Chapter 17: The World of Tigers and Wolves
There was a hundred-acre peach forest, and the accompanying sailors and guards were digging stoves or picking up firewood on the edge.

The peach trees are sparsely spaced seven or eight steps apart, but their branches spread out horizontally and occupy a large area.

The path in the forest was winding. Xuan Liang and the other party's housekeeper were at the back, Xue Zhou was leading the way, Black Bear followed, and a few steps behind was Xue Guang.

The black bear held a piece of peach branch in his hand and looked around to admire it carefully. He walked more than 200 steps before speaking: "The fallen flowers are so colorful. I came neither too early nor too late. It is really fate."

The trunks of the peach trees within sight are as thick as thighs, and with new and old trees mixed together, this peach forest must be very old.

Unfortunately, the old owner of the peach forest had made a living from it for generations, and now it has fallen into Xue Zhou's hands.

No one knows whether Xuezhou lived in seclusion here because he liked peach blossoms after he retired, or whether he led his troops to capture this place.

After walking another hundred steps, we arrived at the middle of a peach forest.

There was a pavilion here, so Xuezhou withdrew his gaze, stretched out his arms to invite him, and then he went into the pavilion.

Black Bear put the peach branch in his hand aside. Xue Guang rolled up the bamboo curtain hanging in the wooden pavilion. Xue Zhou sat down and leaned his left elbow on the hollow small plan, looking at the peach blossoms outside the pavilion: "As Mr. Sun said, if it is delayed for another two days, the peach blossoms in the garden will either wither or be knocked down by the rain."

After a short pause, Xuezhou said, "I am an old man and have no intention of caring about worldly affairs. Please speak well of me in front of Sun Taolu. It is not that I am disrespectful, but I cannot forget my old master."

Seems to have been misunderstood.

"Mr. Xue, there is no need to do this. I am here only to enjoy the flowers."

Black Bear also looked out of the pavilion, his breath filled with the rich fragrance of peach blossoms, and explained: "A few days ago, when I arrived in Xiao County, I encountered the White Goose Bandits. After a fight, I retreated to Xia Pi to recruit boatmen and sailors. Last night, when I stayed in Lu County, I saw a fire in Pengcheng. In the morning, a large group of boats sailed downstream, so I retreated to Xia Pi and planned to take the Huai River to Xudu."

As he spoke, he took up the peach branch at hand and put it under his nose to smell it lightly, then lowered his eyebrows to look at the blooming and half-opened flowers on the branch: "I have been feeling depressed recently, but seeing the peach blossoms blooming, I hurriedly came to visit."

Without waiting for Xuezhou and his son to speak, Black Bear looked at the peach blossoms outside the pavilion and said, "I have no other request today, I just want to take a short rest."

Xuezhou raised his hand to signal his son to go out, and observing the changes in Black Bear's expression, he asked, "Young Master, you came to Xu, but you looked unhappy and depressed. Is it because Sun Taolu entrusted you as a hostage?"

There was a mature system of appointing sons in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, where the sons of officials were recruited to serve as palace guards, and even if they were trained, they were still hostages.

If a member of the Sun family stayed in Jiangdong, he would naturally live a carefree life without anyone to interfere with him. But if he went to Xudu, he would be restricted in every way. Once a conflict broke out between Sun and Cao, he would be killed as a sacrifice.

Given a choice, who would be willing to be a proton?

Black Bear just forced a smile and said, "Joining Xu and serving the court is also a way out."

Xuezhou just shook his head and smiled when he heard this: "The emperor issued an imperial edict to fight against Cao Cao, and many loyal officials who obeyed the edict were killed. How can you serve the court by entering Xu this time?"

Seeing that Black Bear was silent, Xue Zhou simply stood up and said goodbye: "Since you have come here just to enjoy the flowers, I, an old country bumpkin, will not bother you. I will just kill some chickens and dogs to show my hospitality. You can leave early tomorrow morning without any delay."

"Then I'm sorry to bother you, Lord Xue."

Black Bear stood up and saw them out of the pavilion, watching Xuezhou and his son and the housekeeper leave.

Then he grabbed two straw mats in the pavilion and walked to the largest peach tree nearby, spread out the mat and lay down on it to rest.

The branches of the peach tree are thick, and as long as you open your eyes, you will see clusters of blooming flowers.

I fell asleep quickly with my eyes closed and slept soundly.

Xuan Liang was sitting on the steps of the wooden pavilion about a dozen steps away waiting. When he saw Zhang Ding coming, he quickly stood up and gestured to keep quiet, pointing at where the black bear was.

Seeing this, Zhang Ding slowed down his pace, approached the wooden pavilion and whispered, "This family is too enthusiastic. They have asked the servants to bring us the brewed wine. I have warned everyone to drink lightly, and I am just about to report this to the commander."

"This is a trivial matter. Drink less of their wine and only eat the rice we brought with us."

Xuan Liang pulled Zhang Ding aside and whispered, "Then go back to the ship and install the crossbow on the platform in the sparrow room."

"Yes."

Zhang Ding agreed, retiring himself and leaving quietly.

Both of them were confident about the possible dangers.

Soon, the black bear opened his eyes and saw the "Taoyuan Land Card" floating three feet in front of him. Inside the card, there were peach trees growing, growing, blooming and bearing fruit, year after year.

After a long time, the peach trees that had been growing for four seasons gradually died. Some peach pits sprouted, but most of the newly grown peach trees also died quickly.

The evolution gradually became stable, and only a peach tree as thick as an arm remained on the card.

The branches of this peach tree grow horizontally, and the peach blossoms are sparse, but there is a bright red ripe peach hanging on the branch.

The land card information also changed: "Taoyuan land card, provides two points of black and white mana each day, and one longevity blood peach every year."

Nourishing the body's deficiencies is actually a way to prolong life.

What is being done is to extend the lifespan of the body, not to reverse aging or maintain eternal youth.

A well-balanced diet, regular life and a happy mood can also prolong life. The blood peach that prolongs life is not surprising, it just saves some trouble.

If you are really about to die of anger, or are on the verge of death...it will be of no use to you to eat it, just like taking ginseng, it can only help you to survive a few more days.

The new blood peach can't change anything. The most lacking mana is still the same.

At the Xue family manor, the butcher began to slaughter chickens and dogs, and many boys and girls in the manor looked delighted.

More than a dozen capable leaders gathered in Xuezhou's hall, waiting quietly for Xuezhou's decision.

Ever since Taolin returned, Xuezhou had been staying with them in the hall and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

Listening to the children in the manor shouting and playing happily because they could eat meat by slaughtering dogs, Xue Zhou opened his eyes: "This Sun family boy is going to Xudu as a hostage, and there is no shortage of wealth on the ship."

The core leaders looked at each other but did not speak out.

Xue Zhou continued, "I don't know where this group of white goose thieves came from, but I have encountered this Sun family member twice. According to Sun Jiazi, the vanguard of the white goose thieves has entered Lu County."

Now several people were moved, and one of them stood up immediately: "Does the commander want to rob their property and blame it on the white goose thief?" "This Sun family kid may be a descendant of Sun Jian's brothers, or he may be Sun Jian's illegitimate son. He is of humble origin and should not know the past events of Jianghuai. Otherwise, if he knew my name, why would he come to the manor to see the flowers?"

Xue Zhou was still in deep thought. He motioned the person who stood up to sit down again. He frowned and pondered: "I will test him with words. From his expression, it seems that he is not lying. I am afraid that after a fight, he will be a poor man."

"Master Qu, this is a rare opportunity."

An old brother spoke calmly and analyzed, "The White Goose Bandits have just emerged and are very powerful. Many people are vying to join them, and the members are scattered. If we succeed, the White Goose Bandits will think it was done by their accomplices."

"Yes, if we let it go, I'm afraid there will be no such good thing coming to our door again."

Seeing that no one objected, more than half of the people spoke up in support.

Xue Zhou coughed lightly, "In this case, brothers, please inform the children after nightfall. To prevent the Sun family from noticing, do not go out after returning home. At nightfall, listen to my command and surround and kill his followers together. Do not let anyone go, and do your best to kill them. Otherwise, Sun Quan will know and bring disaster upon himself."

They are all old brothers who have followed for nearly ten years. There is no need for detailed arrangements. Just arrange the general tasks.

After these people left one after another, Xuezhou said to his son, "You are young and ignorant. If you go out, you may let the people of Jiangdong see the clues. Stay indoors. Also, this peach forest is conspicuous and is not a long-term solution for our family. I intend to cut down most of it. Be sure to remind your father tomorrow."

"Yes, kid, remember that."

Xue Guang agreed. The matter had already been discussed and there was a collective opinion, so he would not refute or say anything more.

He was just worried about being investigated by Cao Cao, so he said, "This man went to Xudu as a hostage. If he died suddenly, Cao Cao might send someone to investigate."

"If we investigate further, it was the White Goose Thief who did it. What does it have to do with my family?"

Xue Zhou said as a matter of course: "Yuan Shao's decline is obvious, Cao Cao will take advantage of the situation to force Sun Quan to hand over the hostages. Since Sun Quan can bow his head and send out the side branches, he can naturally take another step back."

He did not explain the current critical situation in detail to his son. The area between the Yangtze River and the Huai River was too vast, and too many fertile fields were abandoned, making the government unable to manage them.

In this situation, the white goose thieves will quickly scatter and split into many groups, living separately.

Just like when he led his troops to join Chen Deng, on the one hand, Chen Deng's power was gradually rising, on the other hand, the Jianghuai region was devastated and the canal transportation was exhausted. As a pirate, he was almost starving to death. Where could he get so much money and food to support the poor people who continued to depend on him?

The poor are the poor. As he joined Chen Deng, more than 10,000 families under his command immediately disbanded and obeyed the government's orders.

With Chen Yu's defeat and escape, Chen Deng's death, more than 10,000 former subordinates had already scattered to Jianghuai to survive...Apart from his old brothers, who still cared about him, the former general? The Jinghai Commandant under General Fubo, Guangling County Governor Chen Deng?
This was the case with Chen Deng's followers, and so was he, and so were the White Goose Bandits who had now come to Jianghuai.

Without government oppression, most of the lower-class people can endure a harder life and there is no need to band together to become bandits.

The larger the organization, whether it is the government or the bandits, the greater the burden on the lower classes. The principle is the same.

The common people at the bottom of society do not understand the mystery, but those who have experienced it personally will understand over time that it is best for the organization to be neither too big nor too small.

Without external pressure to survive and without the benefits of common looting, various thief groups would easily disintegrate.

In the peach forest, Black Bear was sipping tea, and Zhang Ding was walking briskly.

When he arrived nearby, he looked around to see if there were any outsiders, then he knelt on a nearby straw mat and whispered, "Captain Qu, the fleet we encountered in Lu County is here to pursue us and has stationed at the mouth of the canal, blocking the way. We watched from afar and saw mostly men, but no children."

Xuan Liang, who was on the side, was alert and asked, "Did these people make any moves?"

"They just blocked the canal entrance, and did not send anyone to negotiate with us."

Zhang Ding raised his head and advised: "The Xue family has a geographical advantage. If they invite us to live in their manor, we will inevitably be controlled by them. If we lose our ships, money and food, people will be uneasy and their general will be in a passive position."

"I understand what you mean. Flower viewing ends here."

Black Bear stood up and spilled the remaining warm tea in the wooden bowl onto the ground. The guards and sailors who were drinking tea around him also began to pack up their utensils.

The new sailors nearby ate slowly. They were reluctant to eat the rice porridge mixed with brown sugar in their bowls. They had wanted to savor it carefully, but now they were no longer able to do so. They just raised their heads and drank it all in two or three gulps.

Just the embroidered red scarves and the brown sugar rice brought about a noticeable change in the mentality of these new sailors.

When Xuezhou received the notification, Black Bear and his companions had already left the peach forest and were approaching the boats. The three transport ships had turned around, and the crossbow had been installed on the wooden platform in the sparrow room.

This is a light bed crossbow. The base can be stuck in front of the wooden platform in the bird room. After it is set up, the shooting angle can be slightly adjusted.

Black Bear boarded the boat and squinted his eyes to observe the direction of the canal mouth. He vaguely saw that the reeds were decreasing and frowned: "This group of people should be cutting reeds. They are going to set fire to block the waterway."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Liang said, "General Qu, there is no time to lose, we should charge in as soon as possible."

"We have so many ships that we can break through the canal. Whether we fight or retreat is up to the commander! If it's too late, and Xue changes his mind, we will be attacked from both sides. Even if we defeat the enemy, it will be a loss."

Xuan Liang continued to persuade them, almost saying that the poor gang that tried to block the canal had nothing.

Zhang Ding also bowed his hands: "General, I invite you to fight!"

"Xu Ni, lead our ship to charge first, do not fight with the waves, break through the canal mouth and go straight to Xia Pi downstream."

Black Bear stared at the canal mouth in the distance and continued, "After we are out of the battle, we can raise the sails. We don't need to care if the thieves get on board. We just need to guard the bird room and the hatch."

There are always only a few people who can climb onto the deck, so there is no need to fight with them.

Our large ship was constantly moving, and those who could climb up with ropes certainly could not carry long poles or heavy weapons.

This group of people cannot break through the hatch with swords alone.

Having obtained permission, Zhang Ding immediately grabbed the mast rope and swung back to his boat.

The soft ladders on both sides of each ship have been put into the living cabin, and the sailors are quickly cleaning up the debris on the deck.

Black Bear watched and learned, while Xuan Liang directed the fleet to change positions.

As for Xue Zhou, who ran to the shore breathlessly and shouted... the black bear pretended not to hear him.

After this farewell, we may never see each other again in this life, so there is no need to take this friendship of appreciating flowers too seriously.

(End of this chapter)