Chapter Fourteen: On the Road

  The air in the morning is great! As soon as Gaoquan left the house, he couldn't help but stretch his body and take a deep breath of the slightly chilly winter air to refresh his mind, because today was an important day. When he saw the little guy peeking out from behind the door with a timid expression, Gaoquan couldn't help but laugh! The little guy hadn't slept well all night, although Gaoquan had sensed it and patted her head gently, saying "Sleep tight, kiddo!"

  Last night, she must have thought of herself as a bad person. Although she was so gentle and quiet, the little girl was indeed ungrateful and shivering like a cat in the corner. In fact, if Gaoduan really had any ill intentions, could she escape just by hiding in the corner? Moreover, early this morning, I felt her making small movements in her bed, probably checking her clothes. Although this also woke up Gaoduan, seeing the little girl's terrified face, Gaoduan still got up and put on his clothes voluntarily.

  "Hey! The hot water is ready! Come in and wash up!" the little girl said timidly. Gao Quan looked at her, and it was a bright and beautiful landscape - a good figure, a delicate face, a clear and elegant complexion, which made his heart flutter with excitement. "Damn, she's too tempting! Am I that evil middle-aged uncle? That evil loli control freak?" Gao Quan shook his head violently to shake off the dirty thoughts in his mind. However, facing the beautiful little girl, he couldn't help but gently touch her face and then walked into the house with a hearty laugh to wash up. He left behind the little girl who was still standing by the door in shock, as well as the endless imagination that Gao Quan intentionally left for Zhang San Gongzi.

  With a sly smile, Zhang San didn't realize that he had already fallen into Gao Quan's trap. He was overjoyed to think that his preparations hadn't been in vain. A sly smile appeared on his gloomy face as he thought about how much closer he was to surrounding the master of the house and how much faster he was than his brothers. Lost in absurd and unbridled beautiful dreams, he leaned against the wall.

  The grand and majestic breakfast was spent in a variety of gazes from the Zhang family, including disdain, flattery, temptation, coquetry, fawning, and jealousy. Although the breakfast consisted of simple congee, pickled vegetables, cured meat, and sausage, everyone except Gao Daquan was savoring the news that Zhang Juren had just appointed him as the martial arts instructor for his three sons. Since ancient times, it has been said that "one day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father!" Those who deceive their teachers and ancestors are few and far between, so Gao Daquan's status in the Zhang household suddenly soared! He even reached the point where he could eat with the Zhang family together!

  So except for Zhang Jia's eldest son, who still looked at Gao Quan with disdain, everyone else was extremely respectful to him! Even Zhang San Shao Ye's mother, Zhang Ju Ren's third wife, secretly kept an eye on Gao Quan, and the middle-aged woman had thoughts of using him to help her son rise to a high position, as well as having the handsome and strong Gao Quan comfort her.

  "Old master! Old master! Something's gone terribly wrong!" The loud cry from the Zhang family steward echoed from afar, causing Zhang Juren, who had been in a good mood during breakfast, to suddenly turn sour. He gently put down his bowl and gazed at the steward with a hint of anger as he rushed in. Without saying a word, Zhang Juren coldly watched the steward's flustered expression and urgent demeanor. As soon as Zhang Juren stopped eating, everyone else had to stop too, except for Gao Quan, who continued to slurp down his bowl of fragrant and delicious congee with gusto. Zhang Dabo, looking displeased, muttered under his breath: "Country bumpkin! Starving ghost reincarnated!"

  "Old master! The Red Bandits who arrived at Funiu Mountain recently gathered over 2,000 people with guns last night and launched a fierce attack on Master Li's stronghold! According to the person who risked his life to report back after being sent out by Master Li, they launched a surprise attack on the Li family stronghold last night, and the attack was extremely ferocious! The men in the Li family stronghold who could fight have already suffered more than half casualties! Only over 600 people managed to escape! If we don't go to their rescue soon, they will be finished!" Perhaps because his own relative is also a high-ranking manager of the Li family, the steward of the Zhang household had a face full of sorrow and pleading. After hearing his words, the madam of the Zhang household was also extremely frightened, looking at her husband with a pleading expression. Even Zhang Er Gongzi was deeply worried about his uncle, probably because he feared that one of the main pillars of support for the future master of the Zhang household would disappear."

  The expressionless Zhang Juren, obviously realized that he had provoked this group of red bandits somewhere, otherwise they wouldn't have taken out their anger on the small Li family village. Although he also felt a little proud that these bandits didn't dare to disturb his own Zhang family village for so many years, establishing its great reputation! Just as he was still deep in thought, hesitating, Gao Quan first spoke loudly: "Master Zhang! This group of red bandits must be targeting us brothers! I deeply apologize for the trouble they've caused your esteemed household. Since Master Zhang is a renowned figure on Mount Funiu, you should teach these new bandits who have just entered the mountain a lesson and tell them that this is Mount Funiu, it's your territory, not their lawless Dabie Mountain! So I request Master Zhang to let me lead troops to rescue Old Master Li! It's also to express my gratitude to Master Zhang for his kindness towards me. As the saying goes, 'no pay without work', now that I've received a generous reward, I should make great military achievements for Zhang family village to prove that I'm not just eating idle rations!" Gao Quan spoke with emotion and reason, looking at Zhang Juren with a sincere face, like an honest gentleman!

  Looking at Gao Quan, who was holding his fist in a salute, Zhang Juren suddenly felt that he had gained face, and then smiled and said: "Teacher Gao, you're too modest! I've seen your skills before! This time it's really necessary to trouble Teacher Gao. After all, there are many people in this small mountain village who can defend against attacks, but those who can lead troops to attack are rare!" Ignoring Zhang Dabao's very displeased expression, Zhang Juren continued to be kind and respectful, asking: "I wonder how many men does Teacher Gao need?"

  "Of course, the more people, the better, but Zhangjiazhuang still needs manpower to defend! To prevent these cunning red bandits from making a diversion and luring the tiger away from its lair! I'll take half of the 400-strong garrison team with me! Although we have fewer men, think back to when I had over a hundred men under my command, we were still able to gallop and kill our way through the red bandits' thousands of troops, carving out a bloody path!" Gaoduan said in an extremely arrogant tone.

  With the intention of saving his uncle and equipped with excellent gear, Zhang Jiazhai's 200-strong village protection squad, along with over 30 brothers under his command, rushed towards Li Jiazhai in a cloud of smoke! Gao Quanwan rode a tall horse alongside Zhang Er Gongzi, walking proudly on the mountain road, occasionally having his sharpshooters report back to him about the surroundings. These actions alone made Zhang Er Gongzi deeply admire Gao Quanwan's military leadership skills, and he couldn't help but flatter him excessively, making Gao Quanwan feel warm all over. He thought to himself, "These people from the Zhang family are really not simple characters! You'll be sent on your way soon! But don't blame me later! Who knew our paths would cross like this? It's because we have different goals that we can't work together!"

  With a smiling face, Gao Quan was also very happy to chat with Zhang Er Gongzi from time to time, and the two of them were like old friends who had known each other for many years. They chatted exceptionally happily, but Gao Quan's eyes would occasionally glance at the shadows of those familiar gray military uniforms that appeared from time to time on both sides!

  Less than ten miles away from Lijiazhuang, Gao Quan and others dismounted their horses, then the soldiers led the horses along the mountain path, quickly advancing in the direction of Lijiazhuang. Less than two miles away from Lijiazhuang, they stopped in their tracks, not because of the high mountains and steep terrain ahead, nor because of the enemy's heavy troops blocking the way, but because of the gray military uniforms filling the hills and valleys in front of them, and the continuous artillery fire, dense gunfire that made them tremble with fear! People like ants continuously attacked towards Lijiazhuang! Filling Gao Quan and Zhang Er Gongzi's binoculars were densely packed.

  "Let's have lunch first! It seems that the Red Bandits will need some time to capture Li's village. We're waiting for reinforcements from other villages, and then we'll attack together! After a good meal, we'll have enough energy to fight the enemy to the death!" Zhang Er Gongzi said eagerly, having studied in Nanyang for several years. This made Gao Quan feel contemptuous in his heart. "Just now you were calling out 'Uncle, Uncle' and wanted to fly over to save your uncle! Now you've become a coward! Afraid of this and that! You don't have the guts! A turtle hiding its head!" Gao Quan cursed silently in his heart, but smiled on his face and said "Good".

  Eating cold steamed buns, drinking the creek water fetched by Gaoquan Ren, everyone's mood was obviously very low. After all, they would soon face an enemy more numerous than ants! They might die in battle, and their wives and children would become unattended orphans. At that time, someone might bully them, but no one would help them.

  Gao Quanwan was drinking wine and eating braised beef with Zhang Er Gongzi from the food box warmed by a portable stove, as well as steamed buns made of fine white flour. Soon everyone felt dizzy and fell to the ground. Zhang Er Gongzi instinctively reacted that there must be anesthetic in the water! He couldn't help but secretly blame Gao Quanwan's men for being so careless...

  I was reading a book and forgot to update

  If you want to blame someone, go blame the author of "The Grand Canal"

  Amitabha Buddha