Chapter 1: The Arrival of Fourth Master Rong (Part 1)

  There's no need to wonder what Huang Si Niang wrote, as Mr. Lan of the Twelve-Linked Pavilion said after receiving her letter that he was eager to meet Xiao Si.

  Unfortunately, he did not get what he wanted. As Xun Siye said, he liked the tone of "leaving with a flourish, hiding his merits and fame". At any time, he did not want Mr. Lan to remember him.

  So Mr. Lan Da was disappointed, and on that day, only Geng Nan Yi and Yu Ling Long met with him.

  As for what the three of them talked about, outsiders couldn't know. All they knew was that after meeting, Huang Si Niang intimately clung to Lan Da Xian Sheng's arm and floated away, leaving behind a resentful and envious Lei Zhen Zi and Leng He Shang.

  Very soon, the Twelve Linked City announced its complete withdrawal from the feud between Hu Tong Bureau and Tiger Hook Village. However, to give his old friend a hand, Mr. Lan left behind his trusted aide, Bu Suanzi, to assist Tiger Hook Village in their showdown with Hu Tong Bureau under his personal capacity.

  Of course, all of this is after the fact. That night, including the four major gang leaders and thirty-seven top masters from the Twelve Linked Gangs, were ambushed at the Hongfu Inn and failed to lay a trap, instead being caught off guard. This caused a huge stir in Bashu and Jingzhou.

  The next day, the rear team led by Ge Zhongyue and Zhao Baiquan arrived in Yunyang Town, where they met with Chu Lie, Yu Linglong and others.

  They set up camp immediately after receiving the alarm last night and instantly disrupted the enemy's deployment.

  This time, the person in charge of the night raid on Tong Bao Bureau's rear team was led by You Shifan, the eldest disciple of Bei Mangshan Eagle Yang Laozu, a Jianghu figure from the black path of Bashu Qin Jin, with about two hundred people.

  To prevent Jūn Yì and others from joining Chǔ Liè, Yóu Shì Rán immediately led the team to intercept. The two sides, with hundreds of men and horses, randomly drew a circle in the wilderness and fought until around 4 am. Yóu Shì Rán's men and horses left behind 40-50 corpses and retreated due to exhaustion.

  Qiu Junyi and Zhao Baichuan made some adjustments and rushed to Yunyang Town without stopping.

  At the same time, Geng Nan Yi also sent someone to report back that their vanguard had encountered a surprise attack by hundreds of mountain bandits led by Cheng Xian Hu, the head of Tiger's Den. Thanks to prior precautions, they did not suffer heavy losses and instead used pre-set ambushes to heavily injure the enemy.

  Thus, the raid planned by Bó Suàn Zǐ, who ranked second in the twelve passes of the Yangtze River and was known as "heaven's calculations are not as good as human calculations", ended with a complete defeat for the Huǒ Gē Zhài side.

  But it's clear that if it wasn't for Xiao Si discovering the anomaly in Hongfu Inn and capturing Yi Bai first, getting him to reveal Bu Suanzi's plan, last night's battle would have had a completely different outcome.

  Nowadays, everyone praises Xiao Si without exception, and they regard him as a rising new star in the orthodox way of Bashu. But God knows that this new star was still digging soil and trenches with the dead just a while ago.

  Two days later, the three troops from the Tongbao Bureau will meet at Chengkou Town under Mount Daba. Chai Shao and Li Xiuning also quietly left on the same day, escorted by a group of Tangguo Gongfu guards disguised as traveling merchants, passing through Mount Daba back to Taiyuan.

  As they parted ways, Li Xiuning and Wanyi reluctantly bid each other farewell. Although they had only spent a short time together, the two had already become extremely close friends. Wanyi's eyes were red as she gave the princess a string of Buddhist rosary beads, while Li Xiuning also returned her a jade pendant engraved with the inscription of Tang Guogong.

  Chai Shao was more straightforward and made a fist at Xiao Si, saying: "Come to Taiyuan to drink wine, I'll treat you."

  Xiao Si smiled and said: "Taiyuan is okay? Don't worry, where there's free food and drink, I'll crawl to get there."

  Chai Shao nodded and smiled, and together with Li Xiuning, they mounted their horses and under the escort of the high-ranking officials of the Guo Gong Fu, they traversed mountains and ridges, gradually disappearing into the distance.

  As soon as Chai Shao and his wife disappeared from view, Wan'er stood there in a daze, gazing out at the distance with a lingering reluctance to part.

  Xiao Si stretched out her hand in front of her eyes and shook it twice, laughing: "Don't look anymore, Chai Shao is a married man. Rather than looking at him, why not take a few more glances at me?"

  Wan'er slapped Xiao Si's hand away and said irritably, "A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, what a ridiculous thing to say, Fourth Uncle!"

  Xiao Si smiled and pulled Wan'er's hand back to the temporary meeting hall of Huitong Pawnshop in Chengkou Town.

  As soon as the two entered, they saw Geng Nan Yi and others passing around a notice. Chu Lie saw Xiao Si entering the hall and said: "Brother Xiao Si, the war book sent by the Cheng Xian Hu Pai has arrived. He made an appointment with us to meet at the Half Moon Pavilion tomorrow morning, each side only brought ten people, however, the letter specifically mentioned that you must go."

  Xiao Siyi's butt fell onto the chair, and he counted on his fingers the people who had recently been added to his list of those who couldn't forget him. First were Lan Cang Ermo, then Long Zhao Yuan and Yin Sheng Yang, and two days ago, Lao Da Mr. from the Twelve Linked Ring Sect was also added. Now, even the enthusiastic Cheng Xian Hu, the leader of the Tiger Hook Village, had invited him.

  What kind of world is this? Why do I want to keep a low profile but there are always people who blow their own trumpet in front of me?

  Yi Bai observed from the side, saying: "Fourth Master, I reckon this is a normal meeting, probably just to discuss and decide on the rules and date of the final battle, shouldn't be a fight."

  His family was sent to Chengkou Town by waterway in the middle of last night, and the hanging big stone finally fell, and he became the new deputy general manager of the Jiangzhou branch of the Huitong Pawn Bureau with a sense of security.

  Zhao Bai Chuan, the leader of the Morning Sky Gang, said: "Tomorrow we'll go together, I'd like to see what kind of tricks Cheng Xian Hu can come up with!"

  Yu Linglong said: "Since Cheng Xianhu proposed the requirement of ten people to meet, we will go with ten people and arrange a team to respond near Banyue Pavilion, it's better to be prepared."

  Then everyone discussed and decided that Geng Nan Yi, Long Zai Tian, Zhao Bai Chuan, Qiu Jun Yi, Yu Ling Long, Chu Lie, Geng Shao Hua, Diao Xiao Si and two other renowned masters of the Orthodox School would go together.

  Xiao Si took a look at the lineup, apart from himself, everyone else was an expert. Even if Cheng Xianhu wanted to play tricks, he wouldn't have such a good stomach to swallow it all in one gulp. Moreover, he heard that Yu Hongjiao, the wife of Hu Ge Village's leader, was as beautiful as a flower and had the reputation of "Chao Tian Jiao". Xiao Si really wanted to go take a look and see if she suited his taste...

  The next day, the sky was slightly bright, and Xiao Si, who was about to go to bed after yawning, was pulled out by Chu Lie. With drooping eyelids, he got on his horse and went to the Half Moon Pavilion with the crowd.

  When they arrived at the Half Moon Pavilion, everyone dismounted their horses and continued on foot. Xiaosan raised his eyelids to look ahead and saw four people sitting inside the pavilion, with six robust men standing guard on either side, making a total of ten people.

  A crowd of people walked along the mountain path, and when they approached the Half Moon Pavilion, the six robust men in uniform shouted in unison: "The General Commander of the Huitong Escort Agency's Jiangzhou Branch, Geng Nan Yi, has arrived!"

  "Following that, he shouted: 'The master of Wudang Mountain Villa, Dragon in Heaven, Old Master Long has arrived!'"

  They called out the names of all ten people in order without a single mistake, obviously they had prepared beforehand.

  According to seniority, Si Xiao should have been the last one, but he insisted on taking care of Chu Lao Ye Zi for the next two days as he thought he had overworked and caught a cold, so he was placed in sixth place.

  When he entered the Half Moon Pavilion, six robust men in uniform shouted in unison: "Fourth Master Xiao has arrived!"

  "Xiao Si Qi said: 'Why do they all have names and numbers, but when it comes to me, they're shortchanged and sloppy?'"

  He sat next to Chu Lie in the Half Moon Pavilion, and saw a woman in red clothes come up to pour tea for everyone. He guessed it was Chao Tian Jiao. It was said that Yu Quan, the third master of Hu Ge Inn, was Chao Tian Jiao's elder brother, no wonder she looked unhappy at this moment.

  Sitting beside the beautiful woman in red was Cheng Xianhu, the great leader of Tiger Gorge Village. He was surprisingly an old, dark and thin man, with the only shining point being the center of his cunning eyes. As the saying goes, "an old husband with a young wife", the old one has prestige, the young one is charming, the old ox eats tender grass, and the more it eats, the more it grows.

  Opposite him was a blind man in gray clothes sitting quietly beside the tiger, his face pale and expressionless, holding a black lacquered bamboo staff, presumably the second master of the Twelve Linked Ring Cavern "Heaven's calculations are inferior to human calculations" - Bu Suanzi.

  The last person sitting in the pavilion was a man in his forties, dressed in white, with a swept-back brow and an eagle-like nose. He had an air of self-satisfaction about him that made people want to dislike him on sight. This was none other than You Shifan, the eldest disciple under Eagle Yang, the Old Ancestor of Beimang Mountain.

  People from the Tianyi Pawnshop sat down one after another, You Shiyuan raised the corner of his mouth and sneered: "What a big fanfare! It's no wonder that it's called the number one pawnshop in Bashu. Wherever you go, there are people cheering and showing off their might, and another group of people rushing to curry favor."

  As soon as this remark came out, all the heroes of the righteous way showed a faint anger on their faces, but some were self-important in their identity, or did not want to steal the limelight, and no one made unnecessary arguments.

  Only Xīao Sì didn't care, anyway he was used to being a petty person and wouldn't suffer loss for the sake of dignity. He had never been at a disadvantage in verbal sparring, so he suddenly became enraged and shouted: "You're a hanging corpse! You think I'm a sick cat just because the tiger hasn't shown its might? If Xīao Sì doesn't scold you until your dog's blood is boiling and you cry tears of pain today, then I'll demote myself to be your uncle!"

  He also learned from him, raised the corner of his mouth, and forced a smile: "It's strange, when did someone chasing become a crime? I remember that a thousand years ago, a poor old man named Meng said: 'When you get the Tao, many people will help you, but when you lose it, few people will help you.' You guys have been working hard for several months, and finally managed to catch two or three little cats, but they were scattered by us in Yunyang Town with just three sticks. This is not just losing the Tao, it's losing both feet and hope!"

  He didn't wait for the tour to finish, and suddenly opened his mouth, talking endlessly: "I see that this young master is a talented person with two faces, three knives, four feet pointing at the sky, five bodies prostrating on the ground, six roots not clean, seven orifices flowing pus, eight sides leaking wind, nine mourning ten decline, hundred holes thousand wounds one life alas! Is it possible that you ate too much Szechuan pepper and have stomach pain, irregular menstruation, or is your wife waiting for you at home to hug your stinky feet, so you're anxious and your mouth is foaming?"

  When he said this, Xiang Xiao Si was so angry that he almost choked to death. His words were indeed elegant and melodious, without a single foul word, but they made some people's eyes wide with shock, while others' faces turned red with rage, as he scolded Hu Ge Village, the Twelve Linked Ring Stronghold, and even Eagle Yang Lao Zu, leaving them all thoroughly humiliated.

  After finishing, Xiang Xiao Si took a deep breath, grabbed the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, sat back on the stone drum stool with great satisfaction, smiled and said: "I woke up early and didn't sleep well, some places didn't have time to think carefully, forgive me, forgive me."

  The room fell silent in an instant, and you could hear a pin drop. It was only then that everyone realized that not sleeping well was actually a terrifying thing.

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