has to say."

"Okay!" Ma Lin put his hand down angrily. Shi Qian did not dare to neglect it, put the letter back, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he jumped down from the second floor, came to the two of them, and forced a flattering smile: "You two, this is not the place to talk, just follow me."

Yang and Ma looked at each other when they saw his light body. Yang Lin held out his hand and said, "You can tell me if you want to. Do you believe it?"

"Here, here." Shi Qian handed over the letter respectfully.

"Have you read it?" Ma Lin couldn't help but frown as he looked at the letter.

"I couldn't help it." Shi Qian hurriedly bowed and saw someone passing by: "You two, this is really not the place to talk, how about..."

The two people next to them also watched and frowned: "Change place."

Shi Qian felt relieved. He watched Yang and Ma take their horses, then took them to a secluded place. Without waiting for them to speak, he turned over and bowed to the ground: "Shi Qian, the wild man on the drum, greets the two Liangshan heroes."

The two men opposite frowned, and Yang Lin said in a deep voice: "There is no Liangshan anymore."

"I know that you are now the General of the Cavalry." Shi Qian was a little nervous and swallowed his saliva. "In the past, I admired the general and wanted to go to Liangshan, but unfortunately I had no way, so I could only wander in the rivers and lakes and came to this northern land. I never thought I would run into the two heroes. I offended you first and I am willing to be punished."

Seeing that what he said was true, Ma Lin's anger subsided a little, but he was still indignant and said, "You have damaged the general's letter now, and even if I kill you, I can't get it back to its original state."

Yang Lin nodded at the side, and Shi Qian lowered his head a little: "I have a way to restore it."

Yang and Ma were somewhat moved. The thin figure continued, "I have been in the underworld for a long time and have learned a lot of tricks. I also have a good brain. I have memorized the appearance of this wax seal. Give me two hours and I should be able to restore it to its original state."

Yang Lin stared at the back of his head: "Really?"

"I dare not lie to you two heroes."

"If you say so, you get up first." Ma Lin pulled the man up and said, "Restore this letter, and today's incident will be over."

Shi Qian stood up quickly, and said with a delighted face: "The heroes of Liangshan are the ones I admire most in Jianghu. I wonder if you two can introduce them to me."

“Heh—” Ma Lin smiled: “You, you stole our things and opened the general’s letter, and you still want to join us. How can such a good thing happen?”

Shi Qian shook his head: "I didn't know the identities of the two heroes beforehand, otherwise I would never have dared to do this. Besides, how can I let the two heroes do such a dangerous thing as passing the letter? If something unexpected happens, wouldn't it cause trouble for the general? I have a way to put the letter in the house without anyone noticing, and there is no need to contact anyone."

"If that's the case, I, Yang Lin, will be your introducer." Patting his chest, Yang Lin stared into Shi Qian's eyes and said, "It's better to restore this letter first."

Shi Qian was overjoyed: "You two just follow me home, we will finish the work by evening."

Yang Lin and Ma Lin naturally agreed, and immediately pulled their horses and followed the flea on the drum to his home. The thief quickly used his skills to restore the wax seal. Seeing that it was getting late, the three of them stayed in the city for one night. Early the next morning, they asked Shi Qian to buy another horse. The three of them rode three horses out of the city and headed towards Xijin Prefecture.

Just when the three men were leaving the city, a monk walked into the city from the main road. An uncle and nephew drove a truck, checked their credentials, and walked onto the street.

"Xiu'er, remember the route along the way. We will be almost there after passing Jizhou City. When the time comes, buy some sheep and horses and bring them back. Then our lives will be much better. Ahem…"

The pale-faced young man nodded slowly. (End of this chapter)