Water Margin: I am Zhu Biao

As night deepened, the wind and snow intensified.

The main hall of the courier shop, where official documents were handed over, was the most respectable room, and it was fairly spacious, but it was still low and dilapidated.

The mud wall, neglected for years, was cracked in every direction, and the north wind seeped in everywhere, swallowing the heat from the brazier.

"Our shop is shabby, and we only have this kind of inferior wine. Please don't find it offensive, Captain."

Wang Tou handed over a bowl of cloudy hot wine.

Zhu Biao patted the corner of the herb packet peeking out of his saddlebag and smiled as he declined.

"Thank you, Chief Wang. I'm currently taking herbal medicine and can't drink alcohol."

The medicine prescribed by Physician Shi had already been used up, but his prescription for dispelling wind and treating cold was very effective, so Zhu Biao got a few more doses of the same prescription, just in case.

In addition, he has made up his mind not to drink alcohol when traveling alone.

"Chief Wang, I noticed just now that everyone looked anxious and kept their knives close at hand. Is there something wrong in the neighborhood?"

"Sigh~"

Wang Tou took a swig of wine and sighed.

"Don't even mention it. A group of bandits recently came to the back mountain and have already taken many lives."

"A strongman?"

Zhu Biao raised an eyebrow.

"This place is only about twenty li from Shen County and not far from Xiangzhou. It is also a key point on the main road and is guarded by a patrol office. How could there still be bandits causing trouble here?"

Boom!

A bearded soldier slammed an empty wine bowl on the table and said angrily:

"Hmph, our place, Twenty-Two Li Pu, is right between the prefecture and the county. Damn it! We're unwanted by everyone."

Another soldier was also provoked.

"Those bastards from the patrol office, they'd already huddled back in their camp with their eggs as soon as it got dark. Relying on them is like waiting for a god to descend to earth."

"Stop babbling!"

Wang Tou gave a low shout, then turned to Zhu Biao.

"Captain, this gang of bandits is extremely fierce. They hide during the day and come out at night. The patrol inspectorate has led troops to suppress them twice before, but they lost more than twenty men."

At this moment, the bearded soldier couldn't help but add another sentence:

"Among those strongmen was a skilled archer; even the deputy inspector was pierced through the eye by an arrow he shot from afar."

"Oh?"

Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly lit up.

An arrow pierced through an eye from afar; this was no ordinary archery technique. In any case, his current level four archery skills certainly couldn't achieve that.

In the martial arts world, skilled martial artists are as numerous as carp crossing a river, but archery masters are extremely rare.

Of the 108 heroes of Liangshan, apart from Hua Rong, there were only three or five people skilled in archery, and even Lin Chong was not good at archery.

How many of them are there? Do you know their names?

"There were only three people, including a young woman. They seemed to be siblings, and both had the surname Pang."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao suddenly felt his mouth go dry and couldn't help but swallow.

His surname is Pang, and he's a master archer? Damn, could he be Pang Wanchun? Isn't this guy from Jiangnan?

After a moment, Wang Tou gave up his bed, and Zhu Biao leaned against the fairly tidy headboard, wrapped himself tightly in his fur robe, and drew a map by the dim light of an oil lamp.

However, he seemed somewhat distracted tonight.

Although he suppressed his desire to get to the bottom of things and gave up his plan to find out more, the name Pang Wanchun seemed like a curse, lingering in his mind.

A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a good general is hard to come by!

A top-tier archer, even without the talent to lead troops in battle, is more than capable of being a battlefield assassin.

Boom!

Wang Tou's shop had a stable right outside the back window. Just then, a soft sound came from the stable.

Snore~

Immediately afterwards, another sniffling sound rang out. Zhu Biao, with his sharp ears, recognized it as his favorite black horse.

This horse is very intelligent and alert; it usually doesn't make any unnecessary noise.

puff!

Without hesitation, Zhu Biao blew out the oil lamp, picked up his knife, got out of bed, and while turning the spring of the hidden arrow, tiptoed towards the window.

To keep out the cold, the windows were covered with thick reed tarpaulins, which were now frozen solid and could not be opened at all, so that nothing could be seen.

However, this thing can't block out cold winds or noise.

"Brother, the manger is full of dry hay, not a single black bean."

A hoarse, trembling, and dejected young woman's voice came through the phone; just by listening, one could sense her hunger and cold.

Immediately afterwards, a rough, menacing male voice spoke:

"Brother, how about we kill the horse and eat the meat, or we can just storm into the storehouse and steal the grain?"

"Brother, sister, the horse is the lifeblood of the courier station. If we kill the horse, all the couriers will be imprisoned and punished."

A few breaths later, a deep male voice finally answered, equally hoarse and slightly trembling, but carrying a strange, reassuring power.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. We, the Pang family, never implicate the innocent, nor do we engage in robbery."

The woman's voice choked with emotion:

"Brother, why don't we go home? We...we don't need those Lingbi stones!"

The man addressed as "Brother" took a long breath and said in a deep voice:

"Sister, we can give up the stones, but we must vent our anger. I will kill that inspector surnamed Huang."

Clang!

Just then, a crisp sound rang out from the middle room.

It sounded like the blade had accidentally struck a pillar; the sound wasn't loud, but it was particularly jarring in the deathly still night.

chap!

The next instant, the sound of a knife being drawn rang out, and a rough, gruff male voice roared:

"You bastards, stop pretending to be dead! Get yourselves out here and hand over the food!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion arose in the middle room, accompanied by a few muffled low shouts, before falling silent again, without a sound.

"Damn it! Are they not even going to act anymore? Just staring wide-eyed and pretending to be asleep?"

Zhu Biao cursed irritably and pushed open the door to leave.

We have to step in; that hot-tempered younger brother is clearly on the verge of a breakdown. What if he blocks the door and sets it on fire?

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a figure quickly emerge from the backyard. Zhu Biao immediately stopped, stood at attention with his gun, and said in a deep voice:

"Brother, I was just passing by. I have no grudges against you in the past or present. There is no need for us to fight to the death."

While eavesdropping on the conversation of the three siblings, he had already silently prepared his spear. Against many opponents, including a skilled archer, the spear would be more reliable.

The figure stopped two zhang in front of him, holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other.

By the dim light, Zhu Biao could barely make out that the man was probably in his twenties, not tall, but exceptionally wiry.

His head and face were wrapped in rags, revealing only a pair of hawk-like eyes that gleamed with a sinister light.

"Are you an official?"

He glanced quickly at Zhu Biao and spoke, his voice low and hoarse, like a knife scraping against an iron plate.

"Yes."

"I'm a thief, you're an official, aren't you going to punish me?"

His tone was slightly sarcastic.

Just as Zhu Biao was about to reply, two more figures flashed out from behind the man, a man and a woman, both with their heads and faces wrapped up and carrying knives.

Seeing this, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief. If all three were archers, he would have no chance of winning.

Now, even if there is still a fighting chance, what can a master archer do? His hidden arrows can still hit any target within two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

After a few breaths of silent confrontation, Zhu Biao suddenly raised a hand, pointed to the room where the soldiers were, patted the satchel on his chest, and finally pointed to the courtyard outside.

Immediately, he walked out of the courtyard first, and the man only hesitated for a moment before following him.

Zhu Biao walked very slowly, always facing the three people directly and keeping the distance within three zhang.

The man instantly understood his intention, paused slightly, but still followed without deliberately creating distance.

In front of the open gate of the express delivery shop, Zhu Biao and his two siblings stood on either side.

"I have little food and travel money left, but there are a few packets of medicine for colds that you might find useful."

Zhu Biao tossed the satchel to the man with the knife, who caught it in a fluster and quickly looked through it. Clearly, he was the hot-tempered younger brother.

Why?

The man with the bow was slightly taken aback, and asked in a cold voice.

"I overheard your conversation just now. Although I am a public servant, I can distinguish right from wrong."

The man's body stiffened abruptly, his guarded posture relaxed slightly, and his voice became somewhat muffled:

"Unexpectedly, there are reasonable people in the North, and one of them is even a young master."

"Heh~"

Zhu Biao chuckled and said self-deprecatingly:

"Brother, you've misjudged me. I'm not some high-ranking official's son, but a peasant's son. I spent money to buy the title of commander of the local militia."

"Oh?"

The man's momentum vanished once more, and his right hand had already left the quiver.

During the Song Dynasty, imperial power did not extend to the countryside. It was common practice for local strongmen to form fortified villages for self-protection. It was also common to buy an official position to enhance one's status, but this was not the same as being a real official.

The three siblings came from Pangjiazhuang. Having the same background, they naturally felt close to each other.

At this moment, the hot-tempered younger brother had already pulled out a naan bread, hurriedly broke it into three pieces, first handed one piece to the younger sister next to him, and then glanced at the older brother in front of him.

After hesitating for a few moments, he picked up a piece and took a big bite.

"You northerner are certainly honest!"

He spoke unclearly.

The man with the bow glanced at him sideways, then finally hung up his bow, bowed, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying:

"Thank you for your timely help, young brother. I am Pang Wanchun from Shezhou. May I ask your name? I will repay you in the future."

"It really was him!"

Even though he was mentally prepared, Zhu Biao still felt a chill run down his spine.