On the largest three-story river boat in the center of Shuibo. Shi Liangdong, one of the leaders of the Yunmeng Thieves, was also anxiously waiting for something; because this time he took great risks and connections to sneak into the vicinity of Jiangling City to carry out tasks and goals, but he failed to achieve any of them.
For example, the agreed time for a secret meeting with the other two parties has passed; but neither the mysterious behind-the-scenes sponsor nor the representatives from Jiangling City showed up. Instead, bad news came out in Jiangling City that the entire city of Bamendasuo was closed, and the men he sent to investigate the city were also trapped.
As the largest force active in Yunmeng Daze, there is an existence called Seventy-two Links. When it was most powerful and prosperous in its early years, it once had tens of thousands of subordinates of all kinds, and the peripheral members and people who relied on it for many years to survive. The number of related people is several times or ten times that.
Shi Liangdong, who is responsible for external negotiations and communication, is undoubtedly one of the important members. His great-great-grandfathers can even be traced back to the predecessor of Seventy-Two Links, the ancestors of the old Yunmeng thieves before they were wiped out by the army; members who escaped disaster because of selling stolen goods abroad.
So after embezzling the stolen money, he stayed dormant in the surrounding counties, married a wife and had children, and worked as a good citizen for more than ten years. Then, after the imperial court gradually abandoned Yunmeng Daze, a group of township party members and neighbors regrouped and went deep into it to rebuild their stronghold and start illegal business again.
Therefore, Shi also seems to occupy a place among the founders of Seventy-two Links. When the Shi family was at its most prosperous, it even reached a tacit understanding with some people in the government on behalf of the Seventy-two Lianwu Group through local efforts in exchange for long-term coexistence.
After all, the so-called Seventy-two Chain Wounds are actually the collective name for many strongholds hidden in Yunmeng Daze where lawbreakers and exiles gather. In addition to the desire to make profits through illegal activities, most people no longer have the urge to challenge the court head-on like the Yunmeng thieves did before.
Both the dock owners and the several leaders who were promoted basically accepted this status quo. Even Shi Liangdong thought that as long as some insignificant refugees were handed over during the regular campaigns of the army, this situation could be maintained forever.
However, just a few years ago everything suddenly changed dramatically. First, someone found the leaders on the southern waterway and secretly promised considerable benefits in exchange for their long-term transportation of some prohibited items. Then more river bandits came over one after another.
As the strength of the Seventy-Two Links dock increased day by day, it seemed that it could no longer stay dormant. When some of the leaders noticed that things seemed to have changed, they wanted to give up and call a halt; but not surprisingly, they died violently. Then, there was a brief but intense internal conflict.
In the end, the two leaders who died were replaced by leaders of external forces. Although Shi Liangdong temporarily escaped the storm because he was running away, he was unable to change the situation. Instead, he was reassigned a new task by the other leaders.
As a representative of Yunmeng Thief/Seventy-two Links, he left his familiar hometown for the first time and went to the North to meet with a potential collaborator who had huge interests. However, he didn't know what went wrong. He had been traveling in the north for several months without being able to see the other party.
On the contrary, because his subordinates got drunk in the court and became jealous and leaked clues, he was targeted by the police officers of the Ministry of Punishment. Although other subordinates tried to buy information and rescue him on the way, the success failed unexpectedly; he was almost killed and injured, and he was imprisoned in the Dongdu Penal Department Prison.
At this time, his identity could no longer be concealed; after being tortured, Shi Liangdong confessed almost everything he knew. But this seemed to be an unexpected turn of events for him who knew he was going to die. Anyway, he finally escaped and came back with a message from a certain nobleman.
But Shi Liangdong, who returned to Yunmeng Daze, discovered that the 72nd Lianlian Dock was still the same 72nd Lianlian Dock, but several of the original senior leaders had "abdicated their positions to make way for others"; The dock owner has also been replaced; Yun Mengze has completely changed.
But what was unexpected was that in fact, the outsiders who occupied Jiuzhai not only did not attack him, but also appointed him as the fifth leader on the surface, responsible for external liaison and information gathering. But in the face of the opponent's methods, he neither dared to refuse nor took the opportunity to escape.
Because the beings standing behind these people not only have the ability to control and drive demons, but can also use secret methods to transform ordinary humans and animals into short-lived creatures that are neither human nor ghosts, but are extremely vicious. Many who tried to resist them or fled met a miserable end.
Until that celestial change, indescribable drastic changes continued to occur in Yunmeng Daze; so much so that Chibowu, the secret headquarters, suddenly lost contact. The humans, animals, fish, and birds in several nearby docks have also mutated to varying degrees, and some docks have even been attacked frequently.
As a result, the seventy-two chain docks were in panic, and a large number of dock members fled. That's all, but even a dozen of the big and small dock owners have secretly joined forces to try to escape Yunmeng Daze with their families, and secretly contacted people in the government to seek recruitment.
But as the saying goes, people keep things secret, and soon someone leaked the news, which also touched the bottom line of the new leaders. As a result, Yunmeng Zenei also broke out again. Compared with the previous change of upper-level power, The process involved more brutal and bloody purges and intense civil strife.
Then, in order to stop these fleeing Wu people, there were initial conflicts and chaotic battles with the officers and soldiers of the outlying states and counties. As a result, it was discovered that the local officers and soldiers were so lazy and unprepared that in one go, several county towns were captured, making things get out of hand.
As a result, several lines of officers and soldiers headed by Jiangling Prefecture ushered in a massacre, and the officers and soldiers who were later lured deep into Yunmeng Daze were severely defeated; at least hundreds of warships were abandoned along the way, and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers Buried in the water, or captured and used as blood food to feed and transform those alien species.
But what shocked Shi Liangdong even more was that with this unexpected victory, Yunmeng Daze also appeared one after another, with more grain, grass, supplies and ordnance, and even groups of people who came to defect. New forces from all walks of life. Although they all use the banner of mountain sheds, river bandits, or traveling bandits.
But at this critical juncture, Shi Liangdong, who had been gradually marginalized, was once again assigned an important task. It is to conduct private and secret negotiations with certain people in Jiangling Mansion, who have just lost their troops and suffered a huge defeat; to seek possible recruitment and compromise conditions.
This is really incredible. You must know that the imperial army has lost 20,000 to 30,000 people one after another. How can anyone still imagine that this can be used to calm people down and suppress this chaos? Therefore, Shi Liangdong is actually quite pessimistic about this mission.
In his private mind, perhaps even himself was a chess piece used by those who now occupy Jiucho Yunmengze to confuse and deceive the government in order to buy time to gather strength. But Shi Liangdong had to do it bravely because the other party's methods made him irresistible.
Otherwise, he would have left behind his wives, concubines, and children who stayed in Yunmengze, tried to escape elsewhere with the channels and money he had, and started over with a new look like his ancestors. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take a look at the guards around him, who were essentially monitors.
"Isn't that right?" But when he saw the other party who was dressed in black, expressionless, and precious about his words, he suddenly said: "I can't feel the movement of the pig dragon in the water." Shi Liangdong said indifferently: "Could he be out looking for food again? After all, he is a beast lacking intelligence..."
"The smell of blood!" However, the black-clothed guard just glared at him, and suddenly his expression changed drastically: "Someone is attacking...be careful." The next moment, a few soft bangs were heard, and the armed guards on alert outside suddenly burst out with shrill shouts and fierce fighting.
Then, one after another, silence returned. "Come back and guard this place with all your strength!" The black-clothed guards immediately stopped the companions who were holding knives and swords in the cabin and wanted to rush out. At the same time, they kicked the table eucalyptus away and slammed it against the cabin door. Others also pushed Push the cabinet against the outside window.
However, the next moment, the tops of their heads suddenly shattered; fragments of wood and wood splattered downwards, hitting these unsuspecting armed guards; blood was embedded in the heads and faces of most of them, and the hisses were tragic. He screamed and rolled to the ground. But some people stuck to the wall to avoid the sputtering range.
Then, one after another, they jumped up from the mess on the ground, brandishing their double knives, iron whips and water-splitting thorns, and rushed to the cabin roof hole that appeared above; and then, amid the lightning flashes of exclamations, curses and screams, , his hands and feet were broken, and his neck was crooked, like a ball of rotten meat, and he fell into the leaky roof cabin.
Following closely behind was a red and black figure, suddenly flying down; the violent shock at the moment of landing once again blew away the injured guards who fell to the ground, and even the furnishings that had fallen to the ground were blown away to both sides. He spat out a mouthful of blood; in the midst of the flying dust and debris, a crystal flash suddenly appeared.
It was the only leader in black who was fully prepared, and the curved-edged dagger stabbed out quietly like a poisonous snake spitting a message; it easily penetrated the red and black figure's horizontal arm, and penetrated an inch into the chest. However, the opponent remained unmoved and unaffected. He punched half of his face, which he was desperately trying to avoid.
In an instant, blood splattered from the mouth and the crackling sound of eyeballs bursting out was heard. The leader in black, who took the opportunity to make a sneak attack, crashed into the wall and passed out on the spot. In the end, only Shi Liangdong was left hiding in the corner, trembling, secretly moving his steps, trying to escape into the inner room...
After just a moment, Jiang Tian regained his thoughts and said to his summoned subordinates: "Immediately punt to the reeds a few miles to the west, take over several river boats hidden in them, and Capture the people on board, I have left you with guidance.”
