Underworld entries, starting with ghost stories.

It's a great thing to have gotten to know the groups from Erxianzhuang and Wujizhai.

To gain tens of thousands of taels of silver in one fell swoop is a great thing.

Despite the two great things happening at once, You Junda is not happy at all.

Even if you're alive to earn it, you still need to be alive to spend it!

You Junda began to regret partnering with Cheng Yaojin... People like that wouldn't last more than three days in the martial arts world.

Wu Qing said, "Let's leave Changye Forest first."

You Junda called to his men, who pushed the imperial convoy of over 100,000 taels of silver away from Changye Forest.

You Junda asked, "Brother Wu, how did you know those people were imposters posing as medicine merchants?"

Wu Qing gave a wicked smile: "I'm a secretary, after all."

What I was thinking was that even without my intervention, Cheng Yaojin would definitely intercept those people on his own.

This should be a plot from a historical novel where "a Cheng Yaojin suddenly appears out of nowhere," I just happened to be there.

Seeing his mysterious smile, You Junda thought, "This young man is something special."

[Charm +1, Mystery +1.]

Wu Qing said, "Brother You, don't forget that Brother Cheng and I have already agreed that this imperial tribute will be split 50/50, with each of us receiving half."

You Junda said, "Of course, of course."

Although he was greedy for money, tens of thousands of taels of silver were enough to tempt people and make them unable to resist double-crossing him.

But he himself was also a hero.

Moreover, with their names already known and facing imminent exile, it was not worth offending Dou Jiande and Shan Xiongxin's factions for the sake of receiving a smaller share of the tribute silver.

When everyone counted the tribute silver, it turned out to be as much as 160,000 taels.

Wu Qing has already brushed up on his knowledge of the general situation of the world.

He shook his head and said, "Over the years, there have been all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies, especially in order to fight in Liaodong, which has cost the people an untold amount of money and resources. The situation is even more serious in Shandong."

"It's no wonder that Shandong was the first place where the rebel army broke out, given that Dengzhou was still able to extract such a large sum of imperial tribute to send to the capital."

Shan Ailian was petite, with her hair styled in a lily bun and wearing a high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), which made her appear even more graceful.

She said softly, "Although the Prince of Kaoshan is the uncle of the tyrannical emperor and has unparalleled martial arts skills, and all twelve of his bodyguards are also highly skilled, he has not been given important positions in recent years simply because his surname is Yang."

"He was originally a prince, and was appointed as the Grand Marshal of Zhen Dengzhou Jinghai, which meant he was in charge of guarding the Shandong coastline. The foolish emperor did not use him in either of his two campaigns against Liaodong."

"It's probably because they see the world is in chaos and want to be favored by a foolish emperor, so they're further exploiting the people and sending silver to the capital."

After Wu Qing transmigrated, he spent most of his time struggling to find enough to eat.

Although I'm now a secretary, I don't really have much of a concept of large sums of money.

However, he also knew that silver at the end of the Sui Dynasty was not as plentiful as it was in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when silver was relatively abundant. Ordinary people at the bottom of society might not see a single tael of silver in their entire lives.

He received 80,000 taels of silver as tribute, but he didn't have enough people to push the cart.

Just then, You Junda and Cheng Yaojin were also preparing to flee Shandong and head to Henan first, so the two sides temporarily joined forces.

Wu Qing then instructed one of the martial artists beside Shan Ailian to go and notify Dou Xianniang, using the previously agreed-upon method of communication, so that Dou Xianniang could bring people to meet them.

Along the way, he kept urging Cheng Yaojin and You Junda to go to Wuji Village with him.

However, You Junda only thought about avoiding this crisis and using the large sum of money to buy land and become a landlord.

Cheng Yaojin only wants to be a good person now. The reason he dared to rob the imperial convoy is because he is now the ringleader, and even if he is caught, it won't be a big problem.

He still wouldn't dare to openly rebel, especially since his own mother would absolutely not allow it.

Wu Qing tried to persuade them for a long time, but to no avail. So he said, "Since that's the case, I won't try to persuade you anymore."

"We just hit it off immediately, and took this opportunity to become sworn brothers. That way, if we ever meet again while traveling the world, we can look out for each other?"

He recalled that the main reason why the two of them later sided with Li Erfeng was because of their sense of brotherhood and loyalty, and they were led there by Qin Qiong.

The main reason why most of the more than thirty heroes who gathered at Wagangzhai eventually joined the Li Tang dynasty was due to Wei Zheng and Qin Qiong.

Cheng Yaojin and You Junda didn't actually have much contact with Wei Zheng; their support for the Li Tang dynasty was mainly due to Qin Qiong.

If I become sworn brothers with those two first, maybe I can find a corner of the wall in Wagang Village in the future.

At this time, Cheng Yaojin and You Junda were just low-level figures in the martial arts world, neither famous nor influential.

Since Wu Qing had this idea, they naturally didn't refuse.

At that moment, the three men made incense from clay, swore an oath of brotherhood to the heavens, and repeatedly said, "We do not ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we ask to die on the same day, month, and year."

Although Wu Qing was the youngest of the three, considering that Cheng Yaojin in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms lived to be over a hundred years old, it seemed quite nice to die on the same day, month, and year as him.

He once joined forces with Xue Gang to storm the capital, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate. In the end, when he exonerated Xue Rengui, he laughed heartily in front of Xue Rengui's tomb and died peacefully in his old age.

Continuing on their journey, Wu Qing asked Cheng Yaojin how he had learned those three axe techniques.

Cheng Yaojin scratched his head, embarrassed, and said, "I practiced the axe myself. As I practiced, I dreamed one day that a deity taught me a set of axe techniques. But when I woke up, I could only remember those three axe blows."

Wu Qing pondered, "Is it truly the work of a deity, or did he simply possess extraordinary abilities and suddenly achieve enlightenment through diligent practice day and night?"

The latter is not impossible, after all, this is someone who fought to a standstill with Madam Bai's sixth-rank Ma family spear technique with his mediocre "I think axe technique".

As he was about to meet up with the young lady, Wu Qing called Madam Black and Madam White to a secluded spot.

He said, "You go back first and lie in wait around Meng Haigong and Ma Saifei. If we clash with Meng Haigong in the future, you will still be of use."

Although the Black Lady and the White Lady's loyalty was locked by "Bietianniu", their fear level was also locked.

Their fear of him was like that of ants on the ground seeing a demon lord descended to earth; just seeing him made them tremble and shudder uncontrollably.

Knowing they could go back, the two women secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not let their master know that they were happy to be away from him.

So one on each side clung to their master's leg, saying, "Master, we want to follow you, even if it means going through fire and water."

"Master, you are our sun. Only when we are by your side can we feel at ease. We can't bear to part with you."

"We are born as dogs by our master's side, and we die as dogs at our master's feet."

"If we don't have an owner, there's no meaning to our lives. What will we do?"

Wu Qing was also moved by what he heard, and stroked his chin: "So you all want to follow me that much, then why don't you come with me to Wuji Village?"

The faces of Madam Black and Madam White turned pale again.