Chapter 23: The Bandit Chief Crosses the Mountain Wind

  I'm so depressed and frustrated with the situation in Jī Míng Zé. I've been wandering around Chóng Xiàn for years, but never suffered such a huge loss. Dozens of my brothers were killed, now only over ten people are left by my side. Even our old nest was destroyed, I really don't know how to get through this winter.

  "Li Er Ma Zi, you son of a bitch! I told you we shouldn't have rushed in. Your mother's...ahem...said it was definitely going to be fine, but now look at us, chased here like a bunch of chickens, and dozens of our brothers are trapped!" Over Mountain Wind cursed angrily, the inch-long scar on his face glowing red and twitching slightly.

  "Older brother!" Li Er Mazi, who had been scolded by the mountain wind, came over with a sad face. Because of his pockmarked face and being the second child at home, he was always called Li Er Mazi. "Who would have thought that these officials and soldiers are like cats whose tails have been stepped on, chasing us relentlessly? Officials and soldiers weren't like this in the past."

  "Damn it!" Guo Shanfeng suddenly stretched out his hand and lifted Li Ermazi, Guo Shanfeng was tall and had long arms, at least over 1.9 meters, and he easily lifted the only 1.6-meter-tall Li Ermazi into the air, "He killed several of them with one blow, how can we not be anxious? Now dozens of brothers have fallen into their hands, can they still survive?"

  "Boss, boss, put me down! Be careful, this isn't a mountain pass, you can't just throw me around like that. What if you accidentally toss me into the water? Then you'll be short one brother again!"

  Guo Shanfeng was both amused and annoyed, "Your mother's... just a piece of rolled meat." He slammed him to the ground, making him lie flat on his back with his limbs splayed out. Although dozens of brothers had fallen into the hands of the government troops, although it was somewhat heartbreaking, he didn't take it to heart. After all, everyone was a bandit, and from the day they started doing this, they never thought about dying a good death. Over the years, welcoming and sending off, who knows how many brothers died either at the hands of the government or in internal conflicts within the bandit lair? He had long since become numb to life and death. Chong County was poor, and it was easy to recruit new brothers to join the gang.

  "How are we going to get through this winter?" Guo Shanfeng thought to himself, The barbarian troops had invaded and looted Chong County, leaving nothing behind. What was left of the people were now gathered near the county seat. "Damn those barbarians, they're really ruthless, leaving us with nothing. How are we supposed to survive?"

  "Older brother!" Li Ermao came over, "If you have farted, let it out quickly!" Guoshan Feng said impatiently.

  "Why don't we run over to the other side?" Li Ermao pointed to the opposite side of Chicken Cry Lake and said, "They just robbed us, they must have gotten a lot of loot, let's go rob them."

  Guo Shanfeng was furious, and with a loud slap in the face, "You brainless fool, who is it that you're facing? It's those damn barbarians! What are barbarians? Do you even know?"

  Li Er Ma Zi was beaten dizzy, looking at Lao Da, dazedly nodding his head.

  "Damn it, those barbarians are all cavalrymen as soon as they mount their horses and civilians as soon as they dismount. I'm going to rob them, you two legs go play with the four hooves for your life, even if you get robbed, you can't outrun them, I don't want to be taken captive by them either." Guo Shanfeng cursed loudly.

  "What's next, boss? We can't stay in this Chicken Creek forever?" asked Li Ermao.

  Guo Shanfeng let out a long sigh, this Ji Mingze was a dead end in everyone's eyes, but for him, it was a blessed land. In his youth, due to a coincidence, he knew the only way to survive through Ji Mingze. Over the years, he had used this place several times to evade the siege of government troops. This was his own secret, even Li Ermazi, his trusted aide, didn't know about it. Without him leading the way, they wouldn't be able to get out within ten miles and would sink to the bottom of the marsh.

  "Let's stay in Ze for two more days, those government troops will definitely withdraw within a few days. When the time comes, we'll go back." Shan Feng plucked a blade of grass and chewed on it, having dealt with government troops for many years, he knew their style well, no troops could last for several days in the mountains. "When the time comes, raise the flag, Chong County is now empty, it's easy to gather a group of brothers, we can't mix here, let's cross the mountain and go to Fuzhou."

  "Old Big is wise!" Li Er Ma Zi chuckled, busily finding a few stalks of sweet grass nearby, wiping himself roughly with them, and handing them to Guo Shan Feng.

  But this time, Guo Shanfeng miscalculated, and the result of the miscalculation is self-evident. From Wang Qinyan, I learned that Guo Shanfeng and his men only escaped with more than a dozen people to Jīmíngzé, where Féng Guó led Li Qing's order and selected 40-50 elite soldiers to rush to the outside of Jīmíngzé. Fortunately, he knew that Guo Shanfeng had escaped into Jīmíngzé from this place, and it was clear that the unknown path was nearby. Otherwise, in the tens of miles wide Jīmíngzé, it would not be easy to catch Guo Shanfeng, who was more slippery than a loach.

  Feng Guo himself had been a bandit, setting up traps and pitfalls was his specialty. Among the people under him, there were more than a dozen skilled hunters. When they arrived at Jī Míng Zé, they set up layers of traps along the road that Guo Shan Feng would inevitably take, then erased their tracks and hid silently, waiting for Guo Shan Feng to fall into their trap.

  It was also Guo Shanfeng's mistake, he didn't even send someone to scout ahead, and instead hid in Jizhenze for four or five days. He thought the government troops had already gone far away, but unexpectedly, a group of over ten people walked out of Jizhenze, laughing and chatting. This was seen by Feng Guo from afar, who gritted his teeth in anger, but secretly rejoiced, "Guo Shanfeng is indeed not an expert, he's far inferior to my former boss. Now it's good, I've got him right where I want him." Feng Guo had been blowing wind on the mountain for four or five days to catch Guo Shanfeng and was extremely pleased with himself, "This wind wasn't blown in vain! Damn, Chong County is so cold, this knife-like wind!" Although he wrapped himself tightly these past few days, every night he still shivered with cold, and didn't dare light a fire, fearing it would startle the enemy.

  The group of bandits, unaware of the impending danger, chatted and laughed as they walked into a trap. The two men at the front suddenly flew up into the air, and under the stunned gaze of the mountain wind and others, were hung upside down from the top of a tree with their heads and feet dangling in mid-air.

  "Ah, ambush!" Over the mountain wind a loud cry, the remaining thieves reacted quickly and immediately dispersed, jumping into the woods on one side, but soon followed by cries of pain came continuously, several who jumped to both sides fell into the previously dug pits with a thud, the spear tips inserted upside down in the pit were not vegetarian, although they were meant to catch alive, without putting long ones, but piercing the soles of their feet was no problem at all.

  Guo Shan turned around and ran back the way he came, with Li Er Ma Zi following closely behind. However, Feng had been guarding this place for days and wouldn't let him escape easily. A large net suddenly rose from the ground, catching Guo Shan and Li Er Ma Zi as they rushed forward. The two of them fell to the ground, struggling to free themselves, but the more they struggled, the tighter the net became.

  A burst of maniacal laughter came from both sides of the forest, and dozens of deputy generals' soldiers jumped out to reap the spoils.

  Feng Guoxiao walked up to Guoshan Feng, who was lying on the ground bound like a rice dumpling, and shook his head, saying: "Oh dear, not professional at all! Not professional! Guo Lao Da, you're too careless, it's really embarrassing! You've lost face for us kidnappers!"

  Isn't he a government soldier? Guo Feng, dressed in military attire, looked at Shan Feng with some confusion but also some surprise. As long as he wasn't a government soldier, there was hope. "Big Brother mixed it up on that mountain, Little Brother Shan Feng. I don't know where I offended Big Brother?"

  Feng Guo burst out laughing, "You're messing with the wrong guy! I've long since turned over a new leaf and now serve as the Zhēn Wǔ Xiào Wèi under General Li of the Dingzhou Military's Invincible Garrison. You little punk, you dare to lay hands on one of General Li's subordinates? Just wait for your own funeral!"

  Guo Shanfeng's face turned pale, and Li Ermazi, who was tied up with him, looked like he had lost his soul. "Boss, just listen to me this time, even if we're caught and become slaves, it's better than being beheaded! Sir officer, can you give us a quick death, don't behead us?"

  "Take this!" Feng Guo spat a face full of saliva stars at him, "Still want to die quickly? Alright, I'll be the master, how about changing to a lingchi? I'll cut you 3,600 times!"

  Li Er Ma Zi shivered and said, "Compared to releasing sky lanterns, this lingering torture is not much better. Officer, can we change it again?"

  Feng Guo burst out laughing, this guy is quite interesting, he's not afraid of death but afraid of suffering.

  "Brothers, let's retreat and return to camp. We'll report the good news to Lord Li. This mountain bandit has been caught by us without a single hair harmed!" Feng Guo stood on the road, heroic and proud. This time Wang Qiannian was left speechless. But he himself felt relieved and proud. Next time when recruiting soldiers, he would be able to ask for more with a clear conscience.

  "Want to capture yourself alive?" Although Ruan was a bold and fearless person, he couldn't help but feel some trepidation at this moment. "I don't know what kind of punishment I'll suffer this time, it seems that even a quick death is hard to come by, it's better to ask for one myself." With this thought in mind, he was about to bite his tongue and end his life when Feng Guo on the other side had already seen through his plan and knocked him out with a single blow.

  "You little rascal, thinking of playing this trick? My hard work would be all for nothing! Don't even think about it, brothers. Let's stuff the mouths of these bandits with these." The soldiers burst out laughing and randomly grabbed handfuls of wild grass from the ground, pinched open the mouths of those people, and forcibly stuffed them in.

  Three chapters for today, seeking votes and collection!