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After leaving Zhending Prefecture, the mountains gradually became rugged, and the terrain became increasingly barren. Although the mountains were still covered in green, the forests were sparse, with more pine trees. Sometimes, from a distance, the mountains looked as if they were only covered with a layer of lichen. For Lou Shuwan, who was used to the green fields of Jiangnan, such scenery made her feel desolate and barbaric. Of course, since joining Tian Hu, she had never felt safe or secure. The tension in her heart, the constant feeling of being betrayed at any moment, was ever-present.

"How much longer until we reach Ji County?"

"Approximately half a day." Lou Shuwan, on horseback, turned her head to ask. The burly man next to her approached on horseback and answered respectfully. This man, surnamed Qiu, named Guyan, was a master under Tian Hu. After Lou Shuwan demonstrated her financial and management skills and gained Tian Hu's trust, he assigned Qiu Guyan to her as a guard and deputy. Over the past few months, Qiu Guyan's personality had been calm and quiet, and he had obeyed Lou Shuwan's orders without question. Their relationship could be considered harmonious.

"Since it's not far, send someone ahead to Ji County to arrange accommodation and food. We don't know when the Third Prince and General Yu will arrive. We'll probably have to stay for a few days."

"Yes." As soon as Lou Shuwan gave the order, Qiu Guyan immediately sent someone. Looking back, the team of over a hundred people was traveling along the foothills, pushing several carts of goods along the way. These people were all elite soldiers under Tian Hu. As the leader, Lou Shuwan was currently riding a horse, wearing a yellowish-gray cloak. Although it was not easy for her to establish herself in Tian Hu's army as a woman, she was now in charge of a portion of the wealth and power. If she wanted to ride comfortably in a large carriage, no one would say anything. However, since her position in Tian Hu's army had gradually stabilized, she had gradually given up the habit of riding in a carriage. Whenever she went out, no matter how far, she would ride a horse, and she also carried a dagger ****night and day at the place easiest for her to reach.

She had no martial arts skills, and her own strength, even with some training, was no match for ordinary men. She carried the dagger not to hurt others, but to use it to commit suicide if necessary. Whether she would dare to do it when the time came was another matter, but this was indeed her original intention in carrying the dagger. Occasionally touching the dagger sheath when making decisions would make her feel a little stronger.

In fact, that was, of course, an illusion. What truly protected her from being bullied in Tian Hu's army was the influence of Prince Jin, Tian Hu himself.

When she and Lou Shuheng, who had been fleeing with her, first found themselves within the sphere of influence of Tian Hu's army, they were at their wits' end. Lou Shuheng, as a man, had already collapsed, but she gritted her teeth and seized an opportunity to appear before Tian Hu, recommending herself and offering some advice to him. Tian Hu was originally a hunter who later became an outlaw and occupied a large territory. He had ability, but his knowledge was limited. In the transition from occupying territory to governing it, there was a shortage of talent, so Lou Shuwan was valued, similar to how the Lou family was valued by Fang La in Hangzhou City.

While having ability, she was also beautiful. As a woman from a respectable family, her education and knowledge were unmatched by some local bumpkins. Tian Hu's original idea was to take her into his harem, as this would be the most reassuring. However, Lou Shuwan refused several times with a firm attitude. Tian Hu, to show his magnanimity and unwilling to lose a talented person who could help him, did not force her. In fact, Tian Hu did not understand that in Lou Shuwan's heart, if she really could not avoid it, she would have to give in reluctantly. After experiencing those things, she had a great aversion to men, feeling that they were ugly. But this aversion was not enough to protect her chastity with her life. After all, her so-called chastity, whether physical or psychological, was already lost.

Tian Hu did not force her. Since then, Lou Shuwan had enjoyed many conveniences in Tian Hu's army. Sometimes, she used Tian Hu's name to intimidate others, implying that she was Tian Hu's mistress, which restrained other men who were interested in her. Therefore, generally speaking, her life in Tian Hu's army for the past year or so had been relatively smooth. Apart from her second brother, who was always wandering around brothels in a daze, the only things she really cared about were the various matters at hand that Tiger King had entrusted to her.

After staying away from men, she suddenly realized that the feeling of a woman doing things was also very good. Although people still often looked at her with the kind of eyes that wanted to strip her naked, she didn't care. What was the point of being stripped naked? It was the same thrusting and panting, and then their eyes would roll back as if they were dead, pitiful creatures controlled by their lower bodies. Just like those people who did those things to her and were then killed, they were like that too... After they vented, she found a dagger and killed them all. For that moment of rolling their eyes back, they even lost their lives. Men were stupid pigs. Did she really lose anything?... She would occasionally think like this, and then she couldn't help but laugh until tears streamed down her face.

Only in occasional midnight dreams would she remember a certain figure, like a nightmare – the figure named Ning Liheng. Her initial feelings for him, even if there was some infatuation, were not very deep. However, everything that happened later left too many marks in her memory. The deaths of her father and brother, the destruction of her family, and the miserable journey of displacement all came from that figure. When she thought of him, it was difficult to think of revenge at first.

She knew that he had destroyed Liangshan, but she did not know what he was doing now, so she had no concept of how to take revenge. Remaining under Tian Hu's command and working her way up, perhaps one day she would face him head-on. But even thinking like that, she could not imagine what it would be like then. Only some bizarre and unspeakable fantasies would appear clear. She remembered those tragic experiences, remembered the way that man thrust into her, and then she could kill him, imagined showing off to him in triumph, imagined being ravaged by him in various ways after failing—every time she got to this point, the fantasies became more and more bizarre. She often woke up in the early hours of the morning, drenched in sweat, with the quilt soaked through, her desire burning, and her lower body as soft as a swamp. Then she could only lie on her side alone until dawn.

Perhaps one day, she would kill him, or he would kill her. This should be the only ending for them both.

Of course, this trip to the Lüliang Mountains did not involve such complicated emotions.

Regarding the area of Lüliang, Tian Hu had been interested in extending his power there since the beginning of his uprising. That area was different from both the Central Plains and Hebei. Located on the border line, the land washed by blood for many years had a fierce folk custom, and there were many scattered forces. The general rules of the green forests were difficult to apply here. After all, rules were meant to prevent everyone from perishing together under the drive of desire. But on this land, most of the people who could survive were desperados. Whether they obeyed the rules or not, they could die at any time, so the meaning of rules was not great.

The reasons for this phenomenon were complex, but the most direct reason was still the looting on both sides. The Liao people regarded the people in this area as pigs and dogs, and the martial people regarded the residents here as uncivilized people and troublemakers who could not be ruled. Occasionally, some larger forces would rise up here, but these forces mostly hated both sides and were relatively closed off, and then they were easily dispersed, because no matter how large your force was, it could not compare to the armies on both sides. After Tian Hu's tentacles stretched over, he also spent some effort trying to win over a large number of companions here. But his power was very large for a single mountain stronghold, but for the area of Lüliang, which was originally scattered like sand, it was really difficult to know where to exert force, so in terms of progress, there had been nothing.

Of course, extending his power to the northwest of Lüliang had always been a cherry on top for Tian Hu. Even if the progress was not great, it did not matter. However, in the past year or so, the situation in the Lüliang Mountains had changed a lot compared to before, which made Tian Hu unable to resist putting his attention on it again.

A stronghold called Qingmu Stronghold had been constantly developing and growing in Lüliang in the past year or two, and had even tried to open up smuggling routes on both sides, gaining huge profits, which was really enviable. At the beginning of Qingmu Stronghold's development, Cao Hong under Tian Hu had noticed it. He incited Qingmu Stronghold to split, trying to take the opportunity to seize Qingmu Stronghold, but he was later killed by the highly skilled female chieftain.

This kind of thing was originally enough to cause a feud between the two sides, but Tian Hu felt that it would be troublesome to go deep into Lüliang to avenge this matter. He was a relatively straightforward person. Everyone was out to make a living. If you made a mistake, you had to admit it, and if you got beaten, you had to stand up straight. His own general went over to incite a rebellion and failed and was killed, so he had to swallow the matter. However, after so much time had passed since this incident, the development of the Lüliang Mountains was still expanding, and it had changed from a fragrant steamed bun to a pot of fragrant steamed buns, so he could not help but have the idea again.

It was said that the highly skilled female chieftain of Qingmu Stronghold was getting old. She was in her twenties and had not yet married, so they could form a marriage alliance. This marriage alliance was different from the previous ones. The bargaining chip that Tian Hu was preparing to offer was Tian Shi, who was known as the Third Prince in the army. Tian Hu's family had three brothers, namely Tian Hu, Tian Bao, and Tian Biao. Tian Shi was the son of Tian Biao, and he was good at martial arts and had a handsome appearance. Once they formed a marriage alliance, the two sides would be one family. Moreover, Tian Hu's side was full of sincerity. Tian Shi was not going to marry, but to marry into Qingmu Stronghold, definitely not to let the other party marry over.

In addition to this, everyone had studied the Qingmu Stronghold's development model. Generally speaking, once the forces in the Lüliang Mountains were formed, they were often deeply resentful and extremely xenophobic, so they did not please either side. But after the Qingmu Stronghold developed, it was very savvy. The nearby Wu Dynasty military often received a share of the profits, which was a lot of sweetness. For some greedy guys, the Qingmu Stronghold also formed alliances and divided and attacked, and may even have a clear understanding of the details of many generals in the military, so they could gradually gain a foothold.

Such a chieftain, although a woman, was obviously very good at controlling interests. Simply sending a man would probably not satisfy the other party. Therefore, in addition to Tian Shi, Lou Shuwan was going to act as a lobbyist. Both sides were capable women, so it should be easier to talk in this regard.

Now the situation in the world was chaotic and difficult to determine, and the imperial court was busy recruiting various mountain bandit forces in the north, which showed that the Wu Dynasty's control over the interior had reached its limit. With Tiger King's strength, once he joined forces with Qingmu Stronghold and had this channel connecting the north and south, he would definitely be able to make a great career in the future.

Lou Shuwan had already prepared this kind of rhetoric before, and had been constantly improving it in the past few days. Of course, everything would depend on seeing the chieftain named Lu Hongti.

That night, she and the team of carts carrying the betrothal gifts stopped in Ji County in front, waiting for the arrival of the Third Prince Tian Shi and General Yu Yulin under Tian Hu—although

Although the higher-ups in Tian Hu's army had made the decision, Tian Shi himself was also arrogant and not very willing to marry into the family. He basically came here one step ahead in a runaway mode to investigate the situation of Lu Hongti. As for Yu Yulin, he was the person in charge of Tian Hu sending him out to catch him back and press him to go to Lüliang to make peace.

At this time, the place was close to Lüliang. Ji County was a large county. Although everything seemed very desolate in the eyes of Lou Shuwan, a native of Jiangnan, there were indeed many people. This was a diversion point to the north. After this section, people had to choose to leave the pass normally through Yanmen Pass or smuggle out to the Lüliang Mountains. Before the smuggling channel in Lüliang flourished, Ji County was probably only half the size it is now. That is to say, its prosperity had suddenly expanded in the past year or two.

Because of this reason, everything in the county town was still filled with a barbaric atmosphere. The pedestrians were all kinds of people, and most of them carried knives, so it seemed that none of them were good people. Even the passing merchants carried a murderous aura and a bloody smell. The emergence of smuggling roads had prospered the goods, but the security had not been improved much. If some people came rashly without specific channel guidance, they would probably not be able to find a way to cross the border. The most prosperous places were often brothels and knife shops. Each force had its own residential area. Only the soldiers dared to swagger around in various places, but they basically would not touch the local forces. The government's power was extremely small—because there were few people who dared to come here to take office. In the early years, there were even constables who were killed and hung on flagpoles. The forces here all had the same characteristics: high-profile, flamboyant, and crazy. Then they rose up in batches, plundered the surrounding area, ate and drank spicy food, and then quieted down in batches...

Lou Shuwan stayed in Ji County until the fifth day before Tian Shi and Yu Yulin arrived here with more than two hundred soldiers. During this time, Lou Shuwan had also inquired about many things about the female chieftain of Qingmu Stronghold. It was said that she was highly skilled in martial arts and had reached the realm of a grandmaster. She currently had a high degree of control over the stronghold. It was temporarily impossible to provoke discord and split the stronghold. In addition, it was said that she was very beautiful, so many people had proposed marriage to Qingmu Stronghold recently, and there were even rumors that she had a martial arts competition to recruit a husband—the rumors outside were mixed, and it was not known whether they were true or false.

In Tian Hu's army, there were also people who had seen Lu Hongti, but Lou Shuwan could not find anyone this time. Tian Shi's route was different. Obviously, he had asked someone familiar with the situation and became interested after learning that Lu Hongti was highly skilled in martial arts and beautiful. He was twenty-five years old this year, good at martial arts, and handsome. He was already tired of playing with ordinary women. Tian Hu occupied a place, and he had also played with many weeping young ladies from respectable families. At this time, he seemed to have the idea of conquering Lu Hongti—after all, this world was dominated by men. Although he was going over under the guise of marrying into the family, he might not be able to conquer her with his own ability. Once they got into bed, wouldn't even the strongest woman be obedient to him...

That night, the two groups met each other. Yu Yulin, as a general valued by Tian Hu, was also a very heroic person. He was in his thirties, highly skilled in martial arts, and had a calm personality. If the other party did not look up to Tian Shi, he probably had the intention of taking action. Lou Shuwan had met them more than once. The day after the merger, the group set off and marched towards the Lüliang Mountains with more than three hundred people.

On the other hand, after Lou Shuwan and others left, Ning Yi's team of more than one hundred people was also approaching Ji County.

"After passing that area in front, the officials are useless." At dusk, the team camped. Zhu Biao pointed to the foothills to the north and turned around to say to Ning Yi and others, "Lüliang is even more chaotic than our Dulonggang. Those who can speak are either the army or the bandits. It's not that there are no ordinary people, but if they don't have power, they can't even farm the land. You have to be careful after passing by. People can't be alone. People here are ruthless."

"...Although it's not good to say this, it's better to deal with martial people here than to deal with literati." Ning Yi stood on a stone, shielding his eyebrows and looking forward, "Literati are often ambiguous when they speak. They take money and cheat you, and turn their backs on you. Martial people are much better. Although they are greedy, they do things after taking money. They are very straightforward. I prefer them." After he finished speaking, he sighed, "However, it does look a bit desolate... Shanxi..."

"Senior Lu's home is here. I always feel... it's not easy."

Zhu Biao sighed like this, and several martial artists in charge of small teams around him also showed similar expressions. Half of the martial artists who came up with Ning Yi this time were from Liangshan at the beginning, and they had also been trained in the camp in Dulonggang. When Lu Hongti was still there, she had fought with them in the camp and beaten them. At this time, everyone had mostly repented and their mentality had changed greatly. Coupled with Lu Hongti's grandmaster status, they admired her very much and regarded her as half a boss lady and half a master. However, Ning Yi curled his lips at everyone's sympathy and sneered.

"What's not easy? Although it sounds like a rumor, there are even rumors of a martial arts competition to recruit a husband. When I get there, I have to criticize her."

As the sun set, although he said such words, the thought of Lu Hongti's appearance still gave him a warm feeling like the sun shining on his face. If he really ran to scold her, would she still sit by the bed like a little wife and let him

Speak? Thinking about it slightly, even as calm as he was, he could not help but look forward to it. And as he said, the army took the money, and when they did things—as long as it wasn't fighting with the Liao people—they were basically conscientious. And now that the Liao Kingdom was destroyed, the next Lüliang Mountains would have a rare opportunity to rest for several years. How far could it develop in a few years?... Everything was ahead.