Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Just when Song Jiang thought he was about to have a bright future, he and the "wise strategist" Wu Yong, who was already furious, were lying in an inn in Jizhou City.

Song Jiang sighed, lamenting that fate was truly cruel, denying him the opportunity to rise to prominence.

Wu Yong was too weak to even lift his head to speak, and Li Hanxiao's blow to him was even greater and more unbearable.

Wu Yong had never been convinced by anyone. Although he didn't have any successful cases before, he always thought he was extraordinary and compared himself to Zhuge Liang.

But now, no matter what, Li Hanxiao is always a step ahead of him in terms of skill and speed!

He now truly has the same feeling as Zhou Yu back then: "Since Heaven gave birth to Zhou Yu, why did it also give birth to Zhuge Liang?"

At the same time, he secretly made up his mind that he, Wu Yong, would not have won if he did not bring Li Hanxiao down in this lifetime!

Meanwhile, a celebration was being held at Liangshan Marsh. After all, they had completely defeated the government troops of Jizhou Prefecture and obtained a lot of treasure, so naturally they had to drink a lot.

Li Hanxiao was unaware that an uninvited guest had arrived at Zhu Gui's tavern, known as "Dry Land Crocodile," at the Li Family Pass at the foot of the mountain.

Actually, they couldn't be considered uninvited guests. They were Cheng Da, a descendant of Cheng Feihu, the Duke of Lu of Laizhou Prefecture, and Ma Ji, a descendant of Ma Santie, the Prince of Beiping of Wu'an Prefecture, who had been invited by Li Shishi through letters. They had already arrived at Liangshan Marsh.

Zhu Gui was still dozing in the shop when the door was suddenly smashed open and two burly men walked in.

The leader, a stout man nearly eight feet tall, with a dark face and yellow beard, held a long-handled Xuanhua axe that looked to weigh at least forty pounds, if not fifty. He resembled the legendary giant spirit guarding the Southern Heavenly Gate, and was none other than Cheng Da, a descendant of Cheng Feihu, the Duke of Lu of Laizhou Prefecture.

As for the one following behind, he was tall and slender, wearing a black cloak, with a sharp and capable look, and bright, piercing eyes. He carried an iron-spined steel spear on his back, which gleamed with a dark luster under the candlelight in the shop.

Zhu Gui could tell at a glance that these two were skilled in martial arts and had ill intentions, so he quickly stood up and asked, "What would you two gentlemen like?"

"May I ask if you, shopkeeper, are surnamed Hong?"

The burly man with a thick beard spoke in a booming voice, and immediately asked a question.

"Exactly!"

Zhu Gui replied that "surname Hong" in slang actually means "surname Zhu," because Zhu Ming was associated with the color red, so they simply said "surname Hong."

“That’s right. We’ve come to join Liangshan Marsh. Since this is Manager Zhu, please take us up the mountain!”

The burly man said.

"May I ask your esteemed names?"

"One of us is surnamed Cheng, and the other is surnamed Ma."

"Alright, I'll send someone to inform the mountain stronghold right away. Please have some water and wine here first!"

Zhu Gui dared not delay, so he ordered someone to heat up some wine for the two of them to drink first, and then sent someone to the mountain stronghold to report the news.

Before the messenger from the other side had even arrived, another group of uninvited guests unexpectedly appeared at the tavern down the mountain.

Just as Cheng Da and Ma Ji had finished their drinks and were praising the wine from Liangshan Marsh, the door was pushed open again.

It was more accurate to say it was "bumped" open than pushed open.

Two more burly men arrived, but both of them carried a strong smell of blood and had bloodstains on their bodies.

The one on the left has a red face and yellow beard, with wide, strange eyes. He is holding two strange weapons in his hands, which look like two tiger claws. They are two steel maces made by grinding tiger claws.

The other one had a purplish-red face, wide, round eyes, was about eight feet tall, and had a broad, fortress-like build. He was holding a large axe.

As the saying goes, like attracts like. With two people wielding axes in this tavern, they naturally noticed each other. Cheng Da and the other man both looked at each other's axes, and judging from the model and weight, they were probably in a similar state.

The two men exchanged a glance, and a large portion of their previously intense killing intent immediately disappeared.

It seems that these two people were caught off guard by the fact that there were two other experts in the shop.

Cheng Da and Ma Ji exchanged a glance. These two men, covered in blood and exuding a murderous aura, were clearly up to no good in the middle of the night. It was obvious at a glance that they had just finished a risky business deal.

What would you two like to order?

Zhu Gui, the "Dry Land Crocodile," could tell that the two people who came in later had ill intentions, so he prepared sleeping potion in advance to take action.

"Place out the wine and meat."

The burly man with the purple face only replied with this one sentence.

Zhu Gui then went back to the kitchen to make preparations, but in reality, he was preparing to go up the mountain to deliver the message.

After all, it was certain that the two people who came in later were not good people, and if they caused a scene in the tavern, he wouldn't be able to stop them.

"Who are you two esteemed heroes?"

The two men who came in later quietly stared at Cheng Da and Ma Ji for a long time, their eyes lingering on their weapons. It seemed they were somewhat wary of them. It took them a while before they finally spoke.

"we are……"

Just as Cheng was about to speak, Ma Ji stopped him and said, "We are two passing merchants, Zhang San and Li Si."

Upon hearing this, the two people opposite burst into laughter, "Haha, very good! Zhang San, Li Si! Then we'll be Cheng Da and Eugene!"

Although the two men said it casually, the real descendant of "Cheng Da" in "Cheng Da Youjin" was sitting right there. Cheng Da got angry as soon as he heard it, slammed his hand on the table and stood up, "Cheng Da Youjin is not a name you can use!"

This surprised the two men; they hadn't expected that a simple phrase like "Chengda Eugene" could provoke such a strong reaction from the other party.

"Why would I need to? So what if my name is Cheng Yaojin? What's it to you?"

The purple-faced man wielding a large axe spoke again.

If this were said to someone else, it wouldn't be a problem, but the key point is that Cheng Da is a descendant of Cheng Yaojin, and this is acting like a senior in front of him!

"You dare call yourself Cheng Yaojin! I'll chop you up!"

Cheng Da was furious and could no longer contain himself. He swung his Xuanhua axe and, with a "Phoenix Facing the Sun" move, swept it directly at the two men.

The two men were surprised that Cheng Da actually made a move, but they were clearly experts and dodged instantly. Cheng Da's axe cleaved the table in front of him into pieces.

"Alright! Looks like you two aren't exactly good people either. Come on!"

Seeing that a fight had broken out, the two men stopped holding back and began to attack Cheng Da and Ma Ji with their weapons.

"Alright! Let me show you the true Thirty-Six Heavenly Axes!"

As Cheng Da spoke, he faced the burly man who was also wielding an axe, while Ma Ji drew his iron-spined steel spear and confronted the man who was using a water-milled steel mace.

"Huh? Why are they fighting?"

Zhu Gui, the "Dry Land Crocodile," was completely caught off guard when he saw this situation behind the counter. He immediately led his men to retreat to the kitchen to hide.

"Boss, what do we do?"

"Run! These are all experts. We're doomed here. Let's get back to the stronghold and get reinforcements!"

Zhu Gui, known as the "Dry Land Crocodile," was well aware of the disparity in strength and, rather than risk his life, wisely led his men to distance themselves.

Meanwhile, his tavern had been completely ransacked. The two men with axes were wielding their large axes, causing immense damage. They not only chopped up all the tables, chairs, and benches into firewood, but also nearly felled the beams and pillars.

Meanwhile, the duel between Ma Ji and another person was much more technically demanding.

Ma Ji's iron-spine steel spear flew up and down, while his opponent's two tiger-claw water-polished steel maces, though short weapons, were not at a disadvantage at all, and the two weapons clashed back and forth with a clanging sound.

In terms of marksmanship, Ma Ji was no weakling; he used the marksmanship passed down from his ancestor, Ma Santie.

Ma Santie was a descendant of Ma Sui, the Prince of Beiping and a famous general of the mid-Tang Dynasty. He inherited the Tuolong Spear Technique passed down by Yuchi Gong.

During the suppression of Huang Chao, Ma Santie was one of the vassal kings who followed Li Keyong to defend the emperor. With his superb alligator spear skills and a tortoise-back alligator spear, Ma Santie fought a great battle against Bai Yu General Ge Congzhou on the battlefield and also fought a great battle against Huang Chao's desperate army at Balingchuan, making great contributions to the suppression of Huang Chao.

Ma Ji was no ordinary fighter either. Back in his hometown, he was known as "Ma the Hawk" for his skill with spear and horse. Now, despite having such a significant advantage in weapon length, he could only manage to fight this person to a standstill!

"Go!"

But then the man shouted, and the tiger claw-shaped steel mace in his left hand hooked directly onto Ma Ji's spearhead, pinning the spear firmly to the table.

Ma Ji knew that he would immediately use his other tiger claw water-milled steel mace to hit him, so he exerted force with both arms and suddenly thrust the spear downwards, causing the table below to collapse and the wood to shatter all over the ground!

Immediately, Ma Ji raised his spear, directly deflecting the tiger claw-shaped steel mace, and thrust the spear at the man.

Unexpectedly, the force of the spear was too great. The man dodged the spear, but the force of the spear did not decrease in the slightest. Instead, the spear pierced the beam behind him.

"Oh!"

The bullet pierced right through the beam, which had already been chopped by one of the two axe-wielding men, making it weak to begin with. Now, it snapped in two!

Without the support of the beams and pillars, the entire roof collapsed. Before the four people could even react, they were all crushed under the roof.

So who were the two men who fought against Cheng Da and Ma Ji? They were actually two famous characters from the original novel "Water Margin". Both of them were generals under Wang Qing of Huaixi. One was "Red-faced Tiger" Yuan Lang, and the other was Mi Sheng.

Both of them were highly skilled in martial arts. According to the current timeline, they had not yet joined Wang Qing in raising an army, nor had Wang Qing rebelled.

The two of them were professional hitmen who worked together, making a living by killing for money. They had just finished killing someone and escaped from the authorities, which is why they ended up at Zhu Gui's tavern at Lijiadaokou.

They only dared to test Cheng Da and Ma Ji because they felt they were experts, but they never expected that a fight would break out!

Meanwhile, on Liangshan Mountain, Zhu Gui, the "Dry Land Crocodile," had already met Li Hanxiao. After hearing about the situation, Li Hanxiao was also very puzzled.

"Chief, those must be Brothers Cheng Da and Brother Ma Ji coming to seek refuge!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhi, nicknamed "Golden-Faced Buddha," immediately knew that Cheng Da and Ma Ji had arrived.

"Zhu Gui, who were the people fighting with them?"

Zhu Gui shook his head and said, "I don't recognize it."

Li Han smiled and thought for a moment, then asked, "You can at least see what weapons they use, right?"

"One of them also uses a large axe to split mountains, and the other's weapon is something I've never seen before, so I don't know what it's called."

Zhu Gui shrugged, looking helpless.

"Brother Qin Zhi, come down the mountain with me and take a look!"

With things having come to this point, Li Hanxiao lost his appetite for wine. He led "Golden-Faced Buddha" Qin Zhi and "Dry Land Crocodile" Zhu Gui, along with weapons and a troop of soldiers, directly down the mountain.

As a result, upon arriving at Lijiadaokou, they saw the ruins of the tavern.

"Ah! My shop!"

Zhu Gui, the "Dry Land Crocodile," cried out in alarm when he discovered that his tavern had collapsed.

"Demolishing this shop is going too far!"

Li Hanxiao was also looking around, trying to find the four people, but the visibility at night was too poor, and he still couldn't see them.

Once they reached the other side, Li Hanxiao and the others arrived at the ruins. By the starlight and moonlight, they brought their torches closer and discovered a human hand reaching out from the rubble. Someone was buried inside!

"Quick, throw it away!"

Li Hanxiao understood that the four people were most likely buried inside the house, so he immediately ordered his troops to start throwing away the bricks, tiles, and timber.

The first one to be thrown out was Ma Ji, covered in dust and dirt, looking like a potato thrown out of the ground. However, his head was broken by a brick, and blood was flowing out.

"Brother Ma Ji, Brother Ma Ji!"

Upon seeing Ma Ji, Qin Zhi, known as the "Golden-Faced Buddha," immediately shook him awake. Ma Ji opened his eyes, glanced at Qin Zhi, and said, "Second Brother Qin..."

"It is Qin Zhi! What happened to you?"

Unfortunately, before Ma Ji could even speak, he suddenly fainted again.

"Chief, he..."

Qin Zhi hurriedly called Li Hanxiao over to check on him. Li Hanxiao flipped Ma Ji's eyelids open and checked his pulse. Finding nothing wrong, he reassured Qin Zhi, "He was just knocked unconscious. It's nothing serious. But how did they demolish the house..."

The second person to be discovered was Mi Sheng. Li Hanxiao could not easily determine his identity based on his appearance and weapon alone. In the original novel, in addition to Suo Chao, the "vanguard" of Liangshan Marsh who was good at using a large axe, there was also Bian Xiang, the Left Prime Minister under Tian Hu in Hebei, Mi Sheng, a general under Wang Qing, and some officers of the imperial court who all used large axes. Li Hanxiao really could not identify him in a short time.

However, when Yuan Lang was carried out, Li Hanxiao roughly guessed Yuan Lang's identity.

Because Yuan Lang's two tiger claw water-polished steel maces are truly rare and extraordinary weapons. There is no other person in the entire Water Margin novel who uses these things, making them very special!