Sogdian people travel in business all year round, and most of them travel in groups. Many people buy goods together, that is, several people buy a piece of goods together. This can easily lead to conflicts in the final distribution of benefits, and both parties have their own reasons.
, it’s hard to say who is right and who is wrong.
In order to resolve this conflict, the Sogdians adopted the method of mediation by the elders. However, if even the mediation by the elders fails, then a solution by force will be inevitable.
In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, the Sogdians thought of a way. Both sides could hire warriors to compete, and the winning side would decide the distribution of benefits.
Then the feud between the two parties will be cleared up and no further entanglement is allowed.
This method of resolving conflicts by force has lasted for hundreds of years and has long become the Sogdian people's criterion for resolving conflicts.
This is what Li Ande thought of, asking his nephew to create a conflict out of thin air, and then forcing Guo Song to use Sogdian rules to resolve it in order to obtain Guo Song's wooden sword.
If one party raises the bet, the other party also needs to follow up.
Li Ande raised the iron sword high and said loudly to the crowd watching: "Everyone, this young man has always wanted to buy me this sword, so I will put this sword as a bet in the competition. I hope
The young man also made a bet of equal value."
Li Ande glanced at Guo Song, stared eagerly at the wooden sword behind him, and said unceremoniously: "I think that except for this young man's iron wooden sword, no other item is worthy of my iron horizontal sword.
.”
Duan Sanniang also appeared in the corner of the crowd. She said coldly: "You just said that you would exchange the iron sword and three hundred taels of silver for his iron wood sword. Can you change what you said at any time?"
There was a trace of embarrassment on Li Ande's face, and he smiled again: "Of course I won't cheat, so be it! If this young man defeats my warrior, in addition to getting this iron sword, he can also get another three hundred taels.
Silver, or you can take any weapon in my weapons shop."
Guo Song stepped forward and said with a faint smile: "That's as you wish!"
He raised the ironwood sword high, "If you defeat me, this ironwood sword will be yours."
The people around were whispering, and they also felt that something was wrong. If this young Han lost, shouldn't he apologize and compensate for the treasure bottle? Why did it turn into two people competing for a wooden sword?
Doubts are doubts, but as long as the two parties have no opinions, they will not be troublesome.
Li Ande narrowed his eyes with a smile, turned around and shouted: "Come out, Kangbao!"
I saw a very sturdy Sogdian man walking out from the back of the shop. He was the big blacksmith whom I met in the blacksmith shop just now.
He put on a short bra, and there was no expression on his ugly face covered with scars.
Li Ande smiled evilly and said: "The moment you have been waiting for has finally come."
He turned back and pointed at Guo Song, and said fiercely: "As long as you beat him in the martial arts competition today, I will give you your freedom!"
Kang Bao's eyes slowly lit up and he locked his gaze on Guo Song. His deep pupils were filled with the longing for freedom, as if an extremely thirsty desert traveler had discovered a clear spring.
"Let me do it!"
Liang Wu came out and said to Guo Song: "This kind of competition does not necessarily have to be done by myself."
Guo Song didn't expect that Li Ande would actually ask the mysterious man he met in the blacksmith shop to take action. For a moment, he was full of curiosity, what was the origin of this man?
Seeing that Liang Wu was about to appear, Guo Song grabbed him, shook his head and said, "You are no match for this person, and even I may not be able to win against him."
Liang Wu was stunned, could this mute Sogdian slave be a martial arts master?
Li Ande was afraid that the night would be long and full of dreams, so he immediately announced loudly: "Both sides do not use weapons. If they fall to the ground, they will lose. Let's begin!"
……….
Guo Song handed the wooden sword to Liang Wu, took off his outer robe, and found a half-worn blue tight-fitting warrior uniform underneath. He stepped forward, cupped his fists and saluted Kang Bao.
A trace of hesitation flashed in Kang Bao's eyes, but he immediately became solemn. He nodded to Guo Song and assumed a strange offensive posture. His legs were in a lunge, his fists were closed and placed under his chin, and his body was slightly sideways.
, staring at each other sharply.
This posture confused many people, but Guo Song recognized it. It was clearly a boxing stance.
Guo Song's body flashed and he was in front of him in the blink of an eye. Kang Bao reacted very quickly, and his fists immediately hit Guo Song like a storm. In that instant, he punched more than twenty times.
Guo Song dodged his frontal attack, his body was as fast as lightning, passed through from the side, and hit his left rib with an elbow hammer. Kang Bao grunted, took two steps back, and then kicked three consecutive side kicks towards him.
Guo Song's midfielder was incredibly fast.
Guo Song had already stood up, and with a light backflip, he jumped ten feet behind the opponent.
The first encounter ended when the rabbit was up and the falcon was about to fall. The two sides were just testing, but Kangbao lost a move. If both sides were armed, Kangbao would have fallen to the ground by now.
Kang Bao's eyes became serious. He knew very well that the opponent who had just elbowed him had let him go, otherwise at least three of his ribs would have been broken.
Kangbao stopped being underestimating the enemy and no longer used boxing to attack. He squatted down in a horse stance and crossed his palms flatly in front of his chest, turning it into a defensive posture.
This is the fighting style of the Sogdians, which combines wrestling and free fighting techniques. It is very practical on the battlefield. This is Kang Bao's advantage. The lower body is stable and powerful.
Guo Song felt a little regretful in his heart. Just now, Kang Bao slightly underestimated the opponent and used boxing skills to fight against himself. His lower body was erratic. He had every chance to kick the opponent down from behind, but he did not try his best because it was a test.
Now the other party has suffered a loss and will no longer give himself a chance.
The thought of regret just passed by for a moment. Guo Song gave a soft drink and jumped up. He jumped eight feet high, causing everyone around him to exclaim.
His feet were as fast as rain, and in an instant he kicked more than a dozen kicks at the opponent's head and shoulders. The real kick was unpredictable, but the real kick was towards the opponent's throat.
Kang Bao saw it very accurately. He grabbed Guo Song's left foot and swung it back. He had rich practical experience and could see that this was a trap for the opponent. If he grabbed the opponent's leg and refused to let go, the opponent would
They would press down from a high place, lock his neck and push him directly to the ground.
He could only throw away the opponent as fast as possible, causing the opponent to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Guo Song felt severe pain in his ankle, and the opponent's iron-like hands almost crushed his bones. The pain made him almost faint.
But Kang Bao still underestimated Guo Song's trap. He threw away Guo Song's left leg, but Guo Song's right leg hooked his shoulder and jerked him backwards. A huge force made Kang Bao unable to stand.
Stable, he took four or five steps back in succession. He tried to support the ground with his hands, but his body lost his balance and he finally sat down on the ground.
However, Guo Song landed lightly two steps away and his body landed firmly on the ground.
Liang Wu cheered and jumped up with excitement. Li Ande's face turned livid. He didn't expect that Kang Bao, known as the most powerful general in the river, would be knocked down by the opponent when they met, and he lost cleanly.
But Guo Song knew in his heart that Kang Bao could have broken his leg bones just now, but he did not act cruelly, and was responding to his mercy with the elbow hammer.
He cupped his fists and saluted, "I agree!"
Kang Bao's eyes were filled with sadness. His most promising opportunity to gain freedom had just been missed. He stood up and stood aside without saying a word.
When Duan Sanniang saw Li Ande's eyes rolling, she shouted coldly: "Li Ande, are you trying to cheat!"
Li Ande laughed twice and said, "Miss Duan is joking. Sogdians promise a lot of money, how can they lie?"
He threw the iron sword in his hand to Guo Song, "This sword belongs to you!"
Guo Song caught the horizontal sword with his left hand, held the hilt of the sword with his right hand, and slightly opened the scabbard two inches. He felt a chill coming to his face. "What a great sword!" he praised.
As soon as the knife was closed, Guo Song raised his eyebrows and said coldly: "In addition to this knife, I should have another winner!"
Li Ande said angrily: "Anshan, give him three hundred taels of silver!"
"I don't want any money."
Guo Song pointed at Kang Bao and said, "I want you to give him freedom!"
There was silence all around. Everyone was stunned. Next to him, Anshan suddenly jumped to his feet and shouted: "No! We bought Kang Bao for a thousand gold dinars, which is far more than three hundred taels of silver."
"But he's also your fighting weapon, isn't he?"
Guo Song looked closely at Li Ande, "As you said, I can take any weapon in your shop!"
Li Ande held his hands and looked at the sun in the sky and said: "Ahura Maz, the Great God! Kangbao is my most loyal brother, not my cargo. Please forgive the rudeness of these Han people!"
Li Ande rolled his eyelids and showed a sly smile, "If you really want to give him freedom, you can give him your ironwood sword in exchange. There are no other conditions."
Everyone's eyes turned to Guo Song. People were never goods, not even slaves. This was the consensus of the Sogdians. Andre Li really made sense. If Guo Song wanted to protect his freedom, he could only use the iron wood sword.
Exchange, but is he willing?
Even Duan Sanniang was watching Guo Song with interest. How did he choose?
Guo Song was silent for a moment, then stretched out his hand to Liang Wu, "Give me the iron wood sword!"
Liang Wu suddenly became anxious and shouted loudly: "This is a relic left by your master, you can't hand it over!"
Kang Bao suddenly turned his head, his eyes turned red.
Duan Sanniang was also stunned. This iron wood sword was actually a relic of his master. Only then did she understand why Guo Song refused to change it.
"Mr. Guo, I was rude just now!" Duan Sanniang finally admitted her mistake.
Guo Song did not respond to her. He smiled faintly and said: "It's just a wooden sword. It's far less important than a person's freedom. Give it to me!"
Liang Wu was helpless and handed the wooden sword to him. Guo Song stepped forward and handed the wooden sword to Li Ande, "Exchange it!"
Li Ande held the Ironwood Sword tightly in his arms and stared at the line of Persian characters on the hilt, with greed clearly revealed in his eyes.
"What are you going to do?" Guo Song asked sharply.
Li Ande took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Guo Song, "This is Kang Bao's slave contract, guaranteed by his faith. If the master tears it up, Kang Bao will be free!"
Guo Song took the slave contract, tore it into pieces, and said to Kang Bao: "You go! Go back to your hometown."
Kang Bao burst into tears. The tall and strong man slowly knelt down, kowtowed three times to Guo Song, turned around and strode away.
Li Ande didn't expect Guo Song to really let Kang Bao go. He shook his head and whispered: "You threw away a peerless treasure. Do you know who he is? His real name is Ash Darhan, and he is a member of the Sogdian Hundred Thousand Alliance Army.
The deputy commander-in-chief was defeated by the food army five years ago and became a prisoner of war. After several twists and turns, he was later bought by me in the Damascus slave market. In Kang State, you can exchange him for ten thousand taels of silver."
Guo Song glanced at him coldly, "I only know that you still owe me three hundred taels of silver. That's fine. I don't need your money. You tell me the origin of the Iron Wood Sword."
Li Ande's eyes lit up, he could save three hundred taels of silver, of course he couldn't ask for it.
Guo Song turned around and left. Everyone felt sorry for him, but Liang Wu knew very well that the matter was not over.