1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

Led by the second-in-command, they strode directly into the main hall of the second courtyard.

He plopped down in the main chair in the main room and slammed the Mauser pistol in his hand onto the octagonal table.

"Clang!"

Zhu Mantang shuddered at the commotion. He knew his family was well-off and he must have some weapons for self-defense, but the four men opposite him all had guns, so he couldn't fight them head-on.

He didn't dare to move, so he moved to the armchair next to him and sat down, his eyelids drooping as he secretly sized up the four people in front of him.

The four bearded men all looked disheveled and pale, none of them appearing to be in good spirits.

Zhu Mantang swallowed hard and mustered his courage to ask tentatively.

"Second-in-command, third-in-command, you two came here first to scout ahead, right? When will the rest of the brothers arrive at my place?"

After hearing this, the second-in-command raised his hand, ripped off his dog-skin hat, and slammed it onto the table.

"What a load of rubbish! Brothers? Scouts?"

"Last night, in the dead of night, Eighth Master, in his gray uniform, chased after them with cannons and bombarded them! The Big Boss, and most of the brothers on the mountain, all fell in, some dead, some gone! This time, Black Tiger Mountain is utterly defeated!"

He glared at Zhu Mantang.

"Stop with the nonsense, quickly prepare enough dry food and travel expenses! We need to run and find somewhere to hide! By the way, how many horses do you have? Bring them all out!"

Zhu Mantang's heart skipped a beat after hearing this.

What he cherishes most in his life are livestock and grain!

The horses in our family are the mainstays for farming and pulling carts; we rely on them for work all year round.

He truly hadn't expected these bastards to want money, grain, and horses!

I also want someone with glasses.

Why is your face so big!

He was unwilling, but dared not say it outright. He rolled his eyes, held up a finger, and tried to fool them.

The third leader was very perceptive; he saw right through Zhu Mantang's little scheme and knew he was trying to fool people.

Without saying a word, he raised his hand, picked up the gun, and cocked it with a flick of his finger.

Zhu Mantang no longer dared to play any tricks and immediately backed down, quickly changing his hand to two fingers.

"No, no, no! Sir! We only have two horses! They're our work animals, perfectly healthy, you can have them all!"

The third leader glared at him.

"Only two? Don't be ridiculous! We'll go check the stables in the backyard ourselves later! If you dare to lie to us or hide even one, you know what will happen to you!"

The third leader suddenly grinned wickedly, looking nonchalant.

"Besides, what's the rush to run? There are people everywhere outside; running out is a dead end! Why don't we brothers just stay at your place?"

"I see your yard is so big, and you have quite a few women and maids inside. You can't possibly manage all these women by yourself. Why don't you assign a few to us brothers to help out? It would be a great way to share the burden! What do you say, Second Master?"

The second-in-command leaned back in his chair, squinted, nodded, and casually uttered a sentence.

"Then I'll stay here!"

Upon hearing the Third Master's words, Zhu Mantang was so frightened that he quickly raised his hand and slapped his thigh, immediately changing his tune.

"Yes, yes, yes! Three horses! Three horses! You can ride them all! I've also prepared plenty of dry rations for you, nothing less!"

He continued, looking distressed.

"It's just that the women and children in my family are too timid. They've never seen guns or cannons before, and they can't stand being scared like this by you gentlemen!"

Seeing that he had backed down and given in, the third leader casually stuffed the gun in his hand back into the holster on his waist.

"If you had just listened to me earlier, none of this would have happened. Why did I have to repeat myself twice?"

Old Zhao, who was cooking, came in carrying a willow basket.

The steamed rice cake made from two kinds of flour in the basket was fluffy and fluffy, and there was also a dish of pickled vegetable strips next to it.

The old woman was timid; she went into the house with her head down, not daring to look at anyone.

"Master, this is all the food we have left at home. How about I make four more bowls of boiled eggs?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Mantang felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Still making egg water?

This bunch of scourges who steal grain and horses and even try to seize his property, he wouldn't even give them cold water, let alone eggs or water!

But he didn't dare to talk back. He watched as the four bearded men grabbed steamed cakes and stuffed them into their mouths, wolfing them down. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth.

"Pour! Pour all four bowls!"

Drink! Drink your bastards to death!

The moment this thought popped into his head, Zhu Mantang's eyes lit up.

Yup!

The Black Tiger Mountain stronghold has been completely wiped out; these guys have lost all their backers.

What are we afraid of?

Let's just poison them to death! That would be the end of it!

No need to provide horses or grain, no need to frighten family members, and no need to let these rotten people stay at home and abuse them!

The more I thought about it, the more reliable this method seemed.

While the four bearded men were engrossed in their meal, Zhu Mantang pretended to go to the kitchen to help out, slipped out of the main room, and headed straight for the kitchen.

In the corner of the kitchen stove, there was still a bag of rat poison he had bought last year, which he hadn't been able to bear throwing away.

He squatted down, quickly took out the packet of medicine, held it in his palm, and stared at the egg water that was about to be poured on the stove. He had already planned in his mind to pour it all in.

But just as he was holding the medicine packet in his fingers, before he could even open it, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the courtyard gate!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The door slammed shut with a loud bang, followed by the sound of a group of people arguing and setting off a fire.

Zhu Mantang was stunned on the spot.

The next second, the courtyard gate was kicked open!

A group of young men rushed in carrying weapons, led by Chen Gaoshan.

As Chen Gaoshan led his men into the second courtyard, he whispered instructions to Xiao Kouzi beside him.

"Take a few men and climb in through the window, block their retreat, and flank them from behind! Don't let a single one escape!"

The house was in complete chaos, both inside and out.

Not only was Zhu Mantang completely dumbfounded, but the four bearded men who were engrossed in eating steamed cakes in the room were also instantly stunned.

Before he could even swallow the steamed cake in his mouth, his face turned pale.

But they were all seasoned veterans who had lived a life of danger in the martial arts world; though they panicked, they reacted incredibly quickly.

Almost instantly, the four men reached for their guns at their waists, drew them with a whoosh, and simultaneously raised their guns, directly confronting the people who rushed in.

Chen Gaoshan immediately noticed that one of the bearded men had his finger on the trigger, the gun was fully loaded, and he was about to fire.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand, picked up the pistol in his hand, and aimed it at the other man's arm.

Beep beep. Two shots!

The bullets hit the arms of the third leader and the other bearded man.

The two men convulsed in pain, dropping their guns to the ground, howling in agony.

"oops!"

The young men from the village who had come with Chen Gaoshan saw that Shanzi really dared to fire a gun, and they also saw that there were only four bearded men in the house and no other manpower at all. Instantly, their courage was bolstered, and they charged forward with howls.

The second-in-command witnessed his brother being shot and wounded, and immediately shouted to the remaining three men.

There were too many people coming, all armed. Even if they opened fire, we wouldn't be able to escape.

He glared at the crowd that rushed in, trying to calm the situation.

"Where did you little brats come from? Do you know who we are? You dare touch us? You don't want to live anymore!"

As a result, he spoke too hastily, and the steamed cake he had just stuffed into his throat got stuck, causing him to choke on the spot.

He clutched his neck and hiccuped, his face turning red. The rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything. It's not a pleasant feeling to choke.

I should have known better than to fight with the third brother for that half of the steamed cake.

Upon seeing this, Big Horn Melon quickly pulled the third leader, who had been shot, to the ground while vigorously patting the second leader's back.

At the same time, Xiao Kouzi and his companions, who had climbed through the window into the inner room, quietly circled around behind the four bearded men.