Chapter 61: The Green Ox Mountain Bandits Raid the Gates

Chu Chen gave them an affirming look, stepped on the accelerator, and headed straight toward Mashan Village.

After getting out of the car, Chu Chen was pleasantly surprised to find that neither of the two women showed any signs of motion sickness.

It seemed that in the future, whenever he went out, not only would he have a car, but he would probably also have two extra drivers.

Amidst cheers from everyone, the entire Mashan Village was celebrating the completion of this grand road.

Wang Defa was moved to tears of old age. Naturally, everyone wanted an official road, but poverty had always held them back.

"Lad Chu, on behalf of all of Mashan Village, I thank you."

Wang Defa raised his wine glass and spoke solemnly to Chu Chen.

"Oh, Uncle Wang, you're drunk. Don't ever do this in the future."

It was just a road. Once he installed solar-powered streetlights, it would surely drop their jaws in astonishment.

Another night passed, and this time Chu Chen sneaked stealthily out of Xiaofang's room.

On the balcony, Chu Chen wore warm, cozy loungewear.

Since he had even brought out a car, bringing a few sets of winter clothes over surprised no one anymore.

"Ah, it's snowing."

Chu Chen was surprised to find that the outside world was already a pristine white, with snowflakes fluttering through the air.

In his past life, Chu Chen was a thorough southerner who had never seen heavy snow.

If it ever snowed during those few freezing winter days, it was just a meager scattering of sleet pellets. Compared to this white landscape covering the mountains and plains, that could at most be called ice.

So, he turned around and shouted inside, "Everyone get up quickly, it's snowing!"

The others woke up with sleepy eyes and looked in surprise at the excited Chu Chen before them.

They had seen this since childhood, so what was there to be surprised about?

"Come on, come on, put on your clothes, let's go have a snowball fight!"

Chu Chen shouted excitedly to the three women.

Xiaofang, however, turned back and returned to her room. Having spent the entire previous night discussing the Kun-style incantation with Chu Chen, she had zero energy left at this moment.

She truly had no idea what kind of creature the man before her was, possessing such boundless energy.

In Mashan Village, right in front of the villa and out in the snow, a quintessential southern fool was rolling around in the snow.

His antics made everyone think he had gone mad again.

Meanwhile, on the road leading to Mashan Village, a hundred or so men were marching imposingly in this direction.

"Damn it, whichever bastard said yesterday that he could read astronomical signs, step out here right now, or I'll smash your luopan to pieces!"

Chou Hai was shivering so hard from the cold that he rubbed his hands incessantly.

Yesterday, a lackey had come forward to offer a strategy, claiming he had observed the celestial phenomena at night and that today would definitely bring fine weather, perfect for a campaign.

Listening to his words, Chou Hai had led his band of brothers down the mountain in the middle of the night, never expecting that by dawn, the sky would begin to flurry with snow. The snowfall grew heavier and heavier, and within less than two hours, it had blanketed the entirety of Qingniu Town.

However, having walked halfway, turning back felt too humiliating, leaving them no choice but to bite the bullet and press forward.

They themselves were relatively fine since they were riding horses, but the lackeys trailing behind were entirely on foot.

It was impossible for the leaders to ride horses while launching a surprise raid on Mashan Village alone; he did not flatter himself that he possessed such solo prowess.

Thus, he led the group at a leisurely pace toward Mashan Village.

Had there been no heavy snow, they would have arrived by the early hours of the morning—just when everyone's vigilance was at its lowest—allowing for a surprise ambush.

Instead, they estimated they would not reach Mashan Village until late morning now.

Up on the mountain, the lookout lackey had his face frozen purple.

"Why aren't the boss and the others here yet? If they don't arrive soon, we're going to end up fighting face-to-face in broad daylight."

He grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it into his mouth, pulled his hemp garments tighter around himself, and sniffled continuously.

The dry rations on his person had frozen solid; he was freezing and starving at the same time.

Back in Mashan Village, after rolling around in the snow for quite a while, Chu Chen finally returned to the villa under everyone's persuasion.

He changed into clean clothes, sipped warm tea, and sat foolishly smiling by the fireplace.

Just as his body warmed up and he prepared to go upstairs to warm up the bed for Xiaofang, Second Uncle Feng hurried over, followed closely by Tang Jiangtao.

Seeing the anxious expressions on both of their faces, Chu Chen instantly knew what had happened.

"Lad Chu, the bandits have come! There are about a hundred of them. What on earth should we do?"

Second Uncle Feng said anxiously.

On their side, even counting Tang Jiangtao's men, there were only about forty people in total.

The disparity in strength was somewhat vast. Although they possessed superior weapons, how could they withstand such a large number of enemies?

"Don't panic, Second Uncle Feng, Brother Tang."

"Did you see clearly? A hundred or so people—where are they now?"

Chu Chen asked leisurely.

At this moment, Tang Jiangtao spoke up, "The lad under my command reported that in less than a quarter of an hour, they will reach the village."

"Young Master Chu, this is going to be a tough fight. While we aren't afraid, we still need to be prepared. If we could have those fine weapons of Young Master Chu's..."

Tang Jiangtao had seen them before; back then, Huzi had cleaved a bandit's blade in two with a single slash. If they held such weapons in their hands, the forty-odd brave men would see their chances of victory increase by a fair margin.

Chu Chen had not expected them to muster over a hundred men all at once.

Although a single rifle of his could deal with many of them unexpectedly, for the sake of safety, he still walked back into the tea room.

When he emerged again, he was holding twenty heavy-bladed sabers.

"Brother Tang, I don't have an abundance of these weapons. Until I can mass-produce them, you will have to return these weapons to me."

Chu Chen pointed at the sabers and told Tang Jiangtao.

Tang Jiangtao picked one up and saw that the blade was thick and wide, about two feet long, with the edge casting a cold gleam—undoubtedly a precious blade.

He immediately agreed, "No problem, Young Master Chu. Once the bandits are slain, I will return every single one of them intact."

Although he still had around two hundred other blades hidden away, every time one of these special weapons was used, there was one less left. While he could be generous with other things, matters concerning life-saving gear could not be taken lightly.

"Second Uncle Feng, you and Brother Huzi take the men and set up an ambush first. I'll follow shortly. Brother Tang, you and your men will be responsible for meeting the enemy head-on. Is that alright?"

"Rest assured, this is the duty of soldiers like us."

With that, the two men led their people heading outward.

Chu Chen pulled Huzi back, helped him put on a stab-resistant vest, and instructed him not to expose himself blindly but to focus on guerrilla tactics.

Huzi nodded, wearing a look that said he understood, picked up his compound bow, and ran off to catch up with the others.

After everyone had departed, Chu Chen returned to the tea room under the concerned gazes of the women.

He dismantled a set of snow chains from another vehicle, grabbed a Type 95 rifle, and finally drove the van out onto the newly paved road.

Chou Hai and his men were still advancing slowly toward Mashan Village.

By this time, Feng Er and Tang Jiangtao had led their men to watch as Chu Chen drove up in his iron beast.

They all stepped aside to clear the road.

"Second Uncle Feng, Brother Tang, you guys hide in the bushes first. Let me go meet them first."

Thus, on both sides of the road, Feng Er and Tang Jiangtao each led a faction to ambush the flanks of the pathway.

Had the weather been fine, their ambush would have been completely meaningless.

After all, up on the mountain, there was still a scout from the Fierce Tiger Hall keeping watch.

Unfortunately, that scout from the Fierce Tiger Hall was currently shivering violently, sprawled helplessly in the snow, completely incapable of moving another inch.

He had completely lost the ability to run down the mountain and report the news, left with no choice but to watch helplessly as his own chieftain walked straight into a trap.