Chapter 175: Split into two groups to attack Mangdang Mountain

Led by the Four Heroes of Huangmen Mountain, the group traveled along the mountain paths and reached Jinzhai.

The caravan that bought medicinal herbs had just returned a few days ago and was waiting for Cao Jie and his party before returning to Shandong.

They purchased some medicinal herbs unique to this area, one of which is the famous Huoshan Dendrobium.

Huoshan County has a unique microclimate that is cool, humid, ventilated and foggy, and is the origin of many precious Chinese medicinal materials.

Huoshan Dendrobium, known as the "Giant Panda of the Medicine World", is one of the traditional precious Chinese medicinal materials. Its history can be traced back to the "Shennong Bencao Jing" thousands of years ago.

It is not only a holy tonic exclusively enjoyed by royal nobles, but also regarded by Taoists as an elixir for practicing immortality.

Cao Jie, the fake King of Medicine, could not determine the specific medicinal effects of Dendrobium. Hearing that it was the first of the nine immortal herbs, he put all of it into a small purple gold gourd to increase its age.

Under the cover of the drug dealers, the group crossed the Huai River openly and arrived in Bozhou, where they joined the local caravan.

Further north is the territory of Shandong.

"Brother, what should we do with Chen Xizhen? Should we ask his daughter to send him back to Yuanbi Village in Yizhou?"

"I think Chen Liqing's fighting power is not inferior to that of men like us. We must not let her go back to Yuanbi Village."

Cao Jie opened the map and headed north to return to Liangshan, and northeast to go to Yizhou.

"Now there are some women and children in our team, as well as the families of Brother Mu Hong and Huang Wenbing. Why don't we split our troops into two groups? One group will follow the caravan to escort them back to Liangshan, and the other group will go from here to here... and then turn to Yizhou..."

Cao Jie knocked twice on Mangdang Mountain and said, "Quality is more important than quantity. How about we go and come back quickly?"

Originally, he just wanted to select seven or eight people and secretly send Chen Xizhen back to Yizhou, but because of this quota, everyone started arguing.

No one gave in.

There was no other way. Mu Hong and his brothers had to go to Liangshan first to escort their parents. Huang Wenbing's wife and children were also there, so they naturally went to Liangshan as well. Then Shi Qian rode at full speed to contact Liangshan for support.

But it is not very dangerous.

The other heroes went to Yizhou in a lively manner.

Such a large group of people traveled during the day and slept at night, and trekked for many days in the Dabie Mountains. The great event that happened in Jiangzhou spread throughout the Song Dynasty.

In the capital, Grand Tutor Cai Jing was furious when he learned that his son had been abducted and grandson had been killed.

He had many sons, and this ninth son was just a concubine's son. But even though he looked down on the youngest son born to this lowly maid, he was Cai Jing's flesh and blood after all!
That group of rebels attacked the provincial government in broad daylight, robbed the prefect, and killed his young son. If he doesn't take revenge, how can he, the great Grand Tutor, keep his dignity?
Therefore, the wanted order was sent urgently at a speed of 800 miles to Huainan Road and Jingdong Road.

Since we have robbed Chen Xizhen’s execution ground, we must go to Shandong!

That is to say, Cao Jie and his troops split into two groups, left the caravan of women and children, and took a remote mountain road, otherwise they would have been questioned and caused trouble.

On this day, everyone came to the junction of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. There was a mountain in front of them called Mangdang Mountain.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Mangdang Mountain area was still a swampland, with Xue Lake and Luan Lake surrounding it to the south, Fengxi Lake and Pei Lake to the north, Mengzhu Lake to the west, and Sha Ze, Yu Ze, Dang Shui, Huo Shui, Gu Shui, Sui Shui, and Pao Shui rivers crisscrossing it to the east.

The area surrounding Mangdang Mountain is all lush and green primeval forest, which makes the mountain appear more beautiful and majestic.

But with the changing times, this place no longer looks like it did during the Qin and Han dynasties. Only a half-bald mountain remains standing on the plain.

"Brother, there are thousands of bandits gathering on this mountain, robbing passers-by and merchants. Our officers and soldiers have surrounded and suppressed them several times, but they were beaten so badly that they abandoned their weapons and armor. We dare not offend them again."

Liu Tang led Xue Yong and others to gather information and then came back to report. "This mountain is extraordinary!"

Gongsun Sheng looked at the mountain and sighed.

Liu Tang was puzzled and asked, "I see that mountain is neither high nor majestic, how can it be extraordinary?"

"Brother Liu Tang, do you know what this mountain is called?"

"Mangdang Mountain!"

"Then do you know who is buried on the mountain?"

"How do I know this?"

Everyone pricked up their ears to listen to what Cao Jie and Mr. Gongsun had to say.

Gongsun Sheng looked at the mountain from afar and said, "Are kings, princes, generals and ministers of different species? Chen Sheng, who rebelled against the tyranny of Qin, was buried in this mountain. Later, Emperor Gaozu of Han also killed the white snake here, and established the foundation of the Han Dynasty for 400 years. Do you think this mountain is simple?"

"Oh!" Li Kui suddenly understood and nodded his head, "So that's how it is. Now that my brother has arrived here, he needs to kill something. I think we should kill the bandits on the mountain first!"

"Brother Tieniu is right."

Everyone echoed and shouted, "We have many heroes here who are roaming the world, and Mr. Gongsun is here. If he meets the emperor, he should take a detour."

"In my opinion, I will lead my two brothers to explore first. If the bandits on the mountain are willing, they will invite you to sit on the mountain and tour the Mangdang Mountain. If they are unwilling, we can seize their mountain stronghold and provide a rest for you brothers."

When Ou Peng said this, everyone agreed.

But these pioneers refused to give in.

Cao Jie looked around and waited until everyone had finished talking and still hadn't come to a conclusion. Then he said, "Brothers, don't underestimate the bandits in the mountains!"

Hearing this, Liu Tang was the first to become serious.

He frowned and said, "I asked the villagers nearby. Although this gang of thieves has just gathered, they have 3,000 followers. Among the three leaders, two are good at using flying knives and javelins to injure people from a distance, and they never miss. These two are nothing special, but the village chief is the most extravagant. He is called the Demon King. The villagers say that he has the magical power to call the wind and rain and turn beans into soldiers."

"It turns out to be a master of the God of Pregnancy!"

"We have Mr. Gongsun here, so we can defeat him!"

"Brother, what do you mean?"

Cao Jie laughed and said, "We are not heading to Yizhou randomly. The three leaders of Mangdang Mountain should be our brothers. But these three are fierce and stubborn, so we need to teach them a lesson."

Chao Gai smiled and said, "So brother has already made arrangements. In that case, let's defeat him, capture that damn devil king, and ask him to come and pay respect to brother."

The book says: There was a group of strong men in Mangdang Mountain, gathering 3,000 men. The leader was named Fan Rui, nicknamed the Devil King of the World. He could call the wind and rain and was a master of military tactics.

He had two deputy generals, one named Xiang Chong, nicknamed Eight-Armed Nezha, and the other named Li Gun, nicknamed Flying Monkey King.

The three men became brothers, occupied Mangdang Mountain, robbed houses, and were preparing to annex the Liangshanpo stronghold.

This shows how big Fan Rui's appetite is!
Cao Jie looked at Gongsun Sheng and said with a smile, "Let's see what strategy Mr. Yiqing has."

Gongsun Sheng stroked his long beard and said, "Since he is known as the Demon King and is an expert in pregnant gods, let's defeat him at his most proud point. I have a formation method, which is the method of Zhuge Kongming to arrange stones into a formation. Watch me use it to catch him."

(End of this chapter)