Chen Xiaobei thought to himself, I've dug myself into a hole, a big hole, an unwashable pit.
Why not now, why not later, but precisely now I'm dealing with land deeds.
Why not earlier, why not later, but precisely now, Liu Yuanwu, you choose to appear.
Why not earlier, why not later, but precisely now, you choose to die.
Back on the road in his horse-drawn carriage, Chen Xiaobei's mood became complicated.
Hu Fan had a point. This kind of thing, before it's weighed, it's nothing; once it's weighed, it could be tens of thousands of kilograms.
At this moment, he could only pray silently that the real culprit would be caught soon, and if no one mentioned this matter, this storm would pass.
Disturbed and distracted, Chen Xiaobei arrived at the county town. But when he turned into the market and saw Old Wu, Old Wu was surprisingly excited.
"Brother Xiaobei, you've come at the perfect time. So many people want to buy apples and have been waiting for a long time. Why are you so late?"
Chen Xiaobei looked around in surprise. Today, he didn't see Cui San or the laborers coming to sell apples. What was going on?
But no matter what, no competition was always a good thing.
"Old Wu, starting today, you'll sell them for one wen per jin. No matter who it is, never sell them for less."
Old Wu also laughed, "You, you think just like me. This will be the price from now on."
After laughing, Chen Xiaobei cursed himself, "Damn, I'm a real profiteer."
At this moment, a tense atmosphere filled the area below Wugong Ridge.
Liu Rumei and Hu Fan arrived one after another. After briefing Ma Biao, Hou Liu came over and asked for the situation again.
Hu Fan looked at Liu Rumei, "Miss Liu, what should we do? Please make a decision."
Liu Rumei did not stand on ceremony. She bowed slightly to Hu Fan and then looked at the general beside Hou Fan. "General Gao Tao, please take command of the men to block all the large and small exits of Wugong Ridge."
Gao Tao agreed and left to carry out the order. Then Liu Rumei looked at Ma Biao, "Ma Biao, you will lead the men with me to rush to Wugong Ridge to apprehend Li Tong."
She then turned to Liu Ce beside her, "You take a few men to protect Magistrate Hu here."
With all arrangements made, at a command, a thousand imperial soldiers on horseback scattered in all directions, ready to surround Wugong Ridge.
Liu Rumei and Ma Biao, leading the Liu family's men and the twenty-odd members of the Vermilion Bird Gang, charged menacingly towards Wugong Ridge.
The sentries on Wugong Ridge, upon seeing the imperial army below, immediately turned and ran back to the mountain stronghold.
At this moment, Da Lao Hei, Li Tong, and Xiong Fei were drinking merrily when a henchman stumbled into the assembly hall.
"Great Chieftain, bad news! There are imperial troops below the mountain. Imperial troops!"
Upon hearing about the imperial army, Da Lao Hei jumped up.
"What, what's going on? Did you see clearly?"
The henchman nodded, "Great Chieftain, it's absolutely true. They've already surrounded the stronghold."
Li Tong next to him burst into laughter, "Great Chieftain, as the saying goes, the army comes, we block; the water comes, we cover. If they dare to attack the mountain, I alone will defeat them all."
Li Tong's boastful words clearly did not help to stabilize the morale. Even Xiong Fei repeatedly waved his hands.
"Brother, you can't say that. Wugong Ridge has always had no dealings with the imperial army. This time they've come, it must be about the Qingniu Mountain incident leaking out."
"That's right, Brother Li Tong. What we're doing is a matter of losing our heads. We mustn't be reckless."
At this point, Da Lao Hei stood up and shouted to the assembled henchmen in the assembly hall, "The imperial army is here to encircle and suppress us again. Everyone go back and prepare. Guard the stronghold gate tightly and do not open it. When night falls, they will naturally retreat."
The henchmen, unaware of the ruse, agreed and, grabbing their weapons, stood up and surged towards the main gate of the stronghold.
Li Tong also picked up his strong bow and was about to move forward when Xiong Fei gently pulled him back.
Li Tong instantly understood and stood there, shouting loudly, "Great Chieftain, after I finish this bowl of wine, I'll go and help you guard the stronghold gate."
After all the henchmen had dispersed, only Da Lao Hei, Xiong Fei, and Li Tong remained in the vast assembly hall.
Xiong Fei then turned to Li Tong and said, "Brother Li Tong, this business of ours is different from before. The imperial army will not give up until they achieve their goal. We must go out and hide."
Li Tong's drunkenness had also sobered up considerably. "Okay, I'll do as you arrange."
"Alright, my two brothers, let's not delay any further. Hurry back and pack up. We'll leave from the back of the mountain."
Da Lao Hei said, then turned and went into his room. He packed gold and silver into a large bundle and slung it over his back.
When they came out, Xiong Fei and Li Tong were waiting. Xiong Fei also had a large bundle on his back, it seemed they had indeed accumulated quite a fortune.
The three of them hurried towards the back of the mountain, while Liu Rumei and Ma Biao had already led their men to the foot of the mountain.
The henchmen guarding the entrance of the stronghold immediately started making a racket when they saw them arrive.
Hearing the commotion of the bandits, Liu Rumei signaled everyone to hide first, so as not to be ambushed by them.
Ma Xiaoyi tilted his head and observed the bandits carefully. He turned to Liu Rumei and said, "Miss, Da Lao Hei is not among them!"
Liu Rumei was clearly a little surprised. She also poked her head out to observe carefully. Although she was not well-acquainted with Da Lao Hei, she had met him a few times.
After observing carefully several times, Da Lao Hei was indeed nowhere to be seen.
According to Hou Liu's account, Da Lao Hei should have been drinking with Li Tong in the stronghold at this time.
Could he be drunk?
Ma Biao suddenly seemed to have an idea. "Miss, could it be that Da Lao Hei is planning to escape by a ruse?"
Liu Rumei pondered for a moment and nodded slightly.
"You're right, there's a possibility."
"But we are not familiar with Wugong Ridge."
Ma Biao pointed to the distant stronghold gate. "Miss, by common sense, if they intend to escape through another route, they would surely go to the furthest point from here, which is the back mountain."
"Alright then, you take your men and circle around to the back of the mountain. If there's any sign of movement, signal for reinforcements immediately."
Ma Biao agreed and, gathering the dozen or so men he had brought with him, quietly circled the stronghold and headed towards the back mountain.
At this moment, Da Lao Hei, accompanied by Xiong Fei and Li Tong, was rushing to retreat to the rear.
The back mountain was rugged and difficult to traverse, so their progress was not fast. When Ma Biao and his men arrived, they looked down and saw several shadowy figures below.
Without a word, Ma Biao raised his hand and fired a whistling arrow into the sky.
Da Lao Hei, who was already tired and fleeing, heard the whistling arrow sound from behind and knew they had been discovered. He immediately turned to Xiong Fei and Li Tong and said, "It's too conspicuous for the two of us to leave together. Let's split up and meet at the Sihai Wine House in Xiaojia Town tonight."
Then he pointed to the left. "I'll go this way, you two go that way."
Xiong Fei and Li Tong were momentarily confused. They turned to the right and ran for a few zhang. Xiong Fei suddenly understood.
What kind of splitting up was this? Da Lao Hei was clearly considering them a burden.
Because Xiong Fei had rarely been to this back mountain, he had joined the stronghold later. Therefore, only Da Lao Hei was familiar with the paths of the back mountain.