Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Li Han smiled and thought to himself, "Something's not right. Shouldn't this 'Fire-Eyed Lion' Deng Fei be a mountain king near Yinmachuan in Jizhou? How did he end up as a beggar here?"

However, he immediately realized that Deng Fei's first appearance in the book seemed to be when Dai Zong went down the mountain to visit Gongsun Sheng in the seventh year of the Zhenghe era. Now it is only the fourth year of the Zhenghe era, so it is very likely that Deng Fei has not yet become a mountain king.

"Sir, do you recognize me? Do we know each other?"

Deng Fei was surprised to hear Li Hanxiao call out his nickname, but upon reflection, he realized that he had never actually met Li Hanxiao before.

"No, I've only heard of the Fiery-Eyed Lion in the martial arts world. I am Li Hanxiao, the Second Prince of Guankou. This is my brother, Guo Sheng, nicknamed 'Sai Rengui'. Brother, this 'Fiery-Eyed Lion' is also a renowned hero in the martial arts world. Quickly carry him into the cabin!"

Li Hanxiao never expected to have such an unexpected gain, meeting Deng Fei at such a low point, which was the perfect opportunity for him to win over Deng Fei's heart.

Guo Sheng and Li Hanxiao carried Deng Fei into the inner cabin bed, and then sent someone to fetch a doctor for Deng Fei. They also prepared two bowls of chicken soup for him to fill his stomach, as he had an injury on his leg and could not eat mutton, which is considered an aggravating food.

"Brother Deng Fei, how did your leg get injured like this?"

Looking at Deng Fei's rotting, maggot-infested wounds, Guo Sheng couldn't help but ask a question.

"Sigh... my two brothers, it's a long story..."

At this point, Deng Fei drank two bowls of chicken soup and recovered; otherwise, he wouldn't even have the strength to speak.

It turns out that Deng Fei originally worked in the escort agency business, serving as a bodyguard for people at the Fucheng Escort Agency in Changsha. Because of his excellent martial arts skills and his congenital eye disease, which caused his eyes to turn red, he earned the nickname "Fire-Eyed Lion".

Two weeks ago, he was entrusted by someone to escort goods to Xiangyang by waterway.

As a result, he was spotted by the bandits of Jingbei River halfway through his journey, who attacked them and sank their ships.

Deng Fei risked his life to jump into the water and drifted away with the current, barely surviving. However, he had previously suffered a knife wound to his leg and lost his darts. Penniless, he could not return and ended up wandering the streets of Jiangling, on the verge of death.

"I see... But what kind of dart was it that attracted these desperate criminals to try and steal it?"

Li Han smiled to himself, thinking that this thing must be very valuable, otherwise why would these Jiang thieves be interested in it?

The rivers and lakes of Jingxiang have always been teeming with river pirates and naval bandits. Anything that would drive them to fight so desperately for must be extraordinary.

"To be honest, brother, the bodyguard we were assigned to protect was truly extraordinary; he was a fine steed!"

Deng Fei said that the convoy was actually a fine horse that the Changsha militia commander had brought from the north, which he intended to present to the commander of the Gaitian Army in Xiangyang.

Deng Fei said that the precious horse was named Beihai Saluzi, a descendant of Saluzi, one of the six steeds of Emperor Taizong of Tang's Zhaoling Mausoleum. Its body was as purple as solidified night, and it was as graceful as a swallow leaping across the sky. Its bones were strong and its spirit was soaring, and its aura was awe-inspiring. It was a precious horse that was found in the Liugui Kingdom, a place on the northernmost border. It could tread on snow as if marching an army and cross water as if it were flat ground.

Those river pirates came to steal the precious horse because they knew it was on the ship.

"I see... Brother, do you know which group of pirates was responsible?"

Li Han smiled to himself, thinking, "It's just that what I wanted has come true. Now that I have the weapons, all I need is a warhorse."

Firstly, it would help Deng Fei avenge himself, and secondly, it would allow him to get his hands on that fine horse. Why not?

A short while later, the doctor was called in to examine Deng Fei's injuries. According to the doctor, although the wound was rotten, it could still be treated. He first used a feather tube to drain the pus and blood from the wound, then cut away the rotten flesh, cleaned the wound, and applied medicine. The whole process was so painful that Deng Fei fainted twice.

Fortunately, the injury has been brought under control, and he just needs to recuperate. While Deng Fei was recuperating, Li Hanxiao first asked Guo Sheng to sell the mercury, and then asked Deng Fei if he knew where the river bandits who stole the goods came from.

Deng Fei told Li Hanxiao that this gang of river pirates was Zeng Jing's gang, known as "River Apes," who frequently appeared on the river. It was said that their main camp was located at Longshan Gorge, more than 80 miles away, and that they numbered more than 200.

Upon hearing this, Li Hanxiao was eager to try and went directly to Guo Sheng.

"Brother, what do you say, the two of us should wipe out those bandits and steal that prized horse? That way we can avenge Brother Deng Fei!"

"Huh? Brother, you're not kidding me, are you? There are over two hundred pirates, and the two of us are going to go?"

Guo Sheng's eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend why Li Hanxiao would have such a terrifying idea.

"Brother, why do you boost the morale of others and diminish your own? A mere two hundred or so people are nothing but weeds in my eyes."

Although Li Hanxiao spoke with great confidence, Guo Sheng's face was full of disbelief. However, he still said with a strong sense of loyalty, "Brother, if you insist on going, how can I fall behind? I'm afraid we brothers will die together..."

Guo Sheng's words meant, "Brother, I don't agree with your decision to die, but if you insist on dying, I'll go with you out of loyalty, and we'll die together."

To have a brother like this in one's life is truly worthwhile.

"Haha, brother, you haven't seen all of my skills yet. I guarantee that no one will die but you won't. Let's find an inn first and entrust Brother Deng Fei to the innkeeper so he can recuperate here. Then we'll go to Longshan Gorge."

Li Han laughed and got right to work. He left some silver, found an inn, and instructed the innkeeper to look after the place. Then, he and Guo Sheng, with two horses, a hawk, and a hunting dog, headed straight for the Longshan Gorge to find the band of water pirates.

The journey of several dozen miles was not far, and the two quickly arrived at their destination. Li Hanxiao immediately released the eagle and the hunting dog to search for tracks. One was in the sky with a far-reaching vision, and the other was on the ground with a keen sense of smell. Once they discovered any traces of human activity, they would return to find Li Hanxiao.

"Brother, your lackeys are like two living people!"

When Guo Sheng first saw Li Hanxiao commanding his henchmen, he was utterly amazed.

"Haha, this is a technique for training eagles and controlling dogs passed down from my ancestors. It works better in this kind of place than it does for us humans!"

Li Hanxiao carefully observed the movements, and soon he heard the cry of a hawk. Soon his falcon appeared in the sky, guiding Li Hanxiao to follow.

The hounds also returned, indicating that they had discovered the location at the same time.

Before long, Li Hanxiao and Guo Sheng, after a series of "flying through the trees and striking the leaves," followed their hawks and hounds to the location. Looking through the trees, they saw that the band of river pirates were hiding in a natural stone cave by the river. They had also built a simple dock on the riverbank outside and surrounded the cave with a simple wooden wall, indicating that they had been entrenched there for a long time.

Above the cave, there was a large protruding rock that looked just like the forehead of the God of Longevity; it was quite a peculiar shape.

"The interior of that cave must be quite spacious, otherwise how could it hold more than two hundred people... I wonder if there are any other entrances or exits. If there are no exits, then we should block the entrance..."

Li Hanxiao was thinking of a solution while observing the terrain.

He also saw a tall, purple horse tethered under the wooden wall, which he assumed was the Beihai Saluzi.

"What a fine horse!"

While Li Hanxiao was secretly admiring the horse, he noticed a bandit walking out of the wooden fence, seemingly wanting to go into the woods to relieve himself.

"Brother, make sure you spot him, grab that guy, and find out the truth."

Upon hearing this, Guo Sheng nodded, and quietly took advantage of the man opening the sluice gate to release water, sneaked up behind him, covered his mouth, and dragged him into the woods!

"Don't move! Shout again and I'll feed you to the dogs!"

Li Han smiled and gave the order, and the hunting dogs immediately opened their mouths full of steel teeth.

"Spare me! Hero, hero, spare my life!"

The river pirate was so frightened that his pants got wet. If Guo Sheng hadn't kept him firmly under control, he probably would have already knelt down by now.

"I'm asking you, how many people are in your cave? Are there any other exits?"

"Yes, hero, we have over two hundred and fifty people... We usually live in the cave... As for the inside, there's no exit..."

"real or fake!"

Guo Sheng held the knife close to his neck, and the boy bit his tongue in desperation. "It's true, it's true! The cave is full of rock. Even if you used an axe and chisel for a year, you couldn't dig a path through it. There's only one way in and out!"

"What's with the protruding rocks above the cave?"

"Our boss believes in feng shui. He says that stone is some kind of 'overlord covering the roof,' and that it will... it will..."

"Thank you!"

After probing the situation, Li Hanxiao struck the boy behind the ear with a palm strike. This spot is where the vagus nerve is located; a blow there can easily cause unconsciousness, and a severe blow could even be fatal.

"Throw them into the river. You and I will go back and prepare some things, then we'll come back to deal with them!"

Li Han laughed as he mounted his horse and called out to Guo Sheng.

"What? What do you want?"

Guo Sheng still couldn't figure out what Li Hanxiao was up to, but for now, he could only follow along.

Li Hanxiao then led Guo Sheng back to Jiangling City at breakneck speed, and then visited all the fireworks shops in the city, buying more than two hundred catties of gunpowder.

"Brother, shall we make firecrackers?"

Guo Sheng asked again, still puzzled.

Li Hanxiao had already come up with a way to eliminate those guys without bloodshed.

Since there's no other exit from the cave, all he has to do is blast down that protruding rock above the cave and block the entrance. Those guys will suffocate inside the cave, no matter what.

As for demolitions, he was a master at it when he was a special forces soldier in his previous life. Although this era uses black powder, which is less powerful, he can make up for it with sheer numbers, and blasting those rocks down is still easy.

"Overlord's head, haha, I'll turn you into a turtle's head!"

And so, Li Hanxiao and Guo Sheng, on their two horses, carrying over two hundred catties of gunpowder, returned to the mouth of Longshan Gorge. After all this, it was now almost dawn.

At this time, people's vigilance is at its lowest. Those who are asleep have fallen into a deep sleep, and those who are on watch have been on watch all night and are extremely tired.

"Alright! Watch my golden bow and silver bullets!"

Li Hanxiao aimed at the only sentry dozing off on the wooden fence like a chicken pecking at rice, and fired a silver bullet.

Almost silently, the silver bullet pierced a hole in the enemy's forehead, sending him to his death.

"Wow! How can this slingshot be so powerful!"

Guo Sheng had used a slingshot before for hunting, but ordinary slingshots didn't have this much power; it had pierced right through the hardest part of the human skull!

"No problem, there's another one!"

Li Hanxiao used the same method again, throwing a silver bullet that this time pierced the sentry's neck, going straight through.

Li Han smiled as he looked at the power of the golden bow and silver bullets, thinking to himself that this thing was indeed given by Erlang Shen, the True Lord of Manifestation. Its power was great, probably comparable to that of firearms!

After dealing with the two sentries outside, Li Hanxiao and Guo Sheng carried the packed gunpowder and quickly approached the wooden wall. Li Hanxiao cleaved open the door with a single stroke. Apart from the two dead sentries, there were no other enemies outside. They guessed that the rest were resting in the cave.

"Keep an eye on this spot!"

Li Han gave a stern command, ordering his hounds to stand guard for him. Then, he and Guo Sheng climbed up from the side of the cave, intending to place the gunpowder near the protruding rock.

After some effort, the two finally managed to place the gunpowder without being discovered by the enemy, and then poured some grease on it to help it burn.

But then Guo Sheng suddenly remembered something and cried out, "Brother, something's not right! According to you, if this catches fire, we won't have time to run!"

"Haha, I have a plan!"

Li Hanxiao took out a small packet of gunpowder and scattered a "fuse" on the ground so that they could ignite the gunpowder from a safe distance.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! How did you manage to think of that, brother!"

Guo Sheng really wanted to touch Li Hanxiao's head. They both had brains, so why was there such a big difference?

"Alright, quickly step back and light the fire!"

As the two men took out tinderboxes and lit the gunpowder, the orange-red light, like a small orange-red snake, quickly spread to the vicinity of the packets of gunpowder.

With a loud bang and countless flying debris, more than 200 kilograms of gunpowder exploded at the same time, producing orange-red flames and towering black smoke almost simultaneously.

Li Hanxiao thought that the power of the gunpowder would only be enough to blast the rocks off the top to block the entrance, but he did not expect that he had misjudged the power of the gunpowder. The gunpowder explosion directly collapsed the entire entrance and buried it!

"Good medicine!"

Seeing this scene, Li Hanxiao sincerely praised the gunpowder technology of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, it can be seen that the quality of gunpowder in the Song Dynasty was actually quite good, which also means that Li Hanxiao did indeed have the basic conditions for manufacturing firearms.

Even though the power of gunpowder is limited by the times, Li Hanxiao can still improve it. In his previous life, when he was fighting behind enemy lines, making his own simple weapons was a common occurrence.

"My God!"

Guo Sheng witnessed the spectacular yet terrifying scene before him. He never imagined that gunpowder could have such earth-shattering power. The stuff inside the firecrackers set off during the New Year and other festivals was actually so dangerous.

I doubt he'll dare set off firecrackers again.

Inside the cave, numerous screams and cries for help could be heard. It was unclear whether the cave had collapsed as well. However, given the current situation, if there were no other passages leading to the outside, their deaths inside were only a matter of time.