The Legend of Song Jiang in Water Margin

Chapter 107 The Luo Family Spear Technique Displays its Divine Power; The Master Scholar Shines with Wisdom

Wen Da laughed and said, "If we were thieves, you wouldn't be alive!"

The man smiled but didn't say anything.

The soldiers finished another barrel of wine, sat on the ground, and were completely satisfied! To be honest, the wine was strong; for them, it was simply exhilarating!

Seeing that both barrels of wine were sold out, the man picked up the barrels, sang a song, and left.

Seeing that nothing went wrong throughout, Li Cheng figured he was just a little nervous and probably overthinking things, so he said, "Let's rest for another fifteen minutes, then we'll set off!"

After a while, Yan Luo suddenly gripped the gun tightly, and Li Cheng also sensed something was wrong!

A large number of people slowly walked out of the woods. Upon closer inspection, there were more than two hundred of them, all carrying weapons!

Li Cheng's heart tightened; these people seemed to have ill intentions!

The leader glanced at the group from the escort agency, then at Li Cheng's group.

The two sides together numbered over fifty people, and they spoke up: "We only want Liang Zhongshu's birthday tribute. Hand it over, and you'll be spared death. Otherwise, don't blame us for the ruthlessness of swords; as the saying goes, money belongs to others, but your life is your own!"

Li Cheng had seen his share of storms and waves. If he were to be frightened by someone, he would have wasted all the years he had spent in Daming Prefecture!

As Li Cheng was pondering a solution, the old man Yan Luo flicked his spear and launched a swift attack. In the blink of an eye, the three men opposite him clutched their necks, their eyes filled with disbelief, and blood flowed from their fingertips!

Li Cheng never expected that the old man would strike so suddenly, killing three people instantly. Seeing the three dead on the ground, Li Cheng gripped his gun tightly!

The atmosphere froze for a moment. The other side hadn't expected things to turn out so quickly. After a while, they reacted and shouted, "Attack! Leave no one alive!"

Two hundred men charged forward like a tidal wave!

The old man turned around and said, "Protect the box, everyone else, stay on guard, do your job and try not to get hurt!" After saying that, he brandished his spear, and with a flash of silver light, the old man charged into the crowd!

The burly man who had been drinking first picked up a large knife and charged into the crowd!

Li Cheng was dumbfounded. Were the people from this escort agency really that brave? At the same time, he was glad that he had paid the old man to come with him. Otherwise, after a fierce battle, his side would have suffered heavy losses as well!

However, Li Cheng also knew the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," and shouted, "Ten men protect the box, the rest of you, follow me!" After saying that, he also charged into the crowd, and Wen Da was equally unwilling to be outdone!

Although the old man Yan Luo was not young, his marksmanship was exceptionally fierce. Almost every move he made was aimed at the enemy's throat, a vital area. Since no one could stand against him for even one round!

Yan Luo's spear was incredibly fast; often, only a blur was visible before the spear pierced through! The burly man was no less formidable, swinging his knife with great force, each strike capable of felling a person!

The people opposite had never seen such a fierce person before, and they felt intimidated, some even wanting to leave!

Li Cheng and Wen Da were equally formidable. Furthermore, the soldiers they brought this time were all elite troops from Daming Prefecture. While it might be an exaggeration to say that each of them could take on ten, they could certainly take on five. Even without armor or other equipment, they could easily defeat three, far surpassing the capabilities of some rabble!

Before long, the group of more than two hundred people was slaughtered. The old man stood there unharmed, holding a long spear like a god of death, with drops of blood from the spearhead falling to the ground.

"Terrifying, incredibly strong. Li Cheng thought to himself, 'I'm so lucky to have survived the fight with the old man. He showed absolutely no mercy, like a heartless killing machine whose sole purpose was to eliminate all enemies before him.'"

Wen Da was secretly amazed. He had witnessed the battle between Suo Chao and Yang Zhi. The old man's spear technique was wide and powerful, using offense as defense. His spear technique was also ruthless, unlike Yang Zhi's elegant and light style. However, he showed no mercy when he attacked. Every move was meant to take a life, yet it was stronger than the Yang family's spear technique!

Fortunately, I paid for the old man to travel with me. Otherwise, with just my few people, I probably wouldn't have been able to withstand those two hundred people!

This escort agency's combat strength is unbelievably formidable! Their teamwork is flawless, their attacks are simple and brutal, without any unnecessary tricks!

After making a comparison, these people were in no way inferior to the regular army. He wondered who could train such a strong team. However, Wen Da felt that it was a waste for these people to stay in the escort agency. It would be better if they went to Daming Prefecture with him!

Seeing the only remaining person trembling in front of him, Yan Luo raised the gun and asked, "Who are you people?"

Little did that man know that bringing so many people out would result in their complete annihilation. If he didn't behave himself, he would probably lose his life as well. So he hurriedly trembled and said, "I am Wang Liang, the pillar of Yuan Yang Valley. I have come here to rob the birthday tribute on the orders of our leader, Xu Pingsheng."

Li Cheng had heard of Yuan Yanggu, a gang of bandits who robbed and committed all sorts of evil deeds!

Before he could even speak, Yan Luo suddenly thrust his spear forward, the tip piercing through Wang Liang's chest!

With a thrust of his spear, Wang Liang fell to the ground. Yan Luo coldly said, "You villain, you deserve to die!"

Wen Da stepped forward, looked at Wang Liang, and then walked to Yan Luo's side, saying, "Senior, your martial arts are superb. We are fortunate to have you here today, otherwise, things would have been very difficult!"

Yan Luo glanced at Wen Da and said indifferently, "No need to thank me. I'll protect you once I've taken the money. If I had known from the beginning that this was Liang Zhongshu's birthday tribute, I wouldn't have accepted it no matter how much money you offered!"

Wen Da looked somewhat embarrassed. After all, everyone knew how Liang Zhongshu got his money, and some things were better left unsaid in public.

Li Cheng didn't say much, so he simply said, "You've rested enough, let's continue our journey!"

This place is not far from Guantang Post Station. Because of the sudden attack on the thieves just now, the group became much more cautious on the road and moved much faster. However, the good news is that after passing Guantang Post Station, Bianliang will not be too far away!

Soon the group arrived at Guantang Post Station.

Guantang Post Station is located in a remote and undesirable area, and no one usually passes by. Today, when the innkeeper saw dozens of people arrive, he was both happy and worried!

The good news is that so many people have come all at once, and business has boomed. The bad news is, where are we going to find enough rooms to accommodate all these guests?

The waiter hurriedly invited everyone to take their seats. Li Cheng, Wen Da, Yan Luo, and a burly man sitting next to Yan Luo were all seated at the same table. The burly man was also very skilled in martial arts, which made Li Cheng and Wen Da want to take the two of them to Daming Prefecture!

The big man said his name was Jing Zhu, a name I'd never heard before!

However, Li Cheng and Wen Da didn't care! Real names or fake names, as long as they could escort him to Bianliang, complete his mission, and then return to Daming Prefecture with him, with Liang Zhongshu's methods, these two would have no choice but to obediently take up their posts!

Soon, the wine and meat were served. Li Cheng asked Zhou Jin to serve the soldiers and guards food and drink, and then he began to talk with Yan Luo!

Yan Luo didn't talk much, basically answering only when asked a question, making it seem like he was interrogating a criminal, which made Li Cheng very bored!

The big man didn't talk much, and Li Cheng and Wen Da didn't know what to say either, so they could only eat and drink with Wen Da!

After a while, Yan Luo suddenly spoke up: "That's not right!"

Li Cheng also noticed something was wrong with his body!

Looking around, his men were already staggering as if drunk. Looking at Yan Luo, he saw that Yan Luo was supporting himself on the table with both hands to keep from falling, while the big man was already slumped on the table unconscious!

Li Cheng cursed inwardly, realizing he had fallen for the trap, and collapsed to the ground in frustration! Wen Da, who was next to him, had already fallen under the table and was fast asleep!

The shopkeeper and waiter had already been knocked unconscious, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner!

Yan Luo shook his head, stood up, kicked the burly man, and said, "Stop pretending! Get up!"

The burly man jumped up and laughed, "Old Luo, your acting is truly superb!"

This old man is none other than Luo Zhong. His alias Yan Luo is a homophone of Luo Yanqing's name. This big man is none other than Zhu Jingruan Xiaoer, who also arrived at the Guantang Inn with his navy. There are twenty boxes of birthday gifts, each box containing ten thousand strings of cash, totaling exactly two hundred thousand strings of cash!

The scholar, none other than the renowned calligrapher Xiao Rang, spoke up: "The rest of you, pack your own boxes immediately! We need to evacuate quickly!"

Just then, Shi Qian suddenly burst in and said, "Brothers, I have two pieces of bad news!"

"What two pieces of bad news?" Luo Zhong was, after all, the oldest and the most composed!

"The four hundred people from Yuanyang Valley that you killed earlier came to steal the birthday gifts. They're very fast, and they should arrive soon!" Shi Qian quickly delivered the first piece of news.

Then he continued, "One of the brothers from the Zouji Camp heard on the way that a man named Guan Sheng, known as 'Big Knife Guan,' had been invited by Liang Zhongshu and was rushing to escort the birthday tribute. He was accompanied by two experts, one of whom was Hao Siwen, an old friend of Brother Gongming!"

Shi Qian paused for a moment, then said, "It seems we'll be there soon!"

"What should we do?" Ruan Xiaoer asked first.

After a moment's thought, Xiao Rang said, "Second Brother, you should lead the brothers and leave quickly. Take all of Liang Zhongshu's boxes, including ours. Senior Luo and I will stay behind. You all need to act now, and be fast!"

Ruan Xiaoer nodded and immediately ordered the naval soldiers to move the boxes. The group of people disguised as escorts also got to work!

Xiao Rang continued, "We must stay and act as bait, otherwise the people of Yuanyang Valley and Guan Sheng will definitely pursue us. In that case, we might not even make it to the river before they catch up with us. So we must stay!"

Ruan Xiaoer said urgently, "It will be dangerous to stay!"

Xiao Rang laughed, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Since Brother Gongming sent me here, I can't let him down. This batch of birthday gifts must be robbed! If our escort agency's goods are also robbed, no one will suspect anything!"

Ruan Xiao'er was momentarily speechless, while Luo Zhong laughed and said, "Don't worry! With me here, nothing will happen!"

Previously at Liangshan, they were puzzled by Song Jiang's high regard for the two elders, Luo Zhong and Yang Zhong. But after witnessing Luo Zhong's spear skills today, everyone was completely convinced of his abilities!

Having witnessed the domineering and ruthless nature of the Luo family spear technique, many people thought that if they could learn something from Luo Zhong when they returned to Liangshan, they would benefit immensely!

The boxes were moved quickly! Xiao Rang nodded to Ruan Xiaoer and said, "Second Brother, take care on your journey!"

Ruan Xiao'er nodded and said, "You must come back safely. I'm waiting for all of you to come back for a drink!"

Ruan Xiaoer and the escort team left quickly. Xiao Rang then said, "Brother Shiqian, go find Guan Sheng now. Be quick, our lives are on your shoulders!"

After saying that, he told Shi Qian to leave quickly, then laughed and said, "Let's just lie down!"

"What?" Everyone thought they had misheard!

Xiao Rang nodded and smiled, "We need to go all the way. Since we've been drugged, we should naturally pass out. Let's hurry! Don't let anyone notice anything amiss!"

In the dense forest, Guan Sheng, Tang Bin, and Hao Siwen were rushing towards the direction where Li Cheng and Wen Da were escorting the birthday gifts!

Suddenly, a loud shout came from ahead: "Murder! Someone is robbing and killing for money! Help!"

Help!

Upon hearing the shouts, Guan Sheng reined in his Red Hare and turned to Tang Bin and Hao Siwen, asking, "Brothers, did you hear the shouts?"

Tang Bin and Hao Siwen nodded in unison.

Guan Sheng said, "Since that's the case, we can't just stand by and do nothing!" After saying that, he rode Red Hare towards the direction of the sound!

Red Hare was incredibly fast, and in an instant it arrived beside the person who had shouted!

Guan Sheng looked at the man, a thin, unremarkable-looking fellow. He then asked, "Did you cry for help?"

That person was none other than Shi Qian!

Shi Qian looked at Guan Sheng, wondering what he looked like:

With unparalleled loyalty, courage, and wisdom, he wielded the Green Dragon Crescent Blade to slay the enemy.

Red Hare soars through ten thousand miles of clouds and mist, not as long as Yun Chang!

He truly had the appearance of a hero, Shi Qian thought to himself with secret admiration, but he still spoke aloud: "I am a waiter at the Guantang Inn. Some people escorting goods entered our inn, but they were drugged by thieves. Then the thieves came to the inn and killed everyone they saw, saying they wanted to rob the birthday tribute!"

"I'm quick on my feet, and I managed to escape! It was truly terrifying!"

Guan Sheng said, "In that case, you lead the way, and we will go with you to scatter the enemy!"

Shi Qian quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, those thieves are vicious and ruthless, I wouldn't go even if you killed me!"

Guan Sheng sighed, not wanting to press him, and could only ask, "Where is it? Show me the way!"

Shi Qian quickly pointed in a direction and then ran forward!

Tang Bin shook his head and said, "What a coward! So timid, what use are you!"

Hao Siwen laughed and said, "It's normal for a country bumpkin to be afraid of thieves!" But in his heart, he sighed.

He and Song Jiang had met Shi Qian in Qinghe County that day. Shi Qian should be with Song Jiang with Jiu Wan at this time, and should not be here in any way!

But when Shi Qian came to speak, he glanced at him, clearly recognizing him as well!

He didn't expose him, wanting to see what Shi Qian was up to. After hearing his words, Hao Siwen immediately concluded that Song Jiang had his eye on the birthday gifts!

Recalling the past with Song Jiang in Qinghe County, he knew he couldn't reveal the truth, so he could only pretend he didn't know Shi Qian!