Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

He Conglong wasn't stupid; he naturally saw through Li Hanxiao's intention to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. Therefore, his powerful knee strike, which could have almost killed a normal person, failed.

However, he immediately changed his knee strike into a high roundhouse kick, aiming for Li Hanxiao's cheek.

The Zhuangquan he used, also known as Angquan, refers to the Zhuang martial arts that originated in the Zhuang region of Guangxi. In terms of attack and defense, Zhuangquan's fists and weapons are characterized by their solid and powerful stances, agile movements, and the integration of power generation with breath control. It is suitable for practice in the mountainous areas of Guangxi and is best suited for attacks in narrow spaces. The alleyway provided him with the perfect space to demonstrate his skills.

"Oh!"

Li Hanxiao held the knife handle upright, and his whip kick struck the metal handle with a crisp sound.

Using fists and feet instead of weapons is the stupidest way to fight. Since ancient times, battles have relied on real weapons. Although fists and feet can be useful sometimes, their effect is ultimately not significant.

That would only happen if the two sides were roughly equal in strength, and you were both battling until your armor was askew, your weapons were gone, and you had no other means of attack left, before you could start throwing wild punches, just like the battle between "Double Whip" Huyan Zhuo and Han Cunbao in the original novel.

Given the obvious difference in strength, He Conglong's reliance on fists and feet as his primary means of attack is suicidal. How much damage do you think his fists and feet can inflict? More powerful than weapons?

That's definitely impossible. He's not like Lu Zhishen, the "Flowery Monk," or Wu Song, the "Tiger-Slaying Hero," whose fists are so powerful that they can replace weapons.

If martial arts skills could truly play a decisive role in combat, then the two most skilled fighters on Liangshan Marsh in the original novel, "The Prodigal Son" Yan Qing and "The Faceless" Jiao Ting, should have had overwhelming victories over everyone else. However, in reality, their martial arts skills were completely ineffective.

At least "Prodigal Son" Yan Qing had a feat of throwing "Optimus Prime" Ren Yuan, while "Faceless" Jiao Ting was even worse off, with almost no feats at all.

"what!"

He Conglong landed a solid kick, wincing in pain. Li Hanxiao seized the opportunity, using his three-pointed double-edged sword to pry open He Conglong's iron mace, and delivered a powerful front kick to his chest. Taking advantage of He Conglong's loss of balance as one leg touched the ground, Li Hanxiao knocked him to the ground.

"Get out of the way!"

Beside him, Qin Zhi, the "Golden-Faced Buddha," swung his two bronze maces, sending two enemies flying. His maces moved like a skilled carpenter hammering nails, rising and falling rapidly. They danced over the heads of the guards, striking five or six times in a row, splattering their brains out.

"Hey! Where is it?!"

Another group of guards arrived from the other side. Seeing the situation, they rushed over. Li Hanxiao knew something was wrong and immediately urged everyone to leave quickly, "Go! Go now!"

Having said that, he immediately sprinted forward, using He Conglong as a stepping stone to leap out.

"Oh!"

"Ouch!"

The foot landed squarely on He Conglong's face, nearly crushing his nose. He Conglong's head, which he had just raised slightly, was slammed back to the ground, the high-quality blue bricks causing him to see stars.

Before he could even catch his breath, "Golden-Faced Buddha" Qin Zhi followed closely behind and kicked him again, this time landing on his stomach. This time, it was another blow to He Conglong, making him almost vomit his dinner from the night before.

Before he could finish, "Desperate Saburo" Shi Xiu and "Flashy Granny" Wang Dingliu arrived one after another, both stepping over his body to get past him.

There's really no other way. The alley is too narrow, and he's blocking the way. How can you get through without stepping on him?

Shi Xiu, the "Desperate Saburo," stepped on He Conglong's chest and used the momentum to jump forward. He Conglong immediately felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath, and his ribs seemed to be making a "crackling" sound.

But he didn't expect that the bombshell was actually the "live-fire woman" Wang Dingliu.

Wang Dingliu's kick was ruthless, directly striking He Conglong's groin. But that wasn't the most important thing; the crucial point was that He Conglong was carrying a "miracle doctor" named An Daoquan on his back.

This was the weight of two people, all condensed into this single, powerful kick. It was like Mount Tai pressing down, like a boulder crushing an egg, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting. The final result was undoubtedly—utter destruction…

"what!"

He Conglong screamed almost simultaneously and then fainted.

"Congratulations, Teacher He! Congratulations, Teacher He!"

The guards rushed over, but instead of chasing after Li Hanxiao and the others, they surrounded He Conglong, calling out to the unconscious man repeatedly.

They weren't stupid. They knew what kind of expert He Conglong was, and he had been beaten like this. How could they, as small fry, possibly survive?

Although they were working for the Zhu family, the salary wasn't high, only a few taels of silver a month. Why risk their lives? They definitely wouldn't take the job if they could. They had families to support, wives and children to raise; who would want to die?

They even hoped that He Conglong wouldn't wake up, so that they could stall for as long as possible.

This was a boon for Li Hanxiao and his three companions. The four of them took off running without anyone stopping them, because reinforcements arrived from behind. They saw the group of people surrounding He Conglong and all went over to watch the commotion. The number of people grew so much that they completely blocked the alley.

"It seems that the gene of loving to watch a good show is indeed passed down from the older generation!"

Looking back at the situation, Li Hanxiao couldn't help but sigh.

According to the original plan, they were to exit through the west gate near the Jing Gate, which is close to the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation Diagram. At this moment, the sound of a clapper could be heard in Zhu Mian's manor.

Zhu Mian's manor was so large that it was difficult to communicate with each other. So, he used gongs to sound the alarm. The gongs had two meanings: one was to alert everyone, and the other was to guard all the key roads.

Because Zhu Mian's manor was arranged according to the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, each alleyway eventually leads to a main thoroughfare where several alleyways converge.

Regardless of whether the guards in each courtyard know where these people are, as long as these key passages are guarded, they will have no way to escape!

Sure enough, at the place where the three alleys converged, about twenty guards had already gathered, lying in wait.

Moreover, several of them were carrying bows and arrows, ready to shoot at any moment.

"Arrows are flying, be careful!"

Li Hanxiao reminded everyone while whistling.

"Howl!"

With a long cry from a hawk, Li Hanxiao summoned his falcon, which swooped down from the sky and pounced directly on the two enemies wielding bows and arrows.

To Li Hanxiao's astonishment, he had only summoned his own eagle, but for some reason, a golden eagle followed behind it!

Li Hanxiao knew very well that this golden eagle was unlikely to have been summoned by him, because training an eagle was extremely difficult. Not only did you catch it, but you also had to train it to a high level, and you might die before you even trained the eagle.

When Li Hanxiao captured this eagle, he had to endure it for ten days. Golden eagles are proud birds of prey, so how could they easily obey Li Hanxiao's call?

After all, the golden eagle is considered one of the most ferocious birds of prey. In ancient times, it was associated with the sun, and in many ethnic minority areas, it was revered as a sacred bird. Larger golden eagles are capable of hunting and killing lone wolves on their own, which is no exaggeration.

Upon closer inspection, Li Hanxiao determined that the golden eagle was over one meter long with a wingspan between 1.8 and 2 meters, and it was a female.

Generally speaking, females are larger than males in the golden eagle population. Females weigh between 4 and 6 kilograms, while males weigh only between 3 and 4.5 kilograms; this one is clearly a female.

Li Hanxiao immediately understood that his eagle must have found a mate!

This golden eagle originally belonged to Zhu Mian's estate. After all, for a young master like Zhu Ruxian, keeping an eagle or walking a dog were normal forms of entertainment.

This golden eagle was kept free-range in the Zhu family manor. It usually only obeyed Zhu Ruxian's summons. Today, Li Hanxiao secretly infiltrated the Zhu family manor, and Li Hanxiao's eagle was circling nearby, waiting for Li Hanxiao's summons.

The female golden eagle spotted Li Hanxiao's goshawk. Birds of prey have a strong sense of territory, so the golden eagle naturally went to fight Li Hanxiao's goshawk and drove the intruder away.

In the singles group, although this golden eagle should normally be invincible in the bird of prey world, it was still defeated by Li Hanxiao's eagle and could only submit. Moreover, since it happened to be in a situation with a male and a female, this golden eagle was directly "conquered".

Therefore, the current scene of "husband and wife in harmony" has emerged.

"what!"

"Mom!"

The two enemies wielding bows and arrows never expected to be attacked from above. One of them was struck in the face by the golden eagle's sharp talons and knocked to the ground.

The other one was even worse. Li Hanxiao's eagle swooped down and, like a cannonball, killed the enemy on the spot, breaking his cervical spine.

"kill!"

Li Hanxiao unleashed a move called "Disturbing the Mountain and Seizing the Sun, Capturing the Dragon in the Chaotic Sea" with his three-pointed double-edged sword. His feet moved like the wind, and his sword danced left and right, creating an impenetrable barrier. Like a whirlwind, he charged into the crowd, leaving behind a trail of blood and gore. Limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere, and screams and cries of agony rose and fell. Arms were chopped off as people tried to block, and legs were tripped and chopped off as people tried to trip. In an instant, he swept away the twenty-odd people like autumn leaves in the wind.

They fought their way through the crowd and ran towards the Jing Gate, only to find that the gate had already been closed by two people. Li Hanxiao roared, his voice like a thunderclap in a clear sky. The two men were so frightened that they turned and ran, fearing that they would be caught and killed. They wished they had more legs, as two legs were not fast enough and they wished they could run as fast as four hooves.

"break!"

Li Hanxiao was too lazy to chase after the two people. He rushed towards the gate and used the "High Shoulder Five Sacred Mountains Chase Golden Crow" technique with his three-pointed double-edged sword. His whole body was like a bent bow, leaning back and using the three-pointed double-edged sword. Like Pangu splitting the heavens and earth, he cleaved half of the door down!

"Good sword skills!"

"Desperate Saburo" Shi Xiu couldn't help but praise.

"What amazing swordsmanship, brother! They didn't even have time to lock the door, and it opened with a single ramming!"

"The Golden-Faced Buddha" Qin Zhi said helplessly.

"Oh? Really? Alright, let's go!"

Li Hanxiao was extremely embarrassed. It was indeed because he hadn't seen clearly before and had made a mistake. So he kicked open the west gate and went straight to the "one-zhang-black" stable.

At this moment, guards were stationed at all the major roads in Zhu Mian Manor, while only one group was searching for Li Hanxiao and his companions. They were unaware that Li Hanxiao and his group had already escaped.

The group ran straight to the "ten-foot-deep" stable, broke down the door and entered. Inside, the three grooms were eating, and they were so frightened that they knocked over their bowls.

"You three, go and drag out that 'One-Zhang-Black' guy!"

"Golden-faced Buddha," Qin Zhi said.

"Hurry up!"

"Oh!"

Seeing that the three grooms hadn't moved for a while, Qin Zhi, the "Golden-Faced Buddha," smashed a bronze mace against the stable wall, creating a hole the size of a watermelon in the brick wall.

The three grooms gasped in shock, their skin crawling with goosebumps the size of balls. They immediately ran into the stable and dragged out the "one-zhang-black" horse.

Li Han looked closely and realized that this was indeed a huge creature. His guess was correct; this horse was definitely a Shire horse!

An adult standing in front of this horse looks like a child; only a hero could ride this horse!

"You three, quickly take control of this horse and come with us!"

Li Hanxiao was worried that they weren't familiar with the "One-Zhang-Black" horse and might not be able to control it, so he told the three grooms to go with them.

"Master, master, please spare us! This horse is very docile and obedient; it doesn't need us to train it. If you take us away, what will happen to our families?"

Upon hearing Li Hanxiao's words, the three grooms all knelt down in unison and began to kowtow repeatedly, pleading earnestly.

Li Hanxiao was unwilling to force them, but he was somewhat skeptical of their claim that the "One-Zhang-Black" horse was very docile.

Because this guy is so big, who would believe that she wouldn't have a temper?

So, Li Hanxiao carefully approached, leaped up, hugged the horse's neck, and mounted it.

The horse was so tall that Li Hanxiao had some difficulty mounting it. But once he was on, he found it to be a good horse; it was broad and should have good shock absorption, although it wasn't equipped with tack yet.

"Put on the horse tack!"

Li Hanxiao directed the three grooms to put tack on the "One-Zhang-Black" horse, and sure enough, the horse was so docile that it didn't even fluff up its hair.

Indeed, since it was specially made for Zhu Ruxian to pull his carriage, it naturally couldn't have too much of a temper. Otherwise, it wouldn't be safe to use this horse to pull the carriage. It seems that Zhu Ruxian has put a lot of effort into taming this horse, and now it has no temper at all!

It's truly heaven's help to Li Hanxiao!