met free Page 87
Page 87
"You've made a good plan, you only have thirty or forty men and a little over a thousand strings of cash, while my brother has over a thousand men and tens of thousands of strings of cash and provisions. This bet is completely unfair!" Qiongying said angrily.
"Young lady, don't say anything more!"
Bian Xiang glared at Qiong Ying, then looked at Zhao Yuan and laughed arrogantly.
"I wonder if you, the leader of Liangshan, dare to fight me?"
"Why don't you dare?"
Zhao Yuan burst into laughter.
"In that case, I won't bully you. My brother has already fought with you for a while and exhausted a lot of your strength. If I were to fight you now, it would be unfair to you!"
Zhao Yuan suggested, "How about this, you go and rest, and we'll wait here. Once you've rested, you can come and fight me again, okay?"
"You, the leader of Liangshan, are indeed a kind and honest man,"
Bian Xiang nodded; Lin Chong was no easy opponent.
He had just fought on foot against mounted combat, which had certainly taken a toll on his physical and mental strength.
"In that case, please come to my village, and I will prepare some wine and meat to entertain you!"
"Alright!" Zhao Yuan nodded readily.
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Bianxiang couldn't help but ask in surprise,
"Aren't you worried that I might ambush you in the stronghold and capture you suddenly?"
"Judging from your words and actions, you must be a man of loyalty and righteousness. How could you do such a despicable thing?" Zhao Yuan replied with a smile.
"Chief Zhao is indeed a straightforward man!"
Bianxiang said with genuine admiration, "No matter who wins or loses, I'll accept you as my older brother!"
The group followed Bian Xiang to his stronghold.
Zhao Yuan suddenly remembered Shi Qian behind him and quickly called him over.
"Brother, we're going to visit a mountain stronghold. Would you dare to come along?"
"If I were alone, I would never dare to go openly and honestly. Now that I'm with you, sir, what is there to be afraid of!" Shi Qian said with a grin.
Just now, I saw Lin Chong fight against that axe-wielding giant. Although Shi Qian's martial arts skills were not high,
But after being in the business for so long, I naturally have some insight.
It was immediately clear that both of them were true masters.
He immediately became 20% more convinced of Zhao Yuan's identity.
However, this man was a thief by trade and was used to being cautious; he still wanted to wait until he met Master Chai.
Only after hearing him personally confirm Zhao Yuan's identity did he finally believe it completely.
"You don't dare to go openly, which means you dare to go secretly?"
Because of the previous incident where he had been tricked, Jiao Ting disliked Shi Qian quite a bit, and after hearing what he said, he immediately retorted with a question.
"Hehe, I've been to this guy's stronghold many times before!"
Shi Qian smiled smugly, reached into his robes, and took out two silver ingots.
"Back in town, I intended to give this little bit of silver to that street performer, but your master beat me to it!"
"you......"
Bian Xiang looked at the silver ingot in Shi Qian's hand, and after hearing him say that Shi Qian had visited his mountain stronghold many times before, he immediately realized what was going on.
"I knew it! Over a hundred taels of silver have been missing these past two days. I thought it was some thief, but I never expected it was you who stole it. Give me back the silver!"
As he spoke, he reached out to snatch the silver from Shi Qian's hand.
Although the flea on the drum had little strength, it was extremely agile.
Bian Xiang chased him for a long time, but still couldn't catch him, and ended up panting heavily from exhaustion.
"Brother Bianxiang, if you continue like this, you'll be exhausted before you even have a chance to fight me,"
Zhao Yuan chuckled and said, "This man is also one of my brothers. I'll make up for whatever silver he took from you later!"
Bian Xiang only stopped after hearing this, then complained.
"This guy is as agile as a monkey; there's no way to catch him!"
Shi Qian, standing to the side, looked at Zhao Yuan in surprise, his expression somewhat dazed.
The group continued walking towards the mountain stronghold. Jiao Ting noticed that Shi Qian was standing there, stunned.
I pushed him impatiently.
"What are you standing there for? Let's go!"
"Ah? Oh!"
Shi Qian quickly nodded and followed behind the others.
Bianxiang's so-called mountain stronghold,
It was just a few simple houses enclosed on the hillside.
After inviting everyone inside, Bianxiang arranged for wine and meat to be served.
Soon after, the drinks were served.
Bian Xiang held up a wine bowl to offer a toast to Zhao Yuan.
Just as Zhao Yuan was about to drink, Shi Qian snatched the wine bowl from his hand and drank it all in one gulp.
"Excellent, indeed fine wine!" Shi Qian exclaimed, smacking his lips in praise.
"You scoundrel, how dare you steal my wine 2.0!" Jiao Ting said, frowning.
"A little bit of wine, what's the big deal?" Shi Qian said nonchalantly.
"It's alright, I'll just pour another bowl," Zhao Yuan said with a smile.
After several bowls of wine were finished, meat and vegetables were served.
At that time, Qian was like a hungry ghost, grabbing the chopsticks first.
I tasted a bite of each of the dishes.
"You have absolutely no manners! How can you eat and drink like this!" Jiao Ting said with a dark face.
Qiongying, who was standing to the side, also put down her chopsticks, her face full of disgust.
Even Lin Chong and Bian Xiang frowned.
"I just want to try the taste of this mountain-style cuisine. It's nowhere near as good as the food in the hotels in town," Shi Qian said with a grin.
"You think it tastes bad, but you still insist on eating it!" Jiao Ting rolled her eyes at him.
Many others also voiced their criticism.
Only Zhao Yuan suddenly put down his chopsticks and exclaimed, "Brother Shi Qian, you're so thoughtful."
Chapter 112 Xu Ning's Family?
The others were somewhat confused.
Shi Qian suddenly laughed and said, "It's because of your calling me 'brother' just now, it's what I should do."
"Brother, what's wrong?" Qiongying asked, puzzled.
"Brother Bianxiang, do you know how I met this Brother Shiqian?"
Zhao Yuan recounted how Shi Qian had stolen the horse to lure everyone back to the official road.
He then added, "The reason Brother Qian snatched the wine and dishes just now was simply because my bet was on Liangshan. He was worried that I would be tricked by Brother Bianxiang, so he tried the wine and dishes first. Please don't take offense, Brother Bianxiang!"
"How could I possibly blame such a loyal hero!"
Bian Xiang offered Shi Qian a bowl of wine.
"I was being stingy just now. Brother, please feel free to take any gold or silver you find in this stronghold!"
"It was my own petty thinking that led me to judge you so harshly, please forgive me, Brother Bianxiang," Shi Qian quickly apologized.
After this incident, Lin Chong and the others clearly became closer to the shifty-eyed Shi Qian.
Even Jiao Ting, who had previously disliked Shi Qian, was no exception.
The group drank several jars of wine and ate some vegetables and meat.
Bianxiang then stood up.
"I've rested enough, Brother Zhao, please give me your guidance!"
Zhao Yuan followed him outside, where a group of henchmen formed a circle around him.
A vacant space was left in the middle.
Bian Xiang still wielded his great axe, while Zhao Yuan carried a simple broadsword.
With a loud shout from Bian Xiang,
He suddenly swung his great axe and charged towards Zhao Yuan.
This axe is a heavy weapon; it is incredibly heavy for an ordinary person to even hold.
Bianxiang, however, was born with superhuman strength; the originally heavy mountain-splitting axe...
In his hands, it was as light as a feather; the great axe swung with ferocious power.
His movements, both advancing and retreating, were extremely disciplined.
Zhao Yuan originally intended to take advantage of the agility of the broadsword, seize an opportunity, and win with a single blow.
However, they couldn't find the slightest flaw in Bian Xiang's defenses.
He could only retreat as a means of advancing, wielding his broadsword to block Bian Xiang's mountain-splitting axe.
This went on for fifty or sixty rounds.
Bian Xiang was, after all, flesh and blood, and that axe was extremely heavy.
He was already panting, and his movements with the axe were no longer as flawless as before.
Zhao Yuan seized the opportunity, his broadsword following the gaps created by the swinging of the axe.
With a sudden thrust and a flick,
Bianxiang suddenly felt a powerful force strike him.
In the rush, he could no longer hold the axe.
He was easily knocked away by Zhao Yuan.
"Brother, you're so strong! I give up!"
Bianxiang immediately bowed and said, "From now on, my forty or fifty men will follow your lead!"
"Brother, please get up. From now on, we are family."
Zhao Yuan quickly helped him up.
They were once bandits, but now they're on our side.
As they spent more time together, they became more and more comfortable with each other.
Zhao Yuan and his men originally intended to rush back to Chai Jin's manor.
But he was persuaded to stop by Bianliang.
"Brother, you'll stay here for at least three to five days. I'll just send one of my men to deliver a message to you, Master Chai."
Zhao Yuan naturally agreed without hesitation.
The group settled down in this simple village.
They drank alcohol and ate meat every day, and practiced swordsmanship, spears, and clubs.
They stayed there for three days in a row.
On this day, Bian Xiang was drinking with Zhao Yuan when a henchman came to report that two groups of people had come down from the mountain.
"Didn't I tell you that already?"