Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 374 Niutoushan

Zhao Zhen and his companions marched quickly all the way, and after meeting Liu Guang in Jingmen Town, they went straight to the border of the mist without stopping. They offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and only spent 4 points of luck to connect the Niutou Mountain boundary with Jingmen Town.

It was noon, and Bai Sheng called out, "Look, sir, there seems to be smoke coming from the mountain."

Following the direction Bai Sheng pointed, everyone looked at the direction. Taoist Dong said, "Master, that is where the Taoist temple is."

Zhao Zhen heard this and immediately ordered his soldiers to set up battle formations. It turned out that a group of thieves had recently arrived at Niutou Mountain, and the leader was called Li Erseng. This monk was originally the head monk of Baijue Temple. The abbot of the temple, Wu Qian, returned to secular life, turned the temple into a manor, and raised a woman. Most of the monks in the temple followed suit.

Li Erseng and Wu Qian relied on their martial arts to bully men and women and farmers, and they also gained a reputation in the martial arts world. Abbot Wu Qianlian's ability to fly and jump was called "Flying Centipede" in the martial arts world. Li Erseng was even more proficient in the 16-posture Shaolin Crescent Shovel Method, and had the hard skills of sweeping legs and double flying kicks, so he was called "Iron-footed Monk" in the martial arts world.

These two men committed evil deeds in Baijue Temple. Because they accidentally killed the county magistrate's brother-in-law, the county magistrate mobilized troops and raided Baijue Temple at night.

Most of the accomplices in the temple were killed, and Wu Qian and Li Erseng each led some of their trusted followers to break out. Li Erseng gathered some bandits and poor people along the way, and when he passed by Niutou Mountain, he took a fancy to this Taoist temple and occupied it as a place to stay.

This is also the place where the killing calamity that Taoist Dong mentioned was.

However, it was noon at this time, and the movement of the fog dissipating naturally alarmed the bandits in the Taoist temple.

Li Erseng ordered two of his skilled minions to go down the mountain to investigate, and the rest of the men took up their swords and guns, ready to go down the mountain to fight.

Soon, two minions came up the mountain to report: "Captain, there are more than 200 infantrymen at the foot of the mountain. Judging from their attire, they look like government troops. I think we are the ones who are going to kill them."

Monk Li Er laughed loudly after hearing this: "I have heard that the abbot has now gone to Song Gongming in Qingzhou. I am worried that my armor is incomplete and I will lose face when I go. There are only about 200 government troops at the foot of the mountain, and we are nearly 500. Today, all brothers should join forces to kill all the government troops. In a few days, we will go to Qingzhou to seek refuge with Song Jiang, the world-famous "Timely Rain", and live a luxurious life from now on."

After hearing this, the bandits raised their swords and guns and cheered, as if they had seen good days ahead.

The crowd surrounded Li Erseng and came down the mountain. Zhao Zhen was also ready, and the two sides confronted each other at the foot of the mountain.

Li Erseng carried a crescent iron shovel and shouted, "How dare you come to provoke me, you ignorant thing? If you don't put down your weapons, I will spare your life. If you dare to say no, I will make your head as big as this pine tree."

As he spoke, Li Erseng raised the crescent shovel in his hand and hit the pine tree beside him. With just one hit, he broke the pine tree, which was as thick as his arm.

When the minions behind him saw this, they started to make a commotion.

Zhao Zhen had already angered a brave man beside him, and Jiao Ting shouted, "Master, watch me take his head off."

Jiao Ting raised his broadsword and was about to go out to fight, but a brave man interrupted him and said, "Brother Jiao Ting, take a rest. I haven't made many contributions since I came to Liangshan County. Let me give you a red envelope today."

After saying that, [Sai Mengben] Yan Shude drew out the 72-jin black gold machete in his hand and ran straight towards [Tiejiao Toutuo] Li Erseng.

When Li Erseng saw this, he shouted, "Come and tell me your name. I will not kill the nameless ones."

"You scoundrel, you are an invincible bandit! How dare you set up camp in Liangshan County? I will not let you off today. Remember, the one who killed you is Yan Shude, the chief military officer under Zhao Zhen, the Little Mengchang of Liangshan."

After saying that, he did not even ask the name of Li Erseng, but held up his sword and rushed over. Li Erseng was also angry when he saw Yan Shude, and hated Yan Shude for his rudeness. He glared at Yan Shude with his crescent shovel in his hand.

The two fought back and forth under the sun, the black gold machete flashing coldly, the iron crescent shovel giving off a chilling air. They looked fierce and heroic, with thunder roaring and wind howling, and the murderous aura flashing with golden light.

The two fought for more than ten rounds, and then Yan Shude shouted, "Come on."

A head shot up into the sky, and Li Erseng's body fell to the ground. Zhao Zhen saw it, drew his sword, and pointed forward. Jiao Ting, Bao Xu, and Bai Sheng saw it, each holding a sharp blade in his hand, and rushed forward with his soldiers.

The opponents were horrified when they saw that they had lost. Some of the smart ones turned and ran away.

The four men led the soldiers from the two capitals and dispersed the bandits easily.

Then, in one go, they also took down the Taoist temple on the mountain.

After the battle, a statistics showed that more than a hundred bandits, including the bandit leader, were killed, nearly two hundred were captured, and the rest were driven into the fog.

After interrogation, Zhao Zhen learned that the bandit leader killed by Yan Shude was the head of Baijue Temple. Hearing that another bandit leader had defected to Song Jiang in Qingzhou, Zhao Zhen did not care and just kept it in mind.

Looking at the messy Taoist temple, Taoist Dong couldn't help cursing. Zhao Zhen said, "Father, this Niutou Mountain will also be incorporated into Jingmen Town from now on. Soldiers should come to inspect it from time to time. Let two old men guard this Taoist temple to pay respect to the gods. When inspecting, soldiers can also come to rest."

After hearing this, Liu Guang nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the food was ready in the Taoist temple, Zhao Zhen ordered the prisoners to be tied up, and all the soldiers came forward and served themselves food. The remaining food was shared by the prisoners.

After that, they left two leaders behind and sent the rest of the captives, under the supervision of half of the soldiers, to the military camp in Jingmen Town for temporary custody. Bai Sheng and his men led the soldiers who had taken off their armor to explore around Niutou Mountain.

Zhao Zhen stayed in the Taoist temple, and together with Taoist Dong, he inspected the temple inside and out. Zhao Zhen also followed Taoist Dong in sincerely bowing to the three saints enshrined in the main hall.

In the back of the temple, which turned out to be a vegetable garden, Zhao Zhen found seventeen fine horses, one of which was a second-class black horse. In the side hall, he also found some food, grass, cloth, silk, gold and silver.

When Bai Sheng came back, Zhao Zhen had already counted the results of the battle. Apart from other things, through the instructions of the two leaders, a kung fu secret book "Shaolin Crescent Shovel" was found from the room of Li Erseng, the "Iron-footed Monk". Together with a third-order iron crescent shovel and a second-order black horse, it was considered a fruitful harvest.

Bai Sheng just took a rough walk around Niutou Mountain. Not to mention the spiritual plants, he didn't find any other useful things.

After packing up, Zhao Zhen took the captives and boarded Ruan Xiaoer's fleet back to Baishishan Valley.

These captives were sent to the mine in Heihu Temple Town, under the supervision of Yang Xiong, and the coal they dug out was exchanged for food.

Zhao Zhen rewarded the accompanying soldiers according to their recorded merits.

(End of this chapter)