Chapter 47: Obtaining Intelligence, Five Heroes Make Their Move

  Ma Chao finished introducing the plan to lure the snake out of the cave, and the nine people stayed in Changyang City for another night. On the second day, early in the morning, the nine people set off towards Beihai Pingshou City.

  After everyone arrived in Pingshou, Ma Chao arranged for everyone to stay in the house he rented. Although the house was not particularly large, it could still accommodate more than ten people without any issues.

  After arranging everything for everyone, Ma Chao held a meeting first. "Everyone, these days, if there's nothing important, try not to go out unless necessary. Although this is Beihai Pingshou, it's better to be safe than sorry, and we must be cautious in all things!"

  His words were clearly directed at Zhou Yi and the others, as Cui An and Wu Ankou were his subordinates and his words had a greater impact on them. But how could Zhou Yi and the others still be under Gan Hui's command now? It was unclear what effect his words would have on them, so it was better to clarify their interests first and let everyone understand.

  Ma Chao finished speaking and secretly gave Wu An Guo a hand gesture. Having been in contact with Ma Chao for so long, Wu An Guo understood his meaning as soon as he saw the hint.

  Then he spoke up and said: "What you said is right, Master. I won't go out anymore. If there's anything that needs to be bought, please have Master take care of it!"

  Ma Chao nodded secretly in his heart and thought: Wu An Guo is quite good, and his performance is not bad.

  "I won't go out either, everything will be decided by the master!" Cui An also said afterwards, he was naturally also affected by Ma Chao's hint. Although Cui An sometimes reacted slowly, he understood Ma Chao's hints very well, which was also a tacit understanding between the two men over the years.

  Zhou Yi and others saw that Ma Chao's two subordinates had expressed their opinions, and they themselves could not help but also echo: "What the young master said is correct, we will not go out of the door either!" The remaining five people also nodded in unison.

  Ma Chao was very satisfied with the attitude of the six men. "Good! With all of you being like this, why worry that our enemies won't be destroyed?"

  Listening to Ma Chao's words, everyone had the same confidence. In this way, nine people settled down.

  Today is the thirtieth of the first month. Generally speaking, on the last day of each month, Wang Fa would invite Lü Er to drink wine. Of course, drinking wine was just an excuse, and gathering intelligence was the real purpose. Today was no exception.

  "I asked Lv Er brothers, the horse public son who came to our mountain village a few days ago is really that powerful?" Wang Fa asked Lv Er with an expression of disbelief.

  Lü Erze replied while drinking, "Brother Wang, you don't know, although I didn't witness the battle that day, a friend of mine went with the master. He told me that Ma Gongzi was incredible, his martial arts were powerful, and he fought against the master for 300 rounds, finally knocking him off his horse!"

  He had a resolute face, but Wang Fa almost laughed when he heard the difference. He thought that if he really fought with Guan Hai for three hundred rounds, it would not be anything high-handed, just half a catty and eight taels. However, he did not dare to underestimate Ma Chao, knowing that Lü Er had not told the truth, but was actually exaggerating their family's abilities. Nevertheless, Wang Fa still nodded, seeming to believe about eighty percent of it.

  "Those two brothers of Naluo, why didn't Master Ma stay in the mountain stronghold for a few more days? Why did he leave so quickly?" Wang Fa asked curiously.

  Lü Er listened to his words and put on a look of watching an idiot, "Wang brother, with that Ma Gongzi's skills, he is absolutely a person who can do great things. Every day, he doesn't know how many things he has to do, can he stay in our small mountain village for long? He must be in a hurry to go to Xuzhou!"

  Wang Fa's expression changed to one of sudden realization, "So that's how it is. Brother Lü, you were right. With Master Ma having such abilities, he wouldn't have taken a liking to our small mountain stronghold."

  Lü Er also nodded in agreement.

  "Our humble temple can't hold a great god like you!" Wang Fa sighed again.

  Then he said: "Lü Er brothers, you say our mountain stronghold, the younger generation is not too small, but this time, indeed a bit, a bit..."

  Lü Er glanced at Wang Fa, "Brother Wang, you can't say that. We brothers may not be as well off as others, but the master has never treated any of us unfairly. Especially since we are a group of outlaws in the mountains, under the master's leadership, we have been doing the right thing and walking the straight path! As for our financial situation, haha!" Lü Er chuckled to himself and stopped talking.

  However, Wang Fa noticed that Lü Er's tongue had become stiff again, clearly having gotten drunk once more. It's worth mentioning that Lü Er was notoriously known in the mountain stronghold for being a "three-cup downer", with his highest record being getting completely drunk after just three cups, his alcohol tolerance was truly terrible. Nevertheless, despite this, Lü Er had a special fondness for drinking. Wang Fa took advantage of this weakness and would invite Lü Er to drink every month-end, it could be said that out of ten times, eight times Lü Er would get drunk, while Wang Fa had long since grown accustomed to it.

  "Lu Er brothers, you're drunk, can't drink anymore!" Wang Fa advised Lu Er.

  Who would have thought that Lü Er shook his head straight, raised two fingers, "No, Wang brother, little brother, not drunk, can still drink, three kilograms!"

  Wang Fa listened and shook his head, thinking to himself: "You're still like that, can't even tell two and three apart, I don't think any of the three cups can hold up. If I wasn't afraid that you'd get drunk and spill all the information, I wouldn't bother with you."

  Lü Er's smile made Wang Fa feel that there might be something he didn't know, so he decided to get the information out of Lü Er no matter what.

  Wang Fa stopped Lü Er from drinking and took away the wine jug. Lü Er was taken aback, then suddenly became angry and said: "Brother Wang, what do you mean by this?"

  "Second brother Lv, don't misunderstand, I'm doing this for your own good!" Wang Fa said with a forced smile.

  Lü Er's face was still slightly angry, "For younger brother, okay, then let younger brother drink!"

  "Alright! Brother, after you've answered my questions, this wine is yours to drink as you like!"

  King Fa said with a smile, nowadays he is eager to know why Lü Er laughed, but didn't say anything more.

  "Brother Wang, you... ask away." Lü Er was already slurring his words, fortunately, Wang Fa had encountered this kind of situation many times before, so it's likely that only he and Lü Er himself could understand what he was saying.

  "Just now I said that the brothers were tight on hand, but why did Lü Er brothers laugh after hearing it? Is what brother said not right?" Wang Fa asked in puzzlement.

  Lü Er listened to Wang Fa's words and smiled, but this time his eyes were almost closed. "Brother Wang, what you said is not wrong. Brothers, our hands are tight now, it was loose before, but it won't be in the future!"

  Others might really not understand, but Wang Fa did. What Lü Er meant was that the brothers used to have no money, but now they do.

  "Brother, you say you're not drunk, but all the words have come out, hahaha!"

  Lü Er Yi listened and waved his hand, "No, no. Wang, brother Wang, don't you believe me? Seven or eight days later, there will be a clear distinction!"

  After finishing speaking, Lü Er fell unconscious due to intoxication. Wang Fa called out to him several times but didn't see any reaction from Lü Er, so he sent him back to his own room.

  After sending Lv Er back, Wang Fa began to ponder. Lv Er said that the brothers didn't have money before, but they would have money seven or eight days later. There must be something strange here, and this information must be reported to the five masters. However, how did they get the money? This still needs to be asked of Lv Er. He made up his mind and began to plan the next step.

  On the first day of February, Wang Fa found Lv Er early in the morning. After Lv Er invited Wang Fa into the house, Wang Fa asked: "Lv Er brother, how are you?"

  "Nothing much, just a bit of a headache, made a mistake after drinking, made a mistake after drinking!" Lü Er replied.

  "Right, Brother Wang isn't going to ask me to drink again, today I really can't drink anymore!" Lü Er was waving his hands repeatedly.

  "It's just to see you, brother. Besides, you know that the money in my hand is only enough for a drink once a month." Wang Fa deliberately steered the conversation towards money.

  "Little brother has forgotten, this month's wine must be paid by little brother, no, next month, the month after that is also the same. Little brother hasn't treated Wang brother for three months now, it really isn't right!" Lü Er smiled awkwardly.

  "Brother, you've struck it rich?"

  "That's not the case, but after some time, Brother will have a lot more leeway!" Lyu Er said firmly.

  Wang Fa was full of confusion, "Why is this?"

  Lü Er listened to Wang Fa's words and showed a difficult expression. Wang Fa saw this and hurriedly said, "Brother, since you have something that can't be said, then I won't ask about it!"

  Lü Er looked at him and said, "What does Brother Wang take me for? There's nothing wrong with saying it! Brother Wang isn't an outsider either. Besides, when the time comes to act, the head of the household will have to say something too. Whether I say it now or later doesn't make much difference!"

  Wang Fa's spirits lifted after hearing this, "Lü Er brothers, what exactly is going on?"

  Lü Er said mysteriously to Wang Fa, "Brother Wang, I'm not hiding it from you, but in a few days, the boss is going to lead us in a big deal! I heard that on February 5th, a merchant from Beihai Pingshou is going to Xuzhou Langya to do some business, and this time he's bringing all his family's valuables with him, a total of five large chests of wealth! Brother Wang, think about it, five large chests! If our mountain stronghold can rob them, then..."

  He didn't say anything more, but both of them knew that the five big boxes of valuables, if robbed completely, would be enough for the mountain stronghold's brothers to use for a long time.

  Wang Fa heard this and was extremely surprised, but he was even more delighted in his heart. This time, it could be said that he had obtained a major piece of information. If he were to send this to the five masters, the reward would definitely not be lacking. Although he was excited in his heart, he didn't dare to reveal too much.

  "These five big boxes! Brother Lü Er, is this information reliable?"

  "Of course! Brother Wang, what's wrong with you? You've forgotten our mountain stronghold's intelligence, and that's this!" As he spoke, Lü Er raised his right thumb.

  Wang thought for a moment, and indeed, the intelligence from Guan Hai's mountain stronghold was quite good. At least during his days in the stronghold, he had never seen any false information. However, those small-time lootings were absolutely incomparable to this time's big haul. This time's catch was a major deal.

  "That's great, this time brothers finally have some spare money!"

  "Yes, Brother Wang, the master of the house even asked me to go, this time the master of the house has brought me along!" Lü Er said happily.

  The mountain stronghold has nearly seven hundred people, of course not everyone can go, at most a few dozen will go, and those who make an effort will naturally get more money. Those who stay in the stronghold can only get less, but how much is no longer a problem for Wang Fa to consider. He is now thinking about sending out the intelligence immediately, fortunately, it coincides with the time when intelligence is transmitted every ten days.

  Wang Fa was not an ordinary mountain bandit, he had read a few years of books, so recognizing and writing characters were no problem for him. Moreover, he was quite clever, just because of this, he was chosen by Zhu Jia Wuyong's fourth brother, Zhu Bao, to manage the Hai Mountain stronghold as a spy to transmit intelligence, which proved that saying: mountain bandits are not to be feared, what is fearsome is that they have culture.

  He made an excuse to bid farewell to Lü Er, returned to his own hut, locked the door and started writing a secret report. He briefly explained the information he had just obtained from Lü Er in simple language. After finishing the report, it was already in the hands of Zhu Jia Wuyong on the second day.

  At this time, the five brothers of the Zhu family were gathered together. "Has Wang Fa's intelligence arrived?" asked Zhu Long, the eldest of the Zhu family.

  Every time the intelligence arrived first in the hands of Lao Si Zhu Bao, because Wang Fa was originally under Zhu Bao's command, and also because among the five brothers only Lao Si Zhu Bao and Lao Wu Zhu Lang could read, the other three were illiterate.

  So every time the intelligence reaches Zhu Bao's hands, he is the first to understand it, and then he will show the intelligence to several other brothers. Of course, letting Lao Da, Lao Er and Lao San see it is just a symbolic meaning. In the end, Zhu Bao still has to tell them about it in detail, and if anyone has any questions, they will discuss it together.

  "Yes, big brother." Then Zhu Bao handed Wang's report to his big brother Zhu Long to take a look, and then explained the contents in detail.

  He had just finished speaking, when Lao San Zhu Xiong burst out laughing, "Brothers, let's do this deal and let all the younger brothers make a small fortune! Big Brother, let me take fifty brothers to go!"

  Zhu Bao furrowed his brow as soon as he heard it and thought that the news was uncertain whether true or false, if not careful, he would fall.

  "Third brother, don't be impatient, let's hear what big brother has to say." Zhu Bao pulled out the eldest brother Zhu Long, after all, he was the most authoritative among the brothers.

  "Brothers, we must do this business, not just because of those five big boxes of wealth, but more importantly, it's what that little rascal Gan Hai has set his sights on. We absolutely can't let it go!"

  As soon as Zhu Long's voice fell, Eldest Brother Zhu Hu called out: "Damn it, not a single word is wrong! Big brother, you're absolutely right, let alone five big boxes, even if it were just five coins, I, Zhu Hu, would still want to fight for it!"

  Zhu Bao's eyebrows furrowed even deeper, thinking to himself that his elder brothers had always been like this, rarely considering anything carefully. What if they really fell into someone else's trap?

  "Big brother, second brother, third brother, if this is true, then we can go and rob them without any problem. But if this is a trap..."

  "Lao Si, what you said is also right, this matter must be handled with care." Zhu Long thought for a moment and said.

  Lao Wu Zhu Lang, who had been silent all along, smiled and said, "It's easy to distinguish between true and false. We can send two scouts to Pingshou to investigate. If it's true and not a trap, one person will follow the other and pay attention to their movements, while the other will return to the mountain stronghold to report back. By then, we can still go!"

  After hearing Zhu Lang's words, Old Big Brother Zhu Long nodded heavily, "I think we'll just go with what Old Fifth said!"

  Although Zhu Bao felt that Zhu Lang's method was not safe, he couldn't think of a better way either and could only do it this way for now. To say the truth, this matter was indeed interesting, seeming both real and fake at the same time, and Zhu Bao really couldn't tell them apart. Now he could only secretly pray that the scouts sent to gather intelligence would bring back the truth.

  Actually, sometimes it's not that you don't understand anything, but rather that you only understand a little bit. Especially someone like Zhu Biao, who is half-baked and always wavering, he is absolutely the weakest link among the five of them.

  Zhu Long sent two trusted men who were good at gathering information - Zhang Ming and Zhang Liang.

  Send the two brothers to Ping Shou, tell them no matter what method is used, they must find out the truth of this matter. If it's true, one will follow the other and the other will return to report back. If it's false, both will return.

  Whether true or false, they will be heavily rewarded when they return, and the two of them gladly accepted the task and left.