Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 421: Visiting the Mountain Gate

In Yanshan Stronghold, the news that the great thief Song Jiang came to pay homage to the mountain gate quickly reached the ears of the leader like a gust of wind.

The atmosphere in the Black Tiger Hall was solemn and dignified.

Sitting on a chair covered with black tiger skin was Yin Leiling, the leader of Yanshan Village and the "Arrogant Hero".

He was a tall and strong man with broad and thick shoulders, just like a towering mountain. He naturally exuded an invisible sense of oppression, which made everyone in the hall feel an inexplicable deterrence.

Yin Leiling wore a black suit embroidered with golden cloud patterns. He wore a wide black belt around his waist, inlaid with a large white jade pendant. The jade pendant's texture was warm and soft, forming a sharp contrast with his innate domineering aura, yet they blended in wonderfully, giving him a sense of both strength and softness.

"Song Jiang is outside the mountain gate right now. I'm sure you've all heard about it."

Yin Leiling's voice was deep and rich, as if it came from deep within his chest, echoing throughout the Black Tiger Hall:
"He's come to pay his respects to the mountain gate. Everyone, tell me, should we accept him or not?"

After saying that, his deep and sharp gaze, like a sharp blade, swept towards the two people beside him.

Among the two men, one was dressed in white and had an elegant temperament, like a Confucian scholar who was well-read in poetry and books.

He is the number one think tank of Yanshan Village, Bai Yi, known as the "white-robed scholar" in the world.

Bai Yi frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then spoke slowly:
"I've also heard of Song Jiang's great name. Dong Xiong mentioned it as well. It's said that in his confrontation with Li Muyun, the leader of the Six Gates, he held his own against them."

"In my opinion, his martial arts skills must be quite good, at least fifth rank, and possibly even fourth rank."

"Moreover, he is quite famous in the green forest. If we can bring him into our Yanshan Stronghold, the reputation of the stronghold will surely soar to new heights."

Bai Yi's analysis is clear, objective and fair, which makes people nod in agreement.

However, not everyone agrees with Bai Yi's point of view.

A cold snort came from beside Bai Yi, breaking the brief peace.

The man who made the sound was tall and strong. Although he was short, he was as strong as an ox.

His face was covered with hard stubble that pricked the hand like steel needles. This man was none other than "Short Yama" Meng Guang.

Meng Guang and Bai Yi are both capable assistants of Yin Leiling, the leader of Yanshan Stronghold. They are like his left and right arms and have a significant influence on the affairs of the stronghold.

At this time, Meng Guang's face was gloomy and he said in a deep voice:
"That Song Jiang is definitely not a good guy!"

"My son Meng Wei happened to run into him when he came down the mountain. According to Meng Wei, he has a very low opinion of Song Jiang!"

After saying that, Meng Guang clapped his hands.

A young and handsome man hurried into the hall. It was Meng Wei.

As soon as he entered the Black Tiger Hall, he fell to his knees with a plop, and began to cry out in tears:
"Village leader, Uncle Bai, you have to make the decision for me!"

"I've already gotten along well with the Thief Saint's granddaughter, and I was about to invite the Thief Saint to join our Yanshan Stronghold, adding a powerful force to the stronghold."

"But who could have imagined that Song Jiang would show up midway? After the failed robbery of the government silver, I simply expressed a little doubt to him, but he became so angry that he attacked me!"

"I revealed my identity as Yanshanzhai, but he didn't care at all and continued to beat me up. It's obvious that he doesn't take our Yanshanzhai seriously at all!"

"Furthermore, this person's behavior is mysterious and there's an indescribable weirdness about him. I think he has bad intentions!"

"He actually dared to come to Yanshan Village openly this time. I hope the village chief and Uncle Bai can help me get rid of this evil!"

While crying, Meng Wei showed the wounds on his body to everyone, and at the same time exaggerated how arrogant and rude Song Jiang was and how his behavior was strange. Every detail was portrayed vividly, as if he was suffering the most unfair treatment in the world.

Obviously, he was deliberately targeting Song Jiang, trying to use this opportunity to make the leader of the village feel disgusted with Song Jiang.

Seeing this, Bai Yi frowned tightly, his heart full of doubts.

He secretly glanced at Meng Guang. Everyone was discussing such an important matter as whether to recruit Song Jiang, so why did Meng Guang let a young guy come in to interrupt and cry?
Even though Meng Guang wanted to vent his anger for his son, he shouldn't have acted like this at such an important decision-making moment, right?
at this time.

Yin Leiling, who was sitting on the tiger-skin chair, snorted coldly and shouted angrily:
"Humph! This Song Jiang just stole a prefectural position, so he really thinks he can ignore the Changzhou bandits?"

He slammed the armrest and shouted:

"Come here! Bring in Song Jiang, and quickly gather all the heroes in the stronghold. I want to show everyone how bold he is to be so arrogant!"

Following Yin Leiling's command, his men immediately followed his orders and moved swiftly and efficiently.

Meng Guang and Meng Wei looked at each other, a hint of pride flashing in their eyes.

Bai Yi was stunned and secretly surprised.

Based on his understanding of the village chief Yin Leiling, Yin Leiling was definitely not an unreasonable person. How could he not see the provocative intention in Meng Wei's words?

But why does he still show strong anger and hostility towards Song Jiang?

"The leader of the village..."

Bai Yi couldn't help but speak, wanting to test Yin Leiling's true thoughts again.

After all, Song Jiang is quite famous in the Changzhou Green Forest. If he is discouraged by some false words, it may make other Green Forest heroes who want to join Yanshan Stronghold feel worried.

Yin Leiling raised his hand, signaling Bai Yi that there was no need to say more.

Seeing this, Bai Yi had no choice but to shut his mouth, and he already had some guesses in his mind.

He had followed Yin Leiling for many years and knew the village chief's temperament very well.

Yin Leiling is excellent in all aspects except for his measurement.

If he meets Song Jiang later and finds that his martial arts skills are poor and his abilities are mediocre, Yin Leiling will certainly treat him warmly and happily take him into the Banquet Stronghold.

But if Song Jiang was a martial arts expert with outstanding abilities, Yin Leiling would probably not be polite to him, and might even make a big fuss about Meng Wei's matter to suppress Song Jiang's arrogance.

Bai Yi knew very well that this was both Yin Leiling's strength and his weakness.

If Yin Leiling led a group of ordinary subordinates, he could become an excellent leader and give full play to everyone's strength.

However, once someone with leadership potential appears under his command, he will become jealous and fight with him.

As the saying goes, the country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change.

At this moment, Bai Yi could only wait for Song Jiang to show up and see what kind of person he was.

At this moment, a sound of footsteps came from afar, and a large group of people walked into the Black Tiger Hall in a mighty manner.

"Chief, we are here!"

Everyone entered the hall and bowed to Yin Leiling in unison, their voices echoing throughout the hall. They were all core members of the Yanshan Stronghold, battle-hardened warriors who killed without blinking an eye, radiating a strong murderous aura.

Everyone originally thought that the village chief had called a meeting, so after entering the Black Tiger Hall, they sat down on both sides.

For a moment, the Black Tiger Hall was filled with a heavy murderous aura, as if the very air had frozen.

With so many evil stars gathered together, the feeling of oppression is definitely not something ordinary people can bear.

Yin Leiling glanced at everyone and slowly said:

"Brothers, someone from my Yanshan Stronghold came to pay respect to the mountain gate today, and I specially asked you to come and take a look."

When everyone heard this, curiosity showed on their faces.

They were all eager to see who on earth was coming to join Yanshan Village and who made the village chief pay so much attention to him.

Several people in the crowd couldn't help but want to ask.

At this moment, a subordinate outside the Black Tiger Hall reported loudly:
"Report——!"

"The guests have been brought here!"

Following this report, several men and women slowly walked into the hall under the guidance of their subordinates.

It was Liang Jin, Lei Zhen, Xiao Liu and Yan Sanniang.

Seeing this, Meng Wei was the first to jump out. He pointed his finger viciously at Liang Jin and said to Meng Guang:

"Dad, it's him!"

"He is Song Jiang!"

When Meng Guang heard this, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, like a hungry wolf seeing its prey.

Yin Leiling, who was sitting on the tiger-skin chair, instantly gathered his aura, like a volcano about to erupt, ready to attack Liang Jin.

However, at this critical moment, a startled cry suddenly came:

"Hero Song, Hero Lei, I actually see you again!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that among the people sitting on both sides, one person stood up excitedly.

This person is none other than "Cloud-winged Eagle" E Xuan.

At the beginning, several people were almost beheaded on the execution ground. Thanks to Liang Jin who stepped forward at the critical moment, they saved everyone's lives.

Later, Lei Zhen fell into a coma. Liang Jin and Xiao Liu stayed to take care of him, while E Xuan took the rest of the people and left first.

Now that everyone was gathered together again, the warriors who had left with E Xuan also stood up and saluted Liang respectfully, their gratitude overflowing with words:
"We were saved by Hero Song. If it weren't for you, how would we still be alive?"

Everyone gathered around and enthusiastically reminisced with Liang Jin and the other two, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

This sudden scene surprised everyone present.

E Xuan is an old man with considerable experience in Yanshan Stronghold. No one expected that he and Liang Jin are so familiar with each other.

Especially Meng Wei, who originally wanted to continue to ask his father to stand up for him, was now shocked by this scene and was at a loss.

At this moment, another hearty laugh was heard:

"Hahahaha! Lao Lei, we really meet here!"

"Song Yingxiong, do you still remember me, Old Dong?"

Everyone turned around and saw a few more people standing up.

It was none other than Dong Xiong, the former leader of the Black Jade Village, and Xing Niang, the third leader, was beside him.

The two men walked over with smiles on their faces and greeted Liang Jin and Lei Zhen warmly, as if they had met old friends whom they had not seen for many years.

When Liang Jin saw two acquaintances, he asked doubtfully:

"Where is Li Rong, the second in command of Guizhai?"

Hearing this, a trace of sadness instantly appeared on Xingniang's face, tears welled up in her beautiful eyes, and her expression was sad.

Dong Xiong said nonchalantly:

"Old Li was unlucky. He was trying to cover our retreat, but he ended up dying at the hands of those bastard soldiers."

"Well, let's not talk about these unlucky things. Now that we're reunited, we should have a good drink. Especially Lao Lei, I have a lot of problems that I've been wanting to talk to you about for a long time."

When Liang Jin and the other two heard this, they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts.

They really didn't expect that Li Rong had sacrificed his life.

At this time, more backbone members of Yanshanzhai stood up, left their seats, and walked straight towards Liang Jin.

As they walked, they greeted Liang Jin enthusiastically:

"Hero Song, do you still remember me? Two months ago, we robbed the government grain together!"

"And me! Back in the city, we were wanted by the government. Thanks to meeting Hero Song, we were able to escape!"

"Hero Song may not remember me, but I will never forget you. If you hadn't taken the government grain and distributed it to the people, my family and I would have starved to death long ago."

……

Everyone was talking at once, chattering non-stop.

Liang Jin really didn't have much impression of most of them.

After all, in the past few months, he had been robbing government grain to help the people and doing many good deeds. During this period, he met all kinds of people, most of whom he had only met once or cooperated with once before parting ways.

He never expected that so many of these people would come to Yanshan Village.

This also indirectly reflects that the living environment in various parts of Changzhou is becoming increasingly harsh. Even warriors who have the courage to resist have to gather in Yanshan Village for warmth in order to survive.

And just as Liang Jin was greeting everyone.

The faces of Meng Guang, Meng Wei, and even Yin Leiling who were standing by couldn't help but darken, like the dark clouds before a storm...

(End of this chapter)