Chapter 11

"Chief, I think the Qinglong Mountain bandits who came this time are not just here for extortion," Su Peng said to Chief Han.

"I feel the same... But what can we do? Can we ask the Blackwater Army of Jiangning County to come and suppress them? I heard that half of the money the bandits rob is put into the pocket of the deputy commander of the Blackwater Army, which is why they are allowed to stay here. Even if we report to the Blackwater Army today, they will only send a team to take a look and do nothing else. We have to pay for the army, and the village doesn't have much money left. We can't afford it..." Chief Han sighed and said to Su Peng.

"Chief, the situation is not that simple. Just now, I heard..."

Su Peng stepped forward and recounted what he had heard to Chief Han.

"What? There's actually a mole in the village who wants to open the gate?" Chief Han was immediately shocked upon hearing Su Peng's words!

"Chief, is there anything important in the village that could attract the bandits to raid here?" Su Peng asked Chief Han.

"According to what I know, apart from the silver and money of each family, there is nothing important in the village. What do the bandits from Qinglong Mountain want? Did you hear clearly that they indeed want to attack Green Mountain Village? You must know that if they forcibly attack the village, the Blackwater Army will not stand idly by, and the deputy commander cannot suppress this matter. If what you say is true, we are in big trouble!"

"Chief, I think the situation is already very dangerous. Today, if our gate had been closed any later, the bandits might have already broken into the village. Moreover, the mole has not been eliminated. If they manage to coordinate inside and out, Green Mountain Village will be in grave danger! Now, we should first find the mole. We should do this..." Su Peng whispered in Chief Han's ear.

Soon, it was evening, the time when smoke rose and fires were lit for cooking.

In a house in Green Mountain Village, a man in his forties, with an ordinary appearance, was cooking. Suddenly, the door creaked open.

"Old Hu?" The man, seeing the old hunter outside, said in slight surprise.

"Ha, Old Xu, what are you cooking? Come, let's have a drink." The old hunter, whose face was etched with the lines of time, smiled and raised a smoked rabbit and a pot of old wine. "I caught this rabbit a few days ago and had Aunt Li smoke it. I also have a pot of old wine at home. I was thinking of who to drink with, so I came to you."

"Sure." The man wiped his hands on his clothes and stood up, walking with the old hunter into the inner room.

Inside, the old hunter tore the rabbit apart, and the man took out two cracked wine cups. The old hunter poured a cup for the man, and they both took a sip. The old hunter poured another cup and said, "It's been three years since you came to Green Mountain Village. Back then, I found you in the forest, covered in blood. After saving you, I learned you were a traveling merchant who had encountered a tiger. You said your goods were scattered and you had no money left. I brought you to the village, built you a house, and gave you some land. It's been three years. I even planned to find you a wife, but you said you didn't want to."

"Hehe." The man smiled awkwardly, not good with words, and raised his cup. "I'm not good with words, here's a toast to you, Old Brother."

Saying this, he tilted his head and drank the cup of wine.

The old hunter, however, shook his head and did not drink, his eyes filled with regret. "I just can't understand why you would do such a thing when the village hasn't wronged you."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly, seemingly taken aback. "What did I do?"

"You know what you did!"

At this moment, the door to the man's house opened, and Su Peng, Ji Ming, Chief Han, and several strong young men rushed in!

"Chief... What did I do? Why are you all here like this? Are you going to arrest me? What did I do wrong?" Seeing the ropes in the hands of the young men, the man seemed confused and shouted at Chief Han.

"Alas... Has Green Mountain Village wronged you? To be a mole..." Chief Han sighed and said, "Your deeds have been uncovered by this young man. Let him speak."

Chief Han then looked at Su Peng.

Su Peng nodded and said, "Xu Guohan, after Qinglong Mountain surrounded the village today, I heard your conversation with the traveling merchant. Don't resist, surrender now."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand!" The man, Xu Guohan, shouted loudly upon hearing Su Peng's words.

"Hehe..." Su Peng did not rush to speak, but smiled first and then said, "Are you still going to deny it? The black smoke from your chimney says it all. That is the signal you used to contact the bandits from Qinglong Mountain!"

Ji Ming nodded and said from behind Su Peng, "I've already checked. In the whole village, only your house emits black smoke that rises high into the sky and doesn't dissipate."

"What nonsense!" Xu Guohan shouted, "I don't understand what you're saying. Even if it's true, what law have I broken by having a bit of black smoke from my fire?"

"Black smoke isn't illegal, but adding wolf dung to the fire is suspicious," Su Peng said, then added, "Search his house for wolf dung!"

Several young men immediately responded and searched the hearth in Xu Guohan's house. Soon, one of them shouted, "There's a pile of wolf dung covered by firewood here!"

Xu Guohan's face changed, and after a moment, he said, "But wolf dung doesn't prove anything."

At this moment, his tone seemed different from usual.

"You really don't give up until the end..." Su Peng looked at Xu Guohan with a hint of pity and said, "Today, near the carpenter's house, I overheard a secret conversation... I was a bit careless and startled the two people talking. I didn't see them, but I smelled a pungent odor there."

"I always felt this smell was familiar, but I couldn't recall it immediately. However, I noticed a clue."

"In the secret conversation, one person was responsible for passing messages to the bandits from Qinglong Mountain. Almost no one in the village could do this... Qinglong Mountain is not close, and it takes a long time to travel back and forth. There were no suspicious people in the village."

"So I suspected the traveling merchant who came to the village. Recently, the area has been unstable, and few traveling merchants pass through. This person, however, still does business nearby. I asked Aunt Li at the inn, and she said the traveling merchant comes once a month, but this time, he came after only seven days. He is the easiest person to pass information to the bandits from Qinglong Mountain."

"But there was another clue. In the conversation, you said you gave the signal to the bandits from Qinglong Mountain, not the merchant. Since the village is closed, I suspected how you would pass the signal."

"Right at this moment, I remembered what the pungent odor was... it was wolf dung, the smell of burning wolf dung."

"Thus, everything falls into place... How did the two people in the secret conversation pass the signal... It was smoke from burning wolf dung! The smoke from burning wolf dung is black and lingers in the sky for a long time, which is the signal!"

"My memory is good... Recalling the noon, I realized that the smoke from your house was black. Most people wouldn't notice this, thinking it was just wet firewood, but if you pay attention, you would know it was wolf dung!"

"The person in the village who could easily obtain wolf dung is Old Hu and Ji Ming. No one else would bother with wolves. I asked Ji Ming, and he said that a few days ago, you heard that wolf dung could treat old leg pain, and you paid him to collect a lot."

"The pungent odor is also easily explained. After you sent the signal, the bandits from Qinglong Mountain rushed in. In a hurry, you found the traveling merchant, but you didn't realize that the pungent odor from burning wolf dung hadn't dissipated, revealing your secret! The mole in Green Mountain Village is you!"

Su Peng pointed at Xu Guohan.

"Hmph..." Xu Guohan coldly snorted, holding the wine cup. His face was still ordinary, but his eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

"Having hunted geese for so long, I never thought I would be pecked by one... You, a young man, have found my weakness... You... give me your life!"

Xu Guohan suddenly burst out, raising his hand and throwing the wine cup at Su Peng!

The wine cup flew at an incredible speed. Su Peng didn't have time to react and instinctively raised his arm to block it. Instantly, he felt a powerful force from the wine cup, as if his entire arm was about to break!

The immense force sent Su Peng flying backward, crashing into the wall!

"You all die...!" Xu Guohan's face twisted in a fierce expression as he shouted loudly!