Chapter Fifty-Seven: Besieged

  At this time, Qian Chenglin had already arrived at the location of the Beggar Gang's headquarters, but he didn't dare to simply barge in and instead carefully observed the surrounding terrain.

  Just then, several birds suddenly flew out of the grass thicket, and Qian Chenglin was instantly alert, but it was too late. Several ropes had already been tied around Qian Chenglin and Ma Tou from the grass thicket.

  Qian Chenglin was then pulled down, and the horse under him, which was about to run away in fright, was also pulled down.

  Then some people drilled out of the grass, each wearing tattered clothes and not very clean faces. One of them had eight cloth bags hanging from his waist and walked over to take a look at Qian Chenglin.

  Qian Chenglin, who was lying on the ground, hurriedly said: "I am a subordinate of Xiangzi's camp and I want to come here to see the leader of the Beggar Gang."

  The one with eight bags didn't respond, but instead exchanged glances with the people on both sides, and then they lifted Qian Chenglin up again and tied him up several times.

  Then Qian Chenglin was blindfolded again and taken away by these people to an unknown destination, stopping after a while.

  The cloth covering Qian Chenglin's eyes was removed, and after adapting for a moment, he saw that there were many people gathered here, all of whom were obviously beggars.

  And in front of him, on the platform of that city god temple, there was a person who was obviously more majestic than these beggars, and several people with nine cloth bags hanging from their waists stood beside this person.

  The one with the thousand-year-old Lin came over, with eight cloth bags hanging from his waist, and respectfully bowed his fist to the person on the stage, saying: "Boss, this person claims to be from Haozi Camp and says he wants to see you!"

  The person on the stage had a calm face, but suddenly showed a hint of movement, then quickly walked down from the stage and came to Qian Chenglin's side. After carefully sizing him up for a few moments, he asked: "Are you really from Huoziying? Do you know about 'Hexi talk'?"

  "Black Mountain stretches far and wide, White Water surrounds half the mountain in one circle!"

  The leader of the Beggar Clan immediately said to the Beggar Clan brothers beside him: "Quickly untie the ropes for the brothers of the Wasteland Camp!"

  After being released by Qian Chenglin, he immediately bowed his fist and said: "Haoziying Qian Chenglin has seen Master Liu!"

  The beggar gang leader, Liu, was busy and stretched out his hand to support Qian Chenglin, saying: "Come quickly, I previously heard that the Haozi camp encountered a dangerous place and suffered heavy losses. I have been inquiring about the whereabouts of my brothers Fu Tong and Tian Yang everywhere, but there has been no news so far. Unexpectedly, today I finally see the brothers of the Haozi camp!"

  Qian Chenglin's face turned pale as he said, "I didn't expect the master to still remember the brothers of Haozi Camp. Unfortunately, my third brother has already passed away, and my sixth brother's legs are crippled. Otherwise, Sixth Brother would have come personally."

  Liu Bangzhu's face suddenly showed a sorrowful expression after hearing this, and it was a long time before he sighed: "Alas, my Fu Tong brothers and Tian Yang brothers are pitiful."

  "This boss of the willow gang said again: 'Looking at how cautious you are this time, I'm afraid there's something you want me to help with?'"

  Qian Chenglin then told Peng Tianyang about the matter he had entrusted to him, and also said that Jiang Yunshui and others were now in the Wuhualou, preparing to meet with Jin Manzhao.

  Liu Bangzhu's expression changed as he said to the Eighth Elder beside him, "Quickly have the brothers bring over the leader of the Haozi Camp!"

  Qian Chenglin knew that something was amiss after hearing what Liu Bangzhu had to say, and he hastily inquired about the matter. Liu Bangzhu then told Qian Chenglin that Jin Manzhao had long since become a pawn of the imperial court, and now he had even broken away from the Beggars' Sect to establish his own sect. Moreover, Liu Bangzhu had received news that Jin Manzhao was currently searching for people from the Huozi Camp, planning to capture them and hand them over to the Peng family, who sought revenge for Peng Yong's death!

  At this moment, Qian Chenglin was also greatly shocked and had never thought that such a thing would happen. He hastily bid farewell to Liu Bangzhu and went to the city to find Jiang Yunshui and others.

  The leader of the Liu gang was very worried and called the beggar gang's people to follow Qian Chenglin into the city together.

  At this time, inside the Wuhualou in Taiyuan City, it was also the moment when that mother was about to reveal the identity of the courtesan, and everyone in the building was focused on this matter.

  However, just then a person suddenly passed by Jin Manzhao's side. This person whispered a few words to Jin Manzhao and looked in the direction of Jiang Yunshui and his group.

  All this was naturally seen by Chi Pengzu, which made him feel a bit uneasy in his heart. Looking at the person who was talking to Jin Manzhao, he also felt somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, wasn't it that fellow from Jiuhe Building who told them the news?

  Chi Pengzu whispered this to Jiang Yunshui's ear, and Jiang Yunshui also looked over at the golden helmet, coincidentally locking eyes with him across the air.

  Jin Manzhao raised the wine cup in his hand and nodded slightly towards Jiang Yunshui, indicating that he already knew Jiang was looking for him.

  Just then, Jiang Yunshui felt a little uneasy in his heart and didn't know why it was like this. Just as Jiang Yunshui was about to raise his cup to respond, the people standing between Jiang Yunshui and Jin Manzhao suddenly stood up. It turned out that the mother had announced the Huakui this time!

  Jiang Fengshui and Chi Pengzu also stood up, but now their minds were no longer on that courtesan, and they all looked towards the direction of Jin Manzhao.

  But that was where Jin Manzhao sat, and now there is no one, nor does anyone know where Jin Manzhao went? Just as Jiang Yunshui and Chi Pengzu were anxious in their hearts, a fellow came over and put a piece of paper into Jiang Yunshui's hand.

  Jiang Yingshui took a glance at the paper, on which were written two characters "outside the door". Jiang Yingshui and Chi Pengzu then left this place, heading towards the outside.

  After they left the door, they saw Jin Manzhao standing opposite, and he even made a fist at them.

  Jiang Fengshui was just about to go over when Chi Pengzu stretched out his hand to stop him. The Golden Helmet on the opposite side said, "I heard that both of you are looking for me, now that we've met, why not come over?"

  Na Chi Peng Zu cupped his fists and said, "My young master and I are indeed looking for you, but it's really not convenient to talk in the dark. Why don't we go inside and have a drink while we chat?"

  Jin Manzhao suddenly sneered, and then many people appeared from the dark place behind him. Jin Manzhao didn't say much anymore, and with a wave of his hand, the people behind him rushed towards Jiang Yunshui and Chi Pengzu like a swarm of bees.

  Just as Jiang Yunshui and the others were about to be surrounded, another group of people appeared, blocking the men who were charging over led by Jin Manzhao. Jiang Yunshui and Chi Pengzu looked over and found that it was actually Wang Zhenyuan and the others from "Chongnan Escort Agency" they had met in the morning.

  Wang Zhenyuan walked over and pointed the short gun in his hand at those who had already stopped, shouting: "If you take another half step forward, this gun in my hand is not blind!"

  Jiang Yunshui and Chi Pengzu did not expect that Wang Zhenyuan would actually lend a helping hand, nor could they guess why he was doing so, but in this situation, the two of them were also unable to do anything.

  "That fellow with the golden helmet on his head sneered: 'Mind your own business! Today you won't be leaving Taiyuan City!'"

  As soon as the golden voice fell, dozens of Qing soldiers appeared and surrounded the entrance of Wuhualou.

  Jiang Yunshui and Chi Pengzu did not expect that Jin Manzhao would actually collude with the government, but in the Beggar Gang, no one had ever heard of letting subordinates do such a thing, let alone Jin Manzhao being one of the nine-bag elders of the Beggar Gang!

  The commotion outside naturally startled the people in Wuhualou, and many of them came out one after another, looking at the scene with confusion.

  At this stalemate, a large number of beggars suddenly poured in from all the alleys on Rouge Street, completely blocking the area.

  Then, a nine-bag elder came out of these beggars. As he walked over, the beggars all made way for him.

  When he walked over to the Qing soldiers, they also parted to make way for him. The people inside also made an opening for him to pass through.

  This man stood together with Jiang Yunshui and others, clasped his fists in a salute to the left and right, saying: "Please give an old man some face, everyone disperse first."

  The Qing soldiers surrounding Jiang's pregnant wife and Jin Man were all silent, looking at each other without speaking, seemingly unsure of what to do next.

  "But now Jin Manzhao said: 'Today, I'll let my men leave for the sake of Huang Jiu's face.'"