(3)
Just when Zhao Kuo was regretful and puzzled, a group of exhausted Han soldiers were excited to find a brightly lit home.
A man with a small stature but strong leg muscles ran ahead. After confirming that the place was indeed brightly lit, he immediately ran back. In the woods a few miles away, a group of Han soldiers were resting.
There were more than thirty people, most of whom were wounded soldiers, and three or four of them had missing limbs and could only lie down in the makeshift "camp". The so-called "camp" is just a simple bed made of dead branches and leaves, with branches extending from the forest as a roof, and a fire surrounded by it. The sounds of coughs and the sound of the breeze interweave in the night sky. .
The soldiers did not dare to speak loudly, and most of them were discussing issues such as: what to do when the food is gone, what to do with injured brothers, etc.
Some people are begging for a little drink from the sky to moisten their bellies; some are catching bugs to satisfy their hunger. Most of them were sitting on the ground around the campfire, with only a few standing guard outside.
A tall and burly soldier with beards all over his lips and cheeks stood up, shook off the fallen leaves and dust on his body, picked up the machete on his right hand, and slashed hard at the bamboo bush on the left, "Whoa! "After a sound, Qingzhu fell down. Everyone heard the news and went away. The soldier's eyes were firm and his tone was decisive. He said: "We finally escaped from the hands of the barbarians and escaped the interception of the pursuers. We must not fall here! Xiao Jiu went to explore the road. Will be back soon.”
A tall, thin soldier with a sharp face and a broad forehead stood up and responded: "Brother is right, you are risking your lives and fleeing, isn't it just for the gold and silver treasures, fine clothes and fine food, and to no longer be ordered by those barbarians? Now we can't even have one I haven’t even seen the copper coins yet, so we must not let all our previous efforts go to waste!”
Xiao Jiu, who was exploring the road, did not rest on the way back, so he quickly returned to the camp. When he was almost there, he quickly moved and stepped on the dead leaves on the ground, making a "rustling" sound that first alerted the soldiers, and then his rich voice, which was extremely disproportionate to his stature, reached everyone's ears: "Brother! Big brother! There is indeed a house in front of us, and it is also an inn!" Xiaojiu breathed a sigh of relief after saying, "Everyone, pack your bags and set off immediately!"
Everyone's originally low morale seemed to have recovered a lot. Immediately afterwards, Xiao Jiu stepped forward and led everyone in the direction of Bai Feng.
With their tired bodies and driven by hunger and thirst, more than thirty people arrived at the door of Xiangyangpo Inn in only half the time it took to burn incense.
A-Bian had just taken over the job of the doorkeeper from the shopkeeper, and he was complaining in his heart: I didn't sleep well tonight, and I still have to look after the door. It is obvious that there is no way anyone will come! Then he slumped down where the shopkeeper usually sat and dozed off.
"Da da da da..." Suddenly there was the sound of chaotic footsteps outside the door, and A-Bian did not notice it. However, the rich young man Zhao Kuo had a keen sense of hearing. After hearing the sound, he immediately opened the paper window at the end of the bed and saw the soldiers. Then he had doubts, so he went to the cubicle to discuss it with Bai Feng.
Zhao Kuo walked out of his room, took two long strides, and quickly and without making any sound reached the door of Bai Feng's room. He knocked lightly three times, "Dong, dong." Unexpectedly, at the third time, Bai Feng The door had already been opened, and Zhao Kuo, who was unprepared, was startled. As soon as Zhao Kuo entered the door, he tiptoed and sat by the window, and said softly to Bai Feng: "Have you never thought that Brother Bai Feng could not sleep at night like me, or that he was awakened by the noise outside?"
Bai Feng nodded lightly, indicating that he would elaborate later, "The most urgent task is to first understand what these dozens of people want!" The two followed the figures in the dark night into the inn, and only some people were seen. They stayed outside the stack to rest. They all seemed to be injured to varying degrees, and their movements were very difficult. Immediately, the two of them approached the door and left it ajar to eavesdrop on what was going on outside.
The soldiers outside the inn walked into the inn, and the leader was Xiaojiu. Xiaojiu stepped forward and knocked on the wooden door lightly, asking: "Is there anyone there?" Then he looked around and saw only a few scattered candles emitting dim light, allowing the two people facing each other to barely distinguish who was who. The broken tables and chairs were placed haphazardly, covered with a layer of thick dust, as if no guests were welcome.
Xiao Jiu sighed inwardly and comforted herself by saying, "It's good to have a place to stay while escaping..." Then, he heard the sound of someone snoring, followed the sound, and saw A-Bian who was already sleeping soundly.
Xiao Jiu then waved for everyone to go inside, and at the same time wanted to wake up the innkeeper who was already sleeping. After a gentle tap with his hand, he didn't wake up; after a second tap, he still didn't wake up; after a third tap, Xiaojiu pushed hard and almost pushed A-Bian to the ground. Fortunately, A-Bian held up his chair while being pushed. handle.
A-Bian rubbed his eyes that had not been fully opened and asked, "Who is it?" Xiaojiu cooperated and moved his face up, causing A-Bian to yell "Ah" in shock. This sound also caused the soldiers who had entered the inn to rest to look in that direction.
"We want to ask for some food and drinks. I don't know if we are willing..." Xiao Jiu said while stroking the cowhide sheath of the short blade on his waist.
A-Bian first heard the collision of armor and weapons, and randomly followed the sound and looked in the direction where Xiaojiu's rough fingers were touching. Only then did he realize that the real military master had arrived, "Guest...Guard, you..." How many of you are there?"
"Not many, just about thirty people."
"Three...thirty?" A-Bian was so scared that his tongue trembled and he almost rolled it up. "Then you have to ask the shopkeeper. We don't have much food."
"Then call your shopkeeper out!" A tall man with a beard on his face roared: "Don't wait around, my brothers haven't had a good meal for a long time!" After saying that, he pulled out a single knife and stuck it in On the table in front of A-Bian. A-Bian was so frightened that he made a very sharp and strange sound, curled up on the chair where the shopkeeper usually sat, and covered his head with his hands.
After a lot of fussing, the door to the room next to the stairs opened. The shopkeeper was arranging his clothes in front of the door in a slight panic. Then he raised his hands and said with a smile: "Masters, what do you want me to do for you?"
"Bring the best and mellowest wine in your store, we brothers in our thirties are waiting!" The tall man pushed away Xiao Jiu who was about to reply and answered first.
The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva, coughed twice, and asked in a slightly lower voice than before, "I wonder if you guys have enough money?"
"You still dare to ask us for payment of money!" The man with the beard seemed very angry. He stepped forward and grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and said angrily: "If we weren't fighting on the front line, how could you live happily here? "
The shopkeeper was strangled very painfully. His eyes widened and his face was full of fear. He barely stood on tiptoes to maintain his balance and said: "This...no one can be safe in this world!" A Bian looked helpless on the side. Help, he could only sit there dumbfounded.
Suddenly, the door of the room next to the two Xianbei people was opened during the day, and a short, fat foreign warrior came out first, and shouted loudly: "There was annoying music just now, and now there is a quarrel. Do you still want to let others in?" Sleep peacefully!"
The soldier with a pointed face and broad forehead walked towards the bearded man who was venting his anger and whispered: "Brother, he is from Xianbei. He looks exactly like the group of people who are chasing us!"
"Xianbei?" He put down the shopkeeper who was almost strangled by his collar, and turned to face the foreign warrior, "Xianbei! It's you barbarians who invaded our land, plundered our money and food, and killed and occupied our women and children! Now they are forcing our brothers into such a situation!" After saying that, he pulled out the single sword standing on the wooden table, pointed it at the Xianbei man in front of him, and ordered: "Surround him!"
A tall and thin figure jumped out from behind Xianbei in front of him and said deliberately slowly: "Huh, we brothers have never done what you are talking about, but you Han people are now doing what you say you despise. thing?"
"Don't think that because you can speak Chinese, you are not the hateful Xianbei, a group of barbaric and cruel scum!" The soldier with a sharp face and a broad forehead fought back hard, "Brother, we should take this opportunity to teach them a lesson!" Then he pulled out his long sword With their swords in a fighting posture, the Xianbei warriors would not show weakness, and the two of them showed their weapons one after another to prepare for the battle.
During the encirclement, neither party dared to act rashly. A Han soldier wanted to sneak attack from the side, but unexpectedly, he had not eaten normally for many days to replenish his strength, and his hands and feet could not keep up with his thoughts. The tall and thin foreign warrior saw through his intention.
The Xianbei warrior stepped back to avoid the stabbing attack, lowered his center of gravity and lowered his horse stance, twisted his waist and hips and swung the sword horizontally. A large gash was cut open in the chest of the Han soldier in the blink of an eye. After he fell, blood spurted out and spattered onto the nearby earthen wall. His internal organs were vaguely visible in the dim candlelight.
This knife broke through both the man's and his armor. It was very powerful, and the blade was not stained with too much blood, which shows the skill of the person wielding the knife.
The Xianbei warrior then sighed, and wanted to scare other soldiers, saying: "I haven't used a knife on anyone for a long time, and I will use you to practice my skills today!"
The soldiers did not dare to act rashly. They wanted to use their numerical superiority to surround the two warriors and catch them all when they showed their flaws.
