Seeing Xu Wuliang approaching, Xu Huai smiled bitterly and said,
"Uncle Wu Liang, you are trying to scare me to death!"
Having just fought with all his strength, Xu Huai didn't think he would have more than a 50% chance of escaping from the second battle with a sword master of the same level.
Of course Xu Wuliang was worried. Xu Huaicai followed him secretly, but he didn't expect that Xu Huai, who had experienced actual combat for the first time and had to fight with his life, was much more stable than he thought. The salesman with strong skills was in Xu Huai's from beginning to end.
There was no chance to turn defeat into victory under the sword.
Putting aside the peddler's contempt and being taken advantage of by Xu Huai, Xu Wuliang didn't think he could handle it better than Xu Huai, and he even had to admit that saying so seemed to be exalting himself.
Xu Wuliang asked Xu Huai to sit aside and rest his strength. He searched the corpse of the salesman and threw it into the ditch together with the load. Except for a few taels of silver and more than a hundred coppers, the salesman had no merits, but he was the one who might have been killed.
The shoulder pole that hides the long knife in the scabbard was made with great effort.
Considering that the assassins would definitely follow the traces, and they could not completely conceal the traces of the fight, they simply made it more messy, creating the illusion that many people ambushed the salesman, and then Xu Huai and Xu Wuliang quietly returned to Tieshi Alley in the dark of night.
Ge Shi and Xu Xiaohuan didn't know why, so they opened the courtyard door with a lantern and were shocked to see Xu Huai's shorts and trousers covered with dark blood stains. However, Liu Qiong'er raised Miao Xin'er to her throat and saw Xu Wuliang and Xu
When Huai Anran came back, he breathed a sigh of relief as if he was exhausted.
"Take it for washing, don't let others see it, and don't ask questions!" Xu Wuliang gave Xu Huai's bloody clothes to his mother-in-law to wash.
When he came over at noon, he saw that Xu Huai was also waiting in Qinzhai. Ge Shi still felt contempt for him. At this moment, he was frightened and took the blood-stained clothes. He gathered the blood stains inside and walked to the backyard with a pale face.
It's really not that simple to pay off the debt with two hundred taels of silver. You really have to sell your life.
The fierce fighting was very exhausting, but you should avoid overeating. Xu Huai simply ate something and did not return to the military camp, so he slept here in Tieshi Lane.
In late spring, the weather in Tongbai Mountain becomes warmer, and there is no need to close the windows tightly after nightfall. Let the moonlight shine in and fall on the brick floor in front of the bed, like ripples of water.
Xu Huai didn't fall asleep for a long time, and he still thought about the battle beside the ditch over and over in his mind. At this time, he thought that he shouldn't attack the salesman with such a fast pace and frequency. He should control the rhythm better and save energy consumption.
The concealment method should not only be a one-tap concealment, but also a method to calmly and unhurriedly face more powerful enemies.
Men should pursue longevity.
…………
…………
At noon the next day, Zheng Hui stood beside the wild shenzi ditch, dressed in a green shirt, by the dirt road, staring at the messy footprints in trance.
Two strong men walked close to the beach of the creek.
"Mr. Zheng, the body was washed down by the stream for seven or eight miles. It washed up on the rocky beach at the mouth of a bay. There were wounds on the right arm, left armpit, and both legs. The most fatal one was from the left chest. It was very clean and neat, like
It's the eagle's peck that can be used with swords and spears among the python swords - Mr. Zheng expected it to be true. Mr. Wang Zhen redeemed Liu Qiong'er from Yuehong Mansion just to lure us into biting the hook and bait. This trick of theirs is indeed the same.
I couldn't hide it from Mr. Zheng. However, this man's sword skills are not much worse than those of Mr. Dong and Mr. Chen. It's a bit thorny."
Chen Zixiao stood aside with a gloomy look on his face.
Zheng Hui and Dong Qifeng both guessed that this was a fraud. Their own people did not move, but they asked him to arrange people to detect this trap. How could he feel happy?
If there were ordinary thieves in the village, that would be fine. Liu Shiquan was one of his men who was both strong and good at hiding and spying on information. He died by the creek, which made him feel like he had lost an arm.
"Mr. Chen, Liu Shiquan seems to be your confidant, but he was secretly dissatisfied with Tang Kui's death. He just hid it deeply. But if not, I would not use him to test whether Tieshi Lane is a trap - he died today
Don't feel sorry for me here," Zheng Hui gently pressed Chen Zixiao's shoulder and said, "If you don't believe it, go back to Wu Qi and ask Liu Shiquan if he said anything weird behind your back, but we
I have to leave now, it’s not a good time to stay here for a long time!”
Chen Zixiao took a breath and said: "I don't feel sorry for Liu Shiquan's death, it's just that the Xu family is really powerful in Tongbai Mountain, and Mr. Zheng, most of the veterans of the Jingsheng Army you mentioned are Xu
Xu Wufu relies heavily on the backbone of the clan soldiers and cannot easily abandon him. I think it may not be difficult for Mr. Zheng to achieve his wish with the power of Hutou Village alone..."
"The matter is more difficult than imagined, and we need to have the patience to solve it. There is no need to rush," Zheng Hui said with a worry-free smile, "Besides, Mr. Chen has returned to the court with two hundred thieves, and it will be inconvenient for the prime minister.
He directly came forward to speak for Mr. Chen. Even if the prime minister secretly exerted some force, Mr. Chen would be in trouble if he changed his position as an inspection envoy. Mr. Chen might not feel more comfortable than staying in the village. However, if Mr. Chen leads the thieves
The army is so large that the prefectures and counties cannot control it. If the prime minister comes out to recruit him at that time, not only will his face be honored, but the dispatches arranged will definitely satisfy you, Mr. Chen!"
"..." Chen Zixiao looked at Zheng Hui dumbfounded, and asked with some stumble, "Isn't this just raising a child? Why raise it..."
"Master Chen, do you want to say that you should respect yourself when raising bandits?"
Zheng Huihun casually said these four words that even Chen Zixiao found abrupt and embarrassing, and he laughed and said,
"The big clans in Tongbai Mountain have secretly communicated with the villagers over the years, which seems to be called the reopening of the horse road, but the exploitation of the people is still serious, the people's suffering is still dramatic, and the villagers no longer accept people, causing Huaiyuan, Nanxiang, Tong
Nan, Yushan and other places are full of displaced people. If Mr. Chen takes this opportunity to recruit troops and horses in Tongbai Mountain to alert the prefectures and counties and the court, this is the plan for people's livelihood. How can it be said that he is supporting the bandits and respecting himself?
"
…………
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Even though it was expected that the assassins might track down the traces near Yeshenzigou, Xu Huai and Xu Wuliang did not have the ability to set up an ambush there and kill many powerful assassins.
They were also worried that the assassins would force their way into Tieshi Alley. In addition to practicing sword and gun combat in the courtyard throughout the day, they also wandered around Tieshi Alley to inspect the terrain.
At dusk, Xu Huai met two soldiers who came from the military camp to the market to drink. When he learned that Xu Wujiang and Xu Xinan had just returned, he wrapped his old bow in a piece of burlap and hurried back to the military camp.
Returning to the military camp, he saw Xu Xin'an standing in the yard talking to Wang Zhen. Xu Huai walked over and asked:
"Why did you come back? Where are Uncle Seventeen and the others?"
"When we return to the army camp, we will go to Deng Langjun to report, but we don't want the head of the family to come back from Biyang today and leave Seventeenth Uncle there to talk. I'm leaving the office first." Xu Xin'an said.
Xu Huai was slightly startled.
He had no impression of Xu Wufu, the head of the Xu family.
The Xu clan has thrived in Tongbai Mountain for nearly ten generations, and now has two to three thousand people, distributed among the villages near Yuhuangling in the south of Huaiyuan Town.
There are more than 300 direct descendants of the Xu family who are still within the fifth service of the eldest family.
Based on Xu Huai's past situation, it was really difficult to get close to the head of the family, Xu Wufu, let alone get to know him.
In Xu Huai's superficial impression, Xu Wufu was in his forties, short, stocky, dark-skinned, and somewhat unattractive. Xu Wufu did not stay in Tongbai Mountain to cultivate his moral character, but served as an official in the state government.
He usually lives in Biyang City, and every year when the land rent is collected and the young members of the tribe take advantage of the leisure time to practice farming, he returns to Lutai Village to live for a while.
In Tongbai Mountain, which is divided into seven parts for mountains, one for water and two for fields, the Xu family property and Xu Jiuzhi, the richest family member in the clan, including Xu Wufu, control a total of tens of thousands of acres of fields, in addition to livestock and poultry.
Pasture for cattle and horses; if necessary, the Xu family can pull out six to seven hundred strong rural soldiers from the Lutai villages; the Beizhai where the ancestral hall is located is usually protected by forty or fifty armed villagers.
There are more than twenty soldiers in the Inspection Department, all of whom are members of the Xu clan or villagers with different surnames who have joined the Xu clan.
This determined that not only officials at the Biyang magistrate level, but also officials at the prefecture level could not ignore the Xu family's presence in the local area.
Xu Wufu returned to Huaiyuan from Biyang today. Did he have other matters, or did he make a special trip back to Huaiyuan after learning that another major robbery had occurred on Zouma Road?
"If you have anything to say, please chat."
Xu Xin'an had just come back. Wang Zhen knew that Xu Huai must have something to inquire about. He stood nearby to make it difficult for Xu Xin'an to reveal it without reservation, so he nodded and walked away first.
"What information did you find when you went to Hutouling? Why did it take three or four days to come back?" Xu Huai asked.
Although Hutouling is located in a remote place, it is only forty miles away from Huaiyuan Town. With Xu Wujiang and Xu Xin'an's strong hands and feet, they can run back and forth across the mountains and ridges in one day.
Generally speaking, Deng Gui explained that if someone else could go to the foot of Hutouling Mountain, it would be considered a good idea. However, Xu Wujiang brought Xu Xin'an here, even if he was more responsible than others, it was worrying to stay for such a long time.
Xu Xin'an didn't hide anything from Xu Huai. She pulled him to the front porch and said, "We have reached Hutou Ridge. The situation is a bit unusual. Uncle Seventeen and I went to the nearby villages and walked around. Only then did we know that Hutou Ridge
Things have changed in Touzhai—guess what?"
"What's wrong?" Xu Huai asked.
"The former head of Hutou Village, Po Feng Dao Tang Kui, was overthrown by the second master, Chen Zixiao. Now Chen Zixiao is the head of Hutou Village," Xu Xin'an said, "Chen Zixiao was originally a foreigner in Hutou Village.
After getting into trouble, he fled to Tongbai Mountain to Luocao. He had no foundation here, but he didn't want to ask where he could recruit seven or eight good players this time. Chen Zixiao defeated Tang Kui without mentioning that there were several people in the village who refused to obey him, and they were also killed by a group of people.
And killed the other thieves, and all the other thieves were subdued. As I said before, Chen Zixiao took the lead in the two major robberies and the robbery of meat tickets in nearby villages. I didn't expect that the Po Feng Dao had been killed long ago!"
Hearing Xu Xin'an's words, Xu Huai was not surprised, but still frightened.
Liu Qiong'er overheard that the assassins were acquainted with Chen Zixiao from Hutou Village in Yuehong Mansion. Of course, they directly helped Chen Zixiao usurp the throne so that they could completely control Hutou Village more cleanly.
The question now is whether Xu Wujiang was aware of the anomaly and whether he truthfully reported all the information to Deng Gui.
Thinking of this, Xu Huai asked:
"Have you reported all this news to Mr. Deng?"
"Of course, Deng Langjun sent us to Hutouling to spy on the gangster. Is it possible that we have to hide it when we come back?" Xu Xin'an felt that Xu Huaiwen's words were silly and said, "Do you think we are here to make a living?"
Xu Huai was about to moan in pain:
Xu Wujiang realized that Wang Zhen's encounter with bandits was not a simple matter, but he still failed to connect the incident in Hutou Village with Wang Zhen's stay in the military village.
Xu Wujiang did not even realize that the root cause of the incident in Hutou Village was that the assassin mistakenly believed that the old soldiers who returned to Tongbai Mountain from the Jingsheng Army were involved with Wang Zhen and Lu Xiong.
However, Xu Wujiang didn't expect it, but it didn't mean that Deng Gui wouldn't connect it all after knowing it.
For more than a month, looking at Deng Gui's reaction after Wang Zhen met the bandit, Xu Huai had a deep understanding that he was not simple. The abnormal restlessness in Hutou Village might have aroused his suspicion.
Of course, Xu Huai did not explain the true situation to Xu Wujiang and others in advance, and he did not regret it.
If Xu Wujiang, Xu Xin'an and the others had not reported such an incident inside Hutou Village, Deng Guizhen would have been kept in the dark. If they came back and concealed it, it would have only lasted a few days at most...
