Yi Haoran was cold and hungry. He had been squatting in the ruins for a long time. .
This was originally a small temple under the city. No one can tell which god it was dedicated to. However, anyone who traveled out of the city from the city gate here would come to this small, low temple with only one couplet to worship the god. Pray incense and pray for a safe journey.
Half of the small temple was destroyed by the Fubo Army's bombardment, and Yi Haoran hid in the half of the ruins, which was only enough to survive.
Last night, he wanted to get out of the city among the refugees, but he never thought that the thieves would launch a bombardment of the city. One bullet fell on the street, killing dozens of people in an instant. The team was immediately in chaos, and he was blocked in the city and could not get out.
After hearing that there were thieves intercepting and capturing refugees at various city gates, Yi Haoran came up with the idea of organizing his troops and thieves to "fight from house to house and die of exhaustion."
However, he was already alone. The team of servants trained with Jiang Suo had disintegrated, and he could not command the other troops. Let alone "street fighting", it was impossible to break out and escape.
In the rebellious army, all the servants around Yi Haoran were lost, and even Jiang Suo was missing. He fled to this ruined temple alone, preparing to hang himself from the beam.
However, facing the rafters, Yi Haoran didn't want to die anymore. I had gone through so much trouble to escape from Liaodong, and traveled thousands of miles to get here. I had not accomplished anything, how could I die in obscurity like this!
If you want to die vigorously, you must at least end up with the thief being tied to the execution ground and cut in two.
Since he is dead, he has to think about the next step. Yi Haoran had already put on the old robes he had put on when he came out of the governor's office. He also took with him some money, half a bag of water and a few pieces of dry food, which could barely survive a day or two.
Hiding in these ruins is not a long-term solution: it is very close to the city gate, and the thieves and soldiers are close at hand. As soon as they entered the city, they began to organize strong men to clean up the rubble.
Having made up his mind to live, Yi Haoran became determined. He squatted motionless in the ruins, fearing that he might alert the thief. He stayed there until the dead of night, and then quietly sneaked out of the ruined temple.
It was impossible to leave the city. Although the city gate was broken, it was tightly guarded. The fires and lanterns illuminated everything, and the bayonets reflected the cold light. Yi Haoran did not dare to hesitate and hurried to the city.
Fortunately, the chaos a few days ago caused many of the street fences to be damaged, and the troops were in chaos. The strong men guarding the street gates at night did not dare to come out to patrol. The patrol team and the watchman had lanterns, and they could be seen from a distance. Yi Haoran walked and walked through several streets in a row.
He was at a loss as to where to go. As he was unfamiliar with Wuzhou, he had been training troops with Jiang Suo in Guangxi until Xiong Wencan fled to Wuzhou before leading his team to Wuzhou. Except for official figures and Xiong's staff, there was no local acquaintance. Not to mention friends.
The people I know, carrying the identity of "Xiong Wencan's staff", will not be accepted by anyone, not to mention that they have no way to protect themselves, and they may have escaped or been captured by the Kun thieves.
Find a hiding place as soon as possible!
He thought that there must be an empty house where the owner escaped or died. No matter how big or small, find a room and hide in it first.
Yi Haoran saw a courtyard here with an iron lock hanging on the door. The courtyard wall is not high, and it looks like a middle-class house. Although Yi Hao is over fifty years old, he has practiced martial arts all year round and his legs and feet are very nimble. He jumped up to the wall and climbed up the wall with his hands.
The yard was dark and deserted. There was no sound of barking. Yi Haoran was secretly happy and immediately jumped down from the wall.
He has been in the military for a long time and has extensive experience in fleeing. He does not act recklessly. First he looked at the wall for a while, then quietly walked towards the house.
When I reached the window at the base of the wall, I saw that the paper on the window was torn and rustling in the wind. Yi Haoran slowly straightened up and looked sideways through the window.
I was shocked when I saw it. It turned out that in the middle of the main room, there was a thin-skinned black lacquer coffin. Next to the coffin is lit an "inverted lamp", which is like a bean.
Before he had time to come back to his senses, he heard the faint sound of a woman crying from inside the room. The sound of crying came faintly in the dark night. It was indescribably desolate and terrifying. Yi Haoran was stunned. He didn't believe in ghosts and gods, but if there was crying, there must be an owner in the room, and his plan to find an empty house to hide in was in vain.
Judging from the situation, this is a family that has recently suffered a funeral. During the few days when Wuzhou was besieged, there were shelling outside the city and riots inside the city, killing many innocent people.
It's just that this is a new funeral. Although it is a chaotic situation and it is inconvenient to handle it, the door will not be locked and the lights will be extinguished, leaving only this oil lamp.
Sure enough, the crying suddenly turned into a soft plea, and a man's threatening voice was heard lowering his voice. Yi Haoran knew that there must be something fishy here and he was hiding. It would be better to leave as soon as possible.
Just as he was about to leave, the lights suddenly dimmed and someone ran out of the back room. Yi Haoran secretly screamed, he quickly retracted his feet and head, only asking the other party to finish his business and go back to the back room so that he could climb over the wall and get out.
But the sound of a woman crying in pain was heard in the room. After a while, two loud slaps were heard, and a man's vicious but low voice sounded:
"I'm making you cry! I'll kill your baby first, and then I'll cut this damn man into pieces!"
Yi Haoran was startled: What this man spoke was not the local Wuzhou dialect, Wuzhou dialect, which is similar to Cantonese, but the Mandarin of the Guiliu area!
He couldn't help but peek his head slightly, and saw a short and muscular man in the main room, wearing an ill-fitting shirt, with his chest exposed, grabbing a messy woman's hair, scolding her and slapping her in the face. The woman was beaten and her mouth was bleeding. Although she was struggling, she could not move under the man's arm. Just kept crying.
Yi Haoran knew from the conversation between the two that the woman should be the deceased, but she did not obey filial piety. She was wearing silk and smeared with makeup. He was furious: This woman is really shameless. Her husband's body is not cold yet, and she is at home with this adulterer before he is buried. Hooking up leads to adultery. Sure enough, the world is in decline! No wonder there are monsters like Kun Thief born to bring trouble to the world!
However, he could not leave at this time, so Yi Haoran could only restrain his voice and wait quietly.
In the main room, I heard the woman crying and saying, "You thief, you have taken all the money and jewelry at home, where can I get money?"
But the man said: "Don't come here! I know the details of your family. Although your damn man is just a poor scholar, your mother's family is a rich family. Isn't the silk shop on West Street the property of your mother's family? Your new wife I lost my father and went back to my parents' house to ask for help. Isn't it easy to get one or two hundred taels of silver?"
Yi Haoran thought to himself: "They are indeed a couple!"
Just listen to the woman say: "Although my mother-in-law runs a shop, she only has a few hundred taels of silver. What's more, I am a married daughter. It is not easy to ask for help with a few taels of silver on weekdays. What's more, you just open your mouth. I want one or two hundred taels!”
The man smiled ferociously and said: "Isn't it all about your ability? If you care about your baby's life, come and borrow money with me at dawn. If not, I will kill him first and then unload that damn man of yours." Eight dollars!" After saying that, he snorted again, "Go back to your room, paint it with some powder again, and then serve me well! I'm happy with my service, and I'll give your baby another bite tomorrow. I’ll send him to see his father first!”
The woman just sobbed and said nothing. Just listen to the man say again: "Have I hidden my armor and weapons?"
"They were all put in the shed in the backyard," the woman sobbed.
"Young lady," the man's voice slowed down, "I am a military attache of the imperial court! I have filed a lawsuit! It's bad luck right now. I will hang out in your house for a few days. When I get through this difficulty, I will still be prosperous and wealthy. Even if you are a widow, I will not disdain you and will still give you the title of concubine... Hahaha..."
The woman just kept crying.
Yi Haoran was furious. He had roughly understood that this man was probably a defeated soldier of the Guangxi guest army. He took advantage of the chaos and ran into the house and took possession of the woman who had just lost her husband.
Just now he was still scorning why this woman didn't commit suicide and was willing to be humiliated and serve the thief. At this time, he knew that she was enduring hardships for the sake of her son, and felt that it was justifiable to continue to suffer humiliation for the sake of his clan heir.
"It's just that in the future, when my son can get married and start a business, this woman should commit suicide and apologize."
However, whether he is unfair or admired. This is a place of right and wrong, and he is not suitable to get involved. He no longer has the spirit of "fighting the sword to the end of the world" when he was young, and just wants to get away and change places.
He took a step back and was about to leave, but he kicked something and made a clang sound. I heard the man in the room immediately shout: "Who?!"
Yi Haoran complained secretly, turned around and ran away. However, he heard the door of the main room creak, and a black figure suddenly jumped out. He stopped in front of him in a few steps and raised his hand with a knife.
Yi Haoran was caught off guard. Fortunately, he had been practicing martial arts since he was young and had practiced continuously for many years. His skills were quite flexible and he barely avoided it. He turned around and pulled out his sword. The opponent's sword skills were obviously martial arts in the military, so he knew that his guess was correct.
He was extremely angry in his heart: He would take people's lives regardless of whether they were innocent or not. This ruffian is really abominable!
He quickly said: "Friends, don't do anything, I'm just passing by looking for a hiding place!"
When the other party saw that he was hiding and had a sword, he couldn't help but be startled and said solemnly: "No matter where you are my friend, stay here tonight!" After that, he slashed with the sword again.
Yi Haoran originally wanted to talk to him, but everyone went their separate ways. Unexpectedly, the other party immediately wanted to take his life. He didn't dare to be careless and immediately struck back with his sword.
In the dead of night, the two men fought with swords. As time went by, they would definitely attract the patrolling watchmen and thieves. Therefore, the two of them were merciless and used every move to kill each other, hoping to kill each other as quickly as possible and silence them.
After all, Yi Haoran was old and frail, but after just three or four moves, he was at a disadvantage. He was helpless and almost fell into a desperate situation——
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 333
