Water Margin: I am Zhu Biao

Despite all his careful planning, Zhu Biao still made one mistake.

It's only 60 li from Changheng to Chenliu, and 50 li from Chenliu to Bianliang. The road conditions are excellent, and according to his original plan, he will definitely arrive tonight.

As a result, within a hundred li of Tokyo, no horses were allowed to run on the imperial roads, not even at a trot.

Those who could ride swiftly on the road were only the Red Feather Express, the carriages of high-ranking officials in purple robes, and the imperial relatives and sons of noble families whom no one dared to offend.

Snore~

The coal-shaped object beneath its crotch kept snorting, expressing its dissatisfaction.

Firstly, it dislikes walking and prefers to run; secondly, at this moment, its body and face are covered in dust, and it has lost all its handsome appearance.

Unexpectedly, Charcoal Head is a little guy who loves to look good.

The mud on its body was applied by carefully kneading flour mixed with mud and snow, and it was very difficult to clean after it dried, causing the horse's appearance to plummet.

This method was something Yan Qing had casually taught him some time ago.

Charcoal Head is a purebred Khitan military horse. Although it is not a fine horse, it is still somewhat conspicuous. There are too many young masters in the capital who love horses but also love to cause trouble.

Zhu Biao wanted to play it safe.

He bent down and stuffed a naan bread into Tan Tou's big mouth, barely managing to calm it down, before letting out a long sigh.

The closer he got to Tokyo, the more anxious he became.

Counting the days, more than ten days have passed since the army's hay storage yard was burned down.

Gao Qiu must have already received news of Lu Qian and Fu An's murders, as well as Lin Chong's disappearance, and Gao Yanei must also know about it.

But what is Lin Niangzi's situation?

Even though she had already hanged herself, Zhu Biao still had a way to win Lin Chong's heart; he simply had to kill Gao Yanei to avenge him.

But Zhu Biao genuinely didn't want anything to happen to her. Madam Lin was a chaste and virtuous woman, and Instructor Lin was also a pitiful person. They deserved a more perfect ending.

There are two major obstacles to rescuing Lady Lin.

The first hurdle is getting out of the city. Zhu Biao had already devised a plan for this, and now with the daring and ruthless Pang Qiutang by his side, the chances of victory were even greater.

Secondly, there's Gao Yanei. If this scoundrel isn't killed, even if Madam Lin leaves the city, Pang Qiutang will have a hard time getting out, and she'll likely be relentlessly pursued and killed.

However, Zhu Biao knew nothing about this scoundrel, and Lin Chong only had a vague understanding of him; they didn't even know where he lived.

The lack of intelligence is the most troublesome thing.

"Third Brother, shall we stay in Chenliu tonight, or continue our journey through the night?"

Passing by the Chenliu boundary marker, it was already past noon, and there were still thirty li to go before reaching Chenliu. Pang Qiutang tentatively asked.

As it turns out, shame is pretty much the same as that thing called a hymen.

Once she got past the first hurdle, things would go much smoother from there. In any case, at this moment, she could call him "Third Brother" quite naturally.

Zhu Biao collected his thoughts, took out two pieces of dried mutton from his pocket, put one in his mouth, and handed one to Pang Qiutang.

"Let's hurry on, even if it gets dark, and rest in Chenqiao Town. We'll try to get into town by noon tomorrow."

She could tell that Zhu Biao was upset, and awkwardly tried to comfort him.

"Third brother, don't worry too much. Sister-in-law Lin is a good person, she will definitely be alright."

Ha~ Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts, while those who repair bridges and roads leave no trace. Zhu Biao never believed in such foolish talk as good people being rewarded.

"I hope so."

But at this moment, he preferred to believe in this vague and illusory theory of cause and effect.

"Snoring~"

Charcoal suddenly snorted loudly, and the horse's head twisted twice by the roadside.

Zhu Biao looked in the direction it had turned its head and saw a small stall set up in the gap of the roadside trees.

Under the thatched shed, several low tables were set up, and on the stove, a large earthenware pot was emitting billowing heat, inside which bubbling dark red tea eggs.

Pulling down the face mask, a pungent aroma of soy sauce mixed with tea wafted into my nostrils.

Pang Qiutang couldn't help but sniffle. She didn't speak, but her starry eyes looked at Zhu Biao with expectation, which spoke louder than a thousand words.

Are you hungry?

Zhu Biao felt both helpless and amused.

"I'm not hungry, I just want some hot food."

Pang Qiutang nodded.

During the two hours of travel, they ate naan bread and dried meat on horseback. They weren't hungry, but they felt cold and longed for hot food.

At this moment, Tan Tou snorted again, urging him on. Zhu Biao sighed as if admitting defeat, and dismounted.

"Alright, let's take a rest then."

The tea stall is run by a couple, and a seven or eight-year-old boy is helping to tend the fire in front of the stove.

Besides tea eggs, they can also cook soup dumplings and wontons, but they are all vegetarian. Meat is too expensive for them to sell, and no one comes to this roadside stall to eat.

The wontons were filled with tofu, lotus root, and cabbage. They were cleaned very thoroughly and had a unique flavor. Zhu Biao ate more than half a bowl in just a few bites.

"Shopkeeper, your wontons are good. Please cook two more bowls."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir. It'll be ready soon."

Hearing the praise, the whole family laughed, and the man's hunched back seemed to straighten up a bit as he responded loudly.

"Third Brother, don't you want some tea eggs?"

In a short while, Pang Qiutang had eaten two eggs and even licked the sauce off her fingers, but she hadn't touched the wontons in front of her.

Zhu Biao finished the remaining wontons in his bowl in one gulp and took her bowl from him.

"Do you know where the tea used to boil eggs comes from?"

"I bought it myself."

"Oh."

Zhu Biao smiled, stirred the wontons, and scooped up one.

"I did buy it, but what I bought were tea dust and tea dregs. The tea dust wasn't a big deal, but the tea dregs were leftovers from other people's drinks."

"puff!"

Pang Qiutang spat out the third tea egg she had just put in her mouth, and Tantou, who was happily chewing the tea egg shell, also paused in mid-air.

After the little incident, Pang Qiutang never touched a tea egg again, and even secretly vowed never to eat one in her life.

Just as we were finishing our meal, two dusty-looking men approached us, leading our horses.

"Two bowls of rice cakes, two bowls of wontons, and four eggs, remember to pick the big ones."

The man speaking had a strange accent. Zhu Biao put down his bowl and glanced at them.

One was tall and the other short, one was fat and the other thin. The thin man was nothing special, but the fat man had blond hair, a high nose, deep-set eyes, and yellowish-brown pupils.

Were they people from the Western Regions? Or Europeans?

Perhaps because he was used to being the center of attention, "Yellow Hair" didn't care about Zhu Biao's gaze, but instead looked at Charcoal Head with great interest.

His eyes were strange, how should I put it, slippery, that's right, slippery.

It slid all the way from Charcoal Head's ears, to his neck, back, belly, down to his thighs, tail, and finally landed with a splat on the horse's hoof.

"Pretty boy, you have a nice horse, sell it to me?"

Zhu Biao's face darkened, and he didn't answer, only glancing at him with the same look he would give a fool.

Pang Qiutang crossed her arms, revealing an expression of watching a good show, with a hint of pity in her eyes.

She genuinely admired this blond-haired monster for daring to provoke Third Brother for no reason. Shi Qian, that bird thief, actually had some real skills; he was probably still bleeding.

"I'll offer twenty strings of cash!"

The yellow-haired monster quoted an almost absurd price, then walked towards the charcoal head, reaching out to touch it while making clicking noises.

"Khitan horse~"

Bang!

Just as his hand was about to touch the horse's head, before Zhu Biao could make a move, Tan Tou suddenly raised one of his front hooves and kicked him in the stomach.

"Ouch!"

Caught off guard, the yellow-haired monster flew nearly two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) before landing sprawled on the ground.

"Hahaha!"

Pang Qiutang, always eager for excitement, immediately clapped and cheered, forgetting all about pretending to be mute.

"Charcoal is easy to kick!"

"Hiss~"

Charcoal Head was very pleased with the praise and proudly raised his horse's head.

"Damn you! Where did this little bastard come from, daring to ride a horse and injure someone?!"

Before the blond-haired monster could even get up, the short, thin man pulled out a bull-horn-tipped knife from his waist, seemingly about to rush up and show off his strength.

However, when he met Zhu Biao's indifferent yet chilling eyes, his mind suddenly went blank, and his body stiffened.

Although the short, thin man was not very skilled, he had been traveling the world for many years and had developed a keen eye for things.

What kind of look is that? It's like looking at a dead person!

He wasn't mistaken. Zhu Biao had accumulated more than ten lives along the way, making him a ruthless killer, and he was gradually developing a murderous aura.

"What's your name? Where are you from?"

At this moment, the yellow-haired monster clutched his stomach, struggled to his feet, and pointed at Zhu Biao, asking...

Zhu Biao slowly stood up and shook his robes.

"My surname is Qin, my given name is Die, and I live in Jinguang Cave, Qianyuan Mountain."

"Okay! Qin Die, I'll remember that~"

The blond-haired monster's harsh words came to an abrupt halt.

He wasn't too stupid, and he realized by now that Zhu Biao was playing a trick on him. Who the hell lived in the cave? And Qin Die, wasn't he his own father?

"This is outrageous!"

His face flushed red with anger, veins bulging on his forehead, and he suddenly drew a curved knife and charged at Zhu Biao.

call out!

He had only taken two or three steps when a fierce whistle suddenly rang out. He felt a chill on his head as his leather hat was shot off by an arrow, revealing a head of golden yellow hair.

Just as Pang Qiutang was about to nock an arrow, Zhu Biao gently pressed down on her shoulder, raised his eyebrows slightly, and gave a cold shout.

"Get out! This is Han Chinese land, we will not tolerate you, you barbarian slave, running rampant!"