Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 34 Where in life do we not meet each other

Just as Lu You formally met with Liu Huai and others, more than 300 miles to the north, Li Tieqiang reined in his horse.

"Third brother, what's wrong?"

Xin Wenyuan raised his pale face from the horse's mane, covered his chest and asked.

"The horse can't hold on any longer, and neither can you. We need to find a sheltered place for the horse to water and feed."

After getting off his horse, Li Tieqiang took out a roasted rabbit leg from the saddle. This was the leftover breakfast. After throwing it to Xin Wenyuan, he led the two horses to a hillside and looked into the distance.

Xin Wenyuan didn't act pretentiously. He tore the dried meat and asked vaguely, "Third brother, where are we?"

"I don't know either," Li Tieqiang muttered. "I've gotten lost walking the back roads these past two days. I think we should be near Ju County, but looking at that river, is it the Sishui River? I'm afraid we're near Qufu."

"This is a good thing...it's closer to Tai'an."

"We must be more careful," Li Tieqiang said, his voice unconsciously slowing down. "The Wuxing Army used to have troops stationed in Rencheng County, Jeju. Although they have now moved to Bianliang, who knows how many troops are still there... There are some lights ahead, it must be an inn. Let's go check it out."

Shandong has been in chaos in recent years, and all the merchants who dared to open inns on the official roads have disappeared. Those who opened teahouses on the side roads are often not good people. They are either spies of bandits or black shops that harm people's lives.

However, Li Tieqiang still went, relying on his martial arts skills and Geng Jing's reputation.

The inn was about a dozen steps square. Three ponies were tied to a hitch at the entrance. The wall had collapsed, revealing a horse trough in the backyard. It seemed to have been a post station in the past. The walls were made of blue bricks, but the roof had been blown off and covered with straw, giving it an eerie look.

The noise inside the door was loud, but not noisy, as if there weren't many people.

Li Tieqiang took off his sword from his horse, hung it around his waist, and suddenly knocked on the door.

"Open the door, guests are coming!"

There was a sudden silence inside the door. After a moment, a voice came out: "The guest rooms are full. Please find another place."

"Where can we find another place in this desolate countryside?" Li Tieqiang cursed inwardly and continued loudly, "We are all brothers in the underworld, please help me."

"Which path are you on?"

"We are Uncle Geng Jing Geng's men!"

At this moment, Xin Wenyuan, who was lying on the horse, grabbed Li Tieqiang's arm and pointed at the three ponies.

Li Tieqiang looked carefully and saw that two of the ponies had golden seals with the words "Po Jin" on their buttocks.

These are clearly the horses of the Tianping Army led by Geng Jing.

Li Tieqiang nodded at Xin Wenyuan, gripping the hilt of his sword with his right hand, and knocked on the door again: "The Tianping Army inside is talking, don't you even recognize me, Li Tieqiang?"

A moment later, the bolt was pulled down and the door opened. A waiter dressed in shorts appeared with a smile on his face. "Sir, since you said you were Mr. Geng's man, I dared not neglect you. Would you like to stay overnight or stay the night?"

Li Tieqiang walked into the lobby, glanced around with his knife in hand, and found that apart from the shopkeeper and the waiter, there were only three people sitting at two tables far away. Then he nodded slowly.

"Give me what you have. If you don't want the meat, I won't give you any less money."

White meat is human meat.

The innkeeper nodded and bowed: "Sir, you are joking. This is a proper inn, established by the Yishui Tianwangzhai. How could we have white meat?"

Li Tieqiang was about to ask more when he heard a man in the shadows of a lamp in front of him on the left say, "Big Tieqiang, did you gain great wealth and honor by going south this time? Why are you so nagging like a woman?" Li Tieqiang rolled his eyes, turned around, helped Xin Wenyuan to the table, and said to the man who had just spoken, "Yiduan, what are you doing here, you idiot monk? Has Jiedu Geng already reached here?"

The monk named Yiduan took off his hat that covered his face and put it aside. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Of course, I am on a business trip under the orders of Geng Jiedu."

Seeing that Li Tieqiang wanted to ask more, Yiduan waved his hand, and his dusty robes raised a cloud of dust. "Brother Li, I know what you want to ask, but I can't say anything. If you have any questions, go ask Geng Jiedu in person, or that bastard Jia Rui."

"The food is here!" At this moment, the shopkeeper came over quickly, carrying two large bowls of wheat rice. "Our shop is in a remote area, so this is all we have. Please enjoy it."

Monk Yiduan could smell the aroma and looked up. Seeing a layer of bacon and pickled vegetables on top, he couldn't help but feel a little angry. "Boss, did I owe you money? Why didn't you bring this food to me right away?"

Xin Wenyuan sneered without saying a word. He took the wheat rice in front of Li Tieqiang and took a few bites, then went back to eating the bowl in front of him.

When traveling in the martial arts world, it is always better to be cautious. Although Monk Yiduan has eaten the food here, there is no guarantee that there is no knockout drug in these two bowls of rice.

Xin Wenyuan is now equivalent to a useless person, and can only make use of this little bit of his remaining energy.

The shopkeeper shrank his neck and said with an embarrassed smile, "During the chaos of war, meat is hard to come by, so we can only use it to entertain the good guys we know on the road. The monk didn't say he was Mr. Geng's man, right? How about we fill it up for you now?"

Monk Yiduan was even more displeased: "Go away, I've already eaten my fill. If you have good food, bring it up tomorrow!"

Li Tieqiang wanted to say something else, but he heard the sound of horse hooves on the road outside the door and immediately shut up.

The lobby was silent again.

A moment later, the door was knocked again, and a somewhat hoarse voice sounded from outside: "Yiduan, come out!"

Xin Wenyuan felt that the voice sounded familiar. Just as he raised his head from his meal, he was pulled to the ground by a strong force. The next moment, the sparks produced by the collision between the waist knife and the iron rod instantly blinded his eyes.

Two gangsters at the other end of the hall suddenly overturned the table and drew their swords.

The shopkeeper and the waiter seemed to be accustomed to such scenes. They quickly climbed behind the counter, shrank their necks and trembled.

Dang dang dang.

In just a moment, Li Tieqiang's sword clashed violently with the iron staff in Yiduan Monk's hand. Although Li Tieqiang's sword was lighter and faster than the iron staff, and he was able to suppress Yiduan Monk, his hands were inevitably numb.

While taking a breath, Li Tieqiang seized the opportunity, hooked the stool with the tip of his knife and smashed it at Monk Yiduan, while at the same time pulling Xin Wenyuan, who was lying on the ground, and suddenly retreated.

After gaining his footing, Li Tieqiang felt a little scared. If he had not seized the opportunity to pull Xin Wenyuan to the ground, the iron rod would have smashed Xin Wenyuan's head to pieces.

Monk Yiduan threw the chair aside, mopped his bald head, glanced at the still-closed door, and then, dragging his iron staff, he and the other two swordsmen surrounded him, grinning and asking, "Big Iron Spear, where did I show myself?"

Li Tieqiang pushed Xin Wenyuan back, shook his numb hands, and responded with the same sinister smile: "Three people are divided into two tables, but there are three horses outside, two of which belong to the Tianping Army. If I ask you, have you figured out how to divide them?"

"Is it just this one flaw?" Monk Yiduan asked with a laugh.

"We're all living on the edge of a knife. The slightest sign of trouble is enough to make me wary!"

A swordsman said impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense! Kill them first, then deal with the ones outside..."

Before he could finish his words, the door flew out with a bang. The bolt, as thick as a human arm, broke off and the door panel shattered into several pieces as if it had been hit by a battering ram.

(End of this chapter)