My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 63 Cat Mountain

After leaving the county government office, Lin Ziping asked the yamen runner on duty that day to inform Lu Shuyin and the other two of their whereabouts.

"Can you ride horses?" Officer Chai asked.

Lin Ziping nodded along with Bai Xin and Xiao Jiazheng.

"Good. This time we're going outside the city, so we'll have to ride horses." Chai, the patrol officer, said as he walked, then turned to look at the three men lagging behind and urged them, "Hurry up, walk faster, run! You guys aren't up to par. In a few days, you'll practice with the fast-paced team."

"Yes." The three of them were out of breath from running, and their answers were weak and listless.

After crossing the street, we soon arrived at the city gate.

"Tsk tsk, wait for me here." Inspector Chai frowned as he saw the three men panting like dehydrated dogs.

Seeing Inspector Chai leave, Lin Ziping took a deep breath to calm himself and asked, "Who was this Inspector Chai?"

Bai Xin rested his hands on his knees, bent over, panting heavily, unable to speak.

Xiao Jiazheng said haltingly, "This... Inspector Chai is from the military... I heard... he's been to the battlefield..."

"No rush, take your time," Lin Ziping said quickly when he saw the Xiao family's expression.

About a minute later, Bai Xin stood up straight: "I didn't expect Inspector Chai to be just like the legends. Luckily, we didn't provoke him."

"Is he very capable?" Lin Ziping asked curiously.

“I’ve been to the battlefield before. I heard that I used to be a bodyguard for an officer on the side of the soldiers. He had a bad temper, and even Magistrate Feng couldn’t stop him when he got angry,” Bai Xin explained. “He was in charge of the training of the three shifts. Other county offices usually only had the strong and fast shifts participate. Inspector Chai required the black shift to participate as well.”

“We’ll have to be together from now on,” Xiao Jiazheng added.

Lin Ziping didn't take it to heart. Health is the foundation of everything. If he had maintained his exercise routine as consistently as he did before, he wouldn't have died from staying up all night and ended up here.

"Scholar Lin, I didn't expect you to be in such good health. You recovered so quickly after running so fast." Xiao Jiazheng looked Lin Ziping up and down. "It's just that you're a bit thin. You don't even have an Adam's apple yet. Haha, you're not a young lady, are you?"

Lin Ziping was startled, but he didn't show it on his face. He glanced at Xiao Jiazheng and said, "It's just not obvious. I'm thin, but the person who was panting and couldn't speak clearly just now wasn't me."

"I... I was just running too fast," Xiao Jiazheng retorted, adding defiantly, "Didn't Gang Baixin do the same?"

Ignoring Xiao Jiazheng, Lin Ziping turned to Bai Xin and asked, "Where is Inspector Chai taking us?"

Just as Bai Xin was about to speak, he saw Inspector Chai return.

"Hurry up, we're about to set off," Officer Chai said, pointing to the mules behind him.

Lin Ziping was completely bewildered. Wasn't it supposed to be about riding horses?

"Let's go," Officer Chai urged.

Bai Xin didn't say anything more, chose a horse and rode it.

Seeing this, Lin Ziping gritted his teeth, thinking that horses and mules look similar, and if he could ride a horse, he could probably ride a mule too.

He chose a mule that looked gentle and rode it.

It turns out there is a difference between manual and automatic transmissions, and a BMW is not the same as a tricycle. If there hadn't been no one at the city gate at that time, an accident would have almost occurred.

Inspector Chai quickly came over to stop him, glaring at Lin Ziping and saying, "Bai Xin, come over and teach him a lesson."

"Yes."

Bai Xin rode over on his mule and said, "Just like riding a horse, let go. You hurt it with that whip you just gave it..."

Seeing that Lin Ziping was gradually becoming familiar with the process under Bai Xin's guidance, Inspector Chai said, "Let's go."

Mules are not as fast as horses, and Lin Ziping was not yet used to riding mules, so time seemed to drag on.

After an unknown amount of time, the four of them stopped at the foot of a mountain.

A yamen runner stepped forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Inspector Chai."

Inspector Chai handed the rope tethering the mule to a yamen runner and asked, "How is it now?"

"The fast and strong men have already made their way up, and roadblocks have been set up on several roads. I've ordered the villagers to guard them," the constable said to Inspector Chai as he took the rope and stood up straight.

"You've worked hard, Xiao Shi." Inspector Chai patted him on the shoulder. "Make arrangements for the three of them."

"Yes."

After giving Lin Ziping and the others a few instructions, Inspector Chai left.

"Brother Shi, what kind of errands are you running here?" After Inspector Chai walked away, Bai Xin approached and asked the yamen runners with a smile.

"Bai Xin, what are you doing here?" the constable said with a smile. "This is Cat Mountain. What do you think we're doing here?"

“Cat Mountain?!” Bai Xin murmured.

Shi, the constable, patted Bai Xin on the shoulder: "You guys can stay with the villagers and guard the roadblock down the mountain. It's not far ahead. You can go there yourselves."

The group clasped their hands in greeting and then departed.

"Why did Chai, the constable, bring us to Cat Mountain?" Xiao Jiazheng frowned.

"Who knows?" Seeing Lin Ziping's confused look, he explained, "Fuchun doesn't have a river like Qingyang. When it dries up, crops can't grow in the fields. It hasn't rained for more than half a year now. Look, the grass on this mountain has withered."

"So some people became outlaws and took up residence in the surrounding mountains?" Lin Ziping said.

Bai Xin nodded.

"If this world doesn't let people live, isn't it forcing people to become bandits?" Xiao Jiazheng said angrily.

"Xiao Wu," Bai Xin snapped.

Xiao Jiazheng muttered, "I didn't say anything wrong."

“We are now government officials, and there are some things we cannot say casually,” Bai Xin warned, giving Xiao Jiazheng a glare.

The atmosphere was a little awkward, and none of the three spoke.

After walking for a short while, Lin Ziping saw several long wooden stakes blocking the middle of the road ahead, with stones piled up, and a few people gathered together nearby. Even before getting close, he could hear their conversation.

"It seems the county government is serious this time; a lot of people have gone."

"Who can say for sure? It's not like so many people haven't been there before. Although Cat Mountain doesn't look very high, it's full of caves and cliffs. Without a guide, it would be difficult to find it."

"If you ask me, this is just a token gesture. Just put up a little resistance to give the county government face, and then surrender when the time is right. This will give the county government a good reputation for being granted amnesty. The officials will feel they have done a good job, and if they are happy, they will be given an official position, which will be a way to turn their lives around."

"What Old Liao said is something you've encountered before."

"Of course there are, there have been people doing this before..."

Bai Xin coughed twice, interrupting their conversation.

The group of people who had just been gathered together, talking loudly, now bowed obsequiously to the three of them like quails.

"Greetings, gentlemen. I am the village head of the neighboring Mao Mao Village. My surname is Huang." A man who had been silent until now stepped forward. He had gray hair, dark skin, and wrinkles on his face that added to his serious demeanor.

"Huang Lizheng, have any suspicious people been seen?" Bai Xin asked with a serious expression.

Huang Lizheng shook his head: "We have been guarding this place. Apart from a few officials, no one else has come. We don't know if there are any suspicious situations in the other places."

Bai Xin nodded: "Let's go take a look at where the next place is."

"It's not far to the east from here."

"Watch closely, Xiao Wu, Ziping, let's go."

In a daze, I seemed to hear someone say that the policeman looked familiar.

Lin Ziping stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Ziping?" Bai Xin asked, puzzled.

Lin Ziping shook his head and strode forward to leave with Bai Xin.