Chapter 1: Perplexity

  Looking at the refugees constantly appearing on the road, Gao Huaiyuan's mood got worse and worse. Seeing them suffering from hunger and cold, with a heart full of sorrow, he wanted to help them out, but considering his own ability, he could only give up in the end. How could the little money in his hands be enough to support so many refugees?

  So he could only choose to see but not see, urging a few people to speed up along the way, and hurry to Daye as soon as possible. Once there, let's take a look and see if anything can be done!

  They no longer toured the mountains and rivers along the way, but instead accelerated their speed according to Gao Huaiyuan's requirements. After traveling day and night for several days, they entered the Poyang Lake area of Jiangnan West Road. Once they passed Poyang Lake, it wouldn't take them long to reach their destination, the Gaos' old mansion in Daye County!

  However, the number of refugees here is also increasing, and there are even people starving to death on the side of the road. Such a scene makes Gao Huaiyuan almost unbelievable. The so-called most prosperous era in Chinese history actually has cases of starvation in the wilderness, making him feel uneasy in his heart.

  "Master! I've heard that there are many bandits in this area, let's be careful! After all, we're just a few people. If we encounter bandits, my life is cheap, but Master mustn't get into trouble. Otherwise, I won't be able to bear it! Why don't we set up camp early tonight and stay in the small town ahead? We can leave at dawn tomorrow and pass by Lake Poyang within a day's time. What do you think, Master?"

  Li Tong saw the beggars on the side of the road staring at their mule cart with fierce eyes, as if they wanted to pounce on them and devour their mules and donkeys. He became anxious and stopped the mule cart, running to find Gao Huaiyuan to discuss the matter, this time with a much more respectful attitude.

  Gao Huaiyuan also saw Li Tong's concern, thought for a moment, and felt that his proposal was also for the good of everyone. Once they missed the small town ahead, it would be unsafe to travel at night, so he nodded in agreement.

  Li Tong hastily drove the mule cart, and together with Gao Huaiyuan, entered the small town. They found a small inn in the town, where they left the mule cart, and then ran to prepare fodder for the mules and Huang Yan's donkey. After that, he helped Huang Yan and Zhou Huan put the things from the cart into the house. Only then did he return to the front, standing carefully on one side, attending to Gao Huaiyuan.

  After subduing Li Tong, Gao Huaiyuan didn't always put on the airs of a young master. Seeing Li Tong's change in attitude, he also became much more gentle towards him, inviting Li Tong to sit down and eat together. Li Tong repeatedly said he didn't dare, and instead asked for some food to be brought over to him, eating by himself.

  Originally, Liu'er thought he was also a lower-ranking person and didn't dare to eat at the same table as Gao Huaiyuan. On the way, he suggested eating with Li Tong instead, but Gao Huaiyuan wouldn't agree and insisted on having him sit at the same table. Liu'er didn't dare refuse, so he sat down below Gao Huaiyuan to serve him food.

  A few people who weren't very luxurious called out for some food and started eating and drinking around the table. At this time, a few people came in from outside, shouting and ordering some food and drink in the small shop, and started eating and drinking with gusto.

  A person got up and wandered into the backyard, after a while turned back, don't know what whispered with several other people, several people's eyes began to sweep towards Gao Huaiyuan and others.

  Gao Huaiyuan, Huang Yan and Zhou Hao walked together all the way, and the two of them became more and more respectful to him. Everything was done with Gao Huaiyuan as the leader, and the three formed a subtle relationship. Huang Yan and Zhou Hao both consciously became Gao Huaiyuan's followers. Zhou Hao's family was poorer, so he had made up his mind to follow Gao Huaiyuan in the future. Therefore, Zhou Hao always acted with humility, no matter what Gao Huaiyuan said, it didn't work, and in the end, he could only let him have his way! Anyway, just consider having an extra brother!

  They were eating and discussing the route for tomorrow in a low voice, when Gao Huaiyuan suddenly felt that someone was paying attention to them. He glanced at the men at another table with the corner of his eye, seeing that they were dressed sloppily and had a careless air about them. Two of them were carrying long cloth bags, which obviously contained single-edged swords. As soon as he saw their eyes, he became alert.

  In his previous life, he was a policeman and still had some experience in observing people. He took a glance and immediately felt that these men were not good guys, possibly professional thieves or robbers, so he added a bit of caution in his heart.

  Gao Huaiyuan immediately stopped Huang Yan and Zhou Hao from continuing to discuss their itinerary for the next day, letting them focus on eating, while he himself began to pay attention to the behavior of those few guys.

  He saw the first man, tall and sturdy in build, now that the weather had cooled down, this guy was still bare-chested, with a tuft of chest hair exposed on his chest, and this guy also had a stubble beard, looking quite fierce!

  The others occasionally toasted him, calling him "big brother", while he was drinking and eating meat, constantly sizing up these few people, his eyes gleaming, and from time to time lowering his voice to say something to the person next to him. These few people would occasionally glance over at him, and Gao Huaiyuan thought to himself that things were not good, it seemed that these guys had set their sights on them.

  Gao Huaiyuan didn't go provoke them either. He lowered his head, quickly finished eating and immediately took Huang Yan and others back to the house in the backyard.

  "It's still early, why don't we go to the town and take a stroll? It's boring just staying here doing nothing!" Huang Yan was a lively person who couldn't stay idle. As soon as he settled down, he wanted to go out and have a look around, so he suggested to Gao Hua Yuan.

  "Don't worry for now, Li Tong. You go outside and keep an eye on those few men from earlier, see what they're up to! Don't let them notice!" Gao Huaiyuan said to Li Tong, who was busy picking things up with his head down.

  Li Tong hastily responded with a sound, his face changed slightly. He had not paid much attention to those few men just now, but after Gao Huaiyuan said that, he also felt that those people seemed to be somewhat off the track. Suddenly realizing something, he turned around and hurriedly rushed towards the door.

  "Steady, there's nothing to be afraid of, maybe it's just my illusion. Just pretend you're going to take care of the mule, don't get tense!" Gao Huaiyuan saw Li Tong's tense expression and quickly called out to instruct him.

  Li Tong felt a bit embarrassed, being the oldest among these people, but instead had to be comforted by Gao Huaiyuan, which made him feel a bit awkward. He quickly nodded in agreement, took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and walked out of the room to do as Gao Huaiyuan instructed.

  "Didn't the boss say that those guys have taken a liking to us? If so, aren't we in trouble?" Huang Yan said to Gao Huaiyuan after seeing Li Tong leave.

  "What's there to be afraid of? Don't forget that we all have kung fu skills now, can we be afraid of a few thieves? But I think those people from just now are not good people, they might be targeting us!" Gao Huaiyuan glared at Huang Yan and then said to them.

  "Ah ah! Afraid of them? Ha! I'm a skilled person now, how can I be afraid of them?" Huang Yan was spurred on by Gao Huaiyuan's words and felt that his face couldn't take it, so he hastily said.

  Zhou Hao furrowed his brow, but didn't pick up where they left off. Instead, he continued to wait for Gao Huaiyuan's next words. Liu'er, on the other hand, was getting a bit scared and looked tense.

  "Don't be afraid, Liu'er, I'm here! Nothing will happen! We're in the town, they wouldn't dare to make a move here. If I didn't mishear, those guys were discussing quietly that they would rob us of our belongings and mules, as well as Huang Yan's donkey, after we leave tomorrow! Tonight should be fine!" Gao Huaiyuan quickly comforted Liu'er, then continued to say to them.

  "What can we do? At worst, we'll just give it to them tomorrow! Eldest has two good guys, what are they afraid of?" Huang Yan said with a hum.

  Zhou Hao didn't say anything but nodded in agreement with Huang Yan's opinion.

  "It's true what they say, in an unfamiliar place like this, we can't hide even if we want to, it's probably useless! Moreover, in a place like this, even if you want to report to the authorities, you might not be able to find anyone from the government, so we can only fight it out with them!"

  But there are more of them than us, Li Tong is timid and afraid that when the time comes, he won't be able to use it, so we can only rely on the three of us. The two knives given by Master cannot be easily revealed, otherwise, just these two knives will be enough to attract the attention of thieves! I think this way, Zhou Huan doesn't go out, and after a while, he goes with Li Tong to stare at those guys, if they can eavesdrop on their conversation, they'll come back with some information, so that tomorrow we'll have some preparation.

  "We don't have any decent equipment on hand, Huang Yan you little scamp, take some money and go out for a trip, stroll around the town, buy two single-edged swords and a white wax pole spear, come back without letting them discover it, try to keep it as confidential as possible! We'll use these things for self-defense!"

  "Don't worry, boss! I know what to do now!" Huang Yan nodded and both he and Zhou Huan agreed. Although these two people are not very old, they have a bit of the meaning of a newborn calf not fearing tigers.

  After arranging Huang Yan and the others, Gao Huaiyuan smiled at Liu'er, who was nervous and uneasy, and said: "Liu'er, don't be afraid. You probably don't know my skills yet. Dealing with a few small villains like this is no problem. If something happens tomorrow, you must not panic, sit in the car and don't get out no matter what happens outside, otherwise it will distract me and harm me instead. Can you remember?"

  Liu'er nodded vigorously after hearing Gao Huaiyuan's words and, summoning her courage, said: "As long as Liu'er is by Young Master's side, she's not afraid of anything! Young Master can rest assured, Liu'er will listen!"