The tip of Peng Tuo's knife had cut open Chen Chong's robe, but Chen Chong did not turn around. He took a deep breath and said slowly in a calm tone: "Peng Shuai, you said the same when I said goodbye to you in Julu. "
Peng Tuo behind him was stunned, and Chen Chong was also breathless. He could only repeat: "You said, I will see you on the battlefield someday, and you will never be soft again."
Having said this, Chen Chong looked back at Peng Tuo, saw his gloomy expression, and then continued: "I also thought that when we meet again, we will be on the battlefield, with swords and bows, love and blood, melting in the sun and moon. Make dust and dirt and put an end to the past." Chen Chong paused slightly and said decisively: "Not here, let alone this situation!"
Peng Tuo still said nothing. Chen Chong closed his eyes and recalled for a moment, then continued to ask: "Shuai Peng, back then you still had 40,000 followers under your command, and you were firmly among the top five in power among the many commanders. How come you are here today, but... Only four people? I have never heard of your defeat. When Xuande met with me, he said that you had been fighting in Jizhou for many days and were no longer in Qingxu."
Peng Tuo sneered and retracted the tip of the knife. He seemed to finally have the desire to talk. He kicked away the two balls of flesh and blood and sat back on the pedestal of Zhonghuang Taiyi. After a while, he said cheerfully: "Then I will talk to Longshou Shu. The stories of the past two or three years, to me, seem like a long time ago, and it seems like just yesterday.”
"Back then, the church members were trapped in a giant deer for Dragon Head, but because of the traitor's leak, they had to launch a hasty revolt and were poorly prepared. However, Dragon Head stood strong and cleared the fields, cutting wheat and hoarding grain first. The wise master Daliang fell behind at one step and fell behind everywhere. Even though there were There are millions of people, but they are harassed by the Dragon Head day and night. Although there are many people in Henan, they can't move without food, so they are all driven to Hebei by the Dragon Head. But how can Hebei support these people?"
"At that time, Longshou and I went south respectively, and most of the remaining believers also went to Qingxu. The imperial army moved in to suppress the attack, but without you, Longshou, we won several battles in the end, and fought in several counties one after another, and gained a lot. People also regained their confidence, but the imperial court had mixed successes and failures, and finally chose to withdraw its troops and negotiate peace.”
Peng Tuo sighed: "At that time, I thought things were promising, but now that I think about it, it's just a joke." Chen Chong listened carefully and felt sad in his heart. He knew the outcome of the incident and why the imperial court withdrew its troops. This was Huangfu Song's suggestion.
Peng Tuo continued: "After separatizing Qingxu, I discussed with Zhang Rao, Guan Hai, Guan Cheng, Xu He and Sima Ju that although Qingxu is large, there is no danger to defend, and the food supply is difficult to last. We should take the initiative, continue to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains, and lead the hungry people of Henan to attack Luoyang. But none of them are willing to fight."
"No one wants to fight, so I will fight first! At that time, I thought, as long as I am in front, all the commanders are in the same army, dependent on each other for life and death. If I see a chance of victory in front of me, will I still sit back and watch?"
"So I led 40,000 people under my command to attack Jibei and fought fiercely with Zhu Jun's tribe for two days. Zhu Jun's tribe only had 5,000 men and was once controlled by our army. However, the disparity in military equipment made it difficult to annihilate them. Finally on the third day, Huangfu Song led his troops. Come here, I am attacked on the flank and unable to fight back, and Zhang Rao and those people really just sit back and watch my entire army in Qingzhou being annihilated!"
Speaking of this, Peng Tuo shook his head and smiled at Chen Chong: "Longshou, this battle has made me sober up a lot. For me, Peng Tuo, Qianqiu Pavilion was just a setback, but the battle in Jibei broke my spine. ”
Chen Chong Taixi said: "I know what you said, Peng Shuai, I know. After that, you gathered the remaining troops and left Jizhou. But after that, I occasionally heard your name once or twice. By last year, I never heard your name again. I haven’t heard of it either. I thought you were probably dead.”
"He is indeed dead." Peng Tuo smiled and touched the scar on his face. His expression gradually fell into gloom. It was obvious that recalling the past was not pleasant. "It was even more difficult in Jizhou. There was nowhere to hide in Hebei. We had no choice but to fight all the way. We were alone and we soon fell into a desperate situation."
"At that time, Wang Fen, the governor of Jizhou, paid a lot of money to buy my head." Peng Tuo opened his eyes and suddenly said to Chen Chong: "That night I suddenly heard a noise. Two people came in from the door. There was no knocking or footsteps. Sound. I only heard the creaking sound of the door opening."
"I was startled at the time and thought it was blown away by the wind, but when I turned over I saw two people holding knives in their hands. The two people looked at me and were also startled, but they immediately wanted to kill with their knives. I."
"I didn't know what to do at the time, but my body responded before I thought. I drew my knife and blocked their blades with the back of the knife. Only then did I realize that I was sleeping with the knife in my arms."
Hearing this, Dong Bai in his arms couldn't help but grab Chen Chong's lapel. Chen Chong didn't say anything. He already understood how Peng Tuo got to where he is today.
Peng Tuo did not stop, he continued speaking on his own: "Then I found out that I knew both of those two people. Not only did they know each other, they could also be said to be my confidants and my best friends. They were holding knives at the time, and I looked at them Their faces were stunned for a moment, but they were not stunned, and one of them slashed my face with a knife, from the base of my ear to my upper lip."
"I just felt a chill on my face. I could feel the cold wind on my teeth and tongue. The sticky liquid kept dripping down. That made me wake up. I kicked one of them away and cut the other's with a knife. The head split into two pieces.”
"My feet were very strong. I kicked the man away with broken ribs. He couldn't get up from the ground. I held a knife and walked up to him. I wanted to ask him why he betrayed me, but there was blood on my face. Too many, and what I say sounds like bubbles in a quagmire."
"But he took the initiative to answer me." Peng Tuo put down his hand touching the scar and smiled at Chen Chong: "He said I deserved to die for actually leading them to a dead end. Then he started to curse, and I don't even remember the words he cursed. "
"So I killed him with one knife. After killing him, I realized that the wound on my face was so painful. It hurt so much that I couldn't stand still. It hurt so much that I could hardly remember who I was." Peng Tuo said without any tone. , Chen Chong didn’t speak either.
What happens next is very simple. Peng Tuo woke up and found that his troops had almost completely collapsed during this period, with only a few old brothers still with him. He had no choice but to defect to Zhang Yan. In the Montenegrin army, he almost didn't say a word, he just fought as hard as he could in the formation, and lost three fingers for this.
Over the years, he has been thinking about why Taipingdao has reached the stage it is today. He has never been able to figure out, is it really Chen Chong who caused the failure of Taiping Dao? If this is the case, what is there to regret about Taiping Road?
"Later I finally figured it out. It is indeed a person's problem, but it is not you, Longshou, but Master Daliang. Taipingdao is the Taipingdao of Master Daliang. When he dies, Taipingdao is over. It really doesn't matter. It’s worth pity.”
"Zhonghuang Taiyi is nothing more than a joke. Longshou, I have been away from Qingxu for three years. I was also very ambitious at that time, but it was useless to be ambitious. Taiping Road prospered because of the great sage, and also declined because of the great sage. The great sage After the death of the master, the generals of the land and the army also died in Qianqiu Pavilion. From then on, the Taiping Road was no longer the Taiping Road that established Huang Tian, but was just a bandit who separated the regime by chance."
"So you came here?" Chen Chong asked.
"Yes, Taipingdao is dead, so I came here." Peng Tuo nodded and sighed. His eyes no longer had the burning impulse and passion, but his eyes were very peaceful and clear, not like a forty-year-old A man of many years.
"As a disciple of the Great Master, I must avenge him. When Dong Zhuo led his troops to massacre at Qianqiu Pavilion, I saw it with my own eyes. I no longer have any hope of killing him on the battlefield, but I have to let him go no matter what. Revenge. I have heard about Su Buwei’s deeds, and even if I can’t scare Thief Dong to death, I will make him pay for it.”
Su Buwei was a celebrity twenty years ago. He wanted to avenge his father but had no other choice, so he killed all the wives and children of his enemy, Grand Sikong Li Hao. He also dug up the grave of Li Hao's father, beheaded the corpse and placed it in the market. Hao was so worried about this that he quickly died of illness within a few years. Su Buwei was therefore called a model of righteousness. But he was later tortured to death by Taiwei Duan Juan. In a sense, he was also an example of dying together.
"Are you willing to die for this?" Chen Chong asked him.
Peng Tuo brushed the blade of the knife with his hand and said with a smile: "I have been dead a long time ago. What you see is just a body." He pointed at the three people who accompanied him and said: "These three people are nothing more than a body." It's a lonely ghost like me who is willing to do this kind of thing."
"Don't do this, Peng Tuo." Chen Chong made a decision. Although it was hasty, he felt there was no problem, so Chen Chong called Peng Tuo by his name, "Taipingdao is not dead yet."
"Just like this Taoist temple." Peng Tuo opened his arms and responded to the empty hall: "Is it actually empty?"
Chen Chong let go of Dong Bai, stood up, patted Peng Tuo's shoulders with both hands, and said honestly: "There is still this Zhonghuang Taiyi here, there is still you, and there is me. Even if Taipingdao fails, he is here, in In the hearts of every believer who has ever been here. Even if Zhang Tianshi dies, as long as those who remember him are still there, Zhang Tianshi is not dead yet, and Huang Tian will still be able to rebuild!"
Peng Tuo smiled bitterly in a low voice: "Even though I am right here, I can't hear or see. I can only feel that things have changed, people have changed, and the walls are broken. Is he really still there?"
"Yes!" Chen Chong said word for word: "It is in the annals of history and in people's hearts."
Before Peng Tuo could deny it, Chen Chong continued: "Master Zhang entrusted you to me, but I did not fulfill my responsibility. Since you are here, I can't sit here and do nothing. Let's start over and rebuild a Huangtian world. "
"Longshou believes in Taiping Dao?"
"If the Huangtian world mentioned by Taiping Dao is a world where everyone is rich, has no worries in life, and has no regrets in death, and everyone is prosperous and happy, of course I believe it."
"Go to Huanyang to find Guo Shuai." Chen Chong let go and advised, "I can throw away this robe and start over with you."
"Thank you, Longshou, for telling me this." Peng Tuo looked at Chen Chong and suddenly burst into laughter. He said, "Then I'll sell it to Longshou to save face."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Chong saw him swiping the knife across his neck, blood gushing out, and Peng Tuo's eyes flashed with sparkle, then dimmed as if he was relieved.
The other three people said nothing when they saw this, and immediately took their lives with a knife. Chen Chong asked before a man brandished his sword: "Why is this so?"
The man replied: "I will die for Duke Peng without any regrets!"
Chen Chong looked blankly at the hall full of corpses. He suddenly wanted to cry, but he endured it.
