Liver in Water Margin, outlaw madman

Ruan Xiaoer led twenty or thirty brothers, their steps hurried, and rushed toward the Wang family compound.

But just as he rushed to the gate of the compound, everyone suddenly stopped in their tracks. Ruan Xiao'er's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously gripped the harpoon in his hand, thinking to himself:

broken!

The high walls of the Wang family compound were densely packed with people, each holding a bow and arrow or a spear, their expressions wary. Wang Heng stood in the middle of the wall, staring at them with a livid face.

Unexpectedly, Wang Heng was on guard; he had spent too much time at the market earlier.

"Ruan Xiao'er!" Wang Heng gritted his teeth, his voice icy cold. "I never bother you brothers, yet you dare to come knocking on my door. I think you're tired of living!"

He was filled with frustration. Of all the villages within a radius of dozens of miles, the three Ruan brothers were the most difficult to deal with. They were skilled in water combat and the three brothers were united. He had tried to test them several times before but was not confident of taking them down, so he decided to leave them alone.

But he never expected that his momentary forbearance would lead to today's disaster, with the Ruan brothers daring to lead the Liangshan people to attack his home.

"Bah! You scoundrel!" Ruan Xiao'er stepped forward, pointing at Wang Heng and shouting angrily, "You betray your own people, oppress the villagers, and exploit the fishermen! I've long disliked your face! Today, I'll act on behalf of Heaven and get rid of you, you villain!"

"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences!" A ruthless glint flashed in Wang Heng's eyes. Seeing that Ruan Xiaoer and the others were not far from the courtyard wall, he suddenly shouted the order.

"Shoot an arrow!"

The Song Dynasty did not prohibit the use of bows. Landlords and powerful families like Wang Heng always kept bows and arrows, broadswords and other weapons at home. They usually used them to bully fishermen and guard their homes. Now, these weapons came in handy.

"Scatter! Scatter quickly!" Ruan Xiaoer's heart tightened, and he hurriedly shouted the order, his body subconsciously dodging to the side.

The brothers dodged to the side, their steps frantic, but the rain of arrows came too fast. Several brothers were unable to dodge in time, were hit by arrows and fell to the ground with a muffled groan, their robes instantly stained with blood.

"Hmph, you've courted death, don't blame me!" Wang Heng stood with his hands on his hips, laughing smugly. "I've already sent someone to report to the county authorities. Soon, a large contingent of officials will arrive, and then they'll surely throw you bandits into prison and tear you to pieces!"

His words were half a threat to Ruan Xiaoer, and half an encouragement to his men on the wall.

He himself was unsure whether he could hold out until the government came to his aid.

Ruan Xiaoer's expression changed drastically, his heart filled with regret. He slammed his fist on the wall: It's all my fault. I shouldn't have listened to Xiao Qi's instigation and launched an attack prematurely. Not only did I alert the enemy, but I might have also made things worse and caused my brothers to get hurt for nothing.

"Second Brother, what happened?" Hurried footsteps came from behind. Ruan Xiaoqi ran over, panting, with bloodstains on her body, obviously having just rushed from the battle at the market.

He saw Ruan Xiaoer leading his men to hide behind the house, all looking disheveled, with some brothers lying on the ground. Startled, he quickly went over.

"The other side is defending the courtyard wall, and they are all armed with bows and arrows. Our brothers can't break through, and several of them have been injured." Ruan Xiaoer gritted his teeth, his tone full of frustration and resentment.

Ruan Xiaoqi peeked towards the courtyard wall and her pupils contracted sharply. The wall was densely packed with people, their arrows pointing in their direction, and some were holding long spears, forming a tight defense.

This is really bad.

A pang of regret flashed through Ruan Xiaoqi's mind. He had seen Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong and others take Liangshan with ease, so he thought that he could easily defeat a mere fishing tyrant with his hundreds of brothers.

But he forgot that the three brothers were skilled in naval warfare, but land warfare was not their forte. Now, they were blocked outside the courtyard wall and suppressed by a hail of arrows, and for a moment they were at a loss.

A few breaths later, Ruan Xiaoqi gritted her teeth, a resolute glint in her eyes, and gripped her broadsword tightly: "No, Second Brother, Fifth Brother, I'll charge in first, you cover our retreat! I caused this mess, I'll handle it myself!"

After saying that, he suddenly stood up, ready to charge forward and brave the rain of arrows, even if it cost him his life, to tear open a gap.

Ruan Xiaowu reacted swiftly, grabbing his arm and tackling him to the ground. She hissed in a low voice, "What's the panic! Will impulsiveness solve anything? Get someone to tear down the door panel next to us, use it as a shield, and then charge in!"

"Yes! Take down the door panel!" Ruan Xiaoqi was awakened and became excited. She quickly got up from the ground and patted the dust off her body.

He led the way to the nearby house, grabbed the door with both hands, and pulled hard, tearing the door off with a loud bang.

The other brothers followed suit, and soon they took down several door panels, lifted them up, and used them to form a makeshift shield.

Wang Heng saw this clearly from the courtyard wall and immediately became anxious. If they managed to block the arrows with the door and break through the wall, they might not be able to hold out until the county's rescue team arrived.

"Go out and shoot! All of you go out and shoot! Don't let them block our arrows!" Wang Heng shouted at the archers on the wall, his voice filled with panic.

The dozen or so archers dared not disobey, and cautiously circled out from both sides of the courtyard gate, spread out, drew their bows and nocked arrows, and shot at the Nguyen brothers and others.

The arrow rained down again, and Ruan Xiaoqi and the others could only cower behind the door, pinned down and unable to move forward even a step.

Ruan Xiaoqi's eyes were bloodshot, her heart filled with a mixture of shame and anger that she could no longer suppress.

It was our own recklessness that led our brothers into this predicament.

He suddenly exerted his strength, shoving Ruan Xiaowu, who was holding him down, over heels and roaring, "I'm leaving my mother in the care of my two older brothers!!"

After saying that, he ignored everything, flung open the door, and charged toward the courtyard wall where Wang Heng was, his steps faltering but his determination unwavering.

Upon seeing this, Wang Heng's face lit up with joy. Pointing at Ruan Xiaoqi, he shouted, "Shoot! Shoot him dead! Whoever can shoot him dead will be rewarded with ten strings of cash!"

The archers' eyes lit up instantly. Ten strings of cash were enough to feed and clothe their entire family for a year. The reward was too tempting.

Everyone drew their bows and nocked their arrows, trying to aim at Ruan Xiaoqi.

But they were ultimately just servants of the landlord's household, not regular soldiers. They didn't practice archery often, so their accuracy wasn't very good.

At this critical moment, with a "whoosh," an arrow pierced the air and struck the foremost archer squarely in the chest.

"Ah—" The archer let out a shrill scream and fell straight to the ground, the bow and arrow in his hand clattering to the side.

The other archers shuddered in fright and turned to look in the direction from which the arrow had come.

Not far away at the intersection, a giant man, as tall as an iron tower, wearing heavy armor and carrying a water-milled Zen staff, strode towards them, each step making the ground thud, like a charging elephant.

It was Lu Zhishen!

The archers were terrified and turned pale. They didn't dare to linger and rushed into the courtyard, forgetting to even close the gate, only concerned with escaping for their lives.

Behind a tree not far away, Zhang Shan put down his bow, pursed his lips helplessly. He had finally managed to aim and shoot an arrow, but it wasn't even as scary as Lu Zhishen's appearance. It was really frustrating.

However, this was not the time to dwell on that. He moved swiftly forward, drew his bow again, and aimed at the slower archers.

"Whoosh whoosh-"

The sound of arrows piercing the air was incessant, and several more archers fell to the ground.

Zhang Shan blinked, and his skill panel appeared at the corner of his eye:

Taizu Changquan (Long Fist of the Great Ancestor), Proficient (10/100)

Marksmanship, Proficient (45/100)

Archery, Proficient (1/100)

Equestrian, Proficient (15/100)

Unexpectedly, this arrow actually upgraded his archery skills.

The fastest progress was made in equestrian skills, likely due to the arduous journey from Tokyo to Liangshan, involving days of riding horses.

Just then, Lu Zhishen rushed to the gate of the courtyard, carrying his water-milling monk's staff, and shouted loudly into the courtyard:

"I'm here! You petty thieves, don't you dare run!"