Fan Rui raised his sword and ordered Xin Xingzong to surrender.
Xin Xingzong was worried and gritted his teeth secretly: My old Xin family has been a general for generations and has been deeply favored by the emperor. Unless we are in a helpless situation, how can we easily surrender the thieves?
So he tried his best to put on a flattering smile and said quickly as if he were frying beans: "The immortal's magical powers are truly unparalleled in the world. I admire him so much! The immortal may not know that today's officials respect Taoism, and it is as high as the immortal. If you are willing to serve the imperial court, you will be rewarded with thousands of gold, and you will be given the title of wife and son of a marquis. How can I say that? The young general is not talented, so I am willing to recommend him..."
Before he finished speaking, Fan Rui laughed, put a little more force on his hand, and immediately cut the skin of his neck. Xin Xingzong was helpless and screamed: "All soldiers will listen to my order, put down their weapons quickly, and retreat three miles."
The soldiers and generals had complicated expressions, but they did not dare to disobey the general's orders and had to retreat one after another.
Shi Jin and others laughed loudly, rushed over, lifted Xin Xingzong in front of the saddle, and roared away on their horses.
The generals of the Xin family, Xin You and Xin Ding, came running with their troops. When they saw their general being captured, their livers and gallbladders burst into tears. They shouted, "How can we just let him go? Trapping our general is a serious crime. Come with me to save him." .”
The Western troops gathered around and chased after them in a chaotic manner. Shi Jin ignored them and just walked.
When they arrived at the suspension bridge, there were Li Kui, Yu Baosi, and the Four Taihu heroes on the left, and Liu Tang and San Ruan on the right. They each led more than a hundred people. They asked Shi Jin to pass by and attack the pursuers together.
Li Kui was naked and light, striding forward and charging forward. When Xin You was about to chop him with a long ax, he had already grabbed it into his arms and cut off the horse's feet with his hands. The horse fell to the ground and fell. .
Xin Ding wanted to avenge his companions, but unexpectedly, Yu Bao was hit by four diagonal thorns, and shouted: "Ah, jade belt around the waist!" He swung the ax and cut Xin Ding in half at the waist. The Four Heroes of Taihu followed up, dancing with their harpoons and swords, and closely guarded Li Kui's left and right sides.
Over there, Liu Tang also killed two generals, and the three Ruan heroes each held bitter bamboo spears and killed more than ten people.
When these ten giant insects showed their power, the soldiers under their command took the opportunity to join together and formed a wall of shields. They all held their shoulders firmly against each other to prevent the Western troops from rushing in. The spearmen behind them just poked randomly, and the archers and horsemen also reined in their horses. Shoot your bow at the end of the bridge.
Although he only has three or four hundred people, how wide can the suspension bridge be? The Western Army rushing in front felt that the guns were coming like a forest and the arrows were falling like rain. Where could they stand? After stepping back a little, the swordsman took the opportunity to withdraw his shield. He rushed forward and slashed with his sword, killing him until he was knocked upside down. When the officers and soldiers behind him surged up, he stepped back, but the shield wall was still like a mountain.
This was repeated several times, without losing a single member of his family, and he killed three to four hundred Western troops. A few generals saw that they were not in the right direction, and quickly led their troops back, hoping to reorganize their formation and fight him again.
However, Li Kui and his group had already been told by Cao Cao that as long as they blocked the enemy, they were not allowed to claim credit. Now when they saw how to kill the enemy, they decisively stopped when they saw the situation was good. The soldiers were stunned.
Chao Zhong, the guard of the Qingchun Gate, was applauded repeatedly when he saw it, but he never thought that Liangshan heroes were so good at fighting that they could capture the general and officers alive in an army of ten thousand horses. He couldn't help but beam with joy, and kept saying: "What a skill, what a skill! The brother of the 'Northern King' really deserves his reputation."
He also offered advice to Cao Cao: "How about I build a stage at the top of the city and chop up the captured officers and generals alive in front of everyone, firstly to avenge the people under the city, and secondly to destroy the prestige of his officers and soldiers."
Poor Xin Xingzong had just been lifted up and slipped up to the city wall when he heard these words - when he first joined the army, he listened to his father's teachings: If the earthen jar is not broken away from the well mouth, the general will inevitably die in battle. Therefore, he was more or less mentally prepared for dying in the battle, but how could he have expected that he would be cut into pieces?
For a moment, my bones were soft and my muscles were numb, beads of sweat and tears were rolling down my face. I wanted to open my mouth to beg for mercy, but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out.
What do you think? But it made my tongue stiff.
But he saw a short figure with his back to him. He laughed and said: "Brother Chao's calculation is not bad. However, beheading alone is not as good as being beheaded by many people. How much is it worth to behead him alone? Let's go on. Keep him locked up until a few more of his generals are captured and all of them beheaded, wouldn't it be spectacular?"
Chao Zhong nodded repeatedly: "Brother Song, what a plan! It's best to capture Tong Guan as well."
Cao Cao laughed, looked back and waved his hands. Shi Jin knew what he meant, called a few powerful soldiers, tied up Xin Xingzong with a rope, and escorted him down the tower.
Only then did Lao Cao turn around and look at Xin Xingzong's trembling back, his eyes complex and uncertain.
He fought easily at the Qingchun Gate, but the other four gates fought fiercely and hard, each suffering considerable damage.
Until the shadow of the sun moved westward, Tong Guan saw that he could not attack for a long time, and learned that Xin Xingzong had been defeated. He sighed, ordered his troops to retreat, and set up four camps around Hangzhou.
To the east are the Huanqing soldiers and the defeated generals of the Xihe soldiers, who are camping along the Qiantang River. To the west are the Yanyan soldiers outside the West Lake. To the south are the Jingyuan soldiers on Fengshan Mountain. To the east are the Tong Guan soldiers. They are afraid that he will steal the troops at night. After forming a stronghold, they still retreated to the old camp on the north side of the canal, and sent men and horses to guard several bridges on the river.
Not to mention that Tong Guan scolded the generals for their incompetence and the slackness of the officers and soldiers in the Chinese army's tent, nor that Fang Tianding fought bloody battles for half a day and then returned to the palace and scolded Si Xingfang again in front of everyone. He only said that Xin Xingzong was imprisoned in the Hangzhou prison, in panic and fear. , fearing that they would capture a few more officers and generals, they ordered them to be chopped into pieces together.
This cell was dirty and smelly. Xin Xingzong was locked in a cell alone, and he couldn't help but luck - it wasn't that he had Qigong to be able to break the rope, but he had to muster the courage to encourage himself to bite his tongue and kill himself, so as not to suffer in pieces.
However, his teeth bit his tongue several times, and not even a drop of blood came out, so he quickly withdrew his strength. Only then did he realize that there was a great horror between life and death, and it was easier said than done to die calmly.
Just as he continued to brew, he suddenly heard a deep voice coming from outside the prison: "You said that officials love Taoism. Is this true or false?"
Xin Xingzong was startled at first. He turned around and saw a dim light, reflecting a familiar face. It was the immortal who summoned the general in front of the formation in the daytime and flew to capture him alive!
He was stunned for a moment, then belatedly remembered the other party's question, and suddenly burst into ecstasy, nodding his head repeatedly: "How dare the young general deceive the immortal? At that time, the official family was God's Yuanzi, the Immortal Emperor, who came to earth. Zhenghe Qi In the same year, he was canonized by the Taoist Academy with the title of 'Master Taojun Emperor', and there were twenty-six levels of Taoism. All Taoist people were given the title of Sir, Chushi, etc., with a rank comparable to that of a middle-ranking official to a general or an official. You can tell how long the immortal is. Lin Lingsu? This person is the leader of the Shenxiao sect. He can perform the Five Thunder Methods. The government gave him the title of Mr. Tongzhen Daling. He ordered all states and counties to build the Shenxiao Palace, and his power is overwhelming..."
Before he finished speaking, Fan Rui interrupted: "In this way, this Taoist Lin is already a leader, and Fan is not a member of his Shenxiao sect. If he goes to Beijing, won't he suppress him?"
Xin Xingzong became more and more happy and said quickly: "I definitely won't! According to the young general, this is the fate of the immortal. What is the immortal path? But it was the leader Lin who was too arrogant after he became powerful and offended many people. It would have been okay to rely on the official's trust, but last year there was a flood in Kyoto. The official ordered him to go to the city to perform rituals to reduce the flood. After several days of performing rituals with no results, he asked the prince to bow to the water four times. The flood receded that night, and the people of the capital They all praise the prince's virtues, but they have violated the official taboo and repelled him to his hometown. Nowadays, the official family is lacking such a figure as the Immortal Leader. If the Immortal Leader emerges, he will definitely be the leader of the Taoist sect in the world."
Fan Rui's face lit up with joy after hearing this, and then hesitantly said: "But... Fan used to drop grass in Mangdang Mountain. Later, he was coerced by Liangshan and the village was annexed by him. Chao Gai and Fang La were equally famous thieves. With my background, How can you enter the emperor's palace?"
Xin Xingzong shook his head violently: "A man who is unlucky and lives in the wilderness for a while, what does it matter? Not to mention the immortal master, it is Chao Gai. If he has amazing magical powers and is willing to serve the officials, how can the officials not accept him?" The Immortal Master thought too soon. This matter will definitely succeed as long as it is recommended by a capable minister."
Fan Rui was a little anxious and shouted: "Fan knows hundreds of heroes in the world. Where can I make friends with the ministers in the court?"
When Xin Xingzong heard this, he was very excited. He coughed, put on a duty-bound look, and said with emotion: "It's far away in the sky, but close in front of you! Immortal master, don't underestimate the young general. The young general Xin Xingzong was born as a general in the Western Army, and his father is a third-rank official. , and Privy Tong are close friends, Privy Tong is a close minister of the emperor, and he regards the young general as his nephew, so if he is recommended by the young general, he will be safe."
Fan Rui felt happy in his heart, but stared at him with cold eyes: "Can you deceive Fan? How can you sincerely help me when you are a prisoner at the hands of me! Haha, you are going to take the opportunity to harm Fan. , can’t I see it?”
Xin Xingzong shook his head repeatedly and said angrily: "Why does Master Immortal look down on me like this?"
Then he furrowed his brows and said with a sincere expression: "A man doesn't know you until you fight him. Although the young general suffered from the Immortal Master's methods today, he sincerely admires him from the bottom of his heart. If the Immortal Master will not abandon him, he is willing to become his brother! When the Immortal Master is in office, I have become a celebrity in front of my family. If I take care of my younger brother out of brotherly love, won’t my younger brother also want to prosper? It’s up to you and me. If you don’t believe me, just listen to Xin’s oath.”
He struggled to his knees and stood up, with a resolute look on his face: "Xin swears by the lamp today that he and Master Fan Xian will become true brothers. If we are honored, we will both be honored, and if we suffer, we will suffer together. If this intention is not sincere, call me, call me... "
He originally wanted to kill me by thousands of arrows, but then he thought about this person using evil methods to harm me. How could he not avenge me? Moreover, his wild behavior will not get into the eyes of the officials. Xin is a man who sends troops to release horses. If he obeys the oath, it is not a trick...
For a moment, my mind was spinning, but I swore a toothache oath: "Tell me to turn into a pig or sheep and be braised and steamed."
Fan Rui stared at him, as if he wanted to distinguish whether he was sincere or not. When Xin Xingzong was so scared, he nodded, his brows stretched, and he smiled and said: "Brother Xin is worthy of being a disciple, and he really counts every step - haha, and Not to mention your success in the future, even now, I will save you from the trouble of being torn to pieces! Since the path must be taken by Brother Xin, it is natural to let Brother Xin take his own path first."
Xin Xingzong nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "How can you hide your little thoughts from Brother Fan's wise eyes?"
The two looked at each other and laughed, and at the same time said happily in their hearts: "You idiot, you fell into my trap!"
After laughing, Fan Rui spread his left palm, made a secret with his right hand, drew an unlocking charm on his palm, flicked the lock, and with a clang, the lock jumped open. Fan Rui opened the door and entered, touched a short knife, and cut the rope. , he put the knife into the opponent's palm: "Brother Xin has no weapons, use this knife to defend yourself first!"
Xin Xingzong held the knife in his hand and felt much more at ease, but then he heard Fan Rui ramble and say something.
This is exactly what it is: true love, falsehood, and quarrels, but a smiling face and a sinister heart. Unlocking the lock lets the vicious dog go, trying to lead the child to break through the door.
(End of chapter)
