Cheng Yu flew all the way towards Qingchuan County. At this time, his flying speed was much faster than before. He flew along the official road and reached a fork in the road in a short while.
A small road diverges from the official road, eventually winding and disappearing between two hills.
Leaving the official road and flying forward along the path, we arrived at the place where we rescued Zhuang Huaijin last time and met Duan Yulou and Hou Siniang who had fallen into captivity.
He stopped,
I flew to the mountain for a patrol and saw only a few slightly flat areas on the mountainside with more than a dozen adobe thatched cottages remaining.
The front and back of the house are covered with weeds, and it looks like it has been abandoned for some time.
Since returning from Qianjiang Prefecture after fighting, this great martial artist has used this place as his base to gather dozens of mountain bandits and refugees to occupy the mountain and become their king, robbing their homes and homes.
Until I met Cheng Yu last time.
Looking at the row of ruins in front of him, Cheng Yu suddenly remembered that Qin Hongyu had mentioned,
There are two auras on that Wujun sword, one is the aura of Wenzheng, and the other is the aura of Wang Ba.
The spirit of Wenzheng certainly comes from Zhuang Huaijin, but I don’t know where this mountain king with the spirit of domineering is going at this time.
Cheng Yu listened attentively in the mountains. There were only the sounds of insects and small animals running around. There was no sound of human beings, so he spread his wings and continued to fly forward.
After passing through two mountains, there is a wide land in front of you. As far as the eye can see, there are weeds up to the knees on both sides of the road, with one or two wheat ears occasionally mixed in, indicating that this place was originally a grain field.< /p>
It is said that this season should be the time of harvest, but the wheat ears in the field are extremely shriveled. They are obviously second or even third generation wild wheat. They have obviously been abandoned for a long time.
We also passed some villages and settlements along the way, but unlike Qingluo Village,
These villages, with ten households and nine empty houses, have become ghost villages.
As I continued to fly forward, I gradually saw some skinny refugees moving forward slowly, and there were more and more of them as they moved forward.
We even encountered traps for catching birds or small animals along the way, but the traps were too crudely set, and even the baits were just shriveled insects.
At first, Cheng Yu was still confused. Since he had gone to great lengths to set traps to catch wild game, why not use fresh insects as bait?
He flew until the sun set in the west. He stood on the top of a big tree branch. The large number of refugees under his feet also stopped their heavy steps and gathered in small groups. Some were picking up dead branches to make fires, and some were looking for fire. Bring water to boil.
After watching the sun completely sinking into the Western Mountains, the entire field gradually darkened, and bonfires were lit everywhere in the wilderness.
After the water on the fire was boiled, Cheng Yu saw that what the refugees put into the water to cook turned out to be all kinds of fresh insects and unknown grass seeds.
But even these items are still in short supply, and there is not enough to share...
Cheng Yu, who landed on a high branch, looked at the tattered creatures at his feet and remained speechless.
"Ta da...ta da...ta da..."
A burst of rapid horse hoofbeats came from far away. Cheng Yu looked up and saw a person sitting in the distance. Although his body was ragged, he was still stable on a galloping horse. He was also full of energy when he shouted to the refugees: "Listen, all of you. I am a cavalryman under the command of King Duan Tian. I learned from the sentinel that there is a wealthy village in Zhuangzi, twenty miles northwest of the front. King Duan Tian will lead his army to attack Fuzhuang tonight. You and those who are lagging behind,
If you still have the strength to walk twenty miles, you can follow King Duan to conquer this village and eat white flour buns to survive..."
"Listen, everyone, I am the cavalry of King Duan Tian..."
Seeing that there were many refugees here, the man shouted several times, then galloped through the refugees and continued to run towards the rear.
Before the sound of horse hooves dissipated, the refugees sitting around the campfire started whispering.
Occasionally, there are a few young and energetic young people who still have some strength left, but they are stopped by the elders around them and sit back by the fire, but the inexplicable brilliance has become stronger in everyone's eyes.
"Crack! Crack!"
In the quiet wilderness, the crackling of dead wood can be heard from time to time in the campfires.
"Da da da da da da..."
Another more intensive sound of horse hooves came, and the refugees looked up one after another. They saw seven or eight horses running back and forth this time, and the content of the shout was almost the same as that of the previous one.
"Buzz!"
Before these horses plunged into the crowd, the crowd of refugees suddenly exploded, and the sound of discussion was instantly heard over the crackling of dead branches.
Everyone surrounded the seven or eight cavalrymen, and saw that the other party had more guys in their hands, and the leader actually wore a rusty iron helmet and held a long gun in his hand.
Cheng Yu saw that the leader looked familiar. He must have had a relationship with him. After careful consideration, he remembered that this person was one of Duan Yulou's minions when he occupied the mountain and became king.
All the refugees at their feet were animated, and they were chattering around the seven or eight riders asking questions. The leader was too lazy to answer them one by one. He just thrust the spear in his hand and shouted loudly:
"King Duan is right over there. If you can still walk, hurry up. King Duan has an edict:
Defeat update (1st update), war fanzao;
At the second watch, the knife is unsheathed;
Starting from the third watch, divide ingots;
At the fourth watch, I hugged the rich man’s wife and fell asleep.”
Cheng Yu heard clearly what the leader said from a high branch, especially when he heard the following part, he couldn't help but smile in his heart:
During this period, Yulou became a bandit, but he did not abandon his own business. He actually changed the lyrics of the play into a marching command, which was not only catchy, but also quite inspiring.
Sure enough, after hearing this, the crowd of refugees scattered together with a sound of "Wow!" like spring water in a spring.
"Go quickly, go quickly! It's going to get darker soon!"
"Forget it, it's about to end the watch, and I can't catch up with the war food, but wouldn't it be better to follow King Duan and eat fine food from the rich man's family?"
"Mom, hurry up and get me half a bowl of grass seeds. The child can eat it to survive these twenty miles and make a living for our family."
"My dear, father, eat quickly. After eating, you can chase after that Duan Wang. But remember, don't rush too recklessly and follow the crowd. It's important to grab some thin noodles first and bring them back to keep the two children alive." "My child, grandpa is too old to carry it. You should bring this pole for self-defense and follow the others, but be smart and don't trust others. If someone wants to snatch your pole, no matter who it is, just kill him.
Shoot, once you shoot, no one will dare to bully you again."
"Grandpa, we are the only two left in our family. If we want to survive, we must leave together. My grandson cannot leave grandpa behind."
"What a good grandson. Grandpa has eaten grass seeds and roots for several days. He has a knot in his stomach that cannot be pulled out. He is swollen all over and can no longer walk. It is hopeless to think about it. And you are still young. Grandpa must not hold you back.
Be obedient and go quickly! Otherwise, grandpa will die in front of this fire!"
The originally lifeless wilderness suddenly became commotion. After almost all the young people simply cleaned up, they headed northwest in groups. In less than half a stick of incense, there were only sporadic crackles of campfires and occasional sounds of fire in the noisy wilderness.
A few sobs.
Everyone was looking at the retreating figures of their relatives, and no one had the time to notice that a little sparrow actually flew over the heads of the group of people at night and flew towards the northwest.
……
After Cheng Yu flew ten miles away, he saw rows of bonfires in front of him, which were very different from the fires set up randomly by the refugees.
There were large and small pots on the bonfire, and someone was pouring bags of grain into the steaming pot. The smell of carbon water was wafting around. There were more than a dozen pairs of hungry eyes around each bonfire.
There were people guarding them with weapons, and they had already swarmed up to eat them.
In the center of the camp, there were several simple tents. Cheng Yu landed on the top of the largest one and listened intently. He heard a low female voice coming from inside. It was the woman who had been sunk to the bottom of the Longxiang River.
Hou Siniang was rescued by Cheng Yu again:
"Husband, the scout reported that the wealthy village ahead is called Zhuqianzhuang. There are two large courtyards in the village, one is slightly smaller and has two front and rear entrances, and the other is larger and has five entrances. However, the walls of the courtyard are high and thick.
There is also a wooden watchtower in the corner, with figures patrolling it, who seem to be local heroes.
From this point of view, this Zhuangzi is really a tough guy. Fortunately, my husband is resourceful and knows how to send someone to investigate first. Otherwise, if we rush in rashly and fail to capture Zhuangzi, we may be bitten by the people inside."
After a moment of silence in the tent, a burst of laughter suddenly sounded, and then a familiar male voice whispered:
"Huh! I'm not afraid of my wife's jokes. It's my first time for my husband to lead an army in a war. How can he be so resourceful? He's just doing what the opera says. When the army sets off, it's better to send out scouts first. But this Zhuangzi
I prick my hand, and I'm worried that it will change if I can't stop chewing it. The people in the village are not afraid, and I understand that they don't dare to chase far from the village. I am only worried about these newly recruited hungry people, and I see more and more people behind me.
, if we don’t have anything to eat again, we might turn against you and take a bite out of us first.”
"Well, what you said makes sense. Why don't we take the small courtyard first and move some food out?"
Duan Yulou took a sip of porridge on the rim of the bowl with a "stuck" sound. After spitting out the pebbles in the bowl with a "pop" sound, he shook his head and said:
"No, the two courtyards must be taking care of each other. If we attack the small one, the big one will come out to support us. If they cooperate inside and outside, we may suffer losses. We might as well attack the big one directly. The small one will not dare to
If you come out to rescue, you may even scare away the people in the small courtyard, but how can you defeat this big village?"
"It seems that the only way to do this is to be smart. It is better to send someone to show weakness and trick him into opening the door, and then work together to win him down in one fell swoop."
After Hou Siniang finished speaking, there was another silence in the tent, and then Duan Yulou asked softly:
"Well, we can only outsmart him, but it's getting darker now. How can we easily open the door to his house?"
"This matter is not difficult at all. All we need to do is to personally take over a dozen sisters who were brought down from the mountains, disguise themselves as poor women fleeing from the mountains, and say that everyone is willing to exchange their bodies for food in order to survive, and then open the gate of the courtyard.