The two of them got out of the lake one after another and hung their clean clothes on the tree trunk next to the lake.
Kou Zhong looked up at the bright moon in the sky and sighed: We haven't bathed in the stream for a long time! What a wonderful thing it would be if my mother was still watching us?
Xu Ziling slowly poured water with his hands, with a sad look in his eyes but did not answer.
Kou Zhong climbed naked onto a smooth boulder by the lake and said, "Could it be Xiao Mian who betrayed us secretly? Only through the intelligence network of Xiangyu Mountain can the news spread so quickly."
Xu Ziling said: This possibility is very high. Otherwise, other interested people would only be afraid of leaking the news or even being caught first.
Kou Zhong stood up from the big stone, put his head in a perfect posture as if he was about to dive, and thought sideways: But what good will this do to Xiao Mian? Assuming that Yang Gong Kou's hiding place is in the hands of others, it will only do him a lot of harm and no good.
Xu Ziling smiled bitterly and said: It's really hard for an old fox like Xiao Mian to guess what his plans are. Maybe he wants us to give up and go back to him. Of course, he also wants to hand over the secret map of Mr. Yang's treasure house!
Kou Zhong looked moved and said: This guess is quite reasonable.
He stood up and threw himself into the water.
Seeing that he was dancing happily, Xu Ziling imitated him and jumped onto the stone, then deliberately plunged headlong into the lake water, causing splashes all over the sky.
Kou Zhongyou walked to him and said with a smile: Master Ling seems to be in a good mood?
Xu Ziling said happily: "What should you be unhappy about? The witch's identity has been revealed to us, and her skills have improved greatly. She is confident that she can deal with any powerful enemy. What do you have to worry about?"
Kou Zhong was moved in his mind: Do you want to test how powerful we are now?
Xu Ziling seemed to have returned to his childhood playful mood and said: Mr. Zhong, do you have any good suggestions?
Kou Zhong smiled and said: "It seems that those seventeen fools just now have two minds. If we go over the mountain to chase them, we may still be able to intercept them and grab two horses. It would also be good. Mr. Ling, do you have any better opinions?"
Xu Ziling laughed and said: How dare you have any objections? How about we compete in dressing first and then compare our leg strength?
Kou Zhong let out a strange scream, and the two of them scrambled to climb up the green lake shore without any master's style.
※※※
It was just dawn. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were sitting side by side on the roadside, leaning against an old poplar tree with thick beards and several people hugging each other. They were happily eating endless fresh fruits picked from the mountains in a leisurely and carefree manner.
The sound of hoofbeats came faintly from the other end of the road.
Kou Zhong spit out the core and said proudly: When the fool who sent the horse arrives, he must ask where they heard the news about us.
Xu Ziling calculated: They must have rested on the road, otherwise there would be no reason to lag behind us for such a long time.
Kou Zhong said, "I don't care about a guy like his mother who doesn't care about life and death. It's best to use it to test the knife."
Xu Ziling frowned and said: When did you become so murderous? It's not necessary. It's better not to kill people. This is called Ji Yin De, do you understand?
Kou Zhong smiled and said: Mr. Xu taught a good boy how dare he not obey. Hey! Since my debut, have I ever tried to kill innocent people indiscriminately?
Xu Ziling said angrily: Who is innocent? Isn't it up to you, Uncle Kou, to decide as you wish? Kou Zhong was silent for a while and then suddenly realized: What you said is very interesting. After all, all the disputes in the world can be regarded as
A struggle of ideas.
After a pause, he continued: Everyone has his or her own set of ideas, hoping that others will accept them and the struggle will begin.
Like Li Zi, Li Zi has his own ideas. Kou Zhong also has his own way of thinking. Whoever succeeds has to accept the other party's way regardless of whether he is convinced or not, otherwise he will be eliminated. Of course, this means that everyone has the same goal but different positions.
This will happen. Otherwise, just like you and me, the water in the river will never flow into the well.
Xu Ziling smiled and said: Is this nonsense? Simple things are made so complicated. If it is not straightforward, only one and only one person can sit on the throne. Isn't it clear?
Kou Zhongzhengrong said: "Actually, I am thinking of another problem. If you want to conquer the world, you must first have a perfect set of ideas to make others adapt. This includes a complete plan, ideals, and even the way of power distribution and rule in the future. This is called The banner must be clear. Otherwise, it would just be like the four bandits who have no idea what they are doing.
He bumped him with his elbow and said with a strange smile: Just like when Li Mi announced Yang Guang's ten crimes before, he would tell the world that if Li Mi became emperor, he would never commit Yang Guang's old habits again, so his reputation and power would be greatly enhanced. It's very cost-effective and cost-effective.
Xu Ziling said with emotion: You really have some thoughts.
At this time, the sound of hoofbeats gradually approached.
Kou Zhong jumped up and stopped in the middle of the road, waiting for the enemy who was about to turn from the corner into the straight road in front of him.
Xu Ziling was still sitting peacefully eating the last wild peach in his hand.
Kou Zhong listened carefully and found that there were at least thirty people riding on them. Perhaps the opponent had joined other companions, so the number of people doubled. The only thing that puzzled him was that the sound of hoofbeats varied in severity.
Although the enemy's strength has greatly increased, Kou Zhong only finds it more interesting.
The true energy in his body was like a meteor chasing the moon in a spiral way to and from the heavenly spirit. The springs in his acupuncture points made his whole body filled with explosive and extremely cold power, and his mind became extremely calm and cold, without any disturbing emotions.
He can't even feel his own existence, just like a pool of clear well water that only reflects the world objectively.
This feeling lasted for a few breaths, and then he woke up and returned to his previous state of mind.
It was like going from heaven to earth and getting back to the original shape.
Kou Zhong was about to report to Xu Ziling when the enemy's first two cavalry turned from a curve into a straight road.
And when Kou Zhongjin entered that strange realm, Xu Ziling also immediately felt a reaction.
During those few breaths of time, Kou Zhong was clearly on the road, but Xu Ziling had a mysterious feeling that Kou Zhong had become invisible.
He was no longer aware of the coldness coming from Kou Zhong's body or even his presence.
Then everything returned to its original state. Kou Zhong looked at him with his mouth agape and a look of astonishment on his face.
I can't help but rush into the straight road.
The big man riding the horse wore a gray suit with a flying horse with wings embroidered on his lapel. There were twelve people in total and more than ten other horses, all bareback, were connected by ropes.
Xu Ziling saw that Kou Zhong was still standing in the middle of the road like a stupid bird and shouted: You have admitted the wrong person! You haven't come back yet!
At this time, the team driving the wild horses was only about two feet away from Kou Zhong. The leading knight was a middle-aged strong man. His face was ancient and his eyes were still shining. When he saw someone blocking the road, he yelled to signal the people following him. Lean horse and reduce.
Kou Zhongcai bowed and apologized to the man as if he had just woken up from a dream. He returned to Xu Ziling in embarrassment and waved his hand to signal him to continue his journey.
The middle-aged man had already reined in his horse's head, and the strong man stood up and stopped first.
When the others saw this, they reined in their horses and the entire team stopped just a few feet on the road in front of the two of them.
Twelve people and twenty-three eyes fell on the two of them like twenty-three arrows. Even the horses breathing white air cast a wary look at them.
Kou Zhong knew he was in the wrong and said with a smile: "We made a mistake. Please forgive me."
The short and thin old man next to the big one-eyed man pulled out a pipe from the bag hanging on the horse's belly. He smiled sideways and said: "Good boy, I see you are two tall and handsome people with different looks, but they are good and don't try to imitate. You thieves who block roads and cut off paths. Now that you see that we are not easy to mess with and you immediately shrink back, do you still feel ashamed?
Except for the one-eyed man, all the other men burst out laughing in a mocking manner.
Kou Zhong was really surprised that even though he was insulted by his opponent, he knew it was just a misunderstanding and he didn't get angry and smiled and said: This old man misunderstood that my two brothers despised the behavior of road-cutting robbers. It was indeed just a misunderstanding.
Another man mocked: It's just a matter of qualifications that you don't like to be robbers. Just look at the tempting knife on your back and you will know that you are thieves... Ha...
Everyone laughed again.
Several of them even drew their weapons and prepared to take action.
Someone even shouted to Xu Ziling who was still sitting on the ground: Why don't you get up on your knees and beg for mercy?
Xu Ziling stood up slowly and shook off the dust on his body without looking at the other person and said to Kou Zhong: Let's go! The short old man filled the pipe with shredded tobacco and sneered: Is it so easy to go? Who dares to stop our Pegasus in the Jiangbei area?
Pasture road.
The others shouted and dispersed, surrounding them, which can be described as moving like the wind. Kou Zhong said to Xu Ziling distressedly: There is nothing we can do this time!
Someone said angrily: You have to be right! Just let us two thieves kneel down and beg for mercy! Maybe the uncle of Pegasus Ranch will be extra merciful?
He imitated Xu Ziling's accent and answered so well that he immediately attracted another burst of laughter and ridicule.
Xu Ziling glanced at this person casually. It turned out that he was the youngest guy in the team. He was seventeen years old. He had tanned teeth when he was eight years old, but his teeth were white and neat, which made his not-so-good-looking appearance much more pleasing to the eye.
At this time, he tilted his chin forward and squinted his eyes with a mocking expression.
Suddenly someone shouted: Don't act rashly!
Everyone, including Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, were shocked.
It was the one-eyed man who spoke. At this time, he looked at Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling intently and said in a deep voice to the thin old man who was lighting a fire and smoking pipes: "Xu Gong has seen that he can still look so calm and talk in the midst of a heavy siege."
A complacent thief?
The old man surnamed Xu showed a look of astonishment and then looked at the two of them with a look of thinking in his eyes.
The others dared not say anything anymore. The one-eyed man was obviously the leader of them all.
The one-eyed man seemed to appreciate the two of them and smiled and said: I am Liu Zongdao, the second steward of Pegasus Ranch. I was very careful on this trip because I was entrusted with an important task.
After a pause, he continued: Although you two are in tattered clothes, you still can't hide your majestic bearing. I wonder what your surname is? Where are you from? What are you doing here?
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling couldn't help but feel good about this person, but of course they would not reveal their identity to him, hoping to just get over it and go their separate ways.
Kou Zhong was used to making nonsense and replied without even thinking: It's rare for Deacon Liu Er to be so sensible. We two brothers are from the same village, Yuhang Fujia Village. His name is Fu Jing and I'm Fu Ning.
Liu Zongdao said with an moved expression: "Why did you come all this way?"
Kou Zhong sighed and said: "It's not just to find a capable rebel army to join, hoping that one day he will be able to stand out and honor his ancestors, so that his parents in the hall can live a peaceful life."
At this time, even old man Xu believed his words and said, "Young children should really have high aspirations. I heard that you talked well. Have you read a few books?"
Kou Zhong said smoothly: "Mr. Xu is really powerful. He only listened to a few words from us and understood our background clearly."
There is an old man Kou in our neighboring village who is well-read in poetry and literature. He is a kind-hearted man and is willing to teach us how to read and read as long as he gives us two kilograms of bacon during the holidays.
After being praised by him for a few words, old man Xu immediately said happily: There must be some saying that you can teach! Haha!
The son who was born last said smartly: What you were waiting for just now must be the rebel army you wanted to wait for!
Kou Zhong suppressed his laughter and said, "That's right. We heard that Li Mi's army would pass by here, but we didn't know that it was you uncles who came."
Liu Zongdao smiled and said: Li Mi has too much time to take care of himself now, so when you have time to explore the south, what kind of work did you do before?
Kou Zhong put his arms around Xu Ziling and said, "Both of us brothers are excellent generals. Why are we good at fried rice and fried cakes? Ha!"
Liu Zongdao's expression moved slightly and he exchanged glances with old man Xu and then said: Seeing that you two are so smart and so upright, I wonder if you would be interested in joining the ranch as a team leader to make money. Our owner's favorite food is pancakes, as long as you can make her
Isn't it better to live and die if you are guaranteed to be able to return home in a few years if you are satisfied? But if the owner is not satisfied with your workmanship, you two will have to pack up and go home immediately.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were stunned at the same time, thinking that this joke seemed too big. When they were about to refuse, the old man Xu laughed and said:
It's rare that the second deacon is willing to make an exception and introduce you. You don't know how much blessing your family has accumulated. Our Pegasus Ranch is so famous in Jiangbei that even Li Mi came to buy war horse equipment from us. If you don't believe me, you can ask people.
Kou Zhong's eyes suddenly lit up and he stared at Old Man Xu and said: War horse?
One of them, Da Mo, said: You are really blind. We went to the frontier on this trip to transport more than ten well-bred horses back for breeding. Do you understand?
Kou Zhong took a deep breath and said, "Deacon Liu thinks so highly of my brothers that I will never forget their kindness. But can you allow us to discuss it in private?"
Liu Zongdao didn't think he was disobedient and said: "I understand this, two brothers, please do it!"
Kou Zhong hurriedly dragged Xu Ziling to a distance and said: "Anyway, if you have nothing to do, you can come to their pasture to have a look." Xu Ziling frowned and said: "Have you forgotten that Yucheng and the others are waiting for us in Jingling?"
Kou Zhong begged: Give me ten days and just treat it as if you took the wrong road and got lost accidentally!
Xu Ziling had no choice but to agree.
Kou Zhong immediately cheered up and strode towards Liu Zongdao. He bowed to the tunnel and said, "Thank you, Deacon Liu, for your support!" Old man Xu happily replied: "Don't worry about my mother-in-law's words and get on your horse!"
The young man shouted enthusiastically: "I'd rather ride with me!"
Xu Ziling thought to himself that it was fortunate that these people were not annoying, otherwise these ten days would have been very difficult.