In a dense forest in the north of Wenshui City, an old man and a young man were lying quietly under a tree. The old man's beard and hair were all white, and his wrinkles were piled up. His hands were curled up in his sleeves, leaning against the tree, sleeping soundly. The young man next to him was sleeping soundly.
He also slept well. The young man was not very old, he looked to be at least sixteen or seventeen years old. He had a very good appearance and was very delicate. He was lying on the old man's lap, drooling from the corner of his mouth.
There was a rustling sound. The old man's eyes suddenly opened and shined. A figure fell beside the old man: "Father Shang, if no one in the city came out, it must be a failure!"
The old man waved his hand and motioned for the man to go down. He looked down at the young man in his arms with a faint smile. He gently stroked the young man's hair with one hand. The young man hummed, turned around, and wiped it with his sleeve.
Wipe the saliva from your mouth.
"Master, are you awake?" The old man smiled.
The young man rubbed his eyes and stretched. The old man quickly brought the sheepskin water bag over and said, "Sir, would you like a drink of water?"
The young man shook his head, took some with his hand, wiped his face, and then took a sip: "Father Shang, is there any news in the city?"
"No, everything is going according to the master's plan. It goes very smoothly. Soon we can avenge the elders and the others, and we can also complete the task and get more food and weapons for us!" The old man said happily: "This time
When we go back, the elders will definitely praise the young master for his good work. When the young master becomes an elder in the future, he will surely lead us to rise again with his talents."
The young man smiled bitterly and said: "You are the only one who thinks so. Don't think that I don't know. They all think that I am a waste. I know everything they say behind my back."
"Master!"
The young man waved his hand: "Tell me, is there something going on in the city?"
The old man quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "It's because my subordinates did something wrong. The people in the city haven't come back. It should be more bad luck than good."
"There are so many people, and it's a sneak attack. They only have a dozen guards, and there are women and children, and they still miss. What a bunch of losers!"
The old man knelt down and crawled two steps to the young man's side: "Sir, it's the old slave who failed to do things well. If you want to blame me, blame me. Don't get angry."
The young man took a deep breath and pulled the old man up: "Father, get up, what does this matter have to do with you? They are all idiots. Since they failed, we must succeed this time. Go down and arrange the manpower. Let me think about it again.
think."
"Here!" The old man hesitated for a moment, then saluted and left the young man's side.
The night was so dark that there was neither moon nor sun. It was the darkest time of the day, commonly known as the darkness before dawn. Su Ren was riding a horse in the middle of the team. Originally, he planned to be at the front. Huang Shisan
He Lengjun refused to give in, so he had to stay in the middle. Ten guards guarded the carriage and Su Ren. There was only one outsider in this team, and that was Zhang Hu.
Zhang Hu was forced to do so. He thought he would have nothing to do after opening the city gate, but Su Ren insisted on letting him go. Zhang Hu knew that this time he would be in trouble. If he went, he might die with Su Ren and the others.
, if you don’t go to your position as county magistrate and you can’t sit there for a few days, then you might as well kill yourself.
Zhang Hu didn't have a horse. He had been pampered for many years. He was out of breath after taking two steps. He pointed to a dense forest in front of him and said to Leng Jun: "I guess they will start there. Should we wait until dawn before leaving?"
Leng Jun snorted: "There is not much difference between dawn and dark. We have already made preparations. We will be ambushed even in the middle of the day. Maybe it will be more beneficial to us at night."
"There are a lot of those people? Those who went to the city earlier said that they had more than twenty good players this time. Five died in the inn, and there were at least fifteen more!"
"It's only fifteen, what are you afraid of?" Huang Shisan has already begun to despise Zhang Hu, and I'm afraid he will look down on this guy for the rest of his life.
Zhang Hu was helpless and could only slow down his pace so that he could hide faster when danger occurred.
The sky was gray, and the forest was even darker. Turning around the foot of the mountain, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of us. It was a bonfire, and an old man and a young man were huddled around the bonfire. Those who came here in the middle of the night must have come to Wenshui to catch the early market.
It was too early, so they just stayed here for a while, waiting for the city gate to open, and the first batch of their goods to enter the city could be sold at a good price.
Leng Jun raised his hand and the team immediately stopped. He winked at Huang Shisan. Huang Shisan nodded heavily, held the big ax in his hand, turned the horse's head and ran to Su Ren's side.
Standing up on the horse and looking at the fire in the distance, Su Ren asked, "What are you doing?"
Huang Shisan shook his head: "They are an old man and a young man. They should be people nearby."
"Go over and have a look!"
"gentlemen!"
Su Renzong crossed the team and headed straight for the bonfire, and Huang Shisan quickly followed. Hearing the sound of horse hooves, the old man and the young man sat up from the ground. It seemed strange to see a team from a distance, and then saw Su Renzong.
When the horse came, the two looked at each other, and the old man protected the young man behind him.
Jumping off the horse, Su Ren rubbed his hands and walked to the fire, stretching out his hands to warm himself. It was still very cold in the mountains at night, especially before dawn, when the water vapor was rising, making it cold and cold when it fell on his body.
Su Ren smiled and looked at the old man and the young man. There was a pair of burdens covered with cloth not far behind them. He didn't know what was inside: "Wanting to enter the city?"
The old man looked at Su Ren and then at Huang Shisan. The big ax in Huang Shisan's hand shone coldly under the firelight. The old man nodded and said nothing.
"Why are you here so early?"
"The road is too far. I walked all night hoping to enter the city, but who knew the city gate hadn't opened yet!"
"Oh, from Big Stone Village?"
"Young master, do you know Big Stone Village?"
Su Ren nodded: "That's the farthest village from Wenshui. It's fifty miles away. Your grandfather and grandson can walk very fast!"
"Farmers don't have any other skills, so these legs and feet are only useful."
Su Ren took off his baggage from his horse, took out two flour cakes, and took out an exquisite wine pot. The wine pot was made by Wei Yinjiang in Chengdu, with exquisite workmanship and beautiful style. Su Ren handed the wine pot to the old man:
"Take a sip to warm yourself up, Laojun Guan's good wine!"
The old man took the jug with both hands with a smile, took a sip, and smashed it in his mouth. After a while, he handed the jug to the young man behind him and smiled at Su Ren: "It is indeed a good wine, and it is as good as those...
A big bowlful of money is different.”
"Hahaha, the old man is quite knowledgeable. Well, I'll give this to you!" Su Ren glanced at the young man behind the old man and stood up with a smile.
When he came to the side of the white horse, he put his hands on the saddle and turned his head again: "By the way, I forgot to ask, what are your last names?"
"Surname Ying!" Before the old man could speak, the young man behind him spoke for the first time.
Su Ren nodded: "Ying, what a good surname. A hundred years ago, he would have been a relative of the emperor!"
The young man snorted coldly: "The jug is nice, I'll accept it. If I have the chance to go to Xianyang, I'll treat you to a drink!"
"Thank you!" Su Ren clasped his fists in salute and got on his horse. The young man put his hands behind his back and stood quietly without even nodding. Su Ren smiled and said, "I hope Mr. Ying will not forget his promise!"
Nothing happened in that forest, which was considered to be full of dangers. The convoy of Su Ren and others passed by safely. A ray of sunlight flashed out from behind the cliff in the east and rushed to the place furthest away from him. The sunlight was very bright.
It was dazzling, like an electric light being turned on. There was a vast plain ahead. Under the cold urging, everyone quickened their pace, and a cloud of smoke and dust rose up behind them.
Under the big tree in the forest, the old man looked at the young man who was playing with the wine pot, and summoned the courage to ask: "Master, why don't you let me take action again?"
The young man turned the wine bottle around and looked at every line on it very carefully: "It's really good craftsmanship. Do you know who made it?"
The old man shook his head, glanced at it and said, "It's far worse than those objects back then!"
The young man smiled, raised his head and looked at the road: "This person is very interesting, and he is indeed a good opponent. It would be a pity to kill him directly if we didn't meet him last time."
"Master!"
The young man waved his hand: "Needless to say, I am responsible for this matter. This is my decision. If the elder asks, I will bear it."
The old man said nothing more, just shook his head slightly.
The sun finally showed its full face, and the earth became warmer. The mist surrounded the cliffs. People who rushed to the city early were in a hurry. After a while, there were more people on the official road. Warm water is a good trader.
Although it has only been a short two years, even the stupidest farmers know that if they bring the game they pick up to the city, they can definitely get back a stone of grain and rice.
There were not as many people entering the city today as on market day. Everyone gathered at the city gate for a long time and refused to leave because there was a person hanging on the city gate.
The vegetable seller Lao Ba squeezed into the crowd, happened to see the seventh brother Lao Qi, and pushed him: "Who is that? Why is it hung on the city gate? What is written next to it?"
Lao Qi turned around and saw Lao Ba, and glared at Lao Ba fiercely: "Why are you so loud? You don't recognize him even if you take off your clothes? That's our Mr. Zhang!"
"Ah! What's going on? How come someone is hanging up on the city gate like this? Who is so bold and dares to come to Wenshui to cause trouble?"
Lao Qi pulled Lao Ba out of the crowd and said, "Who knows! I heard from the literate people that it was written on the city gate that the murderer wins Guangji. I don't know what it means!"
"Who is Ying Guangji?"
Lao Qi shook his head: "No one knows.
"Oh, why did something like this happen? If the county magistrate dies, I'm afraid we won't be able to open the city today. What will happen to our food?"
"Do you still remember your food? Wenshui's county magistrate has been killed. Who has the heart to do business? What does your rotten food mean? I just brought back a lot of mountain mushrooms yesterday. I will wait for a day.
It's all rotten. If I sell it to Cuixianglou, I can get ten yuan. Rich people don't know what to do. They like to eat this crap, which makes me waste my whole day."
"Then what should we do?"
"Come back, what else can we do? The same goes for Ying Guangji. If you don't kill him sooner or later, he will kill you today. Zhang Hu has eaten so much in Wenshui over the years that he didn't know how he offended Ying Guangji!"
While the people were discussing, a group of public servants and county soldiers rushed out of the city. They dispersed the crowd with loud noises and untied Zhang Hu's body. They quickly got into the city and closed the city gate tightly.