Chapter 23 Midnight, Full Moon, Fierce Battle, Beautiful Salt Bandit

  （0023）

  "Hah!"

  Suddenly, Zhang Zhun swung his three-edged spear.

  "Pffft!"

  A strange noise came from the nearby woods.

  "What's wrong?" Yang Yinghua asked in surprise.

  "Over the mountain peak." Zhang replied calmly.

  The mountain peak, also known as the glasses king snake, is one of the most venomous snakes in the mountains. It is good at ambushing humans and has a concealed color, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect, especially on nights like this. If bitten by the mountain peak, within half an hour, without specific medicine, nine out of ten people will die. This mountain peak attempted to attack Zhang Zhun, but unfortunately, Zhang Zhun's hearing was very good and he detected its presence early, taking the initiative to kill it first.

  Yang Yinghua naturally understood what the three words "over the mountain" meant, and her face turned pale with emotion, saying somewhat nervously: "Then... shall we go again during the day?"

  "Don't panic! I'll lead the way!"

  After that, the past will pull out the three-pronged thorn again, wipe it clean on the leaves, and then use the waist knife to pick out the snake gallbladder and put it in a special bamboo tube. The bamboo tube is filled with strong wine. The snake gallbladder of the venomous snake is very precious, and Zhang Zhun naturally cannot waste it. For an old man like Yang Kaidi, eating a snake gallbladder from time to time is very beneficial for his body. After cleaning up, he will lead the way in front.

  Yang Yinghua carefully followed behind him.

  Along the way, indeed, poisonous snakes and insects appeared from time to time. Zhang Quan killed a total of two over the mountain peak, one three-step jump, one silver ring snake, as well as a pointed-nose viper, a bamboo leaf green snake, and an iron-headed snake. If all the dead snakes were placed together, it would be enough to open a poisonous snake exhibition. The gallbladders of all the killed poisonous snakes were dug out without exception and soaked in strong liquor.

  After spending a lot of effort catching the venomous snakes, the two arrived at Peach Blossom Gorge when the sky had already completely darkened. Fortunately, they had prepared torches before leaving home. At this time, they lit up the torches and searched for suitable medicinal materials everywhere. Picking herbs at night was indeed troublesome, but time was precious, so they had no choice but to do so.

  Fortunately, the herbs in Taohua Valley are quite rich, possibly due to the protection of those venomous snakes, and herb collectors cannot come here. Common Chinese medicinal herbs for treating injuries, inflammation, pain relief, and blood circulation such as Sanqi, Rhododendron, Jiu Fan Sheng, Yuzhu, Beixixin, Sijiqing, Banlangen, and Yanhusuo can be easily found here. Therefore, although it was already evening with poor light, the two of them still managed to collect enough herbs.

  Looking up at the stars in the sky, they estimated that it was probably time to return. The two of them followed the original path back. Because they had picked enough herbs, both of their moods were good. Again being alone together, a subtle affection quietly lingered in the hearts of the two people. Originally, after a day of hard work, the two of them surprisingly didn't feel tired at all.

  In mid-February, the moon was full and its light was excellent, illuminating the mountain path. The two of them extinguished their torches and walked quickly under the moonlight. Because of the poisonous snakes, Zhang Zhun was still very vigilant when walking, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

  Suddenly, Zhang Zhun made a gesture and the two of them quickly crouched down.

  Yang Yinghua thought she had encountered a poisonous snake again, but unexpectedly, Zhang Zhun did not make any attacking moves, instead he quietly listened to the surroundings. Yang Yinghua concentrated and listened carefully, and also heard the sound of "ding ding dang" coming from afar, without knowing what it was. Only Zhang Zhun knew that it was the sound of weapons clashing.

  Could it be that there was actually a battle nearby?

  "Hide here, don't move."

  Zhang said in a low voice.

  Yang Yinghua's obedient hiding in the dark behind.

  Zhang Zu quietly took two steps forward, peeked out to observe the outside, and found that there were two groups of people in front, who were fiercely fighting. The weapons collided with each other, and various sounds filled his ears.

  Two groups of people killed each other in a mountain valley, with only two exits to the south and north. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the group in the middle of the valley that was ambushed by another group, with more than 20 corpses already lying on the ground. However, there were still 30 or 40 people around the open space. Despite the good moonlight, they lit many torches. The raging flames illuminated the entire open space, turning it a deep red.

  Looking at them, they should all be salted fish, and Lei Lao San is the same kind of person.

  At the end of the Ming dynasty, everyone's life was not easy. Selling private salt made money quickly and had a high profit margin, so many people took risks and joined this industry without hesitation. However, because it was lucrative, the competition was extremely fierce. It was common for people to draw their knives at the slightest disagreement. Otherwise, the herbal medicine in the pharmacy that treated injuries would not have been selling so well. If there were no salt bandits fighting on a given day, it would feel unusual.

  However, what surprised Zhang Zhun was that the leader of the besieged salt smugglers was actually a woman. Salt smuggling is a business where one risks losing their head, with knives and blood everywhere, cruel and ruthless. Logically speaking, women should not be involved in this industry at all. But what Zhang Zhun saw was clearly a woman. Moreover, the surrounding salt smugglers protected her in the middle, and it was obvious that she was the leader of the salt smugglers.

  The moonlight in the sky and the firelight on the ground illuminated the surrounding empty space, making it as bright as daytime. The woman's every move could be seen very clearly. Her entire body was wrapped in a black fur coat, making it impossible to discern her figure. However, this woman had a beautiful face, a slender build, and wore such luxurious clothes that she was obviously not an ordinary woman.

  In terms of beauty, this woman is not inferior to Yang Yingwan. Her eyes are extremely bright and appear particularly striking in the flickering firelight. Compared to Yang Yingwan, she has an additional hint of charm, maturity, tenderness, and mystery, which holds a certain allure for Zhang Zhun, a psychologically mature man.

  Isn't it that the people around her are greedy for her beauty?

  The salt bandits surrounding her were all holding torches, the constantly jumping flames dancing across the face of that female salt bandit. At this time, Zhang Zhun saw even more clearly, on this woman's left ear, she was wearing a dark green jade earring. However, her right ear didn't have any ornaments. A woman only wearing one earring was indeed somewhat striking.

  The situation was clearly unfavorable for the female salt smuggler, with more than half of her followers already fallen and less than twenty people remaining. However, there were at least forty enemies surrounding her. What made Zhang Quan feel somewhat admiring was that despite the unfavorable situation, the female salt smuggler remained calm, without any signs of panic on her lovely face.

  Since it was an internal conflict among the Salt Gang, Zhang Zhun didn't bother to intervene and quietly turned back.

  The situation outside, the woman was clearly at a disadvantage, in less than half an hour, everyone around her would be eliminated, and she herself wouldn't be able to escape either. Once the battle is over, the two of them can return by the original route.

  Yang Yinghua asked in a low voice: "Who is fighting with whom?"

  Zhang Zhun said casually: "Two gangs of salt bandits are fighting each other."

  He said, briefly describing the situation outside, but didn't mention the woman.

  Yang Yinghua didn't notice and quietly squatted behind him, waiting for the salt bandits' fierce battle to end.

  "Ah!"

  Suddenly, a shrill cry came over.

  It was that woman's scream.

  Yang Yinghua immediately sympathized and asked in surprise: "Did Yan Jiao catch a woman?"

  Zhang nodded and said casually: "It wasn't caught, that salt smuggler who was surrounded, is a woman."

  Yang Yinghua immediately said: "Then you save her."

  "Save her? She's a female salt smuggler, and a leader at that!"

  "She's a woman after all! If she had any other choice, which woman would want to be a salt smuggler? Besides, she might not be a bad person. If she were, why would others gang up on her?"

  Zhang Zhun remained silent.

  Only she would have such reasoning.

  Yang Yinghua is kind-hearted and innocent, which is beyond doubt. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy to judge who's right or wrong. However, her words aren't entirely unreasonable either. If there were no other options, probably no woman would want to become a salt smuggler, after all, this is an absolute male domain, and for a woman to step into it would be extremely, extremely, extremely dangerous.

  He didn't take action at the first time, just because he didn't want to get involved in the internal struggle of the Salt Gang, which was a battle in another domain and had nothing to do with his goal. However, watching a woman being killed under his nose was indeed a bit unbearable, especially when Yang Yingwa had already made a request.

  As for the battle between the salt bandits, it might bring trouble to Yangjia Village, but Zhang Zhun is not worried at all - does he have any less trouble?

  "You stay here, I'll go save her."

  Zhang Zhun said calmly and quietly.

  Yang Yinghua immediately hid back into the darkness.

  Zhang Zhun took a slight breath, pulled out the three-pronged needle, and tiptoed past her ex-husband.

  Outside, the salt hawk guards were on high alert, with one guard every five zhang. However, no matter how strict their vigilance was, it would be useless against Zhang Zhun, a true master of the Marine Corps.

  Zhang Zhun quietly appeared in a dark corner where neither moonlight nor firelight could reach.

  In front of him was a salt bandit holding a torch.

  "Hah!"

  The triangular blade was almost silent as it pierced the salt baron's chest.

  The salt merchant died instantly.

  Zhang covered his mouth to prevent any sound from coming out, while stretching out his hand to gently take over the torch and insert it into the ground, continuing to maintain the illumination.

  Then, the body was quietly dragged into the thicket behind.

  Then, slowly and quietly, he crept up behind the second salt smuggler in the darkness.

  "Hah!"

  The second...

  "Hah!"

  The third...

  The salt bandits besieging the woman had not expected anyone to come and stir up trouble at this time. Their attention was all focused on the middle of the valley. In fact, they had habitually thought that even if someone occasionally passed by the side, they would hide far away. The salt bandits were in a fierce battle, who would come to join in the commotion? Did they think they weren't dying fast enough?

  There are always people who like to interfere in other people's business!

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