A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

"you!"

Cai Sheng was so angry that he raised his hand to hit Lin Lang, but was held back by the people next to him.

Chaos erupted instantly in the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness, with the two men glaring at each other, on the verge of a fight.

"That's enough!"

Seeing that another argument was breaking out between the two sides, Xu Yuan suddenly became angry.

"What kind of time is this for internal strife? Do they even respect me as their leader?"

Both sides then calmed down a bit.

Cai Sheng shook off the person holding him, glared at Lin Lang fiercely, and stepped aside.

Lin Lang snorted coldly, putting away the sarcasm on his face, but still looking disdainful.

"The government troops are now at Qingfeng Mountain. What good ideas do you have?"

Xu Yuan inquired.

A moment of silence fell over the hall.

"Brother, in my opinion, we should take the initiative."

Lin Lang spoke first.

"The government troops have just finished attacking Lingtou Village and their morale is high. Moreover, the enemy is the elite of the Zhenbei Army. What if we fall into an ambush? It would be better to hold the mountain stronghold, just like we did with the Zhao family army before."

Someone said.

"The government troops have just gone through a major battle and must be exhausted. Moreover, there are only vanguard troops at the foot of the mountain. If we go down the mountain tonight and catch them off guard, wouldn't that deplete their strength?"

Lin Lang said.

Hearing his words, many people in the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness nodded in agreement.

"The fourth leader is right; we should take the initiative."

"If we cut off their advance troops' supplies, we can definitely buy them a lot of time."

Lin Lang's men echoed his sentiments.

"No! We absolutely cannot take the initiative!"

At this point, Cai Sheng, as always, came out to object.

"Qingfeng Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It won't be easy for the government troops to take it up. As long as we hold the stronghold, we will definitely wear them down. I'll say it again: if you want to fight, you must find my second brother first. Otherwise, my men will never go to their deaths willingly."

Cai Sheng spoke firmly, and his subordinates nodded in agreement, clearly showing that they were of one mind with him.

"Cai Sheng! Even now, you're still clinging to Liang Ming? He might already be dead in Black Wind Ridge. Even if you search, you'll only find a corpse."

Lin Lang's face immediately darkened again.

"What did you say?!"

Cai Sheng glared at him again.

"Am I wrong? You've delayed Qingfeng Village's important affairs for one person. How can you face the brothers in the village?"

The two started arguing again, and the atmosphere in the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness became tense once more.

Xu Yuan couldn't help but frown.

He knew that Cai Sheng was sentimental and that Lin Lang and Liang Ming had a conflict, but the current situation did not allow them to continue arguing like this.

After careful consideration, Xu Yuan had an idea in mind.

"Stop arguing, let's do as Lin Lang says and take the initiative!"

He knew in his heart that although holding the position was the safest option, if the government troops really brought in a large force, Qingfeng Village would eventually fall.

Why not take a gamble and launch a preemptive strike to cut off the government troops' supplies? Maybe that will force them to retreat.

As for Liang Ming, we can only wait until after this battle to send someone to look for him.

"Big brother!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Sheng's face instantly turned ugly.

Xu Yuan avoided his gaze and said in a deep voice, "Third brother, you must think about the bigger picture."

Upon hearing Xu Yuan's decision, Lin Lang smiled smugly and glanced at Cai Sheng, his eyes practically overflowing with mockery.

"Now that the leader has made his decision, I'll gather my men and head down the mountain tonight!"

As Lin Lang spoke, he turned to leave.

"My men won't go with you. If you want to fight, fight yourself. I'll just wait in the village until we find Brother Ming."

Cai Sheng looked displeased.

"I can still win even without your men."

Lin Lang smiled dismissively.

After saying this, Lin Lang strode out of the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness, gathered his men, more than two hundred in total, and quietly descended Qingfeng Mountain under the cover of night.

Cai Sheng watched Lin Lang's retreating figure, his eyes filled with resentment, yet he was helpless.

Night was falling.

Only a few scattered lights shone from the vanguard camp of the government troops at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.

Just as Lin Lang had expected, the soldiers were exhausted after the Zhenbei Army had finished attacking Lingtou Village, and the defenses of the camp were much more relaxed than usual, with only a few sentries left to patrol the perimeter.

Lin Lang led his men, sneaking around to the rear of the camp in the dark. Seeing that the defenses were weak, he immediately waved his hand and led his men to rush in.

Shouts of battle suddenly rang out, catching the government troops' sentries off guard, and they were instantly wiped out.

Half of the government troops in the camp were still asleep when they were awakened by the shouts of battle. They were thrown into chaos and had no time to organize an effective resistance.

Lin Lang's men were all ruthless bandits, and under the cover of night, they rampaged through the camp.

The vanguard of the government army was already small in number, and it was soon defeated.

Qingfeng Village won a great victory in this surprise attack.

They not only killed dozens of government soldiers, but also seized a considerable amount of grain and weapons.

As dawn broke, Lin Lang led his men, escorting the captured supplies, and triumphantly returned to Qingfeng Village.

As soon as he reached the gate of the stockade, he shouted with a laugh, "Brothers, we won! Those Zhenbei Army soldiers were nothing to be trifled with; they were easily defeated!"

When the villagers came out and saw that they had seized so much stuff, they cheered.

"I told you, taking the initiative is always the right thing to do! The reason Lingtou Village was destroyed wasn't because the government troops were powerful, but because Chen Mo and Liang Ming were incompetent and couldn't defend the village. They're not like us!"

His words drew a chorus of agreement from his men, who all felt that the government troops were nothing special.

Cai Sheng stood aside, watching Lin Lang's smug look, and felt increasingly irritated.

He stepped forward and said to Xu Yuan, "Brother, now that we've won the battle, the government troops shouldn't be coming up for a while. Should we send someone to Black Wind Ridge to find Brother Ming?"

He was interrupted by Lin Lang's men as soon as he finished speaking.

"What are we looking for? We've just won a battle, we should be pressing our advantage and teaching the government troops another lesson, not wasting time looking for someone who's vanished without a trace!"

"That's right, Cai Sheng, stop harping on Liang Ming. He's gone, he has nothing to do with Qingfeng Village anymore!"

"Your people didn't lift a finger this time, and you still have the nerve to speak?"

Hearing these words, Cai Sheng's face turned extremely ugly.

He looked at Lin Lang's group, who were clearly trying to exclude Liang Ming's old subordinates.

At this moment, Xu Yuan also advised, "Don't worry about your second brother's matter."

Looking at the crowd before him, Cai Sheng felt utterly disheartened.

"If you won't look, we'll go find it ourselves! Follow me!"

After saying that, he turned and left, calling over forty of his men, and prepared to pack up and head down the mountain.

"Cai Sheng, don't be impulsive! Black Wind Ridge is swarming with government troops. Going there would be suicide. Stay in the stronghold for now, and I'll personally send someone to go with you to search after some time."

Xu Yuan quickly stepped forward and grabbed him.

"Big brother, you stay and watch over Qingfeng Village. We'll go find Second Brother. Even if we die at Black Wind Ridge, I'll accept it."

Cai Sheng shook off Xu Yuan's hand.

"Let them go. Qingfeng Village can still fight even without them!"

Lin Lang snorted coldly.

"Brothers, prepare the horses, let's go to Black Wind Ridge!"

Cai Sheng turned and left.

Without hesitation, all forty-odd men followed Cai Sheng to prepare the horses.

Xu Yuan could only sigh helplessly as he watched Cai Sheng's retreating figure.