Chapter 52: Daring to Play with the Old Tiger Bird Facing Heaven

  "Brother Xing, is Luoyang City very big? Is it bigger than JinYang City?" Xu Wanlin asked curiously, following closely behind Zhao Xing.

  "It's huge! It's as big as four Jin Yang cities!" Zhao Xing casually replied.

  "How would you know if you haven't been?" Curious Baby continued to ask.

  "I've been there in my dreams." Zhao Xing said with a pretentious tone.

  "Cut!" Xue Wanlin and Zhao Yu, who had learned Zhao Xing's catchphrase, simultaneously rolled their eyes, almost to the point of giving Zhao Xing the middle finger. Fortunately, Zhao Xing wasn't in the habit of using that gesture.

  "Your Honor, is the emperor's palace bigger than the Sleeping Tiger Mansion?" Li Tiezhu also chimed in to annoy him.

  "It's probably even bigger than the Sleeping Tiger Mansion! The emperor's residence must be a place of gold and jade, with deep palaces and high walls, pavilions and towers, birds singing and flowers fragrant..." Zhao Yu's eyes were filled with longing.

  "After I grow up, I'll drive the emperor away and let Master Zhao move in with you!" Li Tiezhu said with a flattering face, speaking to Zhao Yu with an air of importance.

  "I'd rather live with my brother than him!" Zhao Yu curled up her lips in disdain.

  "Once you enter the capital, don't ever say such things again, or I'll castrate you with one knife and send you into the palace to be a eunuch, let you live with the emperor!" Zhao Xing heard Li Tiezhu's words becoming more and more unreliable, so he fiercely intimidated him, while making slashing motions with his hand.

  After hearing this, Li Tiezhu's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he quickly closed his legs and fell to the back of the team, fearing that the bird under him would fly away without wings. He had personally seen Zhu Muyu (Muru Yu) being shot and captured because he cursed at Zhao Xing's mother, and Zhao Xing angrily castrated him with a single knife. How tragic! Even thinking about it now makes one's legs tremble.

  Zhao Xing made a solemn vow that day, no one could bully his own mother. As a result, Zhu Mu Yu was rescued and scolded incessantly, scolding Zhao Xing and Zhao Xing's parents. In the midst of great anger, Zhao Xing did not behead him with a single knife, which was already considered self-restraint.

  The national scolding from ancient times to the present is just this "subject-predicate-object" grammatical structure, even if it's changed to a different dialect or verb. Zhao Xing thought maliciously at the time, I'll make you curse happily, and then castrate you, see if you dare to curse again! You curse once, and you'll think of yourself as just a eunuch, and the double blow of physical and mental torture can directly shut people up. Indeed, after being castrated, Zhu Mu Yu never cursed again.

  Zhao Xing's team, who had already left Jiguan, slowly made their way towards the ferry terminal. Zhao Xing, who was in the middle of a heated argument with Zhao Yu and Xu Wanlin, suddenly noticed that the team ahead had come to a halt. He shouted for Li Tiezhu to go forward, "Go take a look at what's going on up front, why has the convoy stopped?"

  Zhao Xing had completely forgotten his previous intention to cut himself, and Li Tiezhu, no longer worried about his own small bird, spread his legs and ran towards the front of the team. Before long, he returned to Zhao Xing's horse. "Reporting to the master, a group of bandits were found blocking the road ahead, and our guards have already clashed with them. Several of us were injured, but no one has died yet. We also injured several of their men." Li Tiezhu said loudly and quickly.

  "Oh, bandits again. Is this how I, Zhao Xing, am supposed to be treated?" Zhao Xing muttered to himself with a gloomy face, "I'll go take a look at who these robbers are, you few girls stay in the carriage and don't wander off!"

  Zhao Xing had just left, and Zhao Yu, who was not at peace, instigated Hu Xiang'er, saying: "Xiang'er sister, we all know martial arts, let's go ahead and have some fun! At worst, we won't bring Wanlin..."

  "Hmph, you dare not bring me along? I'll call Brother-in-law back!" Xǔ Wǎnlín discovered that she was being treated as a burden and her heart ignited with anger, ready to erupt on the spot.

  "You two stop quarreling, we'll hide behind the crowd and sneak a few glances, don't let Brother Xing find out" Hu Yan'er mediated on the side.

  Zhao Xing was still having a good dream, like the last time he received Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao, but when he arrived at the front, he found that things were not right. The dozens of bandits who blocked the road had strict discipline, using standard military swords, which did not seem to be the usual mountain bandits or roadside robbers, but rather like soldiers without uniforms. Thinking that this place was only a few dozen miles away from the garrison at Ji Guan, and the thieves opposite were only looting property without killing people, it was likely that these people were actually soldiers disguised as thieves. The military discipline of the government army was so lax, and it was estimated that they had done many bad things to bully the common people and wreak havoc in the countryside.

  "Men in front, I am Zhao Xing, the sworn brother of Guan Yu, the chief of Pingyang County, and the master of Wohu Village! If you don't have money for wine, I can lend you some. But if you want to rob me and my entourage's goods, you'll have to ask my spear in hand if it agrees!" Zhao Xing shouted with a fierce look on his face.

  "Big brother, what to do? Are we going to rob or not? The white-faced guy opposite us is the sworn brother of Guan Yu, the fierce general of Shangdang. If we provoke him, we may not be able to get away with it." A bandit said to their leader.

  "The village head over there is not easy to deal with, if things go wrong, we'll have to settle here today, let's retreat!" The leader of the thieves said to his followers. "Heh heh, what a pretty little girl... and there are three of them..." Just as the thief was about to turn around on horseback, he suddenly saw Hu Xiang'er, Zhao Yu, and Xu Wanlin peeking out from behind the crowd, and his lustful heart rose, unable to move his gaze.

  "Let us leave if you want, but you must agree to one thing!" The bandit leader's eyes turned red with rage, and he began to lead himself down a path of no return.

  "Good fellow, what's going on?" Zhao Xing still didn't know that Hu Xiang'er and the others were hiding behind him, sneaking a peek around.

  "The merchant caravan can pass through, but the three women behind you must stay!" The bandit leader had just sentenced himself to death without realizing it.

  Zhao Xing turned his head and suddenly saw three faces as beautiful as flowers, staring fiercely at the bandits in front of them. "Damn it, dare to mess with my wife and sister-in-law, little sister! Do you think I don't dare kill people?" Zhao Xing's heart was also burning with anger, just about to take action to kill someone, but heard Hu Xiang'er who had already walked up to him say in a low voice: "Husband, don't move, let me handle these small thieves, it's just right for me to exercise my limbs!"

  "Are you able to cope with the thieves across from us who are disguised as government soldiers?" Zhao Xing asked with concern.

  "Such a petty person, you just watch my skills!" After saying this, Hu Yan'er had Zhuang Ding lead over a fine horse, and she floated onto the horseback like a swallow skimming water. "Husband, lend me your longbow for a moment!"

  "Third Brother, lend me your long spear for a moment!" Zhao Yu, who was also unwilling to be left behind, wanted to stretch his limbs.

  Looking at the leader of the thieves who was getting impatient, Zhao Xing said to the crowd beside him, "Since we've decided to take action, don't hold back, leave no one alive!"

  "Kill!" As soon as Zhao Xing's order to kill was given, a "bang" sound came from the bowstring in Hu Xiang'er's hand. The leader of the thieves opposite him, with a lustful smile on his face, was hit by an arrow and fell off his horse with a miserable cry, apparently dead.

  The gangsters, seeing their big brother shot dead by an arrow, suddenly became like a beehive being poked, and shouted as they killed their way over. Before they could get close, however, they were intercepted by Zhao Yu, who had already welcomed them. All that could be seen was Zhao Yu's long spear dancing in the air, as fierce as a lioness, and anyone who was touched by her spear would have a bloody hole in their throat.

  Zhao Xing looked on in amazement, thinking that Zhao Yu had followed Zhao Yun to Changshan and had also learned a set of unbeatable martial arts. It seemed that it would be better for him to avoid provoking this little lioness in the future. Those officials and bandits who were killed by her were a good example! In front, Zhao Yu wielded his spear with precision, while behind, Hu Xiang'er's large bow was also not idle. Zhao Yu took down one thief with each spear thrust, and Hu Xiang'er took down one with each arrow. In the blink of an eye, the two women had killed over a dozen thieves!

  The gang of thieves saw that the situation was not good, and they were about to retreat and escape, but found that they had been surrounded by Zhuang Ding's men, with no way out. As the saying goes, "a cornered rabbit will still bite", the desperate thieves went berserk, and launched a fierce attack on Zhao Yu.

  Although Zhao Yu's marksmanship was quite impressive, with a few moves reminiscent of Zhao Yun's style, she was after all a young woman and couldn't hold out for long surrounded by the bandits. Seeing this, Zhao Xing shouted loudly to the villagers: "Everyone work together, fight them to the death, don't let one of these thieves escape!"

  Zhuang Ding and the others had been watching from all sides, their blood boiling with excitement. After receiving Zhao Xing's order, several people called out to an officer bandit, and in the conversation, they finished off the remaining dozen or so fierce bandits!

  "We must leave quickly, the soldiers at the Ji Pass may arrive immediately!" Without time to praise Hu Xiang'er and Zhao Yu, Zhao Xing summoned everyone to set off immediately.

  "Sister-in-law, Wanyin feels so useless..." Taking advantage of the crowd rushing to catch up, Hu Xiang'er and Zhao Yu got back on the horse carriage to rest again. Xu Wanyin leaned in close to Zhao Xing and said quietly.

  "Wanlin, how can you say that? Everyone's experiences are different, and their talents will naturally be different. Xing'er and Xiaoyu are skilled in archery and horseback riding, but Wanlin's needlework is better than theirs! As a daughter-in-law, as long as she takes care of her husband and children well, the rest can be left to her brother-in-law!" Zhao Xing patiently advised.

  "Brother-in-law is cheating!" Xu Wanlin said discontentedly. "The embroidery was done by my sister!"

  "Alas, this little girl is really hard to coax," Zhao Xing thought to himself, but he said out loud, "Wenlin, why do you need to compare everything with others? Look at me, I'm not as good at martial arts as Guan Yu or Zhao Yun, and my strategies are not as clever as Jia Xu's. Yet, I can still achieve something! You should learn to discover your own strengths and see the weaknesses of others. That way, you can live a peaceful life!" Some unscrupulous little brat completely turned this phrase on its head.

  "Hehe, brother-in-law, I've always known you're shameless, but today I found out you're actually very shameless!" Xǔ Wǎnlín said with a smile.

  All the way with Xu Wanlin nonsense, until the evening at ten o'clock, everyone successfully crossed the Yellow River by boat, and Luoyang was only a few days away. There were many inns on both sides of the ferry terminal for travelers to rest and stay overnight. Zhao Xing chose an inn with a larger facade and more rooms to move in. Along the way, resting and staying overnight was a common occurrence, but unexpectedly, this time on the south bank of the Yellow River, Zhao Xing met an old acquaintance. Who do you think it is? It turned out to be Liu Jili, who had traveled all over the country.

  Two people met unexpectedly in the wine building, and they were extremely happy. Zhao Xing still remembered Liu Jili's financial support back then and had been thinking of repaying him. Now that they met again, they naturally chatted enthusiastically.

  "What business did Brother Ji Yi go to Luoyang for this time?" Zhao Xing asked.

  "This time I went to Luoyang, it wasn't for business, but to visit relatives." Liu Jili smiled wryly and slowly told Zhao Xing about his experiences over the past few years.

  Liu Jili's caravan had set out not long ago, loaded with goods, heading towards the outside of Yanmen Pass, taking the usual trade route. Unexpectedly, they were ambushed by the Xianbei people, and the loss of men and horses was severe, let alone the goods being looted completely. Liu Jili had been traveling north and south for many years, accumulating a considerable amount of family property. Although he didn't mind losing the goods, the key issue was compensating the families of the caravan guards who were killed or injured in the incident, which cost him a lot of money. After this incident, Liu Jili became disheartened and lost interest in running his caravan business. He sold off the remaining family property and went to Luoyang to visit relatives, hoping to find a new livelihood in the city.

  "Has Brother Liu ever heard of the Drunken Immortal Building in Shangdang?" A certain unscrupulous young man, who was currently worried about selecting a new owner for the Luoyang Drunken Immortal Building, brightened up upon hearing Liu Jili's words and a plan formed in his mind.

  "Zui Xian Lou has already made a name for itself with its Changhe Daqu, I'm well aware of that. Isn't this your family's business?" Liu Jili said.

  "My younger brother is going to Luoyang, but it's actually to open the third Drunken Immortal Pavilion within the city of Luoyang. If you're not opposed to it, older brother Li, I'll entrust the management of this wine shop to you." Zhao Xing said with a sly smile.

  "What a beautiful difference, it's hard to come by!" Liu Jili was also a sensible person. Since Zhao Xing didn't treat him as an outsider, he no longer put on airs.

  "Then let's have Brother Liu accompany me tomorrow!" Zhao Xing slapped his hand on the table, finalizing the decision.