Chapter 8: Hiding in the Deep Mountains as a Bandit

  On an autumn morning, the sun rises thinly, and a thin layer of fog envelops the fields. Yin Xue gets up in the tree forest outside the workshop and starts exercising. A set of combat boxing makes him energetic, startling a group of birds.

  That day in the "Dixi Cave", he practiced qigong while meditating and digested a strong violent energy, exhausting himself to the extreme, before falling into a deep sleep. He slept for almost two days, even forgetting to eat. If it weren't for Pu Jun and others opening the wooden board to wake him up in time, he might have died from sleeping.

  However, after maintaining a posture for a long time, the muscles became extremely stiff. Fortunately, Pu Jun and Lu Ming were not afraid of dirt or stench, and they massaged themselves for a long time to recover. In addition, Gao Yi invited doctors to ask about medicine, and every day he took deer meat and wild game to nourish his body. After more than half a month, he recovered even better than before.

  After practicing for nearly half a day, Yin Xu didn't feel tired at all, but instead felt refreshed and invigorated, as if he had endless energy. One punch landed on the trunk of a tree as thick as a bowl, causing the bark to fly off and leaving a large dent.

  Oh? Yin Xu was shocked, and immediately overjoyed. Since transforming and absorbing that violent energy in the "Mole Cave", Yin Xu felt a qualitative leap within himself, his martial arts progress extremely fast, it seems like he had profited from misfortune!

  "Good job!"

  Yin Xu turned his head and saw Gao Yi and Pu Jun coming together. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, asking: "What's going on? Why have you both come together at this time?"

  "East is coming! There's something difficult!" Yin Xu shouted on the construction site in East's name.

  Jian Gao furrowed his brow, and Yin Xu couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong?"

  Gao Yi sighed, "The governor will be celebrating his birthday soon. The official in charge of road maintenance, Jiang, wants lingzhi mushrooms as a gift. He Wuchang suggested that you and Pu Jun are quite skilled, so he assigned thirty people to go with you to pick lingzhi mushrooms."

  "Pick Ganoderma lucidum?"

  Yin Xu was so angry and helpless that he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

  Pu Jun Dao said: "This is obviously not a good idea, the lingzhi mushroom grows deep in the mountains and is hard to find, how can you say that it's easy to find? Isn't this making things difficult for people?"

  "We can't do this job, can we?" Zhou Da asked indignantly afterwards.

  Gao Yi shook his head and said: "No way, Master Jiang has already given the order, he specifically wants you to go, with a deadline of one month, and I'm responsible for this matter."

  "So we're all involved now?" Yun Xu furrowed his brow, feeling that something was off.

  "Yes! We also felt something was off, so we came to discuss it with you." Since the last incident, Pu Jun and others have regarded Yin Xu as the leader, and everything is done under his guidance.

  Lu Mingdao said: "It's strange to say, we didn't offend He Kun, why did he intentionally make things difficult for us several times?"

  Everyone seems to be thinking deeply, greatly puzzled and unable to understand, who knows what kind of nerve He Kung is?

  Pu Jun said, "In that case, we must be even more careful. If we're not careful and he gets a handle on us, I'm afraid he'll make another big deal out of it. Besides, Lord Jiang has already spoken about this matter, so if we don't go, it's definitely not okay."

  Gao Yi said: "I will try to get as many days and supplies as possible!"

  Yin Xu nodded slightly, although he said so, his heart seemed to be uneasy, but couldn't quite put it into words. He just hoped to complete the task smoothly and let He Kun have no reason to pick on him. If all else failed, he had already made the worst plan in his mind.

  The next day, Gao Yi led a team of 35 people, including Yin Xu and Pu Jun, to the mountainous areas of Kuaiji and Penglai Ze to collect lingzhi. As they set off, He Kun stood in the shadows, sneering to himself: "You were lucky last time, but what about this time?"

  Reishi often grows on the stumps of oak trees and other broad-leaved trees, likes to grow in places with high vegetation density, short light, fertile topsoil, and moist loose soil. Yin Xu and others crouched in the forest for two days without seeing a shadow.

  By dusk, one by one, they were all tired and sore, so they set up camp in the woods to rest early. Someone had already lit a bonfire and was preparing to cook food. Yin Xu leaned against a large tree, feeling increasingly uneasy in his heart, so he got up and walked around.

  Walking into the woods, he suddenly noticed a figure flashing behind the trees, which was hard to detect if not for his military alertness. Yin Xu quickly followed and found another brother who came to find the Lingzhi mushroom. After looking around and seeing no one noticing, he took out a small dagger and drew an "X" on the big tree. Looking further away at another tree, there was the same mark.

  Yin Xu's heart suddenly cooled down, and he realized where his unease came from. He had made the worst plan for himself, if he couldn't find the Lingzhi mushroom and was punished, he would escape into the deep mountains to become a bandit. Similarly, He Kun would think the same way, as long as he fabricated something casually and accused this group of people of wanting to escape, he could openly lead people to kill them.

  The Qin law stipulates that if the civilians and convicts who are serving their sentences escape, the soldiers on guard can kill them directly. He Kui might have meant this. It just so happens that all the people he is close to are here, which is obviously not a coincidence. It's probably He Kui's sinister plot. Isn't this scar a perfect piece of evidence? The answer naturally falls on him.

  Yin Xu quietly bypassed him, taking advantage of the man's inattention, and suddenly grabbed his throat from behind, while the other hand had already taken away the small dagger.

  "Who sent you? What do you want?"

  That man struggled for a moment, making an effort to lift his head and look up, only to see Yin Xu's face, and was suddenly frightened. He trembled and said: "Nothing, I just came out to relieve myself."

  "It's better to tell the truth quickly, otherwise I'm willing to waste time, but this dagger is not willing." As he spoke, the dagger had already lightly cut open a layer of skin on his neck.

  That man was greatly frightened and trembled as he begged for mercy: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you... it's He Wu Chang... they will be here soon..."

  "How many people are coming?"

  "This little one doesn't know, just told me to hide and pretend to be dead when the time comes!"

  "Do you have an accomplice?"

  "Nothing... just a small one..."

  "It's hard to pretend to be dead, no need to pretend anymore!" Yin Xu's eyebrow was cold, the dagger had already cut through that person's throat, dragging the corpse, and hurried back to discuss with Pu Jun and others.

  "What? You say He Kun wants to kill us?" Zhou Da was very surprised.

  Pu Jun and Gao Yi quickly reacted, saying: "So that's it, I thought he was waiting for us to return empty-handed, punishing us, didn't expect him to be so bold, so ruthless."

  "According to him, He Kun will be back soon!"

  "What shall we do? Let's hurry and run away while there is still time!"

  Yin Xu shook his head and said: "Now we need to think clearly, whether we escape or not today, the fugitive's crime has been established, does everyone agree on this?"

  "Not bad!"

  "That's good! Since this person has left marks all the way, He Kun will definitely be able to find here. We were framed by him, shouldn't we get something back from him?"

  "Right!" The crowd's eyes made Yin Xu seem like a god, and he was already seen as the backbone. Gao Yi's face flashed with a hint of helplessness, and he nodded heavily.

  ……

  "Over here, this way!" He Kun led twenty soldiers, following the trail markers as they came over.

  "What's wrong, General? There's a fire ahead!"

  "It was just past noon at this time, and the light in the forest was dim, with the firelight being particularly noticeable."

  "Oh? Alright, charge! They are unarmed, kill them all!" He Kun's mouth revealed a cold smile. As Yin Xu thought, upon learning that Jiang Daren had sent people to find Lingzhi, he recommended Yin Xu, Pu Jun and others. Among the followers, someone was bribed to secretly leave marks, then use these civilians' escape as an excuse, and bring people to hunt them down.

  In his view, twenty well-trained soldiers could easily slaughter more than thirty unarmed civilians.

  As I walked over, I found a bonfire burning on the ground, but there was no one around.

  "There is a character on the tree!"

  Under the shadow of the tree trunk, a few words were vaguely engraved. He Kun went to take a look and saw that it was engraved with "He Kun's Beheading Place!"

  He Kun was suddenly shocked, knowing that his plan had been seen through, and he looked around vigilantly. Who would have thought that under his feet was empty, with a loud thud, he fell into the water storage trap.

  "It's on fire!"

  The moment he fell, his subordinates shouted loudly, and flames appeared. All he could hear was the wailing of his men, should he be "lucky" to have water to hide in?

  Autumn was dry, trees were withered, and Yin Xu and others applied turpentine to the tree trunks, which ignited immediately. None of He Kun's twenty subordinates escaped. The fire lasted for more than two hours before Yin Xu and others emerged from their hiding place by the stream, revealing a look of indignation.

  Until the nearby fire went out and approached, the Qin army had been completely burned to ashes. Only He Kun, who fell into the pit, escaped.

  "He Wu Chang, this hideout is tailored for you, how's it? Comfortable? Shouldn't you thank me?"

  When Yin Xu led his men to appear, He Kun's spirit was swept away, and he became timid and silent.

  "He Wuchang, you're just a commoner, seemingly without any grudges against me. Why do you harbor such malice towards me?" Yin Xu's angry voice boomed, causing He Kui to tremble slightly, yet he remained silent.

  "My patience has a limit!" Yin Xu's arm moved, and He Kui's neck had an additional blood mark. The long sword was thrust forward, a line of fresh blood flowing along the blade, dripping into the water-filled trap with a steady beat.

  Blood flowed through his neck, his chest was wet and red. He Keng said resolutely: "Anyway, we're both going to die, I didn't expect you little brat to outsmart me, I admit it!"

  "Are you looking to die? Then why didn't you kill yourself just now?" Yin Xu smiled and said: "Don't worry, I'll make you unable to live or die, see if you still won't speak!" He gave a signal, and Zhou Da swooped in like an eagle grabbing a chick, pulling out He Kun.

  Yin Xu took out the small dagger and said, "He Wu Chang, is this dagger yours? Is it sharp or not? Do you want to try it on your body now? Which one do you choose? The middle part is good, isn't it? You're a man, aren't you? If you can't be a man, won't it be very painful?"

  He Kun finally showed a look of horror, pretending to be calm and said: "It doesn't matter if I tell you, after all, you are now wanted fugitives, and will be executed sooner or later. My cousin is the wife of the Xiangxitang Zhang, give me a quick death!"

  "Oh, I see!" Yin Xu recalled that He Kun had brought someone to Xiangxi Town that day and had stayed at Wu Zhong's house, but he hadn't thought of this connection. It didn't matter now, anyway. Sooner or later, he would return to Xiangxi Town to take revenge on Ma Shi and Wu Youcai. This debt would be remembered first.

  Yin Xu looked at He Kun with disdain and said, "Satisfy you!" A sharp dagger cut through the throat, and another corpse appeared in the forest.

  Kill He Kun, and there will be no turning back. Now they can only hide in the deep mountains as bandits. Yin Xu believes that they won't be able to hide for too long. Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, you'd better take action soon, don't make me wait too long.