Chapter Twelve: The Shadow of the Native

  They didn't mention Wang Er's apprenticeship, but after the Lantern Festival, Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang led a team of over 80 people to cut wood in the mountains. As the team continued to expand, buying tools, boats, and food had depleted Lin Chunhong's more than 300 taels of silver, leaving him with almost nothing. Therefore, Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang decided to first cut wood in the mountains for a month, while also transporting some out to alleviate their economic difficulties. Lin Chunhong divided the woodcutters into three teams, each team further divided into three groups, with Lin Deshao, Lin Dehai, and Guo Mingyan appointed as team leaders. The nine groups below them also selected nine experienced and hardworking group leaders. Zhou Wang's cooking team had also expanded to five women, and he had found a few more hunters, adding three people to the original group of Lin Chunyi, Li Guangzu, and Chu Wenshan, which made Zhou Wang very satisfied.

  Lin Chunhong did not participate in logging and hunting, considering the long-term plan of incorporating the indigenous people into management, he took Xiao Dai Zi and entered the deep mountains to find the Bai Ya Dong Longguan Temple near Geheyan.

  The so-called Longguan Si is the smallest administrative organ for managing barbarians set up by the imperial court. As it is said: "All of them follow their customs, and make them attach to other barbarians, carefully guard the borders, fulfill their duties, offer tribute, provide labor service, and do not betray each other. If there are those who hate each other, they report to the Son of Heaven for instructions."

  Lin Chunhong and Xiao Daili traveled over mountains and through valleys, finally finding the location they had heard about. They saw that this place was surrounded by mountains, with a huge valley in between. A small river flowed through it, with some thatched cottages scattered on both banks. Lin Chunhong and Xiao Daili had already heightened their vigilance, crouching in the bushes to look down. The more they looked, the stranger it seemed. This valley did not seem to have any signs of human habitation - the thatched cottages were dilapidated, there was no crowing of chickens or barking of dogs, and no human figures could be seen.

  "Lin San-ge, did all these savages die overnight?" Everyone else had started calling him Lin Boss, but only Xiao Dai-zi still called him Lin San-ge.

  Lin Chunhong shook his head and said, "It's not clear for now, but from now on, we should change our words, don't call them 'Tu Man', call them 'Ren Jia' instead." Xiao Dazi nodded. The local Tu Man language has already disappeared, basically everyone speaks Mandarin Chinese, calling themselves "Ren Jia". Lin Chunhong and Xiao Dazi had specifically inquired about these things before they set off, after all, understanding each other a bit more is harmless.

  Two people went down the mountain and entered the gathering place of the Tu people, checking along the way.

  "Little Dai Zi, think about it, what are the reasons for Tu Man's sudden disappearance from somewhere?"

  "Either it's gone out of business or moved somewhere else."

  "What are the reasons for the extinction of light? What could be the reason for moving away?"

  Xiao Dai rubbed his head and replied, "It's possible that they all died from the plague, or maybe someone killed them all off. It's also possible that a landslide caused by heavy rain crushed everyone to death."

  Lin Chunhong nodded in satisfaction, and Xiao Dazi's thinking was quite cautious. Xiao Dazi continued: "If I move away, what could be the reason? Hmm, maybe I found a better place, or escaped from an enemy, or this place is dangerous."

  Suddenly, Xiao Dazi shouted: "Lin San Ge, it seems like there's blood here!"

  Lin Chunhong followed Xiao Dazi's finger and looked over, finding a thatched hut with a wall where a cluster of dark red substances had condensed, which should be blood. The two carefully searched again and found some scattered arrow shafts in the valley, with arrowheads clearly made from animal bones.

  Lin Chunhong held the arrow shaft in a daze, and Dai Zi said: "Are all these people killed?"

  "There shouldn't be any corpses left, you see there isn't a single body here, they should all have been buried. The person who did the killing wouldn't have had the mind to bury their opponent."

  "That's to say some of these families were killed and thought it was too dangerous here so they moved away?"

  Lin Chunhong nodded thoughtfully and said, "It should be for this reason!"

  The two of them searched around some more places but didn't find any more clues and returned to the lumber yard.

  On the road, Lin Chunhong always felt that someone was following behind him. Unfortunately, the forest was dense and leafy, making it impossible to investigate. Lin Chunhong then said to Xiao Dailzi: "Xiao Dailzi, I'm talking to you now, don't turn your head back or feel surprised, do you understand?"

  Xiao Dai was taken aback, but quickly calmed down and said: "Lin San Ge, you speak, I'll listen."

  "There may be a few people following us behind, I don't know how many they are, and it's not convenient for us to take action now. You quickly go back and ask Zhou Shu to bring a few people over, I'll attract them here."

  Dai Zi's face was full of worry, concern etched on his features: "Isn't it very dangerous for you to be here alone?"

  "It's all right, if they wanted to kill us, they would have done it long ago. Tell Uncle Zhou that it's best to catch them alive next time, we still don't know why they did this. I won't go back to the logging site directly, but will head to Qingjiangkou instead, got it?"

  Xiao Dai Zi was stunned after hearing it, then quickened his pace and returned to the logging site ahead of schedule.

  Lin Chunhong deliberately slowed down, resting for a while after half an hour's walk. Sometimes he even pretended to relieve himself and turned around to observe the back. What surprised Lin Chunhong was that the followers were no longer sneaking around, but openly following him. When Lin Chunhong rested, they also rested; when he hit the road, these four people also set off.

  Lin Chunhong pondered to himself, perhaps it was Xiao Dazi who had left earlier and let the people behind know that they had already been exposed, so they no longer covered their ears and stole bells. Lin Chunhong wasn't afraid of them either, advancing openly and uprightly, but the direction he advanced in was Qingjiangkou.

  Zhou Wang brought seven or eight people to rush over, it was already the next afternoon. The four people behind saw Zhou Wang and others coming, immediately turned around and ran away. Zhou Wang still wanted to chase, but was pulled back by Lin Chunhong: "Uncle Zhou, can't catch up, forget it."

  Zhou Wang looked at the four people's distant figures and said: "It should be the Tu Man, if we can capture one alive that would be best."

  Lin Chunhong told Zhou Wang in detail what he had seen at the Baiya Cave Magistrate's Office, and Lin Chunhong was disheartened by not knowing where the Baiya Cave Magistrate's Office had gone.

  Zhou Wang comforted him, "Dealing with the local chieftains is a matter of success bringing joy and failure being harmless, so there's no need to take it too much to heart. Besides, there are many local chieftains here, not just Baiyue Cave, we can try to find others in the future."

  The matter of finding the Tusi has come to an end, but the large-scale logging industry will continue. The banks of the Qingjiang River in January are still picturesque, thanks to the coniferous forest. Zhou Wang and seven others have been going back and forth in the mountains, not necessarily more relaxed than in summer, as for being scratched by thorns and breaking their clothes and skin, the seven people have long been used to it, what really makes them uneasy is that they always feel like someone is secretly spying on them.

  Zhou Wang informed Lin Chunhong of the matter, and Lin Chunhong slightly furrowed his brow before immediately revealing a pleased expression: Just now he was worried about finding an excuse to let the workers practice their battle formations, but now the locals have delivered it right to his doorstep - isn't this like having someone deliver a pillow just as you're about to fall asleep?

  Zhou Wang was puzzled, and Lin Chunhong explained: "In this deep mountain and old forest, apart from the locals, who else would come to spy on us? What threat can the locals pose to us? It's a good opportunity for everyone to practice their battle formations." Lin Chunhong became more and more pleased with himself, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Zhou Wang shook his head, although he had already gotten used to Lin Chunhong's craziness, he still found it hard to accept.

  Lin Chunhong grasped Zhou Wang's arm and whispered mysteriously: "This matter can be handled in this way..."

  On the second day, some messages appeared among the loggers.

  "Second pole, I heard that some locals want to play a trick on us. These days, someone often comes over to spy on us!" Big Cat Elbow whispered to Second Pole with his elbow during rest time.

  "What? Native? Who told you?" Er Gouzi asked in surprise.

  "What Zhou Shiliang said is that he followed Uncle Zhou on a hunt, and it was someone from our same village."

  The two men were clearly frightened, with their mouths agape and unable to speak. After a while, one of them said: "I've heard that the locals are cannibals!"

  The big cat's ears perked up, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't help but take a big drag on his cigarette, and for a moment, he was coughing uncontrollably. When the coughing finally stopped, he said, "We don't have any grudges against them, what kind of trouble are they looking for with us?"

  "Why isn't there any hatred? This place is where locals live, we're taking over someone else's territory!" Er Gouzi said with a self-righteous tone.

  Zhou Shiliang also inadvertently told Da Miaoer that the local people were coming, but unexpectedly Da Miaoer was born with a big mouth and exaggerated things by a hundred times. In an instant, all the workers knew that the local people had arrived, and the rumors spread more and more wildly, saying that the local people were cannibals, and when they saw us being fat and strong, they would catch us and cook us to eat! Everyone's heart was beating with fear, and some people even wanted to leave the mountain, but they couldn't bear to give up their wages, so they reluctantly stayed.

  Lin Deshao, Lin Dehai and Guo Mingyan also heard these words. Firstly, they were a bit skeptical, secondly, they couldn't help but feel demoralized when working with the group. So, during dinner that evening, they reported these matters to Lin Chunhong. Lin Chunhong feigned surprise and said: "Is this really true? Quickly ask Uncle Zhou!"

  Everyone put down their bowls and chopsticks, perked up their ears to listen to Zhou Wang say: "Indeed there is such a thing, for several days now, the locals have been sneaking around, we can't catch them, don't know what their purpose is." Everyone made a loud noise, then started discussing, as if Zhou Wang said that the locals really eat people.

  Lin Chunhong's gaze swept across everyone, and after a long time, the murmurs gradually subsided until they were silent. Everyone stared at Lin Chunhong with their eyes. Suddenly, Lin Chunhong slammed his hand on the table and said, "Damn it, let's do it with them!" The crowd was shocked, and everyone was startled by the sound of Lin Chunhong slapping the table.

  "Damn it, we can't make a living down in the mountains, eating this meal without knowing where the next one comes from. We finally found something to do and managed to fill our bellies, and our wives and kids at home could eat their fill too. Now these locals won't let us cut wood, they're cutting off our livelihood!"

  Everyone thought about it and indeed, if they didn't cut down trees here, how would their families make a living? How could they survive at the foot of the mountain? Then some people who were afraid that the world would not be chaotic shouted: "Follow him to death, whoever doesn't let me cut down trees will fight with me!"

  Zheng Tiancheng asked, "We don't even know what the purpose of these natives is, nor do we know where they are or how many people there are. How can we fight them to the death?"

  At that moment, someone shouted: "What does it matter how many people are in charge? At worst, if we die, the birds will fly to heaven. If we go back, we won't have enough to eat. It's better to fight to the death here!"

  For a moment, everyone's blood was stirred up, and they all shouted that they wanted to fight the natives to the death.

  Lin Chunhong saw that the crowd was in an uproar, so he took advantage of the situation and said: "Since that's the case, starting from tomorrow, two teams will work every day. One team will practice and train for battle, while the other team will be on patrol around the perimeter to gather information and report back immediately if there is any situation!"

  "But we have no weapons!"

  "Everyone practice first, I'll take care of the weapons after we go down the mountain this time! But let those natives flee in fear and not dare to stop us from getting rich!"

  Everyone responded with a loud voice, and no one was inexplicably excited. Which man does not have the desire to fight with others in his heart? It's just that in daily life, the burden of life is so heavy that it can't breathe, and the idea of fighting is buried deep.

  On the second day, Zhou Wang took Lin Chunyi and others to train with Lin Dehai's team, while Zhou Shiliang and three others joined Lin Dehai's team for training. As agreed by Zhou Wang and Lin Chunhong, they only taught simple killing skills and techniques for three people to work together to kill enemies. It was not yet time to use the military camp's restrictive methods on everyone.

  From then on, a row of wooden houses beside the training ground was filled with thunderous shouts and killings. These men were very interested in practicing martial arts formations, firstly because they could have one day off from work every three days, and secondly, who didn't want their own strength to be stronger than others? For a time, the matter of two people competing with each other was endless. After training for a period of time, the matter of three people forming teams to compete in skills also increased. Therefore, Lin Chunhong set up prizes, specially organized competitions, and the first-place team of three could get ten taels of silver, making everyone's enthusiasm even more high-spirited.