Chapter 251: Going Up the Mountain to Become Bandits

Uncle Shen Wenqing also had to participate in this negotiation, so He Yuzhu could not stand by and watch; he had to ensure their safety.

"Dan, do you already have an idea? Tell me about it."

"I plan to gather a group of reporters and a group of students... once we enter the negotiation site, we will have them surround the place. That way, I trust they won't dare to take action against us easily."

"That is indeed a good method!" He Yuzhu said.

"I know you have a rickshaw company; you can dispatch one hundred rickshaws to follow us. As for the students and workers, we have channels," Tian Dan said confidently.

He Yuzhu had no choice but to say, "That's no problem. When do you plan to take action?"

"I will call him today to see what his reaction is," Tian Dan said.

"I'll go with you."

Tian Dan nodded in agreement.

After the two finished their meal, they found a phone booth, and Tian Dan dialed the number for Shen Shichang's house.

A woman answered the phone.

Tian Dan said, "Please let me speak to Mr. Shen Shichang."

The woman placed the receiver on the table and shouted, "Old Shen, phone!"

"Who is calling?" Shen Shichang asked.

"A woman."

Shen Shichang walked to the table and picked up the phone: "I am Shen Shichang, who is this?"

"Uncle Shen, it's Tian Dan."

Shen Shichang's heart tightened, but he quickly calmed down and said, "Dandan! I heard that you and your father had an incident at the station, and I have been asking around everywhere for news of you, but I couldn't get in touch..."

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Shen, we are fine. A group of people from the Secret Service Bureau wanted to assassinate us, but we took care of them."

"That's good, that's good."

"Uncle Shen, can the negotiation with Officer Fu still be arranged?"

Shen Shichang pondered for a moment and said, "The meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow was called off because of your incident. I still need to confirm Officer Fu's schedule; I cannot give you a definite answer right now."

Tian Dan said, "When do you think it would be appropriate for me to contact you again?"

"In two days; call me again at this time in two days."

After Tian Dan hung up the phone, she looked at He Yuzhu and said, "Shen Shichang told me to call him again in two days, and he will tell us then if we can meet with Officer Fu."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "Let me take you back!"

"I am currently staying at Hao Yuan near your home."

"That's great. If you need anything, find me," He Yuzhu said.

After settling Tian Dan in, He Yuzhu returned to the Siheyuan alone.

Just as he stepped into the Zhongyuan, he saw a strange man looking around the courtyard.

He Yuzhu stepped forward and asked, "Sir, who are you looking for?"

The man turned his head at the sound, examined He Yuzhu, and asked, "Who are you?"

He Yuzhu roughly guessed who he was and introduced himself: "My name is He Yuzhu, I live in the Zhongyuan. And you are?"

"I am Xu Damao's stepfather, Luo Jiangtao."

"I've heard much about you," He Yuzhu said, cupping his hands. "You rarely seem to come to this courtyard; what brings you here today?"

"Damao's mother hasn't been back for a long time and said she missed this place. I happened to be free, so I came along with her."

"What is there to miss about this dilapidated courtyard? Everyone is living hand-to-mouth, and the neighbors are full of schemes; there's really no benefit to living here," He Yuzhu said.

"When people get old, don't they all get nostalgic?"

"I don't think you look old at all; you look like you're in your 20s!" He Yuzhu said.

"Not at all. However, we who perform in operas must take good care of ourselves, otherwise, who would want to look at an old face?" Luo Jiangtao said self-deprecatingly.

He Yuzhu felt that Xu Damao's stepfather was quite interesting, so he asked, "Why haven't I seen Xu Damao for a long time?"

Luo Jiangtao sighed: "He took on a Siqiang and has been running all over the country. There hasn't been any news for almost half a year. His mother is extremely worried."

Six months ago, Xu Damao followed his Siqiang Hu Yunbin and Hu Yunbin's two other apprentices—Lin Nan and Cui Dazhi—to rob a tomb of a Jin Dynasty crown prince, obtaining a large amount of gold, silver, treasures, and jade artifacts.

But just as the four of them were returning fully loaded, they were intercepted halfway by a group of Northeast bandits.

After being taken up to the Shanzhai, the bandits discovered that these four had many good things on them. The Big Boss Wang Laohu said, "What the hell do you people do? How are you so rich?"

Hu Yunbin saw that Wang Laohu had murderous intent toward them and immediately said, "Boss, we are all people of the underworld. If you are willing to spare us, we can help your Shanzhai rob tombs to make money."

When the Big Boss Wang Laohu heard this, he immediately became interested: "You guys can actually rob tombs? That's a fast way to make money! Then stay!"

Hu Yunbin said, "Give me half a year, and I will definitely make our Shanzhai prosperous."

"If you can really make big money, I'll let you sit in the position of the Fourth Boss!" Wang Laohu said.

Hu Yunbin happily agreed. He was an old hand in the underworld and understood the principle that a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him.

In the following months, they actually robbed quite a few tombs in the Northeast region.

It was a time of chaos, and the government had no time to care, so they actually managed to fill the Shanzhai's coffers.

Hu Yunbin also got his wish and became the Fourth Boss of the Shanzhai.

This life of "eating meat in big mouthfuls and drinking wine in big bowls" was indeed happy. Hu Yunbin, Xu Damao, Lin Nan, and Cui Dazhi were so happy they forgot to return home, and even considered becoming bandits for good.

However, the good times did not last long, and the flames of war soon burned to the vicinity.

On October 20th, Hu Yunbin took his three apprentices and six Shanzhai brothers to rob a Jin Dynasty noble's tomb.

Unexpectedly, this tomb had already been looted by others, and there was basically nothing valuable left inside.

The group returned in low spirits, but just as they arrived back at the Shanzhai, the scene before them left them completely stunned—the three hundred or so brothers in the Shanzhai had all been killed.

Although Hu Yunbin had no affection for the Shanzhai's Big Boss Wang Laohu, as the man had always had murderous intent toward him, the brothers below had treated him well. Looking at the corpses all over the ground, he couldn't help but shed tears.

Xu Damao cried from the side and asked, "Siqiang! Who the hell did this?"

Hu Yunbin circled the Shanzhai a few times and discovered forty or fifty corpses of Bald Party soldiers in the granary, cursing, "It was these bastards who did it!"

"Bald Party soldiers? Why would they kill all our brothers?"

"They lost the battle and were routed; if they don't rob us, who would they rob? It's all the Big Boss's fault for being too flashy! Everyone having a horse, how could that not invite jealousy?" Hu Yunbin said in a low voice.

"Siqiang, we only have ten people left... what should we do?" Xu Damao said, crying.

"What else can we do? Go back to Si Jiu Cheng!" Hu Yunbin said irritably.

When the six brothers from the Shanzhai heard that Hu Yunbin was leaving, a big guy immediately asked, "Fourth Boss, can we still continue to follow you?"

Hu Yunbin sighed and said, "I have nothing left, and I can't give you anything, so let's just travel together! On the road, if you have nowhere to go, you can follow me; if you have your own ideas, you can go off on your own."

"Thank you, Fourth Boss!" the six people said in unison.

The group searched the Shanzhai from top to bottom, but not a single grain of food was left.

Hu Yunbin let out a long sigh: "Whether we can even make it back to Si Jiu Cheng is not certain!"

The ten people simply tidied up the brothers' corpses and set off together in the direction of Si Jiu Cheng.

The journey was not peaceful. From time to time, routed soldiers would pop out to rob them; fortunately, Hu Yunbin's group still had guns hidden on them, and when they encountered smaller groups of routed soldiers, they would also rob them of things to eat.

In the middle of the night, the group was cold and hungry, and after much difficulty, they found a Po Miao and quickly ducked inside.

Several people started a fire, and after their bodies warmed up, their stomachs began to growl.

Cui Dazhi and Lin Nan took the six brothers and all went out to look for food.

Only Xu Damao stayed by Hu Yunbin's side.

Hu Yunbin habitually took out his Compass and calculated repeatedly; the more he calculated, the more surprised he became, and he suddenly pulled Xu Damao out of the Po Miao.

Pointing at the mountain in the distance, he said, "Damao, we are saved; the feng shui in this place is excellent! There must be a great tomb!"

Xu Damao was completely bewildered; his stomach was growling, and at this moment, other than food, he was not interested in anything.

Hu Yunbin pulled Xu Damao outside and pointed at the moon emerging from the clouds, saying, "Damao, look at this mountain formation; two dragon veins intersect here, the dragon heads slightly raised, and the vital energy is all concentrated in the depression in the middle. When the moon rises into the sky, the essence is at its most flourishing; this is clearly a 'Double Dragon Holding the Moon' layout, and there must be a high-spec tomb underneath!"

Xu Damao looked for a long time but couldn't see anything, though he did cheer up when he heard there was a great tomb here. But he soon returned to reality and muttered, "Siqiang, if we don't have anything to eat tonight, we'll surely starve to death."

Hu Yunbin also knew that Xu Damao was right; if there was no food, it would be impossible for the few of them to walk out of these mountains alive.

The master and apprentice returned to the temple and began to sit in silence.

Xu Damao rummaged around the temple and suddenly pointed at a statue covered in dust, calling out, "Siqiang, look, what kind of deity is this? Why does it look like a yellow weasel?"

Hu Yunbin walked over and lifted the statue to examine it: "This is Huang Daxian... what kind of place is this exactly?"

Hu Yunbin walked out of the temple door again, took out the Telescope he had just seized, and looked toward the woods, vaguely seeing a huge mound of earth. He raised his Compass again to confirm repeatedly and slapped his thigh hard: "Under that dirt slope is that great tomb!"