"Dad, the contact at Tian'gang Stronghold is gone now. Where do we find the bandits?" Liu Gang asked.
"Didn't the last contact tell you the route to Tian'gang Stronghold?"
Liu Gang said, "But he said not to go there unless absolutely necessary."
"What counts as absolutely necessary? Isn't this situation exactly that?"
"No time to waste. I'll go with you," Liu Shan said.
Liu Gang thought it over and finally decided to follow his father's advice, heading to Tian'gang Stronghold that very night.
……….
The next day at noon, just as Liu Tiezhu finished his lunch, Yang Hua came over.
"Zhu Ge, I told Zhang Mingtao about your situation."
"He said you can go get your gun and bullets now."
Liu Tiezhu nodded. "Let's head over now."
A few minutes later, they arrived at Liu Jingshun's house. The entire courtyard now housed four guard squads, over thirty men in total.
The Zhang brothers sat in the main hall, waiting for Liu Tiezhu.
"So you're Liu Tiezhu. Truly impressive-looking."
"About the misunderstanding with my brother—let's let it go."
"From today on, as long as you work earnestly for the Zhang family, I won't treat you poorly."
Zhang Mingtao, a man around forty, spoke cheerfully with a calm tone.
But Liu Tiezhu knew that people like this were often the most dangerous.
"As long as Brother Zhang doesn't mind, I'll do my best."
Liu Tiezhu replied, his face betraying no emotion.
Zhang Mingtao waved his hand. "Why would I mind? Starting now, you're joining Yang Hua's guard squad."
"Alright, go with Yang Hua to get your gun. Your pay will be delivered to you this afternoon."
After Liu Tiezhu and Yang Hua left, Zhang Jingyang's face darkened.
"Big brother, that bastard Liu Tiezhu is full of tricks."
"The ambush by the bandits—he was behind it."
Zhang Mingtao cut him off. "I know."
Zhang Jingyang was stunned. "You know? Then why let him join the guard squad?"
Zhang Mingtao said, "To make it easier to kill him."
"From now on, use your head when you act."
Hearing this, Zhang Jingyang was overjoyed, knowing his brother must have a plan to deal with Liu Tiezhu.
Back at the guard squad, Liu Tiezhu now held a rifle and ten bullets.
"Yang Hua, tell me—how did you join the guard squad?" Liu Tiezhu asked.
Yang Hua said, "I told you before, I wanted to form a crew."
"Later, a few of us brothers ended up in town. By chance, we saved Zhang Mingtao, and he asked us to work for him."
"His father, Zhang Baoshan, is a big official in the county. Stick with him, and we're sure to make a name for ourselves."
A big county official?
No wonder he could get money and meat. It seemed Zhang Baoshan had been skimming plenty too.
"Zhu Ge, from Zhang Mingtao's attitude, he really appreciates you."
"This is a golden opportunity—don't miss it," Yang Hua reminded him.
"I'll seize it."
Liu Tiezhu replied with a smile, but his mind was elsewhere.
He didn't believe Zhang Mingtao was that magnanimous.
He'd nearly killed his brother—there's no way Zhang Mingtao didn't know.
Knowing that and still grinning cheerfully—that was the mark of a truly dangerous man.
That afternoon, the Zhang family's steward, Zhang Huaihai, delivered the pay and told Yang Hua there'd be an operation that night.
"Hai Ge, what kind of operation?" Yang Hua asked.
"You'll find out when the time comes," Zhang Huaihai replied, turning to leave.
"Brother Zhang, a small token."
Liu Tiezhu grabbed Zhang Huaihai and slipped the two dollars he'd just gotten into his hand.
"Could you give us a hint about the mission? So we brothers can prepare in advance."
Zhang Huaihai quickly pocketed the money and lowered his voice. "Tonight's mission is to suppress bandits."
"I'm only telling you this—don't you go blabbing it."
Liu Tiezhu said, "Don't worry, Brother Zhang. We're not that kind of people."
"But with just our few men, going to Tian'gang Stronghold to fight bandits—that's like delivering ourselves to the slaughter."
"It's not Tian'gang Stronghold. It's the bamboo grove behind our Liu Family Village," Zhang Huaihai said.
Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu feigned a terrified look. "What? There are bandits in that grove too?"
Zhang Huaihai's eyes darted around, but he didn't continue.
Liu Tiezhu understood exactly what that bastard Zhang Huaihai was hinting at.
He pulled out another two dollars and pressed them into Zhang Huaihai's hand.
"Brother Zhang, I know this is risky for you to say."
"I swear I won't breathe a word. I'll be counting on your guidance from now on."
Hearing this, Zhang Huaihai grinned.
"Brother Tiezhu, with an attitude like yours, I've got nothing to hide."
"A group of bandits will come into the village for revenge tonight."
"Zhang Mingtao got reliable intel that they'll gather in the bamboo grove."
"Our job is to set up an ambush there and wipe them out."
"Brother Zhang, is the intel reliable?" Liu Tiezhu asked.
He felt something was off.
Logically, bandits coming for revenge wouldn't easily leak their plans.
Could Zhang Mingtao have planted informants in Tian'gang Stronghold too?
Zhang Huaihai said, "I don't know if it's reliable."
"But based on what Liu Shan saw, it should be true."
Liu Shan?
Hearing that, Liu Tiezhu was stunned. He was now certain this was a trap.
Liu Gang and his father were informants for the Tian'gang bandits.
Leaking this kind of info—were they asking for death?
"Brother Zhang, can you elaborate?"
Snapping back to reality, Liu Tiezhu pressed on.
Zhang Huaihai said, "Brother Tiezhu, I'd love to go into detail, but time's tight."
"I still have to deliver pay to the other brothers."
Damn it, this greedy bastard.
Cursing inwardly, Liu Tiezhu slipped another two dollars into Zhang Huaihai's hand.
"Brother Tiezhu, you know how to handle things. I can't let you down."
"I'll tell you all about the bandits now."
Zhang Huaihai pulled up a wooden stool and sat down, forgetting about the other men's pay.
"This noon, Liu Shan went to the bamboo grove to gather firewood."
"As soon as he entered, he spotted six suspicious men."
"Scared, he hid behind a ridge below the grove and overheard them saying they'd send twenty men tonight to gather there and ambush Zhang Jingyang."
"These bandits don't know how strong our forces are. Twenty men coming down—they're just asking to die."
After his speech, Zhang Huaihai didn't forget to flatter the Zhang brothers.
"Alright, it's getting late. Don't you dare breathe a word of this."
With that, Zhang Huaihai hurried off.
After seeing him out, Yang Hua grew excited.
"Zhu Ge, this is a chance to earn merit."
"The more bandits we kill, the bigger the reward."
Liu Tiezhu warned, "Yang Hua, I think something's off here."
"We need to be careful. Don't end up getting ourselves killed instead of the bandits."