After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The village gate, ten feet high, cast a dark shadow in the setting sun. The wind howled, swirling a few fallen leaves past the two elm wood gates.

A burst of enthusiastic shouts came from the other side of the door. About a dozen people were stomping their feet, clapping their hands, and clanging various weapons.

"The Boss is awesome!"

"Chief Zhu's martial arts skills are unparalleled!"

"Unparalleled martial arts skills!"

"Kill them!"

"Let's see if they dare to come back!"

Clatter, clatter, Ning Nan yawned, rubbed his eyes, and rode his rather unruly, always-puffing yellow horse to the village gate. The horse's hooves kicked up dust and left deep hoofprints.

A large group of people lay dead in front of the village gate, some clutching their legs, others covering their stomachs, covered in dust, crying out "Ouch, ouch!" and begging for their parents.

Upon seeing him arrive, they all protested their injustice.

"Big brother! Help!"

"Master, hurry! This female chieftain is amazing!"

"We can't beat them!"

Ning Nan shook his head, feeling extremely sleepy. He rubbed his eyes hard, patted his face, and then drew a knife from the side of the horse's back.

Pointing at the village gate, he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Who are you, you scoundrel, daring to..."

"Squeak~"

Before he could finish speaking, the village gate slowly opened, emitting an unpleasant sound of disrepair.

A figure dressed in green, holding a long spear upside down, slowly stepped out from inside, seated on a magnificent white horse.

The outline gradually became clear.

The lines have been drawn.

The rider on horseback was a woman, her black hair held up with a wooden hairpin.

The woman had an oval face, a cold gaze, and delicate eyebrows as light as distant mountains.

Her eyebrows were strangely cold, like a sharp stroke by a painter, and her skin was as white as porcelain.

She raised her chin, revealing her fair neck.

A jade belt of emerald green was wrapped around her slender waist, making her figure appear extremely fitted.

Ning Nan was stunned when he saw the other person's face clearly, and his eyes widened suddenly.

"You..." he stammered, "Why are you here?"

The woman hummed in a clear, familiar voice.

"Why can't I come?"

"Why did you become a bandit?"

"Why can't I be one?"

Ning Nan's blood boiled for a moment: "You...you..."

After repeating the words a few times, his lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't utter another word.

At this moment, the woman raised her chin and snorted:

"Who told you not to come back yet?"

The woman had barely finished speaking.

Bang!

Suddenly, a sound, like a short drumbeat, rang out without warning.

His already crooked body tumbled off the horse's back.

A strong feeling of weightlessness washed over me.

Ning Nan suddenly opened his eyes in less than a breath...

Everything was pitch black, and a gust of wind blew by, sending a chill through my body.

He paused for a moment, took a breath, grabbed the horse's reins with one hand, and wrapped his tattered sheepskin around his body with the other, his clothes covered in dust.

I looked up.

The moon is beautiful tonight in the Lüliang Mountains; it's almost full, and the surrounding stars are brilliant.

The horse was walking along the narrow mountain path.

There were several horses on each side, about three or four zhang in front and behind, and dozens of footsteps walking together. However, he had given instructions that no fires should be lit along the way.

There was no light at all on the dark, narrow mountain path.

Everyone wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm and yawned from time to time.

"The boss!"

Just then, a dark shadow loomed ahead, and a figure hurriedly emerged from the front, shouting in a local accent:

"Boss... Brother Er Lai... Brother Er Lai, he..."

"Li Laosi,"

Ning Nan's heart tightened. He glanced at the bearded man galloping towards him from below and frowned.

"Don't tell me that Erlaizi really didn't take down that mountain stronghold up ahead?"

"How could that be!"

The bearded man, who had transformed from a bandit in Lüliang into a member of the Heavenly Principle Army, was panting heavily as he wiped his sweat and glared at them, saying:

"Brother Erlai took it down half a month ago! He wiped out all seven or eight villages within a twenty-mile radius! They've been waiting for the chief!"

Phew... Ning Nan let out a breath, relieved.

Glancing at the sky, they realized that this group of over a hundred people had broken away from the main force of the Tianli Army. They traveled by day and hid by night, and from Yunzhong Mountain, 150 miles away, it took them three days to reach Guandi Mountain in the middle of the Lüliang Mountains.

I had just taken a nap on horseback, and now it was night.

Li Xingzhong was tall and imposing, with a leopard-like head and piercing eyes. He was panting heavily as he stood beside the big yellow horse.

Li Laosi was a bandit from Yunzhong Mountain. When Master Ning attacked, they surrendered quickly and joined the Heavenly Principle Army.

Li Laosi, who had a big beard, was a good man. He had been taken to the outlaws by his father when he was young. He did not pay taxes to the government, but he did not prey on the villagers. He only robbed passing merchants.

He was originally the fourth son, but two of his three older brothers died young, before they lived to the age of having a formal name, so he was given the second name.

These bandits were used to referring to themselves as "Big Boss," and after several attempts to correct them failed, Chief of Staff Jia Shi'an chuckled and said with his hands behind his back:

"Why don't we let them change it? It'll be perfect for Bai Xuan to use as a cover."

So they just let them call him "Big Boss".

Ning, the head of the household, rolled his eyes:

"Then why are you making such a fuss? What's wrong with Er Laizi?"

Li Da Hu Zi's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement.

The leader sent him ahead to scout out how things were going with Brother Erlai, and the result really gave him a big shock!

The village over there by Brother Erlai is quite large.

They raised pigs, chickens, and sheep.

They built a large furnace for blacksmithing and charcoal making, and did everything exactly as the boss had instructed!

"Boss!" he chuckled. "Brother Erlai said you've finally arrived, Boss! He's sending men to slaughter sheep and pigs!"

Ning Nan nodded, furrowing his brows as he said:

"Is the charcoal ready?"

The bearded man nodded: "I saw quite a few; they filled an entire cave."

"What about saltpeter and sulfur?"

"I don't understand," the bearded man shook his head and said, "but Brother Erlai said they've gotten quite a bit, and they're still working on it."

Ning Nan rubbed his sore neck from sleeping and hummed in agreement.

"Walk!"

He patted the disobedient yellow horse.

The village is built against the cliff halfway up the mountain, and there is a steep slope in front of the village gate.

If a person is being carried, the horse cannot get on.

Ning Nan dismounted and stamped his slightly numb feet.

Li Da Huzi excitedly led him on his horse.

Erlai had gotten much darker and stronger, and was a little nervous as he came out of the village gate to meet him.

"Brother," he said, walking down the steep slope, then sighed after a while, "we're not as good as Big Black. We don't make many things. And the explosions aren't very loud either..."

"It's alright," Ning Nan patted Er Laizi's shoulder, who was already capable of handling things on his own. "It's just enough."

About twenty days ago, he studied the map for a long time and decided on this location.

He ordered Erlaizi and Peng Liangang to lead two hundred men to break away from the main force and come here to carve out a piece of land and get something out of it, otherwise it would be a problem to keep being chased by Ortai.

He and Su Lang then led Ortai to the Yunzhong Mountain.

At this moment, Jia Shi'an and Su Lang are still in Yunzhong Mountain, circling around with Ortai.

He then left the troops to check on what Erlaizi had prepared, to see if it was enough to give Ortai a surprise, so that they could catch their breath and escape from the Lüliang Mountains.

These past few days, Yunzhong Mountain has been in complete disarray thanks to their several thousand men, along with the three thousand cavalry led by Ortai and Huang Zhongcai, and the eight thousand guards.

Ortai also transferred a full 10,000 Green Standard Army soldiers from Taiyuan, Shuozhou, and Fenzhou to surround and intercept them, with Taiyuan and Fenzhou responsible for logistics.

The people over in Yunzhong Mountain are almost bankrupted by the food; they're practically drinking all the water they can find.

Ortai almost adopted a scorched-earth policy, intending to starve and thirst them to death.