20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 873 Wealth is a stumbling block, righteousness is a trap.

Leaving aside the matter of Jiang Lianheng's efforts to reorganize the martial arts world and establish the "Heng Society," let's turn our attention to the whereabouts of Whistle Li and Skyhawk.

This goes back to two days ago. After escaping from Fengtian City, Whistle Li did not intend to follow Sky Eagle to Liaoxi to become an outlaw. Instead, he changed course and headed south to Lüda to avoid trouble.

The Kwantung Leased Territory was Japanese territory and also one of the gathering places for Manchu nobles. The situation was comparable to a country within a country, and the journey was not too far. It seemed that a place to settle down could be found.

However, Whistleman Li dared not take the train, at least not to buy a ticket in Fengtian. So he thought he would go to Liaoyang first, wait and see when he got there, and then change trains to escape to a distant place.

Liaoyang City is only 120 li away from Fengtian. If you grit your teeth and muster your strength, you can walk there.

Unfortunately, it was the dead of winter, the weather was freezing, and the roads were really difficult to travel. When they reached Hupi Post Station between the two cities, some of the brothers wanted to turn back and refused to go any further.

Whistleman Li didn't dare to offer any advice. He himself was a stray dog; what could he possibly use to win people's hearts?
If you were to suggest taking the brothers to enjoy wealth and luxury, they would be completely devoted without any persuasion. But what to do after arriving in Lüda? Even Whistleman Li couldn't give a clear answer.

So the brothers had no choice but to part ways, swearing an oath to each other that they would never betray one another, and then went their separate ways.

Thus, by the time they reached the walls of Liaoyang, only three or five loyal brothers remained by Whistle Li's side.

They passed the gold and silver vaults at nightfall the next day. The group was exhausted, hungry, and cold, and could not go any further.

What kind of place is this gold and silver vault?

Back in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Liaoyang City was the residence of the Liaodong Governor. This gold and silver vault was where the military pay of the Ming army of the Twenty-Five Guards was stored. The place to the north where horse feed was stored was called the North Grass Vault.

The gold and silver vault is now empty, and the northern haystack is no longer stocked with horse feed, but the local people still refer to it by its original name.

It's obvious that this place is far from the main urban area and quite a distance from the train station.

Just then, it started to snow lightly. Even though Whistleman Li had excellent stamina, he was exhausted. His feet were freezing cold, and he felt like he had almost lost all warmth. How could he possibly continue on his way?
The brothers also complained, saying, "Brother, we've been walking for two days and one night. We only rested for half a day at Hupi Post Station. Now we're hungry, and it's snowing. Why don't we find a place to rest for the night and set off again early tomorrow?"

Whistle Li blew his nose, nodded, and said, "Okay, let's find a place to stay for the night!"

It's easier said than done, but where exactly will we stay?

They also knew that the Jiang family's insurance company had a branch in Liaoyang City, so they dared not go to the downtown area or to those proper hotels and inns. As for the so-called "Jianghu Xia Chu" (江湖下处), those were gathering places for online gangsters, and going there would be tantamount to walking into a trap.

After pondering for a moment, Whistleman Li finally decided to find a roadside inn nearby and make do for the night.

To beat around the bush, to be roundabout and circuitous.

After searching for almost half an hour, the group finally found a place to stay in the northwest of Liaoyang City.

From the outside, this inn looks just like an ordinary farmhouse, but on the walls on both sides of the gate, three large characters are written in black paint on a white background—Sanyihe—proving that this is a business family.

As you get closer, a strong smell of animal odor immediately hits you.

Whistleman Li pondered that although the Jiang family was powerful, Liaoyang was not Fengtian after all. It was unlikely that the Jiang family had spies in such a remote and out-of-the-way place. In addition, he was hungry, cold, and exhausted. So, with a bit of hope, he pounded on the door a few times.

Little did he know that Liaoyang City was actually Jiang Lianheng's hometown.

What he didn't know was that today, the Jiang family had already published a missing person notice for him in the newspaper.

After knocking on the courtyard gate a few times, the waiter came out to greet them. Upon hearing that the group wanted to stay at the inn, he led them to the main room to see the innkeeper.

On the wall facing the main house, there is a portrait. The name of the inn is "Sanyihe", and the painting on the wall is naturally the Oath of the Peach Garden.

The shopkeeper had an honest face, but his nose hairs were a bit unruly; even on a cold day, they would always stick out of his nostrils to get some fresh air.

Whistle Li said he wanted to stay at a hotel.

The shopkeeper looked up at the sound and saw that the man was about six feet two inches tall, with a well-proportioned figure. He was wearing a dark blue mandarin jacket and a gray squirrel fur coat. He looked to be about thirty-five years old, travel-worn and tired. The shopkeeper immediately thought of the missing person notice in the newspaper.

Of course, no one will stare at newspaper ads all day long.

The innkeeper noticed something was wrong, ultimately because the Jiang family branch had sent someone to remind him to pay close attention to guests who stopped for meals or stayed overnight.

As the saying goes: Suspicion breeds ghosts!
Whistle Li was already feeling guilty, and now that someone was staring at him like that, his eyes started to dart around. He quickly said, "I'm asking you a question. Is there any room left?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The innkeeper snapped out of his daze and immediately replied with a smile, "How many nights are you planning to stay, sir?"

"Just one night's stay, are meals included?"

"That will cost extra. If you want something better, I don't have that. I can only give you a bowl of hot soup noodles."

Whistle Li was starving, so he didn't care about formalities and immediately ordered four bowls of hot noodle soup. Then, led by the waiter, he headed towards the side room in the courtyard.

It's common for shop owners and customers to chat casually.

To put it nicely, this is called being warm and considerate; to put it bluntly, it's just testing each other.

After all, it was already dark, and the inn was a mixed bag of people. If four burly men suddenly came and asked to stay, a shrewd waiter would ask them a few more questions to rule out any ill intentions. The guests' answers were often half true and half false, for fear that they might accidentally stumble into a shady inn because they were unfamiliar with the area.

Upon entering the side room, one sees a large communal sleeping area, stretching from one end of the kang (heated brick bed) to the other, so loud that one has to shout to be heard clearly.

It was almost Chinese New Year, and there weren't many guests in the house, only five or six people at most. They were divided into three groups, and they didn't know each other. There was nothing unusual about them.

Whistleman Li dared not let his guard down. He secretly instructed several brothers not to sleep too soundly and to take turns keeping watch in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

Everyone nodded.

Before long, the waiter brought four bowls of hot noodle soup. The men slurped and ate, barely managing to fill their stomachs. Their eyelids drooped, and after exchanging only a few words, they fell asleep one after another. The waiter cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and returned to the main room, only to find the manager holding a newspaper, reading it intently under the lamp. He leaned closer and whispered, "Manager, is that them?"

The innkeeper nodded and said, "I think it looks like it! Here's what we'll do: go and heat up the kang (heated brick bed) in the side room. I'll ask Shunzi to go to the Jiang family's branch and have them send a few people over to take a look. If it's true—" The innkeeper's eyes narrowed, but he couldn't hide the shrewd glint in them, "The Jiang family's reward will definitely be substantial. I reckon it'll be enough for me to open a proper inn!"

The waiter chuckled wickedly, feeling his luck had turned and that he might become a lobby manager someday.

As for how the shopkeepers handled the arrangements and how they communicated information, there's no need to elaborate.

Meanwhile, Whistle Li and the others went into the side room to sleep. Although they had been told beforehand not to sleep too soundly and to take turns keeping watch, no one is made of iron or bronze, so how could they not feel tired?
In the dead of winter, after traveling 120 li, everyone was exhausted. After a bowl of hot soup noodles, weariness washed over them like a tide. Unfortunately, the innkeeper was kind-hearted and heated the earthen bed to a great temperature. As soon as they lay down on the bed, they felt their scalps throbbing and their whole bodies were drowsy. There was no way they could even pretend to sleep. As soon as their heads hit the pillow, they wished they could just faint.

Not to mention that the brothers were careless and didn't know to be careful, even Whistleman Li himself was sleeping soundly.

In the dead of night, thugs from the Jiang family branch arrived to verify his identity. Then, with a swift movement, they brought down his knife. Whistleman Li awoke with a start, but it was too late. He fell into a deep sleep...

…………

As for Sky Eagle, he thought the same as Whistle Li Xiang, and dared not take the train in Fengtian. So after fleeing from the provincial capital, he led his brothers to Xinmin first.

The brothers under Sky Eagle had come to Fengtian because of the war in western Liaoning. Now that they couldn't make it in the provincial capital, they all wanted to return to their hometown as soon as possible. The brothers had the same idea, so they never broke up.

Twenty or so brothers—not a lot, but not a small number either—were at least a small gang. If they were to encounter the Jiang family chasing them on the way, they would still have a fighting chance.

Because of this, the brothers were not flustered at all, and were even somewhat fearless. They arrived in Xinmin with peace of mind, and then took a train straight to Jinzhou in western Liaoning. They thought to themselves that although the Jiang family had a branch in Jinzhou, the emperor was far away and the influence of the Jiang family was inevitably limited. Even if Jiang Lianheng was famous, could he be more friendly than the locals?
However, the Skyhawk is not without its difficulties.

As mentioned earlier, the gang under his command was not very strong to begin with. Among the major bandits in western Liaoning, they were just small fry. They could barely make a living by playing both sides. They usually smashed earthen kilns to survive, and when they occasionally set their sights on a fire kiln, they had to join forces with other gangs before they dared to take action.

Previously, due to the war in western Liaoning, the bandits retreated to the mountains and forests to make way for the government troops. The territories that everyone had originally designated were probably no longer valid.

Now that the war has subsided, more than half a month has passed. The Liaoxi bandits have probably already held their meeting and reclaimed the land. In the past, when Drill Eagle attended the meeting, he could only pick up the leftover land from others. This time, he didn't attend, and after everyone had divided up the land, it was obvious that he wouldn't get any.

The brothers were also anxious and couldn't help but complain, saying, "If we had known, we wouldn't have gone to Fengtian. It's like a bear chopping corn, chopping one ear and throwing the other away, in the end we've been busy for nothing and haven't gained anything!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Sky Eagle quickly reassured us, "Didn't we rob a few shops on the day of the chaos in the border area? And during the time we participated in the puppet government, we made quite a bit of money by extorting others!"

The brothers said, "Brother, we can't just sit around and do nothing! If we go back to western Liaoning, we won't even have a place to stay. What are we going to do?"

The Skyhawk smiled without saying a word, clearly having its own plans.

In any case, he had been a bandit in western Liaoning for more than a decade, and he must have had some connections; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make a living there for so many years.

Drill Eagle has a good friend online, whose nickname is "Big Gold Ingot". He has arched eyebrows, narrow eyes, and earlobes. He looks like a Buddha, but he has the methods of a tiger and wolf. People who are very close to him jokingly call him "Gold Ingot". No one else can call him that, or they will lose their head. Drill Eagle happens to be the only one who can call him "Gold Ingot".

The two had a good relationship and had been familiar with each other since childhood. However, as they grew up, they became busy making a living and gradually drifted apart. Later, they both became outlaws and started their own gangs. They recognized each other at a whip-selling event and rekindled their friendship.

It can be said that the Sky Eagles, though outnumbered and outgunned, were able to establish themselves in the Liaoxi bandit world and were not swallowed up by other bandit gangs over the years. The reason for this was mostly because other mountain strongholds did not take action against the Sky Eagles out of respect for "Big Gold Yuan".

With the martial arts world in dire straits, it's only natural to seek refuge with this good brother.

Most notorious bandits hide in the mountains and forests, but they are not completely isolated from the world. They always have a few brothers stationed in the city to find out the government's movements. When they encounter bandit suppression, they will restrain themselves. When the control is relaxed, they will do a big heist. The bandit gang's base in the city is the so-called "Sa Ying Duo Chi Yao".

You need connections to find them.

Needless to say, Skyhawk was an old friend of the online game. After arriving in Jinzhou City and resting for a night, he found the corresponding kiln and saw the signboard of "Big Gold Yuan" in the city.

The familiarity with the pulse and the code is self-evident and needs no further explanation.

Zhao Zi recognized the Sky-Piercing Eagle and immediately sent a "Long-Legged" soldier to lead the Sky-Piercing Eagle to the outskirts of the city to find the Great Jin Yuan's mountain stronghold.

When they arrived at their destination, Shui Xiang informed them that Da Jin Yuan was truly a good friend, personally going to the gate of the mountain stronghold to greet them.

Da Jinyuan put his arm around Zuantianying and chatted with him for a long time with loud laughter. Then, as he walked toward the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, he asked him, "Brother, I've been missing you terribly! You didn't come last time when you were in charge of whipping the whip. I thought you had been blasted to death by Guo the devil with a cannon! Where have you been all this time?"

Drill Eagle sighed and shook his head, saying, "Brother, it's hard to explain in just a few words. Let's go inside and talk! All I can say is that life in the city is damn frustrating. If you want to do something, there are too many things to consider. It's not pleasant at all!"

As they walked toward the Hall of Righteousness, looking around, they discovered that every brother in the stronghold had a gun, and they were all standard-issue weapons, not homemade rifles.

Eagle couldn't help but feel envious and hurriedly said, "Brother, you've struck it rich! Where did you find all this stuff? Did you recruit a bunch of crippled soldiers?"

This is not surprising. Whenever there is war or man-made disaster, there are always some stragglers who have nowhere else to go and end up becoming outlaws. Those who do well can even become local figures. Then they actively accept the surrender and amnesty, and their official rank rises three levels in a row. This can be considered a "roundabout way to save the country".

"Hey, a friend gave it to me!" Da Jinyuan waved his hand, then added, "Brother, I should thank you more!"

"Why thank me? I didn't give you these guns."

"Hahaha, you're more useful than a gun! If it weren't for you, the provincial government wouldn't have removed me from their wanted list!"

At this moment, Sky Eagle had already vaguely sensed something was amiss, and just then he arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Righteousness.

Da Jinyuan chuckled and lifted the cotton curtain, leading him into the hall. He then said with a smile, "Brother, you've come at the perfect time. I happen to have a friend here. Let's have a chat alone for a while."

"You...you have friends? Who are they?"

Eagle's eyelids twitched, and when he looked up, he saw a somewhat familiar figure sitting in the guest seat next to the chief's tiger-skin chair.

Zhao Guoyan sat cross-legged at the desk, leaning against the armrest. He raised his chin at him and asked, "Sky Eagle, we meet again."

Skyhawk's heart tightened. He turned his head and stared wide-eyed at the big gold dollar. Before he could speak, a dozen gunshots suddenly rang out from outside the Hall of Righteousness behind him...

(End of this chapter)