Hu Sanniang was taken aback, and Duan Jingzhu laughed heartily, "Third Sister won't have to sleep alone tonight." He then sang a line, "My dear, why aren't you here—"
Hu Sanniang blushed, a rare occurrence for her, and kicked Duan Jingzhu.
I stopped everyone, saying, "We can't keep giving medicine indiscriminately. Wu Junshi's side is also taking action, and it's easy for us to clash. If Third Sister's medicine hadn't taken effect a little too slowly, it would have been too strong. We should find a place to meet with Wu Junshi, gather everyone together, see who's still missing, and then act in unison."
Ruan Xiaowu laughed and said, "Xiaoqiang has even learned to strategize."
I scoffed, "That's nothing. I can single-handedly take on an army of 70,000, moving in and out as if it were nothing." Here's how I see it: Xiang Yu led 30,000 men against Zhang Han's 100,000. Even if he could win with 30,000 against 30,000, the remaining 70,000 would essentially be something I gained with that laugh…
The heroes already knew my nature, so they just pretended I was talking nonsense and discussed among themselves, "There are too many people in the family compound, let's call the strategist and have him meet us at the small warehouse." When they realized they couldn't use the phone, they added, "We should find Brother Dai Zong first." These guys have clearly become lazier since they came back from the modern world.
Duan Jingzhu said, "The only thing we can do is send someone to find the strategist. Who do you all think should go and make the trip?"
Suddenly, everyone pointed at his nose and shouted, "Go!"
Duan Jingzhu immediately looked miserable and said, "Why me?"
Everyone: "Because you're the youngest."
Duan Jingzhu pointed at me and said, "This one is also number 109."
The strategist Zhu Wu said solemnly, "Let's not spread the news about Xiao Qiang yet. We'll decide after we've discussed it with Brother Junyi and the others. I think we still can't keep this from Brother Song in the end."
Duan Jingzhu held my hand tightly and said, "Don't worry, even if all of them disagree with you joining, I will still treat you as my 109th brother!"
Hmm, next time it'll be my turn to run errands!
After Duan Jingzhu left, we slowly made our way towards the small warehouse they had mentioned, recruiting seven or eight more heroes along the way. I dare say our group grew faster than any rebel army in history, and soon we had over a dozen followers. I started from the front and walked into the middle of the group. Because I was the only new face among us, I attracted a lot of attention. Along the way, I also saw many of the other 54 famous figures, and people kept pointing and saying in my ear, "Look, that's Thunderbolt Qin Ming." "That's Desperate Saburo Shi Xiu." "Don't talk nonsense... what Chen Haonan? That's Nine-Dragon Shi Jin!"...
We hadn't been at the small warehouse long when Wu Yong, having received the news, arrived with a group of men. From a distance, I recognized many of them: Lin Chong, Yang Zhi, and even Zhang Qing, whom I'd met not long after we arrived on the mountain. They all greeted me with smiles from afar. Suddenly, someone rushed out of the crowd shouting, "Xiao Qiang, you bastard, I'll make you pay!" It was Dong Ping, baring his teeth and claws, lunging at us. The others quickly stopped him, asking what was wrong. Dong Ping angrily pointed at me and demanded, "Those two fish I asked you to raise, did you eat them as soon as I left?"
It took me a while to realize he was referring to those two loaches—I handed them to Xiao Liu after Dong Ping left, and Xiao Liu promptly deep-fried them…
I asked, puzzled, "How did you know?"
Dong Ping exclaimed, "I saw them in the river as soon as I arrived at the Bridge of Helplessness!"
Everyone was overjoyed.
At this moment, a man stepped forward from the crowd and said with a gentle smile, "Xiao Qiang, welcome home." This man was over fifty years old and slightly overweight; he was none other than Lu Junyi, the second-in-command of Liangshan.
I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, saying, "Brother Junyi, I missed you all so much."
Lu Junyi laughed and said, "We... uh, we haven't really missed you." People laughed again, because Old Lu was telling the truth; if they had missed me, things would have been chaotic.
Wu Yong smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Come, let's sit down and talk."
The so-called small warehouse at Liangshan was anything but small, easily the size of seven or eight basketball courts, mainly used to store weapons that weren't currently in use. People quickly found places to sit, some on the arrow emplacements, others leaning against rows of iron spears. Currently, Wu Yong and I had gathered more than 30 people on both sides, but the atmosphere at the meeting had become chaotic. Compared to the others who were reunited after a long separation, these "insiders" were experiencing a life-or-death reunion, and the more they stayed together, the more their conversation drifted off-topic. Some reminisced about their time at Yucai High School, some were excited about the competition in Singapore, and others looked to the future. Wu Yong told me that he hadn't told everyone about my mission yet, so the bandits were quite relaxed.
Moreover, these people have quite a few problems. They've gotten used to being with me, and whenever we have a meeting, they instinctively want to pull out their phones to play games. Some complain about the lack of air conditioning, and others come up to me asking for cigarettes. Wu Yong understood that everyone had a lot to say, so he wasn't in a hurry to get to the point.
Just then, a skinny young man peeked into the warehouse from the doorway. Dong Ping called out, "Shi Qian, come in!"
Shi Qian slipped in, chuckling, "Your brothers are all here—"
Wu Yong and I exchanged a glance and shook our heads, indicating that neither of us had given Shi Qian any medicine. Seeing this, Dong Ping and Zhang Qing stood behind Shi Qian, blocking his way. Wu Yong took out a pill and said like he was coaxing a child, "Here, Brother Shi Qian, take this."
Upon seeing the medicine, Shi Qian instinctively took a step back but leaned against Dong Ping. His expression changed slightly as he said, "I won't take it."
Wu Yong asked curiously, "Why don't you eat it?" Everyone was also puzzled. It wasn't like he was being asked to eat flies or rats, and besides, this blue medicine had an enticing fragrance. It was unusual for Shi Qian, who was always greedy for small gains, not to eat it.
Shi Qian kept waving his hands and said, "I can't eat anymore, or I'll start remembering things from my past life—" He turned to me and said, "Xiao Qiang, are you alright?"
Hearing him call my name, I was both surprised and curious, and asked, "Neither the strategist nor I gave you any medicine, so how did you think of me?"
Shi Qian glanced at everyone and said apologetically, "I saw the strategist acting all mysterious, like he was handing out some good stuff, so I couldn't resist taking one from him myself..."
Chapter 112 "Pacifying" Fang La
Amidst the joyful gathering, Wu Yong suddenly waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's begin the meeting."
Someone suddenly asked me, "Xiao Qiang, can you take us back this time?"
Wu Yong said, "Next, I'm going to talk about this—Xiao Qiang is here on a mission."
The crowd continued to chatter amongst themselves, when Wu Yong shouted, "Stop arguing! Let's hurry up and discuss this; we still have to fight Fang La."
The room fell silent immediately. Everyone looked at each other and asked in unison, "Why are we attacking Fang La? Why are we attacking Fang La?"
Wu Yong sighed, "I originally wanted to wait until everyone was gathered before telling you, but I might as well tell you now so you can be mentally prepared. Xiao Qiang came to inform us that we are going to fight Fang La. Although we have returned, we still have to do the things we did before. In other words, we Liangshan still have to fight Fang La, otherwise history will be changed and we will all die under the dictates of Heaven."
Everyone present was one of their own, and many things didn't need to be explained too clearly; everyone understood. So Wu Yong explained the situation in just a few words.
Lin Chong pondered, "But Fang La hasn't provoked us yet, so why should we rashly send troops?" Dong Ping sneered, "Even last time, when did they provoke us? Wasn't it Brother Song..." At this point, Dong Ping realized he had misspoke and stopped talking.
Zhang Qing immediately shouted, "So you're saying that to save our lives we have to kill Old Wang and the others again? That's not fair!" The bandits and Fang La and his four Heavenly Kings had long since buried the hatchet in the past year. They usually just argued verbally, but when it came to a real fight, they couldn't bring themselves to do it. Even Zhang Qing, who had a deep hatred for Li Tianrun, said so, and the others echoed his sentiments.
To be honest, I was quite pleased to see this situation. These bandits might be a bit of a scoundrel in ordinary times, but when it came to matters of principle, they were truly worthy of the title of heroes. I hurriedly stepped forward and said loudly, "Brothers, listen to me! Fighting Fang La was something we had no choice but to do, but we can still discuss the details. That's why I came to you first. Otherwise, I could have just sat and watched. Your brother Song Jiang will eventually be granted amnesty, and then we could lead you and Old Wang to fight each other to the death, and the result would be the same. But now the initiative is in our hands. Wouldn't it be better if we all brainstormed and came up with a solution that benefits everyone?"
A moment of silence fell over everyone. Lu Junyi said, "Xiao Qiang, didn't you say you had some kind of idea sheet? Take it out and let us take a look again."
I took out the paper and spread it on the table. Several leaders gathered around to look at it, while the others, unable to get close, jumped up and down to peer inside, asking all sorts of questions: "Is it there? Am I there?"
Wu Yong pointed to the column for the Northern Song Dynasty and said, "It says here that the Northern Song Dynasty must be destroyed by the Jin Dynasty, marked by the capture of two emperors. The Song Dynasty's military preparedness is lax, and it's only a matter of time. Now the unexpected thing is Fang La. The outcome of his uprising is hard to say, and our mission in Liangshan is to defeat him. These two things are both independent and related, and it seems that we must do them."
The list of plans was passed around among the leaders, all of them frowning. The others pushed forward, eager to see what was written on it. Hu Sanniang suddenly hoisted Duan Jingzhu and Shi Qian aside, grabbed the list, glanced at it, and said, "Hey, this says 'pacify Fang La,' not 'annihilate Fang La.' Can't we just capture him and prevent him from rebelling?"