The Second Volume of Water Margin

  After seeing off the Pagoda-Wielding Heavenly King, Song Jiang returned to the assembly hall with a gloomy face. He glanced at the empty chair in the middle and sat down on the left-hand chair as before, calling over Li Kui and Hua Rong.

  Li Kui was born with a pair of handsome eyes, white teeth and red lips, flying eyebrows and slender waist. When he was the martial arts instructor at Clear Wind Stockade, he often exchanged letters with Song Jiang, addressing each other as "sworn brothers".

  At this time, Hua Rong heard Song Jiang's summons and had an idea. He went up to the hall and saw Song Jiang sitting on the second chair in a daze. He hastily stepped forward and paid his respects, saying: "Hua Rong pays his respects to elder brother."

  Song Jiang came back to his senses from his deep thought, waved away the attendants on both sides and invited Hua Rong to sit down: "Younger brother, are you all set?"

  "Hua Rong clasped his hands together and replied respectfully: 'Sworn brother, everything has been prepared according to your instructions.'"

  "Very good." Song Jiang thought for a moment and asked with some unease: "How confident are you about this matter?"

  Hua Rong smiled and said: "Brother Yi, rest assured. If there's no 100% guarantee, it would be a waste of the reputation as 'Little Li Guang' given by people in the Jianghu."

  "Good brother." Song Jiang nodded and said: "With you taking action, I can be at ease."

  "Everyone on the mountain calls me Brother Gongming, but the only one who can put my mind at ease is you, my virtuous younger brother."

  Hua Rong didn't know what Song Jiang meant by this, and hastily explained: "Brother, rest assured that if this matter is not successful, Hua Rong will have no face to return to the mountain, and will certainly take his own life to apologize for his crime."

  "Alas, where did you get this idea from?" Song Jiang said with a displeased face: "Even if the matter is not yet settled, don't reveal your identity, return to the mountain quietly, and I will naturally cover for you. What reason is there to risk your life?"

  Hua Rong said a sentence: "Everything depends on brother Yi's arrangement." Then he fell silent.

  Song Jiang suddenly said: "The craftsman who made the arrow for you, how did you deal with him?"

  Hua Rong replied: "Hua Rong has not received orders from his sworn brother and will not act arbitrarily."

  Song Jiang nodded in apparent satisfaction: "Alright, you can set your mind at ease and go down the mountain. I'll take care of arranging for that craftsman. From now on, there won't be such a person on Mount Liang anymore. As for the special arrow shafts for my younger brother, I will find another skilled craftsman to carefully make them."

  Hua Rong heard Song Jiang's words, a chill ran up from his feet, and he couldn't help but shiver. Hua Rong was very familiar with Song Jiang's methods, "There is no such person" meant that the craftsman would disappear silently.

  "Sworn brother, what about Hua Yueyong and Qin Ming's marriage..." Hua Rong asked, gritting his teeth.

  "Your younger sister is my younger sister too." Song Jiang smiled and said, "Mei Niang is still young now, it's not suitable for her to marry Qin Ming. Although we had an agreement before, when the time comes, think of a way to find another door-to-door match to compensate Lei Huo."

  Xiao Li Guanghua Rong obtained this promise from Song Jiang and let out a sigh of relief. Originally, Song Jiang and Wu Yong had planned to have the government kill Qin Ming's entire family and then marry Hua Yueyue off to him, which was how they got Qin Ming to join Mount Liangshan.

  This matter, Hua Rong had never mentioned before, but in his heart, he was still unwilling to let his younger sister marry Qin Ming, that rough and unrefined man. To say the least, Qin Ming's age could be old enough to be Hua Yue Rong's father!

  "There is a Fahua Temple nearby, and the abbot is an old acquaintance of mine. My younger brother can hide in the temple, and when the time comes, he can take action!"

  Hua Rong saw the murderous intent on Song Jiang's face and quickly lowered his head: "I understand!"

  Since receiving Yan Qing, Ximen Qing, Wu Song and Shi Qian, the three brothers led the team to Beijing. They traveled for two or three days. Although it was a time of warm spring and blooming flowers, the scenery along the way was very monotonous. Not to mention Ximen Qing and others, even Xue Er and Pan Jinlian were bored all day in the carriage. When they came out to get some fresh air and looked at the trees by the road, they didn't have much interest either.

  After avenging his grudge, Yan Qing had begun to treat Ximen Qing as a master, and for the past few days, he had been volunteering to escort the carriage team. He often followed closely behind the horse-drawn carriage, and when Snowy was bored, she would chat with Yan Qing. Yan Qing was a charming figure who often roamed the streets, with many tricks up his sleeve. He would tell jokes that frequently made Snowy and Pan Jinlian giggle.

  On this day, the cavalry stopped to rest. Xue Er was extremely bored and didn't know what to do, so she started looking at Yan Qing's small crossbow on his back. She insisted on taking it down to admire it. In Yan Qing's eyes, Xue Er and Pan Jinlian were both his master's concubines. Although this crossbow was something Yan Qing carried with him all the time and loved very much, he still removed the arrow, loosened the mechanism, and handed it over to Xue Er to look at.

  "This crossbow may be small, but its power is not low. Xiaoyi usually carries it with him every day, and the government only thinks it's used to shoot small birds and beasts, and won't consider it a deadly weapon." Yan Qing explained: "In the forest, Xiaoyi also uses it to kill corrupt officials, it's really a must-have tool for traveling."

  Xue Er and Pan Jinlian were giggling, turning the crossbow over and examining it from different angles. They tried to load it with a bolt, and this was where the crossbow's advantage lay - unlike other bows and arrows, its range depended on human strength. Take Xue Er and Pan Jinlian for example; unless they used some toy bamboo bows and arrows, they couldn't even draw the string back, let alone shoot an arrow out.

  This crossbow was made by a skilled craftsman at great expense, the iron frame can withstand more pressure than wood, with sights and graduations all complete, it has a mechanism that allows you to slowly tighten the bowstring, not to mention Yan Qing, even Xue Er who doesn't have much strength in her hands, can use it.

  Pan Jinlian glanced at it a few times and put it away, going forward to talk to Ximen Qing and others. But Yuxiao couldn't bear to part with it, urging Yanqing to take out an arrow and try its power. Yanqing had no choice but to take out an arrow, which was about three inches long and quite different from ordinary ones. After arranging the people around him, he let Yuxiao try shooting once.

  Xue'er's eyes rolled around, aiming at a large tree twenty steps away according to Yan Qing's method. With a press of the trigger, the small arrow flew like a shooting star chasing the moon, straight and fast, disappearing silently into the trunk.

  Xue Er was overjoyed and pulled Yan Qing to go take a look. Seeing that the small arrow had already penetrated deep into the tree trunk, Xue Er surprisingly couldn't pull it out. Only then did she realize the power of this crossbow, and she couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

  The rogue Yan Qing saw Xue Er's weak strength, and when he went to pull out the arrow, he saw that the small arrow was straight and straight, nailed in the center of the tree trunk, making Yan Qing surprised: "Sister Xue Er, were you aiming at the center of this tree trunk just now?"

  Yan Qing's words were as smooth as honey, and he would address any woman, regardless of age, as "sister". Although Xue Er was actually several years younger than Yan Qing, she had grown accustomed to being called "sister" by him. Now, hearing Yan Qing ask her this question, she replied in surprise: "If it's a trial shot, of course you aim for the center. Would you aim anywhere else?"

  Of course, this is a big truth. For someone like Xue Er who shoots an arrow for the first time, it's natural to think about hitting the target. However... almost all beginners have no chance of hitting the target, let alone bows and arrows, even crossbows are rare.

  "It's definitely a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse, it's impossible." Langzi Yanqing thought for a moment, his mouth was a bit dry, he shook his head and calmed down... He raised his hand to replace Xue'er with another arrow: "Let's try again!"

  "Let's do it again, and then we'll do it again." Xue Er seemed to have also taken a liking to this game, and with Yan Qing, they retreated back to a distance of twenty steps, preparing to take aim. Yan Qing thought for a moment, then pulled Xue Er back another ten steps.

  "Try it from here." Yan Qing was somewhat unbelieving. Thirty steps, the blind cat wouldn't bump into a dead mouse, would it?

  In fact, from thirty steps away, that big tree which was still quite sturdy just now has shrunk to the thickness of a reed.

  Yan Qing estimated that even he himself would have to aim carefully in order to hit the trunk of the tree.

  Looking at Yan Qing's serious expression, Xue Er also became serious and picked up the crossbow to carefully aim.

  "Xuě ér jiě jiě won't be a natural-born talent, right? Hmm, looks like her hands are indeed very steady." Just as Yan Qing was thinking this, Xuěr had already pulled the trigger and shot the arrow.

  "Go and take a look." Xue Er shot an arrow and happily ran in that direction: "It seems like I hit it!"

  Yan Qing's face changed slightly as he walked, thinking to himself. Snow was a step behind him, but then she suddenly exclaimed in delight: "Xiao Yige, look! I really did hit it! It seems I'm still pretty good at archery!"

  As he approached closer, took a look, Yan Qing was no longer just surprised, his eyes were almost stuck to the tree trunk.

  This arrow actually nailed just above the hole that was shot out just now, and it almost became a larger hole.

  "This can't be true!" Yan Qing's heart suddenly felt like a million horses galloping by: "This is impossible!"

  "I was deliberately estimating the position of the last shot." Xue Er exclaimed excitedly: "Little Yige, look, they almost form a hole!"

  Rong Zi Yan Qing pulled out the arrow from his hand, seriously looking at Xue Er, really couldn't understand this lively little girl in front of him, whether she was the reincarnation of Yang Zhi or Li Guang who had traveled through time. It's said that in Liangshan Po there is a young Li Guang Hua Rong, with the skill of shooting accurately from 100 paces, if Xue Er practices hard, maybe her skills won't be inferior to Hua Rong's.

  Xue Er's excited shouting immediately attracted everyone's attention.

  The book boy and the painting boy looked at each other in shock, amazed: "No wonder Master fell for Snow Sister at first sight, it's because of this reason."

  "What? Our Xue'er has such skills?" Ximen Qing looked at Xue'er, who was beaming with joy, and lavishly praised her: "This is my good Xue'er, worthy of my affection."

  "What Xiao Li Guanghua Rong, are definitely no match for our Xue Er!"

  Ximen Qing's praise made Xue'er feel a bit embarrassed, even though she didn't know what Hua Rong looked like: "Master, don't say that, others will be embarrassed."

  Seeing the inquiring glances all around, especially Pan Jinlian's somewhat strange gaze, Ximen Qing suddenly remembered that the term "person" was something he had taught to Xue'er, this little demon, out of personal preference. In this world, people still addressed him as "Slave".

  "Hahaha." Ximen Qing burst out laughing and changed the subject: "By the way, today...the weather is not bad, it's just that there aren't any good scenic spots nearby. I'm asking you two brothers, do you know of any places around here where we can go for a stroll?"

  Pan Jinlian and Xue'er heard this and their eyes lit up. What good scenery? There's no scenery at all on this road, is there?

  Wu Song and Shi Qian didn't have any ideas, but Yan Qing, the prodigal son, was a bit familiar: "Brother Ximen, there's a place about 50 or 60 miles east of here called Fahua Temple. The monks in the temple have a large peach orchard. I think now that spring is warm and flowers are blooming, it's a great time to appreciate them, but I'm afraid we'll delay our journey."

  "Don't mention three or five days, even if it's thirty days, I'll be delayed." Ximen Qing laughed and said: "Anyway, there's no need to rush to the capital so anxiously, who cares!"

  Accompanying a beauty to admire flowers - where can you find such a wonderful thing!