Chapter Fifteen: Pacifying the Bandits

  Liu Sheng dismounted his horse, put a feed bag on the horse's mouth, and didn't loosen the girth strap, so that when the time came, he could quickly mount the horse and escape. He turned around to look, only to see Xue Liangyu lying on the ground with his head thrown back, chewing on a grass root, looking very disgruntled. Liu Sheng knew that the other man was still fuming about what had just happened. He smiled slightly, walked over to Xue Liangyu's side and sat down beside him with a thud, patted Xue Liangyu's shoulder and said with a smile: "Xue Laosi, are you still throwing a tantrum like a child because of what happened earlier?"

  "What a childish temper!" Xue Liangyu suddenly sat up, angrily saying: "I just don't accept why Second Brother always favors outsiders!"

  "Alright, alright!" Liu Sheng laughed and said: "You should also think about your second brother. He's just taken the position of patrol inspector and hasn't even warmed up his seat yet. If he only uses his own brothers, those outsiders will not be convinced in their hearts, even if they don't say anything out loud. What if they don't put in effort when fighting? Can you rely on just a few people from the Xue family? Fourth brother, your archery and horsemanship skills are renowned in Anyang. If you can take down several enemy leaders in this battle and make a name for yourself as the leader of the team, won't your second brother have to give you credit?"

  "So that's how it is, I wrongly blamed Second Brother!" Xue Liangyu slapped his thigh and said fiercely: "That ringleader is called Yang Wu, I must twist his head off to show everyone!"

  "That's right!" Liu Sheng stood up, secretly laughing: "After all, still a child!" At this time, a cry for help came from afar. The two men who had just inquired about the situation in the village ran over here, with five bandits behind them, fiercely waving their knives and guns, getting closer and closer.

  "Liu Sheng, you stay here and watch me take care of these guys!" Xue Liangyu nodded to Liu Sheng, turned around and jumped onto his warhorse, crouching on its back. He rode down the slope from behind, circling around from the side. The dense reeds blocked the bandits' line of sight, and soon Xue Liangyu had circled around to their rear. Straightening up in his saddle, he kicked his horse's belly hard and charged towards the nearest bandit.

  Yu Er used his long spear to part the reeds as he panted and chased after the two people not far away, the distance between him and the last person was only a dozen steps or so, and he could even see the patches on that person's back. Suddenly, a urgent horseshoe sound came from beside his ear, Yu Er turned his head in surprise, and saw a rider rushing over from the side, with a long knife held high in the knight's hand.

  "Ah!"

  With a shrill cry, Xue Liangyu suddenly jerked his wrist, shaking off the blood on the blade, and drove his horse towards the second bandit. The bandit had just turned around upon hearing the cry, but before he could raise his weapon, Xue Liangyu swung his blade across, taking advantage of the horse's speed, and the sharp blade cut through the bandit's throat, strangling the cry in his airway, and his body fell to the ground like a broken sack.

  "Cavalry, cavalry!" The remaining bandits let out terrified shouts, instinctively drawing closer together, back to back, forming a small square formation with long spears aimed at Xue Liangyu. Xue Liangyu did not drive his warhorse to scatter this small formation, but instead sheathed his sword, took out the bow and arrow on his right side, drew a full bow, and aimed at the only bandit in the formation who was carrying a bow and arrow.

  "Ah!" This was the third miserable cry, and the thief who was still busy fetching arrows fell to the ground with an arrow shot into his mouth, its snow-white feathers pointing straight up towards the sky, still quivering slightly.

  "Quickly escape!" The two surviving thieves immediately understood their precarious situation, the enemy in front of them was a skilled archer, without the protection of their bowmen, they were just living targets for each other. They dropped their weapons and ran wildly in two directions - hoping that at least one person could escape alive!

  Xue Liangyu didn't hesitate, the reason was simple. One of them ran in the direction of the small hill where Liu Sheng was, he kicked his horse and easily caught up with another thief, beheading him with one knife. Without dismounting, he searched the body for spoils of war, then returned to the hill with the head, just in time to see Liu Sheng's two men interrogating the thief who lay on the ground.

  "Good job!" Liu Sheng raised his thumb: "This trick is a quick success, I've traveled all over the country, even the Khitan people in the north rarely see it. This time, the credit for catching the thief will definitely go to you, brother!"

  "Just a few petty thieves!" Xue Liangyu smiled proudly, and tossed the bloody head to the ground, scaring the captive into cowering.

  "If it weren't for Second Brother stopping me, I would have taken down those thieves by myself!" After killing four people, Xue Liangyu's mood improved a bit, and he asked: "Liu Shengge, what should we do next?"

  "The situation in the village has been clarified, I will immediately dispatch someone to report it to your second brother. Let's change places and continue to monitor the thieves in the village, don't let them escape!"

  About an hour after Liu Sheng led the cavalry to depart, Xue Liangchen's team walked out of the north gate of Anyang County. In the procession, Zhou Ping looked at Zhi Shan with some embarrassment, seeing that he was wearing a brown straight robe, with a new black leather armor outside, and a waist-hung sword and bow, with twenty-four black eagle feather arrows inserted in the arrow tube on his back, holding an iron rod polished to be smooth and shiny. If not for the nine-pointed scar on his head, where is he still a monk? Obviously, it's a killer who is about to go into battle.

  "Zhou Tan Yue, is there something ugly on my face?" Zhi Shan felt Zhou Ping's flashing eyes and turned his head to smile.

  "That's not it!" Zhou Ping smiled: "It's just that I've never seen a Zen master dressed like this before, so..."

  "Ah!" Zishan smiled slightly: "Although I entered the Buddhist family at a young age, I didn't spend much time reciting sutras and chanting Buddha's name. On the other hand, my skills in wielding swords and staffs are not bad. Do you know why?"

  "Xiao Ke doesn't know, please enlighten me, Master!"

  "Alas!" At this time, Zhi Shan's face showed a nostalgic expression: "I was originally from Xiliu in Linzhou, and my family had been military officers for generations. Many of my elders and brothers died in battle, and I am the youngest in this generation. According to our family's tradition, each generation must have one person become a monk to pray for the souls of those who died in battle. This time it was my turn!" Zhi Shan sighed as he spoke.

  "The Master leaves home but still doesn't forget about national affairs, I am deeply moved!" Zhou Ping hastily added.

  "You're wrong!" Zishan shook his head: "Tan Yue, you must not have been to Guanzhong before, or else you wouldn't know the situation in my hometown. My hometown was anciently known as Didao, and since antiquity has been a famous city in the northwest, an important stronghold of Longyou, and a strategic location controlling the passage between Long and Shu. For thousands of years, Han people and Hu people, Hu people and other Hu people, and Han people and other Han people have been fighting and killing each other there, almost never ceasing. Even women and old men can draw bows and hold spears to fight against the Hu cavalry. Although I am a monk, which one of my daily necessities - food in my mouth or clothes on my body - can be separated from the alms of the common people? If I cannot do my part to protect my hometown and keep it peaceful, then it would be a waste to have been born as a man!"

  After hearing Zhi Shan's words, Zhou Ping couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. He involuntarily asked himself: the monk in front of him had risked his life multiple times to ensure the safety of his hometown, while he, although not a native of this world, had been treated well by the Xue family for over two years since his arrival. Yet, he spent every day thinking about how to save up enough money to escape the impending disaster that would come in a few years' time. Compared to the monk's actions, his own deeds were far inferior. Thinking of this, Zhou Ping felt a sudden tremble in his heart.

  Zi Shan saw Zhou Ping lower his head and remain silent, with a look of being deep in thought. He hastily asked: "Zhou Tan Yue, what's wrong?"

  "There's nothing, just recalling an old matter!" Zhou Ping hurriedly smiled and covered up his own concerns, carefully asking: "However, after Tong Jue Mi opened up Qing Tang, the enemy's power greatly weakened, I suppose the situation in your hometown is much better now?"

  "Hmm, having lost the strategic location of Mount Heng, our Great Song Dynasty has expanded its borders to Qingtang. In recent years, the summer bandits have become much less rampant than they were in previous years." Zhi Shan nodded slightly, but his face still looked solemn and grave, forming a stark contrast with what he was saying.

  Zhou Ping saw this and hastily asked with caution: "Looking at Master Chan's complexion, is there still some hidden worry?"

  He nodded: "Not bad, my great Song Dynasty has its capital in Bianjing, and the summer thieves are far away in the western border, threatening only the five roads of Shaanxi. Even if it was as serious as during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, it would only cost more silver and cause some trouble with horse policy, but it did not threaten the heartland of my great Song Dynasty. But this time I received an invitation from a high-ranking monk in Goryeo, went to Goryeo, and found that the heart disease of my great Song Dynasty is not in the west, but in the east!"

  "Ah!" Zhou Ping couldn't help but exclaim in surprise upon hearing this.

  "Zhou Tan Yue, what's wrong with you? Did you find out something?" Zhi Shan hurriedly asked. Zhou Ping hastily covered up and smiled: "I just heard the Zen master mention the troubles of the Song Dynasty, so I looked like this. For being impolite, please forgive me, Master!"

  As a latecomer, Zhou Ping naturally understood that the greatest threat to the Song Dynasty at this time was not the Western Xia in the west or the powerful Liao Kingdom in the north, but the Jurchen people who had just emerged from the White Mountains and Black Waters in the northeast. This small force of tens of thousands of people would go on to destroy two of the largest empires on the East Asian continent over the next few decades, becoming the undisputed hegemon. However, knowing this himself was one thing, while the monk's knowledge was another matter altogether, revealing his far-sightedness and sharp observation skills. Yet, this brave and insightful monk left no mark in history, suggesting that his fate may not have been good, perhaps even dying in the great disaster a few years later, with his brothers and nephews likely perishing in the Western army's defeats during the Jingkang era. Thinking of this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but sigh inwardly at how tiny an individual's power was in the grand tide of history.