Underworld entries, starting with ghost stories.

Lu Fang and Xue Liang were the Grand Protector and Second Grand Protector under the King of Kao Shan.

The two men were ordered by the Prince of Kaoshan to escort 160,000 taels of imperial tribute from Dengzhou, Shandong to the capital.

The current emperor is extravagant and wasteful, and now that the world is in chaos, he is waging war everywhere.

As a result, the imperial court further exploited the people, and Prince Kaoshan, as the emperor's uncle, naturally had to set an example.

Lu Fang and Xue Liang both possessed mid-level strength and were top-notch soldiers. After discussing it, they decided that if they openly escorted the imperial tribute with their flags as in previous years, it would attract the attention of many rebels.

This year is different from previous years. Wang Bo from Changbai Mountain, Meng Haigong from Caozhou, Gao Shida from Hebei, and others may all come to oppose us.

Passing through Taiyuan was not necessarily safe, as the area was also rife with bandits. Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, had only recently taken office in Taiyuan and had not yet had time to suppress the many rebels there.

So the two of them put their heads together and decided to pretend to be medicine merchants, covering the imperial goods with medicinal herbs to disguise them.

As long as they don't attract a large group of rebels, with their combined strength, ordinary mountain bandits and road brigands would simply be throwing their lives away.

They didn't pay much attention to the bandits they encountered while passing through the long-leaved forest.

I just felt that these bandits were coming to their deaths, so it would be good for them to warm up.

Unexpectedly, with just three axe blows, Lu Fang, one of the Twelve Protectors, was struck in the ear and fled in a sorry state.

Wu Qing and Shan Ailian, who were behind, saw Cheng Yaojin swing his axe. His opponent had clearly set up his spear to intercept him, but the axe struck his face with an unbelievable trajectory.

The man hurriedly dodged to the side, but Cheng Yaojin's second axe, as if possessed, slashed horizontally at his teeth.

The man lowered his head in fright, and Cheng Yaojin sliced ​​off his ear with his third axe.

These three axe blows were so skillful that the man was too frightened to fight any longer and turned his horse to flee.

As soon as Lu Fang fled, Cheng Yaojin charged towards Xue Liang.

Xue Liang's skills were slightly inferior to Lu Fang's.

Before he could even capture Madam Black and Madam White, he watched as the burly man defeated Lu Fang in a few moves and charged towards them on horseback.

How could they dare to fight? They turned their horses around and fled in a panic.

Cheng Yaojin pursued relentlessly, while Lady Black and Lady White seized the opportunity to lead their troops in a charge. The able-bodied men, seeing that both generals had escaped, immediately collapsed.

Cheng Yaojin chased after Xue Liang and slashed at him.

Xue Liang turned around and saw the big man chasing after him. He couldn't help but shout, "Don't chase me! If you've got the guts, tell me your names. I'll come back to settle accounts with you sooner or later!"

Upon hearing this from behind, Wu Qing cried out in his heart, "Don't answer! Don't answer! Don't answer!"

Before anyone could even warn him, Cheng Yaojin burst into laughter: "Let me tell you, you useless bastard, don't think we're just nameless bandits. Listen up, I am Cheng Yaojin, my partner You Junda, and together with Wu Qing, the advisor from Wufei Mountain, we're here today to rob blind fools like you."

Wu Qing suddenly covered his forehead.

I've never heard of anyone robbing the imperial convoy and daring to reveal their name.

It's one thing for you to report your own information, but why did you also report mine?

The Black Lady, the White Lady, and the bandits behind them were all dumbfounded.

You robbed the tribute silver that the Prince of Kao Shan was offering to the tyrannical emperor, brother!

And you even revealed your full name?

Pointing at Cheng Yaojin's retreating figure, Shan Ailian whispered, "A person like that definitely won't last more than three days in the martial arts world."

Wu Qing looked up at the sky.

He was a duke in official history and lived to be almost eighty years old.

In the historical novel, it's even more exaggerated. He repeatedly performed extraordinary feats and almost became a king of equal rank. Emperor Taizong of Tang called him "brother king." He lived to be over a hundred years old. Wu Zetian had already abdicated before he died laughing. When he died, his son was already over eighty years old.

Do you think he won't live more than three days?

But I also think he won't live more than three days!

The only saving grace was that when Wu Qing introduced himself, he said "Yanyin Mountain Wuji Village," but Cheng Yaojin probably didn't remember and said "Wufei Mountain."

I don't even know what kind of mountain this Wufei Mountain is, never mind!

A cloud of dust rose from behind, and another man arrived with a group of people. The man called out, "Brother Cheng."

Cheng Yaojin turned his horse around and said, "You Junda, you've come at the perfect time."

While You Junda was in the back mountain, he heard from his subordinates that Cheng Yaojin had gone with a group of people of unknown origin to rob some big fat sheep.

He didn't know what had happened, but he hurriedly led his men over.

Upon arriving at the scene, they saw Cheng Yaojin and two masked women fight off a group of martial arts practitioners and steal more than ten carts filled with wooden barrels of medicinal herbs.

Cheng Yaojin stepped forward and introduced Wu Qing and Shan Ailian to him.

Wu Qing looked over and saw that You Junda was wearing a blue tag.

— "You Junda (Seventh Realm Warrior)".

He thought to himself, "This You Junda seems to be a hero of Wagangzhai, just like Cheng Yaojin. But Cheng Yaojin has a gold entry, while he only has a blue entry and doesn't have the word 'famous general' on him."

"It seems that even among the heroes on the Wagangzhai gathering list, not all of them are considered famous generals; there are probably quite a few who were just there to make up the numbers."

You Junda was overjoyed: "So it's Master Wu and Miss Shan, a pleasure to meet you."

Wu Qing was the advisor to Miss Dou, the daughter of Dou Jiande from Hebei, and Shan Ailian was the daughter of Shan Xiongxin from Erxianzhuang.

In the world of martial arts, besides strength, connections are even more important. Being able to connect with these two groups would be a huge advantage for him.

"Master You, this bucket is full of silver!" someone shouted.

As everyone looked over, they saw that after the layer of medicinal herbs on the surface of the wooden bucket was removed, it was revealed to be filled with gleaming silver.

Dan Ailian exclaimed in surprise, "These buckets must be worth over ten thousand taels of silver?"

You Junda was overjoyed; tricking Cheng Yaojin into joining the group was indeed the right thing to do.

With the connections of both Miss Dou and Erxianzhuang, plus such a large sum of money, even if it's split between the two sides, he and Cheng Yaojin will still be able to get tens of thousands of taels.

It was truly a double blessing, a joyous occasion, a stroke of good fortune, and a cause for celebration for all.

In his entire life, there was no greater joy than this.

With this large sum of money, he could retire from his life of crime, live a life of luxury, buy a farm, and become a wealthy man.

Wu Qing looked at You Junda: "Although you have obtained this large sum of money, you must be careful. It would be best to hide the money and flee overnight, and live on the run for your lives first."

Looking at You Junda's beaming face, Shan Ailian said softly, "Because this Hero Cheng just reported all of you."

You Junda didn't hear clearly, or rather, even if he did, he didn't understand: "What? What was reported?"

Shan Ailian said, "When that soldier was running away, he asked us which group of heroes we were. Hero Cheng told him his name, your name, and Young Master Wu's name."

You Junda's face turned pale instantly.

There's no time to use this money; let's just wait to die.

This is tribute silver that the King of Kao Shan was offering to the tyrannical emperor. Why are you introducing yourself, brother?