Chapter 31 It Can Be Said That There Are Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers

"It really can be said that there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in these mountains..."

When Yang Gong's name had already been established, creating quite a stir and gathering two or three thousand people, Hu Ma had also left the mountain. Although he didn't personally meet Yang Gong, he understood everything that had happened in the mountains.

After all, he had the Mountain God as his helper. How could any disturbance in Lao Yin Mountain escape his notice?

And listening closely, one could see that although Yang Gong's methods seemed reckless, they clearly showed traces of guidance from a master.

Whether it was the timing of his attacks or his approach after seizing the grain, everything was very steady.

After all, he was an outsider with more book knowledge than practical experience. Therefore, he just tried to understand as much as possible, observing and learning like a newcomer.

Seeing that the momentum in Mingzhou was building, with a faint sense of vast fortune, and that these two forces were about to clash, he was extremely concerned.

Seizing the True Logic Church's grain and killing their vice-leader had obviously enraged the True Logic Church. Under the leader's orders, True Logic Church leaders from all over were gathering their men and converging here.

In terms of response, the True Logic Church was indeed fast. Within a short time, several thousand people were heading toward Yang Gong's mountain stronghold. The fastest among them, a church leader with five hundred men, had arrived at the foot of the mountain in just one day.

The opponent was waiting for their forces to gather and wasn't in a hurry to enter the mountain. They simply encamped, no more than twenty *li* away from Yang Gong.

"Brother Yang Gong, something's not right..."

Under his father-in-law's guidance, Yang Gong knew the seriousness of the situation. As more people gathered around him, he selected several good horses from the village and distributed them to his close brothers who had learned the skills of Fu Ling (carrying spirits), sending them out to scout the movements of the True Logic Church's forces.

When these men returned, they were terrified, saying repeatedly, "Before, in the Red Lantern Society, we were desperate if we faced three or five people at a time. There were times with more people, but often there wouldn't even be a fight; it was just talk."

"But this time, how can the commotion be so big? We've gathered over two thousand people, and it's already chaotic and uncontrollable. But the True Logic Church, coming from all over, probably numbers in the tens of thousands..."

"If we really fight, can we hold them off?"

Seeing that his brothers who came from the Red Lantern Society were somewhat timid, Yang Gong said sternly, "The last time we fought those bandits, didn't we also think they had too many people and we couldn't win?"

"We Red Fragrance disciples have always relied on risking our lives to earn a future, haven't we? When it comes to having more people, better weapons, or more silver in our pockets, we've never won. We've always had less."

"But we can't lose our courage."

"Since they dare to come and kill us, we'll charge at them and let them know how powerful we are!"

So, after a scolding, he simply mustered his forces, mainly composed of the villagers who had fought bandits with him in the past and had trained as militiamen for half a year. Under the cover of night, they set out directly toward the True Logic Church leader's camp twenty *li* away.

In Hu Ma's opinion, these few hundred men were Yang Gong's most valuable force, practically his lifeline. Such a risky move could cost him everything.

But Yang Gong didn't care about that, relying solely on his courage, and crept over.

Coincidentally, the True Logic Church leader didn't expect Yang Gong to dare come. In his eyes, the people in the mountains were just a disorganized rabble that would collapse at the first touch. He never imagined that someone would be so bold as to take the initiative and sneak over.

He had brought five hundred men and had just settled down in the mountain hollow, setting up stoves to cook, when suddenly he saw a mass of people in front of him. The leaders, riding several horses, held large sabers and exuded a fierce aura, charging at the front.

Behind them were dozens more on horseback, and hundreds running on foot.

Caught off guard, this group was killed in large numbers, falling into complete chaos, unable to even grab their weapons in time.

"Do these mountain bumpkins actually have this kind of courage?"

Seeing that someone had attacked, the True Logic Church leader was both angry and amused: "They're actually trying to steal a camp?"

Relying on his own skills, he wanted to claim this first merit, but unexpectedly, just as he ordered his men to give the order, he saw that his own men had already scattered in disarray.

The main force of their True Logic Church hadn't followed. The men he had brought were temporarily recruited from the surrounding villages, villagers willing to join the True Logic Church, who had never truly seen a bloody battle.

Now, seeing the enemy so brave, they were frightened and intimidated themselves.

"The people of Mingzhou have had good days for too long, their courage is so lacking!"

The church leader gritted his teeth in anger, but he remained calm, immediately ordering his Hundred Ghosts Banner to be brought out, and an incense table set up.

With disheveled hair and a sword in hand, he burned incense and sprinkled blood, pointing the sword at the banner in front of him. Immediately, a gloomy wind blew around.

All around, one could hear the wails of ghosts. The ground beside them seemed to become sticky, and one could vaguely see that under the soil, sinister and fierce ghosts were howling, about to crawl out of the ground to harm people.

But at that moment, Yang Gong, charging at the very front, had already swung his precious saber and rushed forward.

Following him were four good brothers who had come with him from the Red Lantern Society.

Behind them were the strong young men from the village who had fought bandits with him and had trained together for half a year. Although they hadn't been on a real battlefield, they were united, knowing to stick close to Yang Gong and not stray too far to the left or right in the chaos.

More importantly, behind them were over a thousand people.

Even though these thousand-plus people had been somewhat left behind, they weren't flustered, instead gaining a momentum that grew stronger the further they charged.

The church leader's face was grim, then quickly turned somewhat astonished, and soon became fearful.

Normally, with his treasure, killing those people on horseback would have been too easy. But he never expected that the opponent's momentum would be so strong, their valiant bloodthirst suppressing the evil ghosts under the ground before they could even crawl out.

Although he was a highly skilled expert with extraordinary methods, he allowed the opponent to rush in front of him. Yang Gong slashed at him with his saber, and he reacted quickly, ducking to dodge, wanting to swing his sword in retaliation.

But the sword was too short, not reaching the person. At the same time, his back felt a chill as one of Yang Gong's brothers stabbed him through from behind. The man screamed, desperately trying to stand up and escape, but Yang Gong chopped down again with his saber.

His head rolled to the ground, his eyes still filled with bewilderment and incomprehension.

"Everyone says how powerful the True Logic Church leaders are, but why does he look like a fool?"

Yang Gong hadn't expected to kill him so easily. Tilting his head, he picked up the head and examined it, saying, "I brought people to charge over, and instead of picking up a weapon to fight me, he's burning incense and summoning ghosts..."

"No, even if you succeeded, what could you do?"

"...We also followed the Red Lantern Goddess, are we afraid of you?"

The church leader was easily killed, and the rest were slaughtered. The survivors scattered, running in a frenzy, some even taking the opportunity to hide among Yang Gong's forces, pretending to be his men, shouting that they were going to fight the grain-robbing demons.

When they inventoried the loot, they found quite a bit of weapons and grain. This made the group who had just come out of the mountains incredibly happy, cheering loudly, and greatly increasing their courage.

'Yang Gong's skills are truly impossible to learn. If it were me...'

Hu Ma was on the nearby mountain, holding Little Red Tang's hand, quietly watching.

He had left the mountain to see Yang Gong's momentum and understand the situation in Mingzhou, but he didn't expect this guy to be so fierce. Even he wouldn't use such a risky method. However, he probably wouldn't be able to boost morale like that.

He could only lament that there was a reason why Yang Gong was chosen by these mountain people...

But while lamenting, seeing Yang Gong's men cheering, their formation chaotic, even fighting over the weapons and grain left behind by the True Logic Church disciples, he felt a faint sense of worry in his heart.

He wanted to remind him, but for a moment, he didn't know how to remind him. Yang Gong's group of mountain people were flawed in every way from head to toe.

Where should he even begin?

After hesitating for a moment, he sighed, knowing that the general trend was irreversible. Yang Gong lacked too much to succeed.

Many of those things would have to be bought with lives.

He did need to meet with him, but only after Yang Gong came to see him, not him going to see Yang Gong.

So, he took a deep breath, took Little Red Tang, and headed straight for Qing Stone Village, no longer thinking about it.

That night, Yang Gong and his men celebrated their victory, arranging wine and meat to share with his men. Seeing that there were more people now, he naturally had to distribute them, assigning everyone as a small leader, each leading a group of men; otherwise, he couldn't manage them all.

Also, now that he knew that the True Logic Church's men were arriving one after another, he had to divide his forces to guard all the paths, lest they be unknowingly approached.

When it came to instructing Shen Bangzi, a brother who had followed him for a long time, Yang Gong, although he had drunk some wine, was still clear-headed, saying, "Bangzi, take three hundred men and guard the mountain hollow behind us, don't let anyone sneak into our village..."

"But you have to be careful, and don't drink too much. Although we won this battle, and didn't see any great skills from the other side, my eyelids have been twitching nonstop..."

Shen Bangzi drank a large bowl of wine and laughed, "What are you afraid of now?"

"We've followed you from the Red Lantern Society all the way to now. How many desperate situations have we encountered? Haven't we all survived?"

"You know my alcohol tolerance. I can usually drink three or four jars. Today I've only drunk less than one jar, and you're already lecturing me? Are you making fun of me?"

Saying that, he drank three large bowls in a row, his legs not shaking and his body not swaying, and rose to take the men he had been assigned directly to the mountain hollow.

(End of Chapter)