"So you two are the thugs raised by Guo Juren?" Ma Lin looked at the two men in front of him.
The two men with their hands tied lowered their heads and did not answer.
"Don't deny it." Ma Lin said, "I know that most wealthy families will have some thugs who do dirty things. The two of you were sent by Guo Juren to the man named Zhang as guards. It must be because he wants to curry favor with each other. .”
"What the good man said is that the two of us did some dirty work for Guo Juren." One of the men admitted frankly.
If he were facing other people, he wouldn't admit it, but the bandits in front of him are no better than thugs like them who do dirty work.
Ma Lin looked at the man who was speaking and asked, "Since Guo Juren sent you to protect the man named Zhang, and now he is dead, how could the soldier who killed him let you two go? This is unreasonable!"
"It was the two of us who were lucky enough to escape, and the army was defeated, so we managed to save a life." The man explained.
Another man echoed: "All the people who accompanied us to protect Staff Zhang died. Only the two of us were lucky enough to escape with our lives."
Ma Lin held his chin and thought for a while, then said, "Even if what you said is true, where is the body named Zhang?"
"The good man wants to see the body of Staff Zhang. The younger one can lead the way. I just ask the good man to let us two go down the mountain." The man who spoke handed over his hand and begged for mercy.
Marin said: "You are not qualified to bargain with me, lead the way!"
"Yes, yes, little one, lead the way."
The gunman on the side picked up the gun and thrust it forward, and the man hurriedly agreed.
Two men with their wrists tied led the way, and Marin led others behind.
A group of people walked along the mountain road for a while, and the two men walking in front suddenly stopped.
One of the men pointed with his hand and said, "This is the place where the soldier surnamed Xu killed."
Marin looked around.
There are a lot of weeds up to the knees on both sides of the mountain road, and further away is a forest. If there is anyone hiding around, it will be difficult to find it standing on the mountain road.
Chen Miao on the side said: "I will take people to search around. If it is someone killed here, the body will not be lost too far. It should be nearby."
Marin nodded.
Chen Miao took a small team and spread out to both sides of the mountain road to look for the bodies.
Just after walking down the mountain path, I heard someone shouting: "Found it, here it is."
The man who spoke turned around and waved towards the mountain road.
Marin said to the person behind him: "Watch the two of them."
After saying that, he walked down the mountain path and walked towards the man who waved.
"Deputy captain, look." The soldier who said he found the body pointed forward with his hand.
Marin turned his head and saw several corpses in the grass.
There were five bodies in total, four of them were wearing brown shorts, and the other body was wearing a t-shirt, a scarf, and square-toed shoes, looking like a scholar.
Although he had never seen Staff Zhang, he guessed that the corpse in front of him, dressed as a scholar, must be Staff Zhang.
Marin turned around and shouted to the people on the mountain road: "Bring two of them over and let them identify themselves."
Soon, the two men were brought over.
"You two, look and see if this person on the ground is the staff member you mentioned." Marin pointed with his hand.
After just one glance, one of the men said with certainty: "Yes, that's him, he is the governor's staff."
Although the other man did not speak, he nodded in agreement.
Marin moved his finger, pointed at the other four corpses, and asked, "How many of them are they? Do you know them?"
"They, like the two of us, were sent by Guo Juren to protect Mr. Zhang. Later, they were killed by the soldier named Xu together with Mr. Zhang."
Ma Lin said to Chen Miao: "It seems to be right. You can chop off the head of this man named Zhang and take it back. I will use his head to worship the brothers who died on the mountain."
Chen Miao nodded, pulled out the knife from his waist, walked to Zhang Wenhe's body on the ground, pulled his hair, used the knife in his other hand to press down, and effortlessly chopped off Zhang Wenhe's head.
He didn't die for a long time, and blood was dripping from his severed neck.
"Take the two of them and go back to the mountain stronghold." Marin said, turned and walked towards the mountain road.
One of the two men who was arrested hurriedly shouted: "Good man, the body has been found. Can we let the little one go back?"
"Good man, please let us go. We just went up the mountain with the soldiers and didn't do anything else." Another person begged.
Marin walked forward without looking back and ignored the two people at all.
"Come on, stop talking nonsense."
The gunman who was guarding the two of them hit them hard with his gun.
Marin led the team back to the mountain.
The open space in front of the cottage has been cleaned up, and all the corpses on the ground are gone. Only the blood soaked in the soil and the residual smell of blood are left.
Entering the stronghold, Ma Lin said to Wang Dazhuang, who was guarding the gate of the stronghold: "Captain Chen brought the head of a high-ranking official. You can take it to the grave of your dead brother and worship it."
Chen Miao handed the head in his hand to Wang Dazhuang.
In the past, Wang Dazhuang must have been terrified when he saw such a bloody head, let alone holding it with his hands.
After a battle with the officers and soldiers, he, like most people, lay on the ground and vomited for a long time. His stomach felt uncomfortable until now. But now he was holding the head handed over by Chen Miao, and he felt a little uncomfortable. Comfortable, I can already accept such bloody things.
Marin said to the others: "Take them two and follow me to see the captain."
After saying that, he walked ahead.
Several gunmen held the two captured men and followed them all the way forward.
At this time, a door was opened and Cao Guang walked out.
"Captain, capture two people who went up the mountain with the army." Marin spoke first.
The two men who were escorted up the mountain quickly lowered their heads.
Cao Guang glanced at the two men, looked away, and asked, "Have the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain retreated?"
"They are all gone. I watched them go all the way south from the official road at the foot of the mountain." Marin said.
"It seems that this group of officers and soldiers are afraid of being beaten and don't dare to stay in Daliang Mountain." Cao Guang nodded and said, "Who are these two people? They don't look like they are among the officers and soldiers. soldiers."
Ma Lin explained: "The two of them are thugs raised by Guo Juren in Guojiazhuang. I caught them when I came back from the mountain."
"How did the people from Guojiazhuang get to our Daliang Mountain?" Cao Guang frowned.
Their brigade was nominally bandits from Daliang Mountain, and Guo Juren from Guojiazhuang was a well-known gentry within dozens of miles around, and they had no contact with the Guo family.
Marin told what happened.
"No wonder there are people from Guojiazhuang going up the mountain." Cao Guang suddenly realized and said immediately, "You two, raise your heads."
The two men hesitated for a moment, then slowly raised their heads.
"It's you!" Cao Guang was shocked when he saw the appearance of the two people.
