My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 164 Shan Xiongxin

A group of people were slowly making their way along the quiet mountain path.

Zhai Rang walked at the front, cautiously surveying his surroundings. The horse wasn't moving fast; it had rained recently, and the ground was still damp. The mountain path wasn't easy to traverse either.

Zhai Rang dared not take the main road, so he could only cross one mountain after another. From Wild Buffalo Mountain to here, there were six or seven mountain ranges, all of which were places of outstanding people and beautiful scenery, and all of which were dens of thieves. Every day, Zhai Rang and his men would encounter three or four groups of fellow bandits. However, Zhai Rang had brought a lot of men and was fully armed, so these ordinary bandits were not people to mess with.

Shan Xiongxin, holding a horse spear, followed beside Zhai Rang, his face full of disdain.

After Zhai Rang wrote the letter, Shan Xiongxin was the first to come to seek refuge, but Xu Shiji was not in a hurry to come. He had a lot to do, and his family's business was declining day by day. His grandfather was somewhat powerless and wanted him to help. So he had Xu Shiji come of age ahead of schedule and gave him a courtesy name, Maogong.

Xu Maogong sent some gifts, but did not go into the mountains himself, and Zhai Rang did not blame him.

“Brother, when you wrote to summon us here, you said you were going to accomplish something great. How come you're doing this business today? How can you let your brother run errands?”

Shan Xiongxin spoke up, displeased.

When he first arrived at the mountain, he was filled with great anticipation, thinking that he could accomplish great things under Zhai Rang's command.

But after he went up the mountain, he discovered that his elder brother was not the leader of the stronghold. The leader of the stronghold was thin and weak, and any of his brothers could easily defeat him. Moreover, the stronghold was not the scene of eating meat from big bowls and drinking wine in large gulps that he had imagined.

It's just a den of thieves, but they make it look all serious. Despite my bravery, I couldn't become a leader; they only made me a squad leader.

Dan Xiongxin was genuinely unhappy.

He wanted to do great things and make a bigger name for himself as soon as possible.

He didn't even understand why that guy surnamed Tian was qualified to be the chieftain.

Zhai Rang knew his brother's thoughts to some extent, and he said, "Xiongxin, don't be impatient."

"This is not a trivial matter of running errands; it is a very important matter. I just can't explain it to you in detail until it's done. You'll understand afterward. I understand your thoughts, but you've only just come up the mountain and haven't yet made any contributions. Once this matter is resolved, the village head will definitely reward you!"

"Village head."

Speaking of this, Shan Xiongxin became somewhat annoyed. Did he come into the mountains to work for the village head?

Even though it's just a title, can't we call it something better? Even something like "Prefect" would be nicer.
What exactly is a township head?

Dan Xiongxin blushed and spoke again, "Brother, I've been in the stronghold for a while now, and I think there's no one here who can compare to you. Whether it's bravery or governance, no one is your match. Besides, we're not allowed to go down the mountain to plunder or expand our power. This is hardly a good place."

"Just listen to me, we'll all support you to take the position."

"shut up!"

Zhai Rang shouted at him.

He looked at Shan Xiongxin beside him and asked, "Did I send you into the mountains to seize power?"

"Brother, I really don't understand."

Seeing Shan Xiongxin's aggrieved and annoyed expression, Zhai Rang took a deep breath. There were some things he hadn't told Shan Xiongxin and the others, for fear that Shan Xiongxin would leak them. But looking at Shan Xiongxin like this, if he continued to keep him around, even if he didn't cause trouble for him, he would find a chance to slip away.

Zhai Rang cherished Shan Xiongxin. Although Shan Xiongxin was young, his horse spear was top-notch. In the entire stronghold, there were probably few who could fight him to a draw. He was a born warrior. There would definitely be more battles in the stronghold in the future, and he would definitely be of great use.

Zhai Rang hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“There are some things I shouldn’t tell you, but you’re so impatient that I’m afraid you’ll ruin things. So I’ll talk to you about it today, but you absolutely must not tell anyone about this.”

"I need you to swear to me."

Shan Xiongxin's eyes widened. Seeing Zhai Rang's solemn expression, he also put on a stern face and solemnly made an oath.

Zhai Rang knew Shan Xiongxin well and knew he was a man of his word. After Shan Xiongxin swore an oath, Zhai Rang said, "I thought you had discovered long ago that Qingzao Village was not an ordinary bandit stronghold."

"What do you mean, brother?"

"The chief of the village is someone else, that is, the village head, but he is just the village head, not the chief of the village."

"Who is the chieftain?" "I can't tell you that yet. Don't blame me for keeping it from you. It's a secret of the village. Only we know about it. Think about it. Does Qingzao Village look like an ordinary mountain stronghold? You've been to many places before. Do you know what those mountain strongholds are like? Have you ever seen anything like Qingzao Village?"

Upon hearing Zhai Rang's question, Shan Xiongxin pondered for a moment.

To be honest, many of the arrangements in Qingzao Village seemed strange, but there were also many things that shocked him. Their village was like a city, not a haphazardly built temporary camp. The checkpoints were strict, and they even had household registrations and clear divisions of labor. They were more disciplined than people in the city.
After thinking for a long time, Shan Xiongxin said, "Brother, I won't ask who that is. I just want to ask you, what exactly does this chieftain want to do?"

"Dynastic change".

Zhai Rang said softly.

Shan Xiongxin trembled and his eyes widened.

Shan Xiongxin came from a fairly well-off family and learned to ride horses and fight on horseback at a young age. However, his family background could only take him this far. He could not go any further. If he wanted to enter Yingyang Prefecture, he needed to make connections with influential people. If he wanted to make a name for himself, he also needed someone to recommend him.

Shan Xiongxin possessed martial arts skills but couldn't find a place to use them. More than anyone else, he longed to make a name for himself and prove his bravery. Later, his family fell into complete poverty, and he had no choice but to become a chivalrous knight, living off the lives of others until Zhai Rang summoned him, which gave him hope.

He didn't want to spend his life like this. He wanted to do something great, gain respect, and live a better life. Right now, it wasn't an era of uprisings. Although there were minor skirmishes, the country was still relatively peaceful. The imperial army was powerful and invincible in foreign wars. No one was raising the banner of rebellion to overthrow the imperial court.

Zhai Rang's words left Shan Xiongxin stunned, and it took him a long time to recover.

Change of dynasty?

Dan Xiongxin took a deep breath. When he looked at Qingzao Village again, he felt that the whole village had become more mysterious. All those inexplicable things seemed to have an answer.

After calming himself down, Shan Xiongxin asked, "Brother, I don't want to know who the chieftain is; I just want to know one thing."

"How does his power compare to that of the magistrate of Guancheng County?"

"The county magistrate is only fit to lead his horse."

Shan Xiongxin shuddered slightly and asked again, "How does it compare to the Prefect of Xingyang?"

"Hmm, it's hard to tell which is better."

Shan Xiongxin was even more frightened. Yang Qing, the prefect of Xingyang, was no ordinary prefect; he was the son of the Prince of Hejian!

Their power is roughly equal?
"From a prestigious family?"

Zhai Rang cleared his throat. "You only asked one question just now, but you've asked several. I'll say it again: make more contributions. As long as you make contributions, you will be rewarded. Once you have an official position, you will naturally know who it is. I will not harm you, nor will I harm the other brothers. If anyone in the world can achieve great things, it must be their family."

Shan Xiongxin immediately stopped hesitating. He sheathed his spear and looked at Zhai Rang eagerly, "Brother, rest assured! I will surely achieve great deeds sooner or later. I only ask that you introduce me to someone in the future."

Just as he was about to say something more, Zhai Rang suddenly gestured for him to stop talking.

Dan Xiongxin was taken aback. Just then, a group of people appeared in the distance, slowly advancing towards them. There were more than forty of them, with six carriages, and the leader was Zhang Du.

Upon seeing an old acquaintance, Zhai Rang was overjoyed and was about to speak when Shan Xiongxin suddenly pointed to a high slope in the distance.

"Brother! There are people over there!!"

Zhai Rang looked up abruptly, and sure enough, there were several riders standing on the high slope.

"Kill the traitors!!!"

The man in the distance roared, and several knights appeared and charged towards them.

Liu Wuzhou was burning hot all over!
After following them for several days, it turned out they were indeed connected to thieves!

He wasn't afraid of these people. He had fought all sorts of people on the frontier. As long as he could kill a few of the ringleaders before they could react, the rest would scatter!
As expected, Zhang Du's men were in a panic and turned to face the enemy.

Shan Xiongxin's eyes suddenly lit up.

Merit?
Isn't that the greatest achievement?!

(End of this chapter)