Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

As the cave collapsed, the Beihai Saluzi horse was so frightened by the explosion that it jumped wildly in place, trying to break free of its reins.

Seeing this, Li Hanxiao quickly went around to calm the horse down.

These fine steeds all have their own temperaments. If they don't recognize their master, you could beat them to death and they still wouldn't let you ride them.

Just like those bandits, they've had this precious horse for half a month now, so why are they still tethering it here? I guess no one has been able to tame it.

"Good boy, good boy!"

Li Hanxiao stroked its smooth mane while untying the reins. With a leap, he was already on the horse's back.

Before the North Sea Salu Purple horse could react, a person was already sitting on its back.

"Neigh! Neigh!"

The purple horse had no liking for the guy who suddenly appeared and wanted to shake him off.

However, Li Hanxiao was quite skilled at horsemanship. In his previous life, when he was in the army, he learned horsemanship in mountainous areas where vehicles could not travel. At this moment, he gripped the reins tightly, lowered his body, lay on the saddle, and squeezed his legs together. No matter how the horse struggled, Li Hanxiao was like a lotus leaf swaying in the wind, bobbing up and down with it, and did not fall off for a long time.

After being revived by Erlang Shen's elixir and holy water, Li Hanxiao's physique has obviously improved significantly, and he is now strong enough to control the horse.

The man and the horse began to compete, seeing who would give up first. Because Sa Lu Zi had to carry Li Han Xiao, it didn't have the upper hand. It was estimated that the bandits hadn't been feeding it properly these past few days in order to tame it. Finally, it ran out of energy and started panting heavily.

Seeing this, Li Hanxiao was very satisfied. He waved to Guo Sheng, who then brought over a bag of black beans that had been prepared beforehand, sprinkled with salt and mixed with alfalfa, and fed them to Saluzi.

The carrot and stick approach is exactly what it is. When Saluzi saw the food, she obediently started eating, which can be considered as submission.

Taming an ordinary horse would certainly not be so simple, but this fine steed is intelligent and, coupled with Li Hanxiao's ability to control it, the results were quick.

"go!"

After Saluzi finished eating, Li Hanxiao pulled the reins, and Saluzi was completely obedient to Li Hanxiao's commands. Li Hanxiao and Guo Sheng then returned to Jiangling City. While Saluzi was eating, Guo Sheng also looted some valuables and put them all on the horse that Li Hanxiao had been riding.

As for whether there were any survivors inside the collapsed cave, Li Hanxiao didn't care, because he had already inquired and learned that these river pirates were utterly wicked and deserved to die.

After a long day of travel, the two finally returned to the inn at dawn the next day.

"Brother Deng Fei! Come out and see!"

Li Hanxiao called Deng Fei out. After treatment, Deng Fei could now walk with difficulty using crutches. He walked out with a limp, and when he saw Salu Zi, he was so shocked that he dropped his crutches.

"Brother! This...where did you get this horse from..."

"Brother Deng Fei, Brother Li Er took me to avenge you. We slaughtered those two hundred-plus river pirates and took back this horse!"

Guo Sheng explained.

Deng Fei was so surprised he could hardly close his mouth. He hadn't expected that Li Hanxiao and his companion could wipe out more than two hundred river pirates, and he certainly hadn't expected that these two, who had only known him for a short time, would be willing to avenge him, daring to take such a risk with just the two of them...

"I will never forget the great kindness of my two brothers!"

Deng Fei, a tough guy, cried like a child at this moment, and knelt down on the ground with a "plop", tears streaming down his face!

"Hey bro, watch out for your leg!"

Li Hanxiao quickly jumped off his horse, helped Deng Fei up, and asked, "We are all brothers under heaven. We hit it off immediately. Why be like this? I asked the doctor when we returned to the city. Your leg injury will heal in another month. I wonder what your plans are? If you want to go back to the escort agency, take this horse with you!"

After saying that, Li Hanxiao also took Saluzi's hand.

"No, no, I lost my goods, and the escort agency can't tolerate me either. This horse was found by Brother Li. A fine horse is worthy of a hero, and it should belong to Brother Li. Brother Li and Guo Sheng are brothers of great loyalty, and Deng Fei has no way to repay them. But Deng Fei still has some martial arts skills and is willing to follow Brother Li through thick and thin. From now on, Deng Fei's body is Brother Li's body, and I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Deng Fei was so excited that he cried tears of joy. Li Han smiled and nodded, "Alright, from now on we are brothers in life and death. However, my brother Guo Shengxian and I once swore that now the emperor is incompetent and the people are suffering. We must overthrow the court and rebuild the world. If this implicates Brother Deng Fei..."

Upon hearing this, Deng Fei pulled out a dagger, stabbed his arm, and smeared the blood on his lips, which was the so-called "blood oath"!

"Deng Fei is loyal to you, brother! I'll follow you through thick and thin, even through fire and water. If you say that, you're doubting me! I might as well die!"

"We already know! Brother, put away your knife!"

Seeing that Deng Fei was about to prove his innocence with his life, Li Han quickly took the knife away and comforted him.

“Brother, now that we brothers are going to rebel against the court, we will definitely need some manpower. I have an acquaintance who used to roam the world with me. Later, I became a bodyguard, while he stayed in Xiangyang, and that's how we parted ways. I recently heard that he seems to be having a bad time in Xiangyang. He is also a good man, known as ‘Jin Leopard’ Yang Lin. Why don’t we go to Xiangyang first and ask him to come with us?”

Deng Fei immediately wanted to bring his good friend Yang Lin into the team. This "Jin Leopard" Yang Lin was also one of the 108 heroes. Li Han was happy to do this buy-one-get-one-free deal!

"I've heard so much about him; it would be wonderful if we could invite him along!"

Although Yang Lin didn't have any particularly outstanding military achievements in the original story, he survived until the campaign against Fang La. He contracted the plague, and even the leader who took care of him died, but he miraculously recovered. He was incredibly lucky.

Moreover, he once killed Qiu Yue, the instructor of 800,000 Imperial Guards, so he must have some skill. It would be a good thing to absorb his abilities.

If Li Hanxiao could recruit Yang Lin into his team and then take in the Four Heroes of Huangmen Mountain, he would have seven brothers under his command. Although these seven were also Earthly Fiends from the original story, they each had their own abilities, and at least dealing with Wang Lun's group would not be a problem.

After deciding to go to Xiangyang, Li Hanxiao and the others stayed in Xiangyang for three days. Firstly, Deng Fei's leg still needed treatment and recuperation, otherwise he would still have difficulty moving around. Secondly, Li Hanxiao planned to cultivate a tacit understanding with the Beihai Saluzi horse outside the city.

Although the horse bowed its head in front of Li Hanxiao, they hadn't spent enough time together, and both the horse and the rider lacked chemistry.

In the future, Li Hanxiao will definitely ride this horse into battle. If they try to cultivate a tacit understanding by then, it will be like trying to pierce the ears on the spot, and there will be no time to do so.

Three days later, Deng Fei's leg injury was barely enough to allow him to ride a horse, and Li Hanxiao and Beihai Saluzi had also developed some tacit understanding. The three of them then headed towards Xiangyang.

Xiangyang and Jiangling are not too far apart, about a day's journey. Along the way, Li Hanxiao asked where Huangmen Mountain was located.

Several traveling merchants told Li Hanxiao that Huangmen Mountain was a mountain peak near Jing Mountain in the southwest of Xiangyang, which was conveniently located on the way. They suggested that he could acquire Yang Lin first, and then go to acquire Huangmen Mountain.

Li Hanxiao is not entirely confident that he can peacefully recruit the Four Heroes of Huangmen Mountain. After all, they have a force of several hundred people, and Li Hanxiao currently has no reputation in the martial arts world. Based solely on his eloquence, Li Hanxiao is not 100% confident that he can make them follow him.

Since Deng Fei is currently unable to fight, it would be a good thing to have Yang Lin as an additional fighting force. In case a battle breaks out, they would have one more helper.

The three of them traveled all the way to Xiangyang Prefecture. Looking at the city walls of Xiangyang, Li Hanxiao couldn't help but sigh, thinking that in the Southern Song Dynasty, this place would become an important barrier against the Jin and Mongol dynasties on two separate occasions. He hoped that he could prevent the tragic course of history.

"Brother Deng Fei, where is your acquaintance staying in the city? Shall we go and find him?"

Guo Sheng asked.

"I've heard he's in the livestock business in the city; you can look for him at the livestock and horse market!"

After Deng Fei gave the order, the group headed straight to the Xiangyang City Horse Market to find "Jinbaozi" Yang Lin.

Upon arriving at the mule and horse market, Deng Fei found a shop and asked about Yang Lin. The shopkeeper replied, "Looking for him? He works for me. A few days ago, he went to help with the horse trade, but he was attacked by bandits who stole all the horses. He lost so much money trying to pay off my debt that he ended up destitute in a dilapidated temple south of the city. Who are you to him? If you are relatives or friends, quickly pay off his debts!"

"then!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hanxiao took out fifty taels of silver and tossed it to the shopkeeper as payment for Yang Lin's debt, then turned and left the horse market.

Deng Fei shook his head repeatedly, "I never thought, I never thought. I thought I was just having a bad year and was having a run of bad luck, but I never imagined that Brother Yang Lin would also be in such a sorry state. Brother, I suppose he is wandering around in a dilapidated temple, without food or clothing. Why don't we bring him some food and drink?"

"Brother Deng Fei is very thoughtful. Here are some loose silver coins. Let's quickly buy some things!"

Li Hanxiao handed a few pieces of silver to Deng Fei, who then bought two pieces of beef, several steamed buns, and a gourd of wine at an inn. He and the others headed straight for the Guandi Temple in the south of the city.

It is said that Xiangyang was originally part of Jingzhou. During the Later Han and Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu was very popular in Jingzhou. It should have been that the Guan Yu Temple in this place was always bustling with incense and extremely prosperous. Unexpectedly, the Guan Yu Temple has been reduced to a dilapidated temple.

When we arrived at the Guandi Temple, we found it to be in such a dilapidated state that it was on the verge of collapse. Half of the roof was gone, and one of the four walls had collapsed. It probably wouldn't even be able to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

"Brother Yang Lin! Come out and greet me!"

Deng Fei shouted, and soon a person appeared. It was Yang Lin. According to the original description, Yang Lin should have "a round head, big ears, a straight nose, and a square mouth. He was born with delicate eyebrows and sparse eyes, a slender waist, and broad shoulders."

Yang Lin, standing before them, was disheveled and unkempt. Though broad-shouldered, he was incredibly thin, a clear sign of his impoverished state. He carried a pen-shaped gun and stared intently at the crowd.

"Oh! Brother Deng Fei! I thought he was a debt collector!"

When Yang Lin saw that it was Deng Fei, he was overjoyed and dropped his pen and gun to greet him.

"Haha, it's been a long time! You've fallen on hard times. Come, let me introduce you. This is Brother Li Hanxiao, and this is Brother Guo Sheng. They are both good friends of mine. When we were looking for you, we ran into your creditor. Brother Li has already paid off your debt, saving you from having to hide!"

Yang Lin, looking ashamed, clasped his hands in thanks to Li Hanxiao and said, "Thank you for your help, Brother Li. I am truly ashamed!"

"Don't thank me yet. I brought you some food. Judging from your gaunt appearance, you must not have eaten or drunk anything for days. Eat something first, and then tell me, where did you run into those bandits?"

Yang Lin then led the three into the dilapidated temple, where they ate steamed buns and beef while he told them about his story.

As fate would have it, Yang Lin, nicknamed "The Leopard," worked as a bodyguard for horse traders. At the foot of Huangmen Mountain, he encountered the Four Heroes of Huangmen Mountain, who stole more than a dozen fine horses from him, leaving him in debt.

“Brother, I am not made of paper or clay, nor do I possess martial arts skills made of clay. It’s just that the chief of the mountain is truly skilled in martial arts. Although I defeated his four chiefs, I was no match for him. If he hadn’t released me according to the rules of the martial world because he thought my martial arts were decent, I would be stuck on the mountain!”

Li Hanxiao listened to his explanation. It seemed that Yang Lin had defeated "Nine-Tailed Turtle" Tao Zongwang, but could not defeat the chieftain "Golden-Winged Cloud Moyun" Ou Peng.

This is not surprising. Among the seventy-two Earthly Fiends, Ou Peng, the "Golden-Winged Cloud-Piercing Star," is considered to have good martial arts skills. He was originally a military household guarding the Yangtze River and belonged to the military family. He was not a bandit. In the original story, he was able to catch arrows with his bare hands, so his skills were superior to Yang Lin's.

"So what are your plans for the future?"

Deng Fei asked Yang Lin, who struggled to swallow the steamed bun in his mouth, nearly choking to death. After catching his breath, he said, "In this world, treacherous officials are in power above and bandits are everywhere below. It's probably impossible to survive as an honest citizen. These mountain kings live a carefree life, ruling the mountains. I used to know two friends, one named 'Dragon Emerging from the Forest' Zou Yuan and the other named 'One-Horned Dragon' Zou Run. I heard that the uncle and nephew have recently become outlaws on Dengyun Mountain in Shandong. I originally intended to go and join them!"

Deng Fei was surprised that Yang Lin also had the idea of ​​joining the outlaws. He slapped his thigh and said, "You don't need to go to Shandong. Come with us. Brother Li Er wanted to find a good place to join the outlaws and act on behalf of Heaven. Brother Guo and I are following him. Why don't you come with us and go to Shandong to persuade that uncle and nephew to join us?"

Yang Lin was overjoyed upon hearing this and looked at Li Han with a smile, "That would be perfect. Brother Deng Fei and I are old acquaintances. Brother Li and Brother Guo have paid off my debts for me. I am deeply indebted to them and would never forget to repay their kindness. I am willing to accompany you brothers to the mountains to become outlaws, eat meat to my heart's content, and drink wine from large bowls!"

Li Han smiled and nodded. He had long expected that with Deng Fei, the "fiery-eyed lion," acting as a go-between, it wouldn't be difficult to subdue Yang Lin, the "golden leopard."

"However, before we go to Shandong, we have to do something important: we need to recruit the four chieftains and their henchmen from Huangmen Mountain."

"What? Brother Li, you must be joking with me. Not to mention that their four chieftains are highly skilled, they also have five or six hundred henchmen. How can the four of us possibly persuade them?"