Chapter 22: The Heartbroken Hero

  Today, I'll post another chapter to celebrate International Women's Day. Wishing all women around the world a happy holiday!

  Right before his eyes, this was a master of lightness kung fu. Sun Ce wouldn't let such an expert slip away from under his nose. With a wave of his hand, the sound of swooshing filled the air as huge lassos and fishing nets shot out in all directions, surrounding the large man flying in mid-air.

  This is the real sky net and earth net! The big fellow, possibly thinking he was about to escape from the encirclement, didn't react in time and was immediately wrapped up tightly by several lassos and large nets.

  It's hard to catch your breath, and you'll fall heavily to the ground. The higher you fly, the harder you'll fall. What's the point of jumping so high if it's not going to end well? Isn't this just asking for trouble?

  That guy is really tough, falling from such a high place and not even making a sound. The man lying on the ground in the fishing net was still cursing loudly: "You despicable villains, can you only do some shameful sneak attacks? If you're real men, let's have a fair fight, otherwise, I'll never forgive you."

  Sun Ce strode forward, smiling: "Scheming and plotting against others who fail is what small men do. We are divine men. This is called ingenious strategy, leaving no stone unturned. You are just our prey. As the saying goes, a person without culture is truly frightening, they can't even use words properly. Tsk, tsk, it seems your brains have grown on the back of your necks, no wonder you're jumping so high."

  That big fellow's face turned red as he bellowed: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated! You pale-faced brat! If you have the guts, release me and let's duel one-on-one; otherwise, I'll die without yielding!"

  It seems he took Sun Ce as the softest persimmon on the scene and wanted to squeeze him hard.

  Sun Ce deliberately looked at him with disdain and said, "You look like a man, but I don't know if you keep your word. Maybe once I let you go, you'll jump up and run away. At that time, our lightness skills are not as good as yours, where can we find you?"

  "Fart! Let me tell you, my name is Xian Shan. I've been traveling the world for so long and have never done anything that would make people doubt my words. People in the Jianghu call me Xin Gong, which means 'true to one's word'. Do you understand? You little pretty face, do you dare let me out and fight one on one?"

  "Ah, your surname is Gong! That's good, I thought you were surnamed Mu! You're not only cruel but also crafty! Just looking at you tells me you're not a good person!"

  Sun Ce deliberately added fuel to the fire, provoking him. "I've already caught you, why bother wasting your energy fighting me again? Do you think I'm stupid? It's not worth it, no fun at all! Unless... I'll make a bet with you, just one match. If you win, I'll let you go and grant you a request. But if I win, you'll swear to be my subordinate. Are you willing to take the risk? Dare to compete?"

  Not taking drastic measures, I'm afraid this kid will only think of himself and run away with the goods, and Sun Ce's efforts would be in vain. Another requirement can be added, temptation, temptation! Let's see if this so-called Mr. Gong is brave enough to take the bait.

  The man's eyes swept around in a circle, seeing that the square was filled with captured brothers who were all staring at him with eager eyes, hoping he could rescue them.

  Perhaps he was afraid that Sun Ce would send out a powerful warrior, so he immediately said to the soft persimmon Sun Ce in his eyes: "Little white face, if you have the ability, don't call others, I'll fight with you! I'm betting on it."

  But didn't see Zulang constantly giving him eye signals on one side.

  Among the people here, except for their own men in Jiangdong Army, only Zulang and Sun Ce had fought each other before, so they knew Sun Ce's real strength.

  Others, seeing that among the many generals only Sun Ce was wearing light armor, thought that Sun Ce must be just a strategist-type person. Even if he had some skills, he would definitely not be a match for the number one master of the mountain stronghold. After all, he was a wandering knight who couldn't even beat Zuo Lang!

  Seeing him agree, many people let out a big sigh of relief. It seems that this time they can survive. To know, at this time the rebellion, when the bandits were caught by the authorities, it was absolutely fatal, no one cared if you were the main culprit or an accomplice. So every time the government troops came to surround and annihilate the mountain stronghold, everyone could unite and fight to the death, fortunately they won twice. It seems that this time will also be a surprise-free victory. As long as Zhou Shansheng wins, with his sense of justice, he will definitely keep everyone safe. Once this is over, they must strengthen their defenses and never let the government troops sneak into the mountain stronghold so easily again.

  Sun Ce looked at Yan Shang and said: "Are you sure you want to compete with me? You won't regret it?"

  She saw Sun Ce hesitating, and immediately chimed in: "It's a comparison with you! A comparison of martial arts skills! You little pretty face, aren't you afraid to compare fists and feet with me?"

  Smugly looking at Sun Ce and proud of having seen through his verbal trap.

  "Alas!"

  Sun Ce couldn't help but sigh: "Since you insist on delivering yourself to my doorstep, I won't take you in. That would be too unfair to you. Alright, I agree to compete with you, just the two of us, and we can only compare our fists and feet. Whoever loses will admit defeat!"

  The captives let out a suppressed cheer, only Zulang, with an ashen face, hung his head down. Unwilling to look at the scene again, he already knew that the fate of this group of people was already sealed. Sometimes being able to foresee the outcome but unable to change it is really terrible!

  When Yan Shanzhao fiercely pounced on him, Sun Ce used the same method as he did against Zu Lang and defeated him with less than ten moves, causing Yan to knock himself down with his own fists.

  Because he also thought that he was the last hope of all the brothers in the whole village, he naturally went all out to make a move. But this made him lose even faster and more miserably.

  When he finally fell down with a tragic flourish, all the prisoners were stunned and motionless. How could this be? It seemed that this little white face hadn't even thrown a single punch!

  She actually brought herself down! In their minds, the biggest problem is whether we were sold out by this hypocrite Yan Shang!

  After all, most of them are just ordinary farmers. Even those who are good at martial arts, where have they ever seen two people fighting, with fists only inviting themselves?

  The dreadful silence was suddenly broken by a mournful cry: "Yi Shang! You hypocrite! You heartless beast! You sold out all of us brothers just to be a lackey for the officials! We thought you were a decent person, we respected you, revered you! You animal! Even if we become ghosts, we won't let you off! You will definitely come to no good end!"

  One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and suddenly almost all the captives shouted in excitement and anger: "Kill him! Kill him! Kill this traitor!"

  They could accept the fate of being beheaded, but they would not accept the betrayal of their best brother. Because, no matter how you say it, it seemed that their last hope in their hearts had betrayed them.

  Panting heavily on the ground, Yan Shuang's eyes were red and swollen, but he could only mutter in a voice that only Sun Ce and he himself could hear: "I didn't! I didn't! I've done my best! I really have done my utmost!"

  The voice is getting lower and lower. Ah, what's the point of distinguishing at this time? Who would believe it? Even he himself doesn't want to believe that it will end like this.

  This is another tragic hero who has gone all out to struggle for everyone, but was misunderstood by the people who were struggling for him.

  Human emotions are always so impulsive. They will forever only believe what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. Misunderstandings? And how many true heroes have not been misunderstood?

  Sun Ce seemed to have heard something break, a sound so crisp and soul-stirring.

  Who says heroes don't shed tears, it's just because your heart hasn't turned to ashes yet.

  The misunderstanding has already occurred, Sun Ce naturally doesn't bother to explain!

  The only one who knew the truth, Zulang, was being guarded by the Jiangdong army's guards and could not explain.

  Sun Ce ignored the excited crowd of prisoners. He beckoned with his hand, and let Lü Meng and Song Qian lead Zu Lang into the conference hall located in the center of the mountain stronghold. This conference hall, which was largely built with whole logs, looked quite majestic among the dilapidated wooden houses, giving off a sense of standing out from the crowd.

  Sun Ce quietly looked at his ancestor, Zulang, who was kneeling in the hall, waiting for the angry shouts outside to gradually subside after being called out for so long. It seems that hatred can also make people forget their hunger and thirst!

  "Hey, Zulang! What's your name?"

  Zulang didn't raise his head, he just replied in a barely audible voice: "I didn't have a name since I was young, and when I grew up, everyone called me that way, so I also call myself Zulang."

  "Alright then, I'll just call you Zulang."

  Sun Ce continued: "You know, why I came to find you this old friend?"

  "Is there such a thing as putting a knife on one's neck and coming to find friends? I don't even recognize him, let alone be friends with him. What a shameless fellow!"

  Zu Lang cursed incessantly. His mouth responded: "Aren't you the government army? Come and annihilate us, so you can take our heads to claim credit and ask for rewards! Losing to your hands, what's there to say!"

  His voice suddenly became loud and clear. "Whether you want to kill or skin me is up to you, I only ask that you spare the thousands of brothers outside, they are just a group of poor people who can't make a living, so they came to the mountain to beg for food. Usually, they haven't done anything bad, all the bad things were done by me alone. You can kill me and take credit for it."

  "This is also a good fellow, but when it comes to talking, he's just coaxing children?" Sun Ce thought to himself.

  "Ha! You dare to claim you've done nothing wrong? Yet you attack and kill government troops, defy the king's orders, raid villages to steal food and property, and abduct women? How many people have you killed in your raids down the mountain? You've been a scourge on these lands for years. If it were just one person doing this, they'd have been torn limb from limb and fed to the dogs long ago! And now you stand before me, pretending to be a hero?"

  Zu Lang still had a hard mouth: "We killed those big households and their servants, but we never killed ordinary people who didn't resist us. The servants of the big households came to kill us, can't we fight back?"

  "Hum! Don't resist you! You are allowed to resist the oppression of the government, but you don't allow others to resist your looting! You have looted all their food for survival, and they will starve to death. Where do you want them to find food to fill their bellies? Go to those officials who only know how to exploit them? Even if you say you haven't killed them, they will still die because of you. What's the difference between you and those corrupt officials who oppress the people and force you to become bandits in the mountains? You say you've never killed ordinary civilians, but how many of your followers aren't poor commoners?"