It was late at night, and the light in the valley was dim. Normal people couldn't see very far, but Liu Xiu, who had transformed his body with gold liquid, could see very far in the dimness.
I saw a group of people walking out of a camp in front. In the center of the crowd were two men with their hands tied. Judging from their clothes, they should be Hanzhong County soldiers. Surrounding them were all barbarian women.
Judging by their appearance, many of them are in their forties or fifties.
Pushed by the barbarian woman, the two men from the county army yelled and cursed as they walked. After a short time, the two men were pushed to a row of wooden stakes.
The original color of these wooden piles can no longer be seen. They are dark and covered with mosquitoes and flies. Next to them, there are several large wooden shelves with iron chains hanging on them, all of which are also dark.
Walking to the wooden stake, the barbarian women pushed the two county army men to their knees, grabbed their hair, and pressed their heads tightly against the wooden stake. A barbarian woman about forty years old took the
Holding a machete, he walked in front of the two of them, glanced at them, walked to the county soldier man on the left, then spit into the palm of his hand, rubbed his hands, and held the handle of the knife.
He raised the machete high, pointed it at the neck of the county soldier, and started to chop it down.
Just when the machete was about to fall from the air, a strong wind suddenly flew from the side. Before the barbarian woman could figure out what was going on, she heard a snap, and a stone half the size of a palm was hitting the machete.
The position above her temple.
The force of this stone was so great that it knocked the barbarian woman's skull away. Her body was still standing in the same place, but she was already dead.
After a moment, there was a pop, and the barbarian woman's burly body fell straight down, with blood and brains spilling all over the floor.
The surrounding barbarian women were all shocked, screamed, and subconsciously looked around. They had not seen clearly where the rocks were coming from just now.
At this time, a figure suddenly emerged from behind a tent not far away.
The figure's speed was as fast as a cheetah pouncing on its prey. The barbarian women felt as if their eyes were blurred, and the black shadow was already in front of them, and along with it, a smelly and unpleasant breath rushed towards them.
At the same time as the people arrived, the shadow's fists also arrived. He punched out both fists and hit the chests of the two barbarian women.
They both screamed and flew backwards. The women around them roared angrily and struck at the black shadow with their knives.
Swish, swish, swish! Several scimitars slashed into the air together, and the black shadow magically dodged out from the gap between them. He got behind a barbarian woman, grabbing the woman's back neck and waist with both hands.
As he swung it outward, there was a sound, and the barbarian woman flew four meters away, fell heavily to the ground with a thud, and could not stand up again.
Immediately afterwards, he kicked out one kick to the left and the other, and two more women flew backwards. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining two barbarian women turned around and wanted to run away. The black shadows took three steps and merged into two steps.
He ran up behind the two of them, stretched out his hands, and grabbed the backs of their necks. As soon as his arms were closed, there was a thud, and the two women's heads hit each other hard. Their eyes turned white and they were both dizzy.
Die.
Seven or eight barbarian women were all beaten to the ground by the black shadow in the blink of an eye.
The two men from the county army who were kneeling on the ground with their heads pressed against the wooden stakes both raised their heads and looked at the black shadow in shock and horror. They couldn't help but mutter in their hearts: What kind of monster is this?
Even if he wears night clothes, he is only dressed in black, but the black figure in front of him is not only black in clothes, but also on his face and hands. It is also so black that it shines brightly, and it also exudes a fishy and unpleasant smell.
, no wonder the two men from the county army mistook him for a monster.
This black shadow was none other than Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu didn't know how scary he looked now. He looked around and saw no other barbarians. He quickly walked up to two county army men and asked
: "Are you two okay?"
As Liu Xiu approached, the two county army men shrank in fear and stammered, "Are you... are you a human or a ghost?"
When they fell into the hands of the barbarians, they still had the courage to yell and curse, but in front of monsters and monsters, they both lost the courage to yell.
Liu Xiu was almost amused by their questions and stretched out his hand to untie the ropes from their bodies.
However, seeing his hand stretched out, the two county army men shrank back in unison.
At this time, Liu Xiucai found that he still had those black and smelly oil stains on his body. No wonder they asked him if he was a human or a ghost!
He coughed dryly and said shamelessly: "Don't worry, I'm a human, not a ghost, these are just my disguises!"
"you?"
"I am the Xiangyang Rebels!"
"Xiangyang Rebels? You...are you Liu Yan's subordinate?"
"Liu Yan is my eldest brother, my name is Liu Xiu!"
Hearing this, the two county army men opened their mouths involuntarily, looked at Liu Xiu again, and couldn't help asking: "What are you wearing?"
"Mud." Liu Xiu replied casually, and then quickly untied the ropes from their wrists.
After confirming that Liu Xiu was a human and not a ghost, and that he was still a rebel, the two county army men were completely relieved. At the same time, they breathed a long sigh of relief. As the ropes were untied, the two of them rubbed their red and swollen wrists and bowed.
He saluted and said, "Thank you Brother Liu for your life-saving grace!"
Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "You two are welcome!"
"Brother Liu, you are very skilled, so just be a good person and do your best to save the other brothers!"
"Are there others captured?" Liu Xiu asked in surprise.
The two county army men looked sad and angry, and said: "Three days ago in the battle, we captured a total of more than a thousand people, but now there are not even 500 people. Those brothers were killed by the barbarians, and they were also killed by the barbarians."
…”
At this point, both of them had tears in their eyes and could not continue talking.
Why are the wooden piles and wooden shelves here black? They are all stained black by blood washing over and over again, the blood of the county army officers and soldiers.
Three days?! It turned out that he had been unconscious for three days! Liu Xiu was startled at first, and then followed their gazes to look at the wooden piles and wooden frames next to them. He clenched his fists involuntarily.
He asked: "How many barbarians are there here?"
The two county soldiers sniffed and wiped the tears from their eyes. One of them said sternly: "The barbarians have gone to attack the county town. Those who are left here are all barbarian women and the old, weak, sick and disabled."
Another man from the county army said: "By the way, the old chief of the Xie clan is here too!"
"Xie Clan?"
"The barbarians here are all Xie tribesmen from the Ugo Kingdom. Taken together, there are almost more than 20,000 people."
Liu Xiu nodded. They were attacked by barbarians on their way from Xi County to the county town. Those elite barbarians came from the Ugo Kingdom.
The man from the county army continued: "The leader of the Xie tribe's army is called Xie Tu, and he is the son of the old chief Xiesang!"
When Liu Xiu heard this, his mind suddenly moved. The first sentence that flashed through his mind was, 'Capture the thief first, capture the king'. He asked: "Where is Xie Tu now?"
The man from the county army replied: "We have already led the barbarian army to attack the county city!"
Liu Xiu asked in confusion: "Why do you know so clearly about the situation of the barbarian army?"
The man from the county army replied: "Our Lord Sima understands the barbarian language. When the barbarians were chatting outside, Lord Sima overheard them."
Liu Xiu asked: "Who is your Lord Sima?"
"Gai Yan Gai Sima!"
Gai Yan was a fierce general in the Hanzhong County Army. He originally did not serve in Hanzhong, but served on the border of Shu County. Gai Yan was very powerful and could draw a hard bow that weighed hundreds of kilograms. He was highly skilled in martial arts and was brave and good at fighting.
On the battlefield, Gai Yan's performance was extremely brave. He often took the lead and rushed to the front. He was very famous along the border.
Later, Gai Yan was appreciated by Tang Heng, who transferred him to Hanzhong County and made Gai Yan work as a clerk in the Duwei Mansion. In layman's terms, he was the second-in-command of the Duwei Mansion, equivalent to the deputy captain.
Gai Yan's bravery and aggressiveness were both his strengths and weaknesses. Later generations commented on him as "pityful and underestimating the enemy's ability to penetrate too deeply, unlike a king who can prepare an army".
The reason why Gai Yan was captured this time was because of his recklessness. When the county army was surrounded by the barbarian army, he rushed into the barbarian army with a black eye.
Gai Yan was indeed brave. He held a long sword and charged into the enemy army. He rushed left and right, and no one could stop him. He killed at least hundreds of barbarians. This was because there were so many trees in the forest.
It was so dense that his long sword could not be fully deployed.
Later, the barbarians used fishing nets to throw them at Gai Yan layer by layer, and finally captured him after wiping out the strength of Niu Jiu and Tiger.
For the other prisoners, the barbarians only tied them with ropes. As for Gai Yan, the barbarians used iron to restrain him for the first time.
You must know that the iron smelting technology in the barbarians is very poor. Iron is a scarce thing for the barbarians. It is a big deal to use it on prisoners.
Liu Xiu had never heard of Gai Yan and thought he was just an ordinary Sima in the county army. He pondered for a moment and said: "You two go to rescue the other brothers in the county army, and I will go find Xiesang!"
The two men from the county army trembled when they heard this, and asked in surprise: "Why are you looking for the leader of the barbarian tribe?"
Liu Xiu said: "With so many barbarian troops attacking the county city, the county city must be in danger now. Only by capturing Xiesang can Xie Tu withdraw his troops!"
The two men from the county army showed signs of sudden realization. After pondering for a while, they looked at each other and said, "We'll go with you!"
"You two go rescue people first!" Liu Xiu said seriously.
"But... there are a lot of guards guarding us..." the two men from the county army said with red faces. Asking them to save people would be tantamount to asking them to go back and die.
Liu Xiu thought for a while and said: "Then let's capture Xiesang first and force the barbarians to release him!"
This time the two county soldiers didn't say anything, and each picked up a scimitar used by barbarians from the ground.
Liu Xiu also picked up a knife and asked, "Do you two know where Xiesang lives?"
Two men from the county army said in unison: "It must be the Chinese military tent in the center of the camp."
Liu Xiu nodded and sneaked toward the center of the barbarian camp with the two county soldiers.