Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

“Brother, a boat has come down from those people in Huaixi and is heading straight for us.”

Ren Yuan also came down the mountain today; he and his brothers were preparing to visit the front lines.

Those who accompanied Ren Yuan down the mountain were naturally his bodyguards, led by Lin Chong.

"Alone? Let me see."

Ren Yuan picked up his telescope and looked over.

"It is indeed a person, with a steel whip on his shoulder and a long spear in his hand... Zan Tongmei?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Zan Tongmei to come alone!

"Junior brother, you mean, Zan Tongmei came alone?"

Lin Chong was also somewhat surprised.

"But Wang Qing's Huaixi Army should be his strongest force, so why would he come alone?"

Luan Tingyu also came down with Ren Yuan today, and he didn't understand Zan Tongmei's behavior either.

"Is it possible that something fishy is going on here?"

Ren Yuan stroked his chin. He didn't know much about Zan Tongmei, only that according to the original source, he should have been preparing to retire after Tian Hu's defeat.

As a result, this person went to work for Wang Qing. Now that he's come here alone, what is he planning to do?

"Let's go! Let's take a look!"

Although he had doubts, he couldn't back down when someone dared to come alone to his home turf. As the leader of Liangshan, Ren Yuan had no choice but to step in!

Ren Yuan took the lead, followed by Lin Chong and Luan Tingyu, with Lü Fang and Guo Sheng also following closely behind.

"Boom."

A short while later, Zan Tongmei's boat arrived. He jumped off the boat alone and walked towards Ren Yuan and the others, who had already appeared not far from the shore.

"Zan Tongmei from Hebei greets Chief Ren!"

Zan Tongmei was still some distance away when he bowed to Ren Yuan.

"I've long heard of the fourteenth-ranked scholar in the land, the 'Sickly Yanzhang of Hebei'!"

Ren Yuan returned the greeting to Zan Tongmei.

"But Brother Zan, we should belong to two different camps. What brings you to Liangshan all alone?"

“I am just an ordinary hunter from Hebei. I was grateful to Tian Hu and came down from the mountains to serve him. Later, I reached an agreement with Wang Qing because of this. But now, I have repaid all the debts I owed. So I have no interest in these matters of the martial world. I hope to retire to the mountains.”

Zan Tongmei had actually thought that if Wang Qing hadn't died, he would help him rebuild the remaining forces in Huaixi, which would be a way of fulfilling their agreement.

However, the generals of Huaixi did not trust him and were unwilling to help him. Zan Tongmei felt that since that was the case, he should not bother to be nice to them and it would be better to part ways.

"You...you were ostracized by them?"

Ren Yuan immediately sensed that this matter was not so simple.

"I wouldn't call it being ostracized, but it's true that I'm living under someone else's roof."

Zan Tongmei gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"So, what brings you here?"

“I have heard that Chief Ren never forces anyone to come up the mountain. I, Zan, hope to stay at Liangshan for two days. After this battle is over, I will return to my hometown from Liangshan. I ask Chief Ren for permission.”

"I thought you were here to join Liangshan."

Ren Yuan looked at Zan Tongmei.

"However, if you say today that you came here to join the mountain, I might not believe you and would think you are a spy."

"But since you only want to stay here temporarily and then go back to your hometown, fine! However, given the special circumstances, it will be inconvenient for you to have someone with you during this time. Can you accept that?"

Unlike others who are familiar with his character, Ren Yuan does not know enough about Zan Tongmei, so he cannot completely trust him.

"Of course, thank you Chief Ren."

Zan Tongmei cooperated very proactively, even putting his spear and steel whip on the ground.

"Chief Ren, to show my sincerity, I can give you my weapon."

Zan Tongmei and Ren Yuan looked at each other, their eyes open and honest.

"No need, senior brother. You take care of taking Brother Zan to a tavern for a while, and ask Master Guanghui to keep Brother Zan company."

Zan Tongmei is ranked fourteenth in the world, and his martial arts skills are among the best in Liangshan. Although he currently acts like a very upright and honest hero, one should always be wary of others.

Guanghui's strength is no less than Zan Tongmei's, so it's perfectly fine to have him in charge of monitoring him.

As for Lin Chong, needless to say, Liangshan is basically safe whenever Lin Chong is around.

"No problem, Brother Zan, come with me. Someone, give Brother Zan a horse."

Lin Chong instructed the junior officer to give Zan Tongmei a horse, and then gestured for Zan Tongmei to follow him.

"Chief Ren, I'd like to ask about Alliance Leader Wang Qing, he..."

As she passed by Ren Yuan, Zan Tongmei hesitated for a moment before asking about Wang Qing.

“He’s a good person, and he happens to be on my Liangshan Mountain. You can go see him, but you won’t see him for a while.”

Ren Yuan said that Wang Qingren is fine, although he will be going out to sea to mine in a while.

"No need, as long as he's alive, that's enough."

Upon hearing this news, Zan Tongmei said that it was fine and he had no further questions.

"Brother, this Zan Tongmei is so hard to understand."

Luan Tingyu said that he had seen the world back in Zhujiazhuang, but he couldn't understand Zan Tongmei's current behavior.

"Who knows? Maybe he's just a principled person who's also prone to indecisiveness."

Ren Yuan also shook his head. He didn't doubt that Zan Tongmei was there as a spy, because the man didn't have any murderous aura about him.

But tell me, was Zan Tongmei loyal or disloyal?

It's hard to say, at least based on the circumstances of this lifetime.

"Look! Did you see that? Zan Tongmei has surrendered!"

"Who was that person who took him away? That outfit looked really cool!"

"White robe, white horse, steel spear, that man is Lin Chong, and that one over there must be Ren Yuan."

At this moment, on the boats of the generals of Huaixi, although the others could not see very clearly, they did see Zan Tongmei leaving with a man in white robes and riding a white horse.

"So what about us? Surrender now? Isn't that a bit... a bit inappropriate?"

The generals of Huaixi were now somewhat envious of Zan Tongmei.

Whether he surrendered or not, at least he doesn't have to worry about these things anymore!

"Why don't we go back to find Privy Councilor Tong first... If all else fails, we can just defect on the battlefield."

……

At this time, some of the government troops' ships were secretly moving along the outermost edge of the marshland to the vicinity of Zhang Shuye's troops and their designated positions.

"Where are the Zhang family members? Where are they?"

On the naval ship, the captain in charge looked at the grass, trees, and valleys on the shore, completely bewildered.

"Send the code."

Since they couldn't see anyone, they had to use code words.

Immediately, soldiers stepped forward and tried their best to imitate the call of a cuckoo!

"Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo..."

The cuckoo's calls, three long and one short, echoed along the water's edge!

"Awoo, awoo, awoo, awoo—"

In response to them, they were met with three short and one long wolf howls!

Then, the government naval forces saw a group of burly men jump out of the grass in the valley on the shore!

The two leaders, one carrying a large axe and the other holding an iron bar, looked extremely menacing!

"Brothers in the government troops, come quickly! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"