Chapter Ten

  Hu Daya, around thirty years old, was originally a notorious outlaw on the Jidong Road. His evil reputation was well-known, and he was being hunted down by the government. He escaped alone to this place, where he unexpectedly gained the appreciation of Yanzi, a big-time smuggler. Yanzi provided him with money and guns to help him get back on his feet. Of course, there were some things that Yanzi himself found inconvenient to do in person, so Hu Daya was needed to take care of them.

  Hudaya rode on horseback, looking at the eight large carts in front of him, and was calculating how much he could make from this trip. The scout came to report: "It's just Black Wind Gorge ahead, please decide what to do, master." Hudaya didn't think twice: "Don't bother with it, hurry up and get moving."

  According to the rules, he should have shouted at the mountain, but Hu Daxin looked down on Wang Jindong from the bottom of his heart: damn it, bandits are just bandits, pretending to be heroes of righteousness and chivalry, making a living is not enough, if it weren't for the Flying Tiger Fort being easy to defend and hard to attack, I would have dealt with him long ago, what a pity that place was.

  As they passed through Heifeng Gorge, Hu Dajiao's eyelids twitched violently, thinking he had seen a ghost. The terrain was treacherous here, and he didn't want any trouble, so he ordered the troops to speed up, determined to reach the mountain stronghold before nightfall.

  They walked forward for over twenty miles, and then the scout came to ask: "Boss, we've been walking for over thirty miles, people and horses are exhausted. There's an open space ahead, let's take a break and have a drink of water." Hu Dajiao had been jumping eyelids all along the way, his heart was full of doubts, he wished he could return to the mountain stronghold immediately, but seeing that the men were indeed extremely tired, he thought that they should be about twenty miles away from the stronghold, there shouldn't be any problem, so he ordered a ten-minute rest and continued on their journey.

  Hu Daxia was helped down from the horse by his subordinates, and they found a stone to sit on. They handed him a water bottle. Just as Hu Daxia took the water bottle and tilted his head back, two gunshots rang out. "Ahh!" Hu Daxia cried out in surprise, throwing the water bottle far away. His body rolled backwards behind the stone, and instantly the sound of gunfire filled the air.

  The ones who fired the shots were Zhang Tiezhu and Xin Chengshan. Wang Jindong received an urgent report from a scout: Hu Daya was coming from west to east. He immediately ordered Zhang and Xin to lead their troops in ambush. Xin Chengshan had been a squad leader in the Northwest Army and had rich combat experience, so he chose a spot with a wide field of view and no blind spots, ordering each soldier to take aim and use his own gunfire as the signal. When they saw the enemy enter the ambush circle and stop to rest, Xin Chengshan was overjoyed and called over one of his men who was good at shooting, and together they fired at Hu Daya, but unfortunately, just as Hu Daya raised his head, only one bullet hit his shoulder.

  Hu Daya looked up and saw dozens of National Army soldiers appearing around him, scaring the soul out of his body: "Damn it, how did these National Army troops suddenly appear here? Why didn't we receive any news beforehand?" Although he had been boasting about his own men being numerous and formidable, that was just to intimidate local security teams and the like. As for facing a well-trained regular army, don't even think about it. He immediately ordered some of his men to stay behind and cover their retreat while he led the rest in rushing back to their mountain stronghold on horseback.

  He ran out of breath for over ten miles, and the outline of the mountain stronghold was already in sight. Hu Daxin slightly let out a sigh of relief, and when he looked again, there were still thirty or so people by his side. He shouted: "Brothers, hurry up! Once we reach the mountain stronghold, we'll be safe!"

  Before the words were finished, a dense gunfire broke out, and bullets flew over like raindrops. The bandits fell to the ground one after another. "Flower machine gun? It's really the National Army." Hu Daya was almost desperate.

  A bandit shouted: "Big brother, it's the National Army, their firepower is too strong, we can't hold on, what should we do?"

  Hudayao heard the gunfire getting closer and closer, his eyes red with excitement, shouting: "Brothers, let's go all out! Throw hand grenades, charge out, rush up to the mountain stronghold, there's still a way to survive!"

  "Boom!" Under the cover of the hand grenade explosion smoke, the remaining dozen or so bandit carts were abandoned and fled desperately towards the mountain stronghold. Hu Daxin vaguely felt something was off: it was so lively at the foot of the mountain, but there wasn't a single sound from the stronghold? Not good... his heart sank suddenly, and before he could turn back, it was too late. He only saw ten or so National Army soldiers emerge from behind the rocks, their twenty-round rifles spewing out flames, Hu Daxin felt a heat in his chest, and fell backwards onto the ground.

  Upon receiving the scout's report, Xiao Ming led his men to rush over and ambush at the crossroads, trapping several fleeing bandits. The chaotic gunfire turned the area into a beehive. Xiao Ming ordered Shan Wazi to lead a few men to clean up the battlefield, secretly giving Shan Wazi a signal with his eyes, which Shan Wazi understood implicitly.

  When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, the battle had already ended. Da Longma Liu was directing the cleanup of the battlefield and came over to greet Xiao Ming as soon as he saw him. Sun Er Gou rushed over excitedly and said loudly: "Instructor, it's too great! We caught a few prisoners and there are some wounded ones, what do you think we should do?"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Very good, I'll give you a big credit. However, from today on, don't eat meals, save food to raise them, what do you think?"

  Sun Erdou was momentarily speechless, standing there in a daze. Ma Liu kicked him and said with a smile: "What the hell are you staring at? Go check if those people are obedient or not, if they're resisting or not, and if they want to run away or not."

  Sun Ergou suddenly realized, hastily nodded: "Right, right, if they dare to run, I'll kill them." After finishing speaking, he turned around and ran over. In a short while, several gunshots were heard...

  After dealing with the corpses, it had already turned dark. Xiao Ming ordered to hurry up and get on the horse carriage, returning to the mountain stronghold. Da Long asked what to do with the stronghold at Er Long Ridge and those few women. Xiao Ming thought for a moment, saying that the stronghold would be left there first, leaving some money and food for those women, telling them to return home by themselves. Xin Chengshan hastily rushed over, pulling Xiao Ming along as he walked: "Officer, quickly come take a look, the situation is not right!"

  Arriving at the ambush site of Xin Zhang and others, Zhang Tiezhu and several people were holding torches and arranging several corpses. Seeing Xiao Ming coming over, they hastily beckoned: "Instructor, come take a look if there's anything not quite right."

  By the firelight, he saw that the three corpses were all brothers of the Flying Tiger Fort. Two had been shot in the face, and one had his head twisted to one side, clearly having had his neck broken. Xiao Ming furrowed his brow and asked, "What's going on?"

  Xin Chengshan replied: "The one who was shot was killed during the ambush, and the other one was carried back by his comrades while searching for remaining enemies."

  Xiao Ming's heart sank, and he quickly went to the bandits' corpses, checking their hands one by one and sniffing their guns. Seeing Da Long and others hurrying over with a horse cart, he stood up and said: "There are experts. Tell the brothers to handle the bodies, then divide into groups of three, spread out and search, be careful, and gather back here in an hour." Xin Zhang and others quickly made arrangements and left.

  Ye Maozi rode a horse over, Wang Jindong was worried and called him to take a look at the situation. Xiao Ming briefly introduced the situation and said: "Brother Cat, you will have to work hard again tonight, later you and Da Long..." Ye Maozi nodded. Xiao Ming made a gesture towards Da Long and Sun Er Gou, whispered a few words, and several people dispersed.

  The search party returned one after another, with nothing to show for it. Xiao Ming called over Ma Liu: "Take your men and search ahead, be careful of the roads on both sides, if you encounter any suspicious characters, kill them without hesitation, pay attention to safety." Ma Liu left. Xiao Ming had Xin Zhang guard the middle, one person on each side, while he led the rear, and they set off back to the mountain stronghold.

  Arriving at Heifeng Gorge, Wang Jinlong saw his brothers return safely and finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he asked about the instructor, the people behind him said that Xiao Ming had ordered them to return to the mountain stronghold first, and he would take a look in the back to see if anyone was following.

  Wang Jinlong ordered to return to the mountain stronghold. On the way, Zhang Tiezhu recounted the battle and casualties: three of his own men and Xinchengshan's men were killed, four were lightly injured; a member of the Flying Tiger team was lightly injured, with a stone chip wound on his ear from a hand grenade explosion. Hu Daya from Er Longling was shot dead, and the bandits were almost completely annihilated, with one or two escaping. Xiao Ming and Ye Maizi did not return to the mountain stronghold, probably related to this person.

  Wang Jinlong disagreed: "Having run for half a day, it's not going to stir up any waves, is the instructor being too cautious?"

  "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the instructor is afraid of leaking the news, besides, the instructor said that this person is an expert, if he runs away, it's all right, but if he wants to challenge us, we are in the light, and he is in the dark, which is a huge threat."

  Wang Jinlong smiled and thought to himself: What kind of person is this, what kind of thing is this? If someone had offended Xiao Ming, with his temperament, he would definitely be stubborn and unyielding, not giving up until the end...

  Xiao Ming returned to the mountain stronghold an hour later, where Wang Jinlong was setting up a banquet in the hall and hurriedly ordered someone to reheat the dishes. Xiao Ming drank a few mouthfuls of hot tea, took a deep breath, and Wang Jinlong asked: "Officer, you must be tired, is there anything unusual?"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said, "No, it's possible that they think we're really the National Army and didn't follow us. Please rest assured, Lao Mao and Da Long Er Gou are already ambushing at Er Long Ridge, and I estimate there will be results tomorrow."

  The charcoal in the stove crackled, and the hall was warm and cozy. Everyone drank wine and chatted, summarizing this action. Wang Jinlong frequently toasted, with a joyful smile. At a small cost, they had eliminated Hu Daya and obtained a large amount of wealth, something that would have been unthinkable in the past. Now that it had been achieved, their confidence was greatly increased, and they admired Xiao Ming even more.

  Zhang Tiezhu and Xin Chengshan were a bit embarrassed, after all, the casualties were all from their own team. Xiao Ming comforted them: "You two brothers don't have to take it to heart, after all, most of the younger brothers are participating in battle for the first time, they don't have experience, it's inevitable that they're nervous, and it's already quite good that they've fought like this. As long as they train a bit more, they won't lose to any team."

  Wang Jinlong took over: "The instructor is right. However, you two should ask the instructor for more advice, after all, those things of yours are old tricks. This time it's the instructor's tactics that are correct, otherwise you will still be at a disadvantage. I think the instructor should personally guide you."

  Xiao Ming smiled wryly: "This is not just about individual quality, but also about combat experience. Let the guards accompany them for practice and that's it." In fact, Xiao Ming was not convinced of their training methods in his heart, but he didn't want to interfere because of the relationship, fearing misunderstandings.

  Just then, Ji Hongru pushed the door and walked in, rubbing his hands and saying to Wang Jindong: "The master has checked everything, except for a small portion of medicine on the car, it's all salt." Wang Jindong's eyes turned to Xiao Ming. Xiao Ming was also puzzled, Hu Daya would not go to such great lengths for this little thing, got up and said: "Let's go take a look!"

  Upon arriving at the warehouse, they saw that some bags had been opened and some had even spilled out, revealing salt inside. Wang Jinlong asked, "Is everything here?" The response was affirmative. Xiao Ming's gaze fell upon a large cart by the entrance, which he circled twice before lifting it with one hand, finding it to be quite heavy. He then inquired, "Are all of your carts double-layered?"

  Wang Jinlong burst out laughing: "Damn it, there's a hidden compartment. Come on, open it and take a look."

  Someone brought tools to pry open the wooden boards, inside were rows of paper packages. When they opened the packages, someone exclaimed "opium", and the rest of the car was full of it, stacked together, totaling nearly 2,000 catties. Wang Jinlong took a deep breath, thinking: "Damn, I went all the way to press the plate, didn't expect it to pass right under my nose." Seeing Xiao Ming seemed to be thinking about something, he asked: "Officer, how should we deal with this stuff?"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Please let the host make the decision." Wang Jinlong said, "This thing is a disaster for people, it's better to burn it."

  Xiao Ming smiled and said, "It can harm people, but it can also save people. I think it's better to seal it up for now and tell the brothers not to touch it." Xiao Ming didn't know the market price, but he understood that these opium would definitely not be a small amount. If they were burned, it would be too wasteful, let alone still having use.

  Wang Jinlong thought for a moment and agreed.