Water Margin: Gao Yanei is actually a Gal Genius

The atmosphere in the small courtyard of the Gao family's flower hall suddenly became quiet.

Gao Jin watched the changes in his two brothers' expressions and felt a surge of secret satisfaction. After all, there weren't many things that could keep these two brothers in check.

The senior monk paused for a moment, his face showing caution. He first glanced around, and seeing that no one else was there, he tried to return to his seat.

Upon arriving at his seat, he noticed that Gao Jin's couch had been moved by him, so he quickly pushed it back to its original position.

After doing all this, Lu Zhishen scurried back to his seat, raised his cup of wine to Gao Jin, and...

"Brother, you're a man of courage! I'll toast you with a cup..." The monk tilted his head back and finished the wine, then glanced around before leaning closer to Gao Jin. "...Brother, tell me, how did you kill that villain?"

Gao Jin looked up and saw that Lin Chong had returned to his seat, his gaze wandering as if he were thinking about something.

Grand Commandant Gao didn't tell him all the information; that means he didn't completely trust him.

Lu Zhishen followed Gao Jin's gaze and turned to look, also seeing Lin Chong's distraught appearance.

The monk frowned and asked, "Brother Lin Chong, what are you thinking about?"

He secretly began to gather his strength, determined to keep Lin Chong from betraying him if he even considered doing so!

Because Gao Jin was lying down, his perspective was low, and he noticed that the monk's feet were light and he seemed to be gathering strength.

He was still wondering what the monk was planning when he heard Lin Chong speak, "I see..."

Lin Chong told Gao Jin and Lu Zhishen everything about his previous conversation with Gao Qiu.

"...I, Lin, have made my decision. I will soon be heading to Liangshan to serve the Grand Commandant and earn a future for myself. However..."

Lin Chong raised his glass to Gao Jin, "...I have something I'd like to trouble you with, brother."

"Brother, please speak. I will help if I can."

"My wife has been frail and sickly since childhood. Now that I'm going to Liangshan, I'd be grateful if you could find someone to take care of her."

"No problem, no problem, I'll take care of it. Old Deng has a quiet building in this backyard, I'll ask him for it, it'll be a place for my sister-in-law to live."

"Thank you so much, brother!"

"We're brothers, no need for formalities, come on! Let's drink!"

After drinking the wine, Lu Zhishen sighed, "Grand Commandant Gao has really gone to great lengths. Although Brother Lin Chong has suffered a misfortune, if this plan succeeds, he may be able to secure a position of real power."

"A mere few bandits, brother, your journey will be a piece of cake. This is what they call a blessing in disguise. Congratulations, brother."

Upon hearing this, Gao Jin quickly tried to warn Lin Chong, "Monk, don't talk nonsense! Brother, you must be careful on your journey. There are over a hundred heroes like us in Liangshan Marsh!"

"Huh??!!" Lu Zhishen and Lin Chong looked at each other in disbelief. Wasn't Liangshan Marsh just a place with a few petty thieves and bandits?

According to Gao Jin, there are more than a hundred heroes like them.

Lin Chong weighed the strength of his three brothers and suddenly lost confidence in the mission. Let alone over a hundred Gao Jins, he, Lin Chong, couldn't even defeat over a hundred Lu Zhishens.

The two brothers' clueless expressions amused Gao Jin, who couldn't resist showing off.

"Brother, do you know Guan Sheng, the Great Saber? He's a fierce general among the Liangshan heroes, claiming to be a descendant of Guan Yu, and he looks nine-tenths like Guan Yu..."

"Hiss." The two gasped. Although they had never heard of Guan Sheng, Gao Jin, as the son of the Grand Commandant, should obviously have his information channels.

Lu Zhishen's hands were itching to fight. Guan Sheng, after hearing Gao Jin's description, thought it was worth a battle.

After briefly praising Guan Sheng, Gao Jin, seeing his two brothers listening with rapt attention, began to think of other famous figures from Liangshan.

"And then there's this guy with the dark complexion, called Black Whirlwind Li Kui..."

"Wow." Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen gave Gao Jin a lot of face.

"There was also a wandering monk named Wu Song, who once killed a tiger with his bare hands..."

"Ah." Lin Chong's forehead began to be covered in cold sweat. These are all tough guys like this, how the hell are we going to get merits?

"That Jade Kirin Lu Junyi was skilled with the staff and proficient in all eighteen martial arts, known as the number one martial artist in Liangshan..."

Lu Zhishen frowned and nudged Gao Jin. "Brother, I've heard of Lu Junyi, he's known as one of the 'Three Wonders of Hebei.' But isn't he a wealthy merchant from Daming Prefecture? I've never heard of him becoming an outlaw."

"Uh..." Gao Jin was stunned. He knew about "Water Margin" because the TV series was popular at the time. He was young then and didn't remember the plot.

He could remember the heroes' names thanks to those cards. They were the kind that came as free gifts with snacks, sparkly and quite pretty.

Upon hearing Lu Zhishen's words, Gao Jin sensed something was amiss and quickly asked, "Brothers, do you know anything about Liangshan Marsh?"

Although he didn't know why Gao Jin asked this question, Lin Chong still answered, "Brother had asked about Liangshan Marsh before, but he didn't know much about it at the time, so he went back and asked a few people who knew about it."

"In that marshland, there are three named leaders: Wang Lun, the 'White-Robed Scholar'; Du Qian, the 'Sky-Touching'; and Song Wan, the 'Cloud-Piercing Vajra', who commands several hundred bandits..."

Gao Jin was stunned. Were these three really among the Liangshan heroes? Chao Gai, Wu Yong, the Ruan brothers, Song Jiang... what about these familiar figures?

Perhaps it wasn't Water Margin at all? Gao Jin decided to check again.

After a moment's thought, Lin Chong, who rarely left Tokyo, started by asking Lu Zhishen, "Brother Zhishen, after you accidentally killed someone while serving as a military officer and fled, did you encounter any heroes on your way to Tokyo?"

Lu Zhishen thought for a moment, "There is only one person who can be considered a hero, Shi Jin, the eldest son of the Shi family."

Gao Jin's eyes lit up. "Could it be 'Nine-Dragon' Shi Jin?"

"Shi Jin's reputation has already reached Tokyo?" Lu Zhishen looked at Lin Chong in surprise. Lin Chong noticed Lu Zhishen's gaze and shook his head slightly, indicating that he had never heard of Shi Jin.

After facing the opponent, Gao Jin was no longer in a hurry; he already had his answer.

Perhaps it's too early and the plot hasn't even started yet; the slight envy I felt for Lin Chong being able to go to Liangshan has faded.

Fortunately, Lao Deng hadn't allowed him to go to Liangshan before, but he went anyway, and who knows how long he'll stay in that Liangshan Marsh.

Gao Jin touched his nose, raised his glass and said, "I was drunk just now and told you about what happened in my dream as if it were real. Brothers, please don't be offended."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhishen asked with considerable regret, "So, the heroes you mentioned earlier aren't among those hundreds of bandits?"

"They're not here right now..."

"It's such a pity that I can't spar with the heroes," Lu Zhishen said with a face full of regret.

Lin Chong felt a sense of relief. Just now, after listening to Gao Jin's detailed description of those heroes, he thought the journey would be fraught with danger. Now, it seemed that Liangshan Marsh was just a few petty thieves.

As for the heroes that Gao Jin had just mentioned, Lin Chong silently memorized their names, since Gao Jin had said "not currently present" rather than "not existing."

Lin Chong still trusted Gao Jin's words.

Lu Zhishen was thinking about what had happened before. He glanced around and, seeing that no one was around, approached Gao Jin and said, "Brother, quickly tell me about that villain."

Gao Jin was bewildered. Weren't they talking about Liangshan? How did the conversation suddenly turn to Cai Xiu?