"On my first day in the Qingfeng Gang, during the test, someone made things difficult for me, so I failed the outer disciple test and became a menial disciple."
Lin Xiaofei said in a low voice.
"Sigh, there's a lot of trouble in the inner palace. Coming to the Pill Pavilion is a good thing. Work hard, save money to support your family, and live a peaceful life."
Wang Shan said calmly that he also knew about the backstabbing and infighting within the gang.
"Uncle Wang, I'd like to help you push the cart every day. That way, I can go out for a walk every day and get some fresh air instead of being cooped up in the backyard chopping wood all the time. Is that alright with you?"
Lin Xiaofei seized the opportunity and quickly spoke.
"Sure, if someone's willing to help me push the cart, of course I'd be happy to."
However, I need to tell the shopkeeper about this so that it's done properly; otherwise, you'll be punished.
Also, you must guarantee the amount of firewood you chop each day; otherwise, forget it.
Wang Shan said with a smile.
"Will the shopkeeper agree?"
Lin Xiaofei quickly asked.
"As long as you can guarantee the amount of firewood you chop each day, the shopkeeper won't say anything."
Wang Shan nodded and said.
On their way back, Lin Xiaofei and his two companions retraced their steps, glancing at the woods in the distance before quickly looking ahead and continuing to push the cart.
Suddenly, he was startled.
Mountain bandits.
It was the same grove of trees as before, where one person was hiding. On the opposite side of the grove, another person was hiding in the bushes, looking at Lin Xiaofei and his companions.
Lin Xiaofei quickly shifted his gaze, pretending to look in another direction, but a hint of nervousness lingered in his heart.
Several bandits were hiding in different parts of the woods, each looking in a different direction, as if observing something.
"Are they spying on someone?"
Lin Xiaofei was alarmed. Although he pretended to look in other directions and appeared calm, at this moment, he just wanted to leave as soon as possible. He was really afraid that the bandits would rush over.
Suddenly, a group of people came from ahead, driving horse-drawn carriages and escorting four carts of goods, swaggering towards them.
"Zhang Family Escort Agency!"
Lin Xiaofei glanced at the group of people and saw that their clothes had the character "Zhang" written on the front, and that each of them wore a long sword at their waist. He immediately realized that they were from a security escort agency.
"Zhang Family Escort Agency? I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before."
Lin Xiaofei thought to himself, then brushed past the group of people and continued walking towards the city gate.
After distancing himself from the group, Lin Xiaofei hesitated for a moment, then turned around and scanned the area again, only to find that the people hiding in the woods were gone.
However, in the distance, there were many bushes and branches that were as tall as a person swaying, gradually approaching the group from Zhang Family Escort Agency. Lin Xiaofei became nervous and dared not look any further, fearing what might happen next.
Fortunately, after walking several hundred meters, they did not hear any fighting sounds behind them, and the bandits made no move.
"Push the cart hard!"
Wang Shan suddenly called out in a low voice.
Lin Xiaofei looked at Wang Shan with a puzzled expression and noticed that the other man looked nervous, with his brows furrowed and his face serious. He immediately understood that Uncle Wang must have noticed the bandits and was probably worried that the bandits would fight with the Zhang Family Escort Agency, thus implicating the three of them. So Uncle Wang quickly whispered something and then pushed the cart hard.
"Uncle Wang, those people just now..."
Lin Xiaofei hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Don't speak. There are at least seven or eight bandits hiding in the tall grass nearby. Don't attract their attention, or you'll get into trouble."
Wang Shan interrupted Lin Xiaofei and said in a low voice.
Lin Xiaofei's heart tightened, and he quickly shut his mouth and continued pushing the cart.
Unexpectedly, there were other people hiding in the bushes, and since they didn't approach the three of them, they were obviously waiting for others to pass by.
After Lin Xiaofei and the others left, several bandits hiding in the bushes quickly entered the woods and gathered together.
One of the bandits whispered, "Is there something going on?"
"Zhang Shulong himself wasn't seen on this shipment from Zhang Family Escort Agency. Should we make a move?"
"That's what another bandit said."
"Since Zhang Shulong himself is not here, I will not rush to take action to avoid alerting him prematurely."
"That's what the bandit from before said."
"yes!"
"We've explored this area quite thoroughly. All that's left is to assign people to our positions and notify Xiao Qi to get ready."
"good!"
They all nodded, turned and entered the woods and bushes, heading in different directions, and soon disappeared.
"Zhang Family Escort Agency, that sounds familiar? I can't quite place it right now."
Chopping wood alone, Lin Xiaofei began to recall the group of people from Zhang Family Escort Agency that he had seen earlier.
At that time, the group of bandits gradually approached Zhang Family Escort Agency from the bushes and woods, seemingly intending to attack it. However, Lin Xiaofei dared not warn them, otherwise he would be in trouble.
If he were to speak too much or say the wrong thing, he could very well face a fatal disaster.
While chopping wood, he recalled the events that had occurred during this period.
"I remember now. After arriving in Qingshan Town and entering the city gate, many people were talking about Black Wind Stronghold and Zhang Family Escort Agency."
From the day he left the village, Lin Xiaofei began to recall what had happened. Not long after, he remembered that he had asked Uncle Hua a question back then.
"Zhang Shulong of the Zhang Family Escort Agency was intercepted by bandits during an escort mission, resulting in the death of Wang Yunshan, the apprentice of the second-in-command of Black Wind Stronghold."
Lin Xiaofei recalled the discussions he had overheard at the city gate and was startled, a guess forming in his mind.
This morning, when he was pushing the cart, the bandits he saw were most likely from Black Wind Village.
"If I'm not mistaken, those bandits were spying on Zhang Family Escort Agency, weren't they? Black Wind Stronghold might be planning to make a move against Zhang Shulong?"
Lin Xiaofei thought for a moment.
The bandits of Black Wind Stronghold were ruthless and committed numerous atrocities, including arson, murder, and robbery. Given that the second-in-command's apprentice had died at Zhang Shulong's hands, it was highly likely that they would seek revenge and thus target Zhang Shulong.
The bandits of Black Wind Stronghold are too arrogant. They actually want to attack the Zhang family from a distance of about seven or eight kilometers from the city gate.
Of course, these are just his guesses and may not be true, since nothing has happened yet.
Not daring to think too much about it, Lin Xiaofei felt that this matter was too big and it was better to forget about it.
Time passed quickly, and as the sun set, Lin Xiaofei chopped a considerable amount of firewood.
Around 8 p.m., it was finally time for dinner. Lin Xiaofei went to the kitchen and sat down with a group of workers to eat and chat.
"Today, while I was selling pills in the attic, I heard from a customer that a group of people from the Song family encountered a strange beast while escorting their goods. The beast overturned their cargo and killed a martial artist."
Which Song family?
"You don't even know this? The Song family, led by Song Sanzhang of the Zuozhang Escort Agency."
"Really? Song Sanzhang has the strength of a peak ordinary martial artist, and his skills are extraordinary. What kind of strange beast could overturn their escorted goods?"
"Ordinary strange beasts would naturally not dare to ram into his family's escorted goods, but what if they encounter a very wild strange beast?"
Moreover, the strange beast was not afraid of them at all, and even fought with several martial artists, knocking over the goods they were escorting and causing them to lose a sum of money.
I heard from the guest that among the goods escorted by the Song family, there were two Water Yin Grasses, which were discovered and eaten by the strange beast. The Song family patriarch could only gang up on the beast with the martial artists escorting the goods, but it was difficult to hurt the beast.
Fortunately, the Song family was lucky; they unexpectedly encountered Master Zhang from Litu Mountain along the way.
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