Along the canyon trail, the group walked for more than 40 miles, turned around a cliff, and saw a bright light before their eyes. They had emerged from the mountain.
Everyone looked around and saw that the sky was vast, the setting sun was like fire, and the vast plains were dotted with beautiful hills. Ten miles away, a large stream of water flows from south to north, glowing with golden light, and its end is as bright as bright clouds and as magnificent as brocade.
Not far away, another river flowed in, forming an upside-down character "Ya".
Right where the two rivers meet, there stands a small castle, and the shore is lined with boats of all sizes.
Everyone couldn't help but smile when they saw such a beautiful scenery, but Xu Guanzhong was shocked, his body trembled slightly, and he cried out: "Ah! How come this water, the direction of this water, is heading north?"
Cao Cao had never seen him lose his composure like this before. He was stunned and said quickly: "Brother, don't panic. Please speak slowly, but what went wrong?"
Xu Guanzhong looked regretful, pointed to the fort in the distance and said: "My younger brother had inquired in Huining Mansion before and learned that after passing through Mulengwoji Ridge and going east for more than ten miles, there is the intersection of Mudan River and Langlang River. The castle here is called Xiaomingzhu Castle. The leader of the Kingdom of Jin sent a Muke Ren to be the master of the castle and led more than 300 Bohai soldiers to station here. All the pearls picked by Zhuhu must be delivered in this castle. , and then the officials sell them to merchants."
Cao Cao looked at the fort in the distance, nodded and said, "So what?"
Xu Guanzhong gave a wry smile, shook his head and said: "In his fort, because he was afraid that Zhuhu would resist and also wanted to wipe out smuggling, he had prepared good warships. My younger brother wanted to take his warship. If he couldn't, he would try to buy one from the merchants. It’s a big boat, so we can go down the river, turn into the gurgling water, then enter the Tuomen River, and then enter the sea. Who knows..."
Before Cao Cao heard the clue, Li Jun and Zhang Shun were surprised and said in unison: "Down the river?"
When the two of them shouted, Lao Cao finally understood and whispered: "Could it be the other way around?"
Xu Guanzhong nodded bitterly: "My little brother believed in people's words and only thought that the river flows from north to south. Who would have thought that at this moment, it is completely the opposite! If you make this mistake, you will miss something important for your brother."
Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Well, I can't blame you. It was just hearsay. The person you are talking to may not have been to the Mudan River himself, so it is inevitable that it is not full of information... I don't think the current is flowing either." It's so urgent that we can go against the current, no matter what."
Li Jun said: "Brother, brother Guanzhong, just don't worry. It's unethical to leave my younger brother and Zhang Shun here to sail against the tide."
Xu Guanzhong sighed: "Although it is not impossible to go against the current, the boat will inevitably move slowly, which will inevitably delay the time. If Aguda finds out that we have been to Qigganling Racecourse, it will not be difficult to guess our whereabouts. At that time, he will send a message with Haidongqing and call Isn’t it going to create a lot of trouble by arresting us along the way?”
Zhang Shun said: "Don't be afraid of him. When we reach the water, it's me and Li Jun. Even if the Jurchens are good at fighting, how dare they come to catch me in the river and sea?"
Cao Cao patted Zhang Shun appreciatively and said with a smile: "That's all, it's over now, Guan Zhong, you don't have to think too much. Seeing that it's getting dark, we'll take a break for a while, and when it gets completely dark, we can hide in the fort Just take his warship. For the rest, I have two brothers, Li Jun and Zhang Shun, to rely on."
Xu Guanzhong nodded slowly: "Brother does not blame the younger brother for his negligence, but the younger brother cannot let it go. Today, I am attacking the city. I will be the vanguard. I will fight to the death to seize the warship and defeat the enemy." After saying this, his eyebrows were already raised. , in a pair of apricot eyes, the gaze was like a prairie fire, extremely ferocious, not as calm as usual.
Cao Cao frowned when he saw this, and suddenly took Xu Guanzhong's hands, shook them gently, raised his head and looked him in the eyes, and said warmly: "Guan Zhong, how can we be without faults in this world? Even if a wise man thinks a lot, there is one thing he can't do." When it was lost. Moreover, from my brother's point of view, this matter is not surprising. If you want to be a pioneer, brother, of course you can do it, but you must remember firmly that you and I are brothers, so you must be more careful. Do you understand?"
Xu Guanzhong was a man of both civil and military skills, and was well versed in astrology and arithmetic. He had never failed in his skills in the world of martial arts and in planning in the temple. He was also young. Although he usually spoke modestly, how could he not be arrogant in his heart? If he hadn't been aloof and arrogant, he wouldn't have been nicknamed "Crane Soaring to the Sky", and he wouldn't have given up being an official and came to join Cao Cao.
In his own heart, he had long regarded himself as Cao Cao's mastermind. Although he later met Wu Yong, Li Zhu, Xiao Jiasui and others, he did not think that he was inferior to others. However, this time he was negligent and made a big mistake. When the leak comes, I feel ashamed and angry, which is really difficult for ordinary people to imagine.
Fortunately, Cao Cao's wisdom is not inferior to Guan Zhong. When it comes to arrogance, a person who can say "the heroes of the world and me" can also be imagined. Therefore, among the more than ten brothers here, only Cao Cao can really feel it. Xu Guanzhong was afraid that he would make a mistake in his agitation, so he quickly grabbed him and said these words seriously.
Xu Guanzhong was stared at by Cao Cao's eyes like a deep pool, and he felt the nameless fire in his heart gradually dissipated. Cao Cao's serious words and deep voice were deeply engraved in his heart. He couldn't help but smile secretly, took a long breath, nodded and smiled: "Don't worry, brother. The younger brother wants to help his elder brother achieve great things, how can he throw this life away lightly?"
Cao Cao was relieved when he saw that he was enlightened. The two looked at each other holding hands and laughing in relief.
More than an hour later, when the sky was dark, Cao Cao and others came to the fort three miles away and asked Duan Jingzhu and Wu Lu to take care of the horses. The remaining brothers all changed into fish-scale armor, only two eyes were exposed, and they quietly watched in the night. After hiding under the fort wall, Xu Guanzhong said: "Brother, wait for me to go up and take a look at his clues, and then decide on his plan!" After saying that, he jumped up, jumped more than ten feet, tapped lightly on the wall, and lifted up again. Leap, reach out to climb the wall, and jump over lightly.
Many brothers had never seen Xu Guanzhong show off his skills, and they all shouted: "I didn't expect that Guan Zhong could have such light skills!"
Shi Qian whispered: "In the past, I was working with my elder brother in Tokyo. My elder brother sent me to use Qinggong to deliver letters to Captain Gao's house. My younger brother from the Xu family climbed the wall and walked across the house, always following me. My younger brother was not aware of it. You What do you think he is capable of?"
After Xu Guanzhong climbed up the fort wall, he took a bird's eye view and saw that the castle was roughly divided into two parts. The north side was neatly lined with military camps, and the area near the wall was full of horse galleries. To the south are high and low buildings. According to what he had heard before, they were businesses, inns, and a few private houses. The tallest one in the middle was where the castle owner lived.
Along the east side, there is a large pond with several large and small warships inside. There is a river connected to the Mudan River outside, but there is a water gate on the river, which is tightly closed at the moment.
After taking a closer look, he had an idea in his mind. He climbed out of the wall again, landed lightly on the ground, and drew the terrain on the soil by the moonlight. He discussed with Cao Cao: "Brother, please look, there are more than three hundred soldiers here. Although They are from Bohai, but they are not useless like the Song army. If it is a head-on battle, my brothers and I are few in number. If anyone makes a mistake, we will regret it. In my opinion, it is better to capture the thief first than the king!"
Cao Cao asked: "How to act?"
Xu Guanzhong said: "My younger brother also used Qinggong to get in, and attacked and killed the master of Mouke Castle in one fell swoop. Then he set a fire and taught several of Shezhe's brothers to climb in from the north city. When they saw the fire, they seized the horses from the horse gallery. He took advantage of the chaos to disperse his soldiers so that he could set fire to the barracks. When his navy saw it, he had to open the water gate to escape, and then taught his brothers to lie down outside the door. The river there was narrow. Once the boat came out, they robbed his biggest battle. Boat, what do you think, brother?"
Cao Cao said: "Since you have a plan, we will act accordingly, just be extremely careful."
Xu Guanzhong nodded, still used Qinggong, and jumped up the wall.
Cao Cao was finally worried, so he smiled at Shi Qian and said, "He followed you that day, and you follow him today. Brother, please sneak up on Guan Zhong quietly, so that if anything goes wrong, we can help you."
Shi Qian was extremely proud of his light skills. He was followed by Xu Guanzhong last time. Although he didn't say it, he felt a little unhappy in his heart. Unexpectedly, he had a chance to regain his position today. How could he not want to? Immediately he said with joy: "Brother knows my true feelings! Let He Chongtian know that the fleas on the drum are not in vain."
After saying that, he started the wall-walking technique, and he jumped up against the wall like a big gecko. Like a silent smoke, it followed Xu Guanzhong in the distance.
Cao Cao followed Xu Guanzhong's instructions and allocated his manpower: "If you are waiting for a few brothers, go here. If you are waiting for a few brothers, you can go here..."
Xu Guanzhong entered the castle, moving lightly and without moving, only walking quickly in the shadow of the eaves, avoiding patrolling soldiers all the way to the castle lord's palace, lightly jumping over the wall, seeing the front hall was brightly lit, and faint voices could be heard, so he quietly He moved closer and licked the broken window paper with his tongue. When he looked inside, he couldn't help but feel angry.
In the middle of the hall, there was a big tiger-skin chair. Behind the chair were two young men fanning themselves. A very fat man, about fifty years old, sat leaning back carelessly, with his arms bare and his belly sticking out. , with a domineering and rude look on his face, while drinking tea, he pointed at the father and daughter kneeling in front of him and cursed: "Damn you guys! I am the plotter of the Great Jin Kingdom and the master of this Little Pearl Castle. ! Isn’t it possible that a noble man like this master is not worthy of a cheap girl from your family? You must know that your master Nemur is interested in her, which is a blessing for your family. You don’t know how to cherish it, and you dare to refuse your master’s kindness. Could it be that you really have eaten the heart of a bear and become a leopard?"
The father and daughter looked like they were struggling to survive on the water, especially the father. His arms and calves were covered with dark purple spots, which were caused by years of diving and withstanding water pressure. The two sides were fighting, and he kept kowtowing and said: "It's not that I dare to contradict the Lord of the fort, but my daughter is young and weak, and she is really not lucky enough to serve you. I hope you can forgive my father and daughter."
A girl kneeling next to her was also trembling with fear.
This girl is only thirteen or fourteen years old. Although her skin is dark, her face is quite handsome. If you look closely, you can even call her delicate. It's just that this girl is extremely thin. She wears odd-style shorts like her father, which seems to be made of fish skin. Her wrists and knees have bulging muscles. She hasn't had a full meal in an unknown amount of time.
With a bang, the fat Muke smashed the tea bowl into pieces. He stood up tremblingly and roared: "You are so shameless. In this case, I will kill you. That girl can't get out of my hands." Mouth."
He took two steps forward and kicked the father, causing him to somersault and fly out. He landed a foot away and vomited blood. He stepped forward and wanted to chase, but the woman hugged her legs and feet and screamed: "Please, sir." Don’t hit my daddy.”
The fat Mou Ke looked down, and a lusty and ferocious silver smile suddenly appeared on his shiny fat face: "Gaga, your name is Pearl, isn't it? Haha, how can you raise a pearl from such a poor family like yours? Just obey me and live in fine clothes and food from now on. Only then can you be considered a pearl."
After saying that, he stretched out his hand to pull the woman. The girl screamed in fright, and rolled and crawled away. Muke laughed loudly, and started to chase after him. Suddenly he screamed, but he stepped on the girl and smashed it. On the tea cup.
It was difficult for him to have such a fat body, but he jumped a few steps on one leg, sat back on the chair, and with great difficulty lifted the sole of his foot to see a small wound with a few drops of blood coming out. The man was so angry that he cursed: "Where are the people? I don't know how to clean and hurt the soles of my feet. Shouldn't you be punished by death?"
The two waiters looked pale and trotted away, fetching water and white cloth to bandage his wounds. They were then knocked to the ground by the big-ear scraper, but they got up without saying a word, quickly picked up the pieces on the ground, and cursed again. Come out in a hurry.
Xu Guanzhong quickly retreated and hid behind a bush, but he heard two young men whisper: "This Han girl is really pitiful. If she falls into the hands of the master, she will be killed in a day or two." The other one hurriedly said Said: "Shut up! After listening to this, master, will you and I still survive? He has been in this city since he came, and he has killed dozens of women every year. Are you willing to come over?"
In the hall, the fat man who called himself Nemur pointed at the Han girl Pearl and shouted in a deep voice: "If you hadn't dodged, how could the master have been injured? Bitch, come here if you have the sense to serve the master. Otherwise, first Kill your ignorant father, and then throw you to the barracks to suffer."
Ming Zhu'er's face shed two lines of tears, and she said sadly: "My mother, my eldest brother and my second brother all died in the water in order to collect pearls for you. My family has collected pearls all the time. Why are you forcing yourself to death like this?" us?"
Nemur glared with a pair of rat eyes, gleaming fiercely: "Bitch, people like you have committed sins in the previous life and are here to pay retribution in this life. This is how fate should be, so what is there to say? You won't come here , I’ll kill your father first!”
Before she finished speaking, the girl suddenly took out a sharp pearl-picking knife from her arms.
Nemur was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly: "Interesting, interesting, Sir, I have experienced hundreds of battles, and Khitan dogs have killed countless people. Am I afraid of your knife?"
After saying that, he stood up, took off a big knife from the wall, made a sword dance easily, and said with a wild smile: "Did you see that? I just called this a knife!"
Mingzhu'er suddenly stabbed her slender neck with a pearl-picking knife, and said with tears: "We have a hard life, and we couldn't compete with you. Today, a poor girl died here. If you still have a shred of conscience, let her go." My father’s life!”
Nemur chuckled and said: "You die, you die, if you really dare to cut yourself to death, I will let the dogs eat your father alive."
Hearing this, Mingzhu'er felt a dilemma between life and death. She turned to look outside the house and saw the bright moon in the sky. Her heart was filled with grief and anger, and she screamed miserably: "Grandfather, please open your eyes. This world really does not allow my father and daughter to survive." What?"
Na Nemur laughed and said: "Of course Grandpa Tian is wise, otherwise why would our country, the Great Jin Kingdom, be so prosperous? Why can I enjoy all the glory?"
Just when he was feeling proud, he suddenly heard someone shout loudly: "If this woman thinks that the sky has no eyes, then today is the day when God opens its eyes. If you, a fat pig, thinks that the sky has eyes, then today is the day when the sky closes its eyes!"
Several people in the hall looked in shock, only to see the window snap open, and a man wearing strange scale armor with only his eyes exposed jumped into the hall, holding a thin iron rod in his hand.
Nemur is worthy of being a veteran general. Although he has gained weight now, he is not lacking in courage. He was the first to react. He looked at the thin iron rod in the hand of the incoming man and laughed loudly: "Are you the assassin who came to kill me? Are you? Have you never heard of my reputation as Nemur? Kill me with a long chopstick?"
Xu Guanzhong said calmly: "My sword will never be unsheathed unless it shows great treachery or evil. Sir, your character is worthy of unsheathing it once."
As he spoke, he held the iron rod with his left hand and pumped his right hand - his iron rod was only as thick as his little finger, but who knew there was actually a sword hidden in it! This sword was extremely thin, yet extremely sharp and bright. Xu Guanzhong held the sword in his hand and danced it freely. Mingzhu'er felt a brilliance rising in front of her eyes, like a bright moon in the sky, or like a pearl emerging from the world! More like the long sky, that one eye that opens and closes uncertainly.
There are different teachings: The fleas on the drum make no sound at all, and the crane is lighter when it wants to soar into the sky. Full of loyalty and righteousness, the pearl shines brightly and the moon shines brightly.
(End of chapter)
