Twenty; Captured

  Xiao Si Lang turned around and wanted to rush back into the cave. Once inside, taking advantage of the terrain, he could at least fight to the death for a while longer.

  Just then, a foot flew through the air and kicked him in the chest, sending him rolling on the ground.

  He was kicked by Gao Bu, a thin but not short man with plenty of strength. With one kick, Xiao Si Lang was kicked to spit blood. Xiao Si Lang still didn't give up and instead of retreating back into the hole, he bent down and rushed towards the grass bushes on the side. However, after only two steps, there was a loud shout from behind him, followed by a sudden chill and pain in his anus as something column-shaped entered him, lifting him up. He let out a high-pitched cry as all his strength instantly drained away from where he had been penetrated.

  "Yu... little dog!" He turned his head back with a venomous look, staring at the young man who had just startled him.

  "Dog thief, still foul-mouthed!" The one who knocked him down was Gao Dazhuang, this was indeed the orthodox shooting technique of the Gao family. Hearing Xiao Si Lang's mouth was still not clean, he raised the long gun that was still inserted in Xiao Si Lang's body, and Xiao Si Lang's lower body immediately stood up straight.

  "Give me a quick death!" The gun had a red tassel on it, so the bullet didn't penetrate very deeply. But because of that, Xiao Si Lang wouldn't die immediately, and he wailed in agony, begging for death.

  "You've been doing illicit business on Lake Chao for several years, where's the loot? Speak up and I'll give you a quick end. Yu Guozhen walked over slowly but stopped two zhang away: 'I'm aware of all your hideouts, even if you don't speak, it's just a matter of time. The more time you waste mine, the more time you'll be troubled yourself.'"

  His tone was indifferent, but Xiao Si Lang detected a determination as firm as a mountain. If he didn't comply, the young man surnamed Yu would really make him unable to escape for half a day.

  "I said... just here, just here..." At this time, he also couldn't get angry anymore.

  "Watching him, let's go in and take a look." Yu Guozhen ordered after he said where the stolen goods were placed. Before he could move, Gao Bupang took a step ahead and entered the cave first, so even if there were still water bandits inside, they wouldn't be able to hurt Yu Guozhen.

  The cave was quite large, capable of holding hundreds of people. Two pillars held up torches high above, and after walking in for dozens of steps, they saw row upon row of cloth sacks. Gao Biao's face changed as soon as he saw the sacks, but Yu Guozhen remained calm.

  "It's salt." Gao said: "They really colluded with the salt bandits."

  "Bring that fellow in and let Da Zhu lead someone to guard the cave entrance well." Yu Guozhen said.

  Xiao Si Lang was dragged in, he was already half dead. When he was dragged to the front of the salt packages, he suddenly laughed: "You see, haha, there are three thousand packages of salt here, twenty-four thousand catties, eight thousand taels of silver... Those salt bandits won't let you off, they will avenge me and kill all of your Yu family..."

  The sound stopped abruptly, Yu Guozhen's long spear had already pierced his chest, Xiao Si Lang thought that Yu Guozhen was furious to this extent, he struggled to lift his head, wanting to see Yu Guozhen's terror in the light of the torch.

  But what he saw was calmness, whether it was killing him or robbing a large batch of salt from Yan Jia, Yu Guozhen remained very calm, as if it were a trivial matter.

  "You...... you......"

  "Those salt smugglers won't know it was me who did it, they'll just think you're a black-hearted person who swallowed their salt and ran off." Yu Guozhen said calmly: "If they want to find trouble, it will be your family's trouble."

  Xiao Si Lang's eyes widened in shock, but he couldn't see anything anymore. His pupils rapidly dilated and then he stiffened and fell to the ground.

  Yu Guozhen looked at the salt and then glanced at Gao Bu: "An unexpected surprise, 8,000 taels of silver... not bad."

  "It's not easy to take action." Gao said.

  "There will always be a way, Second Master. You go and bring people to kill those few who are still alive. Don't leave one out. Tie the corpses up with stones and throw them onto the boat."

  Gao Erzhu ran out at the sound, and Yu Guozhen and Gao Bupang began to search for Xiao Silang's hidden treasure. Before long, they had dug it up.

  Xiao Si Lang knew well the principle of the cunning rabbit's three burrows, and those goods were divided and hidden in four places, some gold, silver, and fine silks, which, roughly estimated, would be worth over a thousand taels of white silver.

  Now the price of rice is soaring, and more than 1,000 taels of silver can only exchange for 600 dan of rice. Yu Guozhen knew that grain prices would only get more expensive. He was preparing to accommodate 300 young people, plus their families, which could exceed 1,000 people. These 1,000 taels of silver could support these people for nearly half a year.

  And there are also these private salt, worth eight thousand two silver private salt, this is a small fortune!

  The entire Yu family's silver was collected, estimated to be around three or four thousand taels. In this era, in some places, salt and silver had the same circulation value!

  "The spoils of war add up to nearly ten thousand taels... yet not a single man was injured, Young Master is truly ingenious! Gao Buping, this taciturn Shaanbei fellow, couldn't help but get excited, his eyebrows dancing with joy: 'Young Master is mighty!'"

  "Hurray for the young master!" The several boys following behind also excitedly cheered.

  Yu Guozhen didn't seem very excited, just smiled slightly and waited for them to calm down before instructing: "The goods haven't been transported back yet, it can't be considered ours... Ye Wuyue!"

  "Yes!" Ye Wuyue immediately stood up straight: "Present!"

  "Take two people to a high place to observe and see if there's anything unusual around. If someone approaches the island, report to me immediately, be careful to hide."

  "Yes!" Ye Wuyue nodded at the two young men and quickly left, squeezing his eyes at Luo Jiuhe who was a bit sulky before leaving.

  Lu Jiuhe hung his head, usually in training, he was very hardworking, but always suppressed by Ye Wuyue. Now the young master called out Ye Wuyue's name, obviously to praise him. At this age, which youth is not competitive? Therefore, Lu Jiuhe couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

  "We'll carry all the salt bags to the water's edge. Luo Jiuhe, you lead the men to bring the big boat over!"

  Apart from the three fishing boats, they also brought a large ship that Yu Guozhen had originally used to transport prisoners and spoils of war. Now that there were no more prisoners, it was naturally used entirely for transporting spoils of war. One large ship plus three fishing boats, over 20,000 catties of salt plus more than twenty people, the ships were heavily loaded on the return trip.

  In the dead of night, they returned to Xiang'an and after unloading their cargo, Yu Guozhen gathered everyone together again. Looking at the excited young men, he said sternly: "Today's matter is of great importance, you all know what's at stake. Remember, just say we went out for training exercises, nothing more. If anyone says a word otherwise, they will be immediately expelled from the Yu household and shown no mercy!"

  "Yes!"

  For these young men, the awareness of secrecy was repeatedly emphasized from the first day they arrived at Yu Guozhen's place. They were originally twenty people, and four of them were expelled one after another because they disobeyed Yu Guozhen's orders. Now when those four saw them, they all looked down with shame, unable to lift their heads. With such an example before them, everyone naturally obeyed orders with trepidation.

  The next morning, Yu Guozhen had just gotten up when Yu Yiqin appeared before him: "Guozhen, what about yesterday's matter?"

  He knew that Yu Guozhen took the team out yesterday. That gang of thieves is a thorn in the side of the Yu family and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

  "Second Brother is with me." Yu Guo Zhen led him to the newly built wing, which was at one end of the young men's dormitory. Originally intended for storing training equipment, it had been temporarily cleared out last night to serve as a warehouse.

  "Is this... salt?" Yu Yiqin was stunned as soon as he saw those bags, he was the tribe leader and was absolutely not unfamiliar with this thing.

  "Yes, yesterday we captured 24,000 catties of salt."

  "24,000 catties!" Yu Yiqin was shocked and stared blankly, looking at Yu Guozhen. After a while, he finally came to his senses: "Guozhen, this...this is incredible!"

  "In total, there are 24,000 catties of salt, and about over 1,000 taels worth of gold, silver, and other precious items." Yu Guozhen then opened another bundle of cloth beside him.

  "Too good, too good, fantastic, fantastic!"

  Yu Yiqin was a seasoned man, the Yu family's shop could open in Nanjing, and Yu Yiqin had also run around this prosperous land many times. However, once he made a profit of nearly 10,000 taels, it still made his heart feel joyful.

  He opened a bag and saw the coarse white salt grains, then pinched some to his mouth to taste: "It's Huai salt, good Huai salt!"

  "It should be Huaiyan salt."

  "Great... no, no, Guo Zhen, something's wrong!" Yu Yiqin suddenly thought of a problem after being excited for a moment: "How could there be Huai salt at the Water Bandits' place? Did they rob a salt merchant?"

  "It's a collaboration between the salt smugglers and the water bandits, probably to take advantage of the water bandits' familiarity with the waterways to sell private salt."

  "Salt Gang... those guys are lawless! " Yu Yiqin's excited flush had not yet faded, and immediately turned pale: "This is a disaster!"

  "The pirates aren't invincible, are they? Now that gang of pirates has all sunk to the bottom of Xi Hu Lake. In ten days or half a month, they'll all be fish food." Yu Guozhen said calmly: "Second Uncle, don't worry, not one of them escaped with their lives. As long as we ourselves don't speak of it, how will the Salt Bandits know?"

  "We've lost private salt worth over 8,000 taels, how can the salt smugglers let it go so easily? They will definitely investigate, might as well return it to them..."

  "Second Uncle, I interrogated the captives. This group of salt smugglers and water bandits were cooperating for the first time, so this batch of salt isn't considered too much. They also don't trust the water bandits. Now that I've silenced the water bandits and covered up all the evidence, the salt smugglers' first suspicion will still be towards these water bandits who turned against each other."

  After hearing this explanation, Yu Yiqin still had some doubts: "Is it really...alright?"

  "This group of salt bandits has a special identity, they are official soldiers from the Wei camp. Even if we return the salt to them, they will still kill my entire family to eliminate any future troubles." Yu Guozhen saw his appearance and gave him a strong dose of medicine: "Second uncle doesn't think he can negotiate with them about emotional ties, does he?"

  Yu Yiqin was stunned by the news, and then gritted his teeth: "These scoundrels actually did such a thing... Since it's like this, let's follow Guo Zhen's idea..."

  "These things are too soft, Second Brother took them to Eldest Brother's place and used the name of a pawnshop to exchange them for silver money. As for how to sell the salt, let's discuss it again when Fifth Brother comes back." said Yu Guozhen.

  Yu Yiqin, according to his words and deeds, rolled up those objects and had them carried away by mules. Yu Guozhen continued to train the young men as usual, but around 9 o'clock, Yu Yiqin came looking for him again with an unpleasant expression on his face.

  "Guo Zhen, Old Six is back, he's shouting...the affair of the Fourth House must be reported to the authorities!"