Chapter 92

In the scorching heat of late summer, not a trace of coolness could be found. The blazing sun hung high in the sky, and cicadas chirped mournfully. In the vast, empty countryside, there was not a soul to be seen, except for a swift horse galloping along a narrow path, heading straight for Dongxi Village.

At this moment, Chao Gai was drinking wine under a grapevine in the back garden with Wu Yong, Gong Sunsheng, Liu Tang, and Han Bulong. Li Kui, impatient with them, took a bunch of grapes and walked out of the courtyard, finding a shady spot to sit down. He stuffed three or four grapes into his mouth at once, chewing them to pass the time, not even spitting out the skins, and enjoyed himself.

Suddenly, a swift horse came galloping in, carrying a short, dark man. The man dismounted hurriedly when he reached the gate. The servants, hearing the commotion, came out to look. Seeing this man, they smiled and said, "Rare guest, Song Yansi!"

The rough man who was eating grapes without spitting out the skins jumped up as if struck by lightning, rushed forward, and blocked the short, dark man, asking, "Are you the Black Song Jiang from Yuncheng, Shandong?"

Under normal circumstances, this brave man would have chatted with the newcomer, insisting on knowing his parents' names before letting him go. But at this critical moment, any mistake could cost him dearly. He Tao from Jizhou was still waiting in the teahouse, unaware of what was happening. How could he waste time on this man?

He hastily bowed to the short, dark man and said, "I am the one. Hero, please let me pass!" Then he tried to move aside to go around the man. Li Kui, seeing this, became angry and insisted on stopping him, grabbing the short, dark man's clothes and asking, "Are you really the Black Song Jiang from Yuncheng?"

Song Jiang, who had no time to waste, bowed again and said, "I am! Hero, please let me pass, I have urgent business!"

Li Kui, hearing this, became furious and shouted, "I've heard that Black Song Jiang is a generous and righteous man who loves to make friends with heroes! You run away from me, how dare you call yourself Song Jiang? If you are Song Jiang, then I must not look like a hero! You dare to impersonate my brother Song Jiang, you're asking for a beating!"

Song Jiang, seeing that this man was rough, felt a deep sense of frustration. He thought, "Why did I have to meet such a muddled person at this critical moment?" He looked around, hoping to find someone to vouch for him. But he didn't know that this short, dark man was a local tyrant, and even Chao Gai had to bow to him. The servants were all hiding far away. Song Jiang, feeling helpless, shouted, "Baozheng! Baozheng, come out!"

Li Kui, seeing this, became even angrier, thinking, "Another tattletale! Does Chao Gai have no capable friends at all?" He raised his fist to strike Song Jiang. Song Jiang, a man who could walk through the county with people making way for him, had never encountered such a situation before. He quickly said, "Hero, don't hit me! I am really Song Jiang!"

Li Kui, hearing this, became even angrier and punched the short, dark man in the face, causing a bruise to appear. Song Jiang fell to the ground. Li Kui, still not satisfied, tried to hit him again. Seeing that this black man was not letting him go, Song Jiang thought, "A hero doesn't suffer a loss in front of a fool." He quickly said, "I am not Song Jiang! Hero, calm down!"

Li Kui, hearing this, became even angrier and said, "You are ruining my brother Song Jiang's reputation! Take another punch!"

Song Jiang, hearing this, was shocked and said, "You are unreasonable! Whether I am Song Jiang or not, you hit me either way! Is there no justice in this world?"

Li Kui, not caring about reason, mounted Song Jiang and was about to hit him again. Suddenly, someone rushed out from the courtyard and shouted, "Brother Li Kui, stop! This is the very Song Jiang you've been thinking of, Song Gongming from Shandong!"

Li Kui, looking at the man under him in disbelief, turned to look at the hurriedly approaching Chao Gai with a puzzled expression. Chao Gai, seeing that he still didn't believe, swore, "I, Chao Gai, may not be a hero, but I would never deceive my savior!"

Li Kui, seeing this, finally believed that the man under him was the real Song Jiang. He said angrily, "People say Black Song Jiang is so good, but you don't seem that great! I spit on you!" He spat on the ground, stood up, and said, "People also say that the White Scholar is narrow-minded and excludes heroes. Pah! What kind of rumors are these, always distorting the truth and deceiving honest people like me!"

Song Jiang, seeing this, quickly got up, ignoring the pain on his face, and pulled Chao Gai to a secluded place. Chao Gai, seeing that he was injured, felt very guilty and said, "Yansi, it's all my fault. I will come to apologize in a few days!"

Song Jiang, touching his swollen cheek, winced in pain but showed no anger towards Li Kui. He thought, "This man is strong, and if it weren't for the urgency, I would have made friends with him." But the situation was too urgent to waste time on idle talk. After looking around to ensure no one was eavesdropping, he said in a low voice:

"Brother, I am your close friend, and I risked my life to save you. The incident at Huangni Ridge has been exposed, and Bai Sheng has been captured by the Jizhou authorities. He has confessed to the seven of you, and the Jizhou government has sent He Jibuzhu with several men and a warrant to arrest you seven, with you as the leader. Fortunately, I intercepted them. I told them the magistrate was sleeping and asked He Jibuzhu to wait in the teahouse opposite the county office. I came here as quickly as possible to warn you. Brother, the best strategy is to flee. If you don't leave quickly, what will you do? Don't delay, or it will be too late. Don't blame me for not coming to save you!"

Chao Gai, hearing this, was alarmed and shouted, "What kind of scoundrels are these! They dare to make such a big fuss over a fake convoy! A box of jewelry worth only a few hundred guan, and they claim it's worth ten thousand guan! How shameless can Li Zhongshu be? If it were really sent to Cai Jing in Tokyo, how would he explain it to his father-in-law?"

Song Jiang, hearing this, was puzzled and thought, "I risked my life to warn him, why is he lying to me? I don't want his gold or silver, why is he doing this?"

Chao Gai, seeing Song Jiang's doubt, thought, "I must not let this brother misunderstand me!" He didn't have time to explain but pulled Song Jiang to the back garden. Wu Yong, Gong Sunsheng, Liu Tang, and Han Bulong were all there. Seeing this, they all wondered why Chao Gai was pulling a man with a swollen face into the garden. Chao Gai said, "Brothers, this is our timely rain, Song Jiang. He risked his life to warn us. Bai Sheng has been captured and confessed to us. Song Jiang has delayed the Jizhou officials. You must all testify that the total value of the convoy we robbed was how much!"

Everyone was stunned and said in unison, "The jewelry was worth less than two thousand guan! Why are you asking this, Baozheng?"

Song Jiang, hearing this, remembered Chao Gai's past and bowed, saying, "I trust you, brother, but the Jizhou officials are specifically looking for the five of you. Bai Sheng, Xiao Rang, and Jin Dajian are already in the Jizhou prison. Xiao and Jin refused to speak until Bai Sheng confessed, and then they identified you. Brothers, I can't stay long, but I came to warn you. Please take it seriously!"

Everyone bowed and said, "We are deeply grateful to Brother Gongming. We will repay you with our lives!"

Song Jiang, seeing this, quickly helped them up, asked their names, and said he hoped to meet them again if they had the chance. He bowed to everyone and hurriedly left the manor. Chao Gai and the others saw him off. The short, dark man was still angry under the tree. Song Jiang looked back at Chao Gai, who said, "This man is named Li Kui!" Song Jiang approached and said, "Hero Li Kui, I have urgent business today. If I have offended you, please forgive me!" He bowed to the man who had hit him. Li Kui spat on the ground and turned away, ignoring him. Song Jiang, not minding, bowed to everyone again and quickly mounted his horse, galloping back to the county.

Chao Gai, seeing Song Jiang leave, gathered the four men in a secret room. Han Bulong cursed, "These scoundrels, claiming a few thousand guan is worth ten thousand guan! They must be trying to extort ten thousand guan from us! This father-in-law and son-in-law pair are truly shameless!"

Liu Tang, hearing this, was also furious and said, "I won't run. I'll wait for them to come and kill one by one, and then I'll go to Daming to cut off Li Zhongshu's head! How dare they scheme against the heroes of the world!"

Gong Sunsheng, puzzled, thought for a moment and said, "I saw Yang Zhi's eyes filled with despair. Could he not know it was a fake convoy? If it's as Han and Liu say, Li Zhongshu is too cunning! He must have put valuable jewelry in the convoy to ensure the robbers would be caught. The jewelry can't be used as money, only in pawnshops or gambling dens. When the jewelry appears, they will have a lead. It's a clever plan!"

"Ah, Daozhang! This is not the time to praise a clever plan! We didn't get the mutton, but we got a stink! We need to think about how to deal with this!" Han Bulong urged.

Gong Sunsheng said, "What more to discuss? The best strategy is to flee. If we don't, what will we do?"

Chao Gai, hearing this, slumped into a chair. He thought, "If I flee, I will lose my thousands of acres of good land. I spent over ten thousand guan to buy 1,200 acres of land last year, and now that money is gone. I was hoping to rob the convoy, get ten thousand guan each, and then sell the land and escape with everyone. Now, not only have we lost everything, but we've also lost money. How can I not be disheartened? I feel like crashing my head against the wall." (To be continued)

PS: I'm exhausted, going to sleep. I didn't break my promise to the heroes. If you have any monthly tickets, please lend me a few!