"Be careful, this side is full of traps we set up. You two shouldn't run around randomly, in case you trigger something and I won't be able to save you." Iron Wind said as he led the way ahead, turning his head back to Zhang Feng.

  Zhang Feng nodded, he saw a few cold lights from the gap of the leaves, it seemed that the small road on both sides was indeed full of danger as Tie Feng said, he naturally would not try to experience the power of the other's trap.

  The autumn sun is not as fierce as the summer sun, and it falls gently through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground. A little girl named Ping'er sits on Zhang Feng's shoulders, stretching out her small hands to catch the scattered sunlight, her two little legs swinging slightly, and her clear laughter echoes through the air, she has found her own happy time.

  Suddenly, the trees in front of them disappeared, and they walked out of the narrow mountain path between the woods to a vast expanse.

  In Zhang Feng's mind, the bandit lair must be a place where bows are stretched and swords are drawn, with watchtowers rising high and the entire lair surrounded by dense wooden walls. Inside the lair, there must be a tall assembly hall and a large flag fluttering in the wind. Patrols of ruffians, soldiers drinking and eating meat, and ferocious leaders - these were what a bandit lair should have.

  Rather than thinking he now sees this kind of scene, the ubiquitous farmhouse courtyards, a fence and a door, some domestic animals in the yard, naughty children frolicking everywhere, hardworking women wiping away sweat from their foreheads and looking at them with kindness, plus a group of people who seem to be welcoming him in front, where is this the lair of mountain bandits? It's clearly just a village nestled in the mountains, a haven from the world.

  Ding Wu sent someone back to report the news, and Tie Shan brought Li Shui here to greet him. As for what happened, he wasn't quite clear either, and was planning to ask Ding Wu about it in detail a little later.

  "This must be the young hero who can catch my second brother's arrow with his bare hands, please follow me, the best wound medicine has been prepared." Iron Mountain stepped forward and bowed to Zhang Feng.

  Zhang Feng was still immersed in this unusual mountain scenery, and when he heard Tie Shan's words, he hurriedly put down the bottle on his shoulder to deal with the wound on his face. Old Liu followed behind him with a complex expression.

  Actually, Zhang Feng was shocked, and Old Liu also had a few moments of confusion. He had been to the mountain bandits' lair before, and when he was in Jianghuai, he had even infiltrated a mountain stronghold on orders, and then exterminated them from within and without. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out why this mountain stronghold looked like this - not only did it not resemble other bandit dens, but it was almost indistinguishable from the ordinary farming villages at the foot of the mountain. If there was any difference to be noted, it might just be that Tie Shan and his men were clearly not honest farmers.

  Could it be that the intelligence was wrong and there were no mountain bandits here at all? Was this expedition to suppress bandits just a wild goose chase?

  Or perhaps this group of mountain bandits was hiding too well, so that the two of them couldn't see even a tiny bit of weakness. But because of being naughty and getting their clothes dirty, the little kid who was really being scolded by his mother on her lap was real, the old woman holding a winnower to sift rice bran was also real, and the man carrying a load of firewood on his back was equally real. How could it be that none of these looked like they belonged in a mountain bandit hideout?

  Old Liu was also at a loss, and could only follow Zhang Feng to get his face fixed before asking the person in charge here for an explanation.

  ……

  At this time, outside Pinggu County, 6,000 bandit-suppressing soldiers had already formed up and set off, the long column of troops on the official road of Pinggu raised a great cloud of dust, with red borders and yellow backgrounds, the "Ming" character on the dragon-embroidered flag fluttered in the wind, the flag was two zhang high and held by strong flag-bearers, it was indeed the great Ming army flag.

  On both sides of the banner are two black-bottomed red-character vertical flags, with "Yan Mountain Middle Guard" and "Yan Mountain Left Guard" written on them. Below each is a small flag with the characters 'Qiu' and 'Li', these several flags being the standard flags of the Yan King Zhu Di's Qin Army Three Guards and the commander flags of the two thousand-households, Qiu Fu and Li Dan...

  "Go and summon Wang Zhenbai of the hundred households for me." Chu Fu ordered the messenger soldier.

  King Zhen hastily rushed over to command the troops.

  "Wang Zhen, is everything all set?" asked Qiu Fu, who was riding his horse forward slowly.

  "Sir, I have handled everything according to your instructions. Except for the left guard Liu Jiang's request for half of the quota, our thousand households sent out people led by General Zhang, and also set out together as a precaution against failure." Wang Zhen replied beside Qiufu's horse.

  "Who did you send just in case."

  "It's Old Liu and the other two, you know them. Although they're old soldiers, their temper is a bit big, but this time I specifically mentioned it to them, and they all understand. After all, when we were on the Northern Expedition together, our old comrades-in-arms have all been promoted to hundred and thousand households, only leaving the three of them still as small flag officers. This old face can't bear to look at it."

  "Hmm, this time it was originally to exercise Zhang's ability, I think there shouldn't be any problems, you also pay more attention, Zhang Feng's future is boundless, who knows, maybe one day you'll have to rely on him." Qiu Fu recalled the scene when he signed up that day and slowly stroked his beard.

  "Yes, I understand. I reckon that by the time we finish sealing the mountain, Zhang Zong and his men should be heading down to report back as well." Wang Zhen said, looking up at the sun overhead to gauge the time, and Qiu Fu nodded in agreement after hearing this.

  These two thought that with Old Liu's experience and Zhang Feng's ability, they could complete this reconnaissance mission with ease. Little did they know that the Zhang Zong who they had high hopes for was a thoroughgoing route idiot, and to make matters worse, he even followed some mountain bandits on a tour of their lair and became good friends with a little girl from a mountain bandit's den.

  ……

  "It hurts... this medicine is so painful, and there's a faint coolness rising up. Old Liu, come take a look at this, is it okay?"

  Zhang Feng was completely unaware of the high expectations that Qiu Qianguo had for him outside the mountain. He was still using the golden wound medicine given to him by the mountain bandits to treat the scars on his face. He didn't want his perfect "baozi" face to be ruined, and if he saw her again in the future, he would be laughed to death. At that time, wouldn't he, who claimed to be the elegant young master of Wudang, lose face for his school?

  Old Liu took the medicine, smelled it, and then carefully examined it in his hand. He analyzed: "This medicine is very good, they use mountain grass to make it, not the kind of military standard, this one has a better effect, and it's less likely to leave scars. On the other hand, the medicinal power is much stronger than the military wound medicine, you just need to endure it for a while."

  "It can only be like this, sigh... Old Liu, don't you feel that something is off here? Sigh... There shouldn't be another stronghold in these mountains, but they don't seem like bandits at all, sigh..." Zhang Feng's face twitched repeatedly, with a hissing sound.

  "Yes, I also feel very strange. Obviously, this is a rural scene, with dolls running all over the place. In all these years, I've never seen any children in that mountain bandit village, nor so many farmhouses. It seems they're not bandits at all, but mountain people... What's going on here?" Old Liu's face was scrunched up like a chrysanthemum, without a single clue.

  "Heh heh, whether you're a mountain bandit or a mountain dweller, wait for a moment while I investigate, hsss..."

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