Reborn as Lin Pingzhi, starting from escorting Daiyu to the capital.

Shanhaiguan.

"Big brother!"

Situ Heng hugged Situ Bolei tightly, his eyes brimming with tears of emotion.

Some time ago, after much persuasion, Zhan Fei finally agreed to go to Shanhaiguan with him.

These past few days, the two of them have traveled through wind and rain, enduring hardships and sleeping outdoors, and finally arrived.

The Chang Le Gang held extraordinary significance for Wu Sangui.

Situ Heng knew that he had lost his position as gang leader and was guilty of a serious crime, so he planned to first talk to his elder brother, Situ Bolei.

Upon seeing Situ Heng, whose clothes were tattered and who looked haggard, Situ Bolei was immediately alarmed and said urgently:

"Second brother, what happened to you?"

In his memory, Situ Hengheng always paid great attention to his image, so it was hard to imagine that he was in such a sorry state now.

Moreover, as the leader of the Chang Le Gang, his identity is sensitive, so why would his younger brother suddenly appear in Shanhaiguan?

Situ Heng, tears streaming down his face, choked out:

"Brother, Bei Haishi has committed treason, and I am no longer the leader of the Chang Le Gang."

"What?!"

Stuart was shocked and blurted out.

The imperial court is currently facing a severe financial crisis, and the emperor is stubborn and self-willed, resulting in insufficient military pay for officials and soldiers.

Situ Bolei was well aware of the importance of the Chang Le Gang in raising military funds and stabilizing the situation.

When General Wu Sangui asked him to send people to raise military funds, he felt guilty towards the imperial court.

He still remembered what Wu Sangui had said to him:

"Berle, you know how important the location of Shanhaiguan is."

"Once the borders are lost, the imperial court will be in grave danger."

After repeated persuasion from Wu Sangui, Situ Bolei finally nodded in agreement.

His younger brother, Situ Heng, volunteered and resolutely went to Jiangnan to establish the Chang Le Gang.

With Wu Sangui's assistance, the Chang Le Gang gradually gained a foothold, and its role became increasingly significant.

Tu Bolei gradually accepted the existence of the Chang Le Gang.

But who could have imagined that my second brother would bring such a devastating piece of news?

"Second brother, tell me the whole story in detail."

It took Stuart a long time to recover from his shock.

Situ Heng then recounted in detail how Bei Haishi colluded with other hall masters and incense leaders to launch a sudden attack at the gang's general meeting.

As for Bei Haishi's capture and the Chang Le Gang's transformation, these were all later events that Situ Heng was unaware of.

"How dare Bei Haishi act so recklessly!"

Upon hearing this, Stuart was immediately enraged.

Situ Heng quickly chimed in, "Yes, brother, this Bei Haishi is incredibly audacious. We should tell the general to replace him immediately."

Situ Bolei glared at Situ Heng and said coldly:

"And then you'll continue being the gang leader?"

"this……"

Situ Heng was stunned.

He knew in his heart that if he wanted to become the gang leader, he would have to accept the decree to reward good and punish evil and go to Xia Ke Island. That was a dangerous matter with little chance of survival, and he really didn't want to go.

Stuart said:

"In my opinion, this matter is mainly your fault. If you had accepted the decree to reward the good and punish the evil, these troubles would not have arisen."

Situ Heng stammered:

"Brother, once we accept the order to reward good and punish evil and go to Xia Ke Island, the Chang Le Gang will be left without anyone to lead it."

"Is that decree for rewarding good and punishing evil really that terrible?"

Situ Bolei cursed, then said, "In any case, this matter is of utmost importance. You are coming with me to see the general."

Situ Bolei, along with Situ Heng and Zhan Fei, hurriedly headed to Wu Sangui's command tent.

Along the way, Situ Heng and Zhan Fei saw that the soldiers were well-disciplined and had a neat military appearance, which was completely different from the Ming soldiers they had encountered on the road, and they couldn't help but secretly admire them.

Situ Heng couldn't help but say:

"Brother, General Wu is indeed skilled at managing troops."

Stuart Boley said proudly:

"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to hold off the Tartars for so long. However, now that we've lost the Chang Le Gang, the situation is not good."

The two arrived at the entrance of the general's tent, where the guards informed the general that he had important guests today and asked them to wait outside for a moment.

After a while, the guards came out and invited them in, saying that the general wanted to see them.

Zhan Fei followed Situ Bolei cautiously into the commander's tent. Upon entering, he saw a middle-aged man sitting in the center, with a majestic physique and a purplish-red face, exuding an air of supreme authority.

"This must be the famous General Wu Sangui, who lives up to his reputation."

Zhan Fei pondered to himself.

Wooden tables were placed on the left and right sides of the tent. On the right sat a man who was very old, with white hair hanging down to his chest and his face covered with scars and wrinkles. He was extremely ugly.

"This person must be General Wu's distinguished guest, but we don't know who he is. General Wu seems to value him very much."

Zhan Fei was filled with doubts.

Just as he was wondering, he heard Wu Sangui say enthusiastically:

"Mr. Hong, this is one of my lieutenants, named Situ Bolei."

He then introduced Situ Bolei, saying, "Bolei, you've come at the right time. This is Mr. Hong Antong, the leader of the Divine Dragon Sect."

Situ Bolei quickly and respectfully said, "Situ Bolei greets Mr. Hong."

Hong Antong was quite pleased with himself when Wu Sangui solemnly introduced him. He thought Situ Bolei would be shocked by his name, but to his surprise, Situ Bolei remained calm and did not show the shock he expected, which made him somewhat disappointed.

Wu Sangui asked, "Bo Lei, what's the matter?"

Situ Bolei glanced at Hong Antong, hesitated, and stopped himself from speaking.

Wu Sangui said loudly, "Mr. Hong is no outsider, Bo Lei, just say what you want to say."

Hong Antong was extremely pleased with these words, his eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Situ Bolei then spoke up, saying, "General, something has happened to the Chang Le Gang."

After saying that, he asked Situ Heng to recount the whole story.

After hearing this, Wu Sangui did not get angry, but instead spoke gently to Situ Heng:

"I understand. This was mainly due to Bei Haishi's insubordination, so it's not your fault. You handled it very well."

Situ Heng, who had been feeling uneasy, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Wu Sangui then turned to Hong Antong and asked, "Mr. Hong, what do you think should be done about this?"

Hong Antong said confidently, "He's just Bei Haishi. 'Touching Spring'? Hmph, I'll make him 'Hibernate'."

Wu Sangui was overjoyed and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Hong. I'll toast you with a glass." With that, he raised his wine glass.

Hong Antong also picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

Situ Heng reminded him, "Mr. Hong, there's also that reward and punishment decree. After we take back the Chang Le Gang, we still need to be careful of the people from Xia Ke Island."

Seeing how easily Hong Antong spoke, he felt incompetent and resentful, so he brought up Xia Ke Island.

Hong Antong laughed loudly:

"I've heard of Xia Ke Island for a long time and have always wanted to see it for myself to see if it's really as powerful as the legends say."

Zhan Fei, seeing Hong Antong's loud voice that made the tent rattle, couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

"This person's internal strength is incredibly profound; why have I never heard of him before?"

"Bang!"

Hong Antong slammed his hand on the table, but the table didn't budge.

Just as Zhan Fei and the others were marveling at the sight, the table suddenly cracked open and scattered into several pieces.

Zhan Fei and the others were taken aback, thinking: If this palm strike were to hit someone, it would be disastrous.

Wu Sangui exclaimed in admiration, "It seems Mr. Hong has mastered the Bone-Melting Palm technique. Congratulations!"

Hong Antong was extremely pleased with himself. He had noticed that Zhan Fei and the others seemed to underestimate him, and he had long wanted to show off his skills and demonstrate his strength.

Situ Heng, however, was somewhat depressed, thinking: With such a master in the group, I'll probably be a puppet leader in name only again, just like before.

After chatting for a while, Wu Sangui said:

"Gentlemen, I have some things to discuss with Mr. Hong. Please take a rest for a while."