By the time everyone at Yijian Villa entered the territory of Dongdu, it was already August 14th.
It has been more than a month since that meeting in the main hall...
According to Yan Yeyi, Quexie will not add any more help.
But as of today, the news that Lin Manliu and the others can receive is that except for the war in Dongdu and the rumors of the Demon Queen, there is no other news available.
From this, the young man couldn't help but wonder, apart from blocking the movement southward and contacting the people outside the customs, Quexie had no other plan?
This shouldn't be the case...
Fortunately, during their journey north, they also heard some relevant developments about the Dongdu defenders and the Hebei rebels.
It is said that the rebels broke through several times, but were successfully blocked by the defenders, and even suffered heavy losses twice. As long as the Dongdu defenders at the foot of the mountain took the opportunity to attack the top of the mountain, the rebels would all be killed.
But whether it was the first time or the second time recently, the Dongdu defenders did not continue the offensive and returned to the foot of the mountain to reorganize and rest.
When you inquire about this information again, you will inevitably hear some heroic words while pushing the glass of wine.
"If it were me, I would have dealt with those bandits long ago!"
"Damn it, these soldiers eat our grains all day long, and they are so unlucky when doing things..."
"I shouldn't have pretended to be lame back then. If I had gone forward wearing armor and carrying a knife, I would have killed all the rebels!"
These words of "I can do whatever I want" can be found everywhere in tea stalls and restaurants, as if the defenders stationed at the foot of Jialan Temple are no different from dirt in their eyes.
After entering the boundaries of Dongdu, everyone at Yijian Villa is currently hiding in an abandoned house southwest of Jialan Temple.
This place is about thirteen or four miles away from the camp at the foot of the mountain.
There were no scouts patrolling along the way, so it was relatively safe.
Lin Manliu found several family letters from the house that looked like a study.
I have a general understanding of the origin of the house here. The owner of the yard is surnamed Song. He should be a smooth man who is good at pleasing officials.
Relying on the support of officials, he had done all kinds of evil in the Eastern Capital City in the past, and would rob the mountain mansion of any girl he liked.
On top of this "family letter", it was shamelessly written that our Song family has a great business and we can easily capture anyone we want to put into bed.
However, the family property written in this book was almost reduced to ashes in front of Lin Manliu and others, leaving only the dilapidated houses at the courtyard gate and some ruined walls.
Come to think of it, someone must have subverted it so that the evildoers can no longer go unpunished.
Lin Manliu put the family letters back to their original places, walked out of the study again, and found that Yue Hanzhi had been waiting outside the door for a long time.
The latter asked casually, "What did you find?"
The young man told the woman all the evil deeds he had just witnessed.
Yue Hanzhi sighed: "Looking at the degree of damage to these houses, I'm afraid it was more than ten years ago. Heaven's way is reincarnation, and even the most evil people cannot escape..."
Lin Manliu spoke up and said: "Evil people will be punished by evil people. No matter what the purpose of the people who came here to destroy the village, they will eventually be killed by the evildoers who caused trouble."
Yue Hanzhi said: "I understand roughly, let's go and tell the old liar first!"
Lin Manliu nodded and said, "Yes."
The two of them walked towards the main hall of the house together, but when they saw Ye Dangting, they found that the old liar had brought out as many as forty or fifty high stools from nowhere.
Behind these chairs and stools, there are actually four or five round tables. It can be seen from their styles that they are mostly styles favored by wealthy businessmen in the early years.
Whether it is the high stools or the round tables, the surfaces are extremely bright and there is no dust at all, which is extremely inconsistent with the abandoned house here.
But these incompatible ornaments just appeared in front of everyone.
Ye Dang listened and shouted from time to time, telling them not to control their hands and feet, and that it would not be a problem if they bumped into each other.
"Hey, I said you don't care about the things in the village at all..."
"Why are you so cautious today when you meet some idiots like this? Are you able to move them or what?"
"You can use it however you want. When the night gets colder, I will still have to hold the firewood!"
Lin Manliu was surprised to hear Ye Dang's tone. When he got closer, he punched the yellow-shirted figure in the back firmly.
Ye Dangting turned around and saw Yue Hanzhi behind the young man.
He immediately laughed and said: "I wonder if there is any news from Master Lin. I am quite lucky. I found a secret room... There are some rare items in it!"
Lin Manliu rolled his eyes at Ye Dangting. At this moment, he didn't want to joke with this old liar.
But in a few words, the young man explained everything he knew.
The old liar in yellow shirt's smile grew thicker when he heard this, and watching his expression change, Lin Manliu felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
If he smiles evilly like this, nothing good will happen...
Ye Dang heard the words and said: "The family letter you saw is very different from Yue Nuxia's calculation. This place was indeed destroyed."
Lin Manliu asked: "Anything found in the secret room?"
Ye Dangting shook his head and said that the secret room contained mostly gold, silver, jade, calligraphy, paintings and antiques.
All they can use now are these tables and chairs. They can light a fire and cook some food later, which will be better than eating dry food these days.
The old liar had never read those family letters, so how could he act so confident?
And it can also search for secret rooms in abandoned houses in a short period of time.
An answer suddenly flashed through the young man's mind.
Quexie made his fortune in Dongdu...
Lin Manliu asked: "Has the whole story of this house been recorded by Quexie?"
Ye Dangting gave the young man a thumbs up and said loudly: "Master Lin is really smart! Yue Nuxia is so lucky to have such a good match..."
Yue Hanzhi said seriously: "Master Ye, please be more serious..."
Ye Dangting responded: "Well... OK, let me tell you about the tragedy that happened more than ten years ago!"
From what the old liar said next, they both got a rough idea. It was almost a story about a man who avenged his wife, who had endured it for many years and finally slaughtered the entire family of the enemy who killed his wife.
The young man's mood did not stop at the story itself.
What he thought was that after the discussion in the main hall was over, they would have no contact with Quexie anymore.
Even if Ye Chengzhu heard what he told the old liar in his early years, why was it so coincidental...
They went north because of the war in Dongdu. After entering the territory of Dongdu, can they rely on the house here as a base?
It was even a coincidence that there was a well-preserved secret room with enough supplies for their subsequent exploration.
According to the results of the discussions in the main hall and the expectations told to them by the old liar, the uprising will have to happen in Jiangnan.
It would be better to use Jiang Yanlin as the banner of departure, and then gather the forces that resisted Empress Su along the way.
At this point, the young man finally realized something was wrong.
Lin Manliu asked aloud: "So if there was no Jiang Yanlin, you and Ye Chengzhu would have planned it early?"
Ye Dang was surprised when he heard the answer and asked: "Why don't you go find some game later to make some food for the brothers? I haven't tasted meat for several days..."
The young man held the yellow-shirted figure's shoulders, forcing him to stare into his eyes.
"What's going on that you can't tell us..."
The two characters "we" here are Lu Fengbai, Xue Tang, Chong Ying, and Lin Manliu himself, who is also his respected master and the bond in his heart.
Ye Dang let out a long sigh of relief, knowing that he couldn't get through it, so he had to slowly tell the whole story.
This was the third time Lin Manliu asked the old liar what he and Ye Chengzhu had said on the boat.
At the same time, it was also the third time Ye Dangting replied to him about the plan on the boat that night.
Every time, what Ye Dang heard was true, and the content involved was revealed one after another.
When he heard that Dong Du was the two's initial plan, Lin Manliu's wrist had already firmly grasped the old liar's shoulders.
Because in their plan, no matter when they set out, Yijian Villa will be "defeated" after going north and can continue to hide.
War requires sacrifices, people need to use blood to clarify their aspirations, and bones need to be piled up to pave the way forward...
Then let this heroic act of uprising arouse the indignation in the hearts of the people, encourage the ambitions of those who hoard private soldiers, and make the Empress Su, who felt that she had great power, panic about it.
Lin Manliu asked: "If it is these things, it doesn't matter if you don't tell Master Lu or me, why don't you tell even Master?"
Ye Dangting murmured: "No matter how careful the layout is, it still needs to change with the world, and she will be worried..."
The young man raised his fist and lightly hit the old liar on the shoulder.
"This is your second missed punch, remember it!"
Ye Dang nodded to show his approval and called out softly, understanding.
...
To the northeast of everyone in Yijian Villa, where the high mountain with the Jialan Temple is located, everyone on the mountain and down the mountain are preparing for something in a tacit understanding.
The leaders on both sides have made plans for the final battle to the death!
Due to the instructions from General Wu Yeqi, Wang Zhong had been besieging the area for more than a month, but he still had not received an attack order from that general.
Even when there was no possibility of persuading him to surrender, that person was still determined to do this. He just wanted to torture Guan Xiao and others.
He sent his cronies secretly, ready to take action at any time, so as to give the rebels on the mountain a good start.
On Guan Xiao's side, there was no food in the temple as early as half a month ago. During these days, everyone relied on mountain springs to satisfy their hunger.
Those who still had the strength to lead a team led by Zheng Kuan and Zhou Biao made a sneak attack on the patrolling scouts in the forest.
The horses and the dry food they carried were scavenged and brought back to the temple to share with their colleagues.
On several occasions, they found opportunities. In order to grab more, they rushed directly to the weakly defended camp at the foot of the mountain.
They did get more food, but they also lost too many comrades.
Regarding these sacrifices, Zhou Biao could not say anything to comfort him, he could only joke at his brothers.
"On weekdays, I eat the most. I'll go down first that day! You guys will have more rations. Good thing! Good thing!"
Guan Xiao didn't say anything after hearing this, but just kicked him in the buttocks, and then walked towards the tower.
During these days, he had planned many breakout routes, but he could never get around one hurdle.
It was the former friend who had changed his mind for some reason in the camp at the foot of the mountain, and the mysterious general Zheng Kuan talked about.
The current deadlock can only be broken by burning the boat.
