My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 71 Please Perform Merit

"What happened?"

Li Xuanba walked up to them in a few steps and asked.

The person in charge of greeting them quickly bowed and said, "Commander, this dark-faced man says that several of his brothers have been kidnapped, and that many others outside have also been kidnapped and their whereabouts are unknown."

Li Xuanba looked at the man in surprise.

This dark-faced man looked somewhat familiar to Li Xuanba.

But he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

The dark-faced man looked at Li Xuanba, clearly taken aback.

But he quickly realized what was happening, knelt down in front of Li Xuanba, and wailed, "Third Brother, please save my brothers!"

"My younger brothers went out to gather firewood yesterday and have since disappeared!"

"I went out to see what was happening, and some villagers said they saw them being attacked by a group of people, tied up, and taken away."

As he spoke, he looked at the man beside him.

The man nodded hurriedly, "Yes, I did see them. There were about ten people, fully armed. They didn't look like local militia. They looked like the Qingzao Village that everyone's been talking about!"

The dark-faced man added again, "I don't know who they are either, so I called a few friends to track them down. We found that they eventually hid in the San Dang Valley at the foot of Wild Buffalo Mountain in the south. We didn't have any weapons, so we dared not chase them any further. We wanted to report to the authorities, but the village headman demanded that we pay money first. We heard that Third Master is the most righteous and can stand up for the people, so we came to ask for help!"

At that moment, Li Yuanji was still in the midst of his excitement, and he quickly said, "Don't worry!"

"Leave this matter to us!"

He looked at Li Xuanba and even changed his form of address, "Team Leader! Let's take our men there now!"

The dark-faced man was startled when he heard Li Yuanji say that.

This dark-faced man was none other than Li Mi.

When Li Mi realized that he couldn't demote Li Yuan, he began to actively help him get promoted. To get promoted, one needed to have some merit that could be presented to the emperor, and the Zheng family happened to have that merit ready.

Like most powerful families in the world, the Zheng family also had many things that were not presentable. If even one of them could be revealed, it would be enough for their people to flatter the emperor.

Saints are not as scary as many people think. When they are happiest and most comfortable, they are actually very easy to talk to.

Because of the presence of an inside man, Li Mi easily obtained a secret. The important thing was how to get Li Yuan to do this in a logical way. He originally wanted someone else to do it, but after he actually did it, Li Mi realized that the litigation system in this place was simply a pile of dog shit!
To get the local official to handle your case, you have to pay three thousand yuan first.

Although the current Wuzhu coins are somewhat crudely made and their purchasing power is not as great as during Emperor Wen's time, they are still three thousand coins. This is not the money used to judge cases, but the money to enter the door. After entering the door, there are various price tags.

In rural areas, lawsuits are all about who has more money; whoever has more money wins. However, even if someone wins, they probably won't have much money left. Li Mi isn't short of money, but if he goes through the village head's channels and keeps paying money, it doesn't fit the situation of villagers filing lawsuits and will definitely be investigated.

As for the county government office, well, you can't even get through the door.

Fortunately, Li Mi still found a way. The third son of the Duke of Tang had created his own local militia. So, wouldn't it be a good idea to let these militia discover the 'treason' and then contact Li Yuan?

Li Mi never expected to meet Li Xuanba directly, and he never expected that the group of people he saw on Wild Buffalo Mountain were actually the men of the Duke of Tang's son.

Li Mi's thoughts were in a state of confusion at the moment, and Li Yuanji's words made him even more confused.

Did I not explain myself clearly?
There were more than a dozen people who came out to arrest people, fully armed and elite. Didn't you even inform Duke Tang before rushing over like that?
He quickly said, "My lord is indeed kind and righteous!!"

But then she said with concern, "However, those people are fully armed, and it looks like a bandit stronghold. There are probably many of them. Young master, you must be careful!"

Li Yuanji was taken aback, but decided to let his third brother make the decision.

Li Xuanba pondered for a long time, feeling a sense of unease.

I've never heard of thieves kidnapping farmers.

Thieves kidnap people either to extort money from the wealthy or to take women back to the countryside. Why would they kidnap a farmer? In this day and age, the dead are everywhere, so thieves can quickly expand their power. Why bother catching a farmer?
He called Zhang Du over and asked him about the Sandang Valley. Zhang Du didn't know much about the place, so he called over someone who was familiar with the area.

The man quickly explained the situation in Sandang Valley, "It's right next to Wild Buffalo Mountain, surrounded by mountains on three sides and dense forest on the other. There are many wild animals there, and apart from hunters, no one dares to approach. Moreover, it's impossible to climb the mountain; the terrain is extremely steep." Li Xuanba narrowed his eyes again. What kind of bandits would place their stronghold between three cliffs?
If officials come, there's no way to escape.

Looking at the silent Li Xuanba, Li Mi couldn't help but say, "Third Master, everyone says you are righteous. If you can't help us, we really won't find anyone else who can."

His voice was sorrowful, as if he were worried about his non-existent younger brother.

Hearing his words, Li Xuanba sighed deeply. He glanced at Li Yuanji beside him, thinking that if his own brother suddenly disappeared, he would probably be just as heartbroken.

He helped Li Mi up and said seriously, "At the moment, we cannot be sure whether the thief is over there."

“You can lead the way for us. We’ll go check the situation first. If there really is a large number of bandits gathered there, I can report it to the government and have them concentrate their forces to capture them.”

Li Mi also acted very much like someone who truly cared about his younger brother, bowing again in gratitude, wiping away tears, and appearing extremely moved.

Li Xuanba then instructed everyone to prepare, as they were about to depart together.

"Yuanji, you stay here and guard this place."

"Brother! Let me go, I promise I'll obey! I won't cause you any trouble!"

"I want to be like you and help others!"

Seeing his younger brother's bright eyes, Li Xuanba did not refuse him and let Zhang Du hold him. There were more than twenty people in the group, and the rest were patrolling outside. Led by the dark-faced man, the group quickly headed towards their destination.

At first, Li Xuanba was quite worried about the dark-faced man and wanted to help him borrow a mule, but the man said that he was good at walking on mountain roads and would be fine, so he followed the knights on foot.

This guy was really quite persistent, managing to keep up with the knights' pace, jogging all the way. In the end, Li Xuanba couldn't bear to watch anymore and insisted on having a mule borrowed for him to ride.

As Li Xuanba walked along the road, he didn't forget to instruct the people around him, "I think this group of people is very strange. Don't rush to make a move."

"We must be careful and not rush. We must first find out the enemy's strength and weakness, and we must not harm those innocent people."

Everyone nodded.

Li Mi nodded with a silly grin, "Third Master's reputation is well-deserved. I will definitely tell everyone about you when I get back, so they all know your illustrious name!"

Li Yuanji's eyes grew brighter; this was exactly what he wanted!

Li Xuanba calmly said, "I haven't done anything major. I usually send people to spread my name in various places, which is how everyone came to know about me."

Li Mi was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Li Xuanba continued, "After everyone heard of my reputation, the villagers knew who to ask for help, and the thieves dared not approach the village easily."

Li Mi looked at Li Xuanba, whose eyes were pure and without a trace of hypocrisy, and Li Mi couldn't help but be moved.

This Duke of Tang has a fine son indeed! At such a young age, he possesses such a kind and righteous heart, truly a childlike innocence. It's just a pity that I still have to assist the Duke in handling important matters; otherwise, I would definitely want to befriend him!

In the future, when the Duke undertakes any important matters, we must recommend this son to him.

Li Xuanba suddenly asked, "Which village are you from?"

"Ah, I'm from Zhang Village."

"Your brother went missing yesterday?"

"Yes, yesterday afternoon."

"You have great stamina! Zhang Village is remote, at least forty li away from Sandang Valley, right?"

"I still have a donkey at home, but it worked hard all day yesterday and is too exhausted to get up. So today I had to walk. Alas, after this, I won't even have a donkey anymore. What am I going to do?"

Li Mi sighed, deliberately changing the subject while secretly glancing at Li Xuanba, his heart filled with vigilance.

This kid is not easy to deal with.

No, I have to get back as soon as I've finished my task!
(End of this chapter)