A series of sound broke through the air, and before the body could react, dozens of boulders fell like raindrops. The village warriors had no armor to protect them, and their heads were bruised, blood flowed, and their muscles were broken in one encounter.
Although Zhang Yanshou was not knocked down, the boulder lightly scratched his ear, and half of his face became hot.
His heart was beating fiercely under his chest. Zhang Yanshou was holding a spear, and his legs seemed to be filled with lead, making him unable to move at all.
"Be careful! It's coming again!"
Lieutenant Lieutenant shouted hoarsely from behind. Zhang Yanshou looked along the shoulders of the players in front of him. A few dozen feet away, a group of pig-headed barbarians with wild boar heads on their heads waved slings in their hands and threw out fist-sized slings.
Round stone.
Zhang Yanshou was frightened as he watched the boulder look like a black dot, gradually getting bigger, shattering a corner of the shield, and hitting the player in front of him on the head. Blood foam mixed with bone fragments and hair splashed on Zhang Yanshou's face.
It made him dizzy and his ears tingled.
The poker player who died on the spot fell on Zhang Yanshou. He looked at this fellow countryman, his bloody head hanging on his chest, and he could hardly stand on his feet.
"Stand up straight! Don't back away!" Lieutenant Li dragged the dead player away, put the broken shield into Zhang Yanshou's hand, and roared: "Hold the shield! The pig-headed barbarian is coming!"
Before Zhang Yanshou could react, he was pushed to the front. At this time, the archers from behind fired a round, and the sparse arrows interrupted the pig-headed man who continued to throw boulders.
Several irritable pig-headed barbarians roared a few times and spoke some unintelligible dialect. All the pig-headed barbarians responded with sharp roars, and then rushed towards the village heroes.
"My wife, children, and children are behind me, everyone, hold on! Hold on—!!"
The lieutenant in the rear shouted loudly, "The heroes on the left and right raised their spears, and the pig-headed barbarians in front of them rushed towards them, and the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly. Zhang Yanshou's mind went blank, he put the spear on his shield, and the pig-headed barbarians rushed at him like they were desperate for their lives.
When he came, he thrust out the spear with all his strength.
These pig heads don't wear armor, but they still have rough skin and thick flesh, just like wild boars running around in the mountains. They can be stabbed with three or five spears without being fatal.
Zhang Yanshou couldn't care too much. He could hear the shouts of his fellow villagers and friends fighting each other. The pig-headed barbarians in front of him were rushing like a tide. Although they had few iron weapons in their hands, they only used crude stone hammers to fight.
He hit the shield with all his strength, making Zhang Yanshou's arm numb.
The village warriors blocked an intersection in the village and fought with the pig-headed barbarians. After a while, a shallow pool of blood accumulated on the ground under their feet, making it muddy and slippery.
Some pig-headed men leaned over to fish it out, grabbed Xiang Yong's ankle, pulled it out violently, and then tore Xiang Yong into several pieces in front of everyone.
The screams before death made other villagers tremble with fear. The pig's head brutally pulled out the deceased's intestines, stuffed them into his mouth and ate it, chewing it until it was covered in blood, which was extremely horrifying.
Some village warriors could not stand such a scene, crying for their fathers and mothers, crawling and rolling in an attempt to escape.
"Don't run! Stop!" Lieutenant Li, who was directing the battle, also had his face stained with blood. He kept shouting and grabbed a few deserters: "There are only 100 barbarians on the opposite side, push them all back!"
However, facing this hundred and ten pig-headed barbarians, the battle line composed of more than two hundred local warriors could not bear it. Zhang Yanshou was at the front, and his shield had been hit countless times. Sawdust and blood were flying everywhere, and his two arms
Almost numb, he just gritted his teeth and thrust the spear straight.
With a roar, the shield was finally smashed by a stone hammer. Zhang Yanshou fell to the ground. He wanted to stand up but felt stiff all over.
Seeing that the stone hammer held high by the pig-headed man was about to fall, Zhang Yanshou closed his eyes and waited for death in despair.
"Thunder arrows spread throughout the nine heavens!"
At this time, a loud shout came from the mid-air, and together with it, there were several thunder and lightning, which cut through the sky and hit the ground, like the anger of the gods.
The pig-headed man who was hit by the thunder arrow froze on the spot, with large centipede-shaped scorch marks appearing on his body, and fell to the ground with a few wisps of drifting smoke.
Zhang Yanshou was pinned down by Zhu Touman, who was dead and fell to the ground. He was panicked and didn't know why. He heard someone from behind shouting: "An immortal is coming to save us!"
Looking up at the sky, he saw several figures flying from mid-air. The leader was a man in a green shirt with wide sleeves and a yellow ribbon hanging from his waist. He raised his hand and threw it, and a black tiger suddenly appeared and flew towards the pig-headed beast on the ground.
The black tiger was so heavy that it seemed to be made of iron. It directly killed three or five pig-headed beasts. Seeing it roaring with its mouth open, the white light swept past like a arrow. The pig-headed beasts in the back seemed to have been chopped into pieces with thousands of knives, and their limbs were broken off.
Flesh and blood flew everywhere.
Faced with such power, the pig-headed barbarians lost all their courage and fled with their lives. The black tiger followed closely, and there were wind knives in mid-air, and fire arrows fell one after another, killing the remaining pig-headed barbarians one by one.
After a while, none of the pig-headed barbarians who invaded the village survived. The village heroes burst into loud cheers. Many of them knelt down in a pool of mud and blood and saluted the immortal elders in mid-air.
"Fellow Taoist, please go search the area near the village to see if there are any remaining pig-beaked people." Zhao Shu said to Yi Jiangzi beside him.
"Of course." Yi Jiangzi cupped his hands, raised his sleeves and walked away in the wind.
Zhao Shu converged on the wind control skills and slowly landed. Since leaving Dongshengdu, he exchanged wind control methods with Yi Jiangzi who was traveling with him along the way. Combined with the feather step lifting skills he had learned in the past, he can now soar.
Soar in the sky.
More than half a month ago, the emperor of the country issued a decree asking the Guozhong Guanshi to send monks to Jianjia Pass to assist the imperial troops in attacking the Jiuli Kingdom where Chen Bing was about to enter.
Different from when Xingluo County suppressed bandits, none of the disciples of the six guilds and sects was clearly the leader. This time, the Lord of the Kingdom made an order for the generals. Zhenminghou Zhao Shu was in charge of the monks of each guild and served as the commander of Wu Kui Army.
Shi, assisted in the campaign against foreign enemies, and was counselor in military affairs. His position was slightly inferior to that of General Wei.
Before General Wei arrived at Jianjia Pass, he had already received military information that the Swallowed People were crossing the mountains in large numbers to plunder and invade the counties of Huaxu Kingdom. The situation was urgent, and General Wei hoped that Zhao Shu would drop his baggage and bring a group of pavilions with him.
The three monks went first to help.
Zhao Shu would not refuse. Moreover, compared to towns that could hold on through fortifications, some remote villages could not resist the raids and plunders of the pig-beak people. Zhao Shu's trip was to eliminate these pig-beak people who were guerrilla and harassing everywhere.
Solve the urgent needs of villages everywhere.
"I will never forget your kindness to you!" As soon as Zhao Shu landed on the ground, Lieutenant Li, who led the country's brave men, hurried forward to salute.
"No need to be polite." Zhao Shu waved his hand. He looked around and found that there was a fence outside the village, but it was not very strong. The pig-beaked people broke through a gap and entered.
"We discovered the traces of this group of pig-beak people two days ago. They looted and committed constant atrocities along the way." Zhao Shu said to Lieutenant Li: "Fortunately, you held on and contained them here, so that we could be in time.
Kill them all."
glutinous rice
"I dare not take it seriously. We are also trying to protect our wives and children." Li Wei gestured to the granary not far away. At this time, many women, children and elderly people filed out, and the elderly people in the village also stepped forward to salute.
"Is the Immortal Chief sent by the imperial court?" Lieutenant asked.
Zhao Shu nodded and said: "Yes, Jiuli Kingdom is going to launch a large-scale attack now. I'm afraid there will be more than just pig-beaked people plundering and attacking in the future...that is, these pig-headed barbarians."
The old man in the village frowned and sighed repeatedly: "The Southern Barbarians are coming again? It's getting really sad these days."
"What? Is your village in trouble?" Zhao Shu asked.
"I don't dare bother the Immortal with trivial matters, but in recent years there have been monsters that occasionally appear near the village, and they also steal and store food." Lieutenant replied.
"Monster?" Zhao Shu asked, "What kind of monster is it?"
"It's rats." Several old people didn't dare to answer, but Lieutenant Li said straightforwardly: "But those rats are big, and they wear clothes and hats like humans. They have been disturbing the village for several years. In addition to stealing grain, oil, cloth, and sometimes
Plundering lone travelers.”
"Don't talk nonsense, don't talk nonsense!" The old man in the village quickly advised: "Zhenjun Xuri is a Taoist immortal who has protected me for many years. Those grains, rice, cloth and silk were originally used as offerings. If you, the younger generation, don't learn from it, you must tear it down.
The shrine has offended the true king and the guardian of the law, and now it is inevitable that he will suffer."
Zhao Shu frowned and said nothing. The name True Lord is of great importance to those who cultivate immortality and Taoism. No one can be called True Lord.
And listening to what this Lieutenant told me, those rat demons were far from being able to transform into humans. What kind of Detao Immortal family would have such a protector?
Even if Zhao Shu didn't witness it with his own eyes, he could probably guess that Lord Xu Ri was probably a monster occupying one side. He used to extort people and ask for incense and offerings. Later, when the village juniors smashed the shrine, he let his little monsters go around.
Theft and plunder.
Such obscene sacrifices and evil spirits that brought harm to the people would most likely lead to the imperial court to punish the evil spirits and attack the temples in the Tianxia Dynasty. The fortune-telling masters measured the directions, cursed, sealed veins and intercepted water, praised the officials and summoned the generals to welcome the spirits.
When everyone joins forces and goes up, any big monster will be blasted into ashes.
If the obscene ceremony involves temple worshipers and priests gathering to protect the altar, then the local government will send out yamen soldiers to imprison them. As for whether they will be soaked in a cesspit, imprisoned in a well, or be tortured by the boss, it all depends on how the charges are listed.
But after a hundred years of troubled times, even though Huaxu State established the government system, its control over local evil spirits was not as good as that of the Tianxia Dynasty. Even if there was a government agency like the arrest department, all it could do was
Guard the surrounding areas of Dongsheng Capital.
This village is close to the border, and the county officials probably don't pay much attention to it except to collect taxes, money and food. It is inevitable that evil spirits will take advantage of this opportunity.
However, listening to the words of the old man and Lieutenant, the younger generations of the village actually had the courage to smash the shrine, which is unusual.
For those who worship evil spirits and destroy temples and altars, it is a serious enmity. Even monks and magicians who do such things have to think about the consequences, let alone ordinary people who cannot bear it.
Zhao Shu could only attribute the matter to the border villages, where the folk customs were strong, the common people lived together, and they had to form village warriors to protect themselves. In the face of hundreds of people, the village was destroyed and still persisted in a bloody battle, which showed his courage.
A spot.
Originally, Zhao Shu came to rescue the village and did not think about helping them deal with any evil spirits. However, Zhao Shu thought that there are many monsters and spirits in the mountains and forests at the border between the two countries. Even if they are not the targets of Huaxu Kingdom, they are very likely to take advantage of them.
The war situation caused trouble and violence.
While Zhao Miao was thinking, Yi Jiangzi came back against the wind and said bluntly: "There are no traces of the pig-beak people near the village. These pig-headed barbarians have always been stupid and don't have any tents."
"Have fellow Taoists noticed any rat demons in the area?" Zhao Shu asked.
"Rat demon? That's not true." Yi Jiangzi shook his head.
Lieutenant Li quickly said: "Those rat demons usually don't come out during the day, and they appear at dusk at the earliest. I suspect that they usually live in caves in the ground, and the immortals fly in the sky, so they are probably difficult to detect for a while."
When Yi Jiangzi heard this, his expression was slightly contemptuous, but he didn't say much.
On the other hand, Zhao Shu looked the lieutenant up and down and asked curiously: "My dear brother, he seems to know a lot. Have you ever fought against monsters before?"
"We can't talk about fighting." Lieutenant smiled honestly: "We are all ordinary farmers, who would like to have his food stolen by rats?"
Zhao Shu didn't ask any more questions, and just said: "But our trip is mainly to eliminate the pig-headed barbarians who are looting everywhere, and we have no time to deal with the rat demon issue at the moment."
Lieutenant Li still wanted to speak, but the old man in the village quickly said: "The Immortal has something to do, so I won't get in the way."
Zhao Mian cupped his hands and said: "Jiuli country invades the border, and this place is not safe. If the pig-headed barbarians can come once, there is no guarantee that other barbarians will not kill them. You must repair the wall as soon as possible and take precautions before the autumn harvest. You must also set up more equipment."
Sentries are set up in case of unexpected events. If it is difficult to resist, you can go to the nearby counties and cities to ask for help."
"We will know." Everyone in the village saluted.
"In addition, if there are difficulties in the war, the imperial court will inevitably have to recruit soldiers." Zhao Shu said: "I hope you can understand that the current situation is difficult, and we must work together to get through it."
"The imperial court has orders, and we must obey them."
After saying goodbye to the people in the village, Zhao Shu and others soared away in the wind again. After flying for a while, Yi Jiangzi complained: "It really is a remote and remote area. We rushed all the way to rescue, but they didn't even give us a thank you for staying."
"
Zhao Shu comforted him and said: "Fellow Taoist, please be more tolerant. This place is a remote and remote place, and it has been plundered by the pig-beak people, so they cannot give generous thanks. I am afraid that this kind of rural village does not even have much cash.
Entertaining guests is nothing more than serving meat dishes."
"Marquis Zhenming is so kind. I'm afraid you haven't seen the cunning behavior of these unscrupulous people." Yi Jiangzi said: "They can always come up with all kinds of excuses if they ask for anything. The court collects little money.
, it is precisely because many of these unruly people are stubbornly resistant. Especially in some counties and counties close to Jiuli Kingdom, there are many such rebellious people."
Zhao Shu sighed secretly, after all, who forced the common people to be so cunning? Farming and laboring all year round is hard, not to mention that in the borderland near Jiuli Kingdom, they have to face evil blackmail and also
To guard against barbarian attacks, the people here have to do their best just to stay alive. It would be better to say that without such cunning, they would have died long ago.
In the past, Zhao Shu would probably have had a good argument with the other party. But having experienced all kinds of worldly things in Dongsheng, Zhao Shu understood that it was difficult to reach a consensus on some things. There was no need to do this before he was truly determined to do something.
It makes the relationship awkward.
As for whether Zhao Shui has become mature and steady, or whether he has become pretentious and deceitful, he himself cannot tell clearly.