It turned out that Zhang Tieshan and his son had hunted a plum deer some time ago. For some unknown reason, the people from Black Wind Stockade had recently learned of it. Black Wind Stockade was furious. They felt that Zhang Tieshan and his son had hunted such a large plum deer yet refused to hand it over to the stockade, intending to keep it all for themselves.
Therefore, the people from Black Wind Stockade had come down the mountain to Zhang Tieshan's home today and directly seized the plum deer they had hunted, leaving not even a scrap of meat for the Zhang family. What enraged them even more was that the plum deer, which had weighed nearly two hundred pounds, now had only a hundred or so pounds of meat left.
Clearly, some of the meat had been eaten by the Zhang family or given away. At the same time, while one of the stockade men was turning the place upside down and searching high and low for the plum deer meat, he accidentally discovered Zhang Qian, whose features were striking and whose skin was delicate.
The eyes of the Black Wind Stockade men went straight on the spot. They wanted to forcibly drag Zhang Qian up the mountain and offer her to the stockade's master. Fortunately, Zhang Tieshan and his son Zhang Hai fought to the death and barely managed to hold the stockade men back, preventing them from taking Zhang Qian up the mountain.
Even so, the people from Black Wind Stockade declared that they would not let the matter rest. They would come down the mountain to seize her again, and would even have one of the Major Leaders in the stockade take action.
In the villagers' eyes, that stockade Major Leader was most likely a powerful Martial Artist. Once he made a move, who could stop him?
This left the Zhang family feeling as though thunder had struck them. They felt the sky itself had collapsed. Not only had their plum deer meat for the winter been taken, but Black Wind Stockade had also set its sights on their daughter Zhang Qian, intending to drag her up the mountain and throw her into the tiger's den.
It was said that Zhang Qian's mother, Liu Guihua, had fainted on the spot, unable to accept it.
Zhang Tieshan and his son Zhang Hai had also been badly beaten by the people from Black Wind Stockade. As a result, many people in the village were now treading carefully, terrified that Black Wind Stockade would set its sights on them.
They were not only robbing prey—they were robbing people too.
"Zhang Tieshan's family is probably finished. Black Wind Stockade has set its sights on them, they've lost their food for the winter, and they can't even protect their daughter. Sigh! Black Wind Stockade is nothing but a bunch of fucking beasts!"
The evil deeds of Black Wind Stockade had even made Uncle Chen Shan curse, which was rare for him. He only felt that the world was too difficult and that there was no way to survive.
Hunters faced countless unknown dangers while hunting beasts in the mountains, yet they also had to endure the forced taxes and all manner of oppression and wicked deeds from Black Wind Stockade. Thinking of this, even the usually broad-minded Uncle Chen Shan felt deeply powerless and exhausted.
"For the time being, don't enter the mountains unless you have business there. Things are a complete mess inside. I don't know what's gotten into the people from Black Wind Stockade—they're sweeping through the mountains and arresting people everywhere."
After explaining the matter, Uncle Chen Shan gave Su Mo several more reminders and warnings before turning to leave.
He had come to see Su Mo because he was worried about him, afraid that Su Mo might run into people from Black Wind Stockade again and suffer some misfortune. Seeing that he was fine, Uncle Chen Shan finally left at ease.
"Not only was the Zhang family's plum deer meat for the winter stolen, but they've also fallen into dire straits. Zhang Qian is even going to be forcibly dragged up the mountain by the Black Wind Stockade men?"
Su Mo stood in the courtyard for a moment before going to the cellar. Inside, ten pounds of plum deer meat sat beside the wild boar meat and green wolf meat.
Zhang Tieshan had asked Zhang Qian to deliver those ten pounds of plum deer meat to him, afraid that he would starve to death during the winter. Even though he had refused it, Zhang Qian had insisted that he take it.
Su Mo had not yet had the chance to eat the ten pounds of venison.
But he had never expected that Zhang Tieshan's family would suddenly suffer such terrible news.
His gaze swept over the ten pounds of venison. Su Mo knew that once those vicious Black Wind Stockade men returned to the mountains, Zhang Tieshan's family would be finished for certain. Thus, Su Mo slung the Beast Hide Great Bow over his back, seized the ancestral Hunting Knife, and plunged into the wind and snow.
Zhang Tieshan had had Zhang Qian deliver ten pounds of plum deer meat to him in the depths of winter. How could Su Mo's Hunting Knife possibly remain sheathed? Besides, judging from the footprints, those stockade men should not have returned to Black Wind Stockade yet—they might not even have gone back into the mountains.
"Those Black Wind Stockade men went to Qingshan Town?"
Su Mo followed the footprints all the way. He had thought he would have to chase them into the mountains, but unexpectedly, the footprints led toward Qingshan Town. What had those Black Wind Stockade men gone to Qingshan Town for?
Su Mo waited quietly for those stockade men to return along the road into the mountains.
By then, the sky had already darkened slightly.
"This plum deer meat weighs more than a hundred pounds, yet it only exchanged for one and a half strings of cash—not even two strings. What fucking bad luck."
"One and a half strings is one and a half strings. It's enough for drinking. When we get back, tell the stockade that Zhang Tieshan's family in Shuanglin Village has a beauty. Not only does she have fair, tender skin, but she's also exceptionally pretty. The masters will definitely like her. Have one of the leaders come down from the mountain. I refuse to believe Zhang Tieshan and his family will still dare to resist."
Before long, four Black Wind Stockade men dressed in black and wearing black headscarves returned, drunk and waving Wolf Tooth Clubs. They had no plum deer meat in their hands. Clearly, these stockade men had privately received the news that Zhang Tieshan's family had a plum deer.
They had not informed Black Wind Stockade's higher-ups. They had secretly come down the mountain.
As for the plum deer meat they had seized, these Black Wind Stockade men had taken it to Qingshan Town, exchanged it for money, and gone off to enjoy themselves.
"Hey, you kid! Who are you? How dare you block the road of people from Black Wind Stockade?"
Just then—
The four Black Wind Stockade men, each carrying a Wolf Tooth Club and drunk out of their minds, saw a figure standing in the snowy road leading into the mountains. It seemed he had deliberately been waiting for them.
He carried the Beast Hide Great Bow on his back and wore a Hunting Knife at his waist. Was he a hunter?
"Fuck! We're people from Black Wind Stockade. You're just a little hunter, yet you dare block our path? Are you tired of living?"
When one of the Black Wind Stockade men saw someone daring to stand on the mountain road and stop them, he immediately raised his Wolf Tooth Club and prepared to kill the hunter. Since when had hunters dared act so arrogantly in front of them?
The hunters within Qingliang Mountain were at the mercy of Black Wind Stockade. Its people beat them whenever they wanted, taxed them whenever they wanted, and did whatever they pleased. They were the heavens of Qingliang Mountain.
But just as the stockade man carrying the Wolf Tooth Club reached the hunter, an incomparably brilliant blade light appeared. It instantly illuminated the snowy ground beneath the night sky. The stockade man's Wolf Tooth Club fell to the ground. His eyes widened as he clutched his neck tightly, fresh blood gushing out and splattering the ground.
The stockade man stared fixedly at the figure before him. With a thud, he collapsed into the snow.
That figure was naturally Su Mo.
At that moment, he had not used the Beast Hide Great Bow. Instead, he had used the ancestral Hunting Knife. The Hunting Knife could slay beasts and Fierce Beasts—and it could slay bastards too!
"Ah!"
Following the stockade man's gruesome death, the remaining three Black Wind Stockade men seemed to awaken from a dream. Their drunkenness vanished, and they all sobered up. They wanted to flee, but what answered them was a dazzling blade light that soared with freezing air.
In the blink of an eye, Su Mo had cut down all three remaining Black Wind Stockade men.
The splashing blood soon soaked into the snow.
Su Mo threw the corpses of the four Black Wind Stockade men into the mountains. With the scent of blood, beasts should be drawn there before long and eat them all, allowing him to destroy all traces of the bodies.
After finishing this, Su Mo returned to the village.
Once he reached the village, Su Mo took a head of green wolf meat from the cellar at home and then went to Zhang Tieshan's house.
"Su Mo, where are you going?"
"Grandma Li, I'm going to check on Uncle Tieshan's family."
"All right. Take these two pounds of meat and these steamed buns to Qian'er and the others. Heaven has no eyes—good people are always the ones who suffer!"
The night was pitch-black. When Su Mo had reached the middle of the village, Grandma Li came out of her house and brought him two pounds of green wolf meat and several freshly steamed buns, asking him to deliver them to Zhang Qian and the others as well.
The two pounds of green wolf meat had originally been given to Grandma Li by Su Mo. But Grandma Li was poor and could not bear to eat the meat. After learning what had happened to Uncle Zhang Tieshan's family, she brought out the green wolf meat she had been reluctant to eat and asked Su Mo to deliver it.
Su Mo did not refuse. He accepted the meat and several steamed buns and walked into the night. The world was dark, and it was hard for people to survive.
He planned to bring Grandma Li some more meat tomorrow.
The villagers were all avoiding Zhang Tieshan's family, afraid of provoking Black Wind Stockade and bringing disaster upon themselves. Grandma Li, however, had not.
Su Mo reached Zhang Tieshan's door and was just about to knock when the voices of Zhang Tieshan and his son came from inside.
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