Clever recognition

  In the crisp autumn weather, a line of fine horses galloped across the open fields near Ligu Iron Factory, their hooves pounding against the withered wild grass. Agile hunting dogs frolicked in front of the horses, while hawks circled above the group. Young men dressed in brocade and finery rode freely, holding bows and arrows as they searched for prey.

  "Look, wild geese." A handsome young man pointed at a team of south-flying wild geese in the sky that formed a human character and shouted.

  Next to the galloping horse, a girl in pink clothes drew her bow towards the sky. The strong bowstring was pulled into a full moon shape under the action of the pulley on the armrest. With a twang of the bowstring, an arrow with a carved feather tail flew straight up into the clouds and hit the wing of a large goose. After being shot, the goose did not fall immediately, but left the flock, flying forward in a slanted manner, getting lower and lower, seemingly about to crash into the forest on the distant mountain.

  "Hei Hu, go fetch back the wild goose." The girl in pink commanded the black hunting dog in front of her.

  The hunting dog let out a low growl and shot off like a black lightning bolt in the direction where the wild goose had fallen.

  "Second Miss, your black tiger is really well-trained, it can actually understand human language," said the handsome young man.

  "Of course, Black Tiger is my number one general." The pink-clothed girl known as Second Miss said with a proud swing of her small head.

  "Second Miss, look quickly, there's a rabbit over there." The handsome young man pointed to the grass beside him and shouted loudly. Indeed, a grey fat wild rabbit with long ears was hiding in the withered yellow grass, hearing the sound, its long ears moved slightly, and it fled hastily.

  Yu Xiaolong, you have sharp eyes. The second young lady smiled and said, then urged her horse to chase after the rabbit, with the group following closely behind.

  Liu Ziguang was dozing off under a pine tree on a small hill, with Zachary and Anthony lying beside him. The four of them had become good friends since the last earthquake event, and according to Zachary's words, they formed an unbreakable bond, known as "Yi Jie Jin Lan" in Chinese, which means "brothers bound by gold". Among the four, Zachary was the oldest, Anthony second, Duncan third, and Liu Ziguang the youngest, also known as the fourth brother.

  Zha Mu and Zeng once said that Liu Zi Guang is a brave warrior, the Han people on the grasslands respect brave warriors the most, and it's reassuring to have someone like him as an Anda. Anthony said, in this world, there are two people I'm most grateful for, one is God, and the other is Liu Zi Guang, if I had to rank them, Liu Zi Guang would probably be a bit higher, Duncan also expressed that his life was given by Liu Zi Guang, from now on, no matter what dangers or difficulties, it all depends on Fourth Brother's word.

  Three brothers, although not Han Chinese, have a good understanding of Chinese culture. They all love to listen to the Three Kingdoms' Pinghua, and they are most fond of the Peach Garden Oath segment. Zhang Mu is not daring to compare himself to Liu Bei, with his robust physique and hard facial features, he somewhat resembles Zhang Fei. Anthony is a Latin American, muscular, and in Liu Ziguang's eyes, he is simply a Schwarzenegger lookalike. Duncan, an African American, has explosive strength, a sturdy build, and is very impressive. Liu Ziguang is the most suitable character to pair with his fourth brother Zhao Yun, although not as handsome as jade, but also slender and elegant, with a dignified appearance.

  Four people hid from the guards' surveillance and ran to a small hill above the mine to practice, escape was impossible, there were iron factory guards stationed around, those who saw the escapees would be shot on the spot, and the responsibility of the squad would be investigated, the system of collective punishment would be implemented, one person escaped and the whole squad would be beheaded, the whole squad escaped and the whole battalion would be beheaded, and so on. So they didn't even dare to think about escaping.

  Liu Ziguang's strength and reaction speed were already very strong, but his martial arts skills were slightly inferior. In these few months, several brothers taught him with all their might. Anthony had been a gladiator in Rome before, so he was very experienced in hand-to-hand combat and melee fighting with weapons. Zachary was skilled in horse riding and archery, but since they didn't have any equipment to practice with at the moment, they could only talk about theory and teach some Mongolian wrestling on the side. Duncan's kung fu was quite unique, his body was extremely flexible, and his jumping ability was frighteningly strong, darting and jumping through the forest like lightning. It was similar to the European extreme sports Liu Ziguang had seen online, this kind of kung fu in China would be considered a powerful lightness skill.

  Liu Ziguang was taught martial arts by his brothers, with three older brothers taking turns to spar with him in a car. Sometimes they used branches as swords for fencing, sometimes they wrestled, and sometimes they practiced scattered fighting. His brothers were very strict and demanding, but fortunately, Liu Ziguang had already practiced Bajiquan when he was young, so his kicking legs, pulling tendons, and horse-riding stance all had a certain foundation, allowing him to progress quickly.

  Four people finished practicing and lay on the mountain stone to rest. Zha Mu closed his eyes and said, "Fourth brother, you've practiced enough. Next time in the cafeteria, when fighting with those guys from the second squad, you can be the vanguard." The slave squad they belonged to often clashed with other squads, and Liu Ziguo also gained a lot of combat experience from these fights.

  Liu Ziguang didn't respond, gazing up at the flying geese and moistening his mouth: "You guys say, is steamed goose better or braised goose better?"

  Zhamu and also saw the wild goose, hummed a sound saying: "None of them are good, sprinkle chili powder on it and roast to eat is the best."

  "Anthony shouted: 'Barbaric Tartars only know how to roast, why don't you say eat raw? I agree with braising.'"

  "Rough white people, of course, can only steam the goose." Duncan, who has lived in southern China for a long time, is more familiar with Chinese traditional food culture.

  A few people started arguing, as if the wild geese in the sky had been shot down and plucked, waiting for them to cook.

  They were arguing with red faces, when a goose with an arrow fell onto the grass in front of them. The four people looked at each other and burst out laughing. Without saying a word, they rushed to pick up the goose. Liu Ziguang carefully removed the arrow from the goose's body and examined it closely. The three-edged steel arrowhead was extremely sharp, and on the straight hardwood arrow shaft, a "Wei" character was clearly engraved.

  "Good arrow!" exclaimed Zhamu, who was well-versed in this art. "This character might be the name of the owner of the arrow." He took the feathered arrow and broke it into two pieces with force, handing the part with the arrowhead to Liu Ziguo. "Hide it on your body, next time you fight, use this to stab them." Zhamu said viciously.

  The four of them discussed and thought that this was an ownerless prey, a gift from the heavens, God, Allah, Buddha to them, then they started formal discussions on how to deal with this delicacy.

  Due to material constraints, Liu Ziguang's suggestion was finally adopted, and a layer of mud was applied according to the method of called flower chicken, which was burned in a fire heap, even the process of removing hair was saved.

  The four of them were busy finding firewood and mud when they suddenly discovered a black wolf standing next to them, its ferocious mouth gleaming with sharp fangs. Surprisingly, it was not afraid of the crowd, putting on an arrogant face that seemed to say "This mountain is mine, if you want to pass through, leave your fat goose behind".

  The black tiger was very clever and knew that these four tattered guys were slaves, much lower than their own level. The master would be coming soon, so they absolutely refused to let them take the big goose away.

  The four of them burst out laughing.

  "Changshengtian has sent another roasted whole wolf," said Zamuhe.

  The other three people surrounded Hei Lang with a sly smile.

  Hei Hu was furious, these cheap lives actually dared to move against me!

  With a loud roar, he charged at the wolf and pounced on it. The men of the grasslands often fought against wild wolves to protect their sheep. Zamu grabbed the black tiger's neck with his knife, but was also knocked down by its powerful strength. Three people rushed forward to help, using arrows, stones, and wooden clubs together. In a short while, the proud black tiger had lost its breath, dying miserably under the hands of four fierce slaves, its body covered in wounds.

  Zhamu's hands were bound with ropes and bleeding, curiously flipping over the black tiger's neck, it turned out that under the lush long hair on the black tiger's neck, there was a collar with sharp steel nails, the cowhide collar was full of outward-pointing steel nails, which was quite intimidating.

  "It's a hunting dog, not a wolf."

  "In any case, he's already dead, can't be wasted, might as well offer sacrifices to the Temple of Five Organs first, and when the sky collapses, it will be covered."

  "Who cares! Such a large mine, so many slaves, guards, looking for whom."

  Time waits for no man, they hastened to get rid of the evidence. The four of them dragged the dead dog and swan down the mountain, hiding the dog in a mine shaft that the guards wouldn't go to. That night, they skinned and butchered it, sneaking into the cafeteria and intimidating a cook from Guizhou who was a former prisoner of war into cooking a pot of Guizhou-style braised dog meat with skin. The four men ate until their bellies were round and oil dripped from the corners of their mouths. That night, there was a heavy rain, and none of the four big-bellied men heard Hei Hu's cries for help from afar on the mountain.

  To dress up the fourth brother, a string of dog teeth was cleverly threaded onto a leather strap by a skilled slave to make a necklace, which was hung around Liu Ziguang's neck. The black tiger's collar was also worn on Liu Ziguang's arm, looking majestic and powerful. The arrowheads were hidden under his clothes as concealed weapons. The dog skin was too showy, so it wasn't used; after being dried in the shade, it was placed under the dry grass as a mattress.

  It's been a few days since the incident, and everything has calmed down. A few people have stopped paying attention to it. On this day, Liu Ziguang went alone to the mountain with his wooden sword to practice his swordsmanship. The place he practiced was exactly where he encountered Hei Hu.

  These days, the second young lady is very sad. Hei Hu (Black Tiger) has gone missing. Although other hunting dogs were released to track down Black Tiger's scent, they only made it to a small hill before a heavy rain started and the scent disappeared, so they couldn't continue tracking. It's said that there are wolves on the mountain, but how could the fierce Black Tiger not be a match for wild wolves? The second young lady rode her horse alone to the place where Black Tiger was last seen, reminiscing about her beloved dog.

  She tied the horse to a tree, standing quietly as the image of Black Tiger floated before her eyes, tears streaming down silently. Suddenly, she heard someone shouting "Hey, hey" and the sound of breaking air from not far away. Walking over to take a look, it turned out to be a sturdy young man practicing chopping with a wooden knife, wearing tattered clothes, extremely short hair, and a resolute gaze. Judging by his attire, he should be an iron factory's slave miner, but his overall demeanor was completely different from that of ordinary slaves, having an inexplicable aura about him. Wait, what's that thing on the young man's right arm so familiar? A wide leather strap with a circle of shiny steel studs.

  The second young lady couldn't help but walk over to take a closer look, and the young man heard the movement, his eyes turned over, first with some surprise, then his eyes changed greatly, and he kicked back his leg, flashed over like lightning, and swung his wooden knife fiercely at the second young lady.

  In the iron factory, no one dared to be rude to Second Miss on this three-point land, including her father, Master Factory. Second Miss was frightened by the sudden attack and couldn't react for a while.

  The wooden sword stuck to the second lady's body and chopped down, with the sound of the wooden sword breaking, a mournful howl rose, the second lady hurriedly turned around, a large gray wolf was chopped on the head by the wooden sword, and it was painful to cry out.

  The grey wolf was so close to her that she hadn't even noticed, and if it weren't for the young man's timely rescue, she would have become a little snack in the wolf's den. The second miss was suddenly frightened, with cold sweat soaking through her tight-fitting clothes.

  Liu Ziguang suddenly saw a pink-shirted girl appear on the mountain, startling him. His eyes lit up as he hadn't seen a woman in over a year. Even if an ugly woman appeared, he would take a second glance, let alone this beautiful young girl in ancient clothing. Before he could get a closer look, he noticed a large grey wolf sneaking up behind her, preparing to bite her neck. He immediately pounced and hacked at the wolf.

  The grey wolf was enraged, pouncing on the young man's body, its two front paws grasping his shoulders, its bloody mouth biting towards his throat. The young man swung his right arm and slammed it into the wolf's ugly long face, the leather cuff on his forearm making a solid contact with the wolf's face, the sharp steel studs piercing several holes in the wolf's face, causing blood to ooze out. The grey wolf retracted its mouth, biting down on the young man's arm instead, its fangs sinking into his skin and flesh. The young man didn't even let out a hum, swinging his other fist at the wolf's head.

  A wolf and a person were tangled on the ground, rolling around. The second young lady instinctively reached for the sword and crossbow at her waist, but found nothing there. They were all placed on the horse's back, and she didn't have time to retrieve them. She looked around frantically, found a stone that could be picked up, took a quick glance, and threw it over from a distance of one zhang (about 3 meters). It hit the young man's leg squarely. The young man dared not divert his attention, but angrily shouted: "You're making things worse! Throw the stone at the wolf's head! Hurry!"

  The second lady let out a cry and went to find stones, but unfortunately the ones nearby were either too big or too small, with no suitable size in between. The gray wolf felt it was at a disadvantage in the fight, so it suddenly got up, turned its head and pounced on the second lady, who shrieked in fright!

  "Climb the tree!" The young man's leg was injured by Second Miss, and he could only shout to remind her. Second Miss heard this and quickly grabbed a big tree beside her, although she was clumsy, she climbed very fast, and soon reached a height that the gray wolf couldn't jump to. At this time, the young man had already stood up, put the leather ring on his right fist, and held something in his left hand, walking towards the gray wolf under the tree.

  The gray wolf turned around, staring at Liu Ziguang, and the two were locked in a stalemate for a moment. Suddenly, the gray wolf's body moved, and it pounced on Liu Ziguang. Liu Ziguang fell to the ground with the momentum, and the arrow shaft in his left hand was inserted into the wolf's soft abdomen. The gray wolf suffered heavy injuries and howled incessantly. Liu Ziguang took advantage of the opportunity to strike the wolf's head with his steel-studded fist, and the wolf's head was cracked open, its eyes bulging out, and its nose collapsing. Gradually, it lost all signs of life. When the second young lady saw that the gray wolf had been killed, she came down from the tree, walked to the wolf's corpse with a lingering fear, and suddenly discovered that the arrow shaft stuck in the wolf's abdomen was actually her own specially made carved arrow shaft. The "Wei" character on the front had already been stained red by the wolf's blood. And the young man's leather ring was... Black Tiger's collar!

  The murderer who killed the Black Tiger is him! The second young lady was shocked and said, "No matter who you are, I will thank you for saving my life. Wait a moment, I'll get some silver to give you." She planned to trick him into going in front of the horse to take his sword and kill him.

  Liu Ziguang waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing to worry about. He didn't need the silver now; all he cared about was this wolf carcass, which could feed his brothers for a whole day. His leg had been injured by Second Miss's blow, and his body had claw marks and bite wounds from the wolf. His entire body was covered in fresh blood, both the wolf's and his own. He grasped the heavy wolf carcass, slung it over his shoulder, and slowly headed down the mountain, ignoring the beautiful young girl who was crying pitifully.

  The second young lady was furious to see that the slave who had killed the black tiger dared to ignore her, and she flew back to the horse's front, flipped onto the horse, took down the six-wheeled spring-loaded shooting gun from the saddle, and held it high as she chased after him.

  Liu Ziguang was injured and carrying a heavy gray wolf, walking very slowly. Before long, they were caught up to. Second Miss raised her gun with one hand and pulled the trigger. A bullet in the shape of an iron nail shot over, hitting the nearby pine tree. The powerful force made the bullet deeply penetrate the trunk, leaving only a small tail outside.

  "It was you who killed Hei Hu, I will avenge Hei Hu." The second young lady said coldly from horseback.

  "It's all over, I've been found out. What a coincidence, running into the dog owner." Liu Ziguang thought to himself. He dropped the wolf corpse and turned around to face the second young lady, saying: "Your dog was killed by me. At the time, I thought it was a wild wolf so I mistakenly killed it. Since you've discovered this, do with me as you please." The girl in front of him was holding a strange weapon, resembling an oversized revolver, probably a powerful spring-loaded mechanism that loaded the bullet into position each time the trigger was pulled, firing off one shot at a time, its power not to be underestimated, leaving no room for resistance.

  The second young lady's anger was so great that smoke was coming out of her seven orifices. This slave was so arrogant, actually not kneeling down to beg for mercy, and instead letting himself be treated like a nobody. She raised her gun to shoot him, wanting to make several blood holes in his body. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Hmph, considering he had just saved her life, she would spare him for now. The second young lady found an excuse for herself. She saw the number 9527 on Liu Ziguang's chest under his torn clothes and silently memorized it in her heart. Without saying anything else, she turned her horse around and left.

  Liu Ziguang looked at the second young lady leaving with a bewildered expression, scratched his head, shouldered the wolf's corpse and continued to walk down the mountain in a daze.

  That night, after everyone had eaten their fill of wolf meat and was happily lying on the hay beds belching contentedly, suddenly the door to the slave quarters burst open and a line of black-clad warriors carrying long spears charged in, dividing into two groups. The pine torches illuminated the slave quarters as if it were daytime.

  "Which one is 9527? Come out!" the leading warrior shouted. As soon as the words fell, the flattering guard pointed out Liu Ziguang from the crowd, "It's him." Two warriors stepped forward and took Liu Ziguang away, while Zha Mu and others tried to stop them but were held back by the cold spear tips and had to retreat.