Chapter 9: Riding the Qilin

  Hold on! This is the time to hold on! At this critical moment of life and death, Xu Yifan suddenly found himself even calmer. Perhaps he was born to be in a chaotic world!

  He smiled faintly: "Everyone who breaks in, regardless of whether they are Buddhas or accomplices, will be cut down. Although all living beings are suffering, I don't want to go to the Pure Land so soon... As a monk who is worshiped by General Uliyasutai, I must protect his family and keep them safe. You few masters, do you still want to talk?"

  At this time, I can only stick to my Lama identity. If it's really a nobody sent by Wang Wu, being minced and made into cha siu bao shouldn't be a problem.

  The daggers of several bandit leaders did not come down, and the surrounding bandits who had been watching here. Those Mongolian bandits all made a sound of **. Some bandits even went to pick up the big guns on the horseback, but were stopped by the Han Chinese bandits around them. Seeing that it was a bit chaotic, that General Jiang waved his hand, and several daggers were withdrawn.

  He sneered at Xu Yifan, "What's there to talk about? Who can come and save you from around here? Let's open up and eat a few more days of sand. Are we afraid that this siege can't be broken through? Five thousand taels of silver to buy this road, do they think we're robbers blocking the way?"

  Xu Yifan also sneered, "Even if you can open it, what's there to be afraid of? So many masters have come from afar, carrying a pile of corpses back. Even if they share some spoils and silver, can they get through this winter? They've been cleaned out, I'm afraid these family heirlooms will all bear your good names on the way."

  The air around him suddenly froze, Jiang Jun's eyes widened, and his face turned bright red. He stretched out his hand and pinched Xu Yifan's throat, using a bit of force. Xu Yifan felt his Adam's apple crackling, and the air he inhaled into his lungs became scorching hot. His vision darkened, and he was about to faint!

  That tall and big man who had been facing away from them didn't know when he turned around, his body swayed and arrived beside Jiang Jun. With a light lift of his hand, he opened Jiang's arm. Xu Yifan covered her own throat, gasping violently, while at this time the gazes of those bandits' bosses around them all concentrated on these three people.

  Xu Yifan's previous words were extremely vicious, and they were actually provoking the relationship between the horse bandits. The grasslands have always followed the most cruel jungle law, and no one wants to lose too much of their own strength!

  Just then, the patriarch of the Du family, Du Qilin, burst out laughing: "Little lama, you're quite eloquent. But you've misjudged me, Du Qilin... You can ask these brothers around us if anyone distrusts the good Du Qilin!"

  Jiang Junshi also sneered: "Just now in one charge, we lost the most brothers on this road!"

  Xu Yifan also raised his head and took a clear look at the Du Qilin. He almost cheered in his heart! This is what a Jianghu big shot should look like!

  This man is tall and strong, in his early thirties. Wearing a leather cloak can't hide his sturdy muscles all over his body. His face is full of thick beard, almost tangled with his hair. But his nose is straight, mouth square, eyes bright. In his expression, there's an inexplicable sincerity!

  He actually saw such a calm and composed expression on the face of this horse thief! Wang Wu, although also rough and generous, after all, managed the escort agency's affairs, and had to coordinate with people above and below. His eyes had some worldly sophistication, but this horse thief looked like a clear and bright moonlit night, with an open and upright demeanor!

  Damn it, I've never seen anyone be so shameless and brazen about being a thief!

  As expected, Du Dajiang's boastful words were met with a chorus of approval from the surrounding horse thieves.

  "Inside and outside the household, who doesn't trust Du Dangjia?"

  "Dugui's family motto: A life for a life, an eye for an eye!"

  "If it weren't for Du's words, who the hell would come here to eat sand? I'm in charge of several villages in Kwantung, and after issuing insurance policies, we still can't make a few tens of thousands of taels of silver?"

  Xu Yifan suddenly felt that his entire plan had been overturned by Du Qilin's one sentence. However, at this time he was no longer afraid, but curiously sized up Du Qilin. This person, who seemed to have relied on his own charm and charisma to command the respect of heroes a hundred years ago, was now...

  To be honest, everything in front of him was still a bit vague, as if he was dreaming. He didn't have a strong sense of being part of it all. It was more like he was an onlooker, curiously observing the real era from a hundred years ago.

  Because of his attitude, in the eyes of the horse bandits, it was as if this little living Buddha who didn't know the truth had no fear at all, and he looked at each of the masters with a calm expression. Many of the horse bandits secretly praised him, "Good man!"

  If Xu Yifan really wanted to understand what kind of danger he was in, I'm sure he would have wet his pants by now.

  Du Qilin waved his hand: "We've been hit by hail for two consecutive years, and half of our cattle and sheep have died. We brothers are already doing a business with no capital, and the thousands of mouths in the mountain stronghold all rely on us to eat. Are we going to rob the common people? If not Da Shenggui's idea, whose idea is it? That General Wuriyasutai is even more useless, instead of thinking about relief, he's deploying troops to attack us! We've already robbed his fourth wife's family! Tell Da Shenggui that 500,000 taels of silver is the minimum, not a single penny less. And that fourth wife wants an additional 100,000 taels as a toll!"

  As he spoke, he waved his hand again, and several people lifted Xu Yifan onto the horse. Originally, Xu Yifan still thought he was going to let him go back, but instead, he was rushed by several bandits to a high place on the mountain. Just as he was puzzled, the hilt of a dagger hit the back of his head, followed by a fierce growl: "Pass this message on to Da Shengkui!"

  As far as the eye could see, it was the magnificent torches of the Da Sheng Kui cavalry. Xu Yifan's mind was in a mess. Turning back to look at those bandits, they were also staring at the scene before them with gloomy faces. Corpses were scattered all over the outside of the cavalry's circular formation, and some half-dead guys were moaning with long and short mournful sounds inside and outside the formation.

  For Xu Yifan, the feeling of unreality grew stronger. Everything in front of him was like a game, a super 3D game, and he had to control the situation!

  It wasn't until years later that Xu Yifan, who had already become a part of this era, would recall the first thing he experienced after arriving here and feel some lingering fear.

  He took a deep breath and shouted loudly at the quiet fleet: "Wu Ye, Han Lao Zhuo's. The leader here is Du Qilin Du Daren...". He paused for a moment, and his shout suddenly burst out louder: "You guard well! Guard tightly, don't let them break in, I'm here!"

  Before he could finish shouting, he was roughly dragged off the horse. Several fists heavily pounded his body and face, followed by a foul-smelling rag being stuffed into his mouth, muffling him tightly. The sound of several bandits' loud curses filled his ears. Then, already dazed from the beating, he was pulled away, dragged horizontally and vertically.