The 44th Little Careful Thought Contradiction Arises

  The strong men of Jinshan are too few, far inferior to the great bandit mountains like Liangshan and Erlongshan, so Ximen Qing can easily capture it with a snap of his fingers. If Ximen Qing were to face Yang Zhi, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen's Erlongshan, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven. However, such a situation is basically impossible, he has such a good relationship with Wu Song, why bother attacking? Besides, Wu Song is still practicing martial arts at Shaolin Temple...

  Ximen Qing and Shi Yan returned to Shi Family Village with gold and silver. Upon their return, there was another round of celebration. On the spot, Ximen Qing distributed the gold and silver to the villagers of Shi Family Village. He then instructed Shi Feng to gather the mountain bandits, including Jinshan, and send them to the authorities. After that, Ximen Qing and Shi Yan took a short rest before mounting their horses again and leaving Shi Family Village.

  On the eve of leaving, looking at Shi Wei's reluctant to part with him, Ximen Qing was also helpless. He and she had no deep feelings, only because he saved her life and let her have a good impression on him. But now it seems that Shi Wei's heart has already fallen for him. In this regard, Ximen Qing can only hope that time will change Shi Wei's mind...

  Two people and two horses proceeded leisurely, Shi Qian smiled and said to Ximen Qing: "Brother, why didn't you bring Shi Wei along on the road? I think that girl has a crush on you, hehe......"

  Ximen Qing smiled awkwardly, pulled the reins of his horse and said: "Shi Dage, to Shi Wei I am just a passerby, it is impossible for us to be together, she will meet someone she likes!"

  "Nonsense!" Shi Qian puffed out his chest and glared, "I've known Shi Wei since she was a kid, I understand her temperament very well. She's the kind of woman who is stubbornly loyal, once she likes someone, she'll die before changing her mind. And all these years, every year there are people going to her house to propose, but she's never looked at any of them twice, no way! Her standards are too high. Now that she's taken a liking to you, heh heh, she'll definitely wait for you and won't look at other men again!"

  Ximen Qing suddenly pulled tight the reins, let out a bitter laugh, and then continued on his way, saying: "In that case, I have no choice!"

  Shi Qian sighed and said: "Alas, who made Emperor Yi so outstanding, that he's infatuated the young lady to death!"

  After finishing, Shi Qian rubbed his chin thoughtfully and secretly thought: It seems that I should go back home and take a look. If Shi Wei still has a crush on me, this adopted emperor, then I'll bring her out. After all, she's my sister, if I don't take care of her, who will? Moreover, the adopted emperor is a good person, following him will definitely bring good fortune, heh heh, that's what I'll do!

  He smiled to himself, then said: "Alright, Emperor Yi, from now on it's up to fate. I think we should hurry up, or who knows when we'll arrive at Huangnigang? Let's go!"

  "Good! Let's go!" Ximen Qing responded, and immediately the two of them disappeared into the distance.

  The next day at noon, Ximen Qing and Shi Yan arrived at Huangnigang.

  Huangni Gang is as its name suggests, with yellow soil stretching as far as the eye can see. The originally towering hills have become low-lying, forming a series of ridges on the ground that resemble a yellow dragon. These ridges are not high, with the highest being only five or six meters tall, like small piles of earth. However, countless small piles connected together form a long ridge, which has a unique charm under the bright sky. A few scattered willow trees stand alone on the ridges, their green leaves fluttering in the wind.

  "Brother, this is Huangni Gang. If we head north, there's a village called Anle Village ten miles away, where I have a good friend named Bai Sheng. If we go southeast, we can reach Yuncheng in half a day's journey, and once we're there, we can rest well and drink some wine. As for heading south, we'll arrive at Dongxi Village. Although it's a small village, there are many heroes inside! Chai Ge, Chai Tianwang, and the clever Wu Yong, Wu Xuezheng... Ha ha, they're all formidable characters!"

  Ximen Qing nodded silently and immediately fell into thought.

  "Although Yuncheng is a big county, there are still Song Jiang, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng three good men inside. But I don't have a good impression of Song Jiang. If it weren't for his surrender, he wouldn't have caused the death of so many heroes, and in the end, he hanged himself to death. Hmm... So let's go to Dongcun Village first. Chai Ge, Chai Tianwang, this great hero I must meet properly, and Wu Yong, this wise and resourceful strategist, I also need to get along with him well!" Ximen Qing had already made up his mind in secret.

  Ximen Qing said to Shi Yan, "Brother Shi, I think we should go to Dongcun Village first, what do you say?"

  Shi Qian nodded and said: "Alright, I have no objection, let's go!"

  Two horsemen galloped towards Dongxi Village.

  Xixi Village is a village next to Dongxi Village. Because it is separated from Dongxi Village by a river, it is also called Yuanyang Village together with Dongxi Village. At this time, under the big willow tree at the head of Xixi Village, a group of people were arguing, and more than a dozen villagers with red faces surrounded three young men, pointing at them and questioning them angrily.

  However, these three young men were full of arrogance, ignoring the angry glances from the people around them, and instead looked at the villagers with a mocking expression, completely in a playful manner.

  These three young men wore white silk shirts, apricot-yellow dragon-embroidered waistbands, and snow-white jade pendants hanging from their waists. At a glance, it was clear that they were good-quality jade, and each of them held a sword in hand. Their elegant clothes, noble attire, and the contrast with their weapons made them look like typical young masters. However, there was internal energy circulating within their bodies, which was quite uncommon, so how could these young masters have such cultivation?

  Just then, a middle-aged man in his fifties with dark skin walked out of Xixi Village and came to the crowd. He waved his hand at the crowd, stopping their scolding, and immediately questioned the three young men: "You three, you beat our villager to death for no reason, shouldn't you give an explanation? If there's no explanation, don't think about leaving today! Don't think that just because you're wearing good clothes, you have a lot of prestige, and our villagers dare not move you!"

  When they heard that the injured villager had died, the other villagers became even more enraged, clenching their fists and shouting: "That's right! If you don't give us an explanation, we will never let you go! A life for a life, it's only fair!"

  "Right, right, you'll pay with your life!"

  ······

  In response to the questioning of the surrounding villagers, the three young men, holding swords, sneered coldly. The one on the far left, with a pale face and small eyes like a venomous snake, said with a cold smile: "Dead? If I kick him once and he doesn't die, then he's possessed! Hmph, such a beast-like thing dares to block my way, it's simply looking for death!"

  "Hey!" The middle-aged man was furious, pointing at the young man with a scowl and shouting: "You, you're simply too damn annoying! Wang Si's legs aren't convenient, he walks slowly, it's not like he's intentionally blocking your way! Even if he is blocking your way, why didn't you just go around him?"