Chapter Thirteen: Contradiction

  That evening, Zhou Ping was training his men and was about to return to his residence to fetch some things. As he walked past a courtyard, he heard people arguing inside. The voices sounded familiar. He curiously peeked through the door gap and saw that the speakers were Xue Liangchen, Xue Liangyu, and Xue Liangyun, three brothers. Xue Liangyu was saying loudly: "Second brother, your actions are too unfair, I strongly disagree!"

  "Unfair?" Xue Liangchen was taken aback and asked back: "How have I been unfair, Fourth Brother, tell me?"

  Xue Liangyu's face turned red with anger: "Second brother, in terms of strength, horse riding, archery and spear throwing, which one of these people can surpass me? Ah Zheng is just your favorite, yet he gets to be the team leader, why did I only become a scout? How do you expect me to swallow this?"

  "Ah, I see!" Xue Liangchen laughed and said: "Younger brother, this is war, not a one-on-one or two-on-two fight in the village. Indeed, if we talk about spear and horse archery, there aren't many in Anyang County who can match up to you. But on the battlefield, it's a different story altogether."

  "Second Brother, don't try to deceive me. Aren't we all just shooting arrows and stabbing with spears? What's the difference if there are more people?" Xue Liangyu said angrily.

  "That's a big difference!" Xue Liangchen smiled slightly, his face turning serious: "Sunzi said 'The gold drum and the banner are what the people rely on. Once the people focus on one thing, the brave cannot advance alone, and the timid cannot retreat alone. This is the way to use the masses.' The way of military strategy is to make everyone's eyes only see the banner, their ears only hear the drums. When the banner points forward and the war drums sound together, even if there are knives and fires ahead, they cannot stop; when the banner turns back and the gold sounds, even if there is gold and silver on the ground, they cannot turn back. You have a brave and fierce personality, when you see the enemy army, where do you remember your subordinates? You've already rushed out alone. How can you be a leader? Do you remember what happened in Gaoping Village that day? Zhu Zhi was greedy for profit and advanced hastily, his subordinates were not willing to yield to each other, and they did not rescue each other from disaster. They fell into the enemy's ambush in the village. If it weren't for Ah Ping's strategy, I'm afraid you would have been buried in Gaoping Village long ago. Fourth brother, if you were in their position, could you kill your way out?"

  Xue Liangyu heard Xue Liangchen's words, his neck had already bulged with anger, and he took a step forward, shouting: "Second brother, how do you know I'm not capable?" Judging from his appearance, if it weren't for the fact that the person speaking was his second brother, he might have even resorted to violence.

  "Fourth brother, stop!" Xue Liangyun stretched out his hand to block Xue Liangyu and shouted: "These things are for me to decide, you go down, don't bother us here!"

  "Hmph!" Xue Liangyu saw that his older brother had spoken, and coldly snorted as he turned around and walked away. After seeing Xue Liangyu walk far away, Xue Liangyun turned around and smiled, saying: "Second Brother, Fourth Brother is still young, don't bother arguing with him, but what he said also makes some sense. Ah Ping is just a farmhand, yet he can be the leader of the team, while Fourth Brother is our own brother, being a mounted archer is somewhat beneath him!"

  "Big brother, Ah Ping is capable of writing and calculation, and has strategic thinking, it's only right that he becomes the team leader! Besides, this time several brothers from the Xue family have become team leaders, and the youngest one is only 16 years old. If he also becomes a team leader, not to mention what others would say, even the county magistrate would not agree. The youngest brother is still young, let him gain more experience for now, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future!"

  "Well, it's like that then!" Xue Liangyun saw Xue Liangchen bring out the great god of the county magistrate and could only force a smile and nod his head, but looking at his face he seemed quite unwilling.

  "Who would have thought that becoming the leader of this small team wouldn't be so easy!" Zhou Ping thought to himself, preparing to sneak away quietly to avoid being discovered by the Xue brothers. Just as he was about to leave, his shoulder was lightly patted and a low voice whispered in his ear: "Zhou Tan Yue, what a coincidence!"

  Zhou Ping was suddenly frightened, his whole body covered in cold sweat. He quickly turned around, but only saw Zhi Shan smiling meaningfully at him, saying in a low voice: "Master, your hands and feet are so light, you scared me!"

  "It's not that I'm light-handed, but rather that you, Master Tan Yue, are so absorbed in listening!" Zhi Shan smiled and said. Without waiting for Zhou Ping to speak, he whispered, "Zhou Tan Yue, let's go to a quiet place, I have something to discuss with you." After saying this, he didn't wait for Zhou Ping's response and pulled his sleeve towards the back of the house.

  The two walked to a quiet place in the yard and Zhishan asked abruptly, "Zhou Tan Yue, how much longer do you think this kind of military training will last?"

  Zhou Ping was taken aback, thinking to himself that he was just a small team leader with only about ten people under him. How could he know how much longer the troops would need to train? Just as he was about to shake his head, a sudden thought flashed through his mind, and after a moment's consideration, he said: "If I'm not mistaken, it will be three or four days at most, or maybe just one or two days!"

  "Oh?" Zhao Shan's face slightly revealed a hint of surprise, as if he was astonished at how Zhou Ping came to that conclusion, and asked: "Tan Yue, why do you say this?"

  "It's simple, four days ago we didn't kill the bandits, but their luggage had already been lost in large quantities. If these bandits don't come out to rob, they might not even have enough food. If the county magistrate knew about this group of bandits, how could he not urge us to send troops?"

  "Not bad!" Zishan smiled and said: "You and I have thought of it together, but there is still one point that you haven't thought of."

  "Is there something else?" Zhou Ping was taken aback by the words, and Zhishan didn't wait for him to ask, continuing on his own: "From what I know, the leader of this group of thieves, Zhang Chao, died from a cold arrow during the siege of Hu Jin Hall. The one leading the gang now should be someone else. This person has just taken power and has already lost all the heavy luggage, definitely not very stable in his position. If he wants to secure his position as the leader of the thieves, the best way is to make a big haul, using wealth to shut the mouths of the gang members."

  Hanling Mountain, 17 miles northeast of Anyang City. Legend has it that Han Xin once stationed troops here, hence the name. Also known as Qili Gang.

  The sunny slope was covered with chestnut trees, and these hard-branched miscellaneous woods were almost all the property of Qu Guanzhuang's family in the village below. At this time, it was already deep autumn, and the branches were full of mature chestnuts. Under the sunlight, many dry and thorny shells had cracked open, revealing the plump and tempting pulp inside, presenting a scene of harvest abundance.

  Yang Shun'er walked to a sturdy chestnut tree, he lifted his sleeves and trousers, tied them into his waistband, tidied up, spat on both hands, and lightly jumped onto the branch. His movements were like an agile monkey, in the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared into the dense foliage of the treetop.

  "Good boy, you're really something!" A thief standing under the tree laughed and said: "Monkey, hurry up and shake down some more chestnuts!"

  Yang Shun'er responded with a sound, and quickly knocked down the ripe chestnuts. The several thieves under the tree were in a flurry, picking them up from the ground. Yang Shun'er was indeed exceptional in his climbing and jumping skills. He would move to the left and right in the shadow of the tree, and soon he had knocked down the ripe chestnuts from more than ten nearby trees.

  Under the tree, a thief casually opened the outer skin of a ripe chestnut and stuffed the pulp into his mouth. While chewing, he muttered unclearly: "Don't say, this chestnut tastes pretty good, it's just a bit astringent, it's better to roast it!"

  "Pfft!" Another thief sneered beside him, "What's so great about chestnuts? They're just pig feed. Even the poor in the village get to eat millet rice at this time of year! We rob and plunder to live a few comfortable days, don't we? Not even mentioning wine and meat, but not having a single bite of millet rice to eat, what kind of life is that?"

  "Zhang Sheng, brother! Who made us lose all our luggage?" The thief who just spoke let out a bitter laugh and handed the peeled chestnut in his hand to his companion: "Fortunately, there's a chestnut forest on this mountain. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have chestnuts to eat today!"

  Zhang Sheng snorted, chewed two mouthfuls of chestnuts, and said with hatred: "It's still that Yang Wu's fault. I've heard people say that there were only six or seven archers outside the village that day, and setting fire was just a show of force. That guy was scared out of his wits and threw away all our luggage and valuables. If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have to eat these crappy chestnuts here?"

  "Not bad, since Zhang Chao is dead, the one who should take over as leader is you, his cousin. How did that Yang guy get the position?"

  Several thieves were complaining under the tree, and Yang Shun'er on the tree heard it clearly. Since he was kidnapped by the thieves that day, he had been thinking of finding an opportunity to escape. However, two days later, he heard that his name was on the wanted list issued by the government office, ranking among the top few according to the reward amount. The notice said that he was an accomplice of the thieves and had hidden his identity by joining a performing troupe in order to launch a surprise attack on Hu Jin Tang at night. The leader of the troupe was killed by his own hands. After hearing this, Yang Shun'er could only secretly lament. Not to mention the government's wanted list, even without it, he would not be able to return to the troupe. As a dwarf in Anyang with no relatives or friends, where else could he go besides staying with these thieves? After this incident, Yang Shun'er also lost his desire to escape and focused on living among the thieves. When he heard the thieves' complaints on the tree, he couldn't help but feel secretly frightened. Perhaps because they shared the same surname "Yang", the current leader of the thieves, Yang Wu, still took care of him. If these thieves really seized power, what would happen to a dwarf like him who was weak and powerless? Thinking of this, Yang Shun'er made up his mind in secret.

  "The ripe chestnuts on these trees are all gone. If it's still not enough, I'll go take a look at other trees!" Yang Shun'er shouted loudly from the tree.

  "There are thirty or forty of us, this little chestnut is not enough! Monkey, you quickly go to other trees to see, we will rest here for a while!" A lazy thief sat down and turned his head to smile at his companion: "Don't say, this monkey is quite diligent!"

  "That's it, he can't even draw a bow or wield a sword. If he doesn't get any faster, I'll chop him down with one slash!" Another bandit made a slashing motion with his hand and laughed, "And save some food too!"

  Yang Shun'er jumped over a few chestnut trees, turned back to look at the thieves on the ground, confirmed that they could no longer see her movements, and then agilely climbed down the chestnut tree and ran up the mountain slope.