New Trickster

  (Fierce battle begins, please collect, comment and reward)

  Zhangjiapu Township, brave and loyal, received the master's orders, hastened to open the city gate without delay. In reality, they all came from humble origins. How could last night's tragic cries not tug at one's heartstrings? Saving someone a little earlier would bring more blessings in this life.

  That young master Zhang also happily ran down the wall of the village, and before leaving, he didn't forget to tell his grandfather that he would definitely take revenge on Lü Shi for the humiliation he suffered in the past.

  Zhang Jia Lao Ye, with the support of the crowd, walked down the city wall, laughing and saying: "Things have come to this point, can't we just let Lu Shi pretend to be a monk? But don't go too far, after all, there's still Zhao Da Hai watching from the side, don't make it so that everyone loses face."

  Old Zhang's words had reached this point when, suddenly, the Bodhisattva-like smile on his face turned cold: "Everything will have to wait until that official dog Zhao Dahai returns. We must not let that fake monk Lü Shi remain in this world, or our windmill would be missing a crucial part."

  That young master of the Zhang family heard a burst of cheers, this is indeed his grandfather's true nature.

  After all, Zhao Dahai is an official, and this is the proper etiquette to follow when meeting him. This is just part of the bureaucratic process. As the saying goes, "In the capital, there are chancellors; in the local areas, one must lower their head." That's just how it works.

  In the heavy and dark gate, two huge castle gates creaked open, Zhang Lao Yuanwai stood with a big belly, smiling and waiting in the gate, waiting for Lv Shi and Zhao Da Hai to come forward and pay their respects. A group of Zhang family's close relatives surrounded him, laughing and waiting to see Lv Shi's embarrassment, and also to witness the young master's way of dealing with people.

  In the radiance of Chaoyang, Zhao Dahan and Lü Shixiao walked forward with a smile, stopping two steps away to meet Zhang Jia's father and son standing in the dark doorway. Behind them stood a tall man, his face half-hidden under a fur hat, as if blocking out the newly risen sun outside the fortress.

  Zhao Dahi laughed and cupped his hands, saying: "Lord Li Zheng, I was dragged here early in the morning to act as a go-between. This is truly an unpleasant task for both parties. Please, Lord Li Zheng, show me some mercy."

  Zhang Lao Yuan stopped his eager grandson and hastily stepped forward, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect: "How dare I, a humble old man, trouble Your Honor with a few words? We're just fellow villagers who've known each other for decades; I hope you'll forgive me."

  Two men chatted, while Lü Shi stood by, smiling silently as he watched Zhang Jia's eldest grandson with a venomous gaze. His expression was like a great disaster that had been swept away by the spring breeze. Occasionally, he would turn around to point out the order of the villagers behind him and support an elderly woman who stumbled.

  The villagers behind pushed and pulled the grain carts, quietly and silently, into the gate of the fortress. The creaking wheels rolled over the gate that they had not dared to look at for generations, making them even more timid. However, the dozens of wooden carts only advanced a short distance before stopping, looking back at the entrance where Zhao Dahan and Yu Lü were standing, as if waiting for Zhao Dahan's next order.

  The steward was in a great mood, feeling extremely pleased with himself. When he saw a group of peasants stopping their carts in the middle of the road without being told to do so, he flew into a rage. He swung his whip and lashed out at the peasants, shouting: "Don't you have eyes? Is this a place where you can just hang around? Hurry up and push the grain and fodder to the warehouse for the steward to inspect! If even a single catty or tael is missing, it will cost your entire family their lives!"

  An old man hastily bowed and apologized, saying: "Great lord, we common people have invited Lord Zhao to come, everything must be arranged by Lord Zhao, especially in your fortress, where dare to walk around randomly, just afraid of accidentally breaking your rules, then we would be guilty of a capital offense."

  Being said so, the big steward smiled triumphantly and scolded: "You can't see that you, an old fellow who won't die, have a few experiences. Alright, our fort has strict rules, don't let your stinky feet dirty our ground, Second Master."

  "The little one is here." Mr. Two hastily bowed his body forward in response.

  "Right here is where we inspect goods and food."

  "Yes."

  "You'd better be careful, don't try to cheat me. If there's even a slight shortage, I'll hold you responsible."

  "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, there won't be any mistakes." While saying that, the second housekeeper stepped forward to start checking the supplies, but as soon as he touched them, he felt that the grain sacks which should have been heavy were light and fluffy like they were filled with dry grass.

  In an instant, a steel knife suddenly appeared from under the grass bag like a poisonous snake and stabbed into his belly. The second-in-command was stunned and looked at Zhang's belly in disbelief, pointing randomly with his hands, followed by a blood-curdling scream.

  The two families were suddenly shocked by the miserable cry, and Zhang's father and son had not reacted yet. Then, a man with his head down behind Zhao Da Hai straightened his body and shouted: "Take action."

  Right after that, the man didn't wait for Zhao Dahan and Lü Shi to make a move. With one swift step forward, he plunged a short knife into Old Man Zhang's neck. Old Man Zhang was like a rooster whose head had been suddenly cut off, letting out a shrill cry, his face and eyes filled with terror, unable to believe this sudden turn of events. As he stood there in shock, he saw another man who had just emerged from the grass bag also behead Young Master Zhang's pale head with one swift knife stroke.

  Immediately following the dozens of carts with flying sacks, countless figures suddenly surged out, each holding knives and guns, shouting as they killed towards the still confused Zhang family heroes and Zhang family children. The heroes and children were caught off guard, and by the time they reacted, nearly half of them had been cut down.

  Standing in the distance waiting to check the supplies, Zhang's family steward was the first to react, letting out a loud yell: "The mud-legged ones are rebelling, quickly close the big gate, quickly——"

  The gate can't be closed, the gate has been blocked by a wooden cart, and the village guards who were guarding the gate have also become ghosts under the knife. The remaining ones have fled in all directions.

  At the shout of the steward, dozens of households of Ding Xiangyong and even Zhang's family members who had just reacted also rushed forward desperately. They shouted and fought hard against the incoming sticks. After all, everyone knew that once the fortress was breached by the sticks, it would be a result of no chicken or dog being left behind, and jade and stone being burned together. For the sake of their families, they had to fight desperately.

  The old master is dead, but the steward is still here. The steward also knows the consequences of this battle, so he stands behind the team and shouts to assist in the fight.

  "Block the pole, for everyone's old and young, drive the pole out of the fortress!" But seeing relatives and brothers fighting bravely, the village warriors mostly shrank back in fear. After all, they were just vagrants who mixed with the crowd to eat, truly on the battlefield, who would be willing to risk their lives? Moreover, facing a group of desperate fugitives with bloodshot eyes, the shouting grew louder, but they retreated step by step. The steward shouted loudly at that time: "Everyone listen, kill one pole and reward twenty taels of silver, five stones of grain, come on!"

  With such a reward, it really played the role of boosting morale. At this time, those hired village braves no longer hesitated and shrunk back, each with red eyes yelling and making great efforts to kill their way forward.

  At this moment, the city gate was filled with shouts of killing and the sound of knives and guns colliding, shaking the sky and earth.

  At once, the situation changed immediately, and the good situation that had come unexpectedly before was immediately reversed.

  The people who pushed the cart all hid under the cart, shivering with fear, unable to help in any way. There were only a few dozen men hiding in the cart, each carrying only a short blade. In the fierce battle against hundreds of village braves and desperate household guards, they began to gain the upper hand. One after another, their brothers were hacked down by the villagers, stabbed to death with long spears. The cries of agony echoed throughout the city, inside and out. The cart began to falter, slowly retreating towards the fortress gate.

  Guo Tianxing and Zhao Dahu rushed out together, and as soon as they exited the city gate, it was a case of "all previous efforts were in vain, and everything had to be done again". Zhao Dahu didn't care about his own official status, picked up a flower gun and rushed forward, joining the battle array, shouting and fighting. As soon as Zhao Dahu took action, the local militiamen began to falter, not daring to kill an official, everyone was somewhat hesitant, and for a time, the situation was stabilized.

  Guo Tianxing held a short knife, never leaving Lv Shi's side, while protecting Lv Shi and shouting loudly: "Brothers, victory or defeat is at this moment, if we win, we'll have meat to eat for the New Year, if we lose, our corpses will be left behind, let's fight with all our might!"

  As soon as the steward saw him, he knew it was bad and immediately jumped up and shouted: "Everyone, don't be afraid of that Zhao Dahai, he is today's culprit, has already surrendered to the authorities, and is a rebel against the imperial court. Everyone, killing him would not only bring you 100 taels of silver, but also an official reward from the government, that's a fortune beyond your wildest dreams! Kill Zhao Dahai!"

  This stirred up the rural warriors, who were originally hesitant and had their eyes reddened by wealth and glory once again. They charged forward with renewed vigor, and Zhao Da Hai, who was standing at the front of the formation, found it difficult to parry the attacks of dozens of fierce and fearless rural warriors for a time, and his body immediately accumulated several knife and spear wounds, and the situation became critical once again.

  As Lü Shi watched with his own eyes as Zhang's father and son were beheaded in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea wash over him like a stormy sea. Zhao Dahu and Guo Tianxing understood that this was the normal reaction to seeing someone killed for the first time, let alone a former monk?

  The battle was unfavorable, and the militia were about to retake the fortress gate with their eyes blazing. Zhao Dahai was already wielding his flower spear, fighting valiantly with his body covered in blood, but one man's strength was no match for the beating of hundreds of militiamen. As he watched his brothers being pushed back towards the city gate by over a hundred militiamen, Lü Shitou opened the protective Heavenly Star and picked up the large knife of a fallen brother from the ground. He gritted his teeth, stood up straight, and said: "Let's fight together."

  Lu Shi looked at the determined face of Guo Tianxing, nodded and said: "Alright, let's fight together today." After speaking, he flew forward and joined the battle group. The gate was in chaos, how could anyone stand by? Lu Shi picked up his brother's abandoned long knife and charged forward, killing his way through. He collided with a Zhang family member who was holding a long spear, with a ferocious expression on his face. Lu Shi dodged to the side just in time, swung his hand and struck with one knife, sinking deep into the man's shoulder. The man screamed in pain.

  Lü Shidang was stunned at the time, after all, this was the first time Zhang's family had taken a knife to kill someone in their past life, and the shock in his heart was so great that his mind suddenly became blank.

  The battlefield was fraught with crisis, changing in an instant. There was no room for hesitation. A country warrior saw an opportunity and immediately struck down with a knife. Lu Shi's life was about to be lost on the spot. Just as the crisis reached its peak, a large knife suddenly appeared from nowhere, barely holding off the attack. The sound of clashing metal rang out, pulling Lu Shi back to reality. When he looked up, it was one of his mountain bandit brothers who had saved him. Before Lu Shi could even thank him, the brother was stabbed in the abdomen by a country warrior and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Lu Shi's anger was ignited by his brother's tragic death. He drew back his long knife, let out a battle cry, and joined the fray.

  But the chaos of the crisis did not last long, and a loud shout of killing sounded outside the gate. The brothers of Guotianxing, who were ambushing on the other side of the road, shouted and killed across the road.

  At this time, Lv Shi, panting heavily, leaned against the city wall, looking at the big knife in his hand, and thought with a bitter smile: "Once I pick it up, I won't be able to put it down again, will I?"