Chapter 1052: Swearing Brotherhood in Life and Death

General Milai led He Yuzhu and his group through the winding corridors and into the main banquet hall.

The hall was brightly lit, with a large round rosewood table set in the center, bowls, plates, and cups arranged neatly, and the shelves nearby filled with all sorts of liquor.

Milai invited everyone to sit, asking with a chuckle, "Gentlemen, would you like foreign spirits or Moutai?"

Hu Bayi grinned, "General, your lifestyle habits really align with us brothers. Every time we eat, the trunk of Master He's car is stocked with 1950s Moutai."

Milai laughed heartily upon hearing this and waved his hand, "Ha, I don't have such good stuff; what I have stored is from the eighties. I've been drinking it with my father since I was little, so I'm used to it."

"Are your ancestors also from Huaxia?" Dajinya leaned in, looking curious.

Milai poured himself a glass, sat down, and said, "To tell you the truth, our family was originally surnamed Yang, and our ancestors were said to be from the branch of Yang Yinglong. Later, when the Ming army broke Bozhou, the Yang family scattered, and the clansmen ended up here and there, settling all over Guizhou. My father entered Myanmar in '50, and I was born here. I don't even understand why he named me Guo Milai... probably to keep people from finding us and to avoid trouble. Later, after I established myself, I simply dropped the 'Guo' and just go by Milai."

He spoke of his family's past without concealment, and without any airs of a general.

Dishes were brought out one after another—the sour soup fish bubbled in its red broth, the sour and spicy scent rushing straight to the nose; the stir-fried bracken starch with cured meat was oily and charred-fragrant; the salt-pickled vegetable steamed pork was fatty but not greasy, melting in the mouth; the dry-pot tripe bubbled and popped with heat; and the pickled vegetable stewed pig's trotters were stewed so soft they fell off the bone, falling apart at the touch of a chopstick.

The whole table was filled with authentic Guizhou local flavors.

He Yuzhu found the food to his liking, his chopsticks barely stopping.

Hu Bayi and Wang Pangzi were wolfing it down, their cheeks bulging like two hamsters.

Xu Damao and Dajinya, facing this table of food, only took tentative bites, their brows furrowed enough to crush a fly.

Xu Damao picked up a piece of fish mint with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth; after chewing twice, his face turned green—that fishy smell rushed straight to his crown, and he really couldn't handle it.

He secretly turned to the side, spat the contents of his mouth into his palm, and casually tossed it onto the floor.

Milai had sharp eyes and spotted it immediately, laughing out loud, "Brother Xu isn't used to our local flavors, are you? No matter! Someone, bring out the lamb, set up a pot for shabu-shabu!"

Before long, a steaming copper pot was brought out, the sour soup rolling, with several plates of freshly sliced lamb and a basin of bright red chili oil.

Milai pointed at the dish of chili oil and smiled, "I hear you all dip your shabu-shabu lamb in sesame paste, but we like to use sour soup here. This chili oil is homemade; it's very fragrant. Brother Xu, Brother Jin, do you think this will work?"

Dajinya and Xu Damao nodded like chickens pecking at rice, "It works, it works! Having this chili oil is enough!"

After three rounds of drinks and five courses of food, a row of Moutai bottles on the table was empty.

Milai certainly had his ways; he was naturally charismatic, greeting people as if they were long-lost old friends, toasting and serving food to everyone at the table, not acting like a general at all.

With seven or eight bottles of Moutai down, except for He Yuzhu and Milai who remained sober, the others had flushed faces and their eyes were beginning to glaze over.

Milai held his wine glass, quietly moved his chair closer to He Yuzhu, and lowered his voice, "Brother He, if you don't mind, I would like to become sworn brothers with you."

He Yuzhu nodded without hesitation.

Milai became happy immediately and said, "Brother He, shall we hold a ceremony tomorrow?"

He Yuzhu nodded.

He took a glass of wine and said happily, "Brother, I am truly happy today to be able to acknowledge you as my elder brother."

He Yuzhu knew that the reason he wanted to swear brotherhood with him was that he had a favor to ask, so he asked, "Since you have acknowledged me as your elder brother, just say what you have to say without beating around the bush."

Milai sighed and said, "Brother, I have a matter that is burning my eyebrows."

He Yuzhu had long guessed that the reason Milai was so polite was that he wanted him to help him.

However, He Yuzhu was not annoyed; instead, he patted Milai on the shoulder and said, "Brother, just say what you need."

Milai put down his wine glass, his eyes turning red instantly, "To tell you the truth, my marriage to my wife was a political arrangement, set up by my father. Her family is the Kachin Enkong tribe, and they are very powerful, holding several massive raw jadeite mines in their hands... These people believe in Christianity and are naturally at odds with the Government Army, so they naturally joined forces with us. But the problem is... the people of these big families are lazy and greedy; they always want to gain benefits through me, but I am unwilling, and later, we had a very unpleasant falling out... Now the Government Army has mobilized 15,000 men to come and wipe us out. I went there to ask for reinforcements, but they wouldn't even let me in the door, refusing to lift a finger."

He Yuzhu patted Milai on the shoulder, "Brother, your elder brother will stand up for you."

Upon hearing this, Milai immediately picked up his wine glass and downed it in one gulp, his voice hoarse, "Brother, do you know? When I found out you were Shadow, I was both afraid and excited. I was afraid that my blind brother-in-law had offended you, and if you were an unreasonable person, you could wipe me out directly, and I wouldn't even have a place to cry injustice. But I was also happy—happy that if I could get to know you, and if you were willing to give me a hand, this mess of mine might not be a problem at all. Don't worry, from now on, my, Milai's, troops are your troops! Whatever amount of jadeite you want, I will dig three feet into the ground to get it for you!"

He Yuzhu nodded and took a sip of his wine, "A gentleman loves wealth but acquires it in the right way. Taking your things for nothing is not my style. How about this: I will go and look at your jade first, and if I find something particularly suitable, I will send you the arms without a second word."

Milai's eyes lit up suddenly, like a lamp lit in the dark night, "You... can you really get me a large batch of arms in a short time?"

He Yuzhu drank some wine, his expression firm, "Two days. Within two days, I can deliver them to the manor where I was originally held captive. But there is one condition—the people in that manor must be cleared out. The people delivering the goods don't want outsiders to know."

Milai nodded vigorously, his head bobbing like a chicken pecking at rice, "Fine, fine, fine! Let's go, there is a large warehouse in this manor of mine; you can pick whatever you want once you get there, take whichever piece you like!"

Hu Bayi, Wang Pangzi, Dajinya, and Xu Damao, who had been swaying and dozing off in their chairs, sat bolt upright the moment they heard the words "go find jadeite."

Xu Damao even jumped up, rushed into the restroom, and splashed cold water on his face; when he came out, although his feet were still a bit unsteady and his steps wavered, his eyes were clear, and not a trace of drunkenness could be found.

It must be said that since these four people drank the Spirit Spring Water, their bodies had become much sturdier than before.

Milai led the group through a long corridor, went down to the basement, and stopped in front of a heavy iron door.

He took out a key, turned it a few times, entered a string of passwords, and with a "click," the iron door slowly opened, and a smell of dry dust rushed toward them.

Milai turned on the lights, and the scene before them was suddenly wide open—this underground warehouse was at least a thousand square meters, with the walls piled high with raw jadeite stones of all sizes, some covered in dusty weathered rinds, others already cut with windows, revealing the emerald green and moist jade flesh inside, glowing with a warm, oily luster under the lights, making Dajinya's eyes almost pop out.

He Yuzhu calmly opened the system, his gaze sweeping over the rows of raw stones, and the system quickly fed back—among this batch of materials, there were three pieces of top-quality jadeite, excellent in seed, water, color, and craftsmanship, all of which were good items that could fetch sky-high prices on the market.

But he didn't show it at all, pretending to pick and choose with Xu Damao and the others, without letting anyone see a single flaw.

Milai stood to the side, smiling as he introduced them one by one.

Just at this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from outside—a shell had exploded!

Immediately following, a soldier ran over in a panic, shouting at the top of his lungs, "General, it's bad! The Kachin Enkong tribe is attacking!"