Chapter 5: The Perilous Great Escape

  Li Yunzhong heard some "blood-spitting" news while having breakfast: Feng Yunshan had left, deceiving almost everyone, and set off for Guangdong before dawn.

  With a frightened mind, he hastily ate something and took the opportunity to take away the silver hidden in the public dining hall when no one was paying attention. After casually packing his things, Li Yunzhong planned to run away, but as soon as he opened the door, he saw two people standing at the entrance, Huang Weijiang and Ji Wenyan. They had followed him from the dining hall, only Li Yunzhong hadn't noticed. Huang Weijiang was Yang Xiuqing's brother-in-law, and Ji Wenyan was Yang Xiuqing's good friend.

  "Haha, you two, so early, what are you doing here..." Li Yunzhong asked with a hint of embarrassment, hugging his bundle.

  "Yang Da Ge has ordered us two to bring you to see him." Ji Wen Yuan said expressionlessly.

  I'm fed up: Yang Xiuqing is what kind of person, why does everyone call him "Big Brother" all the time?

  "Oh, Brother Yang wants to see me? You should have said so earlier! I'd hate for Brother Yang to wait for me, how embarrassing. Let me change into some new clothes first." Li Yunzhong pretended to be very happy and flattering. After finishing speaking, he quickly closed the door.

  "Damn it, damn it! Yang Xiuqing that son of a bitch is going to make a move on me, what should I do?" Li Yunzhong wouldn't think that Yang Xiuqing was calling him to discuss something. If he obediently went to see him, as soon as he arrived, Yang Xiuqing would come down from heaven like the Heavenly Father and with a few vague words, would severely scold him in the name of the Heavenly Father. Li Yunzhong had seen this trick used several times before, it never failed, so he had to think of a way to escape.

  "Li brothers, is it okay now?"

  "Alright alright, I'm coming right away."

  Forget it, open the window, Li Yunzhong threw an old clothes out, life or death depends on this time. In a critical moment, Li Yunzhong suddenly remembered that he had seen Chen Xiaochun's version of "The Deer and the Cauldron", Wei Xiaobao was caught by the Heaven and Earth Society, but used this trick to deceive the guards and escaped from the house.

  Huang Weijiang and Ji Wenyuan listened carefully to the movements in the room, seeing that there was no movement inside, they knocked on the door, still no movement, then hastily broke open the door, only to find that the room was empty.

  "Trouble, the window is open, he's run away. He can't have gone far, hurry and chase him." Huang Weijiang carefully examined the room, pointing at a piece of clothing outside the window.

  "Yes, he just replied and is still nearby. Let's split up, you go after him, I'll inform Yang and the others." Ji Wenyuan said.

  The two of them quickly parted ways. Seeing that both of them had left, Li Yunzhong crawled out from under the bed and pretended to say "Are all ancient people so stupid".

  Li Yunzhong deliberately chose secluded and obstacle-filled places to hide, finally shaking off Huang Weijiang. Since there was only one road out of the Zi Jin Shan, Li Yunzhong didn't dare to delay and quickly ran towards the mountain pass.

  "What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

  Li Yunzhong was startled by a person who suddenly appeared in front of him. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Hong Xuanjiao.

  "It was you, you scared me." Li Yunzhong took a deep breath and patted his chest.

  Hong Xuanjiao looked around and saw no one nearby, then whispered to Li Yunzhong "You'd better leave quickly, Yang Xiuqing wants to kill you, the excuse is already prepared, just waiting for you to go over". And continued "Yang Xiuqing hasn't informed the guards at the mountain pass yet, you should still go to Guangdong to find Mr. Feng".

  Li Yunzhong saw that she wasn't there to capture him, so he hastily bowed his fist to Hong Xuanjiao and said "Thank you, miss, for saving my life. I'm eternally grateful." After speaking, he quickly ran past Hong Xuanjiao and rushed towards the mountain pass.

  As expected, Li Kai Fang who was guarding the mountain pass merely asked why they had to leave so early.

  Li Yunzhong's eyes rolled around and he said loudly, "I heard that Mr. Feng is returning to Guangdong, I'll go see him off and express my goodwill."

  Li Kaifang smiled and said, "Mr. Feng has been gone for an hour, I think you won't be able to catch up with him."

  Li Yunzhong said "How can you know if you don't try? I won't say anymore. I still have important things to report to Mr. Feng, I'll leave first."

  "The person in front, hurry up and stop him, don't let him pass!" Huang Weijiang shouted breathlessly from behind. It turned out that Huang Weijiang also remembered that there was only one way to get out, as long as he blocked the exit, Li Yunzhong would be unable to escape. So he rushed over hastily and indeed saw Li Yunzhong.

  Lin Fengxiang was surprised and said "What's going on? Why won't Brother Huang let Brother Li out?"

  The few people in front looked at him with puzzled eyes, intentionally or unintentionally blocking the exit. Li Yunzhong helplessly said "I don't know either, maybe he has something important to do".

  Huang Weijiang panted and said to several people, "Yang Xiuqing big brother ordered me to bring Brother Li to see him."

  He didn't dare to say his purpose. Li Yunzhong decided to take the initiative, loudly scolding Huang Weijiang: "Mr. Feng has left, and no one even went to see him off. Yang Xiuqing, you only have Yang Xiuqing in your eyes! Is there still a Lord of Heaven or not? I think there's something wrong with your thinking, it needs to be remolded."

  Huang Weijiang was tongue-tied and speechless.

  A charcoal worker standing next to Li Kai Fang shouted: "Well said, Mr. Feng set out early all alone, I found it really hard to bear."

  Lin Fengxiang scolded him saying "Shut up".

  Luckily, I almost forgot they were in cahoots with each other. I have to take advantage of Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang not understanding the situation and make a quick escape.

  Li Yunzhong said as he walked, "Alright, after sending off Mr. Feng I will naturally come back to see Yang Xiuqing. After all, it's still possible to catch up with Mr. Feng now, but if we go see Yang Xiuqing first and then try to catch up, it'll be too late."

  Huang Weijiang said secretly: Once you see Big Brother Yang, I'll send you to heaven, and then you won't be able to chase after Mr. Feng anymore. Alas! In front of so many people, he couldn't force him to meet with Yang Brothers either. If it gets out, it will ruin Big Brother Yang's reputation. The only option is to let him go, but how can I explain this to Yang Brothers when I get back?

  Li Yunzhong walked with bated breath for a while, and when he didn't hear anyone calling him from behind, he let out a sigh of relief. But then he heard someone shouting his name loudly from behind. He turned around to see Xiao Chaogui, Hong Xuanjiao, and Ji Wenyuan waving at him. Frightened, he ran forward with the fastest speed of his life, occasionally throwing some silver coins back. Finally, he left Zijing Town and arrived in Jintian Town, passing by Jintian Village. He had thought about resting for a while at Wei Zheng's house, but then remembered that historically, Wei Zheng was not a good person, so he gave up on the idea. After running for nearly two hours, he finally stopped to catch his breath when he reached the ferry terminal in Jiangkou Town and saw no one chasing after him. He had worked up a sweat and only then realized how long he had been running. He thought that from here, he could take a boat to reach Teng County.

  They met the boatman who had taken Li Yunzhong to Guiping County last time, and since he knew that the boatman was not a member of the God Worshipping Society, Li Yunzhong thought him most reliable, so he got on his boat.

  "Boatman, can you take me to Tong County? We can discuss the price." Li Yunzhong said to the boatman.

  "Sir, I can only take you to Pingnan County, Teng County is too far away, we won't be able to return before dark," said the boatman with a smile.

  Li Yunzhong just wanted to leave Guiping early and didn't care where he went, so he agreed with the boatman to get off at Pingnan County.

  They arrived at Pingnan County by boat, and Li Yunzhong got off the boat to have a cup of tea at a nearby teahouse.

  "Waiter, bring a pot of good tea." Li Yunzhong found a seat and shouted at the waiter.

  "Welcome, sir! A pot of tea." The shopkeeper said as he placed the teapot on the table.

  With a sigh of relief, Li Yunzhong could finally put his mind at ease. He poured himself a bowl of tea and drank it in one gulp, letting out a long breath as he felt refreshed and invigorated.

  "Brother, want to buy something? I have everything here, cheap and durable." A peddler pushing a handcart stopped beside Li Yunzhong and said.

  Li Yunzhong is now feeling refreshed, seeing him sweating profusely, occasionally using the cloth draped over his shoulder to wipe his face and neck, he said to the peddler "Brother, come sit down and have a cup of tea to quench your thirst".

  The peddler didn't stand on ceremony either, and sat down directly, took a bowl, poured himself a bowl of tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

  "Thanks a lot, little brother," said the peddler with a sigh. "It's hot and thirsty work on a day like today."

  Li Yunzhong casually asked, "May I ask your honorable surname and name, my younger brother's name is Li Yunzhong, from Tong County in the east."

  The peddler smiled and said, "I am from Pingnan County, under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province."

  "Pffft..." Li Yunzhong heard his name, and that interesting name. The tea he had just drunk sprayed out of his mouth all over Meng Shang's body.

  "Sorry...... Let me help you wipe it." Li Yunzhong hastily got up and said.

  "No big deal... it's actually cooler this way. Others all call me 'Ascending to Heaven', that's my nickname." Meng Sheng Tian Bian said with a smile.

  After chatting for a while, Li Yunzhong got to know the situation of Meng Shangsheng. It turned out that his grandfather had three mu of land for growing grain, seven or eight head of cattle for farming, and harvested about 10,000 kilograms of grain every year, making them a well-off peasant family. His father and two uncles divided the family property, became addicted to opium, and by the time they died, their property was almost completely gone.

  Meng Shangsheng has four brothers and sisters, he is the oldest. Due to the large population, during the slack farming season, they also do some small business on the side, carrying goods and peddling from village to village to supplement their livelihood.

  Li Yunzhong sighed and said, "Opium is harming people again."

  "Bang" Meng slammed his hand on the table and angrily said "I really want to kill all those opium sellers, what can't they do, but instead they become the running dogs of foreigners"

  "This brother is right, I'd like to kill all those opium dealers who harm the country and its people," said a robust man sitting at the next table, dressed in luxurious attire.

  "In the lower part of the village, I saw two men," said the man again.

  Hu Yihuang? Sounds familiar. Hmm, isn't he a general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Looks like I should get to know him better.

  Li Yunzhong and the other two also clasped their fists and said their names. The three of them sat down together and started chatting, because Li Yunzhong had traveled through time and space, he could be said to "know the heavens above and the geography below", Hu Tian was amazed by his knowledge. Truly made the two of them admire him endlessly.

  Originally, Hu Yihuang had three brothers. He was the second son, with an older brother named Yizhao and a younger brother named Yiming. His father died when Hu Yihuang was less than ten years old, leaving his estate to be inherited by his three sons. As they grew up, in order to show off their wealth and status, the family's fortunes declined. Later, disagreements arose and they divided the household. At the age of twenty-seven, Hu Yihuang left his ancestral home in Luowen Village and moved to Shanjian Village in Datong County, where he built a new house to live in.

  "Those foreigners originally lived in a distant land, sailed across the sea to come here, and the sea is treacherous. They are really bold and fearless." Meng Shang said with emotion.

  "He said, 'That's called wanting money but not life. The foreigners' guns and cannons are sharp, even a hundred times more of our soldiers can't match them. I think the Qing dynasty will eventually be destroyed by the foreigners.'"

  Li Yunzhong said, "No, foreigners only come for money and the people of the world all hate foreigners, they can't get the rivers and mountains."

  "I am Lin eighteen, the owner of this tea house. I've been listening to your conversations and I must say I'm impressed, so I came over to make your acquaintance."

  Li Yunzhong took a look and found that it was the little servant who had just served tea and poured water, and he was also the boss of this teahouse.