“This Tiger Head Mountain has four leaders. They’re known as the Four Heroes of Tiger Head Mountain. They’re famous in the Lu River area and have extraordinary skills…”
At the same time, somewhere in the forest, the 200 or so people led by Zhou Jing were resting. They were sitting on the ground in twos and threes, eating dry rations and chatting casually.
Guo Haishen was very familiar with the people in the Green Forest. He spoke confidently as a group of people surrounded him to listen to his story.
“The Chief is called ‘Fire Fur Lion’ Peng Jin. The second-in-commander is ‘Golden Blade’ Hong Dingxian. The third of their leaders is the ‘Flying Archer’ Li Pei and the fourth leader is known as ‘Flower-Faced Bear’ Shi Dong. None of them are easy to deal with… Among them, the most powerful is Hong Dingxian. He once fought against Red Cloud Mountain’s ‘Divine Mace’ Lu Yunzhao. They were evenly matched even after 60 rounds. He’s a famous expert in the Lu River, the face of Tiger Head Mountain.”
Beside him, Zhou Jing was sitting on a rock with his Coiling Dragon Spear in front of his knees, listening carefully.
Hearing this, his eyes flickered as he asked,
“Big Brother, tell me about this Hong Dingxian in detail.”
Guo Haishen nodded. “I know this person too. He’s good at using a golden broadsword, and his blade technique is quite good. When I was wandering around the Lu River, I once visited Tiger Head Mountain and met him.”
“Brother, do you know the origin of this person?”
Fang Zhen asked curiously.
Guo Hai sighed deeply at his question,
“I’ve heard from others that this Hong Dingxian also had a hard life. He was originally from Wenshui County and came from a poor family since he was young. His father was a gambler and lost his mother to someone else. Later on, he died early, and he was raised by his uncle and aunt. However, he was born with an outstanding appetite and was not liked by his uncle and aunt. He was also tall and strong since he was young, so he hung out on the streets early on. He was a famous hooligan in the county.
Later on, his uncle somehow offended a noble in the county and was framed. He was forced to confess and died in prison from his injuries. From then on, his aunt became crazy. One time, she threw a tantrum in the street and contradicted the local county captain. She was slapped, but she did not expect that the man would be so heavy-handed. His aunt went home and lay in bed for three days before finally succumbing to her injuries.
Hong Dingxian had went to report this incident to the officials several times, but there was no follow-up. The noble who framed his uncle knew the county magistrate and had bribed the witness, so he was naturally fine. As for the county magistrate, he was originally a member of the government and was naturally a trusted aide to the noble, so he did a favor for him. The county magistrate said that his aunt had an urgent illness to begin with and sentenced his aunt’s death to be unrelated to the county magistrate. He was also exonerated of the crime.
One day, Hong Dingxian bumped into the noble in the county on the street. In a moment of anger, he stabbed him with a knife and killed him on the street. He cut the noble’s neck and escaped from the county city, escaping the pursuit of the officials. For some reason, he ended up on Tiger Head Mountain and lived in the wilderness ever since.”
Guo Haishen had traveled the world and knew many things. His connections were extraordinary, and he was basically a one-man intelligence bureau.
Everyone had a gossipy heart. After listening to such a wretched tale, everyone couldn’t help but sigh out.
Fang Zhen said angrily, “Why is the world so dirty? How annoying!”
Zhang San also sighed, “This hero is indeed capable. He even found a way to take revenge. If it were us mortals, what can we do about this? If we hadn’t followed Brother, we would still be bullied by the Wu family.”
In the past few months, the lackeys of Red Cloud Mountain had long investigated the situation of the Wu Family Village. Everyone knew about the current situation.
The eldest son of the Wu family, Wu Zheng, had asked the county magistrate to take back the title deed for their Wu family land. He had also used the might of the Lu family and the help of the officials to snatch back the farm property and settle the score again.
Many of the villagers in the Wu Village had already regained their status as tenant farmers. They originally wanted to cause trouble, but they were afraid that Wu Zheng was too powerful, so they did not dare to say anything.
However, Wu Zheng did not chase after the rent that he had lost for the past few months. The local villagers did not cause any more trouble and accepted the status quo that Wu family was in charge. They even felt that they had already taken advantage of the situation.
Zhang San and the other three were glad more than once that they had left with Zhou Jing back then. Otherwise, they would have to go back to their previous lives. Moreover, they were the ones who had implicated the Wu family. If Wu Zheng wanted to vent his anger, how could they appease him?
Zhou Jing frowned and asked in a deep voice, “The noble is dead, so what happened to the county magistrate?”
Guo Haishen stopped short. He thought for a moment and muttered,
“Hong Dingxian only killed the noble, but I haven’t heard of him dealing with that county magistrate. In my opinion, he was angry and took revenge. After killing him, he quickly fled. He doesn’t have the time to do anything else, right? Moreover, that county magistrate is an official. Not many people dare to kill an official…”
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered his second brother’s deeds and quickly coughed to shut his mouth.
Zhou Jing’s eyes flashed, and he deliberately snorted, “This guy surnamed Hong is brave, but he’s not brave enough. Taking revenge is not satisfying enough! Do you know where Wenshui County is?”
Guo Haishen was shocked. “Second Brother, why are you asking this?”
Zhou Jing changed his posture and said without changing his expression, “Big Brother, you know the answer. If this matter is really as you say and Wenshui County is not far away, I’ll go kill that official on the way. Well, I’ll send that county magistrate to hell to accompany the noble. This person doesn’t dare to kill officials, so I’ll do it. Anyway, there’s no harm in having more debts.”
Everyone smiled bitterly and thought to themselves that their brother’s temper was simply too “good”.
“Second Brother, it’s been so many years since his incident happened…” Fang Zhen scratched his head.
Zhou Jing glanced at him, “Brother, your words are funny. Do you not need to settle scores after so long?”
Guo Haishen advised helplessly, “I know that Second Brother has a violent temper. The moment he hears about the injustice of others, he will get angry… However, although this Hong Dingxian is a good man, he is still our enemy. There’s no need to help him like this.”
Zhou Jing nodded, “Then let’s meet this Hong Dingxian first. If he’s willing to submit towards me, it’s fine to take a trip.”
