“Hua Rong, it’s Hua Rong!”
Xia Tian’s eyes lit up with surprise.
Truth be told, out of all the so-called “heroes” in the entire Water Margin, he liked very few.
Among them, Wu Song, who dared to act and take responsibility, was naturally one; Master Lu, who clearly distinguished between love and hate, was another; and Hua Rong, who valued loyalty and righteousness, was yet another!
Xia Tian could even recite the original description of Hua Rong word for word:
“With white teeth and red lips, handsome eyes, eyebrows that extend to his temples, a slender waist and broad shoulders like an ape. He can ride unruly horses and loves to fly sea eagles. With a hundred-step accuracy and a powerful arm, his bowstring sounds like an autumn moon, and his feathered arrows shoot out like cold stars!”
Dressed in silver armor and wielding a silver spear, handsome and skilled in archery, he could even tame fierce birds like the “sea eagle.”
Such a man, like Zhao Yun from the Three Kingdoms era, would be admired by any lord.
Especially regarding his “loyalty and righteousness,” after Song Jiang was poisoned to death by the imperial court, Hua Rong even chose to hang himself at Song Jiang’s grave.
“If it were any other lord, they might worry that Hua Rong’s close relationship with Song Jiang would make him difficult to truly win over, but I have the ‘Golden Terrace,’ which can completely ‘win Hua Rong’s heart’!”
Xia Tian was very excited.
A silver-ranked talent with excellent potential, although Hua Rong was slightly inferior to Wu Song, he was still an extremely powerful hero!
To say nothing else, the fact that he could ensure none of his subordinates died while being pursued by a ninth-tier “mutant” was enough to prove Hua Rong’s strength.
That’s right, the stone figure pinned to the ground by Wu Song was a mutant.
【Stone Man (Blue)】
【Type】Mutant
【Level】Ninth-tier
【Physique】12.2
【Spirit】5.5
【Abilities】Earth-rock Transformation, Stone Field Procreation
【Description】A mutant bred in the Eternal Land, possessing certain potential.
【Remarks】This is an immature mutant that chose to leave its clan and venture out, hoping to achieve something, rather than slowly growing in the ‘stone field’ where it was born!
“Good heavens, a ‘mutant with ideals’!”
It was Xia Tian’s first time seeing a mutant that closely resembled a human, and he couldn’t help but be curious.
After learning the details from the soldiers, he told Wu Song not to kill it, but to “knock it out” with his fists and bring it back to the territory along with the injured soldiers… “Hiss, it’s actually true! There really is a sanctuary in this forest, not only with old people but also many children!”
“These houses are so spacious and beautiful… Is that one in the middle a general’s mansion?!”
When the soldiers entered the territory, they were undoubtedly first attracted by the various exquisite high-level buildings.
“Hmm, these children!”
Only Hua Rong immediately noticed the children playing in the open space. These children seemed to be from their Qingfeng Stronghold?
“They were captured by a group of aliens called ‘Xian,’ and after I discovered them, I led my people to kill all the ‘Xian’ and rescued the children. It seems you know the origin of these children?”
Xia Tian said with a smile to Hua Rong, who was clad in silver armor.
“To be honest, my Lord, these children are from our Qingfeng Stronghold. Our purpose in coming here was to find them.”
Hua Rong had already learned of Xia Tian’s identity as a lord.
“To think that I not only failed to find the children but even had to rely on you, Lord, to lead people to rescue me. Hua Rong truly feels ashamed!”
Hua Rong’s face showed a hint of embarrassment.
“This is an ‘immortal medicine’ brewed from the essence of a hundred flowers, collected by the spirit bees that our Lord has tamed. It can bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh on bones. Don’t worry, as long as there’s a breath left after drinking it, you will definitely survive…”
While Xia Tian was talking to Hua Rong, Da Niu was also speaking to the soldiers from Qingfeng Stronghold.
At the same time, several residents of the territory mixed the golden honey with a good amount of water and gave it to the injured soldiers to drink.
As for why it was specifically “diluted,” it was naturally to make the golden honey take effect a little slower.
In fact, upon seeing Hua Rong, Xia Tian remembered that in the original work, the place where he lived was called “Qingfeng Stronghold,” so it was easy to deduce.
Hua Rong and his men were likely looking for the children captured by the Xian. If their injuries healed immediately, they might return with the children today.
But that was out of the question. Not only were these children already his subjects, but given that Hua Rong himself had entered the “territory,” Xia Tian couldn’t let him leave so easily!
However, how to recruit Hua Rong and these Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers into his territory?
This was clearly a question that needed careful consideration!
“Why do the houses in this manor all look so new, and the materials and craftsmanship are even better than our Chief Liu’s manor…”
Meanwhile, the Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers were also observing the territory.
Even the lowest-grade residences in the territory were blue-quality dwellings, which were already considered “high-level buildings” in the eyes of these Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers.
“They must all be residences for important figures, right? Look, the people going in and out are even more poorly dressed than us; many of them have tattered clothes. They must be servants and maids serving the important people inside.”
Someone whispered.
“What servants? These beautiful big houses were all specially built by our Lord for us ordinary people to live in!”
Da Niu, whose attributes were already close to the seventh tier, had sharp ears and heard the soldiers’ conversation.
His eyes widened, and he bellowed out with his loud voice.
“We fled in a hurry and didn’t have time to bring extra clothes, so we got scratched by branches. But the Lord has already distributed fabric, and my mother and Sister-in-law Wu are making clothes for everyone. Soon, everyone will be able to wear new clothes!”
“What, is that true?”
What Da Niu said made the Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers feel incredulous.
One must know that in ancient society, clothes could be traded as currency, just like money. Giving out clothes was equivalent to giving out money!
Not only did he let ordinary people live in such good houses, but he also gave money to his subordinates. What kind of benevolent lord was this?
“And what is that building? It looks so big?”
Several Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers then noticed the golden-quality training ground that occupied half the territory’s space!
“Hmph, this is the training ground our Lord built for us so we can train our bodies and have the strength to fight monsters and aliens… The Lord said that because the surrounding forest hasn’t been cleared yet, we can only use a small training ground for now, and there will also be archery ranges, horse ranches, and so on, which will all be built later.”
“You find this strange? You all look like soldiers. Don’t you have a training ground in your Qingfeng Stronghold?”
Da Niu spoke in a booming voice, looking utterly sincere.
“This… we do…”
The Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers forced a smile.
How could they have a training ground? Qingfeng Stronghold was just a small place.
These so-called garrison troops were actually in charge of local public security patrols, like police in later generations.
Therefore, there was no proper training ground at all. When they trained, they would just find an empty space by the roadside, and once they started, dust would fly everywhere, making them look disheveled.
Especially when Da Niu then showed them a pile of training facilities in the territory’s training ground whose names they couldn’t even pronounce—things for practicing strength, waist strength, leg strength… As a result, one by one, the Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers were like country bumpkins entering the city, their eyes and necks wide with awe, and their demeanor even more timid.
“Hmm, what’s that smell? It’s so fragrant!”
Suddenly, a Qingfeng Stronghold soldier twitched his nose.
“Oh, that’s deer-antler rabbit and five-colored feather chicken meat. The Lord stipulated that everyone must eat several catties of meat after training to supplement nutrition, so they can quickly improve their physique.”
“What, your Lord also gives you meat? And even stipulates that you must eat several catties?!”
The Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers’ faces simultaneously showed expressions of disbelief.
“But where did all this meat come from?”
“Oh, the night before last, a flock of ghost-faced strange birds flew over the forest, making quite a commotion. By the way, did you see them?”
“Ghost-faced strange birds, are those the monsters that glow with green fire and can snatch people? Of course, we saw them; those monsters were too terrifying!”
The Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers also had vivid memories of the “Night Parade of a Hundred Demons,” because the ghost vulture flock also passed through Qingfeng Stronghold, causing a large number of people to fall into a coma. If it weren’t for the cover of their houses, many might have been carried away.
The reason why the group of people were so afraid of Hua Rong’s “camping in the wild” was precisely because they feared encountering those “ghost-faced birds” again!
“Hmph, what’s there to be scared of? Our Lord’s territory is protected by divine power; those ghost birds don’t dare to approach at all. They even actively drove rabbits and wild chickens to crash and die, wanting to curry favor with our Lord!”
Da Niu spoke with an air of someone who had seen the world. Coupled with his tall and burly, incredibly honest, and seemingly incapable of lying face.
These Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers naturally believed him without question.
Especially since the meat cooked in the territory, because of the addition of the modern “seasoning gift package” that Xia Tian had obtained from a reward chest, tasted far superior to any food these low-level soldiers had ever eaten before. As a result, each of them, smelling the meaty aroma that permeated the entire territory, couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
And Xia Tian, who was still thinking about how to recruit people.
Looking at the eloquent Da Niu and the Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers whose faces clearly showed their interest in the various things in the territory.
He couldn’t help but fall silent…