After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Yaoshan, the mountaintop.

At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the sunlight cast a golden glow over the simple stone pavilion. Such sunlight, if it were to shine directly on a person, would make even their bones feel lazy.

Li Liang squinted, sat on the stone bench with an air of nonchalance, his body already languid.

Two burly men sat on either side, looking bored.

Before long, a thin figure darted up from below. The three of them immediately stood up, and upon seeing the newcomer, they breathed a sigh of relief and sat down with a thud.

"Greetings, Chief Li! Greetings, you two corrupt officials!"

The man had a towel tied around his head, dressed like a peddler, with a fawning smile. The cloth bag he carried on his back seemed quite heavy. He walked with a stoop, greeting people with a fawning smile.

"sit!"

Li Liang glanced at the other person indifferently.

"Hey! Thanks, Boss Li!"

Black Tiger Stronghold is a large stronghold. Three years ago, after the uprising began, the leaders were assigned positions. The stronghold leader was highly skilled in martial arts and carried the heavy banner of the chief. Under the banner stood four beams and eight pillars supporting the sky. Below him were twelve major leaders and thirty minor leaders, along with three hundred red sticks. Everyone was as powerful as a dragon, and the stronghold had more than eight hundred members, roaring like tigers in the area.

At the end of last year, Li Liang owed gambling debts. People from the Hangezhuang casino threatened to chop off his hands. He gritted his teeth and went up the mountain. When he entered the mountain, he was just a small fry. This time, he made a contribution, and the boss rewarded him with a small leader position. He was also asked to bring two red sticks to Lijia Village to do some business. He was to tie up the woman. So he came excitedly.

The peddler in front of us was a swindler who went from street to street, doing things like gathering information for the village.

"Has the Embroidered Uniform Guard really not come for seven days?" Li Liang asked.

"Really! Really!" The peddler put down his cloth bag, took out several jugs of wine and some roasted meat, and placed them on the stone table. The two red-robed men glared at him, snatched the wine and meat, and started eating.

"This is for all of you grandfathers." The peddler bowed and slowly sat down, but only dared to sit on half of his buttocks.

"Hmm." Li Liang nodded and casually asked a few more questions, such as where the "Study Seed" was, where the village head was in the east, what the village head Li Baoxin was doing, and whether the woman was still at the "Study Seed's" house.

The peddler answered each question.

Logically, they should have taken action seven days ago, but by sheer bad luck, a member of the Imperial Guard led three constables into the village that day! It gave them a huge fright! They thought something had happened and that they had been ambushed by that bastard.

Unable to figure out what the Imperial Guards were doing in the village, they sneaked away and left. Later, it was said that the Imperial Guards had been drinking with Ning the Demon King all night.

Li Liang thought it was just right, because he didn't know if the woman was the person the boss was looking for, so he figured he might as well delay it for a while.

But after seven days, the chief sent someone to urge him again. He dared not delay any longer and made a pledge to bring the man up the mountain within two days.

Fortune favors the bold, and Li Liang had already made his plans. At worst, he could just say he was blind and made a mistake. Anyway, kidnapping a woman and bringing her up the mountain would give his brothers a break, which would also be a merit.

Li Liang took the wine poured by the peddler, took a few sips, and suddenly smiled. If by sheer luck this woman really was the person the boss was looking for, then Grandpa might just become a big boss this time!

He still remembers the day the leader appointed him as a junior leader. He thought he had misheard, but the leader repeated it with a smile. After hearing it clearly, he felt like his bones were floating!

He used to hear storytellers say that a man would die for his confidant, but he didn't understand it. He understood dying for a woman's womb, but dying for a man? How could that be possible! But at that moment on that day, he cried, kowtowed, and said he would go through fire and water for the chief. He truly felt that at that moment, it would be worth dying for the chief.

"The chief is Liu Bei, and I am Guan Yu, who braved five passes and slew six generals to serve him!"

Thinking about it this way, Li Liang felt like he was riding an invisible Red Hare these days, unable to bend down to anyone. How could he possibly bow down to Guan Yu? Wouldn't that be a disgrace to his elder brother?!

"What about Ning, the Demon Lord?"

When Li Liang thought of Guan Yu, he thought of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. And when he thought of a blade, an image of a man wielding a blade suddenly appeared in his mind. He frowned and said...

"He...he seems to have gone mad..." The peddler's expression was a bit strange.

"Are you crazy?" Li Liang screamed.

"Yes," the peddler said confidently, "I heard that a few days ago, he ambushed people at the bridge. A peddler I know told me that Ning the Demon's eyes turned red, which was terrifying. Later, I heard that he was running around the village like a madman..."

"whispering sound!"

The man on the left, red-staffed, hiccuped, his teeth filled with meat. He sneered, "Chief Li, I just don't understand. You've been telling us brothers to be careful of this Ning bastard for days... You're afraid of this Ning guy like a coward? What's wrong with us? We don't care if he's crazy or not, I'll chop him up with an axe! That'll get you some revenge..."

Li Liang felt a little embarrassed and glanced at the scoundrel, but he didn't refute him. After all, this Red Stick in front of him was no ordinary man. He had eight lives on his hands. Back then, he had single-handedly taken down eight people and even raped someone's wife in front of them. He was one of the top heroes in the village.

Another thug picked his teeth and chimed in, "When the time comes, I'll use his heart and liver as a snack, Chief Li, you better not wet your pants in fear..."

Immediately, the two red-sticks looked at each other and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The peddler dared not laugh and stared awkwardly at the table.

Li Liang waved his hand and ordered the peddler to go down the mountain.

"Let's make our move tonight. Entering the village now will attract attention and might alert the village chiefs, or even Li Baoxin. You stay in the village and provide backup later."

The peddler nodded repeatedly, left his cart at the foot of the mountain, and hurried down the path.

The two men, red-clad and carrying wine and meat, shook their heads.

With such audacity, what kind of leader can one be!

At this moment, the peddler descended the mountain.

A clump of foxtail grass not far from the stone pavilion swayed and rustled.

Li Liang turned his head to look over.

Just then, several birds flew away in fright, flapping their wings and scattering in all directions.

...

...

The peddler's path down the mountain was quite steep, leading directly to his cart.

The woods on both sides were very deep, with lush foliage that blocked out the sun, making the journey quite pleasant.

Once this order is completed, I won't have to be a peddler anymore. Going up the mountain to be a low-level henchman is better than being a peddler. At least I won't be tired or exposed to the sun. If I can go down the mountain with the boss, it's better than being a peddler for three years.

There are many birds on Yaoshan Mountain, and he heard the sound of birds flapping behind him several times along the way, which annoyed him a lot.

"I'll bring a slingshot sometime and shoot these flying beasts to death."

The peddler curled his lip; about a hundred paces ahead, his old pushcart was parked.

call--

The peddler suddenly stopped in his tracks. Despite the warm early summer weather, he suddenly felt a chill run down his neck, making him shiver.

It felt like being watched by a wolf; my hands and feet went numb. Just then, a faint voice came from behind me.

"Don't move, or... I'll use your heart and liver as a snack."