Dense forest, official road.
The young master in brocade clothes, the well-dressed guard;
The bandits besieged him and robbed him of his wealth.
Dozens of people crowded into this small space, and the atmosphere seemed to be quietly becoming tense with the waving of sticks and shovels and the restless steps of the horses.
Xia Jingyun did not choose to have a direct conflict, but smiled and cupped his hands, "You are a good man. We are guests of the Yu family. We are going to visit the Yu family. I hope it is convenient for you."
Unexpectedly, the bandit leader was not moved at all when he heard this. He slashed the tree trunk at hand with his knife and said majestically, "I don't care what kind of fish and shrimp you are as a guest! If you don't pay me, none of you can leave today!"
Xia Jingyun also suppressed his smile and said slowly: "Your Excellency, please think clearly. In Longshou State, the Yu family is not a vegetarian."
"I'm not a vegetarian either!"
The bandit leader glared, "Don't talk nonsense! I don't care whether you belong to the Yu family or the Hu family. Even if it's Xiao Fengshan's father, as long as he wants to get through here, I will still take it!"
"Sir."
Chen Fugui shouted softly, meaning why bother talking nonsense to them.
Xia Jingyun nodded. In that case, he had no choice but to take action.
The people on horseback also quietly touched their luggage, but at this moment, a sound of hoofbeats suddenly sounded from the other end of the tree trunk blocking the road.
Everyone looked up and saw a man and a horse galloping towards them. The rider was lying on the horse, looking behind him. His posture and expression were obviously filled with fear.
But the problem is that the road ahead of him is blocked!
By the time he looked back, it was already too late.
The horse did not receive the command to stop and tried to jump directly over.
But he obviously overestimated his abilities.
The horse screamed and the rider screamed.
One man and one horse, under the astonished gaze of everyone, drew a graceful curve in the air and fell into the open space between Xia Jingyun and the bandit leader.
boom!
Smoke and dust rose instantly.
The horse fell to the ground and couldn't get up. The man was no better, his leg was broken after being crushed by the horse.
But what shocked everyone was that the rider who broke his leg still didn't give up and crawled forward tenaciously on the ground, as if there was some terrible devil behind him. The longer he could stay away, the safer he would be.
Everyone looked a little moved, and at this moment, there was a dense sound of hoofbeats in the distance.
The devil that makes this rider afraid is here.
"Hush!"
Five riders in gray came on horseback and reined in their horses in front of the tree trunk blocking the road.
First they glanced at the young man who was still crawling on the ground, and several of them breathed a sigh of relief, and then the leader didn't seem to pay attention to the battle in front of him at all, and said coldly: "Who blocked the way? "
The bandit leader stood up and looked at the people who came up and down. Suddenly he saw the patterns on the chests of these people's clothes. His expression changed slightly and his demeanor became respectful, "I dare to ask, are you all heroes of the Cao Gang?"
The leader glanced at him condescendingly, "You know I'm from the Cao Gang, why don't you get out of here right away?"
This tone immediately angered a man among the bandits, "What's wrong with the Cao Gang? Even the officials can't control us, and you, the Cao Gang, still want to control us?"
Before you rebelled, you would have been bullied, and after you rebelled, you would have been bullied. Isn’t this all in vain?
This was also the thought of many bandits in the scene. After hearing this, they all looked at the five men in gray from the Cao Gang with unkind expressions.
The leader snorted coldly, got off his horse, walked up to the man, and said coldly: "What did you say?"
The man was also tough, "I said we won't get out!"
Uh-huh!
"Wait a minute, good man!"
The bandit leader's shout was a step too late after all. The man in gray from the Cao Gang drew his knife in an instant and directly wiped the neck of the man in front of him.
The man covered his neck, blood flowed out from between his fingers, and there was a roaring sound in his throat. He looked at the man in front of him in disbelief and fell down unwillingly.
The surrounding bandits immediately roared and surrounded them. The man in gray clothes from the Caobang was not afraid and said calmly: "You can try to attack the Caobang, let alone kill us. If one of the five of us falls here today, A piece of meat”
He looked at the bandit leader and said confidently: "Your village will be completely barren of grass!"
The bandit leader, who had been extremely arrogant when facing Xia Jingyun and others, stretched out his hand to stop his men. He looked at the gray-clothed men in Caogang with a gloomy look, and finally chose to retreat.
"Move the tree!"
"Boss!"
"Do as I say!"
The bandit leader roared unwillingly, and the group of bandits had no choice but to move aside the trees in the road amid the mocking and disdainful eyes of the Caogang people.
Then, he disappeared into the dense forest with the man's body.
"Okay!" The leader of the Cao Gang in gray clothes stretched, "Take this kid and go back!"
The young man who just crawled to the ground in front of Xia Jingyun raised his upper body and looked up at Xia Jingyun, "Hero, help me, they want to kill me, hero, please help me!"
The people in the Caogang didn't care about Xia Jingyun and others at all. A man in gray walked over and kicked the young man. He rolled on the ground several times and said jokingly: "You bitch, keep running away! You Can you escape?"
The man was instantly covered in mud and dust, and his beard and hair were messy. He looked at Xia Jingyun and said desperately: "Hero, save me, I'm innocent!"
The man in gray sneered and reached out to grab the young man's collar, intending to drag him to the horse.
But at this moment, Xia Jingyun said softly, "Wait a minute."
The man in gray pretended not to hear at all, and moved forward firmly with his hand, grabbing the young man's collar.
Suddenly there seemed to be a breeze, and then a strong force instantly clamped his arm.
Chen Fugui said coldly: "My young master told you to wait, are you deaf?"
After saying that, he kicked out the arrogant man in gray and knocked him back a few steps.
The leading man in gray from the Cao Gang did not panic. He just looked at Xia Jingyun arrogantly and said in a slightly cold tone, "This is the person our Cao Gang wants. You should think carefully about it."
Seeing that there was something going on, the young man with a broken leg who was being chased said, "I know they belong to the Cao Gang."
"Shut up!"
Xia Jingyun suddenly shouted coldly, and then looked at everyone in Caobang with the same expression of indifference, "I don't want to know any news about him, nor do I want to know what grudges he has with you, but I never like to watch others kill people in front of me. , you have already killed one, so I think you are very unhappy, so go away."
The leader of the Cao Gang, the man in gray, sneered and slowly pulled out his knife, "What if I don't get out?"
Swish, swish, swish!
What responded to him was the sound of nine people drawing knives at the same time.
The nine snow-white sharp blades reflected the sunlight, almost blinding them with their brightness.
The arrogance and smile on the Cao Gang leader's face slowly solidified.
Daxia strictly prohibited ordnance, and gathering people with weapons for no reason was regarded as treason.
Even among the Cao Gang, he was the only one who carried a knife. The rest could only hide daggers secretly, and only dared to carry short sticks and other weapons openly.
Although the world is in chaos now and this prohibition has gradually been relaxed, those who have this strength are by no means simple people.
His eyes fell on Xia Jingyun, looking up and down.
First of all, this man is so young, he must not be an official;
The number of people he brought with him was neither too many nor too few, as if he was on the road. Although his clothes were not very luxurious, they were well-dressed enough. He should be the son of a major rebel, going out on business with his bodyguard, or from another state. Your young master dared to be so arrogant in front of them because he had to cross the river like a dragon.
He looked at the dazzling blade and hesitated for a moment, "May I ask your surname?"
Xia Jingyun said calmly: "You don't deserve to know. If you don't go away, I will take action."
The leading man in gray from the Caobang took a deep look at Xia Jingyun and, adhering to the principle that a good man should not suffer any immediate losses, said, "Retreat!"
"Boss, the Cao Gang has withdrawn!"
In the dense forest on the side, a group of bandits were hiding behind the bushes and peeking secretly.
"Keep your fucking voice down, I know!" the bandit leader growled.
Another bandit man swallowed his saliva and said with lingering fear: "Boss, we were planning to rob them just now."
Cold sweat broke out on the bandit leader's back. He couldn't imagine how many of his group would have survived without this episode.
Where did this damn dragon cross the river come from? You didn’t even raise a flag to remind you in advance!
While talking, a guard in the team over there found two branches to help the young man fix his broken leg, placed it on the horse's back, and then the whole team started to move.
Before leaving, the leading young man glanced at the forest with a half-smile, which made all the bandits feel terrified.
The sun was scorching high in the sky, and several elders were also afraid of the sun. After walking for about an hour, when the sun was shining brightly, they found a shady place and sat down to rest.
The horses were tied to the side to graze, and several guards dispersed to be on guard.
Xia Jingyun, accompanied by Chen Fugui, came to the young man's side and handed over a water bag, "Tell me, who is your name and why are the Caogang people chasing you?"
The young man took a few big sips and wiped the corners of his mouth, "Is there anything to eat?"
Chen Fugui took out a sesame seed cake and handed it over.
The young man took a few mouthfuls of cake and water, and quickly finished the matter. Then he looked at Xia Jingyun, "Didn't the young master just say that you don't want to hear this?"
Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "I have saved everyone, and people who don't listen to the Caobang will think that I did, so it's better to listen to what you should hear, at least to know what it is and how they will deal with us. "
The young man looked at him and said, "Aren't you afraid that those people will come back again and bring more people with them?"
Xia Jingyun said: "I think this is not a problem that you should worry about now. You can choose not to say it, but you have your choice, and I also have mine."
The young man was silent for a moment and then said: "My surname is You, my given name is Qianli, and my courtesy name is Zigui. I am from Xichu County, Longshou Prefecture. I am a knight-errant. I usually wander around Huaisi and make friends. They are chasing me. Me, it’s because I accidentally bumped into Mr. Long’s secret meeting with someone else.”
Xia Jingyun raised his eyebrows, "Mr. Long? Isn't it Mr. Ye?"
He thought that this person was hunted down by the Cao Gang because he offended the Ye family, the leader of the Cao Gang.
The young man smiled bitterly, "If it were Mr. Ye, I might not be able to leave Chuning County."
Then he slowly explained: "Mr. Long is the son of Long Zhengqing, the third elder of the Cao Gang, and he is also an important figure in the Cao Gang. Last night, I and my friends had a drink at his home outside Chuning County. After drinking, I was bored, so I got up and walked around. While walking around, I heard the sound of carriages and the sound of horse hooves.”
"I was thinking at that time, where did the carriage come from in the middle of the night, so I quietly followed the cover of the reeds and shrubs and followed the sound. Sure enough, I saw a carriage coming forward, escorted by four men in black. Okay. When we got there, a man in black was already waiting under the tree, and a man stepped out of the carriage, and it was Mr. Long."
Xia Jingyun said softly: "Do you know him?"
The young man hummed, "In Chuning County, you need to recognize several important figures in the Cao Gang. It's hard to get along if you don't know them. Rangers like us, if we don't have long eyes, we will be in trouble." save."
He laughed at himself, "When I saw it was Mr. Long, I knew that this was not something I could know, so I wanted to retreat silently, but I accidentally stepped on the air and fell, which immediately attracted the attention of the guards, so I had to run away quickly. That’s what happened next.”
Xia Jingyun remained calm, "They chased you all night and all morning?"
Chuning County is only more than sixty miles away from here. If it is really a pursuit of a fast horse, it will not take such a long time at all. The truth and falsehood can be easily verified.
The young man shook his head, "I escaped last night. I thought I had gotten rid of them, but I didn't expect that they were determined not to expose the matter. They divided several teams to search everywhere, and finally found me."
He cupped his hands towards Xia Jingyun, "Without the young master, I would definitely die. Thank you very much for saving my life, young master."
"No, you've dug a big hole for me!"
Xia Jingyun sighed. He thought that this man might be carrying some big secret of the Cao Gang and could help him in this matter, so he rescued him at the risk of exposing his whereabouts.
But who would have thought that it was just such a small matter behind it. Although the matter involved the son of an elder from the Cao Gang, it didn't seem like information that could help him.
He whispered: "Then what are you going to do next?"
The young man thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid I can't survive in the land of Huaihe and Huaihe. Let's go to the border and join the army. See if I can get some fame. Even if I die in battle, it will be a waste of my energy."
Xia Jingyun pondered for a moment after hearing this, "I need a lot of detailed information about the Caobang. If you can satisfy me, I can protect you."
The young man looked at Xia Jingyun, not with joy, but with a bit of suspicion.
Xia Jingyun smiled and was about to explain a few words when the young man suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, regardless of whether what the young master said is true or false, this is the life-saving grace. Why should I not tell the truth?"
After hearing this, Chen Fugui silently raised his eyebrows.
Xia Jingyun smiled slightly, "That makes sense."
The young man then began to talk about the information he knew, including the situation of the various factions in the Cao Gang, the apparent factions between them, and some market rumors.
As a knight errant, he did know some strange news. After hearing this, Xia Jingyun felt that his time was not wasted.
After talking for about half an hour, the water bag was empty. The young man shook his head and said, "That's basically it. The rest of the things are not something people like me can know."
Xia Jingyun hummed, and then saw the young man looking at him expectantly. It was obvious that he didn't really want to go to the border to hide the corpse.
Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "Save people to the end. At least wait until you are healed and can move freely. During this time, just follow us."
"Thank you, sir!" The young man quickly clasped his fists.
After a while, Xia Jingyun and Chen Fugui stood aside.
Chen Fugui whispered: "Master, do you think there is something wrong with this kid?"
Xia Jingyun smiled and shook his head: "It's hard to say whether there is a problem now, but it actually has little impact on us. If he has a problem, he will either draw our attention to the Long family or give us wrong information. There is actually no difference for us. We are now blind, because we were originally going to Haosheng to inquire about the Cao Gang."
Chen Fugui hummed, "It's good that you have something in mind, Master."
"Since we talked about the Long family, let's go visit the Long family and see what kind of hardcore this Cao Gang leader is!"
The next day, morning.
On the outskirts of Chuning County, outside a spacious manor, there were crowds of people.
Today is the fiftieth birthday of Mrs. Long Zhengqing, the third elder of Caogang.
As one of the five most powerful elders in the Caogang, such important events naturally attracted many gentry and wealthy businessmen from Chuning County and even the entire Huai'an County.
Xia Jingyun, who was wearing a mustache, and Chen Fugui, who was wearing a beard, changed their clothes and blended in with the crowd.
After paying a gift of ten taels of silver to the Zhike Office, he entered the village. While looking around at the family background of the Caobang elder, he listened to everyone's conversation. All kinds of information that usually took time and effort to find out were revealed at this moment. You can listen to it anywhere for free.
Long Zhengqing is an old man in his fifties. He is not tall and his demeanor is not as calm and noble as the big shots Xia Jingyun has seen before. He only has the wealth that he has accumulated through pampering in recent years.
At this moment, he was wearing a bright red robe, and together with a young man in his twenties, he was in the main hall receiving some people who were qualified to welcome them in person. He drank tea and talked with them, and bursts of exaggerated laughter came out.
Xia Jingyun looked at the young man, observing his behavior. He was indeed not a very calm and sophisticated young man, and his eyes were a little cunning, which was in line with the information he learned yesterday.
But to a certain extent, this is Xia Jingyun's nitpicking. The young people he interacts with on a daily basis are of a different caliber, most of them are Zheng Tianyu. How can a person like Mr. Long be comparable to them.
Just when the two of them were thinking about it, Zhike, who was doing the roll call at the door, suddenly shouted, "The Lord Bai of Chuning County is here!"
The two men immediately turned around and looked out, only to see a sedan swaying at the entrance of Zhuangzi.
(End of chapter)
