Chapter 141: Fellow Countrymen Meet Fellow Countrymen

My name is Li Dayin, and I used to be from Baiyue Village as well, the man said softly.
Uncle Dayin? How... how did you end up looking like this? Zhou Zhi asked with a mixture of delight and astonishment.
Right after asking, Zhou Zhi regretted it. Having integrated the memories of two lives, Zhou Zhi still remembered the things and people he knew from before his transmigration.
He remembered Li Dayin as a very young, impoverished peasant. Just about three years ago, Li Dayin's family had been driven to ruin by the Chen family over a dog, and naturally, life could not have treated him well. It was entirely reasonable that his face had grown so aged and weathered.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Li Dayin's eyes immediately welled up with tears, as if he had met a confidant, and he slowly began to speak. Three years ago, I beat to death a dog belonging to the Chen family. In return, the Chen family demanded all the farmland my family owned as compensation. I took the Chen family to the county magistrate's court, never imagining that the magistrate would not only rule that we forfeit all our farmland, but even our house along with it.
The Chen family are no good, and that magistrate is no good either!
Zhou Zhi knew that three years ago, the magistrate of Qingdu County had not yet been his mentor, Chen Guangyao. After spending some time with him, Zhou Zhi felt that Chen Guangyao was a very good person who genuinely cared for the common people. It was simply that the obnoxious county vice-magistrate, Yang Tong, kept meddling and making it impossible to implement many of the magistrate's decrees.
Li Dayin gnashed his teeth and cursed the Chen family and the former magistrate viciously for a while before continuing, After the three of us left Baiyue Village with nowhere to go, we headed south. On the road, because my son had been bitten by the Chen family's dog, his wound became inflamed and ulcerated with no medicine available, and before long... he died on the road.
At this point, Li Dayin softly sobbed again, overcome with grief.
Uncle Dayin, please do not grieve too deeply. All of this was caused by the Chen family, and they will suffer the consequences of their evil deeds. Everything they have done will meet with retribution, Zhou Zhi softly comforted.
As the saying goes, when fellow villagers meet in a distant place, their eyes fill with tears.
Li Dayin and Zhou Zhi were from the same village after all, and over the past few years, he had no one to share the bitterness in his heart with. Pouring his heart out to Zhou Zhi now served as a release and a form of catharsis.
With no son left, the two of us no longer wanted to live and just wanted to find some random place to die. But we always felt that our son had died an unjust death; if we didn't avenge him, we would die with our eyes wide open!
And so, begging all the way, we passed by this place, never expecting to be ambushed and dragged up the mountain by a band of bandits, making this place our home.
My wife and I wash clothes, cook, and handle chores for them. Although life is hard and bitter, we manage to get by.
Zhou Zhi listened quietly and nodded inwardly. He secretly resolved that the Chen family was utterly detestable, and one day he would make them pay for this debt in blood.
Yet for now, this could only remain a thought in his mind, for he might not even be able to save his own life. The most urgent task at hand was to escape as quickly as possible, find a way to wipe out this band of bandits, clear his name, and rescue Qi Yanwu, who was trapped in the dungeon.
Zhou Zhi paused slightly and hastily finished his meal. After all, he was a young man, and this physical shell was robust and sturdy, allowing his strength to recover quickly. By now, he could clearly feel energy returning to his entire body.
Uncle Dayin, where is this place? How many bandits are there? Zhou Zhi asked.
Li Dayin carefully looked around once more before lowering his voice and saying, I know you were dragged here in the middle of the night by them. This place is a small peak on Mount Taihang called Little Black Mountain. As for the bandits on the mountain, there aren't actually that many—altogether, there are only twenty-seven or twenty-eight people.
However, you must not underestimate these twenty-seven men; almost all of them possess some martial arts skills and are extremely difficult to deal with. Fortunately, they don't usually commit many evil deeds and rarely harm or rob poor families. When the mountain runs short of food and clothing, they go down to plunder the estates of landlords and the wealthy, yet they never take human lives.
Actually, these people aren't bad, and they treat my wife and me quite well.
At this point, Li Dayin looked around again, evidently worried that someone might see or hear him talking with Zhou Zhi.
Making sure there was no one around, he continued, There are three chieftains on the mountain. The first chief is called Ma Qianli, the second chief is a scholar named Zhao Sui, and the third chief is called Big Wang.
Among these three, the first and third are martial artists, while the second serves as their strategist. Not only is he full of schemes, but he also possesses superhuman arm strength, even though he doesn't know martial arts.
Zhou Zhi gasped, Zhao Sui?
Yes, Zhao Sui, and his courtesy name is Huaizhong. What? Little Zhi, you know him? Li Dayin asked in surprise.
Zhou Zhi hurriedly shook his head, realizing he had spoken out of turn just a moment ago.
Although Zhou Zhi did not know Zhao Sui personally, as a transmigrator from a later era, he naturally knew about Zhao Sui from the Ming Dynasty. Several years from now, this fellow would join forces with Liu Liu and Liu Qi to launch a peasant uprising of massive proportions. This Zhao Sui was practically the mastermind of the rebel army and its spiritual core.
Courteous name "Huaizhong"—cherishing loyalty? Cherishing my foot! This fellow was nothing less than Madman Zhao, a great rebel.
Li Dayin looked at Zhou Zhi and suddenly sighed with an expression of profound pity, Alas! If Little Zhi really knows the second chief, that would be for the best. Although they don't like killing people, a few days ago, a Daoist priest suddenly arrived on the mountain and somehow persuaded the first chief and the others to go and pillage our Baiyue Village.
Just yesterday, that Daoist priest came up the mountain again and told the first chief to send men to kill you. But the first chief seemed to have taken a bit of an interest in you and wanted to see you before killing you, which is why the third chief had you dragged up the mountain.
If not for the first chief's words, you probably would have been killed by them the moment you left Baiyue Village; how else would you have made it to Little Black Mountain?
Therefore, when you see the first chief in a moment, you must speak to him properly. The first chief on the mountain, Ma Qianli, is actually a very forthright and bold man. If he truly takes a liking to you, you might... you might even escape death!
However, alas! That Daoist priest is on the mountain right now, and the first chief listens very closely to what that damned Daoist says.
Clearly, he was extremely worried about Zhou Zhi.
The more Zhou Zhi listened, the clearer things became. The Daoist priest was undoubtedly the Azure Cloud Daoist, Li Shun. In truth, this band of bandits only robbed the rich and retained a shred of morality; the reason they went to Baiyue Village to kill and burn was entirely due to the instigation or enticement of that Daoist Li Shun.
As for the leader of the bandits, he did not actually wish to kill him. After all, whether ordinary citizens or bandits, everyone knew the crime of murder was too grave for anyone to commit lightly. But the root of the problem lay with this Li Shun; with Li Shun on the mountain, clinging to life would truly be an uphill battle!
When all was said and done, everything behind the scenes was being orchestrated by Li Shun and the Chen family.
The more he thought about it, the more Zhou Zhi felt a murderous hatred for Li Shun.
To escape—he had to escape immediately.
Yet Li Dayin seemed to see right through Zhou Zhi's thoughts and said, Little Zhi, do not harbor any thoughts of running away. Even though no one is guarding you here, there are only two small paths leading down the mountain, and both are guarded at all times. Even if you manage to get out of this room, you won't be able to descend the mountain; you simply cannot run away.
Hearing this, Zhou Zhi felt a growing chill seep into his heart.