These more than ten riders were Dongchang fans, and the leader was Chunxiang. He did not return to Fengyang City after meeting Chang Yu in the afternoon, but went straight to Nanjing.
Chunxiang's trip was originally for Zhu Yujian, and he completed the task surprisingly smoothly. He wanted to return to Beijing. However, the situation in the south was critical and complicated. Chang Yu needed a trustworthy person to sit in Nanjing to collect intelligence for him and deter local officials, so he ordered Chunxiang took the lead.
It is roughly estimated that the distance from Fengyang to Nanjing is more than 400 miles. Chunxiang was in a hurry to go on the road, but he gritted his teeth and persisted even though it was a sweltering day. He walked with stops and stops all the way until the evening, and he had traveled fifty or sixty miles. On the way, he met a large village (today's Mingguang City) for a rest, and after asking the villagers, we learned that we were about to enter the mountains in another twenty miles. Beyond the mountains was Lai'an County in Chuzhou, and across the river was Nanjing.
If they traveled all night, they could arrive in Nanjing tomorrow evening at the latest. Chunxiang and his men discussed that although they felt tired, it would be cooler to travel at night, which was better than the scorching sun during the day.
But the villagers also said that the mountains are not peaceful at night, so it is best to go together with more people during the day.
Chunxiang asked with a smile: "Why is it so unsettling? Could it be that a mountain chief is causing trouble?"
"If you are the mountain leader, there is nothing to worry about. There are mountain bandits." The villagers looked solemn: "It's peaceful during the day, but at night they come out to rob roads, loot money and people."
Chunxiang and the others looked at each other and laughed. They had traveled all the way south from the capital and were not even afraid of the Shandong thieves. Could it be that they should be afraid of a few bandits. They were lucky if they didn't meet them, but unlucky if they did.
Seeing that they could not be persuaded, the villagers had no choice but to shake their heads and give up.
Chunxiang had been on the battlefield. He followed Chang Yu and rushed in with hundreds of thousands of Li Zicheng's thieves, killing them several times in and out. Naturally, he was not afraid of some thieves.
So after taking a short rest, he got on his horse and led his team to leave. However, he was stopped by a beggar at the entrance of the village: "Can you, military masters, reward me with something to eat?"
If it had been anyone else, he would have been whipped, but Chunxiang, unlike others, was greatly influenced by Chang Yu. These days, there were many beggars everywhere. Although he would not take the initiative to give alms to everyone, if someone came to beg, he would definitely agree, so he took out his hand. I bought some dry food for the beggar.
"You military masters are going to Nanjing?" The beggar took the food and thanked him casually. Chunxiang hummed.
"It's not peaceful in the mountains, you military lords, you have to be careful." When the beggar said this, Chunxiang frowned. It seemed that the news was not groundless. He was probably a fierce bandit. He reined in his horse and asked the beggar: "You Have you seen the thieves in the mountains? How many men and horses are there?"
"I've seen some. I don't know how good they are, but they are very fierce." The beggar replied.
"If you are so fierce, why didn't I kill you to silence you?" A fan laughed, and the beggar also laughed: "I am a beggar, and I don't have anything I want. But they wanted to kill me at that time, but I ran faster than them. Didn’t catch up.”
Chunxiang didn't want to chat with him, so he was about to leave after hitting the horse. Unexpectedly, the beggar took a step forward and grabbed the horse's head: "Master, I also want to go to Nanjing, so you can take me there along the way."
"Your accent sounds like you're from the south. You know the roads better than we do. Do you need us to take you?" a comment asked, and the beggar laughed: "To be honest, I know the roads well, but I'm afraid of those thieves... ... If I don’t dare to walk this night road in the mountains alone, I will follow the military men to be brave. I beg you all.”
"Okay, just follow." Chunxiang nodded and drove the horse south. The beggar followed behind with a dog-beating stick.
"Sir, I think this beggar is a little weird." Chunxiang has little experience in the world, but all the fans around him are veterans.
"Why do you see that?" Chunxiang raised his eyebrows.
"The beggar looks like a haggard man. You see, he has a strong body. Although his hair is unkempt, he is very powerful, especially his eyes. He is a low-ranking man, and I guess he is a thief in the mountains, deliberately trying to lure us into his trap."
This... Chunxiang was a little hesitant. The dozen or so people under him were all top players in the East Factory. In addition to those transferred from Jinyi, there were also masters from the martial arts network recruited during this period. They could easily deal with ordinary small groups of thieves. But if the other party comes prepared and has the advantage of the terrain, and does not know that there are few thieves, he does not want to take risks.
"So what if it's just a group of thieves?" Just as Chunxiang hesitated, another fan spoke up: "This is the official road leading to Nanjing. If there were ruthless bandits, officers and soldiers would have come to suppress them, and this road has been a low-level road. I have heard the name of a bandit several times but have never met him. Don't worry, sir. He is just a bandit at most and has been exaggerated by the villagers. They won't mess with officials like us." This time it was Jin Yiwei who transferred here. Yes, after hearing what he said, Chunxiang nodded: "If there is anything strange, kill the beggar behind first."
Everyone agreed and continued on their way.
Although this road is a mountain road, it is not as narrow and steep as the mountains from Jinan to Tai'an. On the contrary, the terrain is relatively open. Although there are mountains on both sides, they are several miles apart. There are also several villages, but it is extremely desolate. Overgrown.
The night breeze was cool, and Chunxiang and his party were hurrying and slowing down. The beggar followed behind and walked slowly. When the distance was far away, he shouted: "Master, please slow down, wait for me."
Look how long you keep pretending, Chunxiang also sees something strange now. He has traveled more than thirty miles from that village to this place. Normal people can't walk long ago, but this beggar always stays within a hundred meters of them. .
"Speed up and get away from him." Chunxiang muttered, and then he and his subordinates beat the horses and galloped away. The beggar chased after him and shouted at the top of his voice: "Master, wait a minute, I'm scared." sharp".
Why don't you pretend that you have two legs or a horse can run faster... Chunxiang sneered before he flew out with a loud sound, and the screams and exclamations of his brothers rang in his ears. Before he could reach it, After reacting, he fell heavily to the ground. Suddenly, his whole body was in severe pain as if he was falling apart, and his head was buzzing.
Trip the horse rope!
Someone actually stumbled on the mountain path, and almost everyone in the group was knocked down accidentally.
It seems that there are real thieves, and they really attacked them.
"My lord, my lord!" Chunxiang heard his subordinate Fanzi shouting. He wanted to respond but couldn't say it. He couldn't find the strength to get up.
When several fans rolled to him and were about to help him up, a net fell from the sky and trapped them. At the same time, dozens of people emerged from the trees on both sides of the road, holding knives, forks and sticks. Surrounded them: "If you want to go this way, leave the money to buy your life!"
"Bold thieves, even you from Dongchang dare to rob." The three queens who were not tripped immediately drew their knives and shouted angrily. The four who fell but were not caught also endured the severe pain and stood up. Knife ready for battle.
From Dongchang?
Sure enough, the thieves were shocked when they heard this, and then whispered.
"What can I say to them? I'll kill them all." Chunxiang, who was trapped in the net, finally came to his senses at this time, thinking that he had been unhurt among thousands of troops, but he was almost lost by a few thieves. Half of his life was lost, and he suddenly became angry and couldn't help shouting, but it also made the thieves cruel.
"Fuck you, East Factory or West Factory. I have the final say on this road. Even if the King of Heaven passes by here, I will have to leave money to buy the road. No, money to sell one's life." A big man walked forward with a ghost head knife. He was about to strike with one step, but several fans around Chunxiang immediately stopped him with their swords.
"Hoho, it looks like I've caught you in the net." The big man laughed. I don't like nonsense either: "Either hand over your money, horses and weapons and get out, or wait until I kill you and take it for yourself."
"Don't do it yet!" Chunxiang roared in the net. He was greatly influenced by Chang Yu. He would kill decisively and just do it as he said. How could he compromise with the bandits? He pulled the net hard as he spoke. However, this kind of Once a net is used to cover a person, it is difficult to untie it.
The men were ordered to slash with their swords, and the thieves were shocked. They didn't follow the routine. It turned out that Dongchang was used to being domineering. It's just that you forgot that this is my territory. I need to give you a long memory.
"Kill them!" the big man roared, and rushed towards Chunxiang in the net with a knife. His men also swarmed over and started fighting with the fans.
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