Chapter 41: Preparing for the Unexpected

  Ma Lian'er was extremely embarrassed, afraid of being misunderstood as siblings, which would be even more unbearable. She could only blush and stammer: "Uncle, I'm sorry... my husband and I are out in the open, we were too cautious."

  Yang Ling was taken aback, and at this time he couldn't help but feel that the more he explained, the more guilty he would seem, so he just shut his mouth. Da Han suddenly said: "I said, it's New Year's Eve, right? The Tartars are causing a lot of trouble, we're also fleeing to the city, why don't you come with us?"

  Da Han's surname is Korean, called Han Lin. The eldest son is called Han Wei, the second son is called Han Wu, and the third child has a more common name, called Man Cang. People from poor families often give their children auspicious names. Yang Ling had seen several people named Man Cang before, but unfortunately, those with this name were mostly very poor.

  Han Lin hid in the mountain nest ahead, and on the way, he took in more than a hundred refugees, all thanks to this father-son hunting duo's survival. This family looked rather dull, not good at chatting, just politely smiled and then turned their backs to walk ahead with big strides carrying their prey.

  Man Cang'er pulled the reindeer, smiled and looked at Yang Ling, then looked at Ma Lian'er, and whispered to Yang Ling: "Brother Yang, your wife is very beautiful, even more beautiful than my sister."

  Ma Lian'er's face turned red with embarrassment, but a hint of joy inadvertently floated in her eyebrows and eyes. The term "daughter-in-law" really made her heart flutter. Yang Ling coughed awkwardly twice, unable to admit or deny it, so he pretended to be deaf and dumb.

  Han Wu said to Han Wei, "Big brother, after the heavy snow, all the beasts will come out to forage for food. It's really a good opportunity for hunting. This time more than 100 people can get some meat soup to drink."

  "Hmm, the young people have all gone to pick some dried fruits in the nearby area. With these hunted animals, it's enough for everyone to eat a full meal. I estimate that we'll arrive at Chicken Crowing Inn by tomorrow evening."

  "Even the old people and children know to gather some dry firewood nearby for everyone to keep warm, but Yang San's brother is too useless, he doesn't do anything, just eats and takes advantage of others, it's infuriating!"

  Han Wei bumped him and said, "Stop complaining, if Dad hears you, he'll kick you. What's the big deal about being a relative of my sister's husband?"

  Han Man Cang was competing with the little roe deer, huffing and puffing as he said: "If you ask me, we shouldn't have run back, those bandits who robbed our village were only thirty or so people, relying on Dad and our martial arts skills, can't we take care of them?"

  Han Big Brother stood on a rock wall, and heavily hummed to his little son: "Arrogant! Those few dozen Tartars we cleaned up, turning back can bring in hundreds, thousands of Tartars to flatten the village, what's the use of individual martial arts in a vast army?

  He stood with his hands on his hips, instructing his son: "When I was studying at Shaolin, I heard that during the Jingnan campaign of Chengzu, Master Dao Yan asked the Shaolin school for three hundred monk soldiers to assist in the war. In the end, only over a hundred people came back alive, and more than half of them were disabled. At that time, the leader of the group, the elder Luohan Tang, Master Yunyun, wore a golden bell cover and an iron cloth shirt, and was invulnerable to swords and guns, but he was shot into a hedgehog by random arrows in just one cup of tea."

  Han Man Cang said discontentedly, "Isn't learning martial arts useless then?" Han Lao Die replied, "Not necessarily. The three hundred monks from Shaolin were able to resist over two thousand people for an hour, but in a large-scale battle, what use are several hundred martial arts experts?"

  Yang Ling saw that the little guy was somewhat disheartened, so he coaxed him: "Don't be discouraged, that's because the commander didn't use his methods properly. Such a master would of course not work for charging and breaking through the enemy lines, but if he were in charge of raiding and burning grain, sniping at officials, he would be more useful than tens of thousands of troops."

  Yang Ling suddenly had an epiphany: "Wait a minute... He's surnamed Han, has three sons, studied at Shaolin Temple, and is now a hunter..."

  Yang Ling felt a bit awkward: "Could it be that this is his own father-in-law and older and younger uncle whom he had never met before? However, I don't recognize him, how come he doesn't recognize me either?"

  In fact, even if he didn't have a muddy face now, Han Lao would not think of his son-in-law. Han Lao had also seen his daughter's husband a few times after she got married, but his current complexion was far different from the pale yellow and dying appearance at that time.

  Han Lin had already learned from the refugees that his brother-in-law had recovered and moved to Jī Míng Yì, now even if he looked familiar, he wouldn't think that this man who came into the city with his wife to visit relatives would be his own son-in-law.

  Yang Ling had never met You Nang's family members before, and at first, he was afraid of being seen through by You Nang, so when she mentioned her family while chatting, he didn't dare to ask their names. Now that he had doubts, Yang Ling suddenly became flustered.

  He nervously chatted with Old Man Han: "Uncle Han, where did you escape from this time?"

  Han Lindao said: "From Pingyun Ridge, we hunted in the mountains for over a dozen days and just returned to the village when we ran into the Tartars. We hastily hid in the mountain valley with our fellow villagers. Where are you two coming from?"

  Yang Ling's heart skipped a beat, Ping Yun Ridge? It can't be wrong, this big man wearing animal skin, with a head so large it could wrap himself up entirely, is really... the Old Man of Mount Tai!

  He dryly laughed twice and hastily made amends, saying: "Uncle misunderstood, that miss is not my wife, just now didn't know the root or the bottom, so lied to you".

  "Oh?" Han Lin looked at him suspiciously, and Yang Ling hastily explained: "Uh... actually, we two were running from Jiming Post to report back to our Great Ming army, but the battle broke out and we were chased by the Tartars and got lost in this forest. As for... she was scared stiff, you're an experienced person, you understand, haha...", he raised his chin at his father-in-law and gave him a very masculine smile.

  Han Lin laughed heartily, stroking his beard after he finished laughing, still not quite understanding what was going on, but also not daring to ask again. Yang Ling took the opportunity to briefly recount his experiences of transmitting information, ambushing, escaping, and encountering wolves, giving his father-in-law a preemptive warning.

  In the mountain valley, people used withered tree trunks to build many slope-shaped huts relying on natural terrain. The huts were covered with leaves and snow, becoming temporary homes. Now, in front of the huts, several iron pots without lids were placed on stone blocks. The wood was burning cracklingly, and the snow water in the pot had already boiled, emitting wisps of white vapor.

  These people seem to have escaped with their experiences, pots and pans are all complete, in fact, their usual family has two beds, quilts, and these things. Seeing Han Lin and his son bring back so many prey, those tattered and dull refugees had a few points of vitality, and they came up to help them move and slaughter the prey.

  Although Han Lao Da brought back two strangers, one of whom was a beautiful young woman as lovely as a flower, these people, even the hot-blooded young men, didn't give them more than a glance. They had seen too many refugees on their way, and beauty... its temptation to them was no match for a piece of flatbread now.

  Han Lin invited Yang Ling and Ma Lian'er to sit in front of his own hut, Han Weige and several others cut large pieces of wolf meat and deer meat into the pot. An old white-haired woman carefully took out a small bag, sprinkled some rice into each pot, added a bit of salt, and then poured in many dried fruits that refugees had picked up. The air began to fill with the aroma of food.

  At this time, an old voice said: "Brother Han, can you make it to the village before dawn? A few villagers have caught a cold and there is no doctor or medicine, I'm afraid they won't make it."

  Yang Ling heard the sound and looked over, only to see an old man hobbling along with a cane. The old man had a square face, a ruddy complexion, and a pair of thick white eyebrows that extended beyond his brow. As soon as he saw Yang Ling, the old man froze. Yang Ling also stared at the old man in shock, recognizing him as the patriarch of the Yang family, Old Master Yang, who had come to visit him on the mountain just two days after his rebirth.

  The old man was stunned for a moment, then suddenly raised his cane and hit Yang Ling, scolding: "You ungrateful thing, you actually sold the ancestral property! Can you be worthy of your father? Can you be worthy of your ancestors? Such a big thing, didn't even discuss with me, have you become too arrogant?"

  Yang Lingmang then retreated, unaware of what kind of fire this family's patriarch was spewing: I'm selling my own property, what do I need to discuss with you? Do I really need to be so angry? Does our clan even need to get involved in this matter?

  Han Lin pulled Yang's arm and said with a smile: "Old brother, what are you doing? Let's talk it over."

  Old Master Yang said with a scowl: "I knew he was biased towards your uncle, this little beast sold the ancestral property without even discussing it with the clan, does he still consider himself a member of the Yang family?"