In Jizhou, Hebei, there is a county named Julu, where Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, defeated the Qin army in the past. However, after the two Han Dynasties, it was just an inconspicuous and poor county with jurisdiction over Pingxiang and Guangzong counties.
"Brother! You don't have to risk going into the mountains! I can recover from any minor injuries in less than ten days!"
"Yes, the tigers and leopards in the mountains are fierce, but brother, you are just a scribe..."
On the outskirts of the county, in front of a dilapidated mud-tile house, a young man with a strong build and a simple face was blocking a young man with a serious face who was carrying a medicine basket and holding a long staff from going out. He looked through the gap between the two of them.
Inside the house, you can see a thin young man who looks somewhat similar to both of them, lying on a straw mat with an anxious look on his face.
"Scribe...it's just what we call ourselves brothers," the young man sighed: "Brother, I am twenty-three this year, but I am still not a good scholar. All my classmates in the county who have some family affairs have already become officials, and they are all quite indifferent when we meet by chance.
, I will probably pretend not to know it soon."
"How can those humble officials compare with the eldest brother?" The sturdy young man said with excitement: "The eldest brother is a great talent, as long as he is recognized by a high-ranking family, he can be promoted to an official with filial piety and integrity."
"Does my family have extra money?" the young man interrupted.
"Uh..." The strong young man avoided his eyes and looked around quietly, but he didn't know where to stop his eyes.
The young man shook his head and said: "It's enough to pay back the minor officials. Any official who can be listed on the list must pay a 'donation fee' to the court according to his position. How can my family have this kind of money?"
"How can you argue with the eldest brother? Just stop him!" The voice of the thin young man came from the room. He paused and then said: "The eldest brother can tell A Bao, but he can't hide it from me, 'recommend'
This is indeed the case, but 'conquest' does not require money. The eldest brother has a small reputation at this time, and there is no telling which official will be recruited as a staff member someday. There is absolutely no risk at this time..."
"Xiaoliang, you were injured when you went to accept the 'Zhengpi' test, right?" the young man suddenly asked.
"Hey..." The thin boy was speechless.
"This 'conquest' seems to have no requirements, but it places more emphasis on talent," the young man shook his head: "If you don't have the 'unparalleled' qualifications, it will be useless for you to defeat twenty people with just one person."
"How come the eldest brother's speech is exactly the same as that of the junior official?" The thin young man said dissatisfied: "Ask him what the 'unparalleled' qualifications are, and he won't tell you."
"The so-called 'unparalleled' means -" The young man suddenly paused in the middle of his words. The strong young man thought he was trying to trick him into leaving, so he stepped forward to catch him. Unexpectedly, his seemingly safe catch ended up in vain.
Then the young man's figure instantly shattered and appeared outside the courtyard gate seven or eight steps away, saying to him: "——That's it."
"A Bao" still wanted to chase, so he heard "Xiao Liang" say from behind: "Let the elder brother go. With such skills, ordinary tigers and leopards really can't hurt him."
————
"Huh...cough cough cough!"
Although the young man acted calmly when he left, after holding on until he could no longer see his mud-tiled house, he finally couldn't help but bend down and cough violently.
"Damn it..." He muttered to himself in a hoarse voice caused by coughing: "I [Zhang Jiao] will never do nothing in this life."
Unlike his two younger brothers [Zhang Liang] and [Zhang Bao] who are quite powerful, Zhang Jiao can be said to be a weak scholar with no strength. After the death of their parents, the living expenses of the three brothers were basically provided by Zhang Liang.
He and Zhang Bao hunted and worked to make ends meet. Zhang Jiao originally wanted to pass the examination to embark on an official career, but he stopped being a scholar and made no further progress.
At present, the only thing that can be called capital is this "unparalleled skill" called "Phantom", which although the interval between uses is not long, will make you cough violently.
According to legend, when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, a meteorite fell from the sky and exploded in mid-air, just like the sun rising in the sky, surrounded by clouds. Emperor Guangwu learned what he called "unparalleled" combat skills and defeated 400,000 with two thousand.
The puppet dynasty was destroyed.
Although the new dynasty claimed that this was God's blessing that the Han Dynasty would not be destroyed, and that "unparalleled" could only be understood by the blood of the Liu family. However, in the following years, many "unparalleled generals" appeared in various places, which made this statement self-defeating, so they had to turn to vigorously "conquer".
"Pi" was used by the imperial court.
This was the ninth year after Emperor Huan ascended the throne, and the reign name was changed to "Yongshou". Although it was not surprising, it coincided with the words on the jade seal passed down to the country: "If you are ordered by heaven, you will live forever and prosper."
Emperor Huan ascended the throne when he was young and is now strong, but the Empress Dowager Liang listens behind the curtain and has controlled the government for many years together with the general Liang Ji. "He is powerful both internally and externally, and all the officials are looking at him. No one dares to disobey orders. The emperor is respectful to himself but cannot have any relatives."
This caused dissatisfaction among many courtiers.
Even with Zhang Jiao's knowledge, it can be seen that Emperor Huan intended to kill the general Liang Ji and his followers. At this time, many officials were "recruiting" the rangers who were "recruiting" from counties where the general could not influence them.
There is no doubt that it was used to deal with this operation and fill the vacancies in the aftermath.
In an ordinary military formation, with the same physical and equipment conditions, one is considered strong if he can fight one against two, let alone two hundred. Even if such warriors exist, they will definitely be recruited by local officials after they first show their prowess. Therefore,
The standard for this group of improvised "unparalleled warriors" is simply to be undefeated when one fights twenty.
Therefore, when he heard that Zhang Liang went to participate in the conquest test and failed and returned injured, Zhang Jiao didn't know whether he should regret that his brother missed the opportunity or be glad that he did not get involved in that whirlpool. Apart from other things, in order to make his younger brother
My younger brother recovered as soon as possible to avoid any serious illness. It was imperative that he go into the mountains to collect medicine this time.
In addition, it is not that Zhang Jue underestimates his other brother Zhang Bao. He is indeed strong enough, but his character is a bit... naive. If he is allowed to go to the mountains to collect herbs, he will only end up hunting.
Just like powerful "rangers" or "unparalleled generals" have emerged in various places, the beasts in the wild have also changed. They are stronger and more cunning. As a "hunter", if he does not have the corresponding strength, he is afraid that he will be killed by a few jackals, tigers and leopards.
Just rush down the mountain, or you might not be able to catch any prey and go down the mountain in despair.
Similarly, the effect of wild plants is more outstanding. Even ordinary mountain vegetables, mixed with fillings and made into steamed buns, can speed up the recovery of ordinary injuries. However, since Zhang Liang's injury was relatively serious, his goal this time was to find orchids.
Licorice, Tongcao, Rongcao and other rare herbs used to make golden sore medicine. If you are lucky enough to encounter Ganoderma lucidum or ginseng...it is better to sell these rare herbs used to make "Hua Tuo ointment".
Zhang Jiao coughed twice more, straightened up, and walked toward the mountains outside Julu with his walking stick.
————
The continuous mountain range outside Julu County is a branch of Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain. However, it is neither high nor steep. The only commendable thing is that the mountain forests are dense and prosperous enough, providing hunters and herb collectors with a not very rich income.
financial resources.
Along the way, Zhang Jiao's linen clothes that he had deliberately changed were slightly stained and scratched in several places by branches and shrubs. Although he collected some herbs, they were not enough to deal with Zhang Liang's injuries. During this period, he met several people who were also helpless.
The herbal collectors who were in charge of the harvest tried to persuade him to go back with them, but Zhang Jiao declined politely.
Ordinary herb collectors go out at sunrise and return at noon. This is to leave the mountains and forests around sunset to avoid encountering wild beasts. However, they can only collect herbs within half a day's journey, and Zhang Jiao wants to
After gathering enough herbs to treat his brother's injuries, he had no intention of returning that day.
According to the plan, he would reach the less visited mountains in the afternoon, try to harvest as much as possible, find a hiding place to spend the night before sunset, return tomorrow, and try to search again along the way.
Come, there is a high chance of harvesting enough herbs, and you may even be rich enough to sell them to the drug store.
As the sun gradually sets in the west, the light in the forest begins to turn orange, and the sound of tigers and wolves howling can still be faintly heard. Therefore, Zhang Jiao, who has already filled most of the medicine basket, begins to look for shelter at night.
place.
A cave with a narrow, dry, and smell-free entrance is the first choice. Just cover the entrance with dead branches and leaves. The second choice is a cave above a cliff or high on a steep slope. Beasts will not usually approach such dangerous places. At night
Shi Geng will try to avoid camping on top of dense trees. Although some herbs have been collected to resist insects and snakes, they may not be effective against all insects. As for the places where camping is absolutely not allowed, they are depressions, water sources and upwind outlets.
These are places where nocturnal beasts may approach.
"However, this kind of risky behavior is probably only once," Zhang Jiao said to himself as he searched for a suitable location: "After Xiaoliang's injury improves, he will definitely do everything possible to prevent me from entering the mountain again——"
Sa——!
A gust of fishy wind blew past, and a giant brown-haired wolf suddenly pounced out from the thorn, biting Zhang Jiao's neck with unusual precision.
"——Come on, cough cough cough!!" "Zhang Jiao" instantly shattered and disappeared, appeared five or six steps away, and then let out an earth-shattering cough.
Blushing and roaring - the brown wolf pounced in the air, hesitated for a moment after landing, and then slowly approached Zhang Jiao again. At the same time, two relatively thinner brown wolves appeared behind Zhang Jiao, blocking his path.
"Cough cough cough cough..." Although Zhang Jiao has mastered the new usage of "Phantom", Zhang Jue does not dare to put the chance of survival on it. If its life-saving effect can only be triggered once an hour or even a day, he will be attacked next time.
That's when he will die.
This should be just a small wolf pack, consisting of only one male wolf and two female wolves. Killing the female wolf is meaningless and will only make the male wolf more violent. Therefore, we must risk killing the male wolf to make the two female wolves
Frightened, he fled on his own.
Zhang Jiao made up his mind, grasped the long mountaineering pole with a sharp end in his hand, left his "phantom" in place, and quietly touched the side of the male wolf.
According to experiments on several dogs in the village, this kind of invisibility after leaving a phantom has no smell, so as long as the head wolf is stabbed to death and survives the cough, the two female wolves will not be a concern...
…
Just as Zhang Jiao was thinking this, he saw the brown-haired male wolf that was originally staring at the "Phantom" turning towards him with a slightly teasing gaze... This guy was just faking it!
"Fufu? Where are you going-"
Zhang Jiao was about to thrust out the long stick in his hand, but he heard a woman's call not far away, and then, a dog with white fluff, shaped like a newborn puppy, but with a pair of rabbit ears on its head.
The small animals ran out of the forest, and the three brown wolves turned around and ran away as if their tails had been stepped on.
"Fu, fuwu!" The creature shouted at Zhang Jiao, took two steps forward, and then fell flat on the ground.
"Alas, is this another lost hunter?" As the woman's voice sounded again, a silhouette parted from the trees and walked out. No, it should be said that those trees and shrubs took the initiative to move out of the way.
I saw that she had long snow-white fluffy hair and emerald-green eyes. Her appearance was as delicate as a fairy in a painting. There was a faint smile on the corners of her eyes and eyebrows. She was wearing a very ancient style of black lady's dress.
Wearing a pure white cloak decorated with many pink petals and blue ribbons, there seemed to be faint phantoms of pink petals falling around her body.
"Thank you, girl, for saving me. I don't know..." Zhang Jiao lifted the "Phantom" and asked with some hesitation.
"Hmm~" The woman picked up the running little animal, looked at the top of Zhang Jiao's head with interest, and then replied: "My name is Mei Lin... No, my name is Lin Hao, and I am an old immortal from South China.
