Under the starry sky, the moon was covered by layers of clouds like fish scales, and sometimes scattered moonlight leaked through the gaps.
Amidst the crackling sounds, the fire was burning vigorously, but everyone around the fire froze in place at the same moment.
"Brother Xiao...you...are you kidding?" the round-faced second generation Xungui asked tremblingly.
Zheng Xiao looked at the man seriously and said, "I'm serious!"
For a moment, the air was extremely quiet, with only the crackling sound of the fire burning.
Not far away from the periphery, the other guards who originally cast envious eyes on Zheng Xiao's guard felt the inexplicable abnormal atmosphere here, and turned their heads to look over. He found that his master was frozen in place, in a strange situation.
"Hahaha, I'm scaring you!" Suddenly, Zheng Xiao put his hands on his hands and laughed. He had long disliked these guys and wanted to scare them today.
This matter was entrusted to him by the fathers of each family, in order to prevent these dandy second generations from having a chance to resist.
"Brother Xiao, what do you mean?" A second-generation nobleman was almost scared to death.
Zheng Xiao refused to answer, which made everyone couldn't help but think about it. What's more, some of them were already thinking whether Zheng Xiao was planning to harm them all here.
The children of noble families have these conspiracies in their minds.
Zheng Xiao looked up at the sky, but couldn't find the moon, so he turned his gaze back and looked at the dark wilderness in the distance.
On both sides of the official road, there is desolate wilderness.
This kind of Zheng Xiao made all the noble disciples even more frightened. Zheng Xiao arranged the route, food and accommodation, and took care of everything along the way. The other second-generation nobles naturally didn't care and were happy and relaxed. But looking back now, it seems that all this was carefully arranged by Zheng Xiao.
On the second floor of the inn, Liu Xin had woken up Leng Peijun and Gou Liangyu who had just fallen asleep.
The latter didn't know why, and both of them looked confused with their big eyes staring at each other.
Liu Xin softly recounted the conversation downstairs, and the sleepiness in their eyes immediately dissipated.
"No way, is Zheng Xiao planning to rebel?" Leng Peijun whispered.
"It's not clear yet, let's just wait and see what happens." Liu Xin comforted. He found that Gou Liangyu's hand was already holding the handle of the knife, and his knuckles were strong.
The next moment, Liu Xin's expression suddenly changed, Gou Liangyu's sword was unsheathed, Leng Peijun's eyes narrowed, and the three of them were alert at the same time.
At the same time, the reaction of the second-generation nobles downstairs was even greater, because the sound of horse hooves came from not far away. From this sound, it was not difficult to judge that there were quite a few people!
"Zheng Xiao, what are you going to do!" Shi Wenbin jumped up, retreated to his guard in two steps, and asked sternly.
Zheng Xiao looked at the other party with a strange look in his eyes and a strange smile on his lips.
The other second-generation nobles were a little slow to react, but they all hid beside their own guards.
This time when they came out, each family brought a loyal guard. If there were too many people, it would be difficult to arrange them on the road. Besides, the eight elite guards of noble families are already a powerful force.
"Hahahaha!" Zheng Xiao laughed arrogantly, and similar fear appeared in the eyes of the seven second-generation nobles. But they didn't notice that the eyes of the guards around them were calm, as if they didn't hear the sound of the horse's hooves, and they didn't even pick up their weapons.
What Zheng Xiao's guard was holding wasn't even a weapon, it was a skewer of meat that Zheng Xiao had grilled himself.
The eldest young master is so kind to me. I will swear to be loyal to the eldest young master to the death. Well, this meat is so delicious!
This was the only thought in Zheng Xiao's guard's mind at this time.
Zheng Xiao looked at the expressions of the seven people happily, wishing that he could find a skilled painter to draw this scene now. It might be a great tool to laugh at them in the future.
The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and the light of fire appeared in the distance.
Dots of firelight fell on Liu Xin's eyes on the second floor, and his expression relaxed slightly.
"The horse over there is not charging. If it is an enemy, it should have launched a charge at this distance. Otherwise, the people here can easily run away. Things may not be so bad. Let's continue to wait and see."
Leng Peijun and Gou Liangyu nodded silently. Leng Peijun could not help but look at Liu Xin. He did not have such detailed observation and analysis skills.
No wonder the other party became a popular person in the eyes of the admiral.
Within Dongchang, Liu Xin's rapid rise has become a legend. Many people are saying that Liu Xin has fallen into the eyes of the admiral and is the next Hara Qianhu.
The seven second-generation nobles wanted to go to the stable to get the horses, but the guards behind them did not move. They were even more frightened. They might be thinking:
No way, no way, even the most loyal bodyguard in the family is Zheng Xiao’s, then I’m doomed
Zheng Xiao looked at the seven people with a smile. To his surprise, when a dozen riders approached, the seven people still just stood there. Zheng Xiao originally thought that two or three incompetent people would stand up and beg for mercy.
When things have reached this point, he can no longer tease him, otherwise someone will really fight him.
One of the dozen riders was wearing leather armor and a metal visor on his face. This combination was not very harmonious. The knight dismounted, took two quick steps forward, and stretched out his arms.
Zheng Xiao also opened his arms and greeted him, and the two hugged him tightly.
The seven nobles and their second generation were all present at the same time, their faces as pale as earth.
Zheng Xiao really colluded with the bandits!
Unexpectedly, when the seven people were in despair, Zheng Xiao turned around and said to everyone with a smile: "Look, who is this!"
The knight took off his mask, revealing a face that was familiar to all the nobles present.
The round-faced little fat man among the second generation Xungui looked at the man in front of him in surprise, and said in disbelief: "You are... you are the fourth brother!"
The other second-generation nobles also started talking, and the downstairs suddenly became noisy.
Liu Xin saw the knight's appearance through the gap in the window. He was tall and thick, with a square face, thick eyebrows and thick lips, which made him look rough, but he could tell that he was not very old.
Liu Xin gave up his position and said to Leng Peijun: "Peijun, look, do you recognize that person?"
Leng Peijun nodded, came up to observe carefully for a moment and then said in surprise: "Single Si!"
Liu Xin looked as if this was the case and asked, "Who is this?"
Leng Peijun withdrew his gaze and introduced: "Your Excellency may not know that this Dansi is the youngest Qianhu officer in Jinwu Guard. He comes from a worldly background and is a member of the famous Yuanwei Escort Bureau."
Hearing this, Liu Xin couldn't help but said: "Is he the seventh person from Yuanwei Escort Agency's 'Forsighted and Powerful'?"
Leng Peijun was surprised that Liu Xin had heard of this name. He continued: "Yes, the seventh son of the chief escort of Yuanwei Escort Bureau. This young master came to the imperial capital two years ago. He first concealed his identity and joined the army. , and later because his personal bravery far surpassed others, he was quickly promoted. In two years, he was already a thousand members of the Jinwu Guards, becoming the youngest thousand members of the imperial army in the past ten years. "
Having said this, Leng Peijun glanced at Liu Xin. This Liu Qianhu is now the deputy Qianhu. According to the information circulated by his colleagues, he seems to be only 21 years old this year. Shansi was promoted to Qianhu at the age of 22. Maybe Liu Qianhu can break Shansi's record.
"Although Dan Si was working alone in the imperial capital, he became a disciple of Weng Bingliang, a fierce general under the command of Duke Qin, and was cared for by the nobles of Duke Qin's lineage."
Liu Xin suddenly realized that he had never heard of Dan Si's name, but his eldest brother, second brother, third brother and fourth brother were already well-known in the world, and even the name of "Forsighted and Powerful" spread throughout the world.
"This person is Jin Wuwei, why is he here?" Gou Liangyu sheathed his sword and asked a rare question.
Liu Xin glanced at him and saw that he was indeed a martial arts fanatic. Only a leader of the younger generation like Shan Si could attract his interest.
"It's probably related to the bandits in Shaanxi!" Liu Xin guessed.
The three of them continued to observe the situation downstairs silently.
Shan Si is a straight-tempered person, and he reveals Zheng Xiao's plan as soon as he opens his mouth.
"I was ordered to come here to suppress the bandits. I set out ahead of you, and I will only be here for two or three days. Zheng Xiao said that he would bring you to help, so I came at the appointed time."
"Brother Xiao, you have made us suffer so much!" the round-faced fat man said with a sad face and a resentful expression.
Shan Si glanced at him and frowned: "Xiao Bai, why are you here? With your physique, I won't be able to take care of you if I encounter a retreat!"
Xiaobai, a fat man with a round face, is the eldest son of Bai Fengshan in Jingning. He is more delicious and fat.
The fat man with a round face cried sadly: "Who knew we were coming to suppress the bandits!"
Zheng Xiao smiled and explained to the others: "This is what my father and my uncles discussed. Your Majesty has been worried about the gathering of bandits from various places during this time. It happened that the Duke of Qin sent a letter, and the Hanzhong Army Horse Farm mobilized an elite force to quell them. This group of bandits in Shaanxi. So Shan Si and I discussed and asked for orders to come over and experience it. Unexpectedly, your uncles decided to let you come too. But if I told the truth, you might not dare to come. "
"Who dares?" Shi Wenbin retorted.
Of course, Zheng Xiao ignored Shi Wenbin's rebuttal and continued: "So you all know what happened next. Now the arrow is on the string, and tomorrow will be the day when the army attacks the mountain where the bandits gather. You can't escape. If you drop it, you have to follow it!”
The rosy little faces of the second-generation nobles who had just recovered suddenly turned pale again, especially the round-faced fat man.
Shan Si was simple-minded and didn't care about the psychological activities of several people. Instead, he pulled Zheng Xiao aside and started discussing.
Dan Si came three days earlier. He was born in Jianghu, so he naturally knows the tricks of Jianghu. Therefore, he took a dozen of his family members who were members of the escort bureau and went to the top of the mountain where the bandits gathered without saying a word, saying that he was here to defect.
The bandit leader tested Shan Si on a few words and saw that he knew the secrets of the world very well and looked like a gangster. He also brought some men, so he gladly accepted Shan Si and promised Shan Si the title of general. .
"Now that I am General Long Xiang, if it weren't for the fact that these bandits are just a bunch of gangsters, I would really be interested in continuing to work. After all, they give me a lot!" Shan Si was a bit more funny in front of Zheng Xiao, but in his eyes He was the only one who caught his eye, the others were just idlers, and he was worried that they would hold him back.
Zheng Xiao smiled and replied: "Destroy this group of rabble and win the great martial arts competition in two months. You have done enough to propose to transfer from the pro-army. I still need to survive for another two years, and my father doesn't have to do it either." You really want me to leave the imperial capital."
Shan Si sneered. As a son of Jianghu, he has a very cheerful personality: "Uncle is too short-sighted. What's the point of guarding a county? A real man should be a king and a marquis. No matter how hard he works in the army, he can't get promoted. Come."
Zheng Xiao sighed and shook his head. This was not determined by his will. He represented the entire Zheng family. How could Shan Si, a knight-errant, have the freedom.
After chatting for a while, several second-generation nobles were also tired. The sudden surprise tonight made people even more tired.
Before entering the inn, Zheng Xiao suddenly remembered something, raised his head and glanced at the second floor of the inn, thinking:
Who could be on the second floor? There was a lot of noise tonight, but it didn't even alert the other party. He has a very deep Qi-raising skill. It seems like he must be a big boss.
In the early morning of the next day, Dan Si wanted to return to the mountain quickly to avoid suspicion from the bandit leaders, so he left before dawn with a group of beleaguered second-generation nobles.
It was not too late for Liu Xin and others. It was early summer, and the heat was unbearable at noon. But the people were fine. Stepping into the Xiaocheng realm, the internal force circulated and the excess heat in the body could be dissipated. The key was that the horses could not bear it.
Running for an hour under the bright sun would be too much for even Baoju.
At the end of Mao Shi, Liu Xinsanqi left the inn and headed for the next destination. There was a period of time when the post station was being overhauled in Zhengyang Kingdom, so as to achieve the purpose of rapid circulation of intelligence materials across the country. Today, although there are not as many inns as there were in the past, the number of inns between major cities is still relatively dense.
Across the country, there are more than 3,000 existing post stations, including more than 1,200 horse-mounted ones. As the name suggests, horse stations are stocked with horses, usually for military express delivery.
The next destination for Liu Xin and others is a horse-drawn post. As he was getting closer to Hanzhong, Liu Xin decided to find a horse station and leave his three precious colts there, replacing them with three ordinary horses.
Because of the military horse farm in Hanzhong, there are many people who have a keen eye for horses, and they carry precious horses worth thousands of gold, which is equivalent to wearing big gold chains through the market. After leaving the imperial capital, Liu Xin clearly understood that the outside world was not so stable.
It's not that Liu Xin is afraid, it's just that he doesn't want to cause unnecessary trouble.
The three cavalrymen traveled eighty miles in an hour. The sun above their heads gave off a hot breath, and the horse under Liu Xin's seat began to pant violently.
"Find a place to escape the heat!" Liu Xin said.
So the three cavalry left the official road and headed for a hillside.
Looking from a distance, there are two ancient trees on the hillside. The tree crowns are huge and the trees are covered with greenery. It is probably a good place to escape the summer heat.
The official road looks close to the hillside, but in fact it is still three or four miles away. This is a dead end for Wangshan.
Perhaps knowing that they were about to get a break, the three horses picked up the speed again.
After a while, Liu Xin and others finally reached the hillside and tied the horses aside. The horses chewed grass to replenish their energy. The three of them first took out their water bags to drink water, and then took out dry food to eat.
They are not as delicate as those second-generation nobles, and chewing dry and hard flatbreads has a different taste.
At noon, they could rest longer. The sun was gradually turning westward. Looking at the sky, Leng Peijun estimated that it was already half past time.
Suddenly he turned his head, and there was a faint roar coming from the other side of the hillside.
Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu also heard the noise, leaving Gou Liangyu under the tree. Liu Xin and Leng Peijun quickly climbed up the trunk of the ancient tree. The ancient tree had thick dry bark on its surface, making it easy to Climbing up, the two of them reached the top of the canopy of the ancient tree that was twenty to thirty meters high in an instant.
Hidden in the canopy, they never risk being discovered.
On the other side of the hillside is a small grassland. Within a radius of about five miles, there are no trees or other things blocking the view, so Liu Xin and Leng Peijun can easily see what's going on there.
"Say bandits, bandits are here." Leng Peijun didn't expect that he would meet, no, see, bandits he just mentioned yesterday.
"Who are they chasing?" Leng Peijun noticed that the dozen riders he saw seemed to be chasing something. He looked intently and saw that there were actually several people in the large piece of wild grass that grew up to waist level. They sprinted with their legs, but the cavalry behind them was much faster than them, and they would soon be overtaken.
The hillside where the ancient tree was located was more than two miles away from the group of cavalry. Leng Peijun could only see roughly. Judging from the clothes of the more than ten cavalry, they were probably not the military, but nearby bandits.
Only bandits would mix a donkey with the cavalry. The donkey was pitiful. It was almost beaten to death but could not outrun the horse, so it had to barely follow behind to keep from falling behind.
Things that Leng Peijun couldn't see clearly were clearly visible in front of Liu Xin's eyes, which had been trained in secret techniques since childhood. Leng Peijun didn't see that Liu Xin's brows were deeply knitted together.
"Let's go help them. The bandits are chasing the officers and soldiers!"
Liu Xin said suddenly, then turned over, jumped on the branch, took the last step and jumped directly onto the horse's back.
"Get on the horse!" Liu Xin ordered Gou Liangyu, and the latter reacted quickly. Just as Liu Xin rode out, he had already followed him and climbed on the horse. He squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and the horse immediately came out of the string. .
Leng Peijun was not slow to react, but when he came down, Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu had already rushed down the hillside and disappeared.
Liu Xin is the absolute leader of this three-person team, and Leng Peijun and Gou Liangyu absolutely obey the former's orders.
The speed of the horses is very fast, especially after getting enough rest. The three horses are ready to move even after the rest. However, the three horses with some intelligence know that it is not the time to set off yet. After all, they have been there a few days ago. This is true.
But today was different. The three masters released them in advance. The three precious ponies immediately burst out with joy. They burst out with all their strength and started running at will.
Liu Xin was slightly surprised by Baoju's speed and explosive power when he sat down today, but he didn't think much about it. He could already see that the bandits were less than a hundred meters away from the officers and soldiers in front.
"Drive!" In fact, there was no need for Liu Xin to shout. The horses under his crotch were already doing their best. The grass up to the waist was like broken water. The three horses were approaching the group of bandits at an extremely fast speed. .
It was only then that the bandit leader noticed the three cavalrymen here. His sharp triangular eyes glowed coldly. With a finger of the knife in his hand, the three cavalrymen separated and headed towards Liu Xin and others.
When Liu Xin saw this scene, his heart moved slightly. This was not like an ordinary bandit. How could ordinary bandits have such ability to enforce orders and prohibitions?
Each side has three riders, charging towards each other. The distance is one mile, and it takes nine breaths!
In the battle between cavalry, in addition to their respective strength, what is more important is their courage.
When cavalry collide, if the horses of both sides collide, the impact of that moment is enough to break all the bones in the body instantly. Even a warrior in the Xiaocheng realm will not have time to react at that moment, and at least he will be seriously injured.
The three bandits were already quite tough, and they were still howling strangely until the distance between the two sides was only a hundred meters. However, when the distance narrowed to fifty meters, panic appeared in the eyes of the three people, because the three in front of them The riding speed was so fast that I didn't notice him even when he was far away. Now that I was close, the opponent's figure quickly enlarged at a speed I had never seen before.
Tsk tsk tsk!
Six horses passed by each other, Liu Xin scored a double kill, and hit one rider on the neck with his sharp sword. After quickly retracting it, he still had time to kill the other rider.
Gou Liangyu's sword was unsheathed for the first time, and the sword was blazing brightly. The bandit was stabbed in the chest and fell off his horse, before he could lift the weapon in his hand.
A serious injury from a knife, falling off the horse, and death!
In one encounter, all three horses were exhausted. The bandit leader Sanjiao, who had been paying attention to this place from a distance, had an even colder look in his eyes. He roared in his mouth, pulled up the reins, gave up chasing the officers and soldiers, and instead led his team to kill Liu Xin.
"Well done!" Liu Xin smiled boldly and shouted.
Leng Peijun, who had been a few steps behind and failed to get a kill, had now caught up. Faced with the charge of more than a dozen riders, he would be lying if he said he was not panicking.
Cavalry charge, the ability of ordinary knights can reach the peak of Xiaocheng realm with the blessing of horse charge, but he is only in the late stage of Xiaocheng realm and has not reached the peak.
However, Liu Xin's laughter and heroic words were like a strong dose of medicine, making Leng Peijun's blood rush and the slight panic in his heart was suppressed.
Gou Liangyu on the other side is indeed a martial arts idiot. After killing one person, he exploded with unprecedented momentum.
"Kill!" Gou Liangyu yelled this, deafening.
Liu Xin would not shout such unfashionable words. After all, he is a master and must behave like a master.
The two sides charged against each other again, just like before, but this time Liu Xin and other three cavalry faced a dozen cavalry on the opposite side.
When the bandit leader saw the three cavalrymen opposite him, who were as powerful as a rainbow and were not wearing official armor, but just ordinary clothes, he thought that the three cavalrymen opposite him were just heroes from the martial arts world who had drawn their swords to help when they saw injustice, so he shouted loudly:
"A certain family is from the Liangshan Tianlao Star, and they are known to be the leader! Where is your hero? Please tell me your name and we won't interfere with each other!"
Liangshan?
Liu Xin's eyes narrowed and he looked at the middle-aged man with triangular eyes. He was actually from Liangshanshuibo. Isn't that in Shandong? It was thousands of miles away from here. How could he be here?
Many thoughts flashed through, and the distance between the two sides was approaching 500 meters!
"Don't toast or eat as a penalty. If you don't leave the way of life, you will seek death!" The Liangshan Tianlao star saw that Liu Xin and others were indifferent, so he warned again.
The distance between the two sides is three hundred meters!
Seeing that the other party was still indifferent, Liangshan Tianlao Xing snorted coldly and shouted angrily: "Kill!"
Gou Liangyu was not afraid of the other party, so he immediately shouted: "Kill!"
The distance between the two sides is one hundred meters!
[There are 10,000+ daily updates this month, with a total of 35.5W words. It’s quite conscientious. Readers, please recommend it for collection and save it. I write very quickly. At this speed, I will be mature in no time! Please rest assured! 】
