Autumn is coming, frost is falling.
When Yang falls to the ground, Yin Qi begins to condense.
For the rich, this is not a special time, but for the poor, it may be the time of year when their pockets are deepest.
At this time of the year, farmers are busy finishing the last wave of autumn harvest, selling all the crops that should be sold, converting them into cash to keep for the New Year, and hoarding the remaining grain for the winter; as for those who work, They have to take advantage of the last half month before the beginning of winter to "work overtime". At least they have to earn a set of winter clothes that can survive the winter. Otherwise, they will not be able to go out when winter comes.
Of course, there are some lazy people who eat as much as they work and spend as much as they earn, but cannot save a single penny; there are also some who are unlucky and are caught up in natural or man-made disasters and have no harvest in the fields, or they happen to get sick at the end of autumn and have no savings. They are paid for their work...then they will be in trouble this winter.
If there are relatives and friends who are willing to help, they can lend you some to help you get through it, that's it; if not, go to a pawn shop to pawn your belongings, or even sell your children; if you don't even have that... ...There is really only one way to die.
In those days, it was common for people to die of cold and hunger in winter.
Of course, even in such an environment, there are many thieves who take advantage of the situation and steal the marrow.
After all... thieves also have to survive the winter.
It's so difficult for the rich. They live in deep houses and courtyards, have housekeepers and caregivers, and have many connections with the government. But it's different for the poor. Not to mention deceiving you...it's just robbing you. Even if someone kills someone and silences them, the government may not bother to investigate.
Therefore, this is the time of the year when the pockets of the poor are the most bulging, and it is also the time when thieves are most active.
In recent days, a new group of bandits has appeared in Xingxing Mountain on the east bank of Weishui River.
I don’t know where they came from, but looking at the locations where they robbed homes, I knew they were veterans - they specifically picked the areas with several counties and counties to stay in, and they only harassed a few surrounding small counties and towns. village.
What about business? They mainly raped and looted. They tried their best not to kill people, which shows that they knew how to get as much advantage as possible in one place without alerting the government.
It's this group of people who are causing trouble today...
Two heroes who were passing through here heard about this group of bandits from the local people, and they immediately expressed their intention to go up the mountain to pick out the village.
Of these two people, one was named Liu Wusheng, nicknamed the "Tiger-Armed King"; the other was named Zou Baiqiu, nicknamed "One Sword to Suppress Guanzhong."
Although these two people can only be regarded as second-rate characters in the martial arts world, they are both long-established knights. They are both under forty years old and in their prime. Like "dealing with bandits" This kind of thing? If they come forward, it will happen easily.
On the day Liu and Zou came to the town, they announced that they would stand up for the local people. The people were very happy. They also collected some money and treated them well. one night.
The next morning, after they had had enough sleep, they ate something and drank some water, and then they both went into the mountain.
The two of them have been traveling in the world for almost twenty years. They have quite a lot of experience. They both know that they must have enough rest before fighting and eat something, but they should not eat too much.
Ordinarily, if they were more cautious, they should have chosen to rob the stronghold at night, but according to what the people said, this group of bandits did not have much ability, they were just a ragtag group of people who only knew how to do crops; Liu and Zou After thinking about it, with their martial arts and the two of them joining forces, there is no need to be so complicated in dealing with this kind of minions, so they came during the day.
Let's talk about Liu Wusheng, who came to the gate of the stronghold. Without saying a word, he jumped on the wall and climbed up the stronghold wall.
Although the wall of the village was only over two meters high, and those who knew Qinggong could climb it after learning it for a year and a half, Liu Wusheng's move still frightened the group of bandits. Many people directly He just froze there and didn't dare to move.
The few people who stepped forward to resist were knocked to the ground by Liu Wusheng with three punches and two kicks. Liu Wusheng even had the feeling that "they fell before I even exerted any force."
As a result, when the remaining bandits saw such a "strong martial arts" hero, they all dropped their weapons, kowtowed and confessed, begging Liu Wusheng to spare their lives.
When Liu Wusheng saw this, he burst into laughter. He immediately ordered them to open the gate of the village. The bandits did as they were told and soon let Zou Baiqiu in.
Immediately afterwards, Liu and Zou drove all the bandits in the village into the cells they used to detain people, and bolted the door from the outside.
After taking care of this bunch of miscellaneous fish, Liu Wusheng and Zou Baiqiu swaggered all the way into the inner hall of the village, preparing to meet the owner of the village.
With a "pop" sound, the two of them kicked open the door of the village owner's house and stepped inside.
"Who is he? Be brave!" The village leader seemed to have some skills. When he saw Liu Zou, he reacted quickly and immediately picked up the weapons at hand to kill him.
However, his sword skills were really poor, and he was defeated within five moves of Zou Baiqiu.
"My hero, have mercy! My hero, have mercy!" The leader of the village was no more intimidated than his subordinates. He put the knife on his neck and knelt down without any psychological burden. "I was forced to fall into the trap of a bandit. !”
"Hmph! Forced by helplessness?" Zou Baiqiu glared at him fiercely, and then glanced at the bed in the room, "Then the girl was also tied up by force of helplessness?"
The "girl" he was talking about was currently being tied up with several thick hemp ropes and hung from a beam like a hairy crab. Her mouth was also gagged, and there was a bed underneath her body. .
"Hero, I was wrong! I... I was obsessed with lust for a moment... I haven't touched that girl yet! If you don't believe me, you can ask her!" The village leader was kowtowing to beg for mercy as he spoke.
While he was saying these words, on the other side, Liu Wusheng had walked to the bed, cut the rope with the knife he carried, and put the girl down.
Since the girl's body was still some distance away from the bed, Liu Wusheng picked her up and put her on the bed.
But this catch made Liu Wusheng secretly shocked, because at first glance, he knew that the girl was an adult, but when he caught her, he felt that her body was extremely light, as if she had no bones.
Surprised, Liu Wusheng couldn't help but stare at the other person carefully: he saw that this woman was in her youth, with fair skin and beauty, Xiaojiabiyu, and her figure was even more prominent under the outline of the rope that had not been completely spread out. Exquisite and elegant.
As they looked at each other, Liu Wusheng met the other person's eyes. As soon as their eyes touched, the girl immediately lowered her head, and her cheeks that were already flushed with shame were buried deeper.
Only then did Liu Wusheng realize that the girl was only wearing belly pants and it was inappropriate for him to look at her like this, so he quickly looked away.
Don't think Liu Wusheng is just a second-rate figure in the world, he is a gentleman and a true knight. When he picked up the girl with his hand just now, he carefully held her belly with one hand, but did not dare to move up or up. Second half.
At this time, Liu Wusheng felt a little ashamed when he thought about his behavior of staring at others, so he simply turned his back to the other person and cleared his throat. First, he could resolve the embarrassment, and secondly, he could speak smoothly: "Girl, please put on a quilt first."
When the girl heard this, she slowly broke away the broken rope on her body, took off the cloth stuffed in her mouth, and responded with a voice like a mosquito: "Thank you, hero, for saving me." Just put on the quilt.
"Girl." Zou Baiqiu, who was a few meters away, saw that the other party seemed to be in a stable mood, so he asked, "Is this bastard true? He didn't do anything to you, right?"
Zou Daxia scolded the bastard and kicked the village leader again.
The leader of the village screamed in pain after being kicked like this, and rolled on the ground while covering his heart.
"Why are you pretending?" Zou Baiqiu hated these adulterers the most in his life, because his wife and children died at the hands of adulterers. Even though he had killed his enemies long ago, he still couldn't get over it for many years.
"He...not yet." The girl seemed to hesitate for a while, then blushed and replied in a very soft voice.
"Hero! I'm telling the truth! Just be noble and let me go..." The village leader took advantage of the situation and began to beg for mercy again.
But Zou Baiqiu kicked him in the chin again, kicked him into a backflip, and interrupted: "Shut up! This is not true. What about the women you kidnapped into the village before? ? Today you, Mr. Zou, will settle the accounts with you!"
For a knight-errant like Liu Zou, when he is chasing thieves, he can usually decide whether to kill or not to kill in a matter of seconds.
The gang outside can be regarded as accomplices. Liu and Zou don't have the energy to verify which of them has a human life on their hands and which one has not. Anyway, as long as the other party surrenders, it will be left to the government to deal with; what about the government? , He may not be willing to suppress the bandits by himself, but he is still willing to accept this kind of "merit" brought to his doorstep, and it is not a big deal to offer some reward.
But the leader of this group of bandits is the main culprit. Even if he is killed on the spot, there is no unjust, false or wrongful conviction. If you want to hand it over to the government, you can hand it over. If you don't hand it over, no one will pursue it.
Originally, Zou Baiqiu didn't necessarily want to kill someone today, but when he entered the house and saw a girl hanging, he felt angry, so now he became murderous.
Liu Wusheng would not stop him - there was nothing to stop him from killing someone who deserved his death.
However, just when Zou Baiqiu raised his knife and struck at the "vulnerable" village leader who was lying on the ground...
The "village leader" who had been beaten so hard just now that he was unable to fight back suddenly seemed to have been given a shot of blood, and his movements became more flexible.
Not only did he avoid Zou Baiqiu's direct knife, he also quickly dodged aside and picked up the weapon he had just thrown away.
At the same time, a few "Puff" sounds suddenly came from behind Liu Wusheng.
At this moment, Liu Wusheng, who was completely unprepared for his rear, was hit hard with finger force on the two points of his spine and Du Meridian respectively, and then he was kicked to the Xueqie points on both sides of his knees and popliteals. Soft, he knelt down.
And the moment he knelt down, a hemp rope was wrapped around his neck.
"You..." Liu Wusheng was shocked and angry, but he only had time to say this one word before his throat was sealed.
Obviously, the girl who was tied up and hung just now was not who they imagined...
Her body feels lighter than it looks, not because of her special physique, but because she knows martial arts.
Although her martial arts skills are not very high and she may not be able to defeat Liu Wusheng in a fair fight, it is more than enough to sneak attack an unsuspecting person from behind.
At this moment, two large points on Liu Wusheng's spine were severely injured. Not to mention the "tiger arm", he couldn't even lift his arms, and his two legs also lost strength due to the blow to the knees and popliteus, so he could only Kneel down.
The woman strangled Liu Wusheng's neck with a rope, raised her knees and pressed the back of his neck hard, and then said: "Master Zou, don't move!"
Zou Baiqiu was shocked and anxious when he saw his friend being captured. While he was wary of the "village leader" who picked up the knife again, he gritted his teeth and said to the woman: "So you guys are in the same group..."
"Hmph... If you want to blame, you must blame yourselves for being stupid. When you saw that I was a woman and I was tied up, you didn't doubt my identity at all." The woman sneered, "Stop nagging and put the knife down, or I will kill you." Kill him!" At this point, the rope in her hand tightened a little more.
Zou Baiqiu didn't want to watch Liu Wusheng die like this, but if he really put down the knife, it would be difficult to deal with it next.
Just when he was hesitating...
"Don't... mind... me..." Liu Wusheng, whose face turned purple, tried his best to squeeze out these three words through his teeth.
Liu Wusheng knew very well that if Zou Baiqiu ignored him and continued to fight against these two people, then at least Zou Baiqiu would still have a glimmer of hope, but if Zou Baiqiu put down the knife, both of them would undoubtedly die today.
"You are looking for death..." Seeing that Liu Wusheng was still talking too much, the woman continued to use more force on her hands.
"Ah——" The next second, Zou Baiqiu shouted wildly and rushed towards the woman.
"Hmph..." The woman was ruthless, and seeing that the threat was useless, she strangled Liu Wusheng's neck without hesitation, and used the latter's body as a shield to kick Zou Baiqiu who was coming to kill him.
Zou Baiqiu was very sad and angry when he saw his friend die in front of him. He definitely couldn't bear to destroy his body again, so he immediately deflected the blade and caught Liu Wusheng's body with his hand.
But at this moment, the "village leader" came from behind him with a knife.
When Zou Baiqiu heard the sound of the blade breaking through the wind, he hurriedly pushed Liu Wusheng's body aside and turned around to face the beheading.
His sword technique was powerful and heavy, as fast as thunder, and the power was really impressive. He suddenly slashed out with three swords.
Although the "village leader" was now using all his strength and no longer "acting", he could only barely parry and did not gain the upper hand.
But... now it's not a one-on-one fight, nor is it a fight in an open place, but a two-on-one fight in a small space.
Zou Baiqiu finished slashing with three swords and was about to pursue him when the woman attacked him from the side.
This woman's movements are elegant, her fists are strong, and her skills are even better than that of the "village leader"; although she is still not as good as Zou Baiqiu, she can still force him to retreat with a few moves.
And the gap between these few moves was enough - enough for the "village leader" to use the lime powder.
There is no doubt that these bandits have no martial ethics. Not to mention lime powder, they also use more poisonous methods.
As for today's scene, they undoubtedly had planned it in advance.
Yesterday, when Liu and Zou made a high-profile announcement in the city that they were going to the mountains to build a stronghold, the bandits' eyes and ears in the city spread the news. If they had come overnight, perhaps this group of people would not have been fully prepared, but since they had waited all night, everything would have been arranged.
The bandit gangsters outside were indeed just a mob as the people said. Even if they all came together, they would not pose any threat to Liu and Zou. Therefore, the two men in the room simply ordered their gangsters to retreat a little. After a moment of resistance, he pretended to surrender and further relaxed the vigilance of the two heroes.
Then, the two bandit leaders used the inertial thinking of Liu and Zou to stage this drama here.
Although there are many bandits in the world, there are not many female bandit leaders. Beautiful and extremely cunning female bandit leaders are even rarer.
This woman has figured out everything. Even if Liu Wusheng hadn't untied her right away, she would have been able to break free herself; what she and her accomplices have to wait for... is just the most suitable time.
Today Liu Wusheng and Zou Baiqiu were killed here. They can't say they were unjust, they could only say they were destined...
The world is like this. It doesn't mean that if you have the strength to do something, you will definitely be able to do it. As long as there are one or two unexpected factors, the strong will most likely die at the hands of the weak.
Zou Baiqiu, who was blinded by lime powder, soon followed in Liu Wusheng's footsteps.
Let's assume afterwards that if Zou Baiqiu could decisively exit the room when he saw Liu Wusheng being captured, abandon his companions and run away immediately, then maybe he and Liu Wusheng would still have a chance to survive, because the bandits might be worried He asked the master to come back, leaving Liu Wusheng's life as a hostage.
It's a pity that he doesn't have that kind of character, and he doesn't have the quick wit to settle this account in a hurry.
Looking at the two fallen corpses at his feet, the "village leader" was silent for two seconds, put away his knife, and said to the woman: "Second sister, what should we do next?"
The woman, the second in charge here, didn't even look at the dead body on the ground, and said to the third child: "Just bury it, will it stink in the house?"
"Uh..." The third master paused and then said, "I mean...get rid of these two people, there won't be any trouble, right?"
"It's okay. These two are not untouchable characters. If so, they won't die at the hands of you and me." The woman replied, "Besides, the eldest brother will be back in a few days. Even if someone more powerful than them comes to the door, what will happen?"
"Hmm... That makes sense." The third master nodded, "Then I'll go release those boys first and let them carry the person."
"Wait a minute."
"Second sister, do you have any other orders?"
"Tsk... drag them out first and cut off their heads, in case they are still alive... Also, you haven't searched them for anything valuable yet."
"Oh! Yes, the second sister is right, ha... look at my brain."
The third child said, dragging the bodies of Liu and Zou out with a smile.
While he was skillfully cutting off his head outside, the "second sister" lazily walked to the bedside, picked up a few clothes and put them on, and muttered: "Humph... You are such a good hero, you are so good." ."
