Practice starts with skill points.

Chapter 10 Negotiation
After sleeping for an hour, Zhong Lin woke up at the call of Xiao Shitou. He shook his head and dozed off for a while. Then the two of them set off again, took a detour and returned to the main road.

There were still refugees on the road, but this time Zhong Lin smeared some tree sap on the bags containing meat to cover up the smell.

The effect was very good, and he no longer encountered refugees who robbed him on the road.

After about two hours, they finally arrived at the hill that the middle-aged man mentioned. Compared with the two hills they had climbed before, it was taller and could hide people there.

Zhong Lin cheered up, placed the bow and arrow in the most convenient position, and started climbing the mountain step by step by pushing the wheelbarrow.

"The bandits are coming."

"Run, run."

There were shouts coming from the front, and then I saw many people running down from the top of the mountain, pushing and shoving each other, causing a big commotion. Some people even fell down, and their bodies rolled down the hillside, hitting big trees, or rolling all the way down.

Zhong Lin's face also changed. He threw the wheelbarrow in his hand to the side and picked up the bow and arrow.

Little Stone also jumped off the wheelbarrow, holding the bag of food tightly in his arms.

Fortunately, most of the bacon in the bag had been eaten in the past few days, and there was not much left. Otherwise, even Xiao Shitou would not be able to hold it.

"Walk."

Zhong Lin turned and ran towards the dense forest on the left, and Xiao Shitou followed closely behind him, gritting his teeth.

Children of poor families have to grow up early. Little Shitou, who has "seen life and death" well, knows that crying won't solve the problem. The only thing he can do is not to hinder his second brother.

After a while, the two entered the dense forest and hid behind a big tree, watching the refugees running around in the distance.

Zhong Lin frowned and whispered, "Shi Tou, hide well. I'll go out and take a look."

"Second... Second brother, be careful."

A hint of fear flashed in Little Stone's eyes, but he still nodded heavily.

Zhong Lin looked at Xiao Shitou, who was obviously five or six years old and might have just started elementary school or kindergarten in his previous life. A hint of pity flashed in his eyes and he reached out to touch his head.

"Don't worry, Brother will be fine. Wait for me here and don't go out."

After saying that, he quickly jumped out of the dense forest. He needed to find out what the situation was on the mountain. This road was the only way to Heishan County. If he took a detour, he didn't know how long it would take and what dangers there might be, so he had to find out clearly.

"Stop."

Zhong Lin grabbed a refugee who was running down the mountain, raised the hatchet in his hand and put it directly on his neck.

"Okay... spare my life, sir."

The refugee was also frightened by Zhong Lin's sudden appearance. He thought he was being chased by bandits from the mountain. He fell to his knees with a thud, and a strong smell of urine came from his crotch.

"I have an eighty-year-old mother above me and a crying child below me. Please spare my life, my dear."

Zhong Lin's face darkened. These lines sounded so familiar.

"Shut up. What are you talking about when I ask you? How many bandits are there in the mountains?"

The man was also stunned by Zhong Lin's question, but after feeling the coldness of the hatchet on his neck, he quickly said, "I don't know either. Those bandits were hiding in the woods on the mountain. They asked all of us to leave money for passage. If we didn't pay, they would come out and kill us. I was so scared that I ran away."

"Fuck, get out!"

"Hey, hey, hey, thank you very much, my dear. Thank you very much, my dear."

Zhong Lin used the same method to attract some other refugees. The information he got from them was basically the same. He only knew that there were bandits on the mountain, but he didn't know how many there were.

"Trouble." Zhong Lin's face was a little gloomy.

Although the hill in front of us is not the only way to Heishan County, if we want to take a detour, we don’t know what we will experience. We may encounter more bandits. So if there is no other safe route, this one is the best choice.

Just as Zhong Lin was thinking, many refugees at the foot of the mountain gathered together.

"It's them?"

Zhong Lin's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something. He quickly returned to the dense forest, picked up the little stone in his arms and ran over.

……

"Master Zhang, have you made up your mind?"

The person who spoke was the middle-aged man who had invited Zhong Lin before, Zhu Jie from Zhujia Town. At this time, dozens of ox carts were gathered in the open space, and the owners of these ox carts were gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

Zhang, the village chief, said solemnly, "These bandits on the mountain are actually a mob. They know this mountain is the only way to Heishan County, so they're blocking the way and robbing us. Although they're just a mob, with our size, we'll suffer heavy losses even if we break through."

"This is easy. If they can gather the mob, then we can also gather the refugees. As long as we can gather these refugees and attack them, we can take advantage of the opportunity to get over there." Zhu Jie said casually.

If Zhong Lin heard these words, he would definitely be glad that he did not accept this person's invitation. Gathering refugees and attacking bandits is simply treating refugees as cannon fodder. The fact that this person spoke so casually shows how vicious he is.

"I agree with Brother Zhu's approach."

"good."

"I agree too."

An old man stood up, looked around at everyone and said, "We can talk to the bandit leader first. If the money he asks for is not much, we can talk. If we can't reach an agreement, we can force our way in."

Several people looked at each other and nodded. They believed that they should use courtesy first and then force. It would be better not to use swords if possible. After all, swords have no eyes.

The few of them discussed the specific details again, and then they each began to gather the refugees and led everyone to rush towards the top of the mountain again.

Zhong Lin followed the crowd with a small stone on his back, keeping a straight face and closely observing his surroundings, ready to fight or escape at any time.

Soon they reached the top of the mountain. Zhu Jie stepped forward, bowed, and said loudly, "Which one of you is the boss? Come out and have a chat."

After a while, a big man with a black face walked out of the woods. He had a beard, a burly build, and a ferocious look on his face. One look at him gave people the impression that he was not a good person.

"I'm here, Guardian Tiger. If you have anything to fart, do it now."

The voice was filled with a savage and fierce flavor that shocked the mountains and forests.

"Greetings, Master Zhenshanhu. We are but refugees, and we hope you will be so kind as to let us pass. Here are three hundred coins we have collected, to give to you for tea."

Zhu Jie lowered his head and looked submissive, without any of the viciousness he had just suggested using the refugees as cannon fodder.

The bandit leader sneered, "Humph! You think you can get rid of me with three hundred coins? Are you sending away a beggar? Even if I agree, my brothers behind me won't agree, right? Brothers."

"Yes! To send away beggars?"

"Only three hundred dollars isn't enough for the brothers to drink."

"This is looking down on us!"

For a moment, these bandits were howling and swearing.

(End of this chapter)