Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"Dryland Hulu".

Li Hanxiao turned around and looked Zhu Gui up and down, then said, "I came specifically about Instructor Lin's matter."

Seeing that he knew about Lin Chong's affairs on Liangshan, Zhu Gui asked again, "Who are you, sir? Are you an old friend of Instructor Lin?"

"I have no relation to Instructor Lin, but I heard about how he was framed by Gao Qiu and his son Gao Yanei. I was quite indignant about it. I learned that his family was in Tokyo and could not escape Gao Yanei's clutches at all times. Out of consideration for our shared martial arts world, I managed to rescue his father-in-law and wife and brought them here."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gui was very excited and hurriedly asked, "Is this true?"

"It's true."

"Please sit, please sit. Wang Er, go to the mountain stronghold and fetch Instructor Lin. How should we address these two brothers?"

Zhu Gui knew about Lin Chong's family situation. Just a few days ago, Lin Chong had begged Zhu Gui if he could go to the manor of "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jin in Cangzhou, Heng Hai County, to inquire whether Chai Jin's men had found out anything about his family.

"I am Li Hanxiao from Guankou, and this is Brother Wang Yin."

Li Hanxiao and Wang Yin sat down. Zhu Gui, who was on good terms with Lin Chong, heard that they had been so selfless and righteous in saving Lin Chong's family from the fire. He respected them as true heroes and ordered his men to bring wine, meat and other food.

"I've long heard that Manager Zhu, the 'Dry Land Crocodile' of Lijia Pass, has cheated merchants, using fatty meat to make lamp oil and lean meat to make dried meat. Is he going to serve us boiled pork today?"

Li Han laughed and joked.

In the underworld slang, "white meat" is the legendary human flesh. Zhu Gui couldn't help but feel embarrassed upon hearing this. "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. Although my reputation as the 'Dry Land Crocodile' isn't good, how could I treat my friends like this? This is all the rule set by Chief Wang. I have no choice but to follow it. Listen, the screams of pigs and sheep being slaughtered are still going on!"

Here, someone poured a full glass of fine aged wine. Zhu Gui accompanied Li Hanxiao and Wang Yin for a few bowls. Li Hanxiao asked, "Manager Zhu, the 'Dry Land Crocodile,' is renowned. Although you are the fifth leader of Liangshan Marsh, you are relegated to the Li Family Road Tavern. However, you are still an important link between Liangshan Marsh and the outside world. It's just a pity that Wang Lun can't value you or make good use of you."

Zhu Gui chuckled awkwardly, "You two are joking. My chieftain Wang is also a scholar, no different from us江湖人 (jianghu people)..."

Li Hanxiao discerned the unspoken implication in Zhu Gui's words: Wang Lun was a failed scholar who knew nothing about or was not knowledgeable about matters of the martial arts world.

In other words, he occupied Liangshan Marsh but couldn't accomplish anything. He had neither extraordinary skills nor sufficient wisdom. He was incapable of starting a business and expanding his territory, and maintaining it was probably too much of a stretch. Liangshan's current situation was basically just loafing around and waiting to die. Wang Lun was just living a peaceful life as a bandit king and hadn't thought about long-term development.

If one day, the surrounding mountain strongholds raise troops to invade in order to expand their territory, or if the government troops from nearby prefectures come to suppress them, how can we protect this 800-mile stretch of water?

Zhu Gui was a man who had been in the martial arts world for a long time. Even though he didn't have exceptional skills, his judgment was still quite good. Naturally, he could see these things. For example, when Lin Chong, the Instructor Lin, went up the mountain, Wang Lun made things difficult for him in every way, almost to the point of telling him to leave. Zhu Gui was quite indignant about this.

If Zhu Gui hadn't also been one of the founding leaders of Liangshan Marsh, and hadn't been promoted by Wang Lun, he probably wouldn't have uttered a single good word about Wang Lun.

"But Wang Lun is here, practically begging for food while holding a treasure. It's such a waste of Liangshan Marsh, such a precious place!"

Li Han sighed and placed the wine bowl on the table, saying with great regret, "Liangshan has a long history. As early as ancient times, our ancestors farmed, hunted, and multiplied here. During the Western Han Dynasty, Liangshan was the fiefdom of Liang Xiaowang, son of Emperor Wen of Han. It was named after Xiaowang, who died and was buried at the foot of the mountain. From the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River breached its banks many times, and the water flowed to the foot of the mountain, forming a large marshland, Liangshanbo, which covers an area of ​​eight hundred square miles. In the past, many heroes made immortal contributions on this land. Now, we are beset by internal and external troubles. The court is corrupt, persecuting loyal officials and poisoning the people. Foreign barbarians are invading China. If this continues, how can we, the descendants of Yan and Huang, live in peace and prosperity?"

"This place stretches from north to south, with vast waterways. If we could establish our base here, we could conquer the lands of Qi and Lu to the east, block the enemies of Yan and Zhao to the north, and march straight into the capital to the west. Crossing the Yellow River to the south would be like crushing an egg with a boulder. It's just a pity that such a great achievement can only be accomplished by someone with great talent and ambition. Wang Lun, hahaha, hahahaha!"

Zhu Gui clearly took these words to heart. He didn't pick up his wine bowl for a long time, his eyes were empty, and he murmured silently.

Although no sound was made, Li Hanxiao could still tell from the lip movements that Zhu Gui was reciting the four words "great achievements".

For any man, achieving great things and making a name for himself is something he has always dreamed of. Whether he mentions it when he is old and gray or when he is still young and confused, the regret and damage it can cause are extremely high.

"Where is my wife?!"

Just then, "Leopard Head" Lin Chong arrived at Zhu Gui's tavern at the entrance of Li Family Road, smashed open the double doors, and stepped inside, passing three jars of wine.

Li Han smiled and saw that Lin Chong had a leopard's head and round eyes, a swallow's forehead and tiger's beard, and was eight feet tall. He should have been a majestic man, but at this moment he looked weathered and tired, but he couldn't hide the secret joy in his eyes.

Ultimately, the golden seal on Lin Chong's forehead answers everything. After experiencing everything from mistakenly entering the White Tiger Hall to burning down the hay storage yard and joining Liangshan on a snowy night, Lin Chong was bound to change.

"Instructor Lin, these two are the ones who said they could save your wife's family."

Upon seeing Lin Chong arrive, Zhu Gui quickly introduced him.

Seeing that he did not recognize Li Hanxiao and Wang Yin, Lin Chong became wary and asked, "Gentlemen, where are my wife and children?"

Li Hanxiao had anticipated this situation, so he took out the two handwritten letters he had asked for from Madam Lin and Instructor Zhang before the trip and handed them to Lin Chong.

"Can the instructor recognize this handwriting?"

Lin Chong read the letters and was overjoyed. His face lit up with a wide smile, and he trembled with excitement.

"My benefactor, please accept Lin Chong's bow!"

After reading the letter and learning what had happened, Lin Chong was so excited that he knelt down and kowtowed to Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao couldn't stop him; he forced Lin Chong to kowtow twice before he and Wang Yin helped him up.

"Instructor Lin, you have been wronged. We, the people of the martial world, should stand on the side of righteousness and do something about it. Does the instructor think that we are doing this to repay him or that we have ulterior motives?"

Hearing Li Hanxiao's words, Lin Chong shook his head repeatedly and stopped bowing. Instead, he asked, "My benefactor, where are my family members now? I have been separated from them for so long and I am truly worried about them..."

"Do not address me as 'benefactor.' I am Li Erlang from Guankou, and this is Brother Wang Yin. We should address each other as brothers. If you continue to call me 'benefactor,' then I shall take my leave!"

Li Han smiled and was about to turn around when Lin Chong grabbed him tightly.

"Brother, it was my fault, Lin Chong. Please lead the way!"

So Lin Chong borrowed a horse from Zhu Gui and went with the two men straight to Niutou Mountain to see his family.

Niutou Mountain was not far away, and it didn't take long for the group to reach the foot of the mountain. Madam Lin, Instructor Zhang, and the maid Jin'er were already waiting at the foot of the mountain, eagerly anticipating their arrival.

Lin Chong saw his wife and family in the distance and was overjoyed. He shouted from afar, wishing his horse could grow wings so he could go as fast as possible.

"Wife! Father-in-law!"

Lin Chong ran up to the horse and somersaulted off, then quickly ran over.

He was so impatient that he couldn't even get off his horse.

"Official!"

Madam Lin also moved her lotus steps to greet them. This ill-fated couple, separated lovers, finally reunited at this moment. They hugged each other tightly and both burst into tears. The scene was truly heart-wrenching and deeply moving.

“My dear son-in-law, if it weren’t for Benefactor Li, you would never have met us…”

Coach Zhang was also moved to tears, sighing deeply.

"Yes! Brother Li, you have done my entire family a great favor, a favor as deep as the heavens and as vast as the earth. If you have any orders, I, Lin Chong, would gladly shed my blood to do it for you!"

Lin Chong held his wife in his arms, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Upon hearing Lin Chong's words, Instructor Zhang seemed to remember something and quickly said to Lin Chong, "My dear son-in-law, I heard that you are being bullied quite a bit by Wang Lun. Even if we follow you up the mountain, we can't guarantee our old age!"

Instructor Zhang's words were like a knife suddenly stabbing Lin Chong in the midst of his joy at the reunion.

Yes, I was in a very bad situation at Liangshan Marsh because of Wang Lun. If I brought my family to Liangshan, who would dare to think what would happen?

At this moment, Instructor Zhang spoke up again, "This benefactor Li once told me that Liangshan Marsh is a treasure land. If he can take it, he can accomplish great things. When you join forces with your benefactor, with your abilities, why worry about not being able to do something great? I can then spend my old age in peace on the mountain."

Lin Chong was quite moved by Zhang Jiaotou's words, because he was a very family-oriented man and he couldn't bear to see his family members displaced. In addition, Li Hanxiao had been kind to him, and considering Wang Lun's past actions, he was already ninety percent inclined to side with Li Hanxiao.

However, Li Hanxiao still has a "powerful weapon" that he hasn't used yet.

Wen Huanzhang carried a person in a sack who was still struggling slightly up and threw him in front of Lin Chong.

The moment the bag was opened and Lin Chong saw the person inside, Lin Chong's eyes widened, his beard stood on end, and he trembled uncontrollably.

"Ah! It's him!"

The person tied up in that bag was none other than the notorious playboy Gao Yanei. When Gao Yanei saw "Leopard Head" Lin Chong, his eyes widened so much they almost popped out of their sockets.

Lin Chong was furious and desperately wanted to take revenge on the spot and send the culprit who had prevented him from returning home and returning to his country to the deepest hell. However, he suddenly felt weak all over and his body was trembling.

"Bring him over here! A knife! Give me a knife!"

Lin Chong shouted.

Actually, it's normal for him to feel weak all over. There's a saying that the highest level of grief isn't crying and wailing, but being speechless and unable to cry anymore.

When Lin Chong was enraged, his excessive anger caused abnormal excitation of the sympathetic nervous system, affecting the body's endocrine levels and normal metabolic functions. This increased the secretion of hormones such as adrenaline and thyroid hormones, stimulating peripheral blood vessels and muscle contraction, resulting in uncontrollable trembling all over his body. In other words, the force he generated in his rage was too great, causing his muscles to become unaccustomed, making him feel as if he were powerless.

"Instructor Lin, what do you plan to do with him?"

Wang Yin handed a sharp knife to Lin Chong. Although Lin Chong was still furious, he still had some sense and ordered his wife and father-in-law to leave first, as such a bloody affair was not suitable for them to witness.

"Brother, I've never been a butcher before. I want to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin!"

Lin Chong pointed his gleaming dagger at Gao Yanei. Upon hearing Lin Chong's words, Gao Yanei fainted on the spot, and immediately began to defecate and urinate uncontrollably.

"I used to be a butcher!"

One of the lackeys stepped forward to respond.

"Instructor Lin, skinning him is fine, but eating his flesh is out of the question. We must not eat our own kind; this is not the right way! I think it's acceptable to skin him and feed him to the dogs. To be honest, I have some hounds, so let this heartless scoundrel be fed to my hounds!"

Li Hanxiao offered some advice from the side, and Lin Chong listened and loudly agreed.

The word "skinning" is chilling to the bone, and its cruelty is no less than that of slow slicing.

This form of punishment was not among the officially prescribed methods of execution, but it was indeed used many times in history and is recorded in historical texts. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, liked to skin people and stuff them with straw. Later, Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth Prince, became obsessed with this practice after seeing Lan Yu's human skin in Xi'an. He would often skin people and stuff them with straw, or use the skin to make two drums and hang them at the entrance of government offices as a stark warning...

The earliest form of skinning was done after death, but it later evolved into live skinning, demonstrating its extreme cruelty...

Lin Chong then instructed the butcher to skin Gao Yanei himself, following the same methods used for skinning animals.

Although it was bloody, no one present felt that Lin Chong was particularly miserable. Lin Chong was seeking revenge, and Eastern cultures value the principle of "a life for a life, a debt for a debt," so there was nothing wrong with his actions.

When peeling, cut down along the spine, splitting the skin on the back in two with one stroke, and slowly separating the skin from the muscle with the knife, tearing it open like a butterfly spreading its wings.

The butcher said that the hardest to skin was a fat man like Gao Yanei, because there was a lot of fat between the skin and the muscle, which was difficult to separate. Gao Yanei cried and screamed when he was being skinned, and he kept moving around. As soon as the first cut was made, he screamed even more violently than a pig being slaughtered, and there was no way to skin him anymore.

Lin Chong could only laugh and say to Li Han, "Brother, feed it to the dogs!"