Seeing that Niu Dawa and Zhang Xiaozhu didn't believe it, Shouhou glanced at them contemptuously and said: "Otherwise, you think that people in so many villages will be manipulated by several big families, and they all act like obedient people. Like a rabbit, you dare not move?"
"We weren't here just now. We just went to the entrance of the valley to watch people from several big families clearing the battlefield."
"The people from several big families were domineering and cruel. Maybe the people from the three villages took away the bodies of the seven people who died in the battle. Instead, they hung the seven bodies at the mouth of the valley with hemp ropes, shocking everyone. It's just that the weather was too hot. , they were afraid that the body would rot, so they just dug a big hole and buried the body on the spot."
"We just secretly counted them at the mouth of the valley. There are twenty-one of them in total. If five people fight for two hundred, they can fight for eight hundred. So even if all the people in our villages join forces, it won't be enough for them."
The thin monkeys and the others spoke to each other, making Niu Dawa and Zhang Xiaozu have no choice but to believe that this was true.
"How can they be so powerful?!" Zhang Xiaozhu murmured in amazement. He couldn't imagine what kind of battle scene it would be like. Five people fighting two hundred people. On average, one person would fight forty people. Forty people swarmed up, hugging their arms and legs. How could one person withstand it, let alone these forty people? The man was not armed with bare hands, but was armed with steel forks, hunting knives and other weapons.
"It's martial arts. They are practitioners who practice martial arts." Zhuangyuan said.
"Cultivator?" Zhang Xiaozu was confused for a moment. This was the first time he heard this word.
"It's the chivalrous man the storyteller talks about. He kills one person in ten steps and leaves no trace in a thousand miles." said the champion.
Zhang Xiaopou immediately understood. This was the first time he had heard of "cultivators", but the word "chivalrous person" had always been heard from the legendary stories about them by the number one scholar.
"Hmph!" Niu Dawa snorted coldly and said, "What kind of knights are they? Knights are heroes who rob the rich and give to the poor. They are unscrupulous and unworthy of carrying shoes to the knights."
"That's right. They're bullies and shit!"
"Sooner or later, I will be wiped out on the neck by the knight's sword, and I will eliminate harm for the people!"
Zhang Xiaozu did not curse along with them, but raised his eyes towards the direction of the valley entrance. He couldn't help but feel empty. It was a pity that he could not witness this battle with his own eyes.
Before that, he had always felt that things like "chivalrous knights", "big robbers", "flying to escape from the sky", "killing a person in ten steps", "thousands of miles away", etc. were all things in the stories told by the number one scholar, and they were all fiction. It was unreal, but now he suddenly discovered that all of this was real and had always been very close to him. It was sixty miles from Liujiacun to the county seat, and he was only sixty miles away from all this.
Zhang Xiaozhu's heart was agitated. He suddenly couldn't wait to go to the county town. Instead of following his uncles in the village to go to a noodle shop to eat a bowl of beef noodles and go home satisfied as usual, he wanted to walk around, see, Listen, learn about and come into contact with a completely different world sixty miles away.
"Hey, pawn, why are you so stunned?" Niu Dawa was angry for a long time but didn't see Zhang Xiaozu saying anything back to him. When he turned around, he realized that the latter wasn't listening at all, and couldn't help but push him angrily.
"I want to take a look at the outside world." Zhang Xiaozhu looked at Niu Dawa and Shouhou, his eyes burning, and finally fixed on the number one scholar, saying: "What the number one scholar says every day is right, the world is so Da, if you don’t go out and take a look, your visit to this world is in vain.”
"Wow!" The champion jumped up happily, rushed to Zhang Xiaopou in two steps, held his shoulders with one hand, and beat his chest hard with the other hand, saying: "Bosom friend, close friend! Good brothers, when the time comes, we will Let’s go together and take a look at the raging river, watch the towering peaks, visit the Dragon Capital, and explore the martial arts world!”
The reason why he was so excited and happy was because when we played together on weekdays, he always said he wanted to see the outside world, but Zhang Xiaozhu and the others were not interested at all. Sometimes they even said he was crazy and there were so many things in the outside world. What’s good to see is not mountains, rivers, fields, or villages. At most, it’s just bigger houses, wider roads, and more people. There is no way to cultivate land, build a house, marry a wife, and have children in peace and prosperity, and it feels beautiful just thinking about it. But now, Zhang Xiaozhu not only suddenly agreed with his life ideal, but also expressed that he also wanted to go out and have a look. It can be said that he had been searching for it and finally found out, and he was very happy.
Surprisingly, no one spoke out to object this time, everyone was silent. What they saw during this trip had a huge impact on their world view. Their simple and innocent world of mountains, rivers, grass and trees, cattle and sheep, fields, and villages was torn apart, and a door appeared in front of them. As long as you step through this door, you will see a whole new world.
"I'll stay with you two!" Niu Dawa couldn't resist the temptation of the big world. He grinned and climbed on Zhang Xiaozu's shoulder and said with a smile: "Anyway, you are going to find your relatives, so let's take a look at this." Big world.”
Everyone knew that Zhang Xiaozhu was an orphan, so everyone was not surprised to hear Niu Dawa say that he was going to find his relatives.
"Count me in." Shouhou was also shaken, "Zhuangyuan, didn't you say you have martial arts like floating on water? I'm going to learn from your master."
"I - I won't go with you. My eldest brother is weak and can't do heavy work. My parents are also old. If I'm not at home, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the work at home."
"I won't go either. I still like a quiet life."
"I'm going, I'm going, I'm going to have a big meal at the best tavern in the Shenlong Imperial Capital, no, I'm going to eat him for three days and three nights!"
"Go wherever you want, don't worry about home, I'll stay at home and take care of you."
"I won't go. However, Zhuangyuan, you have to write down all the interesting things you saw outside, and tell us one by one when you come back."
"That's right."
"Don't worry, when we come back from our trip, I will set up a bench and a table under the old willow tree in Liujia Village and tell you a story." The champion promised, slapping his chest.
"Hey, you guys, stop chatting and go get your dry rations and get ready to go." The dry rations had been distributed, and someone called them to get them.
Three pieces of hard corn cakes were the dry food that Zhang Xiaozu received. They were far different from the six kilograms of fragrant wheat cakes that he handed over. He was disappointed but had no complaints because everyone only received one day's rations. Naturally, good dry food is given priority to those who are strong and have rich hunting experience. Young cubs like him, Niu Dawa, and Shou Monkey, who have just grown up, can get as much dry food as adults. It is already very good. .
Zhang Xiaozu put the corn cakes into the dry food bag, tied it around his waist, looked at the mouth of the valley, and frowned. Each person only has one day's rations, and the situation is very serious. They can only hope that the black forest will be rich in supplies, so that they can have a full harvest. Otherwise, it is difficult to say whether this group of people will have the strength to walk out of the forest.
One hundred and twenty people, each with five kilograms, a total of six hundred kilograms, four sacks.
Niu Yao ordered four strong men to each carry a sack, and then ordered the remaining people to show their weapons and guard the surroundings to prevent anyone from trying to rob it.
"Let's go!" With an order, the team headed towards the mouth of the valley.
"Look, the people in Zhangjia Village and Liujia Village are ready to hand over grain!"
"Let's go over and have a look."
"Boss, what should we do? We can't waste our time here?"
"That's all, people have to bow their heads under the eaves, so let's give these beasts an advantage. Let's go, let's also pay for the grain."
As soon as the people in Zhangjiacun and Liujiacun moved, people from other villages noticed. Some wanted to see the situation before making a decision, some were anxious and had to succumb to the power of the big family, and some stared at the slow movement in the crowd. The four moving large sacks were jealous and had bad thoughts, but when they saw the posture of more than a hundred people in Zhangjia Village and Liujia Village with weapons in their hands, they did not dare to make any mistakes and could only watch.
The mouth of the canyon is a meadow, but the grass on the meadow is all dry now. The canyon is more than thirty feet wide. If twenty or thirty people pass through it side by side, it is so wide that it can be compared with the cliffs on both sides of the canyon that go straight into the sky, and at a glance The endless long corridor, more than thirty feet wide, looks as thin as a crack.
People from several large families did not set up road barriers at the entrance of the valley, but simply built a few straw huts, and people sat on the grass drinking tea and chatting. It can be seen that they do not pay attention to these mountain villagers at the entrance of the valley at all, and they are confident enough not to let anyone pass.
"Have you seen the mound over there? The seven people they beat to death yesterday are buried in it. Look at the bloodstains on the grass over there. Smell carefully, the smell of blood is still in the air." The monkey pointed at a newly turned mound under the cliff in the distance and told Niu Dawa and Zhang Xiaozu. His voice was very low, for fear that people from several big families would hear it.
Zhang Xiaozu looked at the mounds of soil in the distance, mourning in his heart for the seven people who died violently, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion. In troubled times, life is as cheap as grass. The words of the village chief are not alarmist. He then looked at the people from several big families under the thatched hut in front of them. They were all dressed in black, with strong muscles and well-proportioned bodies. Although they were all sitting there carelessly, they gave people an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Zhang Xiaozhu couldn't help but feel nervous. He had only felt this kind of oppression from Niu Yao and Li Dashan, but the degree was far less than that of these people under the straw shed. It showed that these people were really strong.
"My lords, we have collected the dry food. Please check it and allow us to enter the valley." Zhang Daqiang, the team leader of Zhangjiacun, stepped forward with his fists clasped, bending over and smiling, keeping his posture very low, for fear of angering these people. Help the evildoers.
"That's right. It's reasonable and reasonable to hand over grain to the valley. Enter the Black Forest a day earlier to harvest earlier. I don't know what your mother-in-law is, and I'm not afraid that if I enter too late, all the food I can eat will be plundered by other villagers."
A man walked out from under the thatched hut, stretched himself, and spoke slowly and leisurely with a smile. In his eyes, handing over grain to the grain was a reasonable thing, as if the Black Forest was the private domain of several of their families.
This man's name is Jiang Siping, and he is the leader of this group of people. He is about forty years old, with rat eyes, a garlic nose and a mustache, and a smooth head and pink face. As the saying goes, appearance comes from the heart. The first impression given by this person's facial appearance is that he is not a loyal and kind-hearted person.
Four bulging hemp bags were placed in front of Jiang Siping one after another. Jiang Siping smiled and nodded, his eyes narrowed to a slit, and said: "Looking at the number of you, these dry rations are just a lot more, very good, very good. "
As he spoke, he untied one sack, and the smile on his face suddenly stopped, and then he untied the other three sacks. His face was gloomy and terrible. He raised his head, his eyes were full of gloom, and he looked at Zhang Daqiang with a sneer. .
Zhang Daqiang and everyone in the two villages felt their hearts skip a beat. Jiang Siping's mood was clearly written on his face. It was obvious that Jiang Siping was very dissatisfied with the dry food they handed over.
"I wonder why your Excellency is angry?" Zhang Daqiang quickly lowered his posture and asked cautiously. In fact, he already had the answer in his mind. The dry food in the sacks were all of different quality, and most of them were moldy.
"What a coward!" Jiang Siping suddenly shouted and punched a sack. The sack exploded like paper, and the cakes, buns and other dry food inside were scattered. One place.
"Open your dog eyes and take a look. They are all pickled meat that is moldy. You won't even feed it to the dogs. How dare you use it to mess with the old men and seek death?!" Jiang Siping was furious and said He scolded and kicked the dry food on the ground.
"Sir, I can't bear it, I can't bear it!" Zhang Daqiang's eyes suddenly turned red, and he threw himself on the ground to protect the dry food. "This is life-saving food. It was squeezed out bit by bit from the teeth of more than a thousand people in two villages." Yes. It’s just a little moldy, it’s edible, it’s edible!”
The eyes of the two villagers were instantly covered with bloodshot eyes. They stared at Jiang Siping with eyes that were about to burst, and the weapons in their hands tightened again and again.
"Sir -" Niu Yao took a step forward and said: "In this year of drought, every household is starving to survive. Seeing that the grain tank has bottomed out and there is no food left, so we have to go against the instructions of our ancestors, 'Don't hunt in spring'." Hunting in the mountains, just to get a little bit of hunting, just to survive this famine. The mold under your feet, sir, is the delicacies of the mountains and seas for us poor mountain people to keep our stomachs full. Sir, we poor mountain people We are starving and struggling, and there are still thousands of mouths in the village waiting for food to survive. I hope you will be compassionate and have mercy on us poor mountain people."
After saying that, he knelt down and waved his hands to the people in the two villages to do the same.
It was the first time that Zhang Xiaopou tasted this feeling of being gnashing his teeth with hatred, but he had to kneel down to beg for mercy, and even praised and flattered him unconscionably. He held Niu Dawa firmly to prevent him from going wild and committing crimes.
"That's all." Jiang Siping waved his hands, his face softened a lot, and said: "I think your life is not easy, so I won't embarrass you. As long as you open the dry food bag around your waist and show it to me, if it is also moldy dry food, then it proves that you did not deliberately pick these to tease and humiliate us, so I will allow you to enter the valley."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Xiaozhu couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart, knowing that something was wrong.
