Han Shizhong led his troops into the depths of the cave and saw an astonishing scene.
All they saw were dead bodies on the ground and streams of blood. A one-armed man wearing a purple robe with a ferocious expression was stabbing a woman to death with a sword.
The sword entered her chest, and the woman showed a look of relief on her face. Then she saw the man withdrawing the sword and trying to kill himself across the neck.
Han Shizhong screamed in his heart, this man was most likely Fang La, how could he be allowed to die so easily? If you don’t capture him alive, you’ll be demoted!
He hurriedly shot with the crossbow, but the man was not guarded, and the crossbow arrow hit his arm. The sword fell to the ground with a "Ah!" and he wanted to bend down to pick it up, but the soldiers rushed forward and twisted and tied him up.
Han Shizhong looked at the Shenggong Emperor carefully. He was in his thirties, with a yellow-black complexion, thick eyebrows and big eyes. His eyes were like lightning. Three short locks of beard fluttered under his chin. He looked more like a general than an emperor.
Han Shizhong thought: People often say that the mountain king in the green forest and his generals are brothers. They divide gold and silver according to scales. They eat wine and meat from big bowls. There is no hierarchy. They are equal. Looking at Fang La's appearance today, it should be. According to this statement.
He considered his words in his mind, and said with a kind expression: "Fang La, don't be afraid, I won't harm your life today, and I won't make it difficult for you. I only want you to come with me for a while. Whether you live or die is entirely up to your superiors. "
Fang La glanced at Han Shizhong, raised his head and said, "Slave Zhao and Song, don't waste your words. Am I a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death? It's just a saw with a knife and a cauldron, so why should I be afraid!"
Han Shizhong chuckled, and a few more ropes were tied up, and his mouth was stuffed with rags. Then he stepped forward and looked at the corpse on the ground.
He saw that these corpses were old and young. The woman Fang La killed before was dressed in luxurious clothes. He guessed that she was Fang La's queen Shao. He thought to himself that this person was cruel enough. When the situation was over, he killed all the women and children to avoid being humiliated. So decisive.
Han Shizhong looked at each one one by one, secretly determined the identity, and finally came to the body of Shao Yuxian. This was an important figure in Fang La's bandit army. Even a dead body was worth a lot of money.
He saw the Queen of the Holy Kingdom looking calm and relieved, even with a smile on her lips, and couldn't help but wonder, how could she be so peaceful? This is somewhat unreasonable, but I can't figure out the reason. I can only assume that people in the demon sect have been bewitched for a long time and regard death as death.
After Han Shizhong saw it, he searched the cave again, and ordered the soldiers to guard him strictly. No mistakes could be made, and Fang La was not allowed to be beaten or scolded.
After resting for a while, he ordered the soldiers to escort Fang La on the road. The corpses were also wrapped in cloth armor and asked to be carried on the backs of the soldiers. These were all officials and large sums of money.
Finally, they got out of the valley and returned to the right path. Not far away, they came face to face with an army that broke out from the jungle. The person sitting at the head was Xin Yongzong, the pioneer of Xihe Road. Behind him was Xin Xingzong, the commander of Xihe Road, leading the large group of Western troops. Come.
Xin Yongzong was the younger brother of Xin Xingzong and the son of Xin Shuxian. Xin Shuxian was a veteran of the Western Army. He had accompanied Tong Guan on two expeditions to Longyou, and later served as the magistrate of Huangzhou.
The Xin family is relatively domineering in the Xihe area, because most of the generals who conquered Xihe Longyou were based on other military routes. They are not here and have no interest in Xihe. Therefore, the Xin family took advantage of the opportunity and used Xihe as their basis to take root and operate here. Up, he belongs to a wealthy family.
The power of the Xin family gradually grew. Later, when the Song army invaded the Liao Dynasty, Xin Xingzong was already the commander-in-chief of the Song army's West Route Army, on an equal footing with Zhong Shidao, the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army.
His elder brother Xin Qizong and his younger brother Xin Yongzong were the generals of the Shengjie Army. The Shengjie Army was an elite private army created by Tong Guan, which shows Tong Guan's trust in the Xin brothers.
Even when Tong Guan went to patrol the two rivers and negotiated with the Jin Kingdom to take over the land behind Shanhou, Xin Xingzong, Xin Qizong, and Xin Yongzong were all with him in Taiyuan.
Xin Xingzong also followed Ma Kuo as an envoy in the winter of the seventh year of Xuanhe and traveled around the Kingdom of Jin.
To put it bluntly, the Xin family is Tong Guan's direct descendant.
Xin Yongzong's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of Song soldiers approaching the opposite side. The prisoner in the middle was a man. His appearance was very similar to the Fang La drawing issued by the army. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and immediately rode back to the Chinese army.
After seeing Xin Xingzong, he pointed forward with his hand and said, "Second brother, I don't know where the soldiers are. They seem to have captured Fang La and are coming here."
Xin Xingzong sat on the horse, held up the awning and leaned over to take a look. Sure enough, he looked like Fang La, and the soldier did not recognize him. He immediately raised his gun and shouted loudly: "Sir, listen to my order, the goods have arrived. Don't ask." Why, go grab it for me!"
All the soldiers were overjoyed. They waved their guns and knives one after another, and came forward to grab Fang La.
When Han Shizhong saw soldiers coming to rob him, he immediately raised his horse and shouted, "Who are you from? You are so rude!"
Why did Xin Xingzong's soldiers listen to him and just rush forward to seize it? Han Shizhong was furious: "Where are you strong thieves? Could it be that the thieves are pretending to rescue the thieves chief Fang La?"
He put a big hat on the opponent, then danced the wind-throwing knife and wounded more than a dozen soldiers who were robbing people. Then he hurriedly ordered his soldiers to surround Fang La in the center and blocked it in front with his sword. Come to the army.
When Xin Xingzong saw it, he couldn't help but cursed the incompetence of his soldiers: "They are all a bunch of idiots, they can't even do this well!"
After that, he directly ordered Xin Yongzong to mount his horse and hold a gun to fight Han Shizhong, and then the soldiers from both sides also stepped forward to fight.
Xin's army was powerful, with five or six thousand men, while Han Shizhong's men were small. After the losses in the cave, there were less than two thousand. The two sides could not be too deadly. After a long struggle, Xin Xingzong's army took Fang La over.
Han Shizhong was so angry that he couldn't help but yell: "You gang of dog robbers, who are you? How dare you intercept criminals under the blue sky and in broad daylight? You are really bullying people too much. I will fight with you!"
He was angry and had a naughty temper. Even if he couldn't get the person back, he would still entangle the opponent. He would charge up with his soldiers while wielding the Splashing Wind Knife.
At this time, Xin Xingzong rode forward, blocked the knife horizontally, and shouted: "Who are you? How dare you be so arrogant and hurt others with your words? Are you trying to rebel?"
Han Shizhong was even more angry when he saw that his opponent was unreasonable and his ability to block shots was not as good as his own. He was not a subordinate of this army, so he was naturally not afraid of him. He shouted loudly: "If you are not a robber, why don't you sign up? What's the point of hiding it?" So, are you afraid that I will complain to the Taiwei?"
Xin Yongzong looked at him and shouted coldly: "This is General Xin, who is in charge of Xihe Road. Where are you from? It's better to retreat quickly. Don't be ignorant and miss the important task of suppressing bandits!"
Han Shizhong rolled his eyes when he heard this. He really didn't recognize Xin Xingzong. After all, the Western Army was 150,000, and generals like Xin Xingzong were all serving Tong Guan. He couldn't step forward. At this moment, he said: "It turns out to be General Xin, villain. It was General Wang Yuan's subordinate Han Shizhong who was ordered to hunt for Fang La. The villain went through many difficulties and dangers, suffered several life and death injuries, and injured countless soldiers before he captured Fang La from the Gujian Grottoes. He was about to deliver him to Marshal Liu, General Xin. How can I ask my subordinates to charge forward in one fell swoop, snatching prisoners and claiming credit? I also injured many of my soldiers, what’s the point of this?”
"Hmph, who do I think I am? It turns out to be a nobody!" Xin Yongzong saw that he was so sharp-tongued that he couldn't help but glared angrily and said: "A bold dog genius, talking nonsense. This was obviously captured by our Xihe army from the valley. How? Did you capture him? You are so rebellious and you are not afraid of being punished if your tongue is rotten. Do you think our Xihe army is easy to mess with? Do you think my Xin family is easy to bully?"
Han Shizhong had a headache when he saw him confusing right and wrong and opening his mouth to fight. He argued: "You come from the north, how come you were captured by your Xihe soldiers? Even if your officials are higher than mine, you shouldn't use your power to bully others, use your power to bully the small, and rob me." The merits of a small general!"
Hearing this, Xin Yongzong cursed angrily: "Gotou, what kind of person are you to dare to contradict me?" As he said that, he mounted his horse and swung his gun to stab Han Shizhong. Xin Yongzong, the two men were fighting with swords and guns in one place. The soldiers of the two armies shouted and started fighting again.
Later, Xin Xingzong's face was as dark as water. He saw that his younger brother was not taking advantage of the fight with Han Shizhong. If Han Shizhong hadn't saved his hand, he would have been killed long ago. He became angry and pointed in front of him and cursed: "You are such a partial general. Could it be that you ate a bear?" You are so bold that you dare to entangle this capital and let Fang La go. I have to kill you!"
After that, he ordered his two lieutenants to come forward to assist Xin Yongzong in besieging Han Shizhong.
Han Shizhong was so angry that his body trembled, and he cursed without hesitation: "A traitor who has harmed the country, once Fang La ran away, it was because of you fighting for credit. I must go to the Taiwei to reason with you!" As he said this, he used the Splashing Knife to hold the shelf. , with one against three, a battle broke out.
"Han Shizhong, you don't know how to appreciate me. My second brother wants to kill you, why do we need to do it! With just a wink, I can chop you into minced meat, and a row of arrows can shoot you into a hedgehog. Please lead the troops and leave. , we will not hold you responsible, if you walk slowly, you will inevitably be killed." Xin Xingzong kept making sarcastic remarks.
At this moment, Han Shizhong was thinking to himself: The other party has so many people and power that it is difficult to win. Even if they are entangled, they cannot gain any advantage. If the bachelor does not suffer the immediate loss, it is better to go back and complain to General Wang and go to the Taiwei with him to judge.
He deliberately gathered his soldiers and went back to report the news first, but he saw that all his men had lopsided helmets and were dejected. They obviously knew that they could not compete with the Xin brothers, so they lost their energy and were too lazy to use their strength. Xin Yongzong and others saw that he was discouraged and laughed. Laughed loudly.
Xin Yongzong was very excited at this moment and shouted: "The three armies, front and rear, left and right, must strictly guard the thief Chief Fang La. You will all be rewarded when he is taken to Tokyo..."
Just when Han Shizhong was discouraged and wanted to withdraw his troops and leave early, there was a sound from the northeast, and another troop came unexpectedly.
There were quite a lot of troops on this sentry, perhaps five thousand in number. However, although the soldiers also wore Song armor, they were slightly different from the Western Army. They were brighter, fresher, and almost unworn. They looked like the Imperial Guards at first glance.
The leader was Zhekecuo. When he saw the two groups of people fighting, he recognized them and asked in confusion: "What are you doing here? Why are you using swords and guns?"
Seeing that he was his old boss, Han Shizhong hurriedly used a flaw to put away his knife and jumped out of the circle, stepping forward to complain.
Zhe Kecun understood after listening for a moment and looked at Xin Xingzong.
When Xin Xingzong saw that the matter was exposed, if others could continue to quibble, using the big one to suppress the small ones, he said that Fang La was captured by his own family and had nothing to do with Han Shizhong, but Zhe Kecun was not afraid of him, and he did not want to offend the Zhe family, not to mention that he had no intention of After planning how to capture him, he didn't communicate with the soldiers below. At this time, he could only say angrily: "Without the cooperation of this general, how can you, a little general, be able to capture the thief chieftain!"
Han Shizhong curled his lips and saw that Xin Xingzong changed his mind and did not dare to be greedy without giving full credit, so he stopped talking and only talked about how to save money.
Zhe Kecun glanced at Fang La, who was tied up tightly, and said with a smile: "This thief chief Fang La led tens of thousands of soldiers to flee, how could it be easily captured? If it weren't for the concerted efforts of our three generals, the soldiers marched forward bravely, and there were countless casualties. Can you catch it? I don’t think there’s any need to fight anymore, the three of us will catch it together with all our heart, and we’ll just go back and report our merits!”
The corners of Xin Xingzong's eyes twitched when he heard this, and he promised to pick peaches easily. However, he was a wolf with nothing at all, so he didn't say anything at this moment.
Han Shizhong was helpless. Zhe Kecun didn't want to break up with Xin Xingzong, and he didn't want to disobey Zhe Kecun. After all, Zhe Kecun also kept his share of the credit, which was good. It would have been much better not to lose all the great achievements, so nodded.
Then the three groups of people looked complicated and carefully escorted Fang La down the mountain.
Let’s talk about the Orion woman who once guided Han Shizhong in the mountains. She heard people not far away shouting and neighing, as if they were fighting, so she went out to take a peek. However, her expression changed suddenly, she was shocked, and her body suddenly trembled. .
It turned out that the Song army who was inquiring about the dangerous place captured Shenggong Fangla. She couldn't help but secretly screamed "Bitterness". At that time, she asked for directions and didn't want to tell him. She only told them when she heard about the dangerous place. She expected the jackals, tigers and leopards to eat these Song soldiers, but she didn't. Unexpectedly, it harmed the Holy Duke.
This woman was angry and annoyed. Her man originally joined the Ming Cult but died in the battle in Suzhou, so he tied a white hemp rope around his waist. At this moment, watching Fang La being taken away from a distance, tears burst down his face... and he shouted: "Oh my God! It was me who killed the Holy Duke!"
Then she was confused, her steps were disordered, she ran to the edge of the cliff, and jumped down...
Outside Jianmen Ridge, Zhao Kai had returned to his tent at this time. His face was pale and his legs were not working properly. Even when he dismounted from his horse, he had to be helped by his followers before he went into the tent.
Sitting on the chair, his buttocks were still trembling, and he didn't know when he would get better. He urgently ordered someone to make tea to calm his shock, and it took him a while to calm down.
But at this moment, the curtain suddenly opened, and a loud laugh came from the outside: "When did third brother come? Why don't you continue to be in charge of Hongzhou?"
Zhao Kai heard his voice and knew who he was, and sneered: "I didn't see my second brother during the battle. The second brother came after the battle was over!"
It was Zhao Tao who came in. He figured it was almost time in Hangzhou, so he came with his guards. After arriving, he checked for a while and went straight to Zhao Kai's camp.
Zhao Tong was not annoyed when he heard this, but said: "What the third brother said is absolutely true. You can't see during the battle. You won't come until the battle is over."
When Zhao Kai heard this, he knew that he was mocking himself, so he snorted and turned away, not looking at Zhao Tao.
Zhao Tong took the tea bowl by himself, poured the newly cooked dragon dumplings, drank it all in a short time, and said: "I forgot to bring tea when I left the capital. The Xianglin and Baoyun of Longjing have a light taste and are tasteless when drinking. Third Brother's There are some remaining dragon balls on the side and they can bring me some cakes."
Zhao Kai was so angry that his teeth itched, but he had no choice but to say: "Second brother, just ask someone to get it. Why should we worry about such a trivial matter?"
At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside. It seemed that countless soldiers had returned, listening to the cheering birds and their joy.
The two of them were puzzled. Tong Guan opened the curtain and came in and said, "Two great kings, it's a happy event. Fang La has been caught!"
Zhao Kai was immediately overjoyed: "Where can I catch him? Privy Tong, please take me to see him!"
Tong Guan was also excited at this time. Not only Fang La was captured, but almost most of the named rebel generals were either captured or killed. Only those who were not in the gang escaped.
Moreover, during this battle, a lot of gold and silver treasures were found in the caves, and even a lot of them were scraped off the bodies of the bandits. Previously, Suzhou had been empty of water, but now the harvest was worthwhile.
Tong Guanyin and the two men were walking and said: "I have informed you that the fake empress Shao Yuxian, the fake prince Fang Shu, Fang Hao, the fake prime minister Fang Fei, the grand master Chen Houtong and others are all in captivity!"
Zhao Tong asked curiously: "Only Fang La can survive?"
Tong Guandao: "According to the arresting general, Fang La was killing his relatives at that time, and then he wanted to commit suicide out of fear of crime. He was shot down by a crossbow arrow from the general, and he survived."
Zhao Tong nodded. Fang La was a male, but he could do such a thing. He asked again: "How is Fang Baihua?"
Tong Guan hesitated and said: "I haven't seen this girl... maybe she escaped in the chaos? I'll ask you more carefully when I turn around."
Zhao Tao touched his chin, thoughtfully.
After a while, they came to a large tent that was tightly guarded on three levels inside and three outside. The soldiers hurriedly greeted him. After entering, they saw a man being tied to the central pillar of the tent. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a lion's nose and a wide mouth. Who is Fang La!
Fang La was surrounded by more than a dozen people, most of whom were wearing general armor and were the commanders or generals who were passing through the army this time.
Only one of them, wearing shabby armor, stood behind the crowd with an angry look on his face.
When Zhao Tong looked at him, he looked like a hero, with tiger eyes and a square face, tall and straight, but his position and the clothes he wore were incompatible with those generals.
When everyone saw the ceremony, Tong Guan asked him to explain in detail the capture process. Zhe Kecun and Xin Xingzong then pulled the general forward and said that the three parties would jointly arrest him and let the general tell the story.
The general looked respectfully at the two kings and the privy envoy Tong Guan, and then told himself the origin of his name. He was Han Shizhong, the general under Wang Yuan of Yanyan Road.
Zhao Tong looked at him again after hearing this and knew that Han Shizhong must have caught the fishy thing. The other two were just competing for credit, but if there was nothing left to save, Xin Xingzong would monopolize the credit, and it would take a long time to reverse it. Ke Cun helped Han Shizhong.
Han Shizhong mentioned earlier that he brought Zhe Kecun and Xin Xingzong inside, but he did not dare to lie when he captured him. He killed Fang La with a sword and wanted to kill himself. He told him in detail.
After finishing speaking, there was silence.
Tong Guandao: "Do you two kings have any questions?"
Zhao Kai had nothing to ask, he just wanted to catch it and didn't want to worry about other things.
Zhao Tong thought for a while, looked at Han Shizhong and said, "General Han, I want to ask you."
Han Shizhong didn't dare to call him. He was just a partial general, and he was really not worthy of the title of general. The soldiers below were calling him this as a compliment, so he immediately accused him.
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "When you blocked Fang La from committing suicide with your crossbow, did the thief chieftain ever dodge it?"
Han Shizhong remembered it clearly and said hurriedly: "Back to the second king, there was no way to block him. He only hit the crook of the arm with one arrow. The thief chieftain's sword fell to the ground and he was captured without a fight!"
Zhao Tong raised his eyebrows, Fang La was the master, what did the master mean? The representative is the founder of a sect in martial arts. The representative does not need to inherit what his predecessors have learned, he can create advanced martial arts by himself.
A grandmaster can fight bloody battles without being injured. Not to mention how long it takes to recover after only one arm is broken. Even when the arm was first broken, didn't Fang La still slide away from the high wall of Hangzhou with just a flying grab? And he was still carrying Fang Baihua!
Even if his potential is exhausted and he is seriously injured later, given his status and having a master like Chen Houtong with him, how can he not use the elixir and not treat his injuries?
How come Han Shizhong didn't even know how to dodge when a crossbow was fired at him?
Fang La couldn't escape, so he killed his wife and children, and then he must seek death, because he knew that falling into the hands of the Song army would be tortured in various ways, and he would inevitably die in the end!
So he must commit suicide, and he will resist with all his strength any attempt to prevent him from committing suicide.
It was impossible for him not to shoot the crossbow arrows. Although the crossbow arrows were fast, he was a master. Even if he was injured and could not block the crossbow arrows, he would not even be able to resist them!
Unless...he didn't react at all! His martial arts skills are simply not enough to reflect the shooting speed of the crossbow!
But as a Grandmaster, this is simply impossible!
Whether it can be blocked and whether it is blocked are two different things.
According to Han Shizhong, Fang La didn't do anything. This is impossible!
Isn't he a master? If he's not a master... doesn't he mean he's not Fang La? !
Zhao Tong was immediately shocked by this conclusion. How could it not be Fang La? Along the way, they attacked Bangyuan and were hunted down in the mountains. Chen Houtong also died there. Han Shizhong said that it took five or six rounds of crossbow arrows to hit him.
There are also Shao Yuxian, Fang Shu, Fang Fei and others. After these corpses were brought back, they were all identified, and none of them were missing!
These are not bad, how could Fang La be bad? He had dealt with Fang La several times and was familiar with Fang La's appearance, so he stepped forward to take a closer look.
Just look at the person tied to the pillar who is Fang La, and the wound on the broken arm. It was severed from that position in Hangzhou City that day. There is no mistake!
Zhao Tong stared at Fang La with a gloomy face. Everyone in the tent didn't know what he meant. They all held their breath and didn't dare to speak. They just stared.
Zhao Tong thought of Fang Baihua. Where did Fang Baihua go? There are also female soldiers. It seems that not so many female soldiers died?
He asked: "Does Leader Fang still recognize me?"
Zhe Kecun, who was beside him, stepped forward and took out the rag from Fang La's mouth. Fang La glared at Zhao Tong and said angrily: "Zhao Tong, King of Birds, how could I not recognize you!"
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes, and his voice was similar. He had heard Fang La speak, and although it was very rare, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it, and Fang La knew him!
Zhao Tong circled the pillar several times, but still found nothing wrong with the appearance, and suddenly said: "Why did Master Fang hide his martial arts skills when he went to the Tokyo Lantern Festival that year?"
As soon as he said these words, Fang La's eyes were slightly confused, but only for a short moment, he snorted coldly: "I am happy to hide it, what do you do with the king of birds? Kill or behead me, it's up to you!"
Zhao Tong showed a smile, looked at him for a moment, then turned and walked out of the tent.
Tong Guan and Zhao Kai hurriedly followed behind. Tong Guan saw some clues and whispered: "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Zhao Kai also frowned and said: "Second brother, don't be pretentious. Although I have never seen this thief chieftain, his behavior does not look fake!"
Zhao Tong paused, shook his head and said, "It's hard to talk about it here. Let's talk about it when we get back..."
(End of chapter)
