Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 170 Tomorrow's Will: Zhang Xiong Returns to Liangshan, Climbing the Cliff 2 - Night Rai

As Li Hanxiao and Wang Yin walked towards him, Zhang Xiong glanced at Li Hanxiao with contempt and said, "Dong Cheng is dead, and you're trying to take advantage of me again? Don't waste your time, just send me on my way!"

Zhang Xiong adopted a "dead pig doesn't care about boiling water" attitude, essentially waiting to die.

Li Han smiled and exchanged a glance with Wang Yin. He then thrust his three-pointed, double-edged sword forward, spinning it straight toward Zhang Xiong's face.

Zhang Xiong felt the whistling blade coming towards him, closed his eyes, and awaited death.

The three-pointed dagger stopped abruptly when it touched a hair between Zhang Xiong's eyebrows, failing to kill him.

"Ok?"

Realizing he was not dead, Zhang Xiong suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Li Hanxiao in disbelief.

"This strike has taken your life. You have repaid Tian Hu's life, and from now on, you are even!"

As Li Hanxiao retracted his three-pointed double-edged sword, he took the opportunity to sever the ropes binding Zhang Xiong.

"why is that……"

Before Zhang Xiong could figure out what was going on, Wang Yin handed the bundle containing the heads of those bastards to Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao flung the package at Zhang Xiong's feet. The package shattered, and four heads rolled to the ground in a "田" (field) shape.

After seeing the appearance of the four heads clearly, Zhang Xiong trembled as he picked them up one by one, first Li Zhu's head, then Wu Zhong's head, carefully examining each one.

After identifying them, he let out a long howl, grabbed a piece of bluestone next to him, and started smashing the four heads into rotten watermelons.

His madness was practically indistinguishable from someone who had lost their mind...

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Zhang Xiong knelt amidst a pile of rotten flesh and brains, letting out a desolate yet tragic laugh. Although he was laughing, tears streamed uncontrollably down his face, making it difficult to describe what was happening.

Li Hanxiao walked up to him, squatted down so that they were at the same level, and patted Zhang Xiong on the shoulder.

"Tian Hu prides himself on being a king of justice, yet he refuses to avenge you. He claims that Mianshang County has a large and well-defended army, but look at these four heads. The two of us ran dozens of miles and brought these four dog heads back to you in the blink of an eye. Justice? What a joke! If he is just, then there is no true justice. Where is justice?"

“I, Li Hanxiao, don’t care if you have a thousand or ten thousand enemies you haven’t killed yet, but today I can assure you, Zhang Xiong, that I will kill one if I see one, and two if I see two, until I have killed all your enemies. Serving Tian Hu, bullying the weak, harming and abusing the people, is not a good thing, nor is it something a real man would do. Follow me!”

At this moment, Zhang Xiong's face was ashen. He shoved Li Hanxiao aside, stood up, and roared to the sky, "Li Hanxiao, you're trying to kill me!"

Although Zhang Xiong harbored resentment towards Tian Hu for a long time, Tian Hu had saved his life after all, and because of this, he decided to remain loyal to Tian Hu even unto death.

But to his utter surprise, Li Hanxiao was able to avenge him, taking only two people with him to venture into dangerous territory and bring back his enemy's head, one by one.

This is an act of kindness! Even Tian Hu never treated him this well!

Emotionally, he clearly admired Li Hanxiao more and wanted to follow him. Li Hanxiao's actions were indeed admirable. However, his principles contradicted those of Li Hanxiao. The saying goes, "A loyal minister does not serve two masters." He was conflicted.

Therefore, he really didn't know what to do, so he prepared to die, owing neither Tian Hu nor Li Hanxiao anything.

So, with lightning speed, he drew the only remaining dagger from the waist of Zhu Wu, the "divine strategist" who was standing aside watching the commotion, and slashed it across his neck.

Zhu Wu, the "Divine Strategist," was no match for Zhang Xiong in terms of combat prowess. Seeing Zhang Xiong hold a knife to his neck, he remained calm and even had a wicked smile on his lips.

Because one of his two swords has a blade, while the other is not. One can be used for offense, while the other is for self-defense. It is mainly used for defense and is no different from an iron ruler.

The bladed knife he had thrown into the fire to be used as a branding iron was still not completely cooled down, so it wasn't put back into its sheath. Now, only the blunt, unsharpened knife was in the sheath.

Even if Zhang Xiong used all his strength, he couldn't slit his own throat.

"Huh? Huh!"

Zhang Xiong held the knife back and forth across his neck, but found that he couldn't cause any harm at all.

At the same time, Li Hanxiao flashed forward and snatched the blunt knife. He showed the blade to Zhang Xiong. The knife had no blade at all; it was as thick as a plate. If this knife could cut itself, then ordinary swords could split mountains!

"See? Heaven has already spared your life, letting you choose this bladeless knife. What, you still don't want to follow me? You must know that the will of Heaven cannot be defied!"

As Li Hanxiao spoke, he tossed the knife back to "Strategist Zhu Wu".

Zhang Xiong looked up at the gradually brightening sky and murmured, "It's fate, it's fate!"

After saying that, he knelt down on both knees and bowed to Li Hanxiao.

"Big brother!"

"Brother, get up!"

Li Hanxiao helped Zhang Xiong up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and asked earnestly, "Brother, Tian Hu is causing chaos in Shanxi. It's true that he can resist the government, but he is committing unforgivable crimes against the people. I want to eliminate him. I know that Tian Hu has also done you a favor. I don't want you to do it. Just tell me where he is."

Zhang Xiong sighed and said, "Although I have changed allegiance, I am still unwilling to fight Tian Hu personally. Fine, brother, I will tell you that Tian Hu's lair is in Shiti Mountain."

"It turns out to be here!"

Shiti Mountain, part of the Yinshan Mountains, is located in the southern part of Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province. During the Song Dynasty, it was situated west of Qinyuan County, running roughly east-west. It extends westward into Yanggao County and eastward into the northern part of Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. Its altitude is generally around 1400 meters, with the highest point reaching 1700 meters. The area is covered with lush vegetation, making it suitable for forestry and animal husbandry. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which explains why Tian Hu chose this place as his lair.

"Assemble the troops and go wipe out Tian Hu's lair!"

Li Hanxiao was about to go to Shiti Mountain to kill Tian Hu, but Zhang Xiong stopped him.

"No, Tian Hu still has more than 5,000 men at Shiti Mountain. Going to fight like this would be a pointless suicide mission."

Zhang Xiong said anxiously.

"Haha, brothers, didn't you see our strength when you were defeated before? Tian Hu, you rabble, you chickens and dogs!"

Zhang Xiong now realized that this was indeed the case; Li Hanxiao's troops' combat effectiveness truly exceeded their expectations...

On Shiti Mountain, however, lanterns and decorations were everywhere, creating a very festive and lively atmosphere.

Because Tian Hu got married, and the woman he married was the younger sister of Wu Li, a wealthy man from Weisheng.

Wu Li is skilled with a staff, possessing immense strength in both arms. He can draw a strong bow and is adept at wielding a fifty-pound broadsword. Originally a wealthy man in Weisheng, he engaged in illegal businesses such as slaughtering cattle, gambling, and running brothels. He himself was a figure who walked the line between the legal and illegal worlds.

As Tian Hu's troubles in Weisheng Army grew increasingly fierce and his power increased day by day, he also began to think about what to do to Wu Li, this local tycoon.

Tian Hu, knowing that his younger sister was very beautiful, wanted to marry her and sent someone to propose. Wu Li knew that although he was a wealthy man, if he angered Tian Hu, his entire family business would be ruined. Moreover, he was not a law-abiding citizen. Seeing that the government troops in Shanxi were becoming increasingly defeated, he believed that sooner or later the entire Shanxi region would belong to Tian Hu, so he might as well make a good relationship with him sooner.

So he agreed to Tian Hu's marriage proposal, just like in the original story where Tian Hu appointed Wu Li as a Privy Councilor and called her the Imperial Brother-in-Law. Today is the big day for Wu Li and Tian Hu's wedding, and Wu Li brought her whole family to Shiti Mountain to participate in the wedding.

While Tian Hu and Wu Li were having a pleasant conversation, Tian Hu suddenly noticed a girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old among Wu Li's family. She was pretty with delicate features, red lips and white teeth, and was clearly a beauty in the making.

In ancient times, women had children at a young age, so it was not uncommon for girls to marry at thirteen or fourteen. Tian Hu was somewhat intrigued and asked, "Brother Wu Li, is that girl a member of your family? A niece or nephew?"

“She is my adopted daughter, named Qiongying.”

This little girl is none other than Qiu Qiongying, also known as "Qiong Arrowhead". In the original story, Qiongying's original surname was Qiu. When she was ten years old, her parents went away. At that time, Tian Hu was causing trouble in Hebei. Her father, Qiu Shen, was killed by Tian Hu, and her mother, Song, committed suicide to avoid being humiliated. Qiongying was then taken care of by Ye Qing, the head of the household.

A year later, Wu Li kidnapped Ye Qing and his wife, as well as Qiong Ying. Seeing that Qiong Ying was beautiful, Wu Li took her in as his daughter. Qiong Ying temporarily endured the situation to avenge her parents. Ye Qing chose to follow Wu Li on his campaigns to take care of Qiong Ying and was appointed as the chief steward for his merits.

Qiu Qiongying is still young and doesn't have the ability to take revenge. After all, she first appeared when Song Jiang was conquering Tian Hu, and she was only sixteen years old at that time.

"Excellent, excellent! Come, come, let's drink! Let's fill this cup!"

Although Tian Hu did not know that Qiu Qiongying was the daughter of Qiu Shen, whom he had killed, he still had some sense of shame. Upon hearing that she was Wu Li's adopted daughter, he realized that it would be against human ethics for him to marry Wu Li's sister as well. Therefore, he stopped considering the matter.

At this time, Tian Biao and Fang Xuedu, who had been crippled by the trap set by Li Hanxiao and others, did not return to Shiti Mountain with their remaining troops.

Because they were terrified by Li Hanxiao and his group, they fled in a panic and went in the wrong direction. They were so afraid that Li Hanxiao and his group would catch up with them that they ended up on the banks of the Yellow River. It would be impossible for them to get back in less than five or seven days.

Even worse, Tian Biao, who had lost an eye, was seriously injured and had a high fever, making it impossible for him to set off. Fang Xuedu's leg injury had also begun to fester. The two of them immediately took their remaining troops to find doctors everywhere for treatment.

Therefore, Tian Hu had no idea that Li Hanxiao was already heading straight for him, and was still waiting for Tian Biao and the others to report their "victory"!

At this moment, Li Hanxiao had already led his men to the foot of his stone steps mountain.

The Shiti Mountain is steep, and because of Tian Hu's wedding tonight, the defenses on the entire mountain are very weak. Even the henchmen have been drinking all night long.

"Unravel the treasures!"

Li Han gave a command, and the two brothers immediately stepped forward.

"You two, climb the cliff and scout the way. Once you're up there, find a path that will allow the main force to march up the mountain, and set fire to signal the way!"

"Yes!"

"Ling Zhen, take the cannons and ambush at the foot of this mountain. Anyone who tries to escape, blow them all up here!"

"The rest of you, follow me up the mountain!"

"Two-headed snake" Xie Zhen and "two-tailed scorpion" Xie Bao, carrying steel forks and five-clawed steel hooks, began to climb the mountain. Both of them were top-notch hunters, able to traverse mountains and valleys as if walking on flat ground. In addition, no one noticed them, and they had already reached Shiti Mountain in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

When the two arrived at the top, Tian Hu's men were all drinking all night long. While they were exploring in a secluded spot, they suddenly saw a group of people who looked like Hu people drinking with Tian Hu.

"Brother, he looks like a Khitan!"

Looking at the group of Hu people with "Mediterranean" hairstyles, "Double-tailed Scorpion" Jie Bao thought they must be Khitans.

Because of their unique hairstyle, the Khitan people had a distinctive custom of shaving their heads, which involved shaving all or part of the hair on the top of their heads, leaving only strands of long hair on the temples or forehead as decoration. This style is similar to the so-called "Mediterranean" hairstyle.

"Strange, how come Tian Hu, a Han Chinese, has so many Khitans under his command..."

Although Xie Zhen, nicknamed "Two-Headed Snake," was not from the Song-Liao border region, he knew that the two countries had a deep-seated grudge. Liao people would not go to Song territory unless there were special circumstances, let alone so many of them. The two Xie brothers counted and found that there were at least a hundred Khitans drinking there!

These people from the Erqi District were clearly not good people. They were all tall and burly men with bowlegs, a result of years of hard work. They were obviously skilled horsemen, adept at archery and horsemanship. They drank bowls of wine as if it were water, showing they were both good eaters and fighters.

"Yelü Yingfeng, please rest assured. We will definitely make an agreement with your Great Liao. In the future, when you march south, we will cause trouble in Shanxi and Hebei, and make your roads smooth for you!"

The speaker was Tian Bao, the second-in-command under Tian Hu. He was Tian Hu's brother and currently held the highest position among Tian Hu's men, even higher than the third-in-command, Tian Biao.

"Yelü!"

"Two-headed snake" Xie Zhen and "two-tailed scorpion" Xie Bao looked at each other in bewilderment. They knew that the surname "Yelü" was the royal surname of the Liao Dynasty, and it was of the same rank as the "Zhao" surname of the Song Dynasty officials.

The Khitan man in front of me is actually a member of the Khitan royal family!

But if he's royalty, what's he doing here?