The night is very heavy, pressing down so heavily that it makes people breathless. The world around him was already so dark that his facial features could not be distinguished.
"Chen Sheng, what time is it?"
"My boss, it's time for me to meet you."
Ugly time, around two o'clock in the morning.
Xu Mu's face was tense. In the depths of the forest where no one could see his fingers, he could only make out the crowds of people through the pale moonlight.
"Wrap the horse's hooves in robes! Get on the horse."
"call!"
Nearly three thousand heroes, after some action, mounted their horses one after another, and many also entered the carriage. Zhou Zun and Zhou Luo, each with ten cavalry, went ahead to explore the wind.
"Let's set off."
Xu Mu pulled up the reins and stared ahead. Fortunately, he had made a living in the nearby area, and even though everything was in a mess, he could still roughly identify the direction.
"Little boss, where are you going to this deserted town?"
"Go east."
To the north is Wangzhou and to the south is Hezhou. Naturally, you can't go to these two places.
Bypassing the official road, Xu Mu whipped the reins quickly.
In front of them, they could occasionally see scattered lanterns, their lights swaying in the dark night.
Seeing such a scene, Xu Mu could only ask people to stop and wait until the lanterns were far away before leaving.
"Master, how far is it?"
"Nearly fifty or sixty miles." Xu Mu replied in a solemn voice.
Thanks to his careful exploration of the surrounding terrain when he was on the four roads. Otherwise, with these nearly 3,000 people, they would be nothing but headless flies under such circumstances of encirclement and suppression.
"Let's set off."
The lantern disappeared completely, and Zhou Zun also rushed back, confirming that there was no problem on the way forward.
Nearly three thousand people took advantage of the cover of black shadows to gallop carefully on the wet and muddy fields.
Even though the horse's hooves are wrapped in robes, there is still a faint sound of "tapping" galloping.
About three hours later, after carefully following Xu Mu in a large circle, the group finally bypassed the Beidi patrol area.
The rain has not stopped yet, and it is sparsely falling on the ground. This appearance is the most annoying.
After raising his head and pressing the bamboo hat, Xu Mu looked around, distinguishing the scenery in front of him through the pale moonlight.
The mist of the night was still lingering, and the unknown night bird on the dead wood seemed to be used to seeing the living and the dead. It was not frightened at all when it learned that nearly three thousand people and horses were approaching.
The wooden sculpture stands on the top of the tree, completely motionless.
There was also an inexplicable fishy smell, blowing from nowhere, making people's nose sore.
"My boss, there's a figure ahead!" Zhou Zun reined in his horse and returned, his voice filled with emotion.
Xu Mu frowned and was startled. Logically speaking, in such a far away place, the Di people wouldn't patrol too frequently even at night. I just avoided it, why did I encounter it again?
"Do you recognize it?"
"I recognize him clearly, but he doesn't seem to be wearing robes and armor."
Xu Mu pondered for a while, clamped the horse's belly, and followed Zhou Zun forward slowly. When he reached his position, he looked up and his eyes suddenly opened.
As Zhou Zun said, there were indeed a large number of figures standing motionless in front of them. The movement of stretching his hands is vaguely identifiable and looks very strange.
"My boss, is this a human being or a ghost? Why doesn't it move?"
"Detour." Xu Mu said coldly. Regardless of whether they were humans or ghosts, with a team of nearly 3,000 people, he didn't want to make any mistakes.
At this moment, as if the heaven took pity on him, the huge dark clouds were blown away by the wind, and the pale moonlight spread across them, and the world in front of him suddenly became slightly brighter.
"My boss, it's a dead person! No, no, this seems to be a place where corpses are dumped!"
Xu Mu trembled and forced himself to look forward.
He finally understood where the previous rotten smell came from.
What is in front of us is clearly a huge corpse pit. The man standing with his hands outstretched was obviously dead. He was tied to a wooden stake, and even his chest was rotten, revealing blue bones.
In the corpse pit, there were dead bodies everywhere, with different postures, severed limbs and heads thrown everywhere. Among them, there are also some people in Jisu robes and armor, most of them are like hedgehogs, full of arrows, and their facial features can still be vaguely seen as being in a hurry.
The long group of nearly three thousand people were stunned on the spot.
"Little boss, there must be ten thousand people here."
More than ten thousand people.
Xu Mu turned his head quietly.
After defeating Wangzhou, not to mention the refugees who were blocked at the north gate of Hezhou, even if they were just hiding in Zhuangzi Village, they would definitely not be able to escape bad luck if they were discovered by the Di people.
For a moment, Xu Mu felt that the pungent smell became more and more purulent, making him hold his breath for a long time and unable to spit it out.
"Cover your pockmarked face and leave the corpse pit."
For fear of contracting the miasma, Xu Mu urged him deeply.
"My boss, if not, it will be better to bury him alive."
"How to bury it! It will take at least two or three days for a long procession of three thousand people!" Xu Mu suppressed his voice.
This group of people is in the enemy's hinterland. One mistake and the whole army will be wiped out immediately, not even the dregs will be left.
With the cessation of fighting in Hezhou City, Beidi's pursuit of them will only become more and more fierce.
"Walk!"
Nearly three thousand people, silent in the rain, slowly followed Xu Mu and continued to run forward through the vast night.
…
Hezhou is bloody and mottled. The cool breeze in the morning, mixed with the splashing rain, cuts people's faces.
Zhao Qingyun stood at the top of the city and did not pay attention to the civilians repairing the city wall. Instead, he looked at the extreme poverty.
He became a little happy. On this day, Beidi did not seem to have any plans to attack the city.
"General Zhao, come down and drink. It's all warmed up. The calf has been raised for half a month, just in time for the banquet."
General Pi Liu Zhu stood at the foot of the city, his voice full of satisfaction.
Zhao Qingyun frowned and initially ignored him, but when he thought of Liu Zhu's backer, he immediately turned around with a slightly flattering look on his face.
"Thanks to General Liu, the Di people were defeated and the Third Battalion of Xifu also contributed a lot."
"Haha, both you and I have made great contributions."
The tangy beef soup made many ragged children squat on the wet ground next to it, wrinkling their noses and sucking it in.
A captain walked by, knocked three or two people unconscious with his sword scabbard, and then kicked them aside. The remaining children dispersed in a hurry.
In the tent.
Zhao Qingyun raised his head and looked at a child lying on the ground, feeling vaguely familiar. Before he could take a closer look, a woman hurriedly came over and ran away with the child in her arms.
"General Zhao, I'll give you a toast! I wish General Zhao will be crowned a marquis as soon as possible!"
Zhao Qingyun recovered his thoughts, forced out a smile, and picked up the wine cup.
"By the way, General Liu, where is Lian Yong?"
"No matter what he does, for a son of an official and a criminal to sit on an equal footing with him, we have lost our status."
…
Lian Yong held his saber in his arms and sat in a simple thatched shed. Occasionally he raised his eyes and looked at a large group of howling people in front of him, using only half a bowl of thin soup to worship God.
Just after praying, the only bowl of thin soup was snatched away by more than a dozen people.
"General, it's time to eat." An old guard sighed and walked in with a bowl of sticky rice.
"General... I just went to ask. The people from the third battalion of Xifu are suppressing our rations again."
Lian Yong closed his eyes slightly, his face full of bitterness. As early as when he came to the border, the prince with the surname of Guo came to him and said a word.
"Even if we are officials and criminals and ordinary people, we all have our share of responsibility when we go to the national disaster together."
"That year when I had my hair cut off, I also entered the border and fought a battle. One hundred thousand Di people besieged the city, so I dared to have one hundred thousand Ji soldiers march out to meet them."
Lian Yong's eyes were blurry, as if he was reminiscing.
"I don't remember exactly when... I have been like a sick child since I was a child. I can't stand being beaten."
Lian Yong held the knife, closed his eyes slightly, turned around and fell asleep.
The old guard's eyes turned red and he sighed again. He walked out of the hut with the bowl of paste and gave it to a passing woman.
"Thank you, General. I have some medicinal herbs here that can cure dysentery. I will send some to the General."
The longer the city was defended, the more raging dysentery became.
The old guard took the medicinal herbs and was slightly surprised.
"It's rare for a village woman to know etiquette."
"As taught by my boss, you must never forgive evil and never be ungrateful."
With the paste in one hand, the stick in the other, and the injured child in her arms, Xiniang walked forward slowly with steady steps.
