Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 472 Conflict
But Zhao Zhen heard what Wang Lun said and asked, "Why is that?"

Wang Lun said, "Your Highness, you don't know that Gaoping Mountain covers Liangshan Prefecture, Puzhou, and Xingren Prefecture. Puzhou is not bad, and the prefect is not a powerful figure. But Xingren Prefecture is different. Gao Yanei is uneducated and unskilled. Since he took office, he has not cared about the customs and habits of the people, official ethics, and political achievements. He is frolicking every day, and a few of his cronies rely on his power to embezzle and abuse the law, allowing officials to abuse the people. The people hate him to the core."

"Now there is a new golden leopard with a brocade pattern and a single horn on Gaoping Mountain. This Gao Yanei has heard about it. It is said that this leopard has a horn on its forehead, which is more than a foot long and as bright as crystal. It only forces hunters to catch it, and no one knows how many people have been killed or injured."

"There are countless bows and arrows fired up and down Gaoping Mountain. If you go up the mountain, you must be extra careful."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded.

After a day of rest, Zhao Zhen and his men moved to the foot of Gaoping Mountain and set up camp. Zhao Zhen called Lu Daqiang and asked, "Manager Lu, how about this area?"

Lu Daqiang replied: "My husband, this hillside is where I graze my sheep."

Zhao Zhen nodded and left a group of soldiers to guard the camp. After Zhao Zhen gestured to the white fox, the white fox barked a few times, took the two tigers and Wangcai, three Liangshan dogs, and ran up the mountain.

Zhao Zhen and his men split into two groups. In the front was Bao Xu, who led a few fast-footed soldiers and followed closely behind Bai Hu. Zhao Zhen's large group went up along the path opened by Bao Xu and his men.

On the way, they encountered several places where arrows were trapped, as well as traps. Zhao Zhen ordered his men to remove and fill them up. According to the territorial boundaries, the northwest of Gaoping Mountain was his territory.

After searching the mountain for a day, they captured two nests of wild boars, and thirty to fifty rabbits and pheasants. Not only was there no trace of the ginseng fairy, but there was no trace of the brocade unicorn leopard either.

At night, the game was skinned and a bonfire was lit in the military camp. The wild boar was chopped into large pieces and stewed. Everyone was busy for an hour.

On the second day, Zhao Zhen dispersed the people and searched for another day, but still could not find any trace of the two objects. Thinking of what Xu Changsheng and the others had said when they came, Zhao Zhen searched a few places, sprinkled wood incense chips, and secretly marked them.

When the sun rose in the morning, I went up the mountain again and saw that there was indeed a place where the wood incense chips had been disturbed, and there was no trace of animals around. It seemed that there really was a ginseng fairy on Gaoping Mountain.

Zhao Zhen was thinking about how to capture this ginseng fairy when Liu Hui Niang pointed to the distance and said, "Sir, someone is coming over there."

Zhao Zhen listened and looked in the direction Liu Huiniang pointed. He saw a few figures in the distance, but they were not very clear. Zhao Zhen asked, "Madam, who do you think you saw?"

"Most of them are dressed as hunters, but there is a monk following in the middle."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said, "I'm afraid this Gao Yanei sent people to find the unicorn leopard?" As he said this, he gave a few instructions to Bao Xu who was standing beside him.

Zhao Zhen and his companions were on the hillside, watching these people rushing over. Before they could say anything, a hunter shouted, "Where are you from? Don't you know that the prefect has ordered the closure of Gaoping Mountain?"

Bao Xu also shouted: "What are you talking about? How come I have never heard of the order to close the mountains in Liangshan Prefecture?"

The hunter said, "How can you not recognize the kindness of a good person? We are hunters from Xingren Prefecture. A one-horned leopard has just arrived in Gaoping Mountain and has killed many people. The master has pity on you, so he ordered the mountain to be closed and ordered us to hunt the leopard."

"This Gaoping Mountain is not only Xingren Prefecture's, we are Liangshan Prefecture officials, and we have heard that there is a leopard in this mountain that harms people, so we are here to hunt leopards. You have set up traps and traps, and they have all reached the territory of Liangshan Prefecture. Since you have no intention, please retreat quickly, and we will naturally protect this place." Bao Xu shouted. After hearing this, the hunter turned his head and looked at the monk in the team.

The monk stepped forward and said, "Amitabha, I am Puhong, and I am the bodyguard of Gao Yanei of Xingren Prefecture. Now my Yanei has taken a fancy to this leopard. For the sake of General Gao, how about giving it to us?"

Bao Xu said, "Master, what you said is ridiculous. Today, I gave you a leopard because of General Gao's face. Tomorrow, I will give you this mountain because of General Gao's face."

Pu Hong was furious when he heard this and shouted, "You are here with your women, and you are obviously here for a picnic. How dare you say you are hunting cheetahs? As we are all government soldiers, I will not argue with you. Leave quickly and don't refuse my toast."

Bao Xu said, "What a big tone. I have so many soldiers here, how can I be scared away by your words? If you tell others, they will laugh at me."

Pu Hong said: "This leopard is what the yanei wants to present to the Taiwei for his birthday. If you delay, you will be punished."

"A leopard born and raised naturally, whoever catches it owns it. Besides, this place is the territory of Liangshan Prefecture, you'd better retreat, lest we drive you away and damage the harmony." Bao Xu said.

Pu Hong looked at Bao Xu and his men. It was useless to bring out General Gao. The surrounding soldiers were gathering around them. Pu Hong did not dare to say anything and angrily led his men down the mountain.

You may wonder why Pu Hong wanted to instigate Gao Yanei to have people hunt the unicorn leopard. But Pu Hong knew very well that any spiritual creature must have a guardian. Now a unicorn leopard that can hunt tigers and wolves has appeared in Gaoping Mountain. There must be a spiritual creature on the mountain. He asked for permission and went to the mountain to search for it. He also asked for the order to close the mountain and not allow others to enter the mountain, for fear that the spiritual creature would be taken away by others.

After the people had gone far away, Bao Xu said to Zhao Zhen, "Sir, how did I handle it?"

Zhao Zhen said: "Yes, after we drive him away, we can look for the immortal Shen."

The soldiers dispersed and searched again. With the help of the white fox, they found two pieces of meteorite iron and a second-level hundred-year-old ginseng.

After returning to the camp, Liu Hui Niang said to Zhao Zhen, "Sir, with so many people searching the mountain, I'm afraid the leopard and the ginseng fairy will be frightened and will not dare to show up."

Zhao Zhen frowned and asked, "My lady, do you have any ideas?"

"If you want to get the immortal ginseng, you have to make use of the light, and it must be done at night. But there is a leopard in the mountain. If you go to the mountain at night, you can't bring too many people, for fear of being attacked by the leopard. In my opinion, you need to ask around to see if there are any dangerous places in the mountain near the houses. The leopard is probably hiding there."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "My lady is right. I will send someone to investigate tomorrow."

I won't talk about how Pu Hong went back to Xingren Prefecture and made trouble in front of Gao Shide. I will just say that Zhao Zhen sent soldiers to investigate everywhere the next day. At noon, the soldiers returned one after another and found out about a dangerous place.

This place is a canyon in the mountains, with only one road leading to it. The road is very narrow, surrounded by slippery gravel, and there are no trees to hide. If you run too fast, the gravel will fall down, which may cause minor injuries or even death. Therefore, few people go there.

However, this canyon is located in Xingren Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)