Let the true energy circulate for a while

……

Woniu Ridge, Liuzi Village.

The Qinglong Hall was filled with the aroma of wine and meat.

The earthen wall is mottled, leaning against knives and spears.

A large pot was placed on the earthen stove in the center, bubbling away.

The bandit leaders were in various poses, some sitting with their legs spread wide, some grabbing chunks of meat and chewing them, and others gulping down bowlfuls.

The saying goes, "Drink wine in large gulps, eat meat in large gulps, and divide gold by the scales." This is exactly what it means.

But today, it's not gold that's being distributed, it's the young women.

On a slightly smaller wooden table to the side stood a young girl, her face flushed red from crying and her eyes brimming with tears.

A short, burly man sat to the left, his face full of flesh and a blood-red brand of the character for "lewd" on his left cheek. He stared at the girl, slammed the bowl down on the table, and shouted sharply:

"Take it off!"

The girl was trembling with fear, sobbing and whimpering, "Waaah~~ Waaah~"

Laughter erupted in the hall, and the remaining bandits slammed their fists on the table, completely ignoring the girl's cries and pleas.

The short bandit leader jumped onto the table, pinned the girl down with one hand, tore off her embroidered shoe, and threw it behind him, accurately tossing it into a bamboo basket.

Inside the hall, there were three bamboo baskets, two of which were already full, filled with all kinds of women's embroidered shoes.

This is the bandit leader of Liuzi Village, named Yu Ying, known in the martial arts world as "Short-legged Sheep".

As the name suggests, sheep are among the animals with a strong reproductive drive. One of the herbs, called Epimedium, is said to have double the effect when eaten by sheep.

Yu Ying and Song Ping from Baijiao Village on the neighboring mountain were sworn brothers.

Upon learning that his good brother Song Ping had been executed in Liuxia City, Yu Ying was overjoyed and held a three-day banquet. Today, after drinking some wine, he wanted to have some fun.

As the saying goes, "two tigers cannot share one mountain." The two villages are only a little over two miles apart, so there must be a reason why they have been able to "coexist peacefully" for more than four years.

Yu Ying made no attempt to hide the greed in his eyes. He sniffed the girl, taking a deep breath, and his eyes traveled from her feet to her head and back again.

"She's a virgin, not yet deflowered."

"Damn it, I made it crystal clear that I wanted young wives and testicles, not young wives and testicles! This is no young wife and testicles! This is a virgin!"

Yu Ying immediately lost most of his interest, pushed the girl away, sat back down at the table, picked up a bowl of wine, and gulped it down.

One of the bandits clasped his hands and explained, "Brother, the Third Master said that if he were to lose his virginity first, he would no longer be a virgin. Please bear with me for one more day."

The bandits were already used to their brother's quirks. Whenever they heard that there was a widow in a nearby village, or a woman named Danzi who had been married for more than three years, they would usually target her and kidnap her up the mountain.

"Sharpening scissors and knives!" a shout came from outside the hall.

Yu Ying's expression instantly turned serious, and the remaining bandits in the hall all stood up.

A peddler carrying a load of goods walked in through the doorway. He wore a straw hat and had a simple, honest smile on his face. He put his carrying pole down at the entrance, dusted himself off, and casually asked, "Are you guys eating?"

Yu Ying immediately laughed and said, "Serve tea. Serve the best tea."

The peddler stretched, glanced at the pale-faced girl, made no comment, and sat back down. A servant quickly shoved a chair under his bottom.

Yu Ying clasped his hands in a fist and asked, "What are your orders, sir?"

The peddler said, "Tomorrow, righteous men will be suppressing bandits. The county magistrate sent me to inform you all that we should follow the usual procedure. Let a man named Shi Lei die on the way to suppress the bandits."

"Was Song Ping really killed by Shi Lei?"

The peddler said, "Song Ping did indeed die at Shi Lei's hands. At the time, the owner of Xuanren Pharmacy was passing by the outskirts of the city when he saw a man with two corpses lying at his feet. Eventually, the matter became a big deal in the city."

The bandits in the two villages of Woniuling were all men under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate of Liuxia.

The county magistrate is in the light, and the bandits are in the dark. This collusion between officials and bandits has been going on for three years. The county magistrate has rules about who can be robbed and who cannot, which families can be robbed and which cannot.

In the past three years, the county magistrate has rallied righteous men to carry out three bandit suppression campaigns. Each campaign was a grand affair, and the local gentry and commoners were required to donate money. When the bandit-suppressing righteous men returned, they usually brought back several bloodied and mangled heads. As for whether these heads belonged to bandits, only heaven knows.

After the bandits were suppressed, there would be peace for a month or two, only for bandits to reappear. This situation had been going on intermittently for three years.

This is why the strange phenomenon of "one person can accommodate two tigers" occurs. One mountain, two villages. In the words of the county magistrate himself, this is called "two tigers keeping each other in check".

Yu Ying hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and asked, "I wonder what rule Song Ping broke? Was it the county magistrate who found Shi..." He made a throat-slitting gesture.

The peddler's face darkened slightly: "Are you questioning my lord? Yu Ying, on the sixteenth of last month, at 7:15 AM, Yuanheng Escort Agency had a shipment going to Liuxikou. Did you handle that?"

Yu Ying's expression changed drastically, and he quickly clasped his hands in a fist and fist salute: "It was Song Ping and his group who did it. He tried to get me involved, but I didn't do it. However, they failed in the end."

The peddler said in a deep voice, "It's not that Yuanheng Escort Agency can't be robbed, it depends on the time and what it is! That shipment was silk belonging to Young Master Chang's concubine. Luckily you failed. If you few roughnecks had ruined that batch of silk, Young Master Chang would have easily wiped out Yuanheng Escort Agency in his anger! He might have even taken down all of you bastards who deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

Yu Ying broke out in a cold sweat. The Chang family of Jinxiu City wielded immense power. If the matter were to be investigated and the bandits were exposed, the county magistrate would be doomed!

"Yes, yes, the elder is right."

Whenever a courier company receives a large shipment, it must report to the local government. This is the secret the peddler mentioned about which shipments can be moved and which cannot!

The peddler said, "This time is different. It's not about fooling the people with a few death row inmates' heads! This time, your two villages must join forces to take down that man named Shi Lei!"

Yu Ying asked in a deep voice, "How skilled is he in martial arts? I've heard rumors that he has the incredible ability to crush skulls with a flick of his finger!"

The peddler sneered, "I tested him with Little Cuckoo at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion yesterday. He's a martial artist who's practiced martial arts, but I couldn't detect any true energy."

Yu Ying asked in confusion, "That's strange. Song Ping's martial arts skills are mediocre; he relies entirely on his smooth talk. But that ghost monk was a master who had just reached the threshold of releasing true qi. How could he have been killed by him?"

The peddler said, "There are two possibilities. Shi Lei is a master of poisons. He first poisoned Song Ping and the other man, then used a sharp weapon to pierce their skulls. We found an iron bean inside their skulls, which seems to be some kind of concealed weapon!"

"There's another possibility: Shi Lei is a master who concealed his inner energy, and Xiao Dujuan couldn't detect the true energy in his pulse."

Yu Ying thought for a moment: "When will he go up the mountain?"

The peddler said, "It will be in the next two days. Someone will notify you in advance. There are nine righteous men in total. Three are recruited and six are our men. They will cooperate with you. Once we enter the deep mountains, we will kill them all. The county magistrate said that after this matter is over, your two mountain strongholds can rest for a month."

Yu Ying asked, "It doesn't sound difficult, so why make such a big fuss? Both villages together?"

The peddler stood up, hoisted the girl off the table, and said calmly:

"Better safe than sorry. The county magistrate has lost sleep for two nights over this matter. What if Shi Lei really is a master? Shi Lei is now a hero in the hearts of the people. He can't die in the inner city; he must die on the road to suppress the bandits. Do you understand?"

"Waaaaah~~" The woman struggled as the peddler carried her on his shoulder, twisting her waist.

The peddler paused, then reminded him, "A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men. This time, the yamen (government office) took the lead and contributed a considerable amount of silver to suppress the bandits."

Yu Ying quickly replied, "Yes, yes, the money paid by the yamen will be returned in full, and we will divide it among the wealthy gentry."

"Um?"

"No, no, we distribute them among the common people."

The peddler reached out and slapped the girl's peach, then lifted the straw curtain behind the stall, revealing his voice, neither too loud nor too soft:

"Officials and bandits collude to exploit the wealthy and powerful, and oppress the common people. These things, if you don't weigh them, they're nothing; but if you do, they weigh a ton!"

Yu Ying stood at the doorway behind the curtain and heard cries of pleas for mercy coming from inside. She gave a signal, and the people inside the room left.

He crouched silently against the wall, lost in thought.