The 48th Encounter

  Ximen Qing had not yet reached the entrance of Xicun Village when he saw Shi Yan leading a horse and waiting for him. Seeing Ximen Qing approaching, Shi Yan hastily led the horse to greet him.

  Shi Qian looked around and smiled: "Yidi, is it solved?"

  Ximen Qing nodded and said, "Yes, kill them all. These three men have no regard for human life, no sense of morality. If we don't kill them now, who knows how many more innocent people they will harm in the future? Moreover, their origins are unknown, and they come from a noble background. If we let them go now, they will harbor resentment in their hearts, which will lead to even more unnecessary trouble later on. Ah, right, Big Brother Shi, what did you tell those villagers?"

  He stroked his beard and said, "They're grateful to me for helping them catch those people and bring them to justice. I also gave the deceased's family 100 taels of silver, plus the 30 taels of gold ingots, which is enough to make them the richest family in the village! Hehe..."

  One hundred and two silver ingots, thirty gold bars, this is an absolute fortune for a poor farming family! With this money, they don't have to worry about their livelihood for the rest of their lives.

  Ximen Qing took the reins handed over by Shi Yong and mounted his horse, saying: "Alright, now that we've made arrangements, let's go, Brother Shi. East Creek Village shouldn't be far from here, should it?"

  He pointed to a farmhouse not far away and said, "See? That's Dongxi Village. After crossing the river and entering the village, the first house is Chong Tianwang's home. Look at the sky, it's getting late, we can have a good meal and sleep there tonight!"

  Ximen Qing was overjoyed in his heart, and immediately disassembled the Fang Tianhua halberd, hanging it on both sides of the horse saddle. He then said: "Alright, let's hurry up and go! Drive!"

  "Drive—"

  ······

  Two men rode horses and soon arrived at a small river between Xicun Village and Dongcun Village.

  Just as Ximen Qing and Shi Yan were about to lead the horse across the bridge, a sudden shout came from behind: "Hey, you two in front, be careful, my horse is startled!"

  Ximen Qing looked out and saw a man riding a horse at full gallop, the horse was like crazy, not listening to the reins, and running wildly. The man on the horse was using all his strength to pull the reins to try to stop the horse, but the frightened horse didn't listen at all, it let out a loud whinny and ran even faster.

  "Damn horse, if you don't stop now, I'll hack you to death with one slash!" The man on the horse, unable to control it, was so enraged that he directly drew out the wooden knife from the saddle, ready to slash this mad horse to death.

  At this time, the mad horse had already arrived in front of Ximen Qing.

  "Hey, you two little rascals, aren't you leaving yet? Be careful or the crazy horse will trample your legs to pieces!" The man on horseback suddenly yelled and immediately jumped up, shouting: "Damn it, dead horse, do you think I'm easy to bully?"

  Just as Hanzi was about to deal with the mad horse, Ximen Qing made a move.

  With one swift step, Ximen Qing moved forward and directly grabbed the reins on both sides of the mad horse's mouth. Then, with a loud shout, he kicked his legs out to the side, his whole body shaking violently, just like a mighty king lifting a tripod. With a single light cry, he brought the entire mad horse crashing down!

  The man on the horse also fell directly to the ground.

  "Boom!" The mad horse fell to the ground, wanting to struggle up, but its head was pressed down firmly by Ximen Qing's knee, unable to move at all.

  After being helpless, the mad horse slowly calmed down, and its startled temper also subsided. Before long, it was stirred up again by Ximen Qing, snorted a few times, and rubbed against him affectionately.

  Ximen Qing smiled and patted Ma's face, then led him to the man and said with a smile: "Brother, I owe you an apology!"

  That man was also a straightforward fellow, haha laughed, scratched his hair and said: "What are you talking about, little brother? If it wasn't for you, I would have chopped this crazy horse to pieces. You should be thanking me instead! This thing is really not something, after being startled, no matter how hard I tried to persuade it, it just wouldn't listen. Hmph, after being beaten, it finally behaved! Haha..."

  At this time, Ximen Qing also took a good look at the man in front of him.

  A black short-sleeved shirt, a robust physique with bulging muscles, more intimidating than those muscle men. A dark purple face with a crimson birthmark on the temple, and a patch of black and yellow hair growing from it.

  Judging from his appearance, this man is somewhat ugly, but when he smiles, his expression is very kind and gentle, and his speech is also very straightforward, unlike the three people of Tianjiu who are extremely arrogant.

  Ximen Qing smiled and patted the horse's head, saying: "This horse is startled, it must be held down, otherwise if it runs wildly, it will hurt many people!"

  The man nodded, seemingly still shaken, and said: "I've never encountered this kind of thing before. Ah, I've ridden horses many times without any issues. Luckily, little brother helped me out this time, or else I would have had to kill the beast. Killing it wouldn't be a big deal, but what if it had collided with some child? That would be dangerous! However, now that I think about it, your skills are quite impressive, little brother! You were able to hold onto the crazed horse - truly unexpected! Looking at how clean and innocent you look, who would have thought you possessed innate divine strength? Shall we compare our abilities?"

  After finishing speaking, Hanzi smiled and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his black muscles.

  Ximen Qing burst out laughing and said: "Alright, there will be a chance to compete later, but for now let's find a place to drink wine and eat meat, how about that?"

  This man's face is ugly, but his temperament is extremely pleasant. He is the kind of person who is ugly on the outside but has a good heart. This can be seen from his tone. Ximen Qing also delights in making friends with such people.

  When he heard that they were going to drink and eat meat, the man burst out laughing and immediately touched his belly, saying: "Okay, I'm really hungry, but my money has run out, so little brother will have to treat me today. Don't worry, little brother, when I have money in the future, I'll repay you double!" After finishing speaking, the man's face also showed a few points of embarrassment.

  Ximen Qing smiled and said, "Brother, you're wrong to say that. Talking about money hurts feelings. We can meet each other, this is fate, right? I'm giving you face by inviting you for a drink, haha..."

  Shi Qian also responded, "That's right, this young man, when it comes to money, it really hurts emotions! The three of us can meet, and we met at the bridgehead, which is indeed a fate. As the saying goes, 'those who are destined will meet thousands of miles away', haha, this sentence is exactly what happened!"

  The man stroked his head and chuckled, saying: "I was just kidding, little brother is so righteous, then I'll be polite, let's go drink! Haha... Hey, isn't there a small wine house here? Just right!"

  Following Hanzi's pointing hand, I indeed saw a small wine house at the bridgehead of Xixi Village not far away.

  "Go, let's go drinking!" Having made friends with this good fellow, Ximen Qing didn't plan to go to Chao Gai's house immediately either. Shi Yong was also happy to spend time with this man and naturally wasn't in a hurry to go to Chao Gai's house.

  They came to the small wine house, and after the three of them sat down, they called over the owner of the small shop, ordered a few dishes and several jugs of wine.

  Soon, the braised beef and white wine were served. The three men didn't stand on ceremony, directly filling their large bowls with wine, and they toasted each other, Ximen Qing laughing as he said: "This big brother, I'm Ximen Qing, being able to meet a straightforward hero like you is a heavenly gift, so I'll start by offering a toast!"

  Ximen Qing drained his cup in one gulp.

  That man was taken aback and asked with a cup of wine in his hand: "Young brother, are you Ximen Qing? The righteous Emperor Ximen Qing?"