Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 128: Hero Zhou's First Meeting with Li Hanxiao, Liangshan Marsh Presents the Treasure L

"Zhang Xian, go and serve tea to the guests."

Zhou Tong lifted his foot off the large basket, his joints making a soft cracking sound like bamboo. The three children jumped off the basket instantly. Without Zhou Tong's pressure, if they stood on the basket again, they would probably tip it over and fall to the ground.

Li Hanxiao and Zhou Dong locked eyes. Although Zhou Dong was old, his eyes were still clear and bright, without a trace of yellowish-brown age spots, and they were extremely sharp.

The old man's gaze swept over the shape of the cloth bag on Li Hanxiao's back, and suddenly he pointed his fingers like a sword and aimed straight for Li Hanxiao's throat.

"Done!"

Li Hanxiao immediately understood that Zhou Tong had noticed the spear he was carrying on his back and might actually consider him an enemy.

Li Hanxiao spun around, took a step forward, and used the gun barrel from the cloth bag to block the attack with a clang.

The impact of the two objects caused the herbs drying under the eaves to fall in a flurry. As Zhang Xian came out with a tea tray, he saw his master's two fingers just three inches from the guest's throat.

"What a brilliant move, Azure Dragon Probing Claw!"

Li Han smiled and said.

Zhou Tong stroked his beard and said, "This move is a sword technique, but you've used it with a spear. It seems your true skill is swordsmanship."

Zhou Tong only needed one move to ascertain Li Hanxiao's martial arts skills. He truly lived up to his reputation as a senior martial artist.

"Senior, I have no ill intentions in coming here. Your two disciples asked me to bring some gifts!"

Li Hanxiao immediately stopped and said.

"Oh? Where are you from...?"

When Zhou Tong heard that Li Hanxiao knew his apprentice, he had already guessed that it must be related to "Leopard Head" Lin Chong, but in order to confirm his guess, he still had to ask.

After all, the old hermit Zhou Tong had only taken on a few legitimate disciples in his entire life. He hadn't seen his eldest disciple, "Jade Kirin" Lu Junyi, for over ten years. Although the two of them lived in Daming Prefecture, "Jade Kirin" Lu Junyi was completely unaware of his old master's existence, and Zhou Tong had never gone to see him.

As for his second apprentice, Shi Wengong, it was even more impossible. If they were to meet, one of them would surely die.

It turns out that Shi Wengong had been expelled from Zhou Tong's school more than a decade ago, and the two had severed all ties and harbored deep resentment towards each other.

Back when Zhou Tong followed Wang Shao to conquer Western Xia, Shi Wengong was an officer in the army. Seeing Zhou Tong's great skills, he wanted to become his apprentice. So he flattered Zhou Tong every day, treated him with great courtesy, and tried his best to please Zhou Tong. He tricked Zhou Tong into accepting him as his apprentice and teaching him all his martial arts skills.

However, Zhou Tong had offended Cai Jing in his youth. Cai Jing wanted to frame Zhou Tong, but he couldn't find a way to do it, so he turned to Shi Wengong.

When faced with Cai Jing's framing, Shi Wengong, as Cai Jing's apprentice, lost his heroic spirit and became a fence-sitter.

Not only did he collude with Cai Jing to gain promotion and wealth, shifting the blame for the defeat onto his master Zhou Tong, but he also instantly pledged allegiance to the powerful Cai Jing. Together with Cai Jing, he devised a treacherous scheme that indirectly led to the death of Zhou Tong's son, Zhou Yunqing, and directly caused Zhou Tong to lose his position as the top martial arts master in the Celestial Empire.

This traitorous disciple caused Zhou Tong immense suffering. After suffering a double blow and experiencing the pain of losing his son, Zhou Tong resigned from his official post and wandered the world in despair. He also expelled Shi Wengong from his master's school, and they became sworn enemies from then on.

Shi Wengong did not have a good ending after he surrendered to Cai Jing. He had made many contributions during the campaign against Western Xia, but Cai Jing saw clearly that someone who betrayed his master so easily could not be trusted.

Therefore, Cai Jing did not keep his promise to promote Shi Wengong. Instead, he found a pretext to expel him from the army. Shi Wengong's attempt to steal a chicken backfired.

That's not all. Shi Wengong was also hunted down by "Jade Kirin" Lu Junyi for several years. Lu Junyi was looking for Shi Wengong to avenge his master. At that time, Shi Wengong was no match for "Jade Kirin" Lu Junyi. He was hiding in the martial arts world like a stray dog. In the end, he had no choice but to flee to the territory of the Liao Kingdom.

When he sacrificed himself again, he had already become the instructor of Zengtou City. Zengtou City was originally an organization established by Zeng Nong, a Jin Dynasty official, and belonged to foreign residents. The Song Dynasty could not control it, so Shi Wengong found a protective umbrella in Zengtou City.

It's also conceivable that after Shi Wengong fled to the north, he must have found a way to establish contact with the Jin Dynasty and received their protection...

This is also why Lu Junyi later left Shi Wengong no room for maneuver in Zengtou City. At this time, how could Shi Wengong contact Zhou Tong?

The only possible candidate is the third disciple, "Leopard Head" Lin Chong. As for the others, such as Wu Song, "Sick Yuchi" Sun Li, and "Iron Cudgel" Luan Tingyu, they are not considered disciples, not even nominal disciples.

Zhou Tong had long heard in the martial arts world about "Leopard Head" Lin Chong's crime, including burning down a hay storage yard in Cangzhou and killing people. Although he didn't know the specifics, his grandfather was still very worried about his apprentice.

"I have come from Liangshan Marsh. To be honest, I am the master of Liangshan Marsh, Li Hanxiao. Today, I have been entrusted by two brothers, Lin Chong and Wu Song, to bring you two things!"

As Li Hanxiao spoke, he opened the pack on his back. The three children in the courtyard, upon hearing Li Hanxiao introduce himself, had their eyes light up instantly, just like fans meeting a celebrity in later generations, and immediately surrounded him.

"You are Chief Li!"

The three children were easily identifiable by Li Hanxiao: one dressed in red, one in white, and one in green. They were clearly Wang Gui, Tang Huai, and Zhang Xian, but Yue Fei seemed to be absent from the group…

The three children seemed very enthusiastic towards Li Hanxiao, while Zhou Tong glanced at them, and the three children instantly looked terrified. Then they went about their business. Zhang Xian immediately served tea to Li Hanxiao, while Wang Gui and Tang Huai went to practice their boxing and lifting stone weights, respectively.

"The old master is truly skilled at managing his disciples! This is a gift from Instructor Lin to nourish your body. He originally intended to come in person, but unfortunately, he had matters to attend to at the mountain stronghold and had to take care of his family, so he couldn't come!"

Li Hanxiao took out a small brocade box containing a piece of ginseng wrapped in yellow satin cloth. This was a genuine century-old ginseng that "Leopard Head" Lin Chong had specially acquired. Why was it genuine? Because it had been inspected by "Divine Physician" An Daoquan. It was 115 years old, without any difference.

Zhou Tong took the ginseng but didn't look at it. Instead, he asked with a cold expression, "Did Lin Chong join Liangshan as a bandit?"

Li Han smiled and nodded, "He offended Grand Commandant Gao and his son, and was exiled to Cangzhou. Those scoundrels wouldn't let it go, so they set fire to the hay storage yard, trying to burn Instructor Lin to death. Luckily, he was blessed with good fortune and managed to escape. He ended up at Liangshan Marsh, but there was nothing they could do... Later, I kidnapped Gao Yanei and killed him to avenge him, and also rescued his family..."

Zhou Tong sighed, saying with considerable worry, "My disciple is naturally tolerant of others, only resorting to resistance when pushed to the limit, which is truly a hardship for him... What use is this ginseng to this old man? It would be better to save it for his wife to nourish her body, otherwise the Lin family will surely have no descendants..."

"Huh? How does the senior know about Madam Lin..."

Li Hanxiao was somewhat surprised, because Lin Chong and his wife indeed had no children. Li Hanxiao learned that Lin's wife had a health problem and was infertile, so they had no children to this day. Ever since the "miracle doctor" An Daoquan came to the mountain, Lin Chong and his wife had frequently visited An Daoquan's medical clinic to recuperate...

"How could I not know that I was the one who brought these two together back then? It's just that the Zhang family's daughter was infertile due to her constitution. At the time, I even advised Lin Chong that of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring. But alas, they were like dry wood meeting a raging fire, and they couldn't be separated..."

Upon hearing Zhou Tong's words, Li Hanxiao felt a deep respect for "Leopard Head" Lin Chong. It turned out that Lin Chong had known his wife was infertile, yet he still resolutely married her—a rare act in ancient times. After all, "of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring," and Lin Chong hadn't taken a concubine; he was willing to remain childless…

This is love!

"You said you kidnapped Gao Yanei to avenge Lin Chong and even rescued his family?"

Zhou Dong looked at Li Hanxiao and asked him for confirmation.

“That’s right. I, Li Hanxiao, pride myself on being a man of honor, and this is no exaggeration.”

Li Han smiled and said.

"No wonder he's willing to follow you! I always thought the world was going to the dogs and people's hearts were no longer what they used to be, but I never expected to find a young man like you who values ​​loyalty. It's rare, truly rare!"

Zhou Tong's words implied approval of Li Hanxiao, suggesting that their relationship might be moving towards greater familiarity.

"The second item is a gift from Brother Wu Song to you, senior: a jar of tiger bone wine, and this... um... tiger penis..."

Compared to Lin Chong, Wu Song's gifts seemed rather meager, as he wanted to save money to marry a wife and directly entrusted the money to his elder brother Wu Dalang for safekeeping.

Wu Dalang was a good person in every way, except that he was used to hardship. He was like a greedy pig, only taking in and never giving out. He would never spend money unless he absolutely had to. So Wu Song could only make tiger bone wine. He took the bones from the white tiger he killed and soaked them in the wine, and dried the tiger penis and sent it over...

This is indeed a highly nourishing food. Tiger bone wine was first recorded in Sun Simiao's "Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergency Use". It has the functions of strengthening muscles and bones, strengthening the waist and kidneys, and dispelling wind and cold. It is mainly used to treat kidney deficiency and weak bones, lower abdominal pain, weakness in walking, and shoulder and arm pain. It is especially suitable for treating wind-dampness and cold pain, limb contractures, as well as liver and kidney deficiency, weakness in the waist and legs, etc. It is quite beneficial for the elderly.

As for the tiger penis... it's really not appropriate to give it to someone Zhou Tong's age...

"Wu Song...this is..."

After all, Zhou Tong had only met Wu Song a few times, and he was also getting old, so he couldn't quite remember who Wu Song was.

"You taught him the Jade Ring Step and the Mandarin Duck Kick at Shaolin Temple..."

Li Hanxiao reminded him.

Zhou Tong suddenly realized, "Oh, it's that young man, no, how come he's also joined your Liangshan Marsh?"

Zhou Tong was a little surprised. It was one thing for his apprentice, "Leopard Head" Lin Chong, to be on Liangshan, but Lin Chong had bad luck. How did this Wu Song end up on Liangshan too?

"Alas, you are mistaken, senior. Our Liangshan Marsh has always been committed to recruiting talents. So many heroes have come to join us at Liangshan Marsh. This is the will of the people!"

Li Hanxiao said, somewhat self-aggrandizingly.

"Oh? Haha!"

Zhou Tong was also amused by Li Hanxiao's words. "In all my years, this is the first time I've seen a young man like you who shamelessly pats himself on the back. Among my friends are many outlaws, but they are just forced into this situation, robbing the rich to help the poor, or being forced into rebellion by officials. What kind of popular support do they have?"

Li Hanxiao shook his head repeatedly, denying his words, "Senior, you are mistaken. We Liangshan Marsh practice the four words 'acting on behalf of Heaven.' We only kill corrupt officials, local tyrants, and those who harm the people. We never oppose the common people. In fact, we help the poor."

"what?!"

Zhou Tong could hardly believe his ears. Was this still the bandit king who ruled the mountain? He might as well just go straight to Guangji Temple. He simply couldn't believe it!

“Master, it’s true. This Chief Li is a true hero, robbing the rich to help the poor. He broke through four passes in the capital city to take away the beautiful Li Shishi, and then seized the ill-gotten gains from the birthday tribute. He is truly—”

Before Zhou Tong could ask any more questions, Wang Gui, who had been holding back for a while, started recounting Li Hanxiao's "heroic deeds" like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, speaking with great enthusiasm and brimming with energy.

These three boys were going through their rebellious phase and had all heard about Li Hanxiao's deeds in the martial arts world. In addition, they were all rebellious and had followed Niu Gao in several rebellions in the original novel of "The Complete Biography of Yue Fei". Therefore, they all regarded Li Hanxiao as their idol.

"go back!"

When Zhou Tong uttered those two words, Wang Gui abruptly swallowed back the words he had already uttered and slunk back to practice his skills.

Although they were all rebellious kids, in front of Zhou Tong, they really got beaten for making mistakes...

However, Wang Gui's words made Zhou Tong look at Li Hanxiao with new respect. This young man was only in his early twenties, yet he had already achieved so much. Although he hadn't made a name for himself under the imperial court, he was still quite remarkable.

Zhou Tong had lived to a ripe old age, and he naturally understood that there were generally two paths to success in this world.

The first path is "to master both literary and martial arts and serve the emperor." Regardless of whether you study literature or martial arts, in the end you will have to work for the dynasty and become a subject; otherwise, you will not have any way to advance or gain social status.

Of course, there is a second path: to stand up against the existing court and do everything in one's power to create a new court, thus starting a rebellion and establishing one's own dynasty.

This second path has been met with scorn and criticism throughout history, with many deeming it the wrong one. However, they all forget one thing: Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Song—weren't they all rise to power through rebellion and treason? It's just that the victors are kings, and the losers are villains. They won, so great scholars have offered explanations and whitewashes for them.

Li Hanxiao took this second path...