Chapter 4: The Man Who Was Pressed Down

  Meng Yao and Lu Tao were biting each other's ears when Meng Yao's younger brother also sent out Xiaohua, who called everyone to his side by the mountain. This time, she didn't distinguish between big or small heads, but rather anyone from the mountain stronghold was fine. Although she reached out her hand to Meng Yao, she wasn't foolish, especially with the cold light that flashed in Meng Yao's eyes for a moment, which still made her heart skip a beat. Xiaohua said, they seem to have many people too, so be it, let's call everyone from the mountain stronghold and see who has more people.

  "Is everyone here?" Looking at the sea of black heads, Meng Ge didn't worry about so many mouths to feed for the first time, and was even a little excited.

  "They're all here, they're all here." Zhu Datou stood with his hands on his hips and took another look at the crowd, saying "There are less than 700 people in total. You see, not one more or one less, they're all here."

  "It's eight hundred strong men and eight hundred good fellows." Brother suddenly corrected with dissatisfaction, "Don't those school brats count?"

  "Right, right, 800, 800." Zhu Dahu patted his waist and tried to smile, but his stomach just wouldn't cooperate. He couldn't even stand up straight with his hands on his hips. Finally, he made it through the day and it was time for dinner. Thinking about food, he couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick his lips. As the second-in-command of a mountain stronghold, he was used to being in charge, with only one person above him and thousands below. When would he be able to have an extra bowl of rice at every meal? He wouldn't even want to be emperor if it meant having to deal with that kind of thing. Of course, emperors didn't exist anymore anyway.

  Wan's younger brother didn't look at him again, and learned from Zhu Dahu to stand up with his waist straight. He had just shouted "Old young masters" when he startled Zhu Dahu. This lady, did she give his food to those little rabbits again? Just as Zhu Dahu was thinking this, Wan's younger brother stopped again and looked around.

  "Master, master, where are you?"

  "Here, here." Master Kong Xue Meng's small face looked worried, and he slowly stood up from the crowd, seemingly wanting to stand with his hands on his hips, but unfortunately, he looked too thin and small, and couldn't pull off the majestic pose.

  "Alright, then let's have the teacher speak on our behalf," said the younger brother with a nod. As she spoke, she took advantage of the opportunity to sit down.

  "Yes——" Kong Xue Meng drew out his voice, slowly turned around, and faced the crowd, saying: "Everyone has also grown a pair of eyes, I reckon you all think you're dumbfounded by this matter——this is just a numbers game." As soon as he finished speaking, the entire hall erupted in a chorus of murmurs. Kong Xue Meng paused for a moment, expressionless, but couldn't help feeling pleased with himself again. What is learning? This is what learning is! Being able to make you all look on in awe, like a mirage that quenches your thirst, and seeing results right before your eyes, that's the greatest learning. Do you still dare to belittle bookworms from now on?

  Zhu Er Hu swallowed hard, annoyed, and poked Kong Xue Meng with his elbow, "Master, if you're going to talk about something, just talk about it. What's with the tangyuan and bingzi? Stop adding firewood to the stove!"

  Kong Xue Meng glanced at Zhu Dahu, his eyes filled with disdain. After a while, he turned his face away, cleared his throat slowly and continued to say: "Just now, Brother Wan has already told me the ins and outs of the matter, we won't bother them, they are also people in trouble, I agree on this point. As for them, just give us some food, that's enough. However, it seems that they can't bring much food either, so giving money is also fine. After giving us the money, we will send someone down the mountain to sell grain, which is still feasible."

  As soon as they heard the words "grain", they started to get excited. However, surprisingly, not a single person came out from below, shouting and making a big fuss like usual.

  Wan's younger brother slowly furrowed his brow and glanced at Zhu Dahu. Zhu Dahu nodded, and with a whoosh, he stood up.

  "What's going on? You've all eaten rhubarb and can't even fart?"

  They waited for half a day, but still no one spoke. Moreover, more people retreated backwards, looking like they wanted to hide deeper in the crowd. Zhu Dahu looked at this person and then that person, suddenly stretched out his hand from the crowd and pulled someone out, pushing him to the empty ground. "Lin Er Gou, you are the head of the mountain patrol, tell me, is this thing worth it?"

  Lin Erdou muttered to himself for half a day, then suddenly grabbed his head and squatted on the ground. "I don't know, I only know they jumped down from the sky one by one, like gods, and are still jumping around in the mountains."

  Lin Er'gou's words immediately sparked a chorus of approval.

  "It's just that they can't be messed with."

  "They look like humans, but they're definitely not human."

  "We're just fine hiding in the mountains, and that's all there is to it."

  The crowd was in an uproar, with everyone talking at once, and no one noticed that two people had suddenly appeared outside the crowd. They looked at the group of people with interest, who were like a flock of ostriches, and then couldn't help but exchange a smile. Behind them, more than thirty agile figures split up in an instant, dispersing to various key locations around the crowd.

  Wan's brother felt he could no longer bear it, and with a loud slap on the wooden table, he pointed at everyone, "You, you——" As he spoke, his tears burst forth. Everyone looked over and quickly closed their mouths, anxiously glancing at Wan's face as tear after tear fell. Just as Zhu Dahu was about to step forward, Kong Xuemeng grabbed him from behind.

  After a good while, Meng suddenly rubbed his eyes, stood up, and a look of disdain instantly appeared on his face. "Alright, I'll speak for this group of good-for-nothing heroes who have lost their bird eggs. I and Xiaohua will tell you how we stood in front of those gods you mentioned, and how the leader of those gods agreed to my conditions."

  Everyone heard this and immediately looked at Xiaohua, causing her face to blush instantly.

  "Remember," Pang's brother was extremely excited, pointing at the crowd one by one, almost hysterically shouting, "it was me and Xiaohua, two women, who got you all food for survival. You watch, I want you to watch, when the sun sets, how that leader will deliver things to us."

  "Well said—"

  With a loud and clear voice, Meng Yao parted the crowd, walking to the front of the tent under Niu Gang's escort. However, he only took one glance at Fan Diao, whose face was covered in tears, before quickly shifting his gaze towards the crowd. He then rapidly made a fist and bowed, saying in a very friendly tone: "Gentlemen, I am Meng Yao. I accidentally intruded upon your leader's treasure land, and I apologize for that. Your leader is right, this time I came to fulfill our contract with your leader. I guarantee that as long as it is within our power, we can negotiate."

  Meng Yao smiled and turned around to re-examine Xiang Ye, asking seriously, "Am I right, Chief's daughter?"

  For some reason, a trace of panic suddenly flashed through Meng Yao's heart. She quickly let out a cold hum, took a few steps forward, and threw her back at Meng Yao, who was starting to make her feel a little panicked. In the midst of panic, she suddenly grabbed Master Kong Xue Meng and gently pushed him, saying: "Master, you've seen it now, what are they? Immortals, monsters, or just like us with two arms and two legs?"

  "Master Kong Xue Meng stole a glance at Meng Yao and slowly shook his head, saying: 'They are human, but not ordinary people.'"

  Upon hearing the words "Shifu", Meng Yao's heart couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. The mountain stronghold indeed had a Shifu, this was good, at least there was someone who could somewhat understand him and act as a bridge. Not wanting to delay, Meng Yao quickly cupped his hands together and gave a deep bow to the unassuming Shifu in front of him, saying "Junior Meng Yao greets Shifu".

  Kong Xue Meng was startled by Meng Yao's actions at first, but soon he hastily kowtowed and repeatedly said: "I dare not, I truly dare not."

  The two men's unexpected actions and words made Meng's brother burst out laughing. After laughing, she suddenly put on a serious face again and ordered Zhu Dahu: "Let the eight hundred men disperse, and immediately call Lin Ergou to go to the mountain to catch some wild game by any means necessary today. Also, tell the kitchen to bring out all the food at home for dinner, we're treating our esteemed guests."

  How did we suddenly become honored guests?

  Meng Yao stared at his younger brother with a mixture of shock and embarrassment, his mouth uttering denials while his mind secretly speculated. It seemed that all women were the same, their hearts impossible to fathom. As he thought about it, he couldn't help but miss Lili terribly. Lili, it seems we won't be able to be together in this lifetime.

  Looking at Meng Yao who suddenly fell silent, Meng Xiong stretched out his hand with a big air and said in a very heroic tone: "Leader Meng, please come inside."

  "Meng Yao, you can still call me Meng Yao." Meng Yao said as he peeked into the house. It's been heard that a bandit leader has taken over a village and seized the wife of the village head, but never has it been heard that a female bandit has taken over a village and seized a man. If this were to happen, do you think I would agree or not?