Yue Fei murmured: "Zihua, your name is Zihua. Are all of you with "Zi" in your name the rat tribe?" He looked directly at his subordinate Zihua: "Tell me, what else have you arranged for me? A plan I don’t know about?”
"What we are best at is finding food."
"So you will destroy their granary?"
"Our companions sneaked in to report. At this moment tonight, they should have used their special skills in the den of thieves."
"What a good plan." Yue Fei nodded, "The hundreds of infantry I sent to ambush at the foot of the mountain don't have any of your companions, right?"
"No," Zihua said, "As you can see, our incompetent companions will reveal their true colors as soon as night falls, and only some of them can remain human."
"This explains why when you made the original decision, you insisted on fighting only during the day." Yue Fei kept nodding.
Zihua said with great emotion: "Brother-in-law really doesn't dislike us! Even though we are rat tribe, we still know how to be grateful. If you don't treat us as aliens, we should sacrifice our lives in return!"
"That's not the point," Yue Fei waved his hand, "What I'm thinking about is that the battlefield is changing rapidly. Even though we have plans, we have to deal with unpredictable changes at any time. Besides, troops are expensive and fast, so you can only fight in daylight. address our weaknesses.”
The rats bowed their heads and said nothing.
"If I had known about it at the time, I would not have led you to take this risk. You cannot send out troops with weak points." Yue Fei slapped his thigh hard. "The matter has come to this. We can only fight hard tomorrow. Send out troops early in the morning. We must solve it before noon. In this way, the inventory of thieves' dens and the disposal of prisoners of war can be completed before evening!"
When the rats heard this, they were all filled with indignation and energy.
"We will win before noon!" another subordinate said excitedly.
Yue Fei remembered that he heard that Zhending Mansion was recruiting "daring warriors" and hoped to have soldiers who were braver than the Forbidden Army. When he first went to apply for the army, Lu Anping sent Liu Kai to read his resume. According to the general examination, he was required to use boxing, sword dancing, stick handling, archery, and horseback riding. Seeing his outstanding talents, he was made a squad leader.
Only when he became the team leader did he realize that these "daring warriors" were preparing to fight the barbarians. At that time, he thought to himself that the Song and Liao Dynasties had signed the "Chanyuan Alliance" a hundred years ago. Although they had to send money to the Liao Kingdom every year, But it also allowed the people of the two countries to rest and give birth, and avoided the tragedy of countless families being destroyed and people killed. I don’t know why, but the imperial court wants to attack the Hu people again? Did the Song Dynasty have such military strength?
Or is it that another group of barbarians who have emerged in the north in recent years are the ones they are preparing to attack? The newly arrived barbarians, called the Jurchens, established the Kingdom of Jin. The newly born country was full of vigor and vitality, but the Song and Liao kingdoms were in decline for a long time. How could they withstand this?
What's more, he once heard Mr. Liu complain that the imperial army raised by Zhending Mansion could not even defeat the bandits, which made the bandits so arrogant. That's why he took the initiative to ask for help, and wanted to try his skills with Tao Jun and Jia Jin's bandits who were wreaking havoc in counties and towns near Xiangzhou.
Yue Fei proposed to Master Liu that he only needed a hundred cavalry troops to solve the problem.
Liu Kai was overjoyed and gave him a hundred infantry and a hundred cavalry, allowing him to act independently without interference.
Being appreciated by others, Yue Fei planned this battle even more carefully.
The thieves came from Xiangzhou, and his hometown Tangyin County belonged to Xiangzhou. He had heard about the deeds of this group of bandits.
He surveyed the terrain, visited counties and towns that had been attacked, and interviewed soldiers who had fought against bandits. After mastering the habits of his opponents, the plan was already taking shape in his mind.
He found out the recent movements of the thieves and learned that they were temporarily entrenched in the mountainous area between Zhending Mansion and Xiangzhou, so he immediately deployed a combat plan.
However, an unexpected variable emerged: Who could have expected that he would have hundreds of rat spirits in his hands?
"One more thing," he asked the rats: "What happened to the Taoist Zhisun you just mentioned?"
※※※
Yunkong and Bei Shensou were invited into a camp tent. After someone brought water bags and big cakes, they went out to guard outside the tent.
Yun Kong was hungry, so he tore up the big cake and ate it with water.
When I was full, I asked Beishensou if he wanted to eat some.
Hong Haoyi, whose hands and feet were tied, didn't say a word, staring blankly at the ground, completely losing his arrogance.
"You shouldn't do this." Yun Kong spoke first.
Hong Haoyi didn't answer.
"We are destined to be together. I have traveled all over the world and met Mr. Hong three times in three different places. They were all killing monsters. However, can you kill those monsters who are willing to sacrifice their lives to save people?"
Hong Haoyi remained unmoved.
"In today's world, humans are more terrifying than demons, and demons among humans abound. Will Mr. Hong kill such demons?"
Hong Haoyi finally raised his head: "To be honest, I am going to kill the demon this time."
Yun Kong didn't expect him to say that, and couldn't help but wonder: "You want to kill someone?"
"I have realized a truth in recent years. When a human being behaves like a demon, there is no difference between a human being and a demon."
"What Mr. Hong said is true, but if it's the other way around, when monsters are more affectionate and righteous than humans, will Mr. Hong still regard them as monsters?"
Hong Haoyi stopped talking again.
"You kill monsters whenever you see them. To be honest, such behavior is more terrifying than monsters. Aren't you the evil Shura ghost among humans?" Yun Kong said angrily, "So, how does Mr. Hong distinguish the difference between humans and demons? Woolen cloth?"
"My son is in the bag around my waist." Hong Haoyi said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"You remember, my son begged me to let go of that demon fox ten years ago, and I kept my promise." Hong Haoyi said sadly, "My son died of illness not long after, and the Hong family has no heirs."
Yun Kong didn't know what to say: "Please forgive me."
"The Hong family has no heirs. Maybe it's because of too much killing, as you said?"
Yun Kong thought to himself that Hong Haoyi did not only kill, but also destroyed families and clans. But he didn't say it.
The two were silent for a while, and then Yun Kong said: "Does Mr. Hong travel alone? I used to see you cheering for me, and many people followed you."
"After my son passed away, my old wife also died of illness soon. I ended the family business, dismissed the servants, divorced my concubine, gave her a large sum of money, and found someone else to marry," Hong Haoyi seemed to be talking about someone else's business. Normally, as light as the breeze, "Now I am alone and have no worries."
Yun Kong sighed: "Life in this world is in vain. What are Mr. Hong's plans for the future? Will he continue to kill monsters until he can no longer kill them?"
After Hong Haoyi lost his son, he could no longer cheer up. He spent the past ten years living in chaos, acting according to long-term habits and following the hidden eyes that can feel the evil spirit to kill monsters. In fact, he didn't think so much about it.
"What if," Hong Haoyi's eyes suddenly brightened, "I, Hong, want to scare the world and do something abnormal?"
"Huh?"
※※※
Beiyue Hengshan was renamed Changshan a hundred years ago to avoid the name taboo of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng.
Beiyue Changshan near Zhending Mansion is the Fifth Small Cave Heaven, which is the place where the hermit Zheng Zizhen of the Western Han Dynasty cultivated immortality. The rat tribe has lived in the mountain for a long time, followed the immortals, and cultivated to perfection over time, so it has a transcendent status among the rat tribe.
Unexpectedly, one day, a human broke into their forest.
"The junior Taoist disciples, including Xun and Yuan Taoist, are asking to see the Rat King."
When the Rat King saw the coming person, he had an immortal spirit, a strange appearance, a childlike face, and fair hair, so he knew that he was a member of the same path. The Rat King felt that this man was not a threat, so he appeared in person to see him: "We live in the mountains and have never interacted with humans. I don't know why we are here for a long time?"
"Junior, I heard that the Rat King has a profound spiritual practice, but he has not yet reached perfection after practicing for hundreds of years, so I am here to offer you some advice."
These words spoke to the Mouse King's heart.
"Brother Taoist must be well-prepared for this. I am all ears."
Zhixun Daoist said: "I dare to say that the so-called "real people" are perfect people. However, they live in the mountains and stay away from the world. Although they can concentrate on seeking immortality, the last step should be to be born and then enter the world. The deeds are complete.”
"Born into the world? Are you asking us rats to enter the human world? If a rat crosses the street, it will only die in vain. How can we achieve perfection?"
"Don't worry, Rat King. Let's listen to the younger generation." Zhixun Taoist said: "In recent years, the Song Dynasty has been getting worse and worse. The Jin people in the north have just risen. There is a flood, and the Liao Kingdom will be wiped out in a few years. , I’m afraid that in a few years, the Song Dynasty will also become a world dominated by barbarians. By then, the thousand-year-old Chinese civilization, after more than two hundred years of barbarian rule, will probably be completely wiped out and will never be resurrected.”
"How can we predict the future accurately? Why does the Taoist priest say it as a matter of course?"
"Because I understand the art of walking in the sky, and the energy of the world is within my grasp, clearly."
