HUS Chapter 53: Luring the Tiger from the Mountain
HUS Chapter 53: Luring the Tiger from the Mountain
Dec 26, 2025
Estate Head Zhang rushed to Phoenix Mountain Manor with twelve guards.
He had even prepared some accounting materials quite seriously and brought along a "Yang Can Plow."
It seemed as if he was going to claim credit for Yang Can but what if he told the Clan Head that this plow should be called the "Yu Family Plow"?
Whether something was merit or fault sometimes just depended on the speaker's mouth.
From Feng'an Estate to Phoenix Mountain Manor wasn't too far, one could depart in the morning and arrive in the evening.
Around noon, Zhang Yunyi's group reached a river valley.
The spring river water was neither swift nor deep, but quite cold.
Zhang Yunyi poked his head out from the carriage to look and instructed, "Let's rest by this river for a while."
The group stopped. An arrow's distance away was forest but since it wasn't yet the scorching summer, there was no need to shelter in the forest for shade and because it was just a brief rest, they didn't even remove the saddles.
The guards dismounted and first went to the river to fetch water and water the horses.
Just then, a sudden rapid sound of hoofbeats rang out.
The Longshang aristocratic clans were independent, had no state, and naturally no army either. However, in this kind of place, even among common people, how many didn't know some martial arts?
Not to mention those private soldiers of the aristocratic clans.
Zhang Yunyi's guards were even better trained than the dependent troops on the estate.
Hearing the urgent hoofbeats, and moreover more than one horse, they immediately rushed from the riverside toward their war horses.
They weren't certain the newcomers definitely had hostile intent, and besides, the area around Phoenix Mountain Manor was relatively peaceful.
After all, causing trouble here would be directly provoking Yu Xinglong's authority but no one would stake their life on an assumption.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."
A rain of arrows shot forth intensely.
Li Dache had just grasped his saddle with one hand when a barbed arrow shot forth and pinned his palm and saddle to the horse's back.
"Neigh~"
The war horse screamed in pain and instinctively ran forward. Li Dache shrieked as he was dragged along the horse's side.
A rain of arrows shot Zhang Yunyi's guards, causing men and horses to tumble. Three or four immediately fell.
The others were basically all slowed down from mounting their horses.
At this moment, the riders appeared.
Over twenty people total, all wearing riding attire, their faces covered with hemp cloth against the dust.
They shot arrows from horseback, but only released one volley before they arrived.
Bows were already slung on backs, sabers drawn.
On Zhang Yunyi's side, the guards who had already mounted charged forward with raised sabers, roaring madly.
They had to buy time for their people to mount.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Steel sabers clashed, producing a series of piercing sounds.
The war horses of both sides passed each other.
The ambushing cavalry had the advantage of speed, which was precisely the condition where cavalry could display the most power.
Those masked riders swept past. Zhang Yunyi's guards, both those already mounted and those who hadn't had time to mount, all received saber wounds.
When those twenty-plus riders swiftly circled their horses and charged back again, only four of Zhang Yunyi's twelve guards remained.
In fact, these guards' skills weren't inferior to those masked riders. However, having lost the initiative, they could only be slaughtered.
The remaining four guards no longer sought the chance to mount.
They quickly moved to the side of Zhang Yunyi's carriage. With their backs against the carriage and steel sabers in hand, they maintained alert vigilance.
"Who has designs on Zhang?"
Zhang Yunyi's courage wasn't small. In such circumstances, he was surprisingly calm.
He slowly descended from the carriage, a "tempered iron saber" close against his arm.
This kind of tempered iron saber produced at Qiankou in Xiangzhou was the sharpest, with a hard blade edge and especially good blade flexibility.
That Estate Head Zhang could receive Yu family's regard at a young age and ultimately become an estate head was because he had weathered great storms before. However, he was no longer the invincibly fierce swordsman Little Zhang of years past.
The saber in his hand was also no longer the wrought iron saber full of nicks from back then.
He hadn't fought anyone in almost twenty years. Perhaps all that remained to this day was just his courage.
He stared at a rider on horseback.
Compared to the other burly riders, this rider's physique was far too petite.
Moreover, only this one had no saber.
Although this rider had covered their head with hemp cloth, the pair of eyes showing through the irregularly cut eye holes gave Zhang Yunyi a strangely familiar feeling.
"Who are you, and what grudge do you have with Zhang?"
The petite rider on horseback didn't respond, only calmly raised one hand.
Zhang Yunyi's gaze fell on that hand.
The hand was very delicate, jade-white, gleaming with a warm and gentle luster in the sunlight.
That hand was slender and well-proportioned, with the rounded curves characteristic of a young woman.
Zhang Yunyi's eyes narrowed. This person was indeed a woman.
A woman who could mobilize so many people and had a grudge against me, who is she?
Zhang Yunyi hadn't yet figured it out when that beautiful hand, which should only be playing the lute or picking flowers, had already gracefully chopped down.
The twenty-plus riders on horseback uniformly sheathed their sabers, removed their bows, nocked arrows, and aimed at them.
Zhang Yunyi's expression changed drastically, but before he could cry out in shock and anger, those people had already acted without hesitation.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."
Because they were too close, Zhang Yunyi even heard the sound of bowstrings.
Each of his four guards had at least five bows greeting them.
In an instant they were like banana leaves after a hailstorm, riddled with holes but Zhang Yunyi, standing among them, was completely unharmed.
At this moment, the petite rider raised her hand again.
Slender fingers grasped the mask, then pulled it off in one motion, revealing a pretty face capable of joy or anger.
Zhang Yunyi trembled all over in shock and cried out, "Miss Qingmei?"
Qingmei leaped down from her horse, her toes touching the ground, light as a civet cat.
That skill was far superior to the dismounting technique Yang Can had shown off before.
"Miss Qingmei, what is the meaning of this?"
Zhang Yunyi's whole body was trembling. He had just thought of many women, but never thought of Qingmei.
Qingmei had directly revealed her true face to him. Did that mean he had no way out?
"I heard the Estate Head was a formidable swordsman in his youth. Shall we exchange a few moves?"
Qingmei raised her sword and said cheerfully.
She wore men's riding attire, completely concealing her graceful and moving curves but just raising her sword like this gave one the feeling of a butterfly's lightness and agility.
Before Zhang Yunyi could speak, she swept over like a faint, imperceptible wisp of smoke.
The sword in Qingmei's hand transformed into a snowflake in the cold night, striking directly at Zhang Yunyi's brow.
...
Yang Can was looking at the list Li Damu had organized according to his requirements in the study.
At this moment, the door opened and Xiao Qingmei swept in on a fragrant breeze.
She stood before Yang Can with a smile.
Yang Can looked up, "It's done?"
"Done!" Qingmei said with a grin.
"Were there casualties?"
"Three injured. Only one is seriously hurt. I've made proper arrangements." Qingmei still grinned.
"Zhang Yunyi is captured?"
"Captured. I personally took action. I caught him in just over twenty moves." Qingmei still grinned.
"Where have you placed him?"
"Second Brother Cheng found the place. It's over ten li from Feng'an Estate." Qingmei stopped grinning.
"Mm. Now, we've covered the 'heaven' of this Feng'an Estate. So next, we can implement the strategy of defeating them one by one!"
Yang Can pondered while picking up the list Li Damu had compiled.
"Let's start with the small fry. Him... Feng'an Estate household head, Shi Jiuyue."
Qingmei pouted, "If you have nothing else, I'll go out?"
"Mm!"
Yang Can casually agreed while circling Shi Jiuyue's name.
Qingmei's little face fell as she turned to leave.
Just as she was about to reach the door, Yang Can's voice suddenly came from behind.
"Zhang Yunyi was a famous swordsman around Helan in his youth. His martial arts were quite formidable. You actually captured him alive in just over twenty moves?"
Qingmei didn't turn around, but the corners of her mouth were already raised higher than an AK's recoil.
She slowly turned around, her face serene and unruffled.
"Hey, it was nothing really. If I hadn't needed to capture him alive, he wouldn't have lasted even ten moves against me."
Qingmei's words naturally had an element of boasting.
There were over twenty burly men beside her holding bows and arrows, watching like tigers eyeing prey!
How could Zhang Yunyi still have fighting spirit?
However, Qingmei's skills were very impressive, this point was beyond doubt.
Actually, her swordplay was even sharper than Suo Zhanzhi's because although they had the same master, martial arts practice was very arduous work.
Qingmei had strong motivation to practice martial arts, while Suo Zhanzhi did not.
Yang Can slapped his forehead, with a belated realization, and praised appreciatively, "I truly didn't expect that such a delicate little girl as you would have such formidable martial arts."
Qingmei beamed, "Well, not entirely. Zhang Yunyi has lived in comfort for over twenty years. His skills have long been set aside. Hehe, I won't chat with you anymore. You're busy. I'm going out."
Xiao Qingmei happily left the room. Yang Can couldn't help but laugh.
Actually, as soon as Xiao Qingmei came in, he had seen the look of seeking praise all over the little girl's face.
She really was a girl who couldn't hide her thoughts.
Yang Can smiled and shook his head, refocusing his attention on the list in his hand.
His plan targeting Zhang Yunyi was a typical power replacement strategy.
This was a power game combining psychological warfare, organizational control, and information management.
Not long after Yang Can arrived at Feng'an Estate, he discerned Zhang Yunyi's powerful control over Feng'an Estate.
Even in Yang Can's era, in a relatively isolated small village, the village head's control over the entire village could be incredibly strong to an unbelievable degree.
Not to mention this era, not to mention a powerful landlord like Zhang Yunyi?
However, this abnormally powerful controlling authority had one major flaw:
It was extremely dependent on "a few key nodes."
If this phrase were translated into plain words Leopard Head could understand, it would be:
Extremely dependent on a particular person.
In Feng'an Estate, this person was naturally Zhang Yunyi, and only Zhang Yunyi.
As long as this key node was replaced or destroyed, this powerful system would instantly collapse.
Emperor Timur died of illness on his eastern campaign, and his powerful empire instantly fell apart because his system was precisely this kind of system completely reliant on "a few key nodes."
Yang Can's first step of the plan was to lure the tiger from the mountain, then control this tiger.
Now, he was going to begin executing the second step of the plan.
Defeat them one by one!
In this step of the plan, he would fully utilize psychology to remove the foundation stones beneath Zhang Yunyi's throne one by one then it would no longer be able to bear the weight, and would come crashing down!
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