The undulating Wushao Ridge is like a winding dragon across the land. Everything around it is extremely small in front of it, even the scattered pine forests under the mountain ridge, let alone the people running on the rolling grass.
Horses.
Dai Wang was galloping ahead on horseback. He wrapped his head and face with layers of linen, leaving only half of his forehead and deep eye sockets exposed. At this moment, he was dressed like a knight-errant swordsman.
A woman with a fluffy bun staggered after him, shouting intermittently: "My benefactor! My benefactor!"
Her voice was smooth but low. The sound she made was blown away by the north wind in the valley, and even her breath could not be coherent.
"Hush!"
Dai Wang pulled the horse's reins to a stop, turned its head and looked down: "Why are you following me?"
The woman ran to him and propped up her knees, panting and unable to speak, but her eyes were filled with laughter.
"My benefactor, I can hardly catch up with you."
Dai Wang turned to look behind him, then looked back at her: "Don't follow me. I'm a murderer now. If you follow me, you'll get a higher penalty."
The woman said irrationally: "Qiu Mo has no home anymore. I want to serve my benefactor as a slave or a maid."
"I don't need slaves. Besides, I'm not qualified to use slaves. You can go."
But the woman was very stubborn and would not leave no matter how hard she was chased away. Dai Wang turned around and glared at her, so she raised her head and showed a clean smile.
Dai Wang ignored her and continued to move forward on his horse. The woman was still panting as she hurried on. When he ran away, he looked back and saw a small dot running in the distance.
He had no choice but to slow down and let the woman slowly catch up. Unfortunately, when she ran dozens of feet away from him, she fell and fell to the ground, as if she was too tired to get up anymore.
Dai Wang had no choice but to lead the horse over, pick up Qiu'e who was lying limply on the ground, and push her onto the horse.
He limped and led the horse into the hundreds of hectares of pine forest at the foot of Wushaoling. It had just snowed recently, and the pine covers were covered with white snow. The tough grass stems emerged from the snow, and they were attacked by the horse again.
The child's nibbling.
It was very quiet in the pine forest, except for the rustling snow falling from the branches, giving people a strange and chilling silence. Qiu'e felt uneasy and wanted to speak to break the silence, but Dai Wang raised his finger and hissed: "Don't make any sound.
There should be big insects living in this kind of pine forest."
The woman immediately shut her mouth, not even daring to make a sound. The deeper they went into the pine forest, it was like walking down a deep pit, and the slope was almost all the way down.
On the way, he found a few remaining fires, which should have been left by hunters. He squatted on the ground and poked at pine branches. There were unburned horse dung inside. There seemed to be something in front of the fire. He took a step forward and stretched out his hand.
I fiddled with it and picked it up. It was a cowhide bag.
Suddenly, his feet tightened, and before he could dodge, a strong force had already pulled him down and dragged him on the snow. Dai Wang hurriedly grabbed everything he could get, only weeds, weeds, and shrubs.
, he waved his hands randomly.
"My benefactor! My benefactor!" Qiu'e screamed in panic while riding on her horse.
A tearing pain came from his ankle, and he was dragged up into the air, hanging headfirst above the snow.
Four or five thieves worked together to pull the rope on the pine tree, and then tied it to a tree. They dragged the rusty long and short knives to the hanging Dai Wang, and slapped his cheek with the blade of the knife.
.
"Yo! The sword of the army! This guy is so fat!"
They saw Qiu'e on horseback again.
"Oh, there's also a pretty little lady! Take her back to be the wife of your elder brother!"
"Hey, the horn bow! And the long bow made of mulberry wood! Ha! Make a fortune! This is the fattest product this year! Take them all back!"
…
The bandit's lair is a long series of dark caves, with torches on the walls every few feet. There is a large stone room at the end of the cave. The so-called bandit leader is sitting on a bluestone, playing with the things he seized from him.
Two war bows.
The bandit leader opened the long bow and then retracted his hand angrily: "The power of this bow should be three stones. If I draw it twice, there will be no more power left. You kid is holding it just to show off!"
They held Dai Wang's shoulders, and four or five people forced him to kneel on the ground. His eyes were cold. The bandit leader grabbed his chin, stung by his cold eyes, and shouted in annoyance: "Give him
I’ll be tied to the stone wall!”
They dragged Qiu'e over again, and the bandit leader reached out to touch her cheek, but she bit her with his teeth. The bandit leader slapped her back.
"My little girl is very fierce!" The bandit leader said with a smile, holding on to a few sparse strands of his beard: So what! "I, the mountain leopard, like to ride fierce horses and play with fierce women! We will have a wedding tonight!"
Dai Wang, who was tied to the wall, said in a cold voice: "Let her go, and the other things, horses, money, crossbows, and knives will all be yours."
The bandit leader laughed sarcastically: "What a fool! If it falls into my hands, of course I want it all."
Suddenly, there was a burst of rapid footsteps running towards the cave. With a face full of panic, he shouted loudly: "Brother! There are many officers and soldiers in the pine forest! They are everywhere!"
The bandit leader looked frightened, and jumped up from the bluestone as if he had been stung by a scorpion. Then he said calmly: "Why are you panic! Cover the entrance of the hole with pine branches quickly!"
"Put out all the torches! No one is allowed to make a sound for me!"
After a period of intense running around, the gangsters all retreated into the stone room. They leaned against the wall and even their breathing was silent. Only the thumping of their heartbeats could be heard.
It seemed as if the neighing of horses came from outside, and they were getting closer. Even the sound of horse hooves could be clearly heard, the officers gave orders simply and coldly, and the sound of iron armor clapping as they walked.
Gradually, these sounds gradually became quieter, and it seemed that the government troops had withdrawn in the distance. The bandit leader breathed a sigh of relief and said loudly: "Quick, use the fire sickle and saltpeter to light the torch."
The two bandits groped together, and the fire sickle splashed sparks in the air, and small flames jumped up, and then the top of the torch was filled with bright flames. They turned around, and their eyes suddenly became dull.
Dai Wang stood next to the bluestone, holding a horizontal knife against the bandit leader's neck. Unexpectedly, the hemp rope on his body came loose.
Several bandits rushed over with rusty knives and roared. Qiu'e hurriedly stuck to Dai Wang's side and grabbed his hand that wasn't holding the knife. Dai Wang struggled a bit but didn't break free, so she let her go.
"do not move!"
In the dark cave, the only thing that was bright was the knife. The sharp edge pierced the neck of the bandit leader, and several bandits hesitated and took half a step back.
The bandit leader was calm at the moment, but his tone was half weak: "Heroes, the officers and soldiers outside just now came for you."
Dai Wang remained silent.
"I heard that there was a good man named Dai Wang in Changsong County under Wushaoling. He got rid of Zhang Yu's family, the chief villain in the county, and killed the Changsong County Magistrate. Isn't he the one he's talking about?"
Dai Liulang moved his lips and finally said: "Yes, I am Dai Wang."
In the light of the fire, the expressions on the faces of several gangsters changed. They dropped the knives in their hands one after another. The gang leader took half a step back and knelt down with a plop: "It turns out to be Yishi Dai! I don't know the face of my benefactor, and I offended you for no reason.
Please excuse me!"
Several gangsters fell to their knees on the ground.
…
"We are all common people in Changsong County. Because Zhang Yu, a wealthy man from the county, colluded with the county magistrate to seize our land and ruined our family, we had no choice but to run into the mountains and become bandits. Our benefactor killed the county magistrate and killed the Zhang family.
Such a righteous act really makes me yearn for it, and I deeply admire it."
Dai Wang stood up from the bluestone with his hands on his knees, took two steps with a horizontal knife in his hand as a crutch, turned around and said, "You've finished telling your story, it's time for me to leave."
Several people hurriedly followed him, asking with sad eyes: "Now that you are being hunted everywhere outside, where can my benefactor go? It is better to stay at the bottom of the Wusheling Pine Forest Valley. We are willing to worship you."
Cave Master, wouldn’t it be a pleasure to kill the rich and help the poor?”
Dai Wang took two steps with difficulty, turned around and said, "I was once a soldier. Even if I end up in this situation, I can't fall into the trap of a bandit."
Qiu'e followed closely beside him, raising her head and looking at him proudly, stars blooming in her eyes.
"My benefactor, if we weren't forced to do so, we wouldn't be willing to be bandits. It's just that the world has changed, honest people can't survive, and good people are not rewarded." Shan Bao, the leader of the bandits, fell to the ground silently and turned to look around: "This cave now is...
It took us several years to dig it out on the mountain wall. The only advantage is that it is not easy to be discovered. If your benefactor really doesn't want to be a bandit, we won't rob it and will follow you to hunt in the mountains.
How about enduring these hard days and thinking about the future?"
Dai Wang stopped and turned around, looking at the group of bandits behind him, smiling for the only time in these days.