The road is vague

Chapter 15 Pingshan Society

After leaving the cave of Green-faced Tiger Gao Zhen, Li Mo didn't care whether he could become the so-called leader.

He followed Wang Ying through the mountain village.

Along the way, Wang Ying seemed to be deliberately taking a detour to introduce the current situation of the Pingshan Society to Li Mo, and kept greeting acquaintances on the road, so that Li Mo could become familiar with the people in the mountain village and ensure that no one would embarrass him in the future.

In the center of the village was an open space, where stood a bearded man.

At this moment, he was practicing martial arts here with thirty or forty thieves, but most of them were very lazy and didn't seem to care. They just wanted to spend their time here.

Not all martial arts’ methods of strengthening the body are the leaping, dodging, and swinging left and right as described in the “Three-in-One Sword Technique”.

In fact, most martial arts are mainly based on training strength, and some require polishing the skin, practicing reaction, practicing throwing, etc. It depends on what aspects of the martial arts you learn focus on. "Sanhe Sword Technique" focuses on flexible and graceful body movements, so strengthening the body is mainly for the flexibility of the body, and various sword moves are also for the purpose of pursuing a fatal blow.

Such as this moment.

More than 30 people followed the leader and were constantly lifting stone locks to exercise their strength. This was exactly the same way Zhang Qin had strengthened his body.

Sudden.

There were celebratory sounds coming from the gate of the village, and Wang Ying took a look from a high place.

"It's the people down there who are receiving the tribute. We receive tribute from those caravans every month, but we are also responsible for their safety. This is our main source of income. When you become the leader of the stronghold, you just need to sit back and wait for your share of the profits."

After hearing Wang Ying's explanation, Li Mo nodded.

As the saying goes, "raising a bandit brings self-respect", the escort agencies in the towns near the Eighteen Mountains are doing extremely prosperous business. The reason is that the two sides have an unofficial cooperation, and the various mountain strongholds also pay attention to long-term development and will not exploit the traveling caravans.

The conflict between the Pingshan Society and the Lishan Gang is due to interests.

The waterways of the Eighteen Mountains are winding and each gang has its own territory. For the sake of profit, the Lishan Gang broke the rules and even crossed the border to rob a caravan that had a long-term cooperative relationship with the Pingshan Gang. This caravan was forced to pay two tolls, which caused some escort agencies to be dissatisfied and believe that the Pingshan Gang was no longer able to protect the rules of the road.

After that, the conflict between the Pingshan Society and the Ritsuyama Gang intensified, but the Pingshan Society was never able to defeat the Ritsuyama Gang.

Li Mo nodded and followed Wang Ying to a wooden house.

The cabin is not big.

There was nothing in the room except a simple little bed.

There are no neighbors around, and the wooden house here was built after leveling the steep part of the hillside, but Li Mo did not complain about it. He nodded to express his satisfaction.

"My room is right there. You can always come to me if you need anything."

Li Mo looked in the direction Wang Ying pointed, took note of it, and expressed his gratitude.

"Okay, you can rest here for a while. Around 5 p.m., a bonfire will be lit in the center of the village. Then you can go down and head to Juyi Cave to feed."

"it is good."

After watching Wang Ying go away, Li Mo tidied up the room a little and lay down on the wooden bed.

He had been sleeping in the open air these days and was extremely tired. Now that he finally had a place to stay, his worries were gone. For the next period of time, he planned to live a life of practicing medicine and martial arts here, and wait for an opportunity to ask the Jade Fox Wang Ying about the monks.

He still has a lot of room for improvement in basic martial arts.

According to the "Three Combinations Sword Technique", it takes several times more energy to advance from a small level of martial arts to a great level. Judging from Li Mo's performance, even with the help of the misty dream, it will take more than a year to practice to a great level.

This was enough for him to adapt to life in the village and reach some kind of deal with the Jade Fox Wang Ying.

Li Mo fell into a deep sleep while thinking about this.

It was not until dusk that he slowly woke up.

Looking out of the window of the wooden house, Li Mo saw a bonfire burning, so he got up and walked down the mountain. He noticed that there was a huge wooden cage next to the bonfire. It seemed that it was made in a hurry in a mountain village, and the workmanship looked very rough.

Outside Juyi Cave, there was a line of people waiting to get their meals. Each of them was holding a wooden bowl and chopsticks, looking impatient.

"Li Mo, this way!"

Wang Ying noticed Li Mo and motioned him to come forward.

"it is good!"

Wang Ying led Li Mo through the queuing crowd and into the Juyi Cave. There were more than a dozen people sitting around the huge stone table, including Blood-faced Lion Gao Po, Green-faced Tiger Gao Zhen, and Little Arhat Han Kui. There were also many people Li Mo didn't know, and they all looked at him with curiosity.

These people must be the leaders of the Pingshan Society.

The Green-Faced Tiger laughed loudly and heroically.

"Brother Li Mo, come and sit down."

After Li Mo nodded, he sat in an empty seat under the guidance of Wang Ying.

Gao Zhen introduced with a smile, "Some time ago, during a fight with the Lishan Gang, I was ambushed by a villain and suffered some injuries. After diagnosis by Brother Li Mo, it was confirmed that I need a fresh bear gall as a medicine. So I plan to personally lead the team into the mountains to hunt bears tomorrow. After I recover from my injuries, I will nominate him as the fourteenth leader of the Pingshan Society!"

"Haha, so in that case, our Pingshan Society also has a doctor?"

"Where is Brother Li Mo from?"

Everyone was very enthusiastic and Li Mo answered their questions one by one.

After hearing that Li Mo was from Hua'an Town, the thin-faced man sitting next to him immediately showed a look of surprise.

"What a coincidence."

The thin man said, "My name is Wu She, nicknamed the Shadowless Sword by the people of Jianghu. Back then, there was a conflict between Sanchakou and Shizhai. I was so aggressive and violent that I accidentally killed someone. I was forced to leave my hometown and come here to gather with my brothers. After all these years, I feel very regretful. I wonder if you have any news about Sanchakou?"

He seemed a little sad when he said this.

"Sanchakou is not far from Shanbei Village. I went there once three months ago."

Li Mo quickly became familiar with Wu She.

Because of Li Mo's identity as a doctor, the people of Pingshan Society were quite nice to him on the surface. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, more than a hundred people sang and danced around the campfire, and some people started a martial arts competition. Everyone shouted and it was very lively.

Li Mo secretly observed the martial arts of the Pingshan Society bandits.

"Ordinary petty thieves are all guys like Niu Er, rogues who have committed crimes in various places and come here to seek refuge and wait for amnesty. Their martial arts skills are almost negligible. Judging from the performance of these group leaders, some are similar to Brother Zhang Qin, and are considered third-rate martial arts masters. Others are similar to me, but with more experience. The two leaders and the little arhat Han Kui are obviously much stronger than me, and are top-level second-rate masters."

As a traveling doctor, Li Mo is well versed in human medicine and has a very sharp eye for people.

"Anyone whose martial arts skills surpass those of the Gao brothers should be considered a top-tier martial arts expert. They have entered the so-called acquired realm and mastered internal strength."

Only after mastering the basic martial arts can one practice the so-called acquired martial arts.

The next day, Green-Faced Tiger Gao Zhen led over thirty men, carrying the cages they had hastily made the day before, and marched into the forest.

Li Mo asked for a backpack and planned to go into the mountains to pick some daily herbs so that he could gain a foothold in Pingshan. When Wang Ying learned about it, she sent a smart boy to lead the way for him.

"The other hilltops are easy to deal with, but little brother, you must not go to the south. Our Pingshan Society and the Lishan Gang are irreconcilable. If you encounter someone from the Lishan Gang, you will be in trouble. This is Heiwa. He grew up in the mountain village and is very familiar with the surrounding terrain. Let him lead you."

"it is good."

Li Mo agreed and left.

Heiwa looked to be about eleven or twelve years old, and was as tall as Li Mo's chest. Following Li Mo's instructions, he led the way in front.

Not long after leaving the village, Li Mo discovered a lot of herbs and started collecting them.

Heiwa looked at Li Mo with some curiosity in his eyes.

It was not until late afternoon that the two of them rushed back to the village. On the way, Heiwa couldn't help but ask, "Doctor Li, can you really cure diseases?"

"Well, common illnesses are fine."

After hearing this, Hei Wa said with great anticipation, "Can you cure my mother? She has been coughing for more than half a month. She has no appetite and has lost a lot of weight. She even coughed up blood a few days ago. I'm afraid of her..."

"From your description, it seems she has tuberculosis. Bring her to my place when you rest tonight."

"Thank you, Dr. Li!"

Heiwa was a little nervous.

Tuberculosis is a serious illness. After Li Mo comforted Heiwa with a few words, the two returned to the mountain village.

After eating, Li Mo told Wang Ying about his idea of ​​opening a medicinal garden. Wang Ying supported him and said that she would send someone over tomorrow. After expressing his gratitude, Li Mo returned to the house to process the herbs collected today.

It was not until the bonfire party was over that Heiwa came to Li Mo's room with a woman.

As Heiwa said, the woman was coughing constantly and was very weak. After observing, smelling, asking and feeling the patient, Li Mo gave a diagnosis and treatment plan.

"Doctor, how is my mother?"

"It's indeed tuberculosis. This kind of disease can only be cured by the patient's own self-cultivation. Let me prescribe some herbs to strengthen your body, but this is just supplementary. The most important thing is dietary adjustment. You need to find a way to make her eat more warm rice porridge, minced meat, and dried dates. Avoid drinking raw water, overexerting, and catching cold. It's best to have a midnight snack in addition to breakfast and feeding. If she shows improvement within half a month, I'll prescribe a stronger medicine. If she can get through it, she can be saved."

When Heiwa heard this, he was frightened at first, then he expressed his gratitude and helped the woman away.

The next few days.

At Li Mo's suggestion, Heiwa took him to search for herbs in the mountains, and they could harvest something every day. According to Li Mo's estimation, if these herbs were sold to Jimin Hall, he could earn at least two to three hundred coins a day, which was really amazing.

Unfortunately, herbalists dare not come to such a place where bandits are rampant. These bandits are more dangerous than the beasts in the mountains.

"Heiwa, how is your mother's health?"

"After a few uncles found out, they took some bacon from the village's fire house. My neighbors, Aunt Wang and Aunt Jin, said they would help make rice porridge, minced meat, and decoct medicine. As for dried dates, I need to go down the mountain to buy them, but I don't have the money."

At the end of his speech, Heiwa's voice was as soft as a mosquito's.

After hearing this, Li Mo thought about the fact that there seemed to be quite a few dates in the Zhang brothers and sisters' black shop, which should have been taken back by the little arhat Han Kui.

"When we get back to the village, I'll see if Han Tuantou has any. If he does, I'll bring some over to your mother."

"Thank you, Dr. Li!"

Heiwa said gratefully, looking at Li Mo with eyes full of respect.

Li Mo nodded and couldn't help but ask curiously, "By the way, how did your mother get to the mountain?"

"My mother said there was a famine down in the mountains that year, and she came here to escape."

"Then who is your father?"

"I am a child of the village. Every head of the group and every uncle who walks around the village are my fathers. I was raised by everyone. When I grow up, I will also respect all the uncles in the village."

Through the questions and answers between the two, Li Mo gained a deeper understanding of Pingshanhui.

After the two returned to the mountain village, they heard cheers from a distance.

Li Mo and Heiwa approached curiously. When everyone saw Li Mo, they surrounded him. When Li Mo saw the dying brown-gray giant bear in the wooden cage, he couldn't help but be shocked.

It was the first time he had seen a living grizzly bear.

Although the grizzly bear is dying at this moment, it is not difficult to see from its terrifying physique what kind of terrifying power it possessed when it was alive. If it stood up, it would probably be almost ten feet tall. The bear paw is even much bigger than Li Mo's head, and each nail is as sharp as a dagger. The tough bear skin and thick subcutaneous fat are its perfect armor.

This made Li Mo feel a little self-doubtful.

Can his swordsmanship really hurt such a huge monster?

The so-called flexible and graceful movements and killing skills are of little use in front of such a giant beast.

Although the giant beast was now curled up in the cage, Li Mo still felt extremely small, and he had some doubts about the martial arts he practiced. At least his flexible and elegant martial arts would probably make it difficult to deal with such a giant beast, while those martial arts that honed strength would have more room to play.

"Tsk tsk, is it about to become a spirit? How can it be so huge?"

A thief nearby couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha, we have meat to eat today..."

Green-faced Tiger Gao Zhen walked over amidst the crowd. He was exceptionally tall and strong, and he looked down at Li Mo condescendingly.

"Brother Li, you're finally back. Fighting this guy not only injured seven of us, but also killed a fellow soldier. Even Captain Guo was injured. But we finally caught it alive. Now we're waiting for you to extract its gallbladder and then kill it to reward everyone. Haha!"

Next, Li Mo learned from Gao Zhen.

To deal with such a giant beast, the swords and knives of the martial artists are far less effective than the spears, traps and cages of the hunters. Otherwise, even if the two Gao brothers in their prime joined forces to deal with such a giant beast, they would be in danger of death. This is the limit of mortal power, and the so-called killing skills are just killing skills.

Only those top martial arts masters who have cultivated internal strength can fight with their internal strength.

Next, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Mo successfully took out the bear gall, mixed it with the herbs he had prepared in the past few days, and made a plaster to detoxify Gao Zhen.

"It will be effective tomorrow at the latest."

After that, everyone killed the bear and divided the meat.

Everyone in the village was overjoyed. After eating and drinking their fill, they sang and danced around the campfire and celebrated with great fanfare.

(End of this chapter)