My son, how could you be Lü Bu?!

Chapter 4 Nighttime Bandits

Lü Ping and his son Lü Bu both looked toward the source of the sound.

Lü Ping is doing well.

He simply remained calm and picked up the sword he had placed beside his bed.

Lu Bu, who was eating his meal, suddenly realized something when he saw the two baskets of salted fish in the room and his father's behavior.

His expression immediately turned hostile. He put down his rice bowl, stood up abruptly, grabbed the long knife hanging on the earthen wall, and rushed outside.

Seeing how reckless her eldest son was.

Originally, Lü Ping thought that the enemy was in the dark while he was in the light, and wanted to wait for the bandits to make some more noise. But he shook his head helplessly, picked up his long sword, and hurriedly followed them out.

only...

To their surprise.

When the two men, carrying swords and knives, finally reached the grove where the noise had originated, the bandits who should have been there were nowhere to be found.

After searching several times, the two finally found a few marks made by a hard object in a patch of grass, but nothing else.

They saw the thieves escape.

Lu Bu snorted coldly, picked up his long sword, and began to patrol the woods without any fear, trying to find any thieves who might be hiding.

Lu Ping stood beside the grass, gazing at the marks and silently counting them.

There are five questions in total.

"Looks like there are five of them, five against two. Aren't they even willing to take a gamble?"

"So cautious?"

Or perhaps... he was just scouting the area? Waiting to make his move when he's alone or no one's home?

"Father, whose thieves are these?" Lu Bu looked around but found nothing, then returned to Lu Ping's side.

"If you knew, I would grab my sword right now, storm their house, and teach them a lesson so they'll never dare come back!"

My thoughts were interrupted.

Lu Ping looked up at his eldest son, whom he had taken for granted, and explained to him what Cheng Lian had said earlier that day.

The voice just fell.

Having ascertained the identity of the thieves, Lü Bu's face immediately turned furious. He grabbed his sword and prepared to charge towards the Wang family's residence at the village entrance, disregarding the fact that the Wang family had more men.

only...

Before Lü Bu could even draw his sword and take a step, Lü Ping had already anticipated his eldest son's movements. He reached out and grabbed his adopted son.

Lu Bu was strong and caused Lu Ping to stumble.

Lu Bu turned his head, his face full of confusion.

Lu Ping steadied himself, slowly shook his head, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

"No rush."

"In four days, when Urhan and the others arrive, we can kill them as we go. After all... when the Xianbei raid the countryside, how can we expect not to lose a few people?"

"Xianbei raiding?" Lu Bu was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously asked in return.

"Father, how did you know the Xianbei would raid this place?"

Lu Ping looked helpless and didn't answer. He just looked at his seemingly dim-witted eldest son and slowly shook his head.

Seeing his own father like this.

It took Lü Bu a while to realize what was happening before he came to his senses, his face beaming with excitement.

"Brilliant!"

"Father's move was brilliant!"

At this moment, Lü Ping let out a long sigh, no longer wanting to turn his head to look at his adopted eldest son.

......

"Old Wang! How did you get this information?!"

"Didn't you say that in that family who fled famine and temporarily stayed there, there was only one sickly person who almost didn't make it through the winter?"

"How come his son is back?! He's grown so strong! He's almost as big as our mountain chief!"

It was a hundred paces away from the thatched cottage of the Lü family.

A group of young men carrying long knives and short weapons made their way cautiously, glancing back every now and then to see if they were being pursued, as they headed toward the Wang family's house at the edge of the village.

The leader was a burly man dressed in short black clothes, with a scar on his cheek and a full beard. He was turning his head and angrily scolding the eldest son of the Wang family at the entrance of the village.

"Exactly!" A bandit from the same Wula Mountain bandit group beside him muttered angrily.

"It's a good thing we didn't make a move, otherwise even if we had killed them, we would have been injured at least a little, which wouldn't have been good."

The eldest son of the Wang family, who had been angrily rebuked by the two, blushed and muttered in defense of himself.

"Brother Liu, my younger brother saw Lü Bu going out this morning. He specifically asked him and learned that he was going into the city."

"Logically speaking, if villagers who come to the city don't go home in the evening, they usually stay out overnight and don't come back."

"How was I supposed to know that his Lu Bu would be back at this hour? What normal person would walk home at night? It's so dark, aren't they afraid of falling into a ditch and dying!"

"Ha!" The man surnamed Liu, who was in the lead, just snorted coldly.

"What should we do then?" another bandit asked at the opportune moment.

The group fell silent for a moment.

The eldest son of the Wang family gritted his teeth and said.

"In my opinion, why don't we set fire to their thatched hut while they're asleep, then stand guard at the door with knives, and as they panic and flee, we'll just chop them down with one blow! And take all their valuables!"

"Although the others who came down from the mountain looked down on the Lü family and went to plunder other villages, their family was still a well-known wealthy household before. Even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse; no matter how little wealth they had, they wouldn't be missing out on much!"

Hearing such a sinister plot...

The man surnamed Liu, who was in the lead, rarely turned his head to look at the eldest son of the Wang family, and nodded slightly.

"Great plan! Shall we go back and make our move now?"

Seeing that he had been recognized, the eldest son of the Wang family became even more excited, but he resolutely shook his head.

"No, if we go back now, even if they haven't seen us, they might be on guard, and it will likely be difficult to succeed!"

"Anyway, they don't know we exist, so let's take it slow these next few days. After five or six days, once we've figured out their patterns and their guard has lowered, we'll find a dark and windy night, set a fire, and we'll succeed!"

"When the time comes, Brother Liu, you take the lion's share of the money and bring it back to the stronghold to show off to those who look down on the Lü family. We'll only take a small share."

"We were robbed by the Xianbei before. Although we had some property, we lost all our wealth and are struggling to make ends meet. If we can get through this year, everything will be fine."

After listening to the words of the eldest son of the Wang family.

The two bandits who came down from the Wula Mountains exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

"That's excellent!"

......

The sun sets and rises again, an eternal cycle.

The morning sun shone on the mountain road, illuminating Lü Ping, who was dressed in black.

Yesterday was a day off, but today I have to be on duty.

Lu Ping got up early, ate breakfast, and hurriedly headed south of Jiuyuan City, where his post was located: Shimen Ferry.

Jiuyuan City is located on the Hetao Plain, with the Yellow River to its south. Along the Yellow River, many ferry crossings were built to transport grain, sell salt, and transport horses.

Shimen Ferry is one of them.

Because of its northern location, the Yellow River had been frozen for some time, and there were not many merchants coming and going at the ferry crossing. Only recently, as the weather has warmed up, has the river thawed.

Trade routes began to flourish again.

Lu Ping walked for quite a while before finally arriving at the familiar Shimen Ferry.

Before he even got close, he heard a familiar voice gossiping in a low voice.

"Do you know?"

"Yesterday, that newly arrived Prefect and our Lord Wang got into a fight right there in the government office!"