Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

As the sun sets, lanterns illuminate the inn. A waiter walks through the aisle carrying roast chicken, roast goose and other dishes, as well as a plate of frozen pears. The aroma makes people salivate. They walk to the door at the end and knock on it.

"Come in."

The door opened, and the waiter walked into the room. He looked at Shi Qian sitting at the table and the driver standing beside him, and smiled: "Sir, this is your dinner."

He walked forward with a flattering smile and put the food and wine on the table. It had already spread in the store that the guests in this room were generous. Today, the people who served him and others had received a lot of tips. Now this windfall finally came to him. He had to smile more flatteringly...

What if you don’t give it to me?

Shi Qian sniffed the scent and nodded, "Not bad." He reached out and took out some silver and threw it over, "This is a reward for you."

The waiter happily took it with a sincere smile on his face: "Thank you for the reward!"

Nodding and bowing, Shi Qian retreated backwards. He slowly picked up the steaming white towel and wiped his hands. Suddenly he called him, "Wait a minute."

"Master, I have something to tell you."

"I'm exhausted after a day of traveling in the snow. I want to sleep in tomorrow. If there are any birds crowing in your shop, shut them up tomorrow morning."

The shop assistant was stunned, and then he looked embarrassed: "Sir, this is a bit embarrassing..."

Shi Qian took out a piece of silver and threw it over: "Are you still having trouble?"

The shop assistant was so flustered to catch the silver that he could not help biting it with his teeth. Then he laughed, "No problem, sir. Don't worry. If a chicken crows tomorrow, I will kill it and make chicken soup for you."

"Why do I need chicken soup?" Shi Qian pouted and waved his hand: "Okay, you have nothing to do here."

"Okay, take your time." The waiter thanked him profusely and went out.

Du Lisan then stopped standing still, walked over and sat down, tore off a chicken leg and took a bite: "Ten taels of silver, you are really generous."

"It's not mine anyway." Shi Qian shrugged indifferently: "Besides, it's theirs now, but who will own it in the future?"

"You thief." Du Lisan laughed and shook his head, chewing the chicken in his mouth, thinking: "But your skills are indeed useful...", looking at Gu Shangzhao who looked up in surprise: "Go back and teach some of these techniques to the brothers in the scout camp."

After a pause, he asked again: "If there is any unique technique that is not passed on to others, forget it."

"No!" Shi Qian said two words loudly, then covered his mouth and looked at the door guiltily. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard no movement outside. He turned around and whispered to Du Lisan: "I have nothing that cannot be passed on to others, but... why learn this?"

It's no wonder that he was so excited. In the underworld, those who commit fraud alone look down on those who work with gangs, those who rule the mountains look down on those who act on their own, those who dare to see blood look down on those who fight and compete with each other, and those who rob people look down on those who run illegal shops.

No matter how successful one is in the underworld, people will look down on those who just steal. So Shi Qian was a little surprised when he heard Du Lisha say this, and couldn't understand why someone would want to learn this skill.

Du Lisan glanced at him. He was also a gangster in the past, so he naturally knew what Shi Qian was thinking: "I have discussed with Erhu. Is the army short of scouts? No. Even the generals have their own scouts. So why doesn't the leader incorporate our 300 people into the army?"

Shi Qian was stunned for a moment, and repeated thoughtfully: "Yes, why?"

"It is certain that the leader is nostalgic, so after much thought, we can only come up with two points." Du Lisan raised two fingers: "The leader has not yet figured out how to deal with us old brothers...", put down his hand and stretched it over the plate: "Or let's see what Erhu and I can do. Now we have decided to try it."

He lowered his head and tore the roast goose. "We want them to learn some tricks. First, when our brothers go out or need to enter the city like today, they can help us in case they have no money. Second, it is to escape punishment. If we are caught, it is better to be considered a thief than to be found out. We want our brothers to pretend to be thieves, beggars, merchants, and heroes. It is better than standing there now and making people think that we are murderers. This will also make it easier for us to sneak into the city and investigate before the war."

Shi Qian blinked and agreed, "I'll take care of it. I'm sure you guys can master it." He took a sip of wine and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "But what if we get caught while stealing secrets?"

"Then let's just accept our fate." Du Lisan glanced at him and said, "It's not surprising for a scout or a spy to die at any time."

"...That makes sense." Shi Qian nodded with his mouth open.

The two of them ate and drank, chatting. The night gradually deepened. Shi Qian heard the night watchman outside banging his gong. He stood up, washed his hands with warm water and soap powder, and patted his stomach: "I'm eight-tenths full, just right for action."

"Be careful when you go out." Du Lisan warned, "Today you just need to find out where the people are. Don't do anything unnecessary."

"know."

Shi Qian smiled and put on a white coat. Du Lisan looked at him and couldn't help but say, "Don't leave any traces."

"Don't worry." Shi Qian blew out the light first, stood in the dark for a while, took out the Flying Tiger Claw and walked to the window: "I won't take the main road, the upper house is the way I want to take."

The smart spy sitting over there nodded, and then he heard a creaking sound, and the cold wind blew into the room. Some faint light from outside was reflected into the room by the snow. Just as he was about to speak, Shi Qian jumped out of the window. After a few barely audible sounds, he disappeared.

He stood up and walked over, looked at the snow outside reflected in the moonlight, sighed and lowered the window.

hope everything is fine.

……

Bang Bang——

"It's dry, be careful with fire - ah, ah-choo -"

Shi Qian, wearing a white nightgown, walked lightly on the roof, leaving a trail of shallow footprints on the snow-covered roof, shaped like cat's paws. This was his treasure, which he specially prepared for snowy nights when he was learning "art". While looking around, he first ran to the roof of a higher floor, lay there to observe carefully, and then stood up and walked towards the mansion in the distance.

The night watchman below was wrapped in a thick leather coat, blew his nose, wiped his fingers on his trousers, put his hands under his armpits, walked forward a few steps timidly, knocked the clapper in his hand a few times and shouted, completely not noticing someone running over his head.

Shi Qian moved quickly, using the Flying Tiger Claw in his hand to swing a long distance from time to time. When he stopped, the house was facing one of the targets of tonight's exploration. Looking at the surrounding environment, the snow had been swept away.

He disappeared from the shadows and slid down the wall. He checked the soles of his shoes and then tiptoed across the street. He jumped up the tree and onto the wall in a few leaps. He looked around furtively, but he couldn't hear any dogs barking, perhaps because it was because of the cold weather or something else.

Shi Qian squatted on the wall for a while, then turned over and entered the yard, and groped his way inside along the swept path in the dark. Soon, a house with a light on came into view. The thief narrowed his eyes and sneaked over more nimbly, got close to the wall and stuck to the window, took out a bamboo tube and stuck it to the window, and put his ear close to it.

A voice was heard in the room.

"Both my brothers are dead, so it should be my turn next." (End of this chapter)