With corpses lying in the streets and blood spattered five steps away, the town immediately became silent, with only the broken red flag on the tall flagpole flapping in the wind and the occasional snoring of the horses.
The urchins playing at the door were dragged back by the adults, and the old men basking in the sun also put away their horses and went back to their houses to close the doors. Shops on both sides of the street were closed and they did not dare to make any noise.
The wind blew through the empty streets, and the dust flew up, and soon the dead body was covered with a thin layer. Without saying a word, the three swordsmen walked out of the tavern, took off the horse's reins, lifted the body and put it on the horse.
The man mounted his horse and drove away.
When the sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, the people in the town quietly opened the door and poked their heads in. The guests in the tavern also walked out and stared at the pool of blood on the ground.
"Young Master Dao is dead, was he really killed by a fool?"
"No way, no one saw it. Maybe he fell to death because he was too drunk."
"Nonsense, how can you bleed so much if you fall to death?"
"Maybe he fell on the knife."
…
No one saw how Shao Yidao died. They couldn't believe it from the bottom of their hearts, and they didn't want to believe that Shao Yidao's death had anything to do with the fool. But Shao Yidao died after all, in the Hu Laizi Tavern in Shibali Fort.
This debt will definitely be placed on the people of Shibalibao.
So everyone was frightened and gathered together to discuss how to resolve the matter.
There are only a hundred or so households in the town, and those who farm and herd people naturally cannot be on the stage. The only ones with dignity and status are Zhao and Hu Laizi, who run a business in the center of the town. The exception is the sheep herder Zhang Tuozi. In his early years, he
I did business with the caravan, traveled around and saw a lot of the world, and I was considered a well-known figure in the town. There were also some older people. Everyone gathered around the flagpole with hands in their hands to express their opinions.
"If you want me to say that it was wrong to cut him off, he wanted to ruin his daughter. What does it have to do with us if he falls to death!" said a sturdy young man. He is Zhao Ding'an, the son of the elder Zhao. Although he is only seventeen years old,
But his craftsmanship is as exquisite as his father's.
"Shut up, adults are talking and children should stop interfering, and squat down." The elder Zhao scolded his ignorant son, but then continued: "Ding'an is right, it would be wrong to cut him off, and we don't have it either.
To touch him, he accidentally fell to death, and his three followers also saw it. No matter how powerful the Du Yi Dao is, it has to be reasonable, right? He can't blame us for this."
"Being reasonable? When did Youyi Dao ever be reasonable? Last time, a caravan clearly gave him money to pay for the journey, but Duyi Dao forgot and said they didn't give him money. They got into a fight. Duyi Dao killed someone and didn't say anything about it.
He has swallowed all the goods, so if you reason with him, you are asking for trouble." Zhang Tuozi said disdainfully.
"You can walk all over the world with reason, but you can't move without reason. Even a great swordsman has to be reasonable. We didn't kill his son. This debt cannot be placed on our shoulders." The elder Zhao retorted.
"Youyi Dao came to have a son. He loves this son very much and hopes that he will continue the family line. This grandson died before he was born. Do you think he can avoid taking it out on us?" Zhang Tuozi said.
"Don't argue. No matter what, Master Dao died in our fort. Even if it's not our fault, he still has to take responsibility. In my opinion, each family might as well prepare some filial piety and ask someone to talk about it."
And, at worst, just hand over the fool, and say that Master Dao’s death was related to him."
This was the respected old man in the town, Suntou, who was speaking. After all, he was over seventy years old. His words were different and reasonable. Everyone agreed and went back to prepare to pay their respects.
Hu Laizi didn't say a word from beginning to end and dragged his heavy steps back to the store. The mute aunt immediately rushed over and babbling questions. Hu Laizi was extremely tired and sat down and said: "Where's the fool? Call him over."
"
Yuan Feng was chopping firewood in the backyard, and the clear sound of an ax chopping dry firewood could be heard from time to time. Hu Laizi couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Foolish people have stupid blessings. He can keep his composure."
Yuan Feng was brought to Hu Laizi by his dumb aunt, and he saw that the formerly radiant tavern owner was as haggard as if he had aged ten years. His whole body seemed to have shrunk a lot as he sat there.
Yuan Feng remained silent as always, waiting for the boss to ask.
After a long time, Hu Laizi finally asked: "Idiot, was it you who killed me?"
"Yes." Yuan Feng replied briefly. There was no expression on his brows, as if what he killed was not the only son of the famous horse thief, but a small ant on the ground.
"Why did you kill him?" Hu Laizi continued to ask.
"He bullied the stupid girl." When he said this, a fire rose in Yuan Feng's eyes, but Hu Laizi didn't see it. At this moment, he was already bursting into tears.
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A fool knows how to protect his own woman from being bullied, but when the young and powerful Hu Laizi faced the gangsters who bullied his wife, he chose to escape. This was the pain of Hu Laizi's life. The mute aunt witnessed his mother being raped.
The scene of human murder was mute. Unexpectedly, ten years later, history would repeat itself, and this time Hu Zizi still chose to escape. Facing a powerful enemy, he was not as brave as a fool. As a father, as a
Elder, he was extremely ashamed.
Hu Laizi didn't ask where Yuan Feng's sword skills came from, because time was tight and they had to race against time. Hu Laizi walked to the door and looked around, closed the door tightly, and said to Ya Gu and Yuan Feng: "Pack it up."
Baggage, let’s leave at midnight.”
Hu Laizi knew that killing a fool would definitely not relieve Duyi Dao's pain of losing his son. He would definitely kill all the people related to this matter, such as the three poorly protected followers, the dumb aunt, and himself.
It's better to just leave now.
Clothes, food, water, and dozens of taels of silver saved by working from dawn to dusk for more than ten years were put into sacks. The four horses were saddled. Hu Laizi looked at the dark yard and shed tears silently.
A few drops of oil were dropped on the door shaft, and it opened quietly. Hu Laizi took the lead, led Yuan Feng and Ya Gu, and led the horse out. The bells on the horse's neck were all removed, and the four hooves were still wrapped.
Wearing rags, I walked without making any noise, just for fear of disturbing my neighbors.
The night was getting thick, and it was so dark that I couldn't see anything. After walking a few steps, I saw a hazy shadow standing up under the wall opposite. Then there was movement everywhere, and countless shadows stood up and gathered around. It turned out that the townspeople were standing up.
They didn't even sleep, they kept watching what was going on at Hu Laizi's house.
"Lao Hu, you can't harm everyone." Lao Suntou said.
"Yes, if you leave, what will we do? You are forcing Du Yiyi to massacre the town." Someone echoed.
"Lao Hu, for the sake of your years as a fellow villager, please save everyone." Lao Suntou said as he knelt down tremblingly. When he saw him kneeling down, the others also knelt down with cheers.
It was impossible to leave, so Hu Laizi had no choice but to retreat home and follow the villagers' arrangements. Hu Laizi would provide the bulk of the money. The town collected fifty taels of silver and entrusted the oldest Suntou to go and negotiate an agreement.
Huangcaopu, the stronghold of Duyi Dao, is about two hundred miles away from Shibali Fort. It takes at least three days to go back and forth. These three days are longer than three years in the hearts of everyone in Shibali Fort. There are people standing there every day
Gazing into the distance on the fort wall, at noon on the third day, the person responsible for the lookout finally found that Old Sun Tou was back, and immediately shouted excitedly. The whole town welcomed Old Sun Tou in like a hero.
Everyone saw the smile on Lao Suntou's face, and they felt reassured.
Sure enough, Lao Suntou said that Duyi Dao was indeed a reasonable swordsman. He did not make things difficult for him at all and even allowed him to have a meal.
Everyone asked, how did the matter go? How did Duyi Dao reply?
Lao Suntou said: "Youyi Dao has said it, let's talk about it later."
Besides, what kind of answer is this? Everyone asked again: "Have you given away the money?"
Old Sun slapped his thigh and said, "What's wrong, I forgot to give you the money."
Everyone was anxious, what's the matter if they don't send money? The people of Shibalibao didn't fulfill their wishes.
Old Sun was also anxious and argued: "The big swordsman is making a lot of money every day, so he will care about our little money. When I go, it's enough to bring the words. You don't know what kind of wine Duyi Dao will entertain me, then
But it’s a ten-year-old kouzijiao.”
Lao Suntou was steadfast in his oath, but everyone was uneasy. Let's talk about it, what kind of explanation was it? But if I continued to ask, I couldn't get any answers, so I had to go back to each house.
Two days later, a caravan coming from the west did not even enter Shibalibao to rest, but pitched a tent outside for the night. They only sent people in to buy some dry food and exchange some horseshoes. The people in the town asked them why.
Why don't you come in? They just hesitated and said: "It's hard to say."
It's hard to say, what kind of answer is this? What's not easy to say? The people in the town wanted to figure it out, so they asked Zhang Tuozi to come forward. Zhang Tuozi came from an old caravan and could talk to these people, so he brought
I left with a gourd of wine and two pieces of horse meat, and my face was pale when I came back.
People asked, what happened?
Zhang Tuozi said: "It's over, Duyi Dao has said it. After my son's first seven days, we killed the whole town to pay homage to him. The caravan didn't want to get into our bad luck, so they didn't come in. They looked at us as if we were dead."
On the first seven days, which meant that tomorrow would be the end of Shibali Fort, everyone's faces turned pale. Someone suggested that they should run away.
"Run? Where are you going? There is only one sword within a radius of five hundred miles. He has already spread the word that no one from our town is allowed to be admitted in any fort. Besides, who can outrun the horse thieves?" Zhang Tuozi said in frustration.
explain.
Everyone was speechless and dispersed silently. At that time, two families packed up their belongings and left the town to go to relatives' houses to avoid the limelight. As a result, their dead bodies were found at the gate of the bunker half an hour later. It turned out that Duyi Dao had already sent people to monitor Shiba.
Libao's every move.
The townspeople of Shibali Fort are like fat sheep in a sheepfold, waiting for the moment to be slaughtered. Early tomorrow morning, Shibali Fort will become a dead town.
What Du Yi Dao said can never be changed. The fate of everyone in the town has been determined, that is, to be a sacrifice for Du Yi Dao's son Tou Qi.
That night, the people in the town did not gather together to discuss as usual, but went back to their homes. The town calmed down early, and even the dogs stopped barking.
In the Hu's tavern, it was already closed and bolted. Hu Laizi prepared a table of wine and meat, and called Yuan Feng and Ya Gu over to eat together. This was the first time Yuan Feng had a meal at the table. Hu Laizi said: "Eat, how much can you eat?"
No matter how much you eat, you can’t starve to death.”
The mute aunt looked at her father timidly, not daring to move her chopsticks, but Yuan Feng picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Hu Laizi said: "You fool, don't sleep in the barn tonight, go to my bed and sleep." After that, he got up and put on his clothes.
Entered the backyard.
The dumb aunt was worried, so she followed him to the backyard and saw that Hu Laizi had found a long-handled ax for chopping firewood and was grinding it on the whetstone.
The sound of ax grinding continued all night.
Early the next morning, before the light was out, the door of the tavern opened. Hu Laizi tidied up quickly and pushed open the door with a long-handled axe. Just when he saw the door of the blacksmith shop opposite also opened, the elder Zhao and his son were waist-deep.
He walked out with a long knife in his hand, looked at each other twice, but didn't say anything, and walked towards the flagpole in unison.
6 Then a few more doors opened, and townspeople holding swords and axes came out, silently walking behind Hu Laizi and Da Lao Zhao.
When they arrived at the flagpole, they discovered that someone had arrived earlier. Yuan Feng had been sitting there cross-legged for a long time, and even his eyebrows had a layer of white frost.