Chapter 30: White Tiger Stronghold

  Chen Jintang, Wu Bao and Wan Chuan bid farewell to Deng Zixuan and set foot on the road north of the river. The three brothers rushed through the night for over a dozen days before entering the northern part of Jiangsu Province. On this day, they arrived at the foot of a strange rocky mountain, where the mountain path was covered with green grass, clearly showing that few people had traveled on it. Chen Jintang looked up at the sun and said, "It's almost noon, let's take a break here!" Under a tree beside the mountain path were several scattered stones, and the three brothers sat down on the stones to eat a few mouthfuls before lying down on the ground to rest.

  "Big brother! Master Deng wants us to recruit people, but he's also restricted the age and wants to find clever ones. This is too difficult!" Long-legged Wu muttered. "Yes! Master Deng's conditions are a bit too high. When he was selecting book boys in big Shanghai city, it took him a lot of effort to choose 20 book boys. It's easy to find young beggars, but it's hard to find clever half-grown kids!" Wan Chuan echoed.

  Seeing Chen Jintang not speaking, Wu Bao continued: "Big brother! In two more days we will enter the Shandong border, I think we should find an acquaintance to think of a way!" "Your brain was kicked by a donkey, you forgot how we escaped. Now our heads on our shoulders are just silver coins, finding an acquaintance is too dangerous, if we find an acquaintance and they report to the officials, let alone not being able to complete Master Deng's important task, even our own lives won't be preserved." Wan Chuan sneered.

  "I also know that finding an acquaintance is not good, but how can we find one now? Since entering the northern Jiangsu region, isn't it a complete mess? Big brother! What does Deng Gongzi want to do with such harsh recruitment conditions?" Wu Bao said impatiently. "Your brain was indeed kicked by a donkey, didn't Deng Gongzi say not to ask and not to guess, have you forgotten?" "It's your brain that was kicked by a donkey, can't we even ask, big brother? Is it some kind of huge secret?" Wu Bao's face turned red as he argued urgently.

  "Alright! No more noise. You two take a short rest, we'll be on our way soon. This area is rarely visited by people, there might be mountain bandits lurking around, you two should focus on the right things!" Chen Jintang scolded, the brothers looked at each other with discontent but remained silent. As for recruiting more men, it was impossible for Chen Jintang to explain to the brothers, in fact, he was worried about this himself.

  "Big brother, someone's coming!" Wan Chuan suddenly shouted. The three brothers quickly sat up and looked around, and indeed found a person walking along the mountain road! "Damn it, this guy is really bold, daring to walk alone in such a desolate place!" Wan Chuan said, then lay back down again. As the stranger approached, his thin figure stumbled along. His queue was already loose and disheveled, with scattered hair covering his dirty face.

  Judging from his figure, the newcomer was a young man with a package tucked under his arm. His eyes were dim and he didn't look around. He sat down as if no one was there, staring intently at something in front of him, muttering to himself. "He's an idiot!" Wu Bao said. Chen Jintang placed a piece of dry rations on the rock and stood up, saying: "Brothers, let's go!" They had walked less than 50 meters when Wan Chuan shouted loudly: "Big brother, something's wrong!"

  "That man is going to hang himself!" Wu Bao also exclaimed. He saw the man standing on a rock, his belt tied to a tree branch. At this moment, he was putting the belt around his neck, staring at the man who was about to kick the rock away, and his body was suspended in mid-air. Before he could finish speaking, Chen Jintang quickly pulled out his gun, loaded it, and fired. With a loud "crack", the belt was broken, and the man fell to the ground, wailing loudly.

  "Oh heavens! Just let me be! Let me go die!" Several people ran back again, "Why did you save me? Please just let me go die!" "So young and yet seeking death?" Chen Jintang asked. "My wife was taken away by someone, I don't want to live either, I want to find her!" "Look at your lack of backbone, losing a wife and then thinking of dying, you're still a man!" Wan Chuan ridiculed.

  Suddenly, a man on the ground spoke up: "Please don't mock a dying person!" "Shut up! Whether you die or not has nothing to do with us. You're really ungrateful, let's go, big brother!" Wu Baoyu said disdainfully. "Your wife is gone, but you still have your parents. Are you going to be an unfilial son?" Chen Jintang continued to ask. "My parents passed away early, and now I can finally join them!" "Don't you have children?" "I've been married for less than two months and don't have any kids yet!" "Big brother, don't bother with him, just let him go die! He's a useless person even if he lives!" Wan Chuan said impatiently.

  Chen Jintang saw that the package on the ground had come undone, revealing a corner of a book. Curious, he opened it and found a copy of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Chen Jintang thought to himself: "You seem like an educated person, why would you want to die? What if your wife were still alive, wouldn't that be unjust?" The man on the ground didn't say anything. Chen Jintang made up his mind and said: "Bring him along!"

  Wu Bao and Wan Chuan reluctantly set up camp, "Let me go, this is unreasonable! Just let me die!" After walking less than a mile, the guy said he was hungry. Chen Jintang ordered someone to bring out dried rations and salted meat. The guy wolfed down his food like a starving wolf, and after finishing, they continued on their way. Before long, night fell, and they set up camp under a large tree.

  After finishing the meal, Chen Jintang hinted, and Wan Chuan understood and went forward to tie up the young man's hands. "What are you doing?" "What? Don't you know in your heart that if you seek death again, it will be unlucky!" Wan Chuan said disdainfully. Later, the brothers lay on the ground, and after a long time, the young man said: "I know you are good people, I can't go any further!" "Why?" Chen Jintang asked.

  "This place is called White Tiger Mountain, and there's a group of mountain bandits on the mountain. The bandits have been robbing travelers here, and this mountain road hasn't seen anyone for a long time!" "How do you know?" "My name is Song Fei, I'm from Song Village up ahead. My wife was taken by the bandits. I've been wandering around here for half a month now, and to be honest, I don't even want to live anymore, but I haven't run into them yet. I see you're carrying silver on your backs, so the bandits must have their eyes on you!"

  "Song brothers, it seems you're worried, but don't worry, we have a way to deal with the mountain bandits!" Chen Jintang ordered Song Fei to untie him. "I see that your skills are not ordinary, but there are few of us and we're outnumbered. I heard that the mountain bandits have over a hundred people!" Song Fei said. "You little brat, what's with the pretentiousness? If the mountain bandits hear my brother's name, they'll be scared to death! What do you have to worry about?" Wan Chuan sneered.

  "May I ask the good fellow's name?" In the darkness, Song Fei sat up, "My humble self is called Chen Jintang!" "Could you be the Whistling King Chen Jintang?" "The Whistling King dare not presume, it is indeed me!" Song Fei turned around and knelt on the ground, saying: "Whistling King above, please accept my younger brother's bow!" "What does this mean?" "My parents were part of the Nian Army, they all died in battle, I've heard of your great name!" "So you're a descendant of the Nian Army, brother quickly get up!" Then the bonfire was rekindled, and their conversation became very harmonious. In the end, Song Fei decided to follow Chen Jintang.

  They continued on their journey, and by the afternoon, the mountain terrain became increasingly treacherous. Suddenly, a whistle pierced the air, and from both sides of the mountain forest, a group of people emerged, numbering over a hundred. "This mountain was opened by me, this tree was planted by me! If you want to pass through here, leave behind your toll money!" A loud-mouthed rascal shouted loudly. The group stopped in their tracks, and Wan Chuan stepped forward, clasped his fists together, and said calmly: "Fellow heroes, I am Hu Lai Wang Chen Jintang, please make way for us!"

  The crowd of bandits was visibly shaken, and a burly man stepped forward from the crowd to take a closer look. The big man had a robust build, about 40 years old. "Haha! Indeed it's Whistling King, truly 'a great wave crashing against the Dragon King Temple'!" Chen Jintang exclaimed excitedly: "Could it be that Black Flag leader Ge Shiying?" "Haha! It's really him, I didn't expect Whistling King to still be alive after 5 years since we parted ways in Shandong."

  "It's just a matter of barely surviving, I didn't expect Brother Ge to be hiding out here," Chen Jintang said with courtesy. Ge Shiying laughed and said: "There's no other way, brothers have to make a living somehow. I suppose you're doing all right now, Brother Chen?" "Ha! Ha! It's just barely scraping by, waiting for death, currently doing some small business to pass the days!" Chen Jintang chuckled. "Brother Chen, where are you headed?" "We're headed to Shandong!" "Brother Chen, we've been through thick and thin together, please come up to the mountain stronghold and let's have a chat!" Ge Shiying said generously. "With Brother Ge being so generous, I'll go up the mountain for a few days!" Chen Jintang was even more delighted.

  The White Tiger Fort is located on the central peak of the White Tiger Mountain, with a very dangerous terrain. Entering the mountain fort's conference hall, Ge Shi-xiong ordered wine and dishes to be served, he wanted to get drunk with Chen Jin-tang. Before long, the wine and dishes were served. In this era, it was basically self-brewed water wine, with an alcohol content of only a dozen or so degrees. Before drinking, Chen Jin-tang glanced at Wan Chuan, who understood and kicked Wu Bao's foot. Song Fei was anxious like burning fire, his mind was preoccupied with finding out the whereabouts of his wife.

  Chen Jintang nodded to Song Fei, indicating that he shouldn't be in a hurry. After drinking several bowls of wine, Chen Jintang pretended to be dizzy. "Haha! Brother Chen is usually a heavy drinker, what's wrong today? I see you're all red and radiant, has a life of luxury dulled your edge?" Ge Shixiong joked. "Brother Ge, I'm really sorry, it's just that the journey was exhausting. Let me recover tomorrow and then we can have a good time." Chen Jintang said with a humble expression. "Alright! Brother Chen is exhausted from traveling. I have some girls here who may not be beautiful but they can quench your thirst. How about you take a break, brother?" "Thanks for the kind offer, brother Ge, I appreciate it!"

  Entering the room to rest, Chen Jintang immediately became vigilant. At this time, Song Fei was already drunk and lying on the ground. "Damn it, Ge Shixiong has become a mountain bandit! He's really not a good thing, big brother, I don't want to stay here for another day, it's too unlucky!" Wan Chuan cursed. "Look at Ge Shixiong's face, I've lost my appetite!" Wu Bao said angrily. "Ge Shixiong is no longer one of us, this guy has designs on us! Don't look at his polite appearance, but his eyes are always fixed on the packages with our silver!" Chen Jintang said with a fierce expression.

  "Damn it, I'm going to kill that little brat right now?" Wu Bao pulled out a short gun. "We can't act rashly, they have the upper hand with their numbers, we'll wait for an opportunity!" Chen Jintang said calmly. Wan Chuan said: "If they choose to make a move, it will definitely be after dark!" "We'll use stillness to counter movement, and wait for them to make a mistake. Alright, let's take a rest first, they won't make a move before nightfall." Chen Jintang finished speaking, glanced at the bullets in his revolver, then tucked it into his waistband.

  Here is the translation:

  "Your Majesty, they are carrying several hundred taels of silver, enough for us to live comfortably for half a year." "Your Majesty, they are already drunk and unconscious, why not take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of them?" Ge Shi Xiong waved his hand to stop him: "No, we can't let our brothers suspect anything. After dark, you few will act, quietly getting rid of them without anyone knowing!"