Chapter 74: The Nine-Striped Dragon Disguises Itself as a Pig to Eat the Tiger (Part 3)

  Jin Jieban understood Shi Jin's meaning, and with a swaggering air, he teased Huang Erlang for a while. This was not only to kill Huang Erlang the chicken but also to let that Confucian dog see it, so that he would know the ferocity of Shaohua Mountain.

  Shi Jin pulled Huang Erlang over and looked at Kong Ruhai, saying: "Kong boss, now that the weights are all here, can we start discussing?"

  Kong Ru looked at Shi Jin's eerie and cunning eyes, and his face full of evil smiles. For some reason, his heart began to feel a chill. Although Kong Ru didn't know what trickery Shi Jin was up to with Huang Er Lang, he knew in his heart that Shi Jin wanted the only thing on their side that could be considered valuable.

  Shi Jin saw that Kong Ru was speechless, so he turned his face to Jin Jiaoban and said: "I heard that the people in Kong's family are best at dealing with money, coincidentally you have the surname Jin, you must get along better with them."

  As soon as Jin saw Shi's cunning smile, he immediately understood. He beckoned to his men in the courtyard, and over ten burly men were about to step forward to take away the people from the Kong family.

  Kong Ru saw the crowd coming with a fierce aura, and his heart became anxious. Those who followed him were all his capable partners in business, if they had any accidents, then half of Kong's family business would collapse. So Kong Ru was worried, hastily stepped forward, blocking the way of the crowd, shouting loudly: "What do you want to do!"

  Jin Jieban grasped his knife and approached Kong Ru, saying viciously: "I've been robbing merchants on the mountain roads for years! What do I want to do? You'd better ask him!" As he spoke, Jin Jieban pressed in with his knife, forcing Kong Ru to retreat repeatedly.

  Kong Ruzi stepped aside, and the people from Shao Huashan immediately brought all the Kong family members to the center of the courtyard. Shi Jin held onto Huang Erlang, who was bound up, as if watching a play, glancing at Jinxie's moves while paying close attention to Kong Ruzi's reaction. Seeing him get anxious, with beads of sweat gradually seeping out of his forehead and rolling down his cheeks, Shi Jin knew in his heart that the plan would likely be effective. So, using Huang Erlang's body to block Kong Ruzi's line of sight, Shi Jin secretly manipulated Jinxie with Shao Huashan's hand signals, continuing to act out the next part of the play.

  The Golden Lotus saw that all of Kong's men had been taken away from his side, and Yu Guangzhong received Shi Jin's hand signal again. He smiled strangely at Kong Ruhai, the commander-in-chief, moved his arm, sheathed his knife, turned around, walked towards the middle of the courtyard, and looked at those people from the Kong family: "One day, I led a group of brothers down the mountain and encountered a merchant team with as many people as you. We rushed down, robbed them, and according to our mountain stronghold's rules, we had to ask questions to distinguish between different people before sending them on different roads."

  "I remember that day, I asked such a question." As he spoke, Jin Jiaoban pulled out the accountant, his two sharp eyes staring at him, and continued in a fierce tone: "What business does your master do?"

  The man in the account room was stunned for a moment, seeing Jin Jiaoban staring at himself, but had no further words. It wasn't until then that he realized he was being asked, and stuttered: "Fabric... pawn."

  Jin Jieban watched him finish, shook his head lightly, drew out his knife, and with a "pu" sound, blood sprayed out. Jin Jieban had taken advantage of the momentum to cut off the head of that tent's occupant.

  Kong Ruzi took one look and his heart ached.

  Jin Jieban didn't bother to reason with him, but instead continued his own story according to Shi Jin's pointing. Jin Jieban said with relish: "Merchants value honesty, a person who is full of lies, it's better for us to send him on his way early." As he spoke, Jin Jieban took another step forward and stood beside a thin fellow, saying: "I don't believe it, this group of merchants are all swindlers, so I asked the next person, what business does your boss do?"

  That fellow saw the accountant die and his heart was already broken, he stuttered: "Sometimes also sell some medicinal materials on the black market."

  He finished speaking and the next one beside him hastily added: "Also selling some private salt and fodder."

  The golden plaque shook its head and waved its hand in dismay. The two men behind the accountants raised their knives and brought them down, sending the other two on their way as well.

  "Merchants, you must abide by the law and regulations. All those who smuggle private salt will not be tolerated!" said Golden Plank, taking two more steps forward to stand in front of a young man, continuing: "Actually, I already knew they were lying that day because I found arsenic in their trunk, which is a medicine prohibited by the government from being purchased in large quantities. But they had quite a lot of it. They just refused to tell the truth, and there's no cure for that. So I didn't show them any mercy, just like now - clearly selling water privately, but refusing to admit it even unto death."

  Kong Ru couldn't help but retort, knowing that the people of Shaohua Mountain wouldn't kill him before they got their grain and forage. He slightly puffed out his chest and argued back: "Selling water is no crime! It's a fair deal - I got the silver I wanted, and they got the life-saving water; each got what they needed."

  "Jin Jieban listened to him finish without even turning his head, and coldly said: 'What should be done now is to relieve the people, but you are taking advantage of the chaos to accumulate wealth. How dare you say that each gets what they need? This kind of wolf-hearted and dog-lunged guy is clearly a scourge on Huayin County, and must be eliminated!' After saying this, he gave a glance with his eyes, and the young man was also killed by a single knife."

  "Y...y..." Kong Ru was so angry that he stuttered, wanting to retort but couldn't find a place to refute, could only grit his teeth fiercely and curse extremely viciously in his heart.

  "What a pity, those guys who were questioned that day all had problems, I was puzzled, why ruin a good day, doing so many harmful things, must have been deceived by someone." Jin Jiaoban said and continued walking down, when he stood in front of the next person, that person was so scared that he lost control of his bladder and urinated in his pants. Jin Jiaoban didn't let him off the hook, saying: "Who is your boss cooperating with to do business?"

  "Also... are... some silk sellers... and various raw material merchants... or customers."

  Jin Jieban listened to a wave of his hand, and after splashing blood for five steps, he immediately sent the man on his way. Jin Jieban took out a handkerchief to wipe away the few drops of blood that had stained his clothes, muttering to himself: "Such vague answers conceal dirty deals, silently devouring the interests of the common people."

  Jin Jieban said and walked down another step, his eyes fixed firmly on the man's eyes.

  That man was stared at by the golden sole, and his willpower instantly collapsed. He knew that the taste in the golden sole's eyes was the breath of death. So he couldn't care about anything else, and the desire to survive made him open his mouth and say: "Hero, you are wise! My master indeed had dealings with the county magistrate, privately buying a large batch of grain, not only that, but they also planned to hoard goods after the war was over, raising the price of rice high and making a fortune."

  Jin Jieban listened to him finish speaking, and personally beheaded him with one knife. He spat on the ground and said angrily: "This move is really... despicable!"

  "Kong boss, where are the grain and fodder? Tell me and I'll spare your life."

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